The Daily Illini: Technograph 2022

THE

DI VOLUME 138: SPRING 2022

JONAH OZER THE DAILY ILLINI

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NEWS

The DI · Wednesday, March 9, 2022

Students celebrate Unofficial over weekend The Daily Illini Staff Report As Unofficial kicked off Friday, students were parading around dressed head-to-toe in green by early morning.

Kate Sanders, junior in ACES, said she began drinking at 7:15 a.m., which she describes as “an official attempt to let loose during the midterm season” and have fun with her friends.

“Unofficial is definitely not dead,” said Ashi Patel, junior in Business. “It feels a lot more (busy) than last year.

We just went to an apartment and now we’re just hanging out and waiting until we go to the next apartment.”

Emily Baca, sophomore in Engineering, said she didn’t celebrate last year and was going to an apartment party on Friday.

“I’m looking forward to the community aspect of (Unofficial),” Baca said.

“It’s fun seeing everyone outside.”

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Jefrin Joseph, junior in LAS, said he thinks COVID-19 has “ definitely dialed down” Unofficial. He added that he saw a few police on Green Street, but it was an otherwise normal day for him.

“I remember Unofficial to be crazier during my freshman year before COVID-19 happened,” Joseph said. “I would see frat guys in all green that day with constant chanting sometimes by frat houses.”

Nirvana Lara, the general manager at the McDonald’s on Green Street, said that they ordered 43,000 Shamrock shake mixes to prepare for Unofficial.

“For freshmen, (Unofficial is) dead, but if you live in an apartment or know someone living in one, it’s fun still,” said Fina Healy, senior in ACES. news@dailyillini.com The Daily Illini is the independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The newspaper is published by the Illini Media Co. The Daily Illini does not necessarily represent, in whole or in part, the views of the University of Illinois administration, faculty or students.

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SYDNEY LAPUT THE DAILY ILLINI

Lela Herena, senior in Engineering, dresses up in celebration of Unofficial on Friday. Many students talk about their plans for Unofficial, such as partying in apartments and hanging out with friends.

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NEWS

The DI · Wednesday, March 9, 2022

Charles Fogelman, professor in LAS, participated in the famous TV game show "Jeopardy!" in December.

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ANGEL SALDIVAR THE DAILY ILLINI

Global studies professor wins on `Jeopardy!'

By JP Legarte Staff Writer

Dr. Charles Fogelman, professor in LAS, competed on the TV show “Jeopardy!” back in December.

On Feb. 16, his performance aired live on national television. He won the episode and walked away with $10,500.

Fogelman said he was a big fan of the TV show ever since childhood and always made sure to tune in after the school day.

“It was something that I could watch and I think I feel clever and precocious watching because I knew a decent amount of the stuff, and I feel like I learned quite a bit from it too,” Fogelman said.

Fogelman first applied for the show 15 years earlier when he was 27, admitting that participating in his first mara-

thon the day before the audition heavily affected his test performance.

Fogelman found his second chance at the show when he saw an Instagram advertisement last summer saying that “Jeopardy!” was searching for professors to appear on the show.

After the show officially invited him to be one of the contestants, he started preparing for his appearance in a unique but fun way.

“I’d heard (at) a lot of places that it’s much more about quickness on the buzzer than it is about knowledge,” Fogelman said. “I decided the only thing I could really do was work on my handeye coordination, so I played a lot of Switch with my kids. I credit that for any good luck I had on ‘Jeopardy!’”

When reflecting on the experience, Fogelman said he admired how everything was a well-run machine and high-

lighted what it was like to meet the other contestants.

“The thing that really stuck out to me though was meeting the other people,” Fogelman said. “It was a sense of community. We had a sense of camaraderie.

We were all in this together.”

Fogelman also discussed the limitations surrounding who could know about his “Jeopardy!” appearance and when his family and colleagues could learn the results of his performance.

“I really had to fight an urge to ask him ‘What happened?’ even though I knew it would spoil it for me, and I didn’t want to know, but I was tempted to ask him,” said Malcolm Jamal, academic adviser in LAS. Riley Toennies, senior in LAS, remembered the exact moment she officially learned that Fogelman appeared on “Jeopardy!”

“I think I had an inkling that he might be on ‘Jeopardy!’ from his Twitter from the night before, but I thought that he was joking,” Toennies said. “But no.

I get into class the next day, and he pulls up his slides with his little photo from ‘Jeopardy!’ … And I was like, ‘OK, damn! He’s actually on ‘Jeopardy!’”

Fogelman compared his “Jeopardy!” experience to the Boston marathon, which he ran in the past.

“There’s this great moment when you run through Wellesley there, and all the students are just screaming, and you get to feel like you’re a celebrity,” Fogelman said. “The ‘Jeopardy!’ thing was that same thing, that same little 15 minutes of fame and … a fun way to surprise and entertain my friends and loved ones.” jlegar4@dailyillini.com

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The DI · Wednesday, March 9, 2022

LIFE & CULTURE

The DI · Wednesday, March 9, 2022

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Marching Illini going green and gold Band will march in Grand St. Patrick's Day Parade in Ireland

By Aradhya Seth Contributing Writer

In less than two weeks, some members of the Marching Illini will arrive in a country filled with idyllic green pastures, soaring coastlines and ancient structures.

For the ninth time since 1992, the Marching Illini will fly to Ireland to join Irish people in commemorating St. Patrick’s Day by marching in Ireland’s annual parade in Dublin.

In 1992, the Marching Illini became the first college band to travel to Ireland.

Since then, the Marching Illini have travelled to the country every other three or four years.

This year, the Marching Illini will not only be performing in the Grand St. Patrick’s Day parade in the heart of Dublin but will also have a special performance in the city of Kilkenny.

During this performance, the band will march in a solo parade, that will end at Kilkenny Castle where they will play a standstill performance for 20 minutes.

Barry Houser, director of the Marching Illini, explained the details of the trip.

“Our travel party is just over 400 people,” Houser said. “So that travel party is broken up into I think we’re at 305 students and about 110 family, friends and alums.”

The band will be overseas for six days. The Marching Illini will leave March 12, and will return March 18, the weekend before classes start back up.

According to some members, the trip will be a new and exciting experience for them.

“I’m really looking forward to the cultural experience of going to another country,” said Bridget Glass, senior in Business and an Illinettes dancer. “I’ve never been to Ireland, so I love the idea of traveling and getting immersed in other cultures.”

Amaan Mirza, sophomore in Engineering and tenor saxophone player, shares similar excitement.

Mirza said this would be the first time he will travel internationally.

“I’m excited to like, look around,”

BECKETT GREEN THE DAILY ILLINI

Mirza said. “I know we’re going to visit a couple of museums and historical locations. I think we’re visiting a castle over there.”

The Marching Illini plans to play the classic “Illinois March” along

with Pitbull’s “Fireball” to add a party flavor to the parade.

Houser said that the song choices were made with Ireland in consideration.

“I’m never going to try and replicate

or duplicate something of another country’s culture,” Houser said. “I don’t think it’s very appropriate for us to do that — to try and substitute something that they already celebrate and they are the experts on, so we’re not going to be playing any Irish Celtic music or anything like that.”

Alejandro Fernandez, sophomore in Engineering and trumpet player, said the practices over the last couple of years have been different.

The pandemic caused the band to rehearse virtually and have fewer indoor practices.

“So we kind of had like a Zoom band, (which was very) weird,” Fernandez said. “So our rehearsals weren’t necessarily on the field practicing and doing stuff, it was more we go on Zoom and they kind of teach us, just to do a step but in your dorm room.”

Due to the pandemic, the band will take preventive measures for the trip.

“We have taken a number of extra mitigations beyond what the University has required,” Houser said. “In terms of wearing masks, everyone’s doing that. We have bell covers that we put on the instruments, to keep some of the aerosols from spreading everything.”

The Marching Illini will also follow University administration guidelines, such as showing proof of vaccination, a negative RT-PCR test upon return and mandatory international travel insurance.

Houser also explained that the trip is student funded and not mandatory.

“This trip has been funded by the students, but it’s not a required or mandated trip that we do,” Houser said. “Hopefully, in the future, we can find some more ways to help our students out with that funding for sure.

“So we do take on more financial responsibility for it, but it’s more beneficial for us,” Fernandez said.

Houser said he believes that this trip will serve as a great recruitment tool for the Marching Illini.

“We don’t just play for football games, but you know, every three or four years, we’re going to do this international trip,” Houser said.

“Naturally, people want to travel and have those opportunities, so it’s something very big for that. I think it’s also serving as a great ambassador not only for the University but for Illinois and the United States.” aradhya2@dailyillini.com

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The DI · Wednesday, March 9, 2022

The DI · Wednesday, March 9, 2022

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UI advancements change purpose of virtual reality

By Aidan Finn Staff Writer

Virtual Reality headsets have long been associated with science fiction movies and niche tech experiences.

But during the late 2010s, VR materialized into the mainstream at lightning speed and became a popular medium for gaming. Now, the Oculus Quest VR headsets are at the top of Christmas lists and available in GameStop stores nationwide.

Brenna Faber, junior in LAS, is one of many Oculus Quest users who enjoys various games on the platform.

“I do find VR fun,” Faber said.

“Though where it’s at now is a bit more novel than practical. I’ve really loved games like ‘Beat Saber’ and ‘SUPERHOT’ that are polished and follow your actual body’s movement to play.”

Faber said she believes that VR is just for entertainment and not destined for more.

“Right now it’s not accessible to so many people, difficult to use for people without experience in technology and not practical to use for long periods at a time,” Faber said. “I think the idea of a societal shift to virtual reality is more science fiction than a practical future.”

However, various professors and faculty members from on-campus tech initiatives believe that VR is capable of much more than just gaming, with that belief in mind, the University has made many strides in VR technology integration and innovation on campus.

VR@Illinois is a focal point of the technology’s integration on campus.

The collaborative initiative is a support management system for VR tech at the University that is used for teaching, research and exploration purposes.

Backed by the University’s Technology Services department, VR@ Illinois coordinates with members from the Center for Innovation in Teaching & Learning, the University Library’s IDEA Lab and Media Commons.

Eric Kurt, Media Commons coordinator and one of the founders of VR@Illinois, described his optimism for the use of VR for various purposes.

“VR absolutely is capable of more than gaming,” Kurt said. “Practical applications especially as it applies to education are one of the directives of VR@Illinois and we have found many great ideas. I believe that the metaverse is a very viable idea especially as VR evolves into AR.”

TESS LANTZ THE DAILY ILLINI

Elisandro Cabada, director of the Grainger Engineering Library IDEA Lab, discussed how VR endeavors in gaming laid the groundwork for more educational routes that the University is leaning into.

“While the gaming industry is what helped establish VR as a viable commercial technology, we are seeing more and more interest in using the technology in research and course content,” Cabada said.

The IDEA Lab developed a virtual classroom platform, Project Komodo, to help facilitate educational VR experiences that are versatile and customizable. The platform is being used in a materials science & engineering course and a fashion design course.

“VR lets you go beyond the classroom experience by letting you create discipline-specific simulations with almost infinite amounts of possibilities,” Cabada said.

Areas of health care at the Unviersity have also begun to experiment with VR. Harris Junaid Nisar, a simulation

engi neer at the Hea lthcare Engineering Systems Center, has worked with a team of specialists to develop simulations to train medical professionals.

“I utilize the VR technology to recreate scenarios and interactions and guide the learner through them,” Nisar said. “I can provide more detail, screenshots or videos on projects if needed.”

While Nisar said that VR is more than gaming, he was quick to point out how using the technology for gaming isn’t completely valueless.

“These complex scenarios can lead to more engaging training modules that don’t feel like you’re training at all,” Nisar said. Adve said that he believes VR technology should be universally accessible for all interested users.

Sarita Vikram Adve, a professor in computer science, explained how the University is now looking into extended reality initiatives. Adve is also involved in the Illinois eXtended Reality Testbed Consortium. The ILLIXR aims to understand and apply

extended reality tech.

“We should consider the full set of related immersive technologies when asking this question,” Adve said. “Not just virtual reality, but also augmented reality and mixed reality, all collectively referred to as extended reality. XR promises to be the next interface to computing and has the potential to transform virtually all aspects of our lives.”

Adve, said he is scautious about privacy matters within expanding VR technology.

“An important concern is security and privacy,” Adve said. “It also requires us as a society to grapple with what’s appropriate behavior in the virtual world and how to protect our privacy given we will be wearing glasses with cameras that are potentially always on in our homes and everywhere we go and in constant touch with the cloud. “We also want to ensure that the technology is freely available and does not become the property of a handful of companies.” aidanf3@dailyillini.com

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The DI · Wednesday, March 9, 2022

The DI · Wednesday, March 9, 2022

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Professors discuss AI, computer-vision applications

By Matt Novelli and Matt Troher Managing Editor for Online and Investigative News & Longform Editor

SEBASTIAN HOLT THE DAILY ILLINI

Beckman team finds new way to trace status of cell life

By Yuzhu Liu Staff Writer

When Gabriel Popescu, professor in Engineering, visited a major pharmaceutical company a few years ago, it shocked him that the chemicals they used to determine cell viability kills the cell in 15 minutes or less.

“It’s like checking the pulse of a patient with a razor blade,” Popescu said.

But after two years of research, Popescu and his team at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology found a way to determine the survivability of a cell that would not use deadly chemicals.

The team introduced an approach that identifies live and dead cells using phase imaging and deep learning. This advancement could test new medicines and determine a patient’s response to treatment.

According to the team’s research paper, traditional methods of identification use dyes that only attach to cells that lost their membranes.

The team’s study also shows that this method takes time to reach optimal staining levels.

Chenfei Hu, University alumnus and the leading researcher of the study, mentioned that the toxicity of the

chemicals used in identification stains prevents long-term investigation. He pointed out that the approach wastes time and is costly since drug makers need to repeat the procedure over 1,000 times.

“You cannot deliver repeated experiments on one single cell,” Hu said. “Even 200 years after these chemicals were invented, people are still using them in a very old-fashioned way.”

Popescu said the recent studies have opened new directions for imaging technology that his laboratory has developed over the past 15 years.

“That’s how this whole research started,” Hu said. “By combining the imaging tools and the power of artificial intelligence, we help cell health screening in a cheap, rapid and accurate way.”

They succeeded. The imaging displays the internal structure of a single cell by measuring the optical phase delay; the light gets delayed more where the cell regions are denser.

This creates high-contrast images. The researchers then bring in an algorithm that reveals the biological information of cell components.

Results find that this label-free method has approximately 95% accuracy in evaluating cell viability.

According to Hu, this success has never been achieved in any traditional way.

The study also reveals that after using the algorithm, the assessment of a cell’s life only takes 100 milliseconds — about eight times faster than color imaging dye.

“Once it has learned, it’s instantaneous,” Popescu said. “It’s like once a child has learned what a cat and a dog is and what the difference is, the moment they see a dog, it takes a few milliseconds to know.”

Hu said that while previous approaches relied on manual counting, researchers now only need to put cells under the microscope and let the computer do the job. To Popescu, it is fun to sit in front of the screen and glance at how the computer automatically labels everything.

Hu also said he sees potential that this research could apply to many real-world settings. Hu envisioned that this new approach would save plenty of materials for drug makers who repeatedly test cell viability when inventing new medicines.

Young Jae Lee, graduate student in LAS and a contributing author of the study, said this new method is especially valuable in treating cancer patients by visualizing how the cells react to drug injections.

“We can see how the cells move around and how they change their shapes based on their health conditions,” Lee said. “It makes our work easier.”

Popescu revealed that his laboratory is now trying to apply the new method to measure the viability of clusters of cells. He explained how hard it is to examine small tumors extracted from patients since light does not travel well through these thicker, closely-gathered tissues.

“Dealing with all the scattering is like trying to look through a cloud,” Popescu said. “We’ve actually made progress since we submitted this paper. We are very excited to bring it to these 3D structures with a lot more applications.”

Popescu said that keeping an invention in laboratory studies limits its impact. Popescu said practicality in the real world is his ultimate goal.

According to Popescu, the research team has applied for a patent. He said his biotechnology company is now incorporating the hardware into their products.

“At the end of the day, we want to solve problems that people care about,” Popescu said. yuzhul2@dailyillini.com

The machines are learning.

As more and more of the contemporary world is being automated for maximum efficiency, computer software has the potential to complete tasks usually designated to humans.

Artificial intelligence is the ability of a computer tasks that are usually done by humans, as the tasks require and discernment. Computer vision is a subset of AI in which computer systems use image-capturing software to understand and interpret the visual world. Professors at the University utilize AI and computer vision both inside and outside the classroom.

AI is becoming increasingly common in the contemporary technological landscape. However, misconceptions about the field still remain. Dr. David Forsyth, professor in Engineering at the University, noted that despite the recent startup fervor surrounding AI and computer vision, most of the systems’ applications are in less-flashy, practical ways.

“Everybody and their cat is out there starting up artificial intelligence companies,” Forsyth said. “Computer vision involves doing useful things with pictures … for example, airport surveillance, you take movies of people picking up bags where air traffic arrives, and then you use automated methods to follow the bags and make sure that the bag leaves customs with the same person who picked it up.”

Constructing an AI system can utilize machine learning, a method of data analysis that automates analytical models. However, to get a system started, data must be entered from human inputs. Dr. Justin Leiby, professor in Business, noted that some machine learning algorithms use swaths of online workers to identify images, train certain algorithms.

When an individual identifies a certain image, the algorithm takes note and begins to make connections between the visual input and the individual’s classification.

“It’s a tool to teach the algorithms,” Leiby said. “This is sort of their training device. The human beings are able to (classify images), and you can start mimicking human classification if you have enough people doing it.

“So get a couple thousand people to answer a question, show them picture a chair and say, ‘What room of the house

TESS LANTZ THE DAILY ILLINI

with this chair belong?’ And suddenly, because thousands of people are telling an algorithm how to recognize a chair that goes in the living room versus a chair that goes in an office from its picture, the algorithm starts to learn to make its best guess.”

Dr. Derek Hoiem, professor in Engineering, has focused the majority of his career on studying how AI and computer vision can make the world a better place. Recently, Hoiem has taught courses such as computational photography, 3D vision and computer vision to undergraduates and graduate students alike.

As AI research develops, systems are more sophisticated and adept at analyzing a wide range of data. Yet, there is still room for improvement.

One of Hoiem’s current research directions focuses on general purpose vision — a way to make an AI system more capable of solving wide ranges of tasks instead of focusing on a singular, specific task.

“So for example, with people, we can see and we have hands and we move our bodies to take in information,” Hoiem said. “So we can do all kinds of tests that conform to our senses and the actions we can take, and we can potentially learn to do the task and do it well.

The same idea is applied to general purpose vision, the idea is that within that scope of what the AI system can see and what it can do, it can do any task that scope allows. So it can learn to detect objects, or it can learn to provide captions to images or classify images.”

Hoiem doesn’t just focus on AI and computer vision from an academic perspective. Hoiem also works as the chief strategy officer of Reconstruct — a company using computer vision to map construction sites and provide realtime updates to on-site subcontractors.

Reconstruct was founded in 2015 by Hoiem, and colleagues Mani Golparvar and Tim Brettell, to apply computer

vision to solve a long-standing issue with construction: delays.

“This is a really important way that computer vision can benefit society,” Hoiem said. “Construction and builder infrastructure undergrids our economy, and there’s a potential to address this critical need using the ability to create 3D models from photographs and do recognition.

It’s well known that construction is often way behind schedule and over budget. Our idea was that we can use computer vision to provide that situation awareness for construction sites.”

At the forefront of the contemporary conversation around AI and computer vision is ethics. With the technology already having been established, researchers and activists are beginning to discuss the implications of how AI is created and how it is utilized.

In 2019, a recent AI project called Speech2Face — which utilized machine learning to create an algorithm designed to develop facial images based off of speech recording — came under criticism after sociologists and computer scientists raised concerns over the ethical implications of the project.

When utilizing machine learning, systems are only as good as the data received as an input. Although the computer system itself may not be biased, the information it receives is still determined by a human who is susceptible to their internal biases.

Examples include facial recognition software only trained to recognize predominantly light-skinned men, failing to recognize those with darker skin.

Hoiem noted that one main ethical problem stems from how the information developers input into systems can be biased, whether that bias be explicit or implicit.

“Ethically, where this really creates problems is that sometimes AI researchers and companies will create a product that will be developed based on some distribution of images or data,” Hoiem said. “For example, if it’s trying to identify faces, it might be based on employees of the company and other subjects that they were able to get data for, but that might not represent the broader demographic of the user base or the environment it will be applied to.” mtroher2@dailyillini.com novelli3@dailyillini.com

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The DI · Wednesday, March 9, 2022

RSO explores possibilities of blockchain system

By Rohit Jammu Assistant Features Editor

Since the oldest form of currency has been around, actions have increased the supply and liquidity of money. However, these actions tend to stimulate the economy but increase the risk for inflation.

Consequently, actions restricting the money in circulation tend to slow economic growth by increasing savings rates and making borrowing more expensive.

But Zayyan Faizal, senior in Business, has a solution for this problem.

Faizal is the founder and the president of a new RSO named Illini Blockchain. Faizal broke down what blockchain is and explained why he thinks they could solve a large portion of the problems with currency.

“The core technology of blockchain is a system of computers that are able to cooperate together by maintaining and processing information without having to directly trust each other,” Faizal said.

Faizal said that each system in the network can only be traced to the next and the previous system in the ‘chain.’ As a result, no computer alone is able to modify the network, making it secure. Also, no other central entity can manipulate the supply and the price of the cryptocurrency will increase.

“It’s so much harder to hack or break into,” Faizal said. “We can provide a safe store of data, which can range from anything like personal data to the first use case of money, with Bitcoin.”

Faizal said he first found himself getting increasingly interested in blockchain and cryptocurrencies following what’s commonly known as the ‘deFi (decentralized finance) summer,’ which was a period in the summer of 2020 that sparked tons of lots of new projects.

“Funny story,” Faizal said. “I started thinking about starting this club from a tweet. I saw other universities engaged in the crypto industry and tweeted that UIUC should have something similar.”

Andrew Miller, professor in Business involved in research on decentralized systems, saw Faizal’s tweet.

He then suggested a student organization about blockchains. Illini Blockchain was then founded.

Alec Chen, sophomore in LAS and co-founder of Illini Blockchain, has been around since the RSO started.

JONAH OZER THE DAILY ILLINI

“I head the developer teams with Zayyan,” Chen said. “My responsibilities leam toward our external team building on Solana. I also help around with organizational and administrative activities.”

Chen explained that since blockchain was such a technical topic and a big part of the club, he was fascinated by the fact that users are able to ship code that contributes to the ecosystem without using a ton of resources. This allowed him to contribute to many different projects.

“I remember I’d wanted to do Hack4Impact because I liked web development, wanted to build with other people and join a community,” Chen said. “Zayyan emailed me afterward my Hack4Impact interview, asking if

I’d want to come to Illini Blockchain’s first meeting.”

For Muskan Bhatla, sophomore in LAS and a current member of the RSO’s research analyst team, blockchain is a niche topic.

“What particularly interests me is the bandwidth for creativity and flexibility as this topic is largely unexplored,” Bhatla said.“There remains endless opportunities and prospects in this field of cryptography and algorithm development for which there is no correct one answer and instead, a chance to explore the possibilities.”

Faizal elaborated on a new model the RSO is testing out to incorporate into the voting system. The idea came from a member outside of the Illini Blockchain team, Matthew Brotnow.

“Members from our team helped revise and edit the blog to help Matt improve his writing and understanding of the core technology,” Faizal said.

The idea stems from the same core concept surrounding blockchain.

Since no single system can manipulate the network, it can be used to make the voting system more streamlined and secure.

Chen said that even before he joined Illini Blockchain, he intended on pursuing it on the side.

“But things like this are so much better when you have a group of people you’re doing it with, and I can’t emphasize enough how,” Chen said. rjammu2@dailyillini.com

The DI · Wednesday, March 9, 2022

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Chemists use science of music, improve protein model

By Thomas DeMouy Staff Writer

A collaboration between scientists and musicians at the University has produced an improved model for teaching the protein folding reactions, an important function that occurs in all living cells.

Proteins typically go from an unfolded state to a folded state within cells of the body, but the sequence of folding is often difficult for students to conceptualize, according to several members of the model design team.

The new model incorporates sound along with an animation to help students understand this concept with more than one sense.

Taras Pogorelov, professor in LAS with a chemistry background, helped develop the project. He said it can be difficult to make accurate models.

“When you play physics, you try to go for simple models,” Pogorelov said.

“One cell can have a billion atoms easily.

Each atom has three coordinates, so it’s like three billion dimensional space.”

Faculty from the music department collaborated with Pogorelov to produce the model, which features audio and

PHOTO COURTESY OF L. BRIAN STAUFFER/ILLINOIS NEWS BUREAU

Music professor and composer Stephen Andrew Taylor, biophysicist Martin Gruebele, and composer and software designer Carla Scaletti have collaborated in creating a new model protein folding reaction, using sound and animation to better explain the topic. visual cues to indicate each stage of the protein unfolding. Martin Gruebele, professor in LAS, said that adding sound to the model is referred to as sonification.

“Sonification allows us to take these huge data files that are actually so

complicated that they are not even easy to visualize because usually people are just happy to visualize things,” Gruebele said. “But listening to them allows us to extract information quite efficiently.”

The model is a two-dimensional

Is your mom the master of multi-tasking? Is she the fun mom all your friends go to for advice?

reduction of the process that features only two units that are distinguished by color. These units connect lines that can complete one 90-degree turn per iteration.

Carla Scaletti, president of Symbolic Sound, a music software company that played a role in developing the audio components of the model, expressed fascination with the model.

“To me, it’s like a game,” Scaletti said.

“You start with the string and on each turn you’re allowed to make one of them move.”

Gruebele said there weren’t many setbacks with the project, and it was “really more of a learning process.”

The project started in 2020, and everyone involved agreed that the collaboration between music specialists and scientists went seamlessly.

“These guys are extremely openminded,” Scaletti said. “I’ve worked with other scientists who weren’t as open to other fields, but this has been a really exciting and unique experience.”

Gruebele, said this is a form of collaboration that both groups would consider for future projects. tdemouy2@dailillini.com

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12

OPINIONS

The DI · Wednesday, March 9, 2022

Punish Putin, recognize NATO's role EDDIE RYAN SENIOR COLUMNIST Currently, Kharkiv, Ukraine, is under siege and a 40-mile convoy of Russian military vehicles creeps toward Kyiv.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine on false pretenses has shocked and unnerved many.

However, it’s worth understanding why the invasion happened.

Putin’s invasion is more than totalitarianism and warped historical views. Particularly the U.S. and NATO has shaped the current geopolitical reality Putin is brazenly exploiting.

Most of the damage was done in the immediate aftermath of the Cold War, when German reunification and NATO expansion were hot topics. Under what’s considered the “Clinton Doctrine,” NATO welcomed former Eastern bloc countries.

Russia claims the expansion amounted to a broken promise. This is not quite the case. Former Secretary of State James Baker uttered his infamous “not 1 inch eastward” line during a meeting with former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev as

part of a proposal that wasn’t agreed upon.

What’s more, countries that have joined NATO have done so willingly, as Finnish writer J.M. Korhonen stresses. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania sought membership for the same reason Sweden and Finland are stepping away from neutrality to support sanctions on Russia — Putin’s aggression is a real threat.

All this means NATO’s course of expansion since 1991 has been, roughly speaking, in bounds. Accordingly, Russia’s contrasting claims usually involve Moscow’s desire to preserve its sphere of influence.

The problem is this course was unwise.

After 45 years of global politics defined by competing spheres of influence, the U.S. pushed its alliance boundaries closer to Russian soil.

Recent NATO expansion now troubles diplomats’ efforts to handle Putin.

At least two resolutions for the crisis were insufficiently pursued by diplomats. The first concerns Putin’s main grievance, Ukrainian NATO membership. Though Ukraine can decide its fate, insisting Ukraine’s indepdence to Putin didn’t get the U.S. and allies very far.

Ukraine isn’t close to qualifying for membership. Diplomats should have led with an assurance to Putin that Ukraine

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would not have become part of NATO anytime soon — not a guarantee, just that it needn’t have been on Putin’s radar.

The second under-explored option involves the Minsk-II agreement, aimed at resolving the eight-year war in eastern Ukraine. Signed by Ukrainian, Russian and separatist representatives, it called for an immediate ceasefire, dialogue on interim self-government for the separatist-controlled regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in accordance with Ukrainian law and the removal of foreign — i.e. Russian — forces.

If implemented, these measures would have protected Ukraine’s sovereignty while relieving the Donbas separatists.

In theory, peace in that region would have eliminated the pretext Putin used to invade. Alas, the agreement sits on the shelf; since Russia won’t admit its military presence in Donbas, Ukraine won’t initiate its terms and the U.S. hasn’t pressured it to do so.

Here is where some on the left lay the blame at the feet of the U.S. This argument is misguided because it ignores Putin’s unpredictability. Anyone who has read Russia’s security demands from December or its conditions for halting the invasion know diplomacy with Putin

PHOTO COURTESY OF ALEXEY NIKOLSKY/SPUTNIK/AFP/GETTY IMAGES/TNS

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow on Feb. 24.

is an uphill battle.

It’s conceivable the West’s best efforts to calm Putin or steer him toward MinskII would not have worked. If anything, Putin’s decision to launch a complex operation that could hurt him reveals insecurity and desperation. If Putin was ready to overreach, diplomats can’t be entirely faulted.

Bernie Sanders struck the right balance when he argued, “Blame Putin and punish him, but don’t forget NATO’s role in this history.”

We’re now in the “punish Putin phase.”

Much rides on how the West will squeeze Russia’s economy and make oligarchs start squirming.

Eddie is a junior in LAS. ecryan2@dailyillini.com

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SPORTS

The DI · Wednesday, March 9, 2022

13

Guzauskas emerges as `cornerstone' in first year

By Drew Friberg Sports Editor

The match score was 3-2 in favor of the Illini as the entire Illinois roster gathered around freshman Gabrielius Guzauskas’ Court 5 battle against North Carolina’s Henry Lieberman.

Just two matches remained, but the Illini need a victory in just one to clinch a victory over the then-No. 22 North Carolina Tar Heels on Feb. 20 at Atkins Tennis Center.

With his match knotted at 5-5 in the third set, Guzauskas remained calm while knowing that the fate of his team was in his hands.

“In that situation I always try to stay calm,” Guzauskas said. “When the team came over, I tried to not let it affect my game. I just try to focus on my match and not focus on what my teammates are doing during big pressure moments.”

Guzauskas clinched the match for the Illini, winning two straight games in front of his teammates. A big moment for the freshman, it will not be his last as an Illini. Head coach Brad Dancer sees a bright future for Guzauskas at Illinois.

“We are incredibly excited about what we can do in the future with these guys,” Dancer said. “It’s really just about building habits and putting the right other people around them. If we can do that, it’s going to be a really great future here, with Gabe being a big cornerstone in that.”

Guzauskas has come into a young Illini team with big shoes to fill. With Illinois losing four seniors from last year’s Big Ten Championship-winning roster, Guzauskas was brought in to continue the team’s dominance. Sitting at 2-5 in singles this season, Guzauskas is holding his own on Court 5 and Court 6 for this Illini roster. Coming into as tough of a schedule as this Illinois team has and putting up solid performances as a freshman is no small feat.

Although the young star is having a promising start to his tennis career in his first collegiate season, it wasn’t always this easy for him. Adjusting to Illinois after online school and years of training in Florida proved to be tougher than he first thought.

“Last semester I had trouble with my tennis,” Guzauskas said. “When I got here, I was nervous. There was a lot going on in my head. As time went on, my tennis got back up to a good level. Now, I’m happy where I

SIDNEY MALONE THE DAILY ILLINI

Freshman Gabrielius Guzauskas talks with head coach Brad Dancer during his singles match against Baylor on Friday. Guzauskas has become a key player for the team during his first season. am. I just have to get better and keep pushing.”

What has really helped Guzauskas settle in at Illinois is the bond he shares with Dancer. The pair has known each other for around four years now, and they have continued growing this relationship ever since they met. Guzauskas and Dancer talk a lot off the court, often not even about tennis.

“When you think about Gabe, you think about going out to coffee with him just to sit down and talk about

life,” Dancer said. “Lately he’s been opening up to me even more. He’s a special young man, with a strong affinity for his family and certain core values that I think align with mine as a person. I just think that there’s a good connection there in terms of how we see life.”

With conference play less than a month away, the Illini will start to rely on Guzauskas more and more.

Guzauskas is a key piece not only in the future of this Illinois roster but also in the present. His consistency is

needed if the Illini will look to repeat and surpass the successes of last season. Clinching the match against UNC was a big step for Guzauskas as such a young player, but he sees the match as a stepping stone for the team, not the end goal.

“We have to let this match motivate us more moving forward,” Guzauskas said. “It’s just the beginning. We still have a lot of work to do.” @DrewFriberg9 friberg3@dailyillini.com

14

BUZZ

The DI · Wednesday, March 9, 2022

Buzz Editor says goodbye, reflects on DI experience

By Carolina Garibay buzz Editor

When I joined buzz my freshman year in 2018, I had no idea that it would become a defining part of my life.

As a freshman, like many, I didn’t know much about the C-U community or the businesses and people that make it such an exciting, unique town.

But as I’ve grown with buzz and further explored everything C-U has to offer, I realized just how lucky I am to be a part of this community and amplify the voices of the people that make it so special.

I didn’t really know how much this community had to offer until I joined buzz, and it has been so rewarding to see how the community has grown and how many people have contributed to its eclectic atmosphere.

For example, how many communities do you know have an axe-throwing bar and a book-themed wine bar down the street from a candle store that had previously started out of a college apartment?

I can’t think of too many.

Though my time as buzz Editor hasncome to an end, my passion for the sec-

tion and the C-U community will continue to linger, and I hope that some of the change I’ve tried to create during my time as buzz Editor does, too.

Something I’ve been most proud of as buzz Editor has been successfully migrating our content from our old website to The Daily Illini website, which has allowed us to fully integrate with The DI and eliminate any confusion about buzz’s place in The DI, which has been our goal for awhile.

I’m also incredibly proud of some of our most recent festival coverage, including Lollapalooza and the Chicago International Film Festival.

For Lollapalooza, I was able to work more closely with one of my assistants Sydney Wood and the Photo Editor at the time Cameron Krasucki to attend shows, conduct interviews with wellknown artists and write and publish content within a timely manner.

This was one of my favorite experiences as buzz Editor that both gave me experience communicating with different press teams, conducting quick interviews with well-known artists and working efficiently in a small team.

The Chicago International Film Festival was a new experience for me. It

Buzz Editor, Carolina Garibay, revises buzz stories on Sunday. Carolina has been a writer since 2018 and was promoted to assistant buzz Editor her junior year before becoming buzz Editor in the Spring of 2021.

SYDNEY LAPUT THE DAILY ILLINI

was really exciting and different from a lot of events I’ve covered in the past. I was able to spend a few days in Chicago focused solely on watching a reviewing different movies that hadn’t officially come out in theaters yet.

But out of all the accomplishments I’m most proud of since being buzz Editor, at the top of my list is seeing how much writers have grown. I’ve had the privilege to work with a lot of insanely talented and creative writers, and being able to help them in their reporting and writing has been so rewarding for me.

I’m so proud of everything buzz has achieved as a section since I’ve been involved since my freshman year. As buzz has grown and developed, so have I as a writer and a reporter.

And though finishing up my time as buzz Editor and as a University student this semester is definitely bittersweet, it’s also really exciting, and I’m more than confident in buzz writers’ and the new buzz Editor’s ability to further develop the section. garibay5@readbuzz.com

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BUZZ

The DI · Wednesday, March 9, 2022

15

Researchers study female narratives in literature

By Kylie Corral Staff Writer

When it comes to literature, the past has seen a trend in female narratives being secondary to male ones.

As we move further into the 21st century, however, gender distinctions in the female narrative are less sharp, but female the representation of female characters has decreased.

University of Illinois professor Iryce Baron, who teaches three courses about women and literature, said that as women narratives have moved into the spotlight, focusing on their own distinct paths beyond the heroic male narratives in literature, the disenfranchised past of women involves love, education and power.

“Biology was very much destiny, and so women were second class citizens,” Baron said. “So one of the cool things about fantasy and young adult literature is how it explores these issues through female characters.”

She said fantasy and young adult literature today has developed a potential modality to explore many gender related issues, giving women a more equal narrative than usually seen.

Earlier forms of literature revolved around the idea that women were weaker, never affording them physical and intellectual power as character, Baron said.

The elements of physical and intellectual power, she said, have slowly seeped into both modern literature and the female narrative, creating a new, more empowering voice.

“I think it really reflects a shift, a cultural shift for women, as we’ve moved into the 21st century,” Baron said.

However, even as female narratives begin to reflect a more intellectually and physically powerful image, there is still a long way to go for representation involving all kinds of individuals who identify as female, Baron said.

She also said there is still a large focus on mainly heteronormative relationships in modern literature and scarce representation of LGBTQ+ women characters.

“I’d like to see the equivalent of the Harry Potter septology being told from the perspective of a really empowered young woman, and I’d like the character to be a girl of color,” Baron said.

Baron said that some strong female characters and narratives can be observed in the popular series: “The Hunger Games,” “The Golden Compass,” “The Red Queen,” “Out Of The Blue” and “The Discovery of Witches.” Many of these books are taught in her courses.

Ashley Grapenthien, junior student in

SEBASTIAN HOLT THE DAILY ILLINI

Business, said she agrees that the women’s narrative in media and literature still has a long way to go.

“I do think that women can have a bigger voice in media and literature,” Grapenthien said. “I feel like women should be given more opportunities to share their voice.”

But she also said that as the women’s narrative becomes a larger focus in society and begins to help level out equality, there have been many positive effects for women in the world as well.

“Some positive effects are the allowing of different perspectives that can then provide insights on certain situations,” Grapenthien said.

Many narratives still depict women as the secondary characters in a primarily male narrative and not just in the literature world. Even journalism sees just about 19% of stories based on women narratives.

“I believe having more people who are just willing to listen will help women achieve this equality,” Grapenthien said.

Sabrina Lee is a doctoral candidate in theUniversity’s Department of English along with a graduate minor in Asian

American studies. She is also the managing editor of the academic journal “American Literary History.”

Lee said she was reminded of Virginia Woolf’s “A Room of One’s Own,” when reflecting on women in literature.

She said Woolf’s point on how relationships between women and fiction aren’t just structured by gender but by class and race too, and it is one that is incredibly important to remember.

“These circumstances affect both who gets to be a writer and, then, the kinds of characters that populate our literature and media,” Lee said. “Material constraints like these, even if they aren’t identical to those in Woolf’s time, are still with us.”

Lee said representation is very important and that she loves to see feminist rewritings of fairy tales. She urged students to write the interpretations they want.

“If there are representations that you would particularly like to see in literature or media, I would encourage you to make them,” Lee said. “Start where you are. Get together with some friends to write the stories that you need.”

Lee said she has been impressed by students at the University and what they have accomplished and that there have been many undergraduate students that have started their own publications too.

“However, when we think about representation in literature and media, I also want to push us to think about the readers and viewers who encounter the representation,” Lee said.

She said the topic of how stories are taken up by different people has been something that she has been thinking about recently. She said people do different things with representations and so, equity in representation doesn’t automatically translate to change.

Lee also said the combination of imagination and action is, to her, a very feminist practice.

“I’m finding that we give reading a lot of power in its ability to change the world, and I worry that we often give it too much power,” Lee said. “Instead, I want to encourage reading to be both an engagement with our imagination and with our actions.” kyliemc2@readbuzz.com

16

The DI · Wednesday, March 9, 2022

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