THE DAILY ILLINI
MONDAY November 11, 2019
The independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871
WWW.DAILYILLINI.COM
Vol. 149 Issue 23
UI alumnus’ news website loses staff
Website assesses restaurant accessibility in CU BY GRACE MALONEY STAFF WRITER
When picking a restaurant for dinner, many will decide based on the food quality, wait time or distance from home. However, people with physical disabilities often must consider many other factors about restaurants to determine if they are accessible. Meghan Burke, professor in Education, has been working on a project with her students to create a website called Access Urbana-Champaign, a tool that assists those with disabilities in choosing a restaurant. “We piloted (the project) with James Scholar students about two years ago, looking at how would this work, as an assignment,” Burke said. “Would it resonate with students? Would they get something out of it?” Zain Bando, sophomore in Media, uses a wheelchair. He also has used Burke’s website as a tool to find out which restaurants are accessible. While Bando was still in high school, he was in contact with Burke as well to discuss colleges and disability rights. “Overall, the accessibility (in Champaign-Urbana) is really good, most of the restaurants that I’ve been to are actually on that list, which is really cool,” Bando said. “The website is a great concept, probably something that should have been implemented years ago, but I’m glad it’s there now because now I don’t have to question which places I can go to because now I have a resource for that.” Bando said he also
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BY DIANA ANGHEL STAFF WRITER
and Physical Disabilities ,for the past couple of fall semesters. The class is also a requirement for Special
Deadspin, a sports news website, lost its entire editorial staff last week after Paul Maidment, editorial director of Deadspin’s management company, G/O Media, told Deadspin editors to stick to only sports content and nothing else. The staff did not agree to going in this direction. In 2005, William Leitch, University alumnus and former reporter at The Daily Illini, launched Deadspin after partnering with Gawker Media. He spent endless hours producing content, working on a nonstop schedule to write and edit his work. Eventually, the site gained attention and engagement spiked. A few years later, Leitch said he felt pressured because the website’s management company wanted to bring in business strategies to expand its audience. He just wanted to write, he said. In one of his blog posts, he states advertising rates, search engine optimization and traffic leaderboards are aspects he now had to consider. “I knew that the business people were starting to encroach in around the edges and I wanted nothing to do with that,” Leitch said. In 2008, Leitch left Deadspin and accepted a job offer at New York Magazine. In his three years of work at Deadspin, the site had been a heavily focused
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RYAN CHOW THE DAILY ILLINI
Zain Bando, sophomore in Media, sits in front of Brothers Bar & Grill on Green Street on Thursday. The bar has a stoop and staircase that prevents Bando from entering.
thinks there should be a direct phone number or email listed on the Access Urba na-Cha mpa ign website to contact to point out missing places or
restaurants that should be removed from the list. “But really, that’s the only thing I see,” Bando said. “I just think (the website) needs to be more
publicized.” This restaura nt accessibility project and website have been a part of Burke’s class: SPED 431, Assistive Technology
Art Film Foundation University department celebrates 50 years files for bankruptcy
you have to deal with for the rest of your life even without school.” The last commemoration event on Oct. 30 was an interdisciplinary faculty forum of which Bailey was one of the speakers. The ideas presented regarded the economic activity spurred by slave labor, the late novelist Toni Morrison and comparisons between the famous Mayflower ship and the White Lion ship, which carried those first 20 African slaves in 1619. As the department celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, Bailey said it is also going through a departmental review, which each department undergoes every seven years. “A lot of our discussion is to talk about what’s happened in the past and what’s going on now, but also talk about what we want to contribute in the next five years, in the next 10 years,” he said. “Hopefully, students will take advantage of our courses and the courses in the other ethnic studies programs so they can more fully understand some of the issues that not only happened in the past but still have an impact on contemporary life in the United States.”
BY EUNICE ALPASAN SENIOR REPORTER
owner, David Kraft, is not yet able to be terminated. There can be no further financial action until the court-appointed trustee approves. There is still no explanation from the Foundation as to the whereabouts of the $25,000 dollars raised in donation earlier this year. Until court authorization, the theater remains closed while Kraft is searching for someone new to take over.
BY HEATHER ROBINSON STAFF WRITER
Following the closing of The Art Theater, many have been skeptical as to the Art Film Foundation’s financial status. The Foundation officially filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy earlier this week, just a few days before Nov. 12, when the rent was to be due. The Foundation’s bank accounts and other assets are currently frozen, and due to the bankruptcy, their lease with building hrr4@dailyillini.com
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Opinions: Squad is out of line
Sports: Illinois football becomes bowl eligible
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The Department of African American Studies hosted a series of events throughout October to celebrate its 50th anniversary and to commemorate the 400th anniversary of what many historians recognize as the beginning of the American slave trade when more than 20 African slaves arrived in Virginia. The theme of the commemoration events was “1619, Before and Beyond: Then, Now, Next?” “It’s not just about that year,” said department head Ronald Bailey. “It’s a pivotal year in African and African American history and world history. We wanted people to think about what happened before this, what happened during that year and what the consequences of 1619 were.” The commemorative events the department hosted or sponsored included a lecture from alumna and activist Doris Derby about life at the University in the 1970s, the production of August Wilson’s play “Gem of the Ocean” and various panel discussions featuring other distinguished speakers. A panel on Oct. 24 titled “Why 1619 Matters” was moderated by Erik McDuff-
PHOTO COURTESY OF ANTHONY B. SULLERS JR.
An interdisciplinary faculty forum was hosted by the Department of African American Studies, or AFRO, on Oct. 30 in the Levis Faculty Center. The department celebrated its 50th anniversary by hosting a series of events in October.
ie, professor in LAS. McDuffie said one of the topics raised during the panel was while 1619 was an important year, black history did not start in slavery nor in 1619. “We’re still very much dealing with the legacy of slavery and racial terror in this country given the rise of racism on campus,” McDuffie said. “The history of slavery continues to shape the world in which we live, and the struggle for human freedom has not been completed.” Cierra McCullough, soph-
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omore in LAS, went to a graduate panel on Oct. 25. because she said the information would be useful in pursuing her goal to attend law school. The panel featured people of color, and they spoke about their experiences being a minority in graduate school. “My overall takeaway was that graduate or law school is hard for everybody and that your race isn’t really a detriment to how bad or good you’ll do,” McCullough said. “It’s just one of those things alpasan2@dailyillini.com
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