THURSDAY November 21, 2019
THE DAILY ILLINI The independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871
WWW.DAILYILLINI.COM
Vol. 149 Issue 26
Seclusion rooms reported in CU schools
Panelists address sexual misconduct reporting
THE DAILY ILLINI STAFF REPORT
The Chicago Tribune and ProPublica released a report Tuesday regarding the use of seclusion rooms in public schools in the state of Illinois. In Illinois, it is legal for employees to seclude students in an “isolated timeout” if there is a safety threat posed to others, according to the article. However, the reporters found some of the things students were secluded for included spilling milk or throwing Legos. Through interviews, reports and logs, the Chicago Tribune and ProPublica were able to find 20,000 incidents of seclusion in Illinois schools. A map linked to the end of the Chicago Tribune article allows users to search for specific school districts and the number of incidents reported there. It was found Urbana School District 116 had reportedly been using seclusion rooms or isolated timeouts. According to the data, around 4,375 students were enrolled in Urbana SD 116 from 2015-16. In that same year, 68 seclusion incidents were reported in the district and 17 students reported being secluded. From fall 2017 to Dec. 6, the district reported 99 isolated timeouts, the median length of these timeouts was 15 minutes. Additionally, 5% of these timeouts did not follow a documented safety concern. In Champaign Community Unit School District 4, where 9,833 students were enrolled in 2015-16, zero seclusion incidents were reported and no local data was reported for fall 2017 to December. Additionally, in Champaign/Ford Regional Office of Education #9, a total of 139 students were enrolled in 2015-16. Similarly to Champaign CUSD 4, no incidents were reported nor were any local data collected for 2017-18. The State Board of Education released a statement Wednesday that it would take emergency action to end the use of isolated seclusion in public schools.
BY SIDNEY MADDEN AND ELIZABETH SAYASANE ASSISTANT FEATURES EDITORS
NPR Illinois, ProPublica and Illinois Student Government hosted a forum to discuss faculty sexual misconduct reforms on Tuesday night. This fall, students returned to campus to learn several professors and faculty members had been facing sexual harassment allegations, according to a ProPublica-NPR Illinois investigation. Last month, news broke that the University was demanding the NPR Illinois reporter, Rachel Otwell, report the identities of her anonymous student sources to the Title IX department at the University of Illinois System. NPR Illinois, while independent, is licensed by the UI System, which makes Otwell and her coworkers University employees. Employees of the University are obligated to report incidents of sexual misconduct disclosed to them by students. But revealing sources’ identities directly conflicts with journalistic principles. To avoid this, ProPublica, which is not affiliated with the University, will be handling interviews with new student sources who wish to remain anonymous. However, this method has hampered Otwell and her team from fulfilling the original purpose of the report, which she elaborated on at Tuesday’s forum. “The lofty goal (of this investigation) is by shining a light, you know, these systems will be more navigable,” she said. This idea was supportSEE FORUM | 3A
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Professor Shazo Sato explains how to paint bamboos with black ink in his black ink painting class at the Japan House on Sunday. In addition to courses taught this fall, a second eight week class on Japanese calligraphy will be offered in fall of 2020.
Ink painting channels Zen philosophy BY MICHAEL CARUSO CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Japan House is holding a series of sumi-e, or black ink painting, courses in November and December. These lessons are taught by Shozo Sato, professor in FAA and founder of Japan House. Black ink painting courses were offered on Nov. 3 and Nov. 17, and two more will be offered on Dec. 1 and Dec. 8. The courses are interspersed with calligraphy lessons, also taught by Sato, that will run through January and February. A Japanese calligraphy class will also come to the University in fall 2020 as a second eightweek course. Jennifer Gunji-Ballsrud, director of Japan House, said that every cultural event at Japan House offers some way for attendees to participate. “Our mission is to share Japanese arts and culture with the broader campus and also the community,” Gunji-Ballsrud said. “Japan House gives an opportunity for people to experience
Japanese culture in a very authentic and immersive learning environment, whether through classes, workshops, presentations or our Japanese festival.” Japan House also runs an array of other events throughout the year, including the annual Matsuri, a Japanese festival held in September. “What we teach is all about reconnecting with nature, reconnecting with the self, disconnecting with your phone and social media and all these things so we can just be,” GunjiBallsrud said. Japan House is located around the Arboretum, prov iding a natura l atmosphere. “I knew my life was for being an artist,” Sato said. “At the age of 12, I asked to become a student of a very famous Japanese artist in Kyoto, a mecca of Japanese art. He said ‘no, we don’t want to take kids.’ But I went there every day for three weeks, begging to become a student. And then I became a student and learned all the foundational
Japanese art.” In addition to founding Japan House, Sato is a former artist-in-residence at Krannert Center. He worked to create Kabuki theater adaptations of Western works, such as Achilles: A Kabuki Play. He said this was effective because A mer ica n audiences already knew the story and plot, so they could more easily perceive the differences between American or Western theater and Japanese Kabuki theater. Sato completed a degree in oil painting and abstract art, as well as studied Kabuki dance and ballet, at a time when American and modern art were becoming contemporary in Japan. “Japanese art is admiring active, empty space, making it as simple as possible, like haiku poetry,” he said. “But American, Western art — you cannot leave white canvas. You must cover the whole surface.” Sato’s various fine arts classes, from Kabuki and tea ceremonies to calligraphy and sumi-e, emphasize the
principle of Zen philosophy. Sumi-e’s seemingly limited concept of painting with only black ink captures the philosophy well, Sato said. “In sumi-e, there is no color, but suggesting the subject in a very realistic formation with black ink will lead the viewer to fill in the sense of color. You cannot erase black ink. You have to put in full energy. That is Zen. Every minute you have pass, you have to live fully. Unlike calligraphy, the important part of sumi-e isn’t a word, but the visual effect of nature as a way that Zen philosophy can be understood,” Sato said. Sato also used the analogy of a two-key keyboard for the idea of sumi-e. With an apparently limited range, you can create art through the entire range of human emotion. “The Japanese traditional arts have become wider, but they still have that core Zen philosophy; that’s something you cannot change,” Sato said. mcaruso4@dailyillini.com
Turning Point USA chapter presidents resign nationwide
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University chapter intends to grow amid controversy BY KIMBERLY BELSER STAFF WRITER
The perception of “abandoned conservative values” held by Turning Point USA has led to officials of the national right-wing organization resigning from chapters across the country. TPUSA officials from universities such as Colorado State University and Kansas State University released their statements of resignation on Twitter. According to the Rocky Mountain Collegian, the resignation of Andre Bass, former social media director for BRIAN BAUER THE DAILY ILLINI TPUSA at Colorado State University, came after the Cul- Members of Turning Point USA at UIUC watch a video at their chapter meeting on Nov. 14. Despite many other chapters facing SEE TPUSA | 3A
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the resignations of officials across the nation, the organization has stated it has no intention to disband and is growing.
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