THE DAILY ILLINI
THURSDAY February 6, 2020
The independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871
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Vol. 149 Issue 37
J. Gumbo’s, Salad Meister close locations on campus Salad Meister, located at 601 S. Sixth St., was a newer restaurant in Champaign, which opened in 2017. Salad Meister offered salads at an affordable price for students, similar to chains such as Core Life and boasted a commitment to being environmentally friendly. Robert Meister, the creator of Salad Meister, said this was not unusual, and the area remains a good place for businesses. “Eighty percent of restaurants close within the first year, and 95% close within the first five years,” Meister said. “ChampaignUrbana is having growing pains, and the market is constantly shifting due to young people moving out and in every few years.” Meister also said the restaurant appealed to a variety of customers, including students from Illinois and the Midwest as well as international students. “You can tell in this community there are people, a large chunk of them, wherever they come from, who want to support local businesses,” he said. Meister sa id the restaurant was ver y successful during 2017, but he believed problems arose after he stopped being involved with the business in November of that same year. As for J. Gumbo’s, even though it closed with almost no notice, some of its customers and employees will remember it fondly. “It’s been here a long time, and it’s a shame it’s going away,” Tripp said. The management of J. Gumbo’s was not available for comment at the time of publication.
BY MICHAEL CARUSO STAFF WRITER
PHOTO COURTESY OF UMAIYAL SRIDAS
Students protest the state of campus mental health services on Dec. 11. The University and student activists plan to join forces to battle the stigma surrounding mental health.
UI addresses mental wellness Student body, adminstration join forces to tackle mental health crisis BY ETHAN SIMMONS SENIOR REPORTER
At Chancellor Robert Jones’ “State of the University” address two weeks ago, one audience commenter tore into University mental health services. “The state of mental health care at our University is deplorable. What will the administration do to fix this situation?” read University Provost Andreas Cangellaris from the submitted card. A disconnect exists between campus mental health providers and the student body, rife with genuine complaints as well as unfounded rumors about the services. In 2020, University administration and student activists are joining forces in unprecedented ways to tackle mental health care shortcomings and debunk student misconceptions. On the front lines of the effort is Ananya Cleetus, junior in Engineering. Since last semester, she has served on the Counseling Cen-
ter’s student advisory group where she is developing a new ad campaign that targets common myths about their services. “A lot of students really vilify the Counseling Center,” Cleetus said. “They think everything sucks, the Counseling Center hates us, they don’t care about students. I think the Counseling Center, in some sense, has become a scapegoat.” Cleetus founded Anemone, an app that helps users respond to mental health crises. It has over 400 users and 11,000 app store searches since its release in March 2019. Cleetus intimately understands the importance of mental wellness. She took three semesters off due to mental health concerns but returned last fall, focused on battling the stigmas surrounding student mental health. Through Active Minds UIUC, a student-led mental health advocacy group, Cleetus is spearheading two initiatives: getting the suicide hotline number on the back of i-cards and putting mental health crisis information on student syllabi. “If every professor just put two lines on there, like how they’re required to put the DRES information, saying this is the crisis line, this
is the Counseling Center, I think that could reach a lot more students,” Cleetus said. According to Cleetus, the initiatives have garnered support from the i-card office, Illinois Student Government and the Counseling Center, which approved an official statement in support of her hotline idea. This semester, Cleetus has joined the efforts of Mental Health at UIUC, a new RSO formed from last year’s student mental health reform protest. The demonstration was the final project for CMN 250: Social Movement Communications and was rescheduled from Dec. 5 to Dec. 11 amid safety concerns during a high volume of campus protests. Counseling Center representatives and Jones showed up to the rescheduled protest and chatted with the students, even pulling some of the students onto the advisory group. “They’re always willing to meet and answer questions,” Cleetus said. “That’s the one thing that really surprised me.” According to Kevin Jaques, senior in LAS and organizer for the group, Mental Health at UIUC is partnering up with the Counseling Center for an event late in the semester to spread awareness about underutilized mental health
programs. “We’ve been talking a lot about how to bring this network together,” Cleetus said. Carla McCowan, director of the Counseling Center, wants students to know they can get an appointment, even if the same-day scheduling causes frustration. The scheduling system, which students can call starting at 7:50 a.m., is designed to prioritize students “in their greatest time of need,” McCowan said. Triage counselors make determinations of urgency over the phone with student callers. Even if the 18 - 22 initial appointments held each day are filled, McCowan does not want students in crisis to stop there. “If you feel like there’s an urgent need, just walk in,” McCowan said. “We don’t have walk-in services or walkin hours, but we’ll find somebody to see them.” According to Counseling Center survey results from last semester, 52% of students said they get an appointment on their first call. The no-show rate on same day appointments is “negligible,” McCowan said. Two common critiques against the Counseling Center are that visitors will only see inexperienced interns or
The restaurant J. Gumbo’s in Urbana closed last Friday. The restaurant, known for being one of the only Cajun restaurants in the area, closed just over a month after another restaurant, Salad Meister, shut its doors. J. Gumbo’s offered gumbo as well as other Cajuninspired dishes such as po’boy sandwiches and was located at 700 S. Gregory St. The location was part of a chain of restaurants located throughout the Midwest, but this was the only location in Illinois. “It was kind of a surprise; we didn’t know it was closing until (Jan. 26),” said Tara Tripp, an employee at J. Gumbo’s. “It’s been a whirlwind. It was a pretty good place to work, and everyone was really nice.” The restaurant opened in 2012 and provided Cajun cuisine, a type of food that isn’t very common in Champaign-Urbana. While restaurants such as Popeye’s provide some Cajun-style options, many items at the restaurant, such as gumbo, were quite unique in the area. “I feel like it’s really unique, a really specific cultural thing,” said Anna Lowery, junior in FAA. “Everyone I’ve talked to who’s tried the food likes it, but there’s a lack of exposure.” Another student also mentioned the uniqueness and variety of dishes offered at the restaurant. “It’s very sad, the recipes are great,” said RJ Schlesinger, junior in LAS. “It has so many options like spicy, really spicy, not spicy and vegetarian.” J. Gumbo’s did not provide a specific reason for the shutdown. mcaruso4@dailyillini.com
RYAN ASH THE DAILY ILLINI
Customers enjoy their meals at J. Gumbo’s on Thursday. The SEE WELLNESS | 3A restaurant closed its doors the following night.
Activists protest Indian Citizenship Act BY DIANA ANGHEL STAFF WRITER
ALAYNA NULTY THE DAILY ILLINI
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On Dec. 11, India’s parliament passed the Citizenship Amendment Act, a piece of legislation that fast-tracks Indian citizenship to immigrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan. However, it is a faith-based amendment, and since it has been passed, a state of controversy and protest has spread internationally. The CAA takes Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians under its wing but excludes Muslims. This exclusion has caused great and sometimes violent protests to take place not only in India, but also in the United States. Opposition to the amendment is led by a strong disappointment in the discrimination against Muslims; some also fear for an influx of settlers in India. Additionally, the National Register of Citizens, an official record of those who are legal Indian citizens, causes fear that it will be implemented as a nationwide legisla-
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tion. The NRC paired with the CAA sit as the cause of the international protests. This duo could potentially allow India’s government to qualify minorities as illegal immigrants. Neha Arun, freshman in LAS, sees a contrast between India’s democracy and CAA. “As a country that publicized itself as the world’s largest democracy, it’s kind of hypocritical of them to pass this amendment that is pretty discriminatory,” Arun
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said. India’s government, led by a Hindu Nationalist party under the Bharatiya Janata Party, argues that the CAA will uphold India’s deepingrained culture. Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted that this act “illustrates India’s centuries old culture of acceptance, harmony, compassion and brotherhood.” Devansh Sethia, freshman SEE PROTESTS | 3A
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Features: Valet service cleans students’ laundry
Sports: Illinois to host No. 9 Maryland Friday
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