February/March Issue Front Cover

CAMPUS LABOR ON THE MARCH!

University of Illinois Chicago faculty on strike on the first day of spring semester classes, January 17

 

 387 total views

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on February/March Issue Front Cover

Graduate Employees Go Wild—For Unionization

Workers are on the move across America. Strikes rose by an astounding 50 percent between 2021 and 2022, and the pace of organization was equally impressive, with new fields of organizing opening in the service sector, the art world, and high tech. Of special interest in a local economy dominated by the University of Illinois and the labor markets associated with the school is the escalating upsurge in graduate employee militancy. Although graduate employees at UIUC have been unionized since 2000, the extension of graduate employee unionization to other higher education institutions strengthens the bargaining power of all such collective efforts. A higher wage and benefits floor becomes generalized, and each unionization victory inspires organizing efforts elsewhere.

Graduate employee unionization also provides institutional vehicles to counter sources of the ongoing crisis in higher education, such as public disinvestment, the student debt crisis and inequities in access, as well as right-wing attempts to restrict teaching about systemic oppression, racism, and discrimination against all forms of gender non-conformity. As the wages and working conditions (e.g., office space and sufficient supplies) of graduate employees improve, moreover, it is of the uppermost importance that the quality of the educational experience they can offer their students goes up. Continue reading

 134 total views,  1 views today

Posted in Education, Education, labor, Labor militancy, Labor/Economics, Public Universities, Section, union soldarity | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Graduate Employees Go Wild—For Unionization

Woman – Life – Freedom: Interview on Resistance in Iran, Part 2

UIUC campus protest on October 8 against the repression in Iran. Photo by Janice Jayes

Part 1 of this interview was published in the December 2022 issue. The text has been substantially shortened and edited.

Public i: I want to shift the discussion to the US now, and ask what can or should the US government be doing in this situation? In the context, of course, of a very conflictual historical relationship, and especially with the on-again, off-again negotiations about the nuclear program and the sanctions.

Faranak Miraftab: I don’t have the expectation of the American government doing anything. I never thought that they are the ones that I would go to for help. Because if anything they and other Western allies are the ones who have brought these Islamic States to the region, first with the 1953 coup in Iran and then with Afghanistan, Mujahideen, and the rest of it in the 1980s. The US state is not the one that I would trust or think has the interest of people, neither the people here, nor there. But I don’t think there’s any point in negotiation because the Iranian leaders don’t respect it. Continue reading

 162 total views

Posted in Feminism, Foreign Policy, International, International, Section, Voices, Women | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Woman – Life – Freedom: Interview on Resistance in Iran, Part 2

Academic Freedom Cases at the U of I, Part 2

In the October/November issue of the Public i, I discussed two cases in which the University faced pressure to dismiss professors because of their speech or extramural writing. These cases go back to the 1960s but have recently been resurrected to public view by the book Dangerous Ideas on Campus by U of I Professor Emeritus Matthew Ehrlich.

In one of the cases, that of Leo Koch, the professor was fired. I graduated in January, 1960 and had become involved in the attempt to save Koch’s contractual final year. While the U of I succeeded in firing Koch, it was put on the list of violators of academic freedom list by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP). Being on the list tarnishes the professional reputation of universities. Continue reading

 127 total views,  1 views today

Posted in Academic freedom, Censorship, Free Speech, Israel/Palestine, Public Universities, Section, University of Illinois, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Academic Freedom Cases at the U of I, Part 2

GEO at UIUC 10 Months into Contract Negotiations

The GEO held a teach-in on December 8 about the bargaining situation

As I write this, the Graduate Employees Organization (GEO) Local 6300 is 10 months into the contract negotiating process with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign administration. So far there have been 19 bargaining sessions. The GEO presented its proposal at the first session on March 7. The University presented its proposal on August 25—five months later.

The GEO is the sole bargaining agent for Teaching Assistants (TAs) and Graduate Assistants (GAs) at UIUC. Continue reading

 198 total views,  1 views today

Posted in labor, Labor/Economics, Section, University of Illinois, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on GEO at UIUC 10 Months into Contract Negotiations

Who’s Your Family?

Having just survived the winter holidays, the stressors and supports brought about by family could not be more present in our minds. However, for some of us in the American workforce, even the discussion of our loved ones at home could create dilemmas in and of themselves. Televised sitcoms like Modern Family make central the evolving complexities we struggle to navigate in a rapidly changing social dynamic where we bathe, eat, relax, and sleep. Whether our uncle married someone from another race, our sister has cycled through three-going-on-four spouses, or our grandchildren have joined religious groups toeing the line between cult and extreme political group, none of these raises as much concern for us at our places of work as our LGBTQ+ family members. Continue reading

 242 total views

Posted in Community, Human Rights, LGBTQ, Politics, Section | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Who’s Your Family?

Remembering David Monk

Dave showing off the downtown Champaign Pocket Prairie

David Monk, 91, died on December 2, 2022. For a detailed account of his life and accomplishments, refer to the News-Gazette article published on July 13, 2022, soon after he went into hospice care. It is not easy to summarize this man’s amazing life and activities. Readers may know of Dave and his important place in local environmental activity. Many people applauded the brown-cloaked Monk annually pulling a wagon of prairie plants during Fourth of July parades. His Pocket Prairies attracted curious visitors, some of whom became prairie advocates. We were among numerous friends who frequently visited him during his last six months. He didn’t complain. His ideas about future projects were his constant concerns, and he encouraged everyone to get involved and basically save the world! He would talk about prairie remnants in the area that we needed to visit and get local people involved in preserving them. His conversations and knowledge about East Central Illinois geography, railroad activities, and rural and urban histories were encyclopedic. Continue reading

 403 total views,  1 views today

Posted in Community, Environment, Environment, Section | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Remembering David Monk

Frustrations of Peer-to-Peer Education in Prisons

The Public i is partnering with the Education Justice Project (EJP) to share writing by incarcerated students at the Danville Correctional Center. The EJP is a comprehensive college-in-prison program based at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Through its educational programming EJP enriches the lives of its students, their families, and the communities to which they return.

I sit at a rundown table that has its seats welded to the floor. It is likely secondhand from a bygone fast-food restaurant. Where the seat backs of the chairs should be attached, there are now just four empty screw holes: a hint at their past and a reminder of their current reality. Since this particular table is now in a state prison, the aforementioned seat backs have been deemed either unnecessary or dangerous.

I’m waiting for a peer that I am set to begin tutoring today to be let out of his cell. We live on a special wing at Danville Correctional Center that is designated for peers to help each other with their education. Continue reading

 113 total views

Posted in Arts, Education, incarceration, Prison Arts, Prisoners, Section, Voices | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Frustrations of Peer-to-Peer Education in Prisons

No Such Thing As a “Safe” Jail: 31-Year-Old Woman Dies at Champaign County Jail

On October 13, 2022, Tillie Deitz, a mother of three young children, died in the Champaign County jail. As I found in my own review of publicly available documents, Deitz admitted to being a drug user upon entering the jail and told officers she was experiencing symptoms of withdrawal. An autopsy ruled that her death was the result an acute toxicity of fentanyl—the synthetic opiate responsible for a growing number of drug overdoses.

I talked with Bethany Little, the founder and CEO of WIN Recovery, a Champaign-based organization which provides housing and treatment for women with addictions. “They put individuals in jail for crimes committed because of addiction,” she told me. “They are not getting any help in the jails, they should not be there in the first place.” Continue reading

 107 total views,  1 views today

Posted in Drug policy, incarceration, Police | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on No Such Thing As a “Safe” Jail: 31-Year-Old Woman Dies at Champaign County Jail

Women – Life – Freedom: Interview on Resistance in Iran, Part 1

Women’s protest against the severe restrictions on their freedom and bodily autonomy spread to many other sectors and issues.

Public i: Just start with a basic overview of what’s happening now and what sparked it, an update on the latest, and also what do you think people should know that isn’t being covered in the mainstream US media.

Faranak Miraftab: On the surface what sparked it was a young woman from Kurdistan of Iran, [Jina] Mahsa [Amini] [Editors’ note: although the name Mahsa has become a rallying cry across Iran and the world, it was forced by Persian ethnocentric naming regulations; her family used her original Kurdish name, Jina]  who was indeed wearing a hijab [head/hair covering, (allegedly) required by Islam for women], but the morality police found not properly done, arrested her and in custody beat her up so badly she ended up in coma at a hospital where two women journalists were able to take pictures and publicize the case. The journalists were arrested shortly after and are still in prison.

Mahbubeh Moqadam: The accusation is they are led by foreigners. Continue reading

 696 total views

Posted in Feminism, International, International, Section, Voices, Women, wonen's rights | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Women – Life – Freedom: Interview on Resistance in Iran, Part 1

Labor Abuse as Product Placement at the World Cup

The Guardian estimates that more than 6700 kafala workers died while working on World Cup construction

The 2022 soccer World Cup began its takeover of global sports channels on November 20, transmitting endless images of cosmopolitan crowds enjoying the sparkling new stadiums of Qatar to audiences around the world. The country that hosts the World Cup wins one of today’s most coveted advertisement opportunities. Coverage can boost investment, tourism, and trade, and even add to a country’s diplomatic heft. Yet the 2022 host, Qatar, is a country with an atrocious human rights record, especially in terms of labor conditions. Unfortunately, rather than calling attention to the suffering of laborers in Qatar, the World Cup is in danger of showcasing the economic benefits of Qatari-style labor exploitation to the world.

Ballwashing and the Apolitical Soccer Fan

Continue reading

 216 total views

Posted in International, International, labor, Labor/Economics, Middle East, Section, Sports | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Labor Abuse as Product Placement at the World Cup

It Can Happen Here: Medicare Advantage Disadvantages Retirees Nationally and in C-U

The New York Times recently published a story about how Medicare Advantage (MA) plans rip off consumers and taxpayers through a range of dubious practices up to and including fraud. These practices contribute to higher profit levels which, in turn, underwrite mergers in the health care industry. Industry colossuses further expand market share by offering seemingly great deals to consumers and to the employers, public agencies, and even unions that offer retiree group health plans. The extension of MA plans threatens the very existence of traditional Medicare, and quality insurance coverage for all our senior citizens.

Consumers often suffer due to these trends, and Champaign County residents are no exception. Continue reading

 148 total views

Posted in health care, seniors, the elderly | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on It Can Happen Here: Medicare Advantage Disadvantages Retirees Nationally and in C-U

Central Illinois Police Training for Mental Health Cases Questioned — Print Version

Tisha Bryson at her home in central Illinois on Saturday, June 4, 2022. photo by Darrell Hoemann/C-U Citizen Access

Tisha Bryson has been shackled, hospitalized, and shoved to the ground by Champaign-area police while experiencing a mental health crisis more times than she can count.

“I try not to hold grudges,” said Bryson, of Hammond. “But some of the ways I was treated were very traumatizing.”

Bryson’s case also surfaces a regular criticism: that police are not adequately trained to respond to mental health crises and often respond with punitive measures. Continue reading

 159 total views

Posted in health care, Mental Health, Police, police accountability, Police brutality, Policing, Racism | Tagged , | Comments Off on Central Illinois Police Training for Mental Health Cases Questioned — Print Version

Central Illinois Police Training for Mental Health Cases Questioned — Full Version

Tisha Bryson at her home in central Illinois on Saturday, June 4, 2022. photo by Darrell Hoemann/C-U Citizen Access

Tisha Bryson has been shackled, hospitalized and shoved to the ground by central Illinois law enforcement officers while experiencing a mental health crisis more times than she can count.

“I try not to hold grudges,” Bryson said, a resident of Hammond in Piatt County, about 40 miles southwest of Champaign. “But some of the ways I was treated were very traumatizing.”

Bryson’s experiences speak to the central role police play in mental health treatment in central Illinois and nationwide. Her case also surfaces a regular criticism: that police are not adequately trained to respond to mental health crises and often respond with punitive measures that cause further harm. Continue reading

 121 total views

Posted in health, Mental Health, Police, police accountability, Police brutality, Policing, Racism, Section | Tagged , | Comments Off on Central Illinois Police Training for Mental Health Cases Questioned — Full Version

Why I Called Herschel Walker Coonish: The Right of Black People to Call Out their Traitors

Editors’ Note: This article has been held until after the Georgia runoff election so there would be no suggestion of a political endorsement.

Since Donald Trump’s incursion into US politics in 2015, deprecation and intimidation have become pervasive. Trump and his MAGA fascists have launched an assault on the rule of law and the tattered shreds of a “herrenvolk  democracy” (one controlled by people of one race or ethnicity). They have harassed poll judges, banned books, intimidated librarians and school board members, and violently attacked those who advocate for an egalitarian multiracial democracy.

Trump’s forces have brought his nightmarish vision and politics of threat to Champaign-Urbana. After my twice-a-month column, “RealTalk: A Black Perspective” appeared in the News Gazette on Sunday, October 23, conservatives and far-right forces began assailing me, my departments at the University of Illinois, and members of the UIUC administration with “derogatory and inflammatory” emails and calls for my dismissal. Continue reading

 140 total views

Posted in African Americans, African Americans, bigotry, Politics, Racism, Voices, White Nationalism | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Why I Called Herschel Walker Coonish: The Right of Black People to Call Out their Traitors

How The Issue of Representation Impacts Central Illinois

The slow police response to the 2021 disappearance and later identification of ISU graduate student Jelani Day contrasted with high-profile investigations of missing white individuals

The issue of unequal representation of cultures has plagued the nation since its birth, often resulting in the perversion of people’s natural rights. In central Illinois, it extends that perversion through aggressive discrimination.

Although minorities have seen more representation on screen, their everyday lived experiences haven’t. Instead, stereotypical mirrors of minorities are represented by America’s dominating culture. This amplifies the cultural disconnect between races, which creates an environment of division and misrepresentation. Continue reading

 299 total views

Posted in African Americans, African Americans, bigotry, Media, Racism, Section, Violence, Voices | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on How The Issue of Representation Impacts Central Illinois

Sola Gratia Farm Grows Good in CU

The author selling Sola Gratia produce at the farmer’s market

Here in Central Illinois, we’re surrounded by prime farmland—miles and miles of crops, primarily corn and soy, growing on some of the most fertile soil in the world. And yet, approximately one in seven adults and one in five children in our community does not know where their next meal is going to come from. This disparity is what the founders of Sola Gratia Farm–visionary members of St. Matthew Lutheran Church and Faith in Place—were responding to when they created this farm in 2012. Continue reading

 123 total views

Posted in Community, Environment, Food Insecurity | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Sola Gratia Farm Grows Good in CU

Music Curio: Improvisers Exchange Sheds Sonic Shreds

Jason Finkelman and Saori Kataoka go at it at an Improvisers Exchange performance

Improvisers Exchange exudes experimental sounds at the Rose Bowl Tavern every first Monday of the month from 5:30 to 7:30 pm. Organized and directed by Jason Finkelman, Improvisers Exchange is a fluctuating eclectic ensemble of musicians, all of whom share a buzz for creative communal genesis of sound experiments, more specifically “omni-idiomatic improvisation.” Finkelman thought up this term to denote an ideal approach welcoming all styles, simultaneously integrating any mixture of styles and instruments into a single improv-jam, where sound-comrades may match, blend, or contrast, cultivating a kind of calico cosmos. With participation open to the community, Finkelman also runs the ensemble as a workshop at U of I during school months, and has featured special guests such as Mai Sugimoto, David Rosenboom, and Tatsuya Nakatani. I’ll take you on a musical tour of a few past events. It may inspire you to seek out their future happenings. Continue reading

 180 total views

Posted in Arts, Local Arts, Music, Section | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Music Curio: Improvisers Exchange Sheds Sonic Shreds

The Assault on the Pretrial Fairness Act

Local Pretrial Fairness Act activists and advocates demonstrate at Illinois Terminal in Champaign, outside of State Senator Scott Bennett’s office, on October 3, 2022. Photo courtesy of Karen Medina

Last month, News-Gazette columnist Jim Dey headlined “hysteria” over the provisions of the 2021 Illinois Pretrial Fairness Act (PFA), which will go into effect in January, including the end to cash bail. Predictably, but illogically, Dey located the hysteria on the side of advocates for criminal justice reform rather than right-wing scaremongers who are shrilly shouting “Purge.” [The reference is to the horror media franchise, in which all crimes are allowed for a short period annually.] As if the end of cash bail meant that everyone would be automatically released to the streets. . . . Continue reading

 633 total views

Posted in IL, incarceration, Justice, Politics | Tagged , , | Comments Off on The Assault on the Pretrial Fairness Act

Take Action to Keep Champaign County from Losing Another Nursing Home!

University Rehabilitation Center, the former county nursing home. Photo courtesy of Karen Medina

Champaign County residents are about to lose another nursing home. But we can stop this from happening, if we work together!

The Rothners, who are the current owners of the former Champaign County Nursing Home, which they bought in 2018, now want permission from the Champaign County Board to sell the nursing home and have it become something other than a nursing home.

This would mean that the Champaign County community would lose another approximately 220 skilled-nursing facility beds. Continue reading

 198 total views

Posted in Champaign County, health care, Healthcare, Nursing Home, seniors, the elderly | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Take Action to Keep Champaign County from Losing Another Nursing Home!