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World Religion Day seeks to create unity
Student org provides community service opportunities
Women’s basketball gives free tickets to local schools
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Thursday, January 13, 2022 Vol. 75 No. 16
SIUE’s online shift for week one: Everything you need to know GABRIEL BRADY managing editor
With SIUE soon approaching two full years of operating under COVID-19, many are hoping the pandemic’s end is in sight. However, administration has solutions and procedures to keep the spread of the virus under control. Dr. Jerry Kruse, dean and provost of the SIU School of Medicine, said the Omicron variant is the most easily transmissible COVID-19 variant yet, which is what makes it dangerous. “According to the CDC data tracker, for the week that ended Jan. 1, 2022, 95.4 percent of [COVID-19] infections were due to Omicron. The other 4.6 percent were due to Delta. So, it has taken over. There’s no doubt about it,” Kruse said. “It also has more affinity for children, So the percentage of children getting infected and being hospitalized is more than we’ve seen before.” According to SIUE Chancellor Randy Pembrook, the re-entry tests were because SIUE’s positivity rates had previously been very low. “We realized that all through the fall, … our positivity rates were much lower than the surrounding communities. So, we decided to see what would happen and we created the Re-entry COVID Test Protocol,” Pembrook said. “On Monday and Tuesday we had lots of people that went through that testing process.” However, Pembrook also said the results of these tests actually provided data that showed that SIUE’S positivity rate was not as low as it once was, which prompted the move to online classes for the first week. “As we looked at data from those first two days on Wednesday, we had over 3,000 people test, and rather than a 1.4 or 1.7, we were running a 14 to 15 percent positivity, in all our groups,” Pembrook said. “Whether it was faculty or staff or students, everyone was at a minimum of a 10 percent positivity.” Kruse said he believed many of SIUE’S positive re-entry COVID-19 tests were brought about by Omicron.
Controlling the spread and in-person classes
Kruse said the move to online was a necessary one. According to Kruse, vaccines and masks help stem the spread of COVID-19, but the best measure is always less gatherings. “The bottom line on all of this with Omicron is that more stringent measures are going to be needed for a while. We’re going to need to tighten up on congregate gatherings, … we’re going to need to make sure that we use effective masks … and it’s of utmost importance that you get boosted now so you have at least partial immunity against Omicron,” Kruse said. “And then, when even newer boosters are made, I’m sure they’ll be made to be effective against Omicron.” Although SIUE has taken the majority of classes online for one week, Provost Denise Cobb said there are still some classes that could not be moved fully online due to the content of the courses. “Any performance-based classes, studios, labs and things of that nature, work with your department chair and
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BY THE NUMBERS / COVID-19 AT SIUE, SPRING 2022 New confirmed positive cases (from tests conducted by SIUE and self-reporting):
Tests conducted by SIUE:
Jan 4 - Jan10: 328 students, 96 faculty/staff
Dec 28 - Jan 3: 0
Dec 28 - Jan3: 115 students, 11 faculty/staff
14-Day New Tests Conducted: 4,874
Dec 21 - Dec 27: 50 students, 9 faculty/staff
All prior weeks tests conducted: Dec 28 - Jan 3: 4,874*
14-Day New Positive Cases: 443 students, 107 faculty/staff
Total Tests Conducted: 4,874
MADISON COUNTY DAY BY DAY:
1500
Jan 4 - Jan 10: 657 Dec 28 - Jan 3: 0
14-day new positive cases: 657
All prior weeks positive cases: Dec 28 - Jan 3: 657*
657 (13.48%)
900
Percentage of isolation/quarantine space available on campus (as of January 11): 79%
600
*All totals have been reset for the Spring 2022 semester
300 JAN 6
JAN 7
JAN 8
JAN 9
your dean, and if you need to develop an exception, we view those cases and make sure that we have safe protocols in place. If we’re going to have exceptions, we want to make sure that we’re communicating clearly with students so that they can make sure that they’re available and we want to make sure we can serve students’ needs but do so safely,” Cobb said. For those classes that are still in-person, Kruse said the importance of masks cannot be understated. However, according to Kruse, some masks are more helpful than others. “Very effective masks are the level three surgical masks. In the SIU School of Medicine, we’ve asked everyone to wear a level three surgical mask or better,” Kruse said. “I will say, the cloth masks, with two layers that have a filter inside them are very close to as effective as the level three surgical masks. However, those with one layer are not effective, and gaiters are totally ineffective. As a matter of fact, gaiters might be less than ineffective. They might cause more infection.” Director of Health Service Riane Greenwalt said masks are necessary to slowing and stopping the spread of COVID-19, but also other viruses and illnesses. “Like last year, the use of masks, and the appropriate use of masks properly, has minimized [COVID-19]’s spread, as well as influenza up until this moment … We have not seen a great number of students with influenza, [but we] have seen influenza on campus already, before the semester break, and it was both Influenza A and B,” Greenwalt said. “When students are coming to us and telling us that they’re not feeling well, we not only check to see about [COVID-19], but we also check to see about the influenza.”
Necessary accommodations Regardless of which classes are in-person, faculty, staff and students may all have absences because of the pandemic this se@alestlelive
Positive cases identified by SIUE testing:
Total Positive Cases:
1200
0
Total active positive cases: 421 students 103 faculty/staff
Jan 4 - Jan 10: 4,641
@TheAlestle
JAN 10
JAN 11
Source: Health, Reporting, and Testing page on SIUE’s COVID-19 website, as of January 11.
mester, and Cobb said understanding and patience is necessary from everyone. “We may have situations where a faculty member needs a backup, someone to cover their courses, and I hope students will be patient in those situations. We may have students who are ill for the first class period and are unable to attend, so whether virtual or not, we’re still going to have challenges along the way that we’ll have to work through together to try to solve,” Cobb said. Pembrook said availability of professors and other workers on campus is another reason for the move online. “Every time we have a positive test, a member of a team is out of work for that period of five days minimum, and it could be more depending on if they have symptoms. We just have to have enough people to run the campus,” Pembrook said. For students who are more concerned about the spread of COVID-19 and their return to campus, Assistant Director for Equal Opportunity, ACCESS and Title IX Coordination Kim Kilgore said there are options. “You can request an accommodation if you have a pre-existing condition or you are more immune-compromised or susceptible to [COVID-19]. You can contact our office, which is the EOA Title IX office if you have any questions, and we should be able to help you answer those questions, but the first line is to try to do a remote work request,” Kilgore said.
Residential students
There are other accommodations being asked of residential students moving back on campus, according to Director of University Housing Mallory Sidarous. “We are asking that students limit the number of guests that come with them to continue to support those de-densification efforts during move-in. We generally do not see a lot of guests coming back for spring move-in. It’s usually just the student returning back with maybe just an @Online Editor Alestle
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extra tote bag after the Winter break,” Sidarous said. For students still on campus, there are resources that are still available and remaining open for them, according to Vice Chancellor for Administration Morris Taylor. “We ask supervisors to consider rotation schedules or modified employee schedules to achieve a balance of on-campus and remote work. Offices that provide critical student support to our on -the-ground and new students, please be mindful of what services will need to be available in-person, rather than remote, in this critical preparatory week, and make sure that your office has proper staffing to help students successfully transition to campus,” Taylor said.
Return to normalcy For a full return back to campus, and a full return to a normal semester, Pembrook said there are many pieces that have to line up together. “One of the questions that I know is one everyone’s mind is, ‘What exactly is the magic number? What’s the point at which we’ll know we can cross over back from an online environment, largely online, and be able to move back on the ground?’ And I would say it’s a combination of several factors,” Pembrook said. “One of them is that there’s an 8 percent threshold we’ve talked about all last year, so we hope to get that number below 8 percent. We hope to see a sustained downward trend in the overall omicron data throughout the state.” Kruse said another way to expedite the transition back to campus is to get vaccinated. According to Greenwalt, there are many opportunities to do so. “There is plenty of vaccine available in our area, and we’re very happy to collaborate with Madison County, as well as St. Clair County in order to get vaccines out for our campus community,” Greenwalt said. See you on the Internet!
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Thursday, 01.13.22
Honors Student Association hosts 24 Hours of Service events throughout the semester BRANDON WELLS sports editor
The Honors Student Association will host events throughout the semester calling for students to get involved in animal rights, environmental, academic and economic hardship services. The events will be organized into different series that will take place throughout the upcoming weeks in the semester. Each series will give students the opportunity to earn six hours of service during each of the four three-week series, totaling to 24 hours. Sophomore business administration major Keena Johnson, vice president of the HSA, said the topics chosen for each series are based on what members of the HSA value and what would work well for the 24 Hours of Service campaign. “We knew we wanted to do separate series and then from there it was up to individual people who are [like], ‘I’m passionate about this. I want to head up this,’” Johnson said. Junior anthropology major Hunter Mathews, the HSA’s service committee chair, is taking the lead during the first three weeks with education. For the first series, the events won’t start until the second week, with a presentation about service and academics. For the third week, students will have the opportunity to write letters of appreciation to some of the staff and faculty in each department. The card-writing will take place on two different days, and also have an asynchronous option for students who prefer it. The fourth and final week of the first series will involve partnering with Com-
munity Engagement to host a “Service she personally finds important, but is also Saturday” from 8:30 a.m. to noon. something she wanted to focus on because Mathews said he also wants to incor- of the lack of opportunities for students to porate mental health related activities if he get involved in their communities due to can and partner with the Legacy student the pandemic. organization to send out letters involved “I was hoping that this semester we with that topic as well. For Mathews, he could bring in some more meaning [and] said the mental health aspect of his series do something that really hits home for is particularly important to him. some people. I “Over this think homelesspast semesness and poverty ter, I feel like I is such a huge just saw mental issue, especially health in the since we’re so school decline close to St. Louoverall and I is where that is think a good very common,” way to help for Henry said. that and push The third that in another series for the direction is service,” Mathews campaign is said. “In the based around end it’s really environmentalgonna help the MELISSA HENRY ism and is the whole commu- alternative spring break chair of HSA series in whichnity from the inside.” Johnson is personally involved. This series The second series will be focused will involve both presentations relating to around helping out in the community the environment and partnering with The with economic hardship, and will be led Gardens at SIUE to help educate and reby junior psychology major Melissa Henmove invasive species in The Gardens. ry, the alternative spring break chair. Students will also be able to decorate The series itself has to do with helpand place stepping stones to help out the ing out around the community and staff at The Gardens. Henry said it will involve service such The fourth and final series of the as helping out with homeless shelters campaign will be related to animal serand food pantries. Henry said they will be partner- vice and will involve volunteering at ing with LifeWise STL to help set up a an animal shelter. For more information about day where people can learn more about economic hardship and participate in the events and how to get involved, visit the HSA’s Instagram for the a service event. Henry said her series is something semester-long campaign.
“I was hoping that this semester we could bring in some more meaning [and] do something that really hits home for some people. I think homelessness and poverty is such a huge issue
Community Engagement assistant director uses background to provide stability to students and surrounding community FRANCESCA BOSTON reporter
The Kimmel assistant director uses her past experience as an advocate for sexual assault and domestic abuse victims as a base for her work at SIUE. Carolyn Compton is the assistant director for community engagement in the Kimmel Student Involvement Center. She started working at SIUE in summer 2019, but before coming to work in academics she worked at Alternative to Living in Violent Environments, an organization in St. Louis that provides emergency housing to victims of domestic abuse as well as counseling and other services. Compton was the volunteer coordinator for ALIVE, helping to train volunteers, interns and practicum students to work with ALIVE to provide support. Although she said she volunteered to coordinate for the group, Compton said she’s mostly focused on community outreach. “There’s a lot of education trying to educate the community about what the domestic violence cycles were and how communities could get engaged, be more aware, understand the cycles of violence and be allies or be better allies. It was also meant to educate first responders and also frontline workers,” Compton said. Compton also served as a volunteer for the Sexual Assault Response Team with the YWCA in St. Louis. She said as a SART volunteer, once a month she would be on call and respond to a sexual assault
call to a local hospital and be an advocate for the victim. “[I] would stay and make sure that [I was] there to advocate for them in a way that was appropriate for each victim,” Compton said. “For some that might be just being there and being silent. For some, that might be more of an active role of actively advocating for the things that they are required to receive by law, from STI medications to exams, and just being supportive and being there, as someone that can help.” Compton said right before she came to work for SIUE in June of 2019, she used a grant that ALIVE received to help create a more welcoming environment for clients, but was able to use some of the leftover money to purchase a space Photo courtesy at the Pridefest in of Carolyn Compton St. Louis. “We wanted to do more outreach in the LGBTQ community and we couldn’t afford to do that before. We bought a lot of things to kind of help make that a really cool, interesting, fun space to be in.” Compton said. “It was a very great, really inspiring experience. We made a lot of connections.” Compton said she and her team have some new initiatives coming soon to SIUE. She said they are really excited about working with St. Clair County
to provide STI testing and education for students on campus. “I think it’s crucial and really important and exciting. They offer full wraparound services for anyone that tests positive. So anything from, you know, rental assistance and help with groceries or mitigating, you know, utilities and all kinds of things, affording medications. But I’m so excited to be able to offer something like that.” Compton said. Compton said being able to provide services, like testing for infections spread through sex, is what makes her excited. “I just want folks to have access to things that make their lives better, that enhance their ability to participate because I think everybody has moments where they struggle. I speak freely that I attend therapy, because I don’t think mental health should be stigmatized, and I don’t think the need for things like SNAP [benefits] should be stigmatized, or that HIV testing should be,” Compton said. Compton said her team is going to keep working on the the Cougar Cupboard, which is a student food pantry, and the Food Recovery Network, which is a program that recovers untouched, unserved foods to be packaged into individual meals that are handed out to local homeless residents. Compton said they are often able to make up 60-70 meals, saving food waste from going to the landfill and fighting hunger in our local area. To find more information on the Food Recovery Network, see their page on GetInvolved
12.08.21
Unknown suspects stole a dark green Huffy bicycle, valued at $150. Investigation is ongoing.
12.10.21
Unknown suspects stole a light green Breeze Squall Mountain bicycle, valued at $350, outside Bailey Hall. Investigation is ongoing.
12.13.21
Unknown suspects placed used construction materials and non-SIUE trash in a trash bin without permission.
12.16.21
Unknown suspects unlawfully entered several SIUE vehicles and stole numerous tools and other miscellaneous items, valued at $700. Investigation is ongoing. Unknown suspects kicked in a door at Southern Hills, causing $100 in damage. Investigation is ongoing.
12.22.21
Unknown supsects stole a security camera, valued at $300. Investigation is ongoing.
12.23.21
Unknown suspects stole two tires off a Giant Liv bicycle outside Smith Hall. Investigation is ongoing.
12.26.21
Unknown suspects forcfully entered a university storage shed and stole a Magnum MPG 5600 generator, valued at $750. Investigation is ongoing.
12.28.21
Unknown suspects stole a silver and green 21-speed bicycle, valued at $100. Investigation is ongoing.
01.04.22
Unknown suspects broke into building and stole miscellaneous items, valued at $250. Damage to the building is estimated at $400. Investigation is ongoing.
01.09.22
Gregory L. Eason, 52, Carbondale, Illinois, a non-student, was arrested on a warrant for failure to appear and transported to the Jackson County Jail.
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Thursday, 01.13.22
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NICOLE BOYD online editor
An SIUE senior’s research project focused on religion and resources sought to disprove that oil drives conflict between nations, which could help find solutions without bloodshed. Dakota Tostado, a senior political science major from Collinsville, Illinois, conducted his senior research project on Samuel P. Huntington’s “Clash of Civilizations,” which defines civilizations by religion and argues that any conflict between civilization will concern cultural differences. Tostado sought to discover if resource scarcity, particularly that of oil, drives conflict between nation-states. “There were a couple of subsets that I found of research that include cultural incompatibility with resource scarcity, but not necessarily with oil, and I researched the worldwide demand for oil and basically shows that the time that I studied, 2010 to 2014, the world demanded more oil than previously before. So I thought that that period of time would be good research, or rather a good time to research, provided that [we] live in a contemporary world,” Tostado said. “It was a test, a statistical test, to determine whether a hypothesis made nearly 30 years ago is still relevant to today.” Tostado said he found that Huntington was wrong. “There is little to no relationship statistically between the allocation of oil and interstate conflict. I say little to no because the relationship that was reported from the regressions is very, very, very intestinally significant, but it’s so small that it’s enough to throw it into question,” Tostado said. “So the results basically showed that culture and compatibility is something that we should further look at when it comes to conflict and maybe oil, but just not with the model that I constructed.” Tostado said his findings are important because if we can understand why two nation-states are desperate or aggravated to the
Dakota Tostado, a senior in political science from Collinsville, Illinois, has a passion for political science and research. However, he’s also passionate about education, and can be see here in a school where he student teaches. | Photo Courtesy of Dakota Tostado point where they need to engage in interstate conflict, we may be able to provide solutions. He said a lot of political scientists base their research off of problems rather than how to fix them, and that the U.S. does not provide a holistic view on international news as there are conflicts of which we are not aware.
“My dad is actually Hispanic. I’m not from Mexico, but I do try to keep that with me, not only on a personal standpoint, but [an] educational standpoint. I try to view all sides of the data, the information, the possibilities,” Tostado said. “I think it’s important to be holistic, especially as a political science researcher, giv-
en that so much of the scientific framework that we utilize as political science researchers is very westernized at its core.” Tostado said the idea for his research came from wanting to pick a topic relevant to today’s world. “It was a risky [choice] just because it has been heavily re-
searched upon before, but I felt concerning the circumstances that we live in and the world that we live in and the way that things have transpired since he actually published that work, that it was worth taking risk of doing that research,” Tostado said. According to Tostado, Huntington looks back at the history of conflict and asserts that superpowers pre–Cold War kept the peace and made sure the rest of the world stayed in line, which he found peculiar because nation-states interfering with the sovereignty of others has been historically documented. “The way in which it’s been interfered in the past is so much different from the way it’s being interfered with now and for many different reasons, so it does deal with an old political question,” Tostado said. “Does religion really hold as divisive of an effect as we believe it does? Do civilizations hold on to religion as strongly as we believe them to do? Not only that, but can we even begin to clump so many nation states or people just because of their geographic proximity?” Tostado said he became interested in politics during the 2008 election, because he was moved by how many people were so dedicated to various causes. “There’s a desire within me to see people do well in life, and not just myself, but other people around me. And I feel that the way to do that effectively is government,” Tostado said. “I don’t believe [the] government [is] evil, I don’t believe [the] government [is] out to get us, [but] that we can make the most of what we have using government if we come together and are willing to put forward the bipartisan or collaborative solutions that we’re willing to do.” After graduation, Tostado said he wants to be an educator, then move into the public sector and seek public office. “I want to be that role model for students like me who didn’t know what they wanted to do in their lives, were kind of lost, who didn’t really have that at-home support they needed,” Tostado said. “And I want to be able to help my students succeed.”
NEXT WEEK: BI-STATE BAND FESTIVAL
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lifestyles alestlelive.com
contact the editor: lifestyles@alestlelive.com 650-3527 Thursday, 01.13.22
Library features that you might not know
Nap Pods: Located on the third floor of the library, nap pods provide a quiet space to grab a quick nap between classes or catch up on reading. The pods have a built-in timer and soothing music to create the ideal napping experience. | Francesca Boston / The Alestle
Pedal Desk: Located on the second and third floors, these desks provide a way to stay active while studying. They are great for students who may have a hard time sitting still or students who are looking for a new study spot. | Francesca Boston / The Alestle
Meditation Room: On the third floor, the mediation room provides a calm environment to meditate, pray or sit quietly in. | Francesca Boston / The Alestle Egg Chairs (Left): Located on the first floor, these chairs are great for students wanting a bit of privacy but not wanting to miss out on library life. Wiggle Rooms (Right): Located on the second floor and the newest addition to the library, these self-contained study pods allow students a private place to study. They have a whiteboard, ports for both USB and regular plug-ins, and a light to adjust the brightness. They are great for students who may have forgotten their headphones as well. | Francesca Boston / The Alestle
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World Religion Day at Fuller Dome calls for unity EMILY STERZINGER lifestyles editor
The Center of Spirituality and Sustainability will celebrate World Religion Day with a focus on readings of spiritually significant texts and scriptures from various religions. The event is part of a larger series of events celebrating spirituality called “Soul Sundays,” which take place weekly at the Fuller Dome. They aim to stand as a free-form gathering where attendants are invited to share texts that are spiritually significant to them. They were originally started by Edwardsville Unity, a local organization that aims to foster unity in the Edwardsville area. Tovia Black, the manager of the Center for Spirituality and Sustainability, stated that Soul Sundays are meant to be a time for spiritual sustenance. “Soul Sunday is a chance for people to get to know the most common connecting points of the different religions, the points that revolve around kindness and compassion and basic goodness,” Black said. World Religion Day is a holiday that occurs on the third Sunday of January each year. It was created by members of the Bahá’í faith. Jamal McLaughlin, a founding member of Edwardsville Unity, is a member of the Bahá’í faith. “The goal is really simple. Not to convince anyone to choose a different religion, but to acknowledge that they all have a lot in common and that it’s something to celebrate,” McLaughlin said. Alvin Deibert, a volunteer at the Fuller Dome, is a former board member and still enjoys participating in Soul Sundays, despite pandemic-related restrictions and a smaller number of participants. “We just started out and then this darn
The Fuller Dome, where the World Religion Day event will be held, is managed by the Center for Spirituality and Sustainability. | Clair Sollenberger / The Alestle [COVID-19] thing comes. One has to be very cautious in making contacts,” Deibert said. “We’re hoping if this would ever pass we can begin to get more students from the campus involved and hopefully students of various religious traditions will come in.” Roger Lutley, a member of the local Bahá’í community, said that there are a variety of ways for guests to participate spiritually, known as “Devotions.” “Devotions could be considered prayers, people may come with prayers, or may come with certain readings they’ve come across that may be inspiring to them,” Lutley said. “Poems, poetry of
some kind of a spiritual nature are often offered. If people are musically inclined, we’ve had some people that have been able to sing.” World Religion Day and the Soul Sundays are inclusive to those of any religious background, including those who are atheist or agnostic. “We have people who have no real religious affiliation, but they have spiritual aspects of life, so they bring spiritual things to read,” Deibert said. “Atheists would be welcome too. I don’t know what they would share with us, but there are some wonderful humanistic writings and they
could be shared too, even though they’re not religious.” The event is loosely themed around the concept of the “Golden Rule,” and how it’s found in many world religions. “There will be different readings and prayers that kind of highlight that oneness, that shared belief of treating each other well,” McLaughlin said. The event will occur 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 16 at the Fuller Dome. Attendance is limited to 30 people to comply with pandemic guidelines. Future Soul Sundays will occur weekly from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.
REVIEW: ‘Dexter: New Blood’ back with stellar acting, but finale fails DAMIAN MORRIS opinion editor
With season 8 being considered one of the most hated series endings of all time, “Dexter: New Blood” returns eight years later in an attempt to make amends for the previous finale. However, despite a mostly incredible season, it ultimately leaves viewers with yet another unfulfilling conclusion. From showrunner Clyde Phillips and director Marcos Siega, “Dexter: New Blood” picks up eight years after the original series with Michael C. Hall reprising his award-winning role of Dexter Morgan. He’s now going under the name Jim Lindsay after faking his death, who is living in the small town of Iron Lake, New York. Through this persona, he works at a hunting supply store and is dating the police chief Angela Bishop (played by Julia Jones). However, this new life gets largely interrupted when his now-teenage son, Harrison (played by Jack Alcott) discovers his location after thinking him dead for so many years. The first couple episodes do a great job at taking their time to introduce viewers to the new Dexter through his day-to-day encounters and conversations with his deceased sister Debra (reprised by Jennifer Carpenter) who replaces their father’s previous role as Dexter’s “Dark Passenger.” However, the show quickly picks up pace with the investigation of a missing per-
son, among many in Iron Lake. This case in particular draws in true-crime podcaster Molly Park (played by Jamie Chung), who had previously investigated both the Bay Harbor Butcher and the The Trinity Killer, which complicates Dexter’s attempt to stay hidden even further. Throughout the show Dexter struggles with not only an attempt to learn how to be a father to the son he abandoned, but confronting other areas of his past at every turn and his reemerging urge to kill after a near-decade hiatus from his addiction. The complicated relationship with Harrison is one of the biggest emotional stand outs in the show thanks to the compelling performances of Hall and Alcott. While Dexter was always good with kids, he was never able to interact well with teenagers, which muddies their dynamic even more. Further, the show introduces an antagonist that’s very reminiscent of the fan-favorite Trinity Killer (played by John Lithgow), and challenges Dexter in a way no one has before. This character plays largely into one of the show’s biggest strengths of keeping the audience guessing with layers of contradicting theories and a slow building intensity prevalent more and more as the episodes progress. New Blood also introduces a brilliant and mostly new cast, with many standouts including Kurt Caldwell (played by Clancy
| Photo courtesy of Showtime Networks Brown), who was born and raised in Iron Lake and often considered its unofficial mayor, and Logan (played by Alano Miller), a sergeant in the Iron Lake police department and wrestling coach for the local high school. However, despite the show being filled with predominantly positive elements, the last few episodes run into many problems reminiscent of “Dexter” season 8 through some completely uncharacteristic decisions made by particular characters, incomplete or abandoned side stories, wasted opportunities, illogi-
cal deductions and worst of all, a rushed plotline. It was clear closing into the last act that the series was either going to complete the story in a follow-up season or rush to a conclusion. Unfortunately, Philips chose the latter and left many fans with a familiar feeling of disappointment. This is even more disappointing as these problems were prevalent throughout all of season 8, but weren’t really visible in “Dexter: New Blood” until it was leading to a close. As disheartening as this is, it wouldn’t be fair to judge the
entire show off of its final episodes, as impactful as they are, given it’s filled with mostly positive elements between the casting, intensity, mysteries and emotional rollercoasters. Overall, “Dexter: New Blood” comes as a pleasant surprise to many fans who had lost hope we would ever get a return of the character. Hopefully they can tie up at least a few of the loose ends in the future, but regardless of its flaws and whether there’s ever another season, the (maybe) limited series is a must-watch for fans of the “Dexter” series.
sports
contact the editor: sports@alestlelive.com 650-3527
NEXT WEEK: IMPACT OF MVC EXPANSION ON COLLEGE ATHLETICS
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Thursday, 01.13.22
Losses, cancellations plague athletics over break DAMIAN MORRIS opinion editor
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Over winter break, SIUE’s men’s basketball, women’s basketball and wrestling teams played numerous games despite many postponements and cancellations.
OVERALL OVC
SIUE Murray State UT Martin Belmont Tennessee Tech Southeast Missouri Austin Peay Eastern Illinois Morehead State Tennessee State
Men’s Basketball
12/19/2021 The Cougars won their third consecutive game, ending in a score of 84-29 against the William Woods Owls at First Community Arena. This 55-point difference is the largest since they moved to the Division I level. This was their second-to-last nonconference game. Redshirt freshman guard Ray’Sean Taylor from Collinsville, Illinois scored a game-high of 21 points, making it his fifth 20-point game of his career. Redshirt junior guard Courtney Carter from Memphis, Tennessee scored a season-high of 15 points. Both redshirt junior center Elochukwu Eze from Enugu, Nigeria and freshman center Jonathan Kurtas from Mooresville, North Carolina scored career-high six points. 12/21/2021
OVERALL OVC
SIUE Belmont Austin Peay Southeast Missouri Tennessee Tech UT Martin Morehead State Tennessee State Eastern Illinois Murray State
01/06/2022 The game against Austin Peay at Clarksville, Tennessee was postponed. 01/06/2022 The Cougars lost 74-69 to Murray State at First Community Arena. Graduate guard Shaun Doss Jr. from Marion, Arkansas scored his 1000th career point. Taylor led the Cougars with a game-high of 24 points, which puts him in double figures in all 14 games he’s played so far. Also, Pruitt scored 12 points, which puts him in double figures for his fifth consecutive game.
Women’s Basketball 01/06/2022
The Cougars lost 66-57 at the First Community Arena in their second-to-last nonconference game of the season. Junior guard Mikayla Kinnard from Louisville, Kentucky led the Cougars with 15 points and redshirt senior guard Gab-
6-8 12-3 4-9 6-11 3-10 6-9 10-5 6-8 2-12 12-2
VOLLEYBALL
OVERALL OVC
Morehead State Murray State Belmont Austin Peay SIUE UT Martin Eastern Illinois Tennessee Tech Southeast Missouri Tennessee State
20-11 18-12 9-20 21-12 6-23 15-17 11-18 16-14 25-8 10-17
All stats are from the OVC
UPCOMING Track and field at EIU John Craft Invite Jan. 15
The game against Belmont in Edwardsville was postponed. The game against UT Martin in Martin, Tennessee was postponed.
5-8 10-4 4-10 7-5 7-7 4-11 9-4 6-7 1-13 9-6
MEN’S BASKETBALL
The Cougars lost 84-69 against South Alabama at the Mitchell Center in their last nonconference game of the season. Taylor scored 12 points, which puts him in double figures in all 13 games he’s played so far. Also, redshirt freshman DeeJuan Pruitt from Sacramento, California led with seven rebounds. 12/30/2021
01/01/2022
SIUE STANDINGS
Redshirt freshman DeeJuan Pruitt from Sacramento, California makes a shot as Murray state defenders rush to block him. | Jihun Han / The Alestle by Nikitinaite from Orpington, Kent, UK added 10 points to the game. 01/06/2022 The Cougars lost 74-71 in their last nonconference game of the season to Arkansas State at First Community Arena. Both senior forward Prima Chellis from Phoenix, Arizona and junior guard Mikayla Kinnard from Louisville, Kentucky scored 17 points during the game. 01/06/2022 The Cougars lost their first Ohio Valley Conference match 87-49 to Belmont. Kinnard from Louisville, Kentucky led the Cougars with 14 points and Nikitinaite scored her 1,000th career collegiate point as well. 01/06/2022 The Cougars won 62-58 against UT Martin at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center thanks to a last minute free throw by graduate guard/forward Allie Troeckler from Bethalto, Illinois,
scoring her 1,000th career point. Also, Nikitinaite led the Cougars with nine rebounds. 01/06/2022 The game against Austin Peay at Clarksville, Tennessee was postponed. 01/06/2022 The game against Murray State at SIUE was postponed.
Wrestling 01/06/2022 The wrestling match at Midlands Championships in Evanston, Illinois was canceled. However, the Cougars played two matches that day losing 34-3 against Virginia and 39-3 against Northwestern at Welsh Ryan Arena, which replaced the Midlands Championship games. Redshirt junior Saul Ervin from Morganfield, Kentucky at 141 pounds improved to 10-3 for the season by winning 5-1 against Dylan Cedeno from Virginia and
3-1 against Frankie Tal Shahar from Northwestern in overtime. 01/06/2022 The wrestling match at Midlands Championships in Evanston, Illinois was canceled again. 01/06/2022 The wrestling match at Clarion, Pennsylvania was postponed. 01/06/2022 The Cougars lost 24-15 to Cleveland State and 24-12 to Buffalo at a pair of Mid-American Conference matches. Redshirt junior Saul Ervin from Morganfield, Kentucky at 141 pounds and senior Colton McKiernan from Richmond, Michigan both won double games for The Cougars. Ervin won against Cleveland State's Hunter Olson 18-2 and Buffalo's Ben Freeman 2-1. McKiernan didn’t give a single point, winning 6-0 against Cleveland State's Daniel Bucknavich and 1-0 against Buffalo's Toby Cahill.
Women’s Basketball at SIUE vs. Southeast Missouri State 1 p.m., Jan. 15 Men’s Basketball at SIUE vs. Southeast Missouri State 3:30 p.m., Jan. 15 Wrestling at SIUE vs. Missouri 1 p.m., Jan. 16 Men’s Basketball at SIUE vs. Belmont 6 p.m., Jan. 17 Women’s Basketball vs. Austin Peay 6 p.m., Jan. 17
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