The Alestle Vol. 73 No. 19

T H E

ALESTLE

thursday, 02.06.20

vol. 73 no. 19

The Student Voice Since 1960

Modern American Dance Company’s Daryon Kent lifts Gabriella Billy at Arts and Issue’s “Chaos Magick” on January 30th in Dunham Hall. “Chaos Magick” included contributions from Angela Kim, Michael Robert Boswell, Peter John Kearney, Dan VanHassel, Theresa Kelly and Kevin Hockenberry.

Read more about the performance on page 4.

FUNDING ALLOCATION: Faculty Association seeks student input | page 2

REVIVING SPOKEN WORD: ELLA returns to campus | page 5

WRESTLING: sees win this weekend | page 7 | Emma Davis / The Alestle

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Faculty Association invites student voices on funding allocation JENNIFER GOECKNER managing editor

With two SIU-system Board of Trustees meetings next week, SIUE’s Faculty Association has reached out to students to speak at the meeting about how the current funding allocation between SIUE and SIUC has impacted them.

Next week’s meetings will be the first BOT meetings of 2020, as well as the first meetings since the board approved a 50/50 split of new state funding until Fiscal Year 2022 and selected a new system president in December. The split applies only to an increase in funding. All other state funds will continue to follow the traditional funding model, which gives SIUC around 64 percent of available funds and SIUE 36 percent. This model has been in place since around 1975.

Ian Toberman, the assistant director for the University Honors Program and president of the Staff Senate, said he is not satisfied with the 50/50 split of new funding because a reallocation of all funding is still needed.

“First of all, let’s remember that this is new money only, and there’s never any guarantee of new money from the state of Illinois. So, number one, what looks nice on paper is not a given,” Toberman said.

“I think the other thing is, [the board has] been making some kind of promise on reallocation and agreeing that something needs to change for years now … and they’re not touching anything with the underlying problem and challenge.”

Mark Poepsel, an associate professor in the Department of Mass Communications and the president of the Faculty Association, led a meeting on Jan. 31 to raise awareness of the current funding allocation.

Poepsel said he decided to hold the meeting because many students may be unaware of the situation, especially because the 50/50 split was announced at the end of the Fall 2019 semester, right before break.

“I think it takes some awareness, and

| Summer Bradley / The Alestle

you have to do sort of a consciousness raising because people are very focused on graduating and getting through their courses, and you have to tell them, ‘Hey, this is an opportunity for us that they tried to take away, frankly, by making the announcement about the split between the two schools in the system right before winter break,’” Poepsel said.

Poepsel said he also wanted to hold the informational meeting to encourage those interested, especially students, to speak at the upcoming BOT meeting.

“I’m inviting students and all stakeholders to participate in the discussion about how state funding gets balanced between us and Carbondale within the SIU system,” Poepsel said. “And the main reason why students have to be involved is because people listen to them because they are on the receiving end of all these decisions made … We couldn’t have a school without professors or staff or administrators, but there’s no reason to have a school without students.

According to Toberman, student voices are important on this issue because students are the ones affected the most by the current funding allocation.

“It is more powerful when the complaints [and] the advocacy is done by the people most directly impacted and in their voice,” Toberman said. “We say in education it is about the student experience and the student voice, and when those two things are absent, it is very easy for people in the room to assume that they’re unimportant.”

Joel Rahlfs, a senior computer engineering major from Ellis Grove, Illinois, was one student who attended the Jan. 31 meeting. Rahlfs said a few main points from the meeting stuck with him afterwards.

“The first is ... the question of, ‘Is a student at SIUE worth less than a student at SIUC, since we get less funding?’” Rahlfs said. “[The second] is the enthusiasm of the people there, the faculty and students at the meeting, to start to take action on the issue.”

While Rahlfs said he does not intend to speak at the BOT meeting, he said he does plan to talk to other students about this issue and share what he has learned about it. “[The meeting] was really impactful, and it certainly sparked my interest in getting SIUE fair funding and encouraged me to talk about this with students in my classes and organizations to help spread the message,” Rahlfs said.

Anyone interested in learning more about the SIU-system funding allocation can attend another informational meeting hosted by the Faculty Association at 11 a.m. Friday, Feb. 7 in Student Success Center Room 0200.

The first BOT meeting will be held at 3 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 12 in Birger Hall, and opens with public comments. The second meeting will be held at 9 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 13 in the Meridian Ballroom, and public comments are the third item on the agenda. Those interested in speaking at either meeting should contact Misty Whittington at mistyw@siue.edu.

Multiple campus departments work to prevent domestic battery NICOLE BOYD copy editor

Recent reports of what is classified as domestic battery and assault on campus show this type of violence is still prevalent on college campuses.

A report of assault and two reports of domestic battery were recently included in the SIUE police blotter, as well as one reported domestic disturbance within the past week.

PEACe Coordinator Samantha Dickens said supporting survivors of domestic violence looks different than supporting survivors of sexual assault. “[For] dating and domestic violence survivors oftentimes, those patterns of behavior in their relationship have become very normal in their lives, as part of their day-to-day, so they may not describe themselves as victims or survivors. That is their life,” Dickens said. “And so supporting them often means saying ‘OK, I’m worried about you and this is why, but I’m here for you if you need me.’ … A lot of it is waiting nonjudgmentally until someone feels ready to leave that person.”

Dickens said college students are particularly vulnerable to dating violence and sexual assault. “[Age] 18 to 24 is when people usually experience their first victimization of domestic violence, oftentimes sexual assault, stalking. It’s when people who are going to be long-term serial offenders start offending,” Dickens said. “So that age range is just very vulnerable. And then there’s often a greater risk in college than people out in the larger communities.”

Jamie Ball, SIUE’s Title IX Coordinator, said the Title IX administration has responsibility in dealing with the aftermath of such incidents, as well as preventing them in the future.

“If we become aware that one of our students has been affected by domestic or dating violence, any kind of relationship violence, we have some responsibility to try to mitigate the impacts of it, prevent the recurrence, and just generally respond to it as a Title IX issue,” Ball said.

Ball works with students who take many different legal avenues, depending on their situations.

“One of the things I can do is work with a person who’s been affected to identify the appropriate jurisdictional resource, if they want to do that … I also work with students to pursue things like restraining or protective orders through the court system, or develop no contact directives with the university community,” Ball said.

Ball said any kind of violence, including threats of violence, may qualify as abuse.

“I think we are casting a broader net in our understanding of what constitutes abuse in relationships … so it doesn’t always have to result in some kind of physical abuse if there is a pattern of problematic behavior that’s really controlling or very harmful emotionally,” Ball said.

Ball also helps students stay on track academically after surviving an incident.

“I also work with students … on the collateral damage of being in that kind of situation,” Ball said. “Sometimes people are a bit derailed from fully participating in their schedule of academic activities, so finding ways to make up tests, or just mitigate the impacts of that kind of situation if that has been one of the impacts.”

According to SIUE Police Chief Kevin Schmoll, campus police respond to such reports with urgency.

“We respond to them very quickly.

Usually if these are currently in progress we’re going to go get there as quickly as we can … We usually send multiple offi-

cers to a scene, and these usually occur in housing areas. Officers respond, separate the parties, and then we’re going to interview them separately to get each side of the story,” Schmoll said.

Schmoll said students should call 911 if an assault or instance of domestic battery is in progress.

“If something’s happening now, 911.

Contact us, that’s an emergency. We’re here for the safety of our students and our university community,” Schmoll said.

Schmoll also said students can talk to officers before a situation escalates to domestic battery.

“We’re trained in crisis intervention, and we’d be happy to help … Try to talk to somebody before it reaches that point of domestic battery,” Schmoll said.

Rex Jackson, associate director for residence life, said University Housing takes measures to prevent domestic battery and assault.

“In terms of just overall safety security … We meet weekly with the police department, dean of students office, counseling, Title IX, and go through incidents that have been happening on campus to see if there’s patterns so we can kind of figure out how we might interrupt those patterns,” Jackson said.

Jackson offered suggestions as to what precautions students should take while living in campus housing.

“If something is happening, know that there are community resources, campus resources that are not here to judge or put blame on anyone, but to help,” Jackson said.

To contact Title IX, call 650-2333. To call the SIUE police non-emergency line, call 650-3324. Students may make anonymous reports at www.siue.edu/sexual-assault/reporting-an-incident/anonymous-report.shtml.

01.29.20 SIUE Police responded to a report of a road rage incident between two students of campus. The responding officer spoke with both students and told them not to make contact with each other again.

A hangtag was reported stolen from a vehicle in parking lot 5.

01.31.20 An officer responded to a report of a female subject yelling in Cougar Village. The officer reported a domestic disturbance between a male and female subject, and said the female subject left the area when asked.

02.02.20 Joshua R. Jones was arrested for driving under the influence and was transported to the SIUE Police Department where he was fingerprinted, photographed, processed and released after posting bail and forfeiting his driver’s license. A state citation was also issued for disobeying a traffic control device.

SIUE Police received a report from a third party of a criminal sexual assault in Prairie Hall. The investigation continues.

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SIUE welcomes new initiative to promote community, partnership with East St. Louis JENNIFER GOECKNER managing editor

The Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation Campus Center is a new program that will soon be hosted at SIUE, with the goal of encouraging bonds between SIUE and the surrounding community as well as advocating for equality.

Interim Assistant Provost Jessica Harris is spearheading the program on the SIUE campus. Harris said community building is an important part of the center’s mission, both on national and local levels.

“The goal of the center is to pair colleges and universities with their surrounding community, and to engage the community members and students and folks that are a part of the university in racial healing efforts and really addressing social justice issues,” Harris said. “It’s really supposed to be an opportunity for campuses and communities to work together.”

According to Harris, in the process of applying to be part of the nationwide program, she and the rest of the team formed by faculty and staff had to develop a plan for how the initiative would be implemented at SIUE. “The TRHT change process has three components. There’s narrative change, racial healing and transformation, and so we had to outline what that would look like for our community,” Harris said. “After we thought through it, we thought it might be a good idea to really focus on East St. Louis and our relationship with East St. Louis and how we can work together to heal and also to transform.”

Connie Frey-Spurlock, an associate sociology professor and member of the TRHT team, said she is developing ways to use her work with the Successful Communities Collaborative to promote this new initiative.

“I’m working with the Successful Communities Collaborative, and we’re going to use that framework to build those partnerships, certainly with East St. Louis but beyond that in the future,” Frey-Spurlock said. “SSCC will facilitate those connections. There are a couple of options so far where students can get involved and do some of that work, so we’ll use this model to help those students connect to the larger work at the center.”

Frey-Spurlock also said she views this program and its goal of community building as important because these connections create a better society in a number of ways.

“We have a lot of work to do in terms of building relationships that expand beyond our own racial and identity categories,” Frey-Spurlock said. “Of course, the value is that the better connected we are across these socially constructed frameworks and identities, the better and stronger we are. We come up with more effective solutions, and we just have a better quality of life when we engage the way that we should engage with folks.”

Looking forward, the team has developed a plan for the next three years.

According to Harris, this plan includes student research projects into the history of East St. Louis, opportunities for community members to share their stories, racial healing circles and addressing racial inequality in economics and the social justice system.

“One of the goals of the national TRHT framework is to challenge this notion that there is a hierarchy of human value, and students are supposed to be a part of that,” Harris said. “We’re supposed to train the next generation of social justice advocates, and so that’s certainly a part of the mission of our center.”

Bryan Jack, an associate professor in the Department of Historical Sciences, said

he decided to be a member of the TRHT team because he wants to be a part of the transformation of the local and national community.

“Within the world we live in today, there are a lot of structural barriers and not necessarily equal opportunity in communities and in the nation,” Jack said. “So, part of the goal for the TRHT Center is to address some of those issues and try to transform our university, our community and our nation as a whole by focusing locally on transforming these barriers.”

The Association of American Colleges and Universities, in partnership with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, recently announced SIUE as one of 13 new institutions to host TRHT Campus Centers, joining programs previously established at 10 campuses throughout the U.S. According to the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, “Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation (TRHT) is a comprehensive, national and community-based process to plan for and bring about transformational and sustainable change, and to address the historic and contemporary effects of racism.”

In addition to Harris, Frey-Spurlock and Jack, the TRHT team consists of the following SIUE faculty and staff members: Kathryn Bentley, an associate professor of theater performance and the director of Black Studies; Elizabeth McKenney, an associate professor in the Department of Psychology; Courtney Boddie, the director of Counseling Services; and Carolyn Jason, the assistant program director of the East St. Louis Center’s Head Start program.

In June, the team will attend the Association of American Colleges and Universities’ Summer Institute on TRHT Campus Centers, where they will continue to develop the plan to implement the program at SIUE.

Don’t get spoofed; call SIUE PD or IT to report it NICOLE BOYD copy editor

If one were to look at the SIUE police blotter from the past month, they would notice a trend: an increase in what police are calling “spoofing,” leading police to warn students.

Spoofing is communication, such as emails or phone calls, from an unknown source used to obtain the receiver’s personal information.

A recent surge in phone calls from a caller claiming to be campus police and asking for money resulted in the SIUE Police Department sending an email to the student body warning them about “spoofing.”

Police Chief Kevin Schmoll said spoofing can be done in a number of ways.

“Spoofing is any time somebody tries to commit a scam, either by sending somebody an email, or it can be a phone call on your cell phone,” Schmoll said. “I’ve seen some texts as well. Most of them are phone calls or emails where somebody is trying to extort, usually trick them into sending them money. Most of the time it’s giftcards.”

Jeff Smith, SIUE IT technology director, defined spoofing as social engineering, in the sense that someone is pretending to be someone they are not, with the intent of extorting money.

“Now when you talk about spoofing, spoofing is a grift. It’s just somebody pretending to be something they’re not to monetize whatever gain they’re after. And so, when we’re talking about spoofing in general, I mean that could be anything,” Smith said. “It could be me just pretending to be an officer or the FBI.” Schmoll said one identifier that a call is a spoof is if it appears to come from a law

enforcement agency.

“No law enforcement agency is going to contact you and threaten you that you’re going to be arrested if you don’t pay money. That is not going to happen. That’s not how it works,” Schmoll said.

Schmoll said students should not interact with the caller if they receive a suspicious phone call.

“Do not get into a conversation with them over the phone, just hang up on them … don’t give them any information, just hang up on them … Do not respond to whatsoever [to emails]. You can always come to us if you’re a student [and] report it to us,” Schmoll said.

Smith said that scams are usually attempted through information available to the general public.

“It usually starts with public-facing data, so they go and kind of find out about you. They might go through the directory on the website and they’ll grab addresses and phone numbers. And it’s all public facing. They usually haven’t hacked anything,” Smith said.

Smith also said that scammers typically use similar tactics to scare people over the phone.

“When you start to get suspect, when you start to back off what they’re trying to do, it’s the same M.O. every time. They get very intimidating, they get very vulgar.

They try to scare you into complying,” Smith said.

According to Smith, asking for gift codes is a sign of a scam.

“The most telling is if they start asking for gift codes. It’s time to cut them off and report them to somebody. I can’t stress that enough, because that’s what we see, mostly,” Smith said.

Karl Griffiths, SIUE IT technical lead, said some people have claimed to be tech support.

“They’ll call you and say, ‘We’ve detected viruses coming from your system; we’re here to help you clean it up.’ They’ll often say they’re from Microsoft,” Griffiths said. “Then you end up giving them remote access to your computer and while they’re supposedly fixing your computer, what they’re really doing is loading viruses on your machine and sucking all the data they can get off of it.”

Griffiths said those who think they may know the sender of a suspicious message should take the extra precaution of checking with the person to see if they actually sent a message.

“I have seen Gmail accounts that were made up of the person’s name. But even then, still call the person, contact their SIUE email, something. Because that extra step, it could save you a lot of money and a lot of heartache,” Griffiths said.

Students are encouraged to contact authorities if they believe they have received a scam phone call or email, and can do so through the IT department.

“Any time you encounter it, I would say tell anyone, and don’t be afraid to call us here. Don’t be afraid to call [the police department]. And if it’s somebody that wants to meet you in person, do not be afraid to call the FBI,” Smith said. “But we are an avenue to talk to the FBI, especially on behalf of anyone with SIUE.” To contact SIUE IT with concerns about the legitimacy of a message, call 6505500 or forward the email to help@siue. edu. Individuals can also contact SIUE Police through their non-emergency number 650-3324.

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SIUE honors students guaranteed admission to SIU School of Law JOHN MCGOWAN reporter

Students in the University Honors Program at SIUE who graduate with any bachelor’s degree are now guaranteed admission to SIUC’s School of Law, as long as they maintain GPA and curriculum requirements.

The program is available now for the classes of 2021 and beyond. To be eligible for the program, an honors student must maintain a 3.2 GPA, complete the 19-hour honors curriculum and service requirements, complete 15 hours of honors pre-law program courses, score in the 85th percentile on the ACT or SAT and take the LSAT. Students can still apply to other law schools while participating in the program, and there is no penalty if students decide they are no longer interested in legal education.

Cindy Galway Buys, the interim dean of the SIU School of Law, said the undergraduate honors pre-law program started about four or five years ago at Carbondale, and conversations to make the option available to Edwardsville students started roughly three years ago.

“It’s been a long time but other than just, you know, the time involved it’s not been a problem at all. The folks here at Edwardsville have been wonderful to work with,” Buys said.

Ian Toberman, assistant director for the university honors program, said SIUE’s inclusion in the program will benefit both schools.

“It helps the law school by giving them access to a strong academically performing group of students,” Toberman said. “I think for our students it can relieve some pressure where they know that there is a place that will have them. They may not choose Carbondale as their first choice, but they know it exists.”

He also said it will help the honors program by making it appealing to students interested in law.

Buys was on campus on Jan. 30 to speak about immigration law and introduce the program to students. One of the students at the event was sophomore business administration major Maddie Walters, of Elizabeth, Illinois, who said she’s going to take advantage of the opportunity.

“I’m really excited about it … it’s going to be pretty simple to be able to get a couple extra courses and have this opportunity that I don’t need to worry about admissions and the LSAT score and stress about it as much,” Walters said.

Toberman said this program can serve as inspiration for future collaboration between the two schools.

“It shows some real ability about how campuses can collaborate,” Toberman said. “I think it can become a model for our different types of programs on professional and graduate and doctoral degrees, and I think it shows a real investment and belief in what we’re doing with honors students here.”

Students can head to law.siu.edu to learn more about SIUC’s School of Law and siue.edu/provost/honors/ to learn more about SIUE’s honors program.

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‘Chaos Magick’ performance mystifies audience EMMA DAVIS photographer In an experimental mix of live piano, electronic sounds, animation, graphic design and dance, “Chaos Magick”, an Arts and Issues event, entranced audiences at its debut performance Thursday, January 30th in Dunham Hall.

The performance originated as a trial video between pianist Angela Kim, graphic designer Michael Robert Boswell and motion designer Peter John Kearney, and after its success, the show was born.

“Chaos Magick” is a multimedia collaboration between the three, Dan VanHassel and Kevin Hockenberry. Directed by Kim, the assistant professor of Piano and Director of Keyboard Studies at SIUE, the five-movement concert breaks the boundaries of performance.

Hockenberry, assistant professor of dance at SIUE, choreographed the fourth movement of the concert. Hockenberry said it is important for artists to collaborate with each other — no matter how different their respective crafts are.

“It is so important that artists of all backgrounds are trying to find ways to push their field forward,” Hockenberry said.

“This collaboration allows each artist to expand their experience, their knowledge and create something that’s innovative for them and expand what the process of creating work can be for them and it’s just fun,” Hockenberry said.

According to Hockenberry, the convergence of new mediums is becoming more possible in performance, something he credits to technology.

“The advancement of technology is allowing art to explore new territory and new collaboration,” Hockenberry said.

In addition to Thursday’s performance also featured the world premiere of the piece Aftershock, composed by VanHassel, specifically for Kim to use in “Chaos Magick.”

“For me music is something beyond,” Kim said. “It has so much more potential than just the musical part. So collaborating and then do something different to keep on challenging myself and challenging my working partners. I think that’s important for everybody because it’s a lot of fun and then we learn from each other. We start a project having this one idea but we are getting out of project with like ten different ideas.”

This concert fosters a different experience for everyone who sees it. There is no blanket meaning of the piece itself because it is a collaboration of visions from many artists.

Senior dance major Tashira

SIUE’s Assistant Professor of Piano Angela Kim graced the stage with her empowering piano gift. “Chaos Magick” featured lighting design by Theresa Kelly which contributed to the overall dramatic effect of the performance. In addition to the powerful lighting, graphic design by Michael Robert Boswell and motion design by Peter John Kearney allowed the performance to reach the next level. Dancers from the Modern American Dance Company accompanied Kim’s musical talents. Daryon Kent supported Gabriella Billy in many effortless lifts during the fourth movement of the performance. Billy also exhibited strong pointe technique through the choreography by assistant professor in SIUE’s Department of Theatre and Dance, Kevin Hockenberry.

MADCO is now in its 43rd season and resides at the University of Missouri- St. Louis. All of these elements came together to provide an entertaining multimedia experience that could capture an audience of all backgrounds. Stay informed about future collaborations by monitoring the Arts and Issues website and social media.

I Emma Davis / The Alestle

Chandler, of Glenwood, Illinois, tells us how the show was unlike any performance she had witnessed: “This show is extremely trippy. It’s otherworldly and dynamic. Watching this show was a pleasant but strange experience,” Chandler said.

This Arts and Issues event

also provided free tickets for students in hopes to bring in a large student audience. Like many of the other Arts and Issues events, “Chaos Magick” was created with hopes to inspire more innovation and collaboration, Kim said.

“For at least students or for the audience, bringing something different to the show, how art and

music can merge, how dance can be all part of it, like having that whole experience of live music being the center but it’s not just about that person’s music or performance; it’s a whole lot more than that,” Kim said.

For those that missed last week’s performance Kim promises that this is not the end of her

collaboration.

“We are going to keep on collaborating and take this project further. This is not just a onetime thing, there will be more of ‘Chaos Magick’ collaboration,” Kim said.

For more information on this Arts and Issues event you can visit their website.

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ELLA sees revival with new focus ELIZABETH DONALD copy editor

Sydney Krehbiel has come a long way as a writer in her eight years at SIUE, and she wants to help other SIUE students discover the worlds of creative writing.

Krehbiel is now in her second year of the English Department’s masters of fine arts program in creative writing. Now she is reviving ELLA, the defunct student organization for fans of English literature and language, with an emphasis on creative writing for students of all majors.

ELLA, which stands for English Language and Literature Association, was active at SIUE since at least 2013, which is when its Facebook was created. But at the end of last year, it was announced that ELLA would be dissolved and merged with Sigma Tau Delta, the English honors society.

But only English majors who had met certain criteria could join Sigma Tau Delta, while ELLA had been open to all majors.

“I would say that it was much less a demise than a hiatus, as the former excellent leadership moved on to new challenges and the student organizations serving the needs of English majors and minors evolved,” faculty advisor Geoff Schmidt said.

This semester, the students

in the new MFA creative writMyra Lei had a different jouring program decided to revive ney to the same place. Lei is also it, with a focus on the value of in her second year as an MFA creative writing for people in all student, having completed her majors and vocations. undergrad at the Beijing Film It’s a value Krehbiel knows Academy in China and two maswell. She was always writing as ters degrees at the University of a child, from Harry Potter fan fiction to undergrad stories about female self-discovery. Her growth as a writer through her undergraduate experience at SIUE led her to the MFA program, which requires a “Writer in the World” project on literacy in the community.

Krehbiel launched a writing program with the St. Louis Science Center.

“I never thought there should be a separation between the arts and science,” she said.

She presented the concept of writing programs MYRA LEI based in the sciences, and Second year MFA student the Science Center approved it.

It’s that concept — that creative writing as a form of Idaho: one in English and one in expression can be for anyone — teaching English as a second lanthat Krehbiel wants to bring to guage. Then she came to SIUE the new version of ELLA as she for the MFA program, and is astakes over as president. You don’t sisting Krehbiel as vice president have to be a certain major or of the new ELLA. even a certain type of person to English is Lei’s second lanbe a writer, she said; If you write, guage, and her early writing was you’re a writer. in Mandarin, which she would

then translate to English for workshopping at her American institutions.

“I mainly write about female experiences, girls coming of age and their relationships with their families, and gender pressures in society,” Lei said.

She wants students to know that even though English may not be their native language, they can learn to express themselves creatively in English. It was tough for her at first, she said, but if she can adapt, they can as well.

“No matter what other field or profession you have, somewhere down in your thoughts or your heart, you have a story to tell,” Lei said. “People might think, ‘My story is not interesting or unique enough to tell.’ But every person’s experience has value.”

And creative writing doesn’t just have to be short stories, Lei said. It can be flash fiction, novels, personal essays and creative nonfiction, poetry and more. They all have value, Krehbiel said.

“I’m super happy that Sydney is taking over, with plans to shift the emphasis of ELLA towards facilitating creative writing readings and workshops and outreach

“No matter what other field or profession you have, somewhere down in your thoughts or your heart, you have a story to tell. People might think ‘my story is not interesting or unique enough to tell.’ But every person’s experience has value.

efforts,” Schmidt said.

Krehbiel plans to begin with meetings, for organizational purposes and for writing sessions and sharing work. She hopes to organize used-book sales and a trivia night to raise money for open mikes and public readings, similar to last semester’s public reading for the MFA program.

The first meeting will be at noon Friday, Feb. 7 in Peck Hall 3117, for explanations, introductions and planning, Krehbiel said. It’s open to any student of any major.

“For me, the value of writing is healing,” Krehbiel said. “It unburdens your soul … When you have things burdening you and you can write about them, it can help you. I would love to give that tool to anyone that needs it.”

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All you need is love — of any kind — this Valentine’s Day

THE ALESTLE STAFF editorial board

Not everyone celebrates Valentine’s Day by having candle-lit dinners or watching romance movies. No matter how you celebrate, there should be no explanation needed for why you don’t –or won’t –- spend this upcoming holiday with a romantic partner.

It’s easy to get caught up in what society expects you to do on Feb. 14 and who you spend your time with, especially on a college campus, but you can celebrate however you want without answering to anyone that expects different. Many people don’t want to have romantic partners at all.

Wishing happiness for others in good faith is fine, but telling

single people that they’ll find someone special can be hurtful and add to the already overwhelming pressure to be in a relationship for Valentine’s Day. Starting a romantic relationship with someone because you feel you have to is unhealthy for everyone involved. Just because you aren’t in a relationship doesn’t mean you’re any less important or an incomplete person –- you can find your own happiness without a date.

When it comes to celebrating Valentine’s Day, you can also show love for your family and friends instead. At the same time, you don’t have to celebrate at all; every day is an opportunity to show love for the people in your life. You don’t have to spend money on your loved ones to

show that you care for them.

Communicating with those you care about and telling them you love them can be enough.

If you still want to go out with a date, friends or family, there’s nothing wrong with that. Remember that everyone has different wants and needs, as well as cultural and societal backgrounds that shape what they think about Valentine’s Day, and if they even celebrate it at all.

Those who are more cynical may do some form of Anti-Valentine’s Day celebration. Many use this as a way to push back against the consumerist nature of the holiday and the pressure it creates for couples and singles alike. According to CNN, there $19.6 billion was projected to be spent on Valentine’s Day in 2018, which

is part of why there has been a movement against the profiteering from the holiday.

Fans of “Parks and Recreation” and Leslie Knope sometimes celebrate “Galentine’s Day.” It is used as a day to celebrate female friendships — or friendships in general. Many celebrate it with brunch, like in the show. Some may do gift exchanges as well. It has become fairly common with several companies running Galentine’s Day promotions.

The point of Valentine’s Day is to show love for the people in your life, whether that be friends, family, significant others, or yourself. But if you want to watch a movie with a Valentine, call your family members, go out with friends or just sleep the day away; however you choose to spend this day is up to you.

One important component of communism is socialism, an economic system where the means of production are owned communally, rather than having businesses owned by small groups of people like we do now under capitalism. For example, if The Alestle were a socialist organization, it would be owned by the reporters, photographers, secretaries and editors that make it function.

The term “communist state” is often used to describe states controlled by Marxist-Leninist political parties. These governments will say they are working toward communism; however, achieving communism would necessarily involve removing these governments.

Unsurprisingly, none of these Marxist-Leninist governments have attained communism so far.

The most famous examples usually don’t even get close to having socialist economies. For instance, despite its rule by the Communist Party of China, over 60 percent of China’s GDP comes from privately-owned businesses, according to Forbes. While it uses communism as an aesthetic, China’s economy is mostly capitalist.

North Korea uses a command economy, which means the government controls and regulates production and development, similar to the former USSR. Almost all of the means of production are owned by the government.

Most North Korean citizens also participate in an illegal market people have created to provide resources the government doesn’t give them. There is unfortunately little data as to how this illegal economy functions, although I like to think a lot of socialist organizations would pop up in that environment.

When I say that I am a communist, that does not mean I support any of the governments that claim to work toward communism. To me, although not to every person who calls themselves communist, it actually means the opposite. I don’t support any of those governments, or any governments at all, because governments make communism impossible.

What I actually want is to replace institutions owned either privately or by governments with worker-owned collectives. I want everyone to have their basic needs

met whether or not they work, and I want that to give people enough freedom to pursue work they enjoy without having to answer to a boss. If that happens, we can make private businesses redundant and offer better working conditions and better services without ads, data tracking or inapp purchases. Eventually, yes, I also want robots to give us everything we want for free. I am a communist because I want those things to happen.

I encourage everyone to do their own research on this topic, although it can quickly become overbearing if you dislike reading political theory like I do. I don’t dislike fact-checking in the same way, so I watch a lot of YouTube channels that cover this stuff in an entertaining way.

For anyone interested in that, I especially recommend the channel “Thought Slime” as a starting point. For everyone else, I absolutely think you would benefit from having at least a basic understanding of communism and socialism, especially as leftist ideologies continue to become more relevant to the political climate.

There has never been a better time to learn.

Communism is good — and it’s not what many think BROOKE HILL copy editor

I am a communist; I think communism is a really cool idea and we should try to make it happen.

Unfortunately, the way many people understand that word, it probably sounds like I’m saying I want everyone to live in poverty, wear the same government-issued clothes, read really boring books about political theory and support a totalitarian government that’s going to censor them for speaking out, so I would like to address a few of the popular misconceptions.

A lot of people think “communism” describes the economic systems of countries like China and North Korea. For that reason, it is often associated with heavy state surveillance. Not only is this inaccurate, but communist state surveillance is actually impossible; states can’t be communist.

A communist society is actually a Utopian society with no class divisions between people, no money and, very specifically, no state. Any nation with a centralized government is not communist.

sports

contact the editor: sports@alestlelive.com 650-3527 thursday, 02.06.20

THE ALESTLE WILL NOT HAVE A PRINT ISSUE ON THURSDAY, FEB. 13 page 7

alestlelive.com

SIUE Standings MEN’S BASKETBALL

OVERALL OVC 17-5

Murray State

16-7

Austin Peay

11-12

Eastern Kentucky

16-7

Belmont

14-9

Tennessee State

11-11

Eastern Illinois

9-14

Jacksonville State

11-12

Morehead State UT Martin

6-15

Tennessee Tech

5-18

SIUE

Southeast Missouri

10-0 10-0 8-2 7-3 6-4 4-6 4-6 5-5 2-8

5-18

2-8

4-19

0-10

2-8

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

OVERALL OVC

Tennessee Tech

16-5

9-10

UT Martin

13-8

9-1

12-9

6-4

8-14

4-6

11-10

4-6

3-18

1-9

Belmont

Southeast Missouri Eastern Illinois

Jacksonville State Morehead State Austin Peay

Murray State

In the 149 weight class, senior Tyshawn Williams wins 5-2 against Northern Illinois University’s McCoy Kent. | Mackenzie Smith / The Alestle

Wrestling: Individuals win, but team loses SHANE WHEATLEY copy editor

Wrestling fell to Northern Illinois University on Feb. 1, with a final score of 29-9.

In the final match of the night, sophomore heavyweight Colton McKiernan went into a triple overtime match against Northern Illinois’ Max Ihry. Through a drawn out fight, McKiernan managed to score a takedown with two seconds left in overtime, ending the night with an individual win for SIUE. McKiernan said the most important thing for him going into overtime was keeping the momentum.

“When I go into overtime matches like that, it’s just keeping a steady pace, keeping

the pressure on the guy,” McKiernan said.

“If you keep going hard, you’re going to break him, so that’s basically my mindset.”

Tyshawn Williams, a senior in the 149 weight class, also managed to score an individual win during the meet, entering into the third round up on points, and finally beating McCoy Kent 5-2 in a heated match.

Williams said that being up on points didn’t stop him from doing his best.

“I definitely went into the third point thinking that I wanted to score more points than I did,” Williams said. “And that’s something I can take and work on for next time.”

Sophomore Justin Ruffin in the 157 weight class scored the only other win of

the meet for SIUE, winning 4-0 against Northern Illinois’ Mason Kauffman.

Saturday brought wrestling to a record of 1-7 for this season. Their last win was Jan. 30 against the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Head Coach Jeremy Spates said they’re hoping to win more matches going forward, but he is happy about the individual wins they have been scoring.

“We’ve not won a lot of dual-meets, but we’ve had individual guys winning,” Spates said. “We were really close in some of them, but we found a way to win some of the individual ones.”

In Men’s Wrestling’s next match, the Cougars will face the University of Missouri at 6 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 12, in the Vadalabene Center.

13-8

8-2

16-5

8-2

10-11

6-4

12-9

3-7 2-8

8-13

Eastern Kentucky SIUE

2-18

Tennessee State

0-10

WRESTLING

OVERALL MAC

EAST DIVISION Rider Old Dominion Clarion

Edinboro

Lock Haven

George Mason Bloomsburg

9-2

5-1

8-5

5-3

6-9 9-7 6-5 7-5 2-6

4-2 3-4 2-3 2-4 0-5

WEST DIVISION Missouri

10-6

7-0

Northern Illinois

9-4

4-2

Cleveland State

8-4

4-4

Kent State

6-10

Ohio

6-6

4-3

Central Michigan

5-4

5-2

Buffalo

7-8

3-4

SIUE

2-11

0-8

2-5

Men’s Club Volleyball wins championship, Allen named North Region MVP SHANE WHEATLEY copy editor

Men’s club volleyball has taken home their first win for SIUE at the Midwest Plains Valley Conference North Regional Tournament.

The regional conference was comprised of three different regions, the East, North and West, with SIUE competing in the North region.

After losing their first game to Butler University, they went on to beat Indiana State and Lewis University as well. After making it to the finals, they had to face off against Butler again, this time managing to take the win.

Head Coach, setter and right side player Joe Brammeier said it was a hard victory to pull off.

“It was a really tough match,”

Brammeier said. “We went to [round] three every single game against them, and the Lewis game ended up being 3634, which is a really high scoring game.”

Along with their win over the tournament, outside hitter Nick Allen was also named the North Region MVP. While Allen said he is happy with the title, he credits the team as well.

I don’t really know what to say about it; I can’t really play without my team,” Allen said. “The whole team is more important than me getting MVP. The whole team won.”

Brammeier said the regional tournament was a learning experience, and they can use their performance to improve for next time. He said he hopes that everyone can learn and improve.

“We’re going to come back, practice and start working on stuff that we need

to work on, stuff that we learned while playing over the weekend,” Brammeier said.

Setter Tommy Hartnagel said they’ve made definite improvements since the previous times they’d entered into the regional tournament, and credits the whole team for the win.

“We had really good potential to do good in previous tournaments, we just hadn’t done it in past tournaments,” Hartnagel said. “We went into the tournament really open-minded. All the games were really close, but we were able to keep the high energy and positive attitudes and were able to take it in the end.”

Men’s club volleyball will continue their season when they travel to Milwaukee for a Division II invitational at the end of February.

“I don’t really know what to say about it; I can’t really play without my team.

The whole team is more important than me getting MVP. The whole team won.

NICK ALLEN

outside hitter, North Region MVP

page 8

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