The Alestle Vol 73 No. 25

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MOVIES TO MAKE SOCIAL DISTANCING EASIER: WHAT’S OUT EARLY page 6

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ALESTLE

COLLEGIATE ATHLETES CAN’T LIGHT UP DESPITE STATE LEGALIZATION page 7

vol. 73 no. 25

The Student Voice Since 1960

BOT, SG explore the world of virtual meetings DAMIAN MORRIS reporter

cries for housing refunds answered A balcony of the nearly-vacant 400 side of Cougar Village looms over empty pathways connecting buildings to parking lots. Roughly 300 | Dominick Oranika / The Alestle students have been permitted to stay in Cougar Village and Evergreen Hall.

University Housing announced in an email Monday afternoon that they will be giving refunds to residents who have moved out of their housing assignments.

Students who were living in Bluff, Prairie and Woodland halls will receive 50 percent refunds because their halls were last open on March 6. Residents who have completed their checkout by removing their belongings and turning in their keys will receive their refunds through the Bur-

sar’s office in four to six weeks. Students who were unable to complete the checkout process will receive refunds after their rooms are checked for damages.

Students who lived in Evergreen Hall or Cougar Village will receive 40 percent refunds because their facilities closed March 21. Cougar Village residents who still have belongings on campus are required to turn in their keys before they receive their refunds. Housing said the reasoning behind

this is that these residents will have continued access to their spaces while they have their keys. Residents who are still on campus will continue to be charged until they check out.

Students with Meal Plan A or B will receive credits for their remaining balances and a portion of the fixed dining costs associated with their spring meal plans.

The Alestle will continue to update as more news arises.

Student Government and the SIU Board of Trustees are forced to move online for any meetings they want to hold in the near future.

SIU Board of Trustees Executive Secretary Misty Whittington said in the future, board meetings will be complying with Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s executive orders, as well as any other state or federal mandates that would apply.

She also said the board is taking many precautions in regard to these mandates.

“Some precautions to take would be to use social distancing methods, limit the group size in person, and allow the public to view the meeting via video streaming over the internet,” Whittington told The Alestle in an emailed statement.

As John Charles, executive director of government and public affairs for the board, had said would occur, Monday’s BOT meeting took place via Zoom.

Charles said the board is not entirely sure what format future meetings will take place in, as they are waiting until closer to the date to figure out what mandates they will have to follow at that point.

“For future meetings beyond [March 30], the next meeting that’s scheduled is April 30. So at this point, we don’t know where see MEETINGS on page 3

Spring 2020 graduates consider alternative celebration options in wake of commencement cancellation ALEX AULTMAN reporter

Spring 2020 Commencement was postponed due to COVID-19, and now administration is looking to students for input about what they should do instead.

When it was announced that commencement would be postponed, many students and faculty were shocked and disappointed. SIUE sent a survey to all eligible graduates asking them what alternatives they preferred. The survey closed March 27.

Before the survey officially closed, Executive Director of Marketing and Communication Doug McIlhagga said what students seemed to want most was the experience of walking across the stage.

“The trend mostly from the discussion that’s been taking place on the social media side of things is students really want to walk across the stage,” McIlhagga said. “I think trying to get a real event going in August seems to be the leader in the clubhouse at this point. That’s not with everything tallied. That’s the feedback we’re getting so far, but we’ll see how it lands.”

Senior theater performance major Jacob Wiseman, from Highland, Illinois, believes the class of Spring 2020 having @thealestle

their own physical ceremony, rather than Edwardsville, did not see the survey. Robwalking with the Fall 2020 graduates, is inson said the survey got buried among the other COVID-19 updates being provided important. by administration “It all and professors. comes down “I’ve been to the last four flooded with or so years of emails, so I did our lives have not see the survey been spent at and I didn’t hear SIUE, and we that SIUE was are the class of — giving the option 2020 and that to students to declass is the cide what can be people we’ve done,” Robinson worked with, said. had classWhen faced es with and with the survey those are the options, Robinpeople that we son, like Wisewant to gradman, was stronguate with,” DOUG MCILHAGGA ly opposed to not Wiseman said.

Executive Director of Marketing and Communication providing spring “It’s just a big graduates with a celebration of our class specifically as opposed to gradu- graduation ceremony.

“I heard the options were to do some ating with the other class later on. To me, I just don’t think [walking with the Fall sort of virtual ceremony over Skype, post2020 graduates] would have the same ef- pone it or cancel it. I would not want an fect because those aren’t all the people that online one. I think that’s kind of ridiculous and I don’t really understand that. Cancelwe have worked with and grown with.”

Some students, like senior business ing completely I am also not for because administration major Aris Robinson, from we worked hard for this.”

“Commencement is a pretty big experience for everybody, and you still want it to be that way our ultimate goal is to give the students graduating something memorable and they’ll be able to take with them for a lifetime.

@thealestle

The Alestle

Administration is getting more student input than just survey responses. McIlhagga said there are graduate students helping with reviewing the survey results and the planning process as well. “[Applied communications studies professor] Duff Wrobbel has a graduate class that is going to look at the results and come up with the answers that we need,” McIlhagga said. “That was a proposal that they brought to the table to try and give us some help with some student assistance, and the provost was very much in favor of that. We have students that need projects and work to do, so they’re being engaged.”

McIlhagga wants to reassure students they will still get a memorable commencement experience.

“We’re still very much in the decision-making mode, trying to sort out all the information we can get back and make the decision that helps students and satisfies them,” McIlhagga said. “Commencement is a pretty big experience for everybody, and you still want it to be that way — our ultimate goal is to give the students graduating something memorable and they’ll be able to take with them for a lifetime.”

SIUE will provide students with updates through the commencement page on their website. As always, The Alestle will continue to provide updates. alestlelive.com

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Campus police take extra precautions amid COVID-19 outbreak MATT BARTLES reporter

While the COVID-19 pandemic has temporarily forced many people to leave their jobs or to work from home, there are a few professions that still need their employees to make the trip to work. One of these jobs is that of a police officer.

Campus Police Chief Kevin Schmoll said he has taken the precautions to keep the campus workers and residents safe, as well as protecting his officers.

Schmoll said even though there are not a lot of students, and the police department is practicing social distancing, they still have traffic stops when there is probable cause. “[My officers] have the proper personal protection equipment: gloves, Lysol wipes, hand sanitizer and we have masks.

It’s the exchanging of the IDs and the insurance information so we have to get close for that, inside that 6-feet barrier, so we are stressing to not do a traffic stop unless you have to,” Schmoll said.

Many police departments, including other campus police departments, in the area have taken similar precautions.

Washington University in St. Louis has a similar situation — they have provided every officer with the protection they need to safely do their jobs. Mark Glenn is the chief of the Washington University campus police department, and he said the situation on his campus is similar to SIUE’s, despite being on the other side of the Mississippi River.

“Our campus dwindled population-wise to a very small number, so we had to change our role a little bit. We went from a student-centric and a customer service-based police department to more fo-

Patrol Officer Kelly Waters, of Edwardsville, Illinois, is one of 42 officers working for the SIUE Police Department. The department is continuing to serve the SIUE community as most on-campus offices have closed. | Alestle File Photo

cused on properties and assets and ensuring buildings are secure,” Glenn said.

SIUE’s campus police also had to go through a similar change in procedure, where they are helping staff members and students in and out of buildings and residence halls more than anything else.

SIUE’s Vice Chancellor for Administration Rich Walker is responsible for many departments on campus, including the police department. He has praised the campus police and said that he couldn’t be more proud of how they have adjusted to the

SIUE’s Tutoring Resource Center moves completely online ISOBEL ABBOTT-DETHROW reporter

With the coronavirus outbreak suspending on-ground classes and shutting down on-campus academic resources, students no longer have the convenience of walking to the Tutoring Success Center and receiving help.

Now all tutoring sessions are located on Zoom. By virtual guidance, the tutors are still able to guide and explain the problems by drawing them out or using whiteboards on camera.

According to Tutoring Resource Center Coordinator Mary Lou Wlodarek, the tutoring hours on campus have remained the same on Zoom.

“We have used online tutoring in the past with online classes,” Wlodarek said. “[Now], 18 of my tutors have Zoom rooms.”

Senior mechatronics and robotic engineering major Jonathan Seffinga, of Romeoville, Illinois, is one of the 18 tutors with the TRC getting used to the online-only transition.

“It’s been interesting, to say the least,” Seffinga said. “Overall, it’s kind of easier.

I tutor computer science students, so it’s nice to be able to share my screen with them [in the Zoom rooms]. It definitely slows down the process a little bit, but it lets you spend more time with a student one-on-one.”

Another tutor, sophomore pharmacy major Ethan Hunsperger, of Carterville, Illinois, said his acclimation to the new online system has been going well. Hunsperger tutors in chemistry and math.

“I have just started to see students come in to ask questions,” Hunsperger

said.

The tutors are still adjusting to the new system, particularly not being able to physically guide a student through problem solving.

“For some of those questions where you really have to show [students] how to do everything is a little more challenging to do over the screen,” Seffinga said.

“Or, sometimes, getting a student to calm down and take their time on a problem.

Everything is a lot harder when you’re not right there.”

Hunsperger said the lack of face-toface interaction is the most challenging part about the online format.

“It takes longer to get through problems that have multiple steps,” Hunsperger said. “Zoom does have a feature that allows you to share your screen and use a whiteboard, but it’s not as easy to use if you don’t have a digital pen to write in the program with.”

The online-only tutoring system has already picked up steam, even with how sudden the transition was for the TRC. Although school has been in session for one week since spring break at this point and only a few students have used the Zoom rooms, Wlodarek sees the online tutoring sessions as successful.

“We had great support from the technology department when I said I had 18 tutors that needed Zoom rooms,” Wlodarek said. “They provided everything quickly. So far, it has gone well. We have had several connections with students already. I have gotten emails from students asking about available tutoring sessions.”

To find information about the TRC’s new online system and what tutoring sessions are available, go to their website.

COVID-19 pandemic.

“I think they are taking it in stride.

They don’t have as many residents’ phone calls, they don’t have as many speeding vehicles out on campus, but they are helping faculty get into their offices and making sure they are in a safe building,” Walker said.

While the campus has significantly less traffic than usual, there are still approximately 300 students currently living on campus, according to Walker.

While the SIUE campus has made the

switch to online classes to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, campus police are still asked to come and protect those who remain on campus.

The SIUE campus police department is still taking calls. In the case of an emergency, dial 911. Their non-emergency phone number is 650-3324.

MATT BARTLES 650-3527 @Matt_Alestle mbartles@alestlelive.com

News in brief Two COVID-19 cases confirmed on SIUC campus

Two SIUC students living on the Carbondale campus have tested positive for COVID-19 as the outbreak continues to spread rapidly across the country.

SIUC leadership was notified by the Jackson County Health Department on March 26 that a resident had tested positive for COVID-19, according to a campus update posted the following day.

On Saturday, SIUC Interim Chancellor John Dunn announced a second confirmed campus case, in a message addressed to SIU students and families.

According to the message, both students live in the same residence hall, and all 21 residents of that hall have been placed in quarantine, with the university continuing to provide food and other assistance. These residents are among the roughly 350 students remaining on the SIUC campus, according to Dunn during the SIU Board of Trustees’ special meeting on Monday.

For the most recent SIUC coronavirus updates, visit their Student Health Services website.

In response to SIUE’s recent and sudden transition to online courses, SIUE’s Director of the Registrar Laura Strom announced in an email Thursday that there are new guidelines for withdrawals.

The deadline to withdraw from a full-term course has been pushed back to April 17, and the deadline for withdrawal from courses scheduled for the second half of the semester is now May 1.

The new deadlines do not apply to

courses originally scheduled online or in the School of Nursing, School of Pharmacy or School of Dental Medicine.

The email reminds students that if they choose to withdraw, they will receive either a grade of WP, withdraw passing, or WF, withdraw failing, for the course.

According to the email, this change was made to “allow [students] to make the best possible choice for course completion.”

Course withdrawal deadlines extended

SIU President may authorize more student refunds

The SIU Board of Trustees approved a resolution during a special meeting on Monday to allow SIU System President Dan Mahony to authorize partial refunds to students.

At the meeting, Mahony said they were mainly focusing on housing and dining for the time being and will continue to work on more complex refunds down the line. Parial refunds for housing and dining were announced later that day.

SIUE Chancellor Randy Pembrook said university leadership has been dis-

cussing how to handle course fee refunds for some students. According to Pembrook, one area they are looking into is the art department, which has many factors to consider.

“Art professors are taking different approaches to [art materials],” Pembrook said. “Some of them are actually sending art materials to the student, which they would have received in person.”

Pembrook said they should have a detailed analysis of the course fees in the next two to three weeks.

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WIRE: Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker extends statewide stayat-home order through April

MEETINGS I COVER things will be at that point,” Charles said. “As we get closer to that meeting, obviously we’ll know what state or federal orders we’re going to have to comply with regarding gatherings of groups of people. So that will be an issue that we’ll deal with as we get closer to that meeting.”

Charles said he would guess that future meetings will take place in the same format if they are not allowed to meet in person at that point.

“For that April meeting, it could be like the one we’re having [March 30], where the board is gathering via Zoom to meet until we are able to resume normal board meetings,” Charles said.

Junior business administration major and Student Body President Jacob Graham, of Paris, Illinois, said most Student Government meetings have been cancelled for the semester due to Pritzker’s stay-at-home order.

“Typically, we always have our meetings at the Goshen biweekly on Mondays at 6 p.m., but unfortunately, with everything that’s happening, we have cancelled those for the rest of the semester,” Graham said. “Our finance board and our SOAB, our Student Organization Advisory Board, meetings have both been canceled.”

Graham said while all of these regular meetings have been canceled, they will still meet on an ‘as needed’ basis.

“So typically in those senate meetings we vote on things that have been passed through those boards, but with those being canceled, we don’t have anything to vote on,” Graham said. “So our plan for the semester is to have meetings as needed.”

However, he said he does not foresee

KELSEY LANDIS Belleville News-Democrat (TNS)

Vice Chair Ed Hightower, Chair Phil Gilbert, Executive Secretary Misty Whittington and General Counsel Lucas Crater (left to right) attend the Feb. 13 Board of Trustees meeting on the SIUE campus. Future BOT meetings will likely be held via Zoom until further notice due to COVID-19 concerns. | Dominick Oranika / The Alestle any meetings being necessary.

Student Government has a plan for how they will meet online for any meetings they do hold, according to Graham.

“Our executive meetings are transitioning into virtually meeting online, but outside of the senate, we still have student representation on university committees, and those are just through online platforms such as Zoom, Google Hangouts, etc,” Graham said.

He said Student Government elections will continue as planned on March 31 through April 1, and they are doing their best

to move everything that wasn’t originally online to that format.

“We’re doing our due diligence to move everything on a virtual setting, if possible, and trying to keep everything as tightly as we can,” Graham said.

For more information visit the Student Government and Board of Trustees websites.

DAMIAN MORRIS 650-3527 @damian_alestle dmorris@alestlelive.com

Students for Liberty prepares for future alongside other political student groups GABRIEL BRADY reporter

In spring of 2020, a new organization known as Students for Liberty was added to SIUE. Students for Liberty is described by its president as a political group that is home to libertarians and centrists alike.

The president is senior construction management major Clinton Jones, of Pana, Illinois. Jones also works as a campus coordinator with the group.

“Students for Liberty is a rapidly growing libertarian movement around the world. It’s in over a hundred countries, and they have groups at many schools,” Jones said.

Jones helped start Students for Liberty when, while returning from a conference with the Leadership Institute, a field representative talked to Jones about getting more political organizations at SIUE. “I did some research, and looked at [Students for Liberty], and I said, ‘Well, this looks like the best bet.’ They covered things like communism versus socialism, and the war on drugs,” Jones said.

Jones was also slightly disillusioned

by Turning Point USA at SIUE, which he occasionally still works with.

“With Turning Point, they say they’re non-partisan, but you go to their events, and there’s some partisanship there. If I’m going to do something that’s partisan, then I’ll do something on campus that’s open about it and reflects my views. Plus, I don’t think there’s a lot of representation for libertarians and people in the middle of the political spectrum on campus,” Jones said.

When asked for comment, Turning Point USA at SIUE did not respond to The Alestle.

Jones said libertarianism is all about protecting the public’s freedoms, even if it

means less security. However, he also said that Students for Liberty is not just for libertarians, but anyone who feels unhappy about mainstream politics.

There were also many events that Students for Liberty had been planning on holding, like debates between College Democrats and College Republicans, and various group speakers. Unfortunately, due to the coronavirus outbreak and its cancellations, those had to be rescheduled.

“Whatever we do for the remainder of the semester will be online on our Facebook page. We’re also planning on work-

“I don’t think there’s a lot of representation for libertarians and people in the middle of the political spectrum on campus.

CLINTON JONES president of Students for Liberty

senior construction management major from Pana, Illinois

ing on recruitment and bringing more speakers to campus. We actually have set up a meeting with a speaker online, which you could find on our Facebook. His name is Gabriel Nadales,” Jones said.

As for debates, senior cellular biology and genetics major Jacob Lesinski, of O’Fallon, Illinois, is very interested and willing to participate. Lesinski is the president of College Democrats at SIUE, and said he is always happy to cooperate with other political groups at SIUE. “I completely believe in the free exchange of ideas. I’m definitely not one to suppress conservative ideals, even if I do disagree with them. I would much rath-

er discuss things in a forum rather than act as if two people can’t find a common ground,” Lesinski said.

Lesinski said although he is graduating after this year, hopefully the next president of College Democrats will have many different topics ready for debates, not just the upcoming presidential elections.

“Since I’m leaving, it would be up to my heir, but I’d love to see debates happen. Once primaries are finished, I can totally see debates happening, and hopefully our clubs can provide some ideological balance on campus,” Lesinski said.

Sophomore mass communications major Brooklyn Wigger, of Brighton, Illinois, has some interest in politics, and was excited at the prospect of these debates on campus.

“I try to pay attention to politics, but there’s always a lot happening. I can definitely see these debates being helpful for keeping students aware of what’s going on in the country. It’d be interesting to watch other students discuss politics, instead of just people on TV that have no relation to me,” Wigger said.

Wigger said many people who pay attention to politics forget that the people talking are people, and just see them as voices with heads.

“Obviously, people know what a Democrat and a Republican are, but they won’t know who these two students talking are,” Wigger said. “Instead of just Biden or Bernie against Trump, which are three people we already know the ideals of, we could get new faces with different opinions.

Also, they’ll definitely get a good turn out for these debates. People love conflict.”

College Republicans did not repond to The Alestle’s requests for comment.

For more information about Students for Liberty at SIUE, contact Clinton Jones at cjones@studentsforliberty.org.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Tuesday he would sign an executive order extending a statewide stay-at-home order through April 30.

Public and private schools will remain closed through the end of April as part of the extended order. The state required schools to begin offering remote learning on Tuesday.

The extension is necessary to allow hospitals to handle an influx of COVID-19 patients, the governor said. Thirty-five percent of total intensive care unit beds in Illinois are occupied by coronavirus patients, and 24 percent of ventilators are in use for treating them.

Forty-one percent of adult intensive care unit beds are available statewide, a 2 percent decrease from a week ago. Statewide, 68 percent of ventilators were available, a 4 percent drop since last week.

“We’re still within our capacity,” Pritzker said. “But from all the modeling we’ve seen, our greatest risk of hitting capacity isn’t right now but weeks from now. The virus’ spread is growing. So is its risks. We must not let up now.”

Pritzker issued the original stay-athome order on March 20, directing all Illinoisans except essential workers to shelter in place at their homes and to make only necessary trips. The first order was in effect until April 7.

“If we can end these orders earlier, I’ll be the first one to tell you,” Pritzker said, “but that time is not today, and it’s not April 7.”

Remote learning days will count toward the school year and students will not have to make them up in person. Each school district will create a plan to ensure students, including English language learners and students with disabilities, are served by remote learning materials.

Schools can use up to five planning days to prepare their remote learning plans.

The number of positive COVID-19 case in St. Clair County has increased to 43, according to the St. Clair County Health Department.

Officials previously announced the deaths of two patients who tested positive for COVID-19. One woman was in her 80s and the other was in her 30s. Both of them had underlying health conditions.

The health department reported that 321 people had been tested in the county as of Tuesday, and that there were 74 pending results.

In Madison County, the number of coronavirus cases increased to 18.

Overall, the region has 77 positive cases.

Here are the latest statistics for coronavirus cases as of Tuesday afternoon in southwestern Illinois: St. Clair County - 43, two deaths Madison County - 18 Clinton County - 7 Monroe County - 4 Randolph County - 2 Washington County - 1 Bond County - 2 Officials reported 937 new confirmed cases of coronavirus disease statewide and 26 additional deaths. There were a total of 5,994 positive cases and 99 deaths.

In St. Louis County, officials announced Tuesday a third person died from coronavirus complications. The patient, a woman in her 50s, had chronic medical conditions, according to a news release from the St. Louis County Department of Public Health.

READ ABOUT HEALTHCARE WORKERS NEXT WEEK page 4

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contact the editor: lifestyles@alestlelive.com 650-3527 thursday, 04.02.20

The students left behind in the COVID-19 campus wasteland ALEX AULTMAN reporter The few students remaining in University Housing are facing loneliness, uncertainty and overwhelming boredom.

Approximately 350 students were granted permission to remain on campus for the remainder of the semester and are in Evergreen or Cougar Village.

Residents are struggling to avoid boredom after they finish their coursework. Senior psychology major Tavis Burton, from Granite City, Illinois, has picked up a few hobbies to occupy his time.

“Intense boredom has started to set in and I’ve found myself just throwing a tennis ball at the wall,” Burton said. “Finding things to do is extremely hard because usually you could go out to eat or go to Edison’s and have fun or go to the bowling alley, but now everything’s shut down.”

Burton attempts to pass the time with hobbies.

“Making music is my hobby, but at some point it does get repetitive, and then I start to lose interest and boredom is just attacking me head-on,” Burton said.

“I’ve picked up playing guitar. I’ve cleaned the apartment about three times. I’m trying my best.”

While some residents understand the reasoning behind the visitor restrictions, Burton said it adds to his feelings of loneliness and uncertainty.

“When we had our privileges revoked it just felt like I’m a prisoner now,” Burton said. “I mean, I got permission to stay. But, my privileges are being revoked and in many ways if I wasn’t privy to the reasoning behind it, I would feel like I’m being punished but I understand that the less exposure the students on campus have, the greater chance that this pandemic can pass on.”

Senior industrial engineering major Stephen Holdenried, from St. Louis, Missouri, said the new rules make him uncertain if he is allowed to see his brother, who lives in Cougar Village.

“The only time we’ve met is to pick up supplies that I left at his place and bring them to my place,” Holdenried said. “Hopefully that didn’t break the rules, but we only need to do errands, and he has a car, and I don’t have a car.”

The amount of space students have in Evergreen created another challenge for Holdenried while he learns how to cook in the dorms.

“It’s very difficult because I’m in one of the places where they give you the mini fridge, so I have to be very conservative with space,” Holdenried said. “Sometimes because I packed it too full I find my carrots frozen. It’s kind of difficult to learn how to cook with only one pot without a top on it.

I’ll make those potatoes someday.”

Burton said he and his roommate feel isolated and depressed.

“It’s a very serious pandemic and they don’t want to chance our safety and I understand that.

It’s just that when you sign up for college and especially living in the dorms and dorm life what comes with it is a community,” Burton said. “Being able to be involved in that community is part of the experience and for me as a senior, that’s very important because I still want to get all my experiences in my year before I graduate and have to deal with the real world.

That way I won’t regret not doing certain things. It just feels like that sense of community is gone and we’re isolated — for good reasons.

It’s just sad.”

Initially, residents were able to get prepackaged food from Union Station; however, it was closed.

Some students are faced with the challenge of going to grocery stores during a time where people are advised to stay inside. Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Jeffrey Waple said administration gave students the option of purchasing fill-your-pantry kits.

“We kind of knew that this stay-at-home or shelter-in-place directive was going to come, and so we came up with a way for students who are living on campus who, if they wanted to, purchase a 14-day supply of food,” Waple said.

It was $125 for a kit and $100 for the vegetarian option.

For students like Holdenried they were not affordable.

“There are food options. Unfortunately, I cannot afford them because they’re over $100 for a two-weeks supply, I think,” Holdenried said. “When I first heard about the stay-at-home order, I thought Union Station would be open and I could use my resident plan. Unfortunately that is not the case, so I had to dip into my savings in order to take care of myself.”

Despite the situation, Holdenried is trying to maintain a hopeful outlook on what’s to come.

“I’m scared but also hopeful

because this will open up our eyes to a lot of health problems in the U.S. and a lot of economic problems,” Holdenried said. “People have been living paycheck to paycheck, corporations have been working bare minimum and a lot of this stuff is very fragile. I’m excited to see what changes might come out of this even though I’m really sad to see the cause.”

Housing has said they will evaluate whether more students need to move at a later date.

Top: Freshman psychology major, Sidney Lacy of Chicago, Illinois who used to live in Prairie Hall continues freshman life in upperclassmen housing. The move was an unexpected transition for Lacy.

He had to apply for special permission to stay on campus. Lacy spends his time completing courses online and respecting the social distance policies put in place by University Housing to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Bottom: A woman visiting Cougar Villiage is pictured walking in the rain between two trees, amid a barren landscape. Few students and staff members are seen at Cougar Village and other locations on campus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. | Dominick Oranika / The Alestle

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Students’ mental and physical health challenged during pandemic

The daily routine of many students has been altered as a result of the stay-at-home order and transition to online classes. While some students struggle to get out of bed in the morning due to mental health challenges, others struggle to simply maintain a daily routine. | Photo courtesy of David Mao via Unsplash

NICOLE BOYD copy editor While creating and sticking to a routine may be challenging for some students, it can be helpful to maintain one’s health, according to healthcare professionals.

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, college students are adjusting to a new normal after moving back home.

Students who once lived in the dorms and attended in-person

classes must now take part in online classes and work from home.

Deborah Humphrey, executive director of the Madison County Mental Health Board, said social distancing can have a negative effect on one’s mental health.

“We’re in a place where we’re social distancing. We’re not having that face-to-face contact with others so we have that isolation, away from community.

When that happens, to anyone, you’re at risk of other things, like feeling depressed from the

isolation and having feelings of anxiety,” Humphrey said. “If you just so happen to have a mood disorder or are an anxious person already, then that just complicates that as well.”

According to Humphrey, this situation can lead to a decrease in physical health as well.

“We can experience sleep disturbances and poor sleep as a result of that … our cardiovascular functioning gets affected by this, our immune systems become weakened,” Humphrey said.

However, Humphrey said

keeping a routine may alleviate some of these pressures.

“Keep a regular schedule every day, just as though you would be going to work. Still set goals for each day, and still develop a plan on ‘what are the things I need to accomplish?’ and work towards those goals each day,” Humphrey said.

A healthy routine should include taking care of one’s physical health, Humphrey said.

“Because we’re at home, working from home, scheduling time for workout times or exercise, getting up, being mobile as well, we know that the health benefits from exercise are [that it] helps our immune system, so those are really critical to keep those kinds of things,” Humphrey said.

Chris Kernes, a licensed marriage and family therapist and co-founder of Larkr, an on-demand mental health service, said it’s important for a routine to include self care during this pandemic.

“If part of your daily routine is exercise for half an hour, [then it’s] finding ways to still spend that half an hour … There’s ways to engage in physical activity without being in contact with people,” Kernes said. “Making that intentional, and really protect that time. In this time of crisis, in this time of need … we really need to focus on how are we going to manage what’s going on with us, knowing that there’s a lot of things going on outside of us that we cannot control.”

Kernes also said that despite a lack of access to in-person mental health resources, there are still ways to seek help from home.

“There’s ways that we can engage in those activities … there’s a lot of free resources out there online that offer different help and tools to manage any sort of anxiety-provoking situation.

If you are feeling isolated and cooped up, there’s all these other resources to take advantage of,” Kernes said.

Emma Gieseking, a sophomore psychology major from Marine, Illinois, said the structure of her typical day has changed.

“I wake up a lot later, because I don’t have any Zoom classes or anything … I eat. I don’t really do much, because I don’t have a lot of homework,” Gieseking said.

Gieseking said she has plans that she hopes will help to establish a routine.

“I’m going to try to start waking up at the same time every day … and then get up and get ready,” Gieseking said. “I don’t have to go anywhere, but it still helps to take a shower and stuff because then I feel like I’m actually being productive. Then set aside time to just do homework, and study and take notes from all of my lectures.”

In a press release, the Madison County Mental Health Board said there are coping mechanisms the public can use to stay healthy, such as receiving proper nutrition.

“Keep planned mealtimes with health nutrition and hydration (avoid comfort foods and reducing carbs will improve your immune system),” the press release said.

To check out Larkr’s online mental health resources, visit their website or download the app.

‘A Quiet Place 2’ delayed due to movie theater closures, among others SHANE WHEATLEY copy editor Since movie theaters break social distancing rules, many movies have delayed their initial release dates until the stay-athome order is no longer in place.

A lot of movies were scheduled to release in the coming months, but with the need to stay at home and keep people safe, delays were inevitable. With the closure of theaters, companies have decided they have no choice but to delay their movies, while others have decided to release their movies online early.

Normally, after a movie comes out, it would be months before it would release on DVD or streaming services after the theater debut. Some companies have decided to put their movies online early to support people staying inside during the shelter orders. These are some movies that anyone can enjoy online now if they didn’t manage to see it in theaters.

“Onward” was originally released in theaters on March 6, but Pixar put it online for purchase on March 20th. Pixar also announced it would come to Disney Plus on April 3. Both “Sonic the Hedgehog” and “Bad Boys for Life” were released online on March 31. “Birds of Prey,” the Margot Robbie sequel to “Sui-

cide Squad,” released for purchase online on Tuesday, March 24.

On Sunday, March 15, Disney Plus received “Frozen 2,” perhaps to stop all the kids stuck inside from playing the first one on repeat. Disney also released their latest Star Wars movie, “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” online and available for purchase; however this one hasn’t received a date on when it will come to Disney Plus.

The new James Bond movie, “No Time to Die,” was the first movie to delay its original release date of April all the way back to November. The producers announced the delay on Wednesday, March 4. Other movies followed them in delaying soon after.

“A Quiet Place 2,” “Fast and Furious 9” and “Mulan” were all confirmed to be delayed on Thursday, March 12. While both “Mulan” and “A Quiet Place 2” have been delayed indefinitely for now, “Fast and Furious” was delayed to April 2021. “A Quiet Place 2” was about a week out from its release date, and had some double features lined up in select theaters, before deciding to delay. While “Mulan” didn’t officially release, some people did manage to see some of the early screenings, but it might be a while before anyone else gets to enjoy it.

On March 17, “Black Wid-

ow” also announced it would be delayed indefinitely as well.

“Wonder Woman 1984” was one of the longest to wait, announcing on March 24 that it would be delayed. However, it was moved

to an August release date, only two months after the expected release date.

No one knows how long these shut-downs will go on, and delaying these movies indefinite-

ly might just be a temporary response until the companies have a better idea on when things will open up again. Until then, we’ve been given some movies to watch while we wait.

Movie theaters are forced to close due to low attendance resulting from the stay-at-home order. | Photo courtesy of Felix Mooneeram via Unsplash

NEXT WEEK – READ ABOUT THE EFFECT ROUTINE CHANGE HAS ON OUR BODIES page 6

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Stay home! Sincerely, Everyone Else THE ALESTLE STAFF editorial board

The rapid spread of COVID-19 and increasing numbers of associated casualties has driven President Donald Trump to extend the national guidelines for shutdown to April 30. For those who are ignoring stay-athome orders and continue to associate with large groups of people, please stop. Trust us, we want out, too, but we need to do so safely.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, warned the number of U.S. deaths and cases will be rapidly increasing. He expects the U.S.

to see more than 100,000 deaths and millions of infections as a result of the pandemic.

The previous 15-day shutdown guidelines put in place by the president were optimistic at best. Trump previously commented that he wanted the shutdown lifted prior to Easter. However, he has now retracted that comment, saying it was aspirational.

New cases and the death toll in Illinois are both increasing by the second. As of Wednesday afternoon, the Illinois Department of Public Health said there were 6,980 known cases and 141 deaths.

The rise in cases can likely be attributed at least in part to individuals who continue to disobey

the stay-at-home order placed on Illinois. Whether you’re sneaking out to visit friends or impulsively making an unnecessary fast food run, you are jeopardizing the health and wellbeing of everyone around you.

Although you may not be concerned about contracting COVID-19, you should be.

Young people are catching the virus at an alarming rate. A woman who died in St. Clair County this weekend was only 30 years old. In addition, you could easily pass the virus onto individuals with weak or compromised immune systems who would be less equipped to fight off the infection.

The first infant death related

to COVID-19 was reported in Cook County on Saturday. The family has chosen to keep the child’s information private. However, this is the first infant death as a result of COVID-19 in the U.S., a shocking wake-up call.

Beyond the first infant death, as of Wednesday, there are 140 other individuals in Illinois whose lives were cut short due to the virus.

Of course, even the most introverted people are sick of being inside, and this becomes harder and harder as the weather warms.

But, if we just keep holding on, we can all be out and about someday soon without having to worry about risking our health and that of others.

We n e e d b a s i c i n c o m e a l l t h e t i m e – not just during states of emergency

BROOKE HILL copy editor Most people agree the shortterm basic income being called for by the U.S. government is a good measure — so why not extend it to a long-term good measure?

A recent bill approved by the Senate calls for every adult taxpayer to immediately receive up to $1200 from the U.S. government to compensate for closures surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and stimulate the economy. So far, this has been met with support from a majority of Republican and Democratic lawmakers and economists, according to the Washington Post.

It is easy to see why basic income as an emergency measure could potentially save a lot of lives; however, while the economic issues

arising from both the pandemic and the measures taken in response are more visibly widespread than usual, they are far from unique.

The U.S. economy would always be stimulated by the distribution of money to people who need it to meet their basic needs.

For every life that might be saved by this one-time payment, countless others have been lost for lack of resources such as food, water, shelter and healthcare.

These are ongoing issues, and most people accept it as normal that some people go without these necessities and consequently die.

This does not have to be normal.

Because there are always people with the means to prevent most or all of these deaths, including senators, landlords and business owners, it would be horrible to suggest they should not be saving

these people’s lives.

In that way, the bill’s warm reception highlights the callous attitudes held by most politicians about human lives and the systemic problems that feed this mentality. When they and the people around them suffer, they are willing to support humanitarian measures like basic income. It is no secret that lobbyists spend large amounts of time fostering relationships with politicians as a way of getting them to empathize with their specific interests.

Politicians are people, and people want to please those around them.

When the people suffering are not well represented in the lives of senators, when they cannot meet with them in-person, when they are hiding or are too busy working or can’t afford plane tickets, those same politicians are much more

likely to vote against meeting their basic needs.

During this pandemic, many people are forced to face some of the struggles and uncertainty marginalized groups are always facing.

The U.S. economic system has not suddenly become unsustainable because of COVID-19; it has always been unsustainable because it is designed to exploit poor workers and funnel money they need to live into the hands of a few people who won’t use it. This is just an acceleration. We need to be taking measures to protect the people who do the necessary work all the time, not just when there is a virus.

Providing them enough money to let them live and continue working is only the bare minimum, and we will absolutely face larger economic recessions if we continue failing to meet this very low bar.

sports

contact the editor: sports@alestlelive.com 650-3527 thursday, 04.02.20

NEXT WEEK: DANCE COMMUNITY RISES ABOVE COVID-19 CHALLENGES page 7

alestlelive.com

The Gender Games

Media coverage focuses less on the sport for female athletes

JOHN MCGOWAN reporter

“Tell us about your outfit tonight,” “How has your love life affected your performance?” and “How do you balance your career and your family?” These are all questions the media has been known to ask female athletes.

When female athletes are interviewed, they are more likely than men to be asked questions that have little to do with the sport they play, and more to do with drama, relationships, clothes, et cetera. Mass communications assistant professor Ashton Speno, who studies gender portrayals in media, said female athletes are often asked questions that reinforce gender roles and hurt their images as athletes.

“When we keep interviewing women about their roles as wives and mothers, and we keep interviewing the male athletes about their role in their sport, I think it just further emphasizes these traditional ideas about gender roles,” Speno said. “Viewers might be even thinking they’re selfish or not a good woman.”

Senior thrower Michaela Smith from SIUE’s Track and Field team said she has never experienced questions like that, as they are more common at higher-level competitions. Instead, Smith said that sexism has come out in other ways during interviews.

“I think it’s always kind of like — if there is a question — it’s like ‘You did really well for a

I Summer Bradley / The Alestle

female,’ you know?” Smith said.

“You’re never recognized overall as a great athlete, you’re recognized as your gender.”

Speno also said this affects the amount of coverage female sports receive.

“It reinforces this idea that women are less important, or their athleticism is less interesting, and in turn it keeps not being covered or only shown at weird times and difficult places to find,” Speno said. “So, I think it’s just like a cycle.”

The overall lack of coverage

affects young women who want to get into sports. The ‘cycle’ Speno describes affected Olympic ice hockey goaltender Alex Cavallini. Cavallini wrote in a The Players’ Tribune essay that growing up, the only time she would see female hockey players on TV was during the Olympics.

“My role models, even as I grew up, were mostly the NHL goalies I saw on TV and those golden women I could only watch play every four years,” Cavallini said.

According to the Tucker

Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport, only 4 percent of sports media coverage goes to women. Smith said she has noticed this lack of coverage.

“There’s pretty much no coverage whatsoever, and if there is it’s just like a snippet,” Smith said, “It’s ridiculous.”

Due to the sparse coverage women already get in sports media, they have been forced into stereotypes in order to be featured and paid attention to.

Applied health professor Lindsay Ross-Stewart said female athletes

often feel pressure to conform to two personalities in particular.

“To sort of get the media coverage, you kind of have to fit into one of the couple boxes, and one of those boxes tends to be ‘the girl next door:’ very feminine, young, sort of innocent,” Ross-Stewart said. “And then the other option is just sort of fit into this box of sexy, willing to sort of potentially be posing in model poses in model magazines.”

Students can check out more essays from female athletes at The Players’ Tribune’s website.

Thinking before lighting up: Substances OK in big leagues aren’t here SHANE WHEATLEY copy editor

The MLB announced late last year it would allow players to consume marijuana and would start testing for opioids, opting for rehab when opioids are found rather than punishment.

CNN reported on the stance change, and showed how the MLB’s stance on marijuana now mirrors how alcohol is treated with players; as long as it doesn’t cross into substance abuse, there aren’t any repercussions. Players who test positive for opioids or cocaine will, instead of being punished and fined, be referred to rehab. If the rehab is rejected by the player, only then will punishment be given.

While the MLB made this new stance, it only affects the major league players.

With marijuana still federally illegal and the NCAA still having it banned, most colleges still can’t allow collegiate players to smoke, including SIUE. SIUE Assistant Athletic Director for High Performance Mark Jamison said SIUE Athletics still drug tests its players regularly. Collegiate guidelines are dictated by the NCAA, and are not subject to change because of what major league organizations are doing.

“We don’t really get to come up with change and federal marijuana laws. He said that stance; the NCAA dictates that for this could present a problem for student us,” Jamison said. “It becomes difficult for athletes.

“The change is a little odd, mainly us at the collegiate level because of all the because they are allowing marijuana to no rules and regulations that they have.” longer be a part While SI“In the state of Illinois of their banned UE’s policies substances, and are not changwhere marijuana is legal now they’re treating, SIUE recreationally, this creates ing it like it’s the Head Athletic same as alcohol,” Trainer Gerald a weird web for the players Smith said. “And Schlemer said he believes the where they want to participate that’s odd because they’re essentialbigger focus on in the sport so they have to ly saying that you rehab is a good can do it, it just step forward keep up an image. can’t be an issue. for professional Then you bring sports.

ISAIS SMITH in the issue of it “These assistant professor of sports psychology still being illegal players do need in some states but to understand the consequences of their actions. How- not in others.”

Smith said this creates an environever, I think a treatment approach is much better than a punitive approach to help ment where players at the collegiate level these guys overcome their addiction,” are unsure of how to act.

“In the state of Illinois where mariSchlemer said.

Isais Smith, SIUE assistant professor juana is legal recreationally, this creates a of sports psychology, believes that the weird web for the players where they want changes are positive so far. However, he to participate in the sport and so they have said the stance is a bit confusing when con- to keep up an image,” Smith said. “And sidering the difference between the MLB’s even if they did want to indulge, that puts

a weird label on the player. I think there needs to be more thought put into their stance so it’s more concrete … It feels like they’re letting the athletes figure out themselves, instead of the institution telling them.”

With the MLB being the first major sports organization to openly put out a stance like this, the question becomes focused on when other institutions might follow in those footsteps.

The NHL and NFL have already taken similar stances. The MLB is the only organization to stop testing and remove marijuana from the list of banned substances.

Smith connected this idea to more and more states legalizing marijuana.

“There’s certain states that we can see, like California where I’m from, and Illinois, [where] I think they’re trying to follow in those footsteps to ease off the gas pedal enough to show that they’re trying to make a change,” Smith said. “It’ll be interesting to see how things might change if it becomes federally legal, because then these organizations have to say something.”

For more information on SIUE’s policy on substance abuse, visit SIUE’s policy page.

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