The Alestle Vol. 75 No. 25

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Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

the student voice since 1960

Administration seeks student input on campus environment

Authors of true crime book unravel murder and false conviction

New assistant soccer coach aims to lead team to championships

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Thursday, April 7, 2022 Vol. 75 No. 25

New funding would allow SIUE to hire more counselors FRANCESCA BOSTON reporter

A state mental health advocacy organization is working to add funding so that universities like SIUE can add mental health support services.

National Alliance on Mental Illness Chicago, an advocacy organization with affiliates around the country, is now working to secure funding during this legislative session. The group has been working with Illinois representatives and senators to create a line item in the state’s budget that is dedicated to the act.

In August of 2019, the Mental Health Early Action on Campus Act was signed into Illinois law, but little to no funding was secured to support services at public institutions.

Rachel Bhagwat, director of policy at NAMI Chicago, has been part of the team working to encourage representatives and senators, including State Rep. Katie Stuart, D-Edwardsville, former SIUE professor, to help ensure that the act is given sufficient funding to support the 58 public institutions in Illinois. She said they have no pushback from government officials who are in support of the bill, but funding can be hard to secure when other topics may take a higher priority.

“The issue really becomes that there are so many competing priorities right now, and so many different groups and honestly worthy causes. It’s just making sure that people understand that this is a priority,” Bhagwat said. “It’s not that anyone is against it. It’s just making sure that this rises to the top.”

Bhagwat said back in 2019, universities filled out a survey that detailed what they needed funding for and how much they needed. The survey, which turned into an 87-page report, found that the estimated cost to support mental health on college campuses is $19 million.

“We have extraordinarily detailed breakdowns of what each school asked

for and what they’d be using it for,” Bhagwat said.

Half a million dollars would go to the Illinois Board of Higher Education to create the Technical Assistance Center, a research center that would develop and help universities develop the best practices for implementing mental health resources on campuses.

The Illinois legislative session will end on April 8, when the budget is supposed to be approved, which means if the funding passes, it will be available for higher education institutions by July 1, according to Bhagwat.

Jessica Ulrich, director of counseling services at SIUE, said that Counseling Services is funded entirely by student fees, which means there is not a consistent funding amount coming in each year. She said dedicated funding would allow Counsel-

ing Services to hire additional counselors and staff, including expanding outreach and peer education programs.

“Maybe it’s having three counselors, maybe it’s having one person who is our assessment and triage counselor,” Ulrich said. “Should all the funding come at once, we should be able to increase [the staff] by four people.”

Ulrich said that along with hiring more counselors, they are making it a priority to hire counselors from diverse backgrounds.

“With the most recent search that we had, we did use an equity advisor for our search. That is something that we’re definitely invested in,” Ulrich said.

The Mental Health Early Action on Campus Act calls for one clinical, non-student staff member to 1,250 students.

SIUE has approximately 13,000 students,

and only six staff counselors, meaning they need at least 4 more to meet the act’s requirements.

Ulrich said she is thrilled about the idea of funding becoming available, as they were supposed to receive more funding prior to COVID, but the funding was allocated to support COVID efforts.

“It’s really exciting because all of the things that are required in the bill are definitely things that we’re in favor of and would want to do. But being a completely fee-funded unit, we don’t have a way to find all of those types of things, so we’re definitely thrilled,” Ulrich said.

Counseling Services at SIUE are free to students, but many students either do not know about them or are worried about what their peers may think about them for attending therapy, according to junior Hailee O’Dell, an elementary education and psychology major from Glen Carbon.

O’Dell said as Student Government president, she encourages students to use the free resources at the university, as their student fees pay for them.

“I hear so many students all the time say, ‘I had no idea that we got free counseling here.’ There are these resources, but students don’t know about them,” O’Dell said.

Senior Nicole Burbach, a biochemistry major from Edwardsville, is a student government senator. Burbach said she has used the counseling services and went to six or seven sessions. She said that she had a positive experience but felt that it wasn’t quite the support she was looking for.

Ulrich said that Counseling Services doors will be opening soon, which means students will now be able to come into the office, rather than just calling, to set up an appointment. The doors have been closed throughout the pandemic because they are located within Health Services. She said if students want to set up an appointment or are needing non-urgent assistance, they can call the office or use Cougar Care to schedule an initial assessment.

spective homebuyers. The article states that the inflation caused by the pandemic has caused home prices to rise by 20 percent between 2020 and 2021.

Harvey said the increases he’s seen have made getting into the housing market particularly difficult, sometimes almost impossible.

“People with means are [investing in properties] and people with limited means can’t really afford to get into the market at all, so it just dries up the front end,” Harvey said.

With prospective buyers in mind, particularly college students, Harvey said he believes this is going to be a difficult time to find affordable housing.

“I think that we are in for a really rough period where people are gonna be highly stressed and I don’t really know what people are going to do. I think it’s actually way worse on the coast than it is here, but it is getting bad here,” Harvey said.

Junior mass communications major Jenna Robinson of Springfield, Illinois, said the increase in housing prices have made her concerned about her future.

“The price of apartments and plac-

es to live right now is pretty concerning to me because [of] what people are paid with minimum wage and the price of rent, you basically have to have at least one roommate — or two, depending on where you’re living [and] if it’s in the city or rural,” Robinson said. “It makes me nervous.”

Due to the nature of the field of mass communications, Robinson said that it also concerns her about getting a job where the work is, which is usually in the cities.

“Thinking about rent and paying my phone bill and electricity and all that, [the cost of living] seems so high,” Robinson said.

Another student, freshman criminal justice major Heaven Watkins of Chicago, said she is also concerned about the rising prices.

“I feel like the prices are unreasonable [and] I feel like it should be lower, especially for us college students,” Watkins said.

“Most people can’t even pay it, but we need somewhere to lay our head.”

Watkins said the other bills that have to be paid also concerns her due to how high all of it can get once combined.

“On top of that we have bills like [the] phone bill, cable, light bill [and] gas on top of that,” Watkins said.

To help mend the problem, Harvey said he believes people will continue to do what they’re always done: work more and more jobs to live in places like Edwardsville.

“People will do what they’ve always done. They’ll have a couple jobs, if they can’t afford to live in Edwardsville, they’ll live somewhere nearby, they’ll commute [and] they’ll try to keep a car running,” Harvey said.

Harvey said this problem is hard to solve because it’s difficult to understand by those who haven’t gone through it.

“All the costs and all the difficulties are sort of born by the people who are trying to make ends meet,” Harvey said.

“What I’ve found with talking to people who [are] economically solid and do not have these worries is that they cannot conceptualize what it’s like to know that you will not be able to afford to buy a house like your parents did [and] that there is less housing of any kind that you can afford available and the situation continues to get worse.”

CAMPUS MENTAL HEALTH STATISTICS

COVID-ERA STATISTICS

One third of all college students have been diagnosed with a mental health condition – a 14% increase in the last decade – yet only 25% of college students receive treatment despite serious implications.

In a recent American Council on Education survey, 62% of institutions reported that student mental health is “worse” now than in previous years.

Students who struggle with mental health are twice as likely to drop out of college.

Research shows that graduation rates are lower for students with mental health conditions, especially for Black, Latinx, and low-income students and dropout rates are 2.5x higher.

In 2019, it was estimated that close to 30% of 18-25 year olds struggled with mental health, the highest prevalence in any age group.

A June 2020 CDC report on the impacts of COVID-19 shows that one in four 18-24 year olds considered suicide in the previous 30 days.

Additionally, 89% of college students reported stress or anxiety due to COVID-19 in the NAMI Chicago

| Kirsten O’Loughlin / The Alestle

Student and community concerns rise, as do housing prices BRANDON WELLS sports editor

With an ending to the pandemic slowly becoming visible, many, including college students, are still concerned about the rising prices of housing and rent across the U.S. With states across the country reporting increases in home prices, rent is also becoming an issue — according to an article from the Pew Charitable Trusts, Illinois has seen a rent increase of between 10 to 14 percent, or an average of $142.

John Harvey with the Edwardsville Community Housing Alliance said he has a lot of concerns about the increasing trend of housing prices due to how these trends impact lower-income households.

“People can end up staying in substandard housing that isn’t well repaired or that has definite health and safety risks because they can [only] sort of afford it and the landlord holds them hostage,” Harvey said. “That’s hidden, people don’t see it.”

An article from Econofact supports the fact that lower-income households as are suffering more due to this, as are pro-

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Thursday, 04.07.22

BY THE NUMBERS / COVID-19 AT SIUE, SPRING 2022 New confirmed positive cases (from tests conducted by SIUE and self-reporting):

Tests conducted by SIUE:

March 29 - April 4: 4 students, 2 faculty/staff

March 29 - April 4: 1,212

March 23 - March 28: 1 student, 1 faculty/staff

March 23 - March 28: 1,223

14-Day New Positive Cases: 5 students, 3 faculty/staff

14-Day New Tests Conducted: 2,435

All prior weeks positive tests: (Jan. 4 - April 4): 1,038 students, 247 faculty/staff

All prior weeks tests conducted: Jan. 4 - April 4: 30,289

7 students 2 faculty/staff

Positive cases identified by SIUE testing: March 29 - April 4: 2 March 23 - March 28: 1

14-day new positive cases: 3

All prior weeks positive cases: Jan. 4 - April 4: 1,834

MADISON COUNTY DAY BY DAY:

30

Positivity Rate (last 14 days): 0.12%

25 20 15

Percentage of isolation/quarantine space available on campus

10

(as of April 5): 100%

5 0

Total active positive cases:

Source: Health, Reporting, and Testing page on SIUE’s COVID-19 website, as of April 5.

MAR 29

MAR 30

MAR 31

APR 1

APR 2

APR 3

APR 4

APR 5

04.02.22

Two different sets of airpods were found in the MUC, one with a case and the other without.

A cell phone was found in the Student Fitness Center.

04.04.22

Officer responded to a report of a suspicious female climbing through a window in an apartment. Officer made contact with the subject who advised she locked herself out of her apartment.

04.05.22

Officer took a report of an employee reporting that her SIUE-issued iPad was stolen.

Engineering students will see a new lab by fall semester FRANCESCA BOSTON reporter

A robotics lab is coming to the School of Engineering hoping to bring more hands-on experience to students, including BODE, a robotic dog.

Chris Gordon, associate dean for the School of Engineering, said there is a basic need for shared space at the school that features robotics, because of the number of programs that offer robotics engineering. He said the lab is planned to be finished in time for the fall semester.

“Technology and automation are very central to what we are doing in our day to day now. We want to showcase that level of activity and showcase what we’re doing in school engineering,” Gordon said.

Gordon said the lab is going to be highly visible directly adjacent to the atrium, in order to showcase the activities that are happening in the School of Engineering. The lab is going to include several robotic arms that students can use to gain experience for future jobs. The lab will have collaborative spaces, as well as a drone cage, where faculty and students will be able to fly drones.

Gordon said the lab will also house BODE (Boston Dynamic Spot Dog), a type of robotic dog that can be used both in classrooms, teaching students how to program a complex robotics system and outreach programs with local schools.

“Basically it’s a robotic dog. It’s controllable. It’s programmable. It’s a very technologically capable robot, it can walk upstairs and it can go off-road in very rugged terrain. It’s essentially a platform for a number of different attachments [such as cameras and sensors],” Gordon said.

Mingshao Zhang, assistant mechanical engineering professor, said the robotics lab will increase students’ employment chances after graduation. Students who have experience and training prior to the workforce are highly desired as they save employers time and money.

“We will teach students how to work, how to program [robotics] and that means it’s going to be very competitive for students to get a job,” Zhang said. “It’s a very big deal breaker for employees because they have to send those people to a specific workshop or industry workshop.

It’s very, very expensive.”

Zhang said he is very excited to be

As well as a new lab, the engineering department has BODE, a Boston Dynamics robotic dog. BODE has many uses in the classroom, as well as in the community. | Photo courtesy of SIUE School of Engineering working with BODE, but has to remind people that it is not just an expensive toy, but a robot that exceeds many industry standards. He said BODE is one of the best commercially available vision systems and he would compare it to the vision and control technology of a Tesla.

“If you think about it like a toy it’s very expensive, if you think about an industrial robot, it’s actually one of the most cost-effective ones,” Zhang said.

Senior Kellan Smith, a mechatronics and robotic engineering major from Nor-

mal, Illinois, said the new lab will open up a whole different field of opportunities for students, in regards to an increase in hands-on practice with programming and running robotics systems.

“This is just going to be an entirely new way, an awesome way to do that and [the lab] give us a space to actually put the robots. I know that we work pretty closely with some companies in the area that are looking at donating their older robots. to allow us to understand them better,” said Smith.

Smith said being able to use BODE allows him to see all of his lectures come to life, and allows him to experience the process he’s discussed in a classroom in a real-world setting.

“It’s an impressive piece of technology, because of the amount of cameras connecting to image correction connecting to algorithms and complex algebra, and it’s impressive to see what actually goes into that and understand that now,” Smith said. “I can have a visual representation of what I’m doing.”

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Thursday, 04.07.22

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Campus survey aims to give students a voice LIV KRAUS reporter

SIU’s survey on the safety and atmosphere on campus went out on March 14 for Edwardsville and Carbondale campuses.

The survey asked a variety of questions regarding how safe students felt being on campus and expressing their viewpoints.

SIU President Dan Mahony said the survey is about how campus is perceived amongst different demographics.

“They can go into detail about something that they want to bring to our attention, but there’s also some quantitative data where they can give us an evaluation of how safe the campus is or whatever the question is,” Mahony said.

Mahony said there are many benefits to using a survey to gauge how members of the community feel. The main benefit is that it reaches more people, resulting in more voices being heard.

“With feedback, we sometimes get it from an individual here and an individual there, whereas when you’re getting it from thousands of people, it allows you to have a much better perspective on where people see the greatest need for change,” Mahony said.

Jessica Harris, Vice Chancellor of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, said the goal of the survey is to hear from members of the community and to learn about their positive experiences

Although the university accepts formal complaints and official statements from students, the survey serves as a place for feedback from far more students than usual, officials said. | Clair Sollenberger / The Alestle as well as the areas that need improvement in terms of belonging and inclusion.

“The feedback is really important to us in terms of identifying where we’re still challenged and what we can do to make this an environment and community where we all feel included and like we belong,” Harris said.

Harris said that she is in charge of making sure that the survey link is distributed across the SIUE campus and to encourage faculty, staff and students to take the survey.

“We’ll have the opportunity

to look at our own institutional data and based on the feedback that we’re getting from faculty, staff and students, make sure that we develop actions to respond to some of the issues or concerns with our campus climate,” Harris said.

Harris said that the campus climate survey will be an efficient way of gathering different perspectives and figuring out the next step in the right direction.

“Because it is a survey, it reaches far and wide. We’ll be able to capture a lot of additional voices. That additional data will

be important in terms of forming future interventions and actions,” Harris said.

Going forward, the campus climate survey will be conducted every three years. Mahony said that this is to give more time to implement change and gauge the impact. Additionally, it is best to avoid over-surveying people, as it makes people less likely to fill it out.

“More time to implement change, more time to see what the outcomes of any interventions might be and for us to have a nice time period to see where we made

movement and where we still have challenges,” said Harris.

Harris said that it is important for all students to participate in taking the survey to help form clearer ideas of what needs to be improved.

“The university wants to hear from you and this is an opportunity to share your experiences and provide feedback that will be helpful in making the university better for not only the students that are here but the students in the future,” said Harris.

The campus climate survey will be open until Thursday, April 14.

45 Annual TH

Probst Memorial Lecture Dr. Shang-Tian Yang THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY

Industrual Biotechnology and Bioreeneries in a Circular Bioeconomy Wednesday, April 27th, 7 p. m.

Meridian Ballroom in the Morris University Center SIUE Campus

NEXT WEEK: GROWING INTEREST IN ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT’S GREEN ROOFS

lifestyles alestlelive.com

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contact the editor: lifestyles@alestlelive.com 650-3527 Thursday, 04.07.22

SIUE professor asked to compose for U.S. Marine Band LIV KRAUS reporter Kim Archer, professor of composition at SIUE, was asked to compose a piece for the U.S. Marine Band, also known as “The President’s Own.” Archer said her involvement in the project began the year after she got her doctorate and received a one-year position to fill in for another instructor at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. While she was there, she made good friends with the graduate assistant.

“We were just friends and then I got a second job and moved on and he graduated. I had kinda lost track of him, but he went on to The President’s Own,” said Archer.

Archer said that due to COVID-19 and the problems the Biden administration had with transitioning to office, The President’s Own was unaware that they

were to be part of the inauguration until dad would walk around about 9 a.m. and just a couple weeks before. slip a cup of coffee under my nose. Come “My friend Ryan, he’s the assistant by around 1 in the afternoon and leave a conductor, went to his boss and said ‘I sandwich next to me,” said Archer. know this composer and she can write reArcher was able to get the piece ally well and she can write really fast. Why done, but the next step was figuring out don’t we give her a call and see a title. The U.S. Marine band if she can write us something doesn’t associate with politics, for this?’” said Archer. just America, so Archer was inArcher’s friend was able to structed to give her work a title persuade his boss into giving that didn’t allude to her politiArcher a shot. He gave Archer cal perspective. a call on Jan. 1 to deliver the Archer said she had to go news. The catch was that the far back in history to come piece needed to be done in up with a conceptual title eight days. that wasn’t partisan. She went Archer said she was visitback to Plato’s The Repub| Kim Archer lic, the Greek word for that ing her dad in North Carolina at the time. When she hung up being “politeia.” the phone, her dad asked her “For the rest of my career, why she’d gone so pale.

I will have to explain to people how to “It really was about seven days of me pronounce politeia,” said Archer. just getting up at 6 in morning and my Archer said that due to social distanc-

ing, they couldn’t have her out for the inauguration. That year, only about half the members of the band were able to play.

In August of 2021, Dr. Archer was asked to go to Washington D.C. to be a part of The President’s Own formal indoor concert and recording session for a CD that will be distributed internationally.

Archer said that they want her to hear what the band is playing and to make comments and suggestions.

“If you would have told me when I was a baby composer that one day I would stand in front of the best band in the world and be asked for my opinion and to make music with them, I would’ve never have believed it,” Archer said.

Archer will get there on Thursday, April 7 to prepare for a rehearsal the following day. The performance will take place on Sunday, April 10 and the recording sessions will be the following Monday and Tuesday.

Mass communications instructor directs short film screened across U.S. EMILY STERZINGER lifestyles editor “Restroom,” a short film directed, written, edited and produced by mass communications instructor Cory Byers, is a horror film set in the women’s bathroom on the first floor of Dunham Hall.

The film features two main characters: Anna, who is played by senior theater performance major Sadie Harvey from Knoxville, Tennessee, and Claire, who is played by senior theater performance major Margaret Sommerhof from Godfrey, Illinois. The film also includes junior theater performance major Leta Debardeleben from Worden, Illinois, playing a character whose identity would be a spoiler.

Harvey, along with acting, assisted Byers on writing the film in order to make the theater related dialogue sound more accurate.

“He had said there was a project he was working on that he might want some help with the writing of,” Harvey said. “I said ‘Yeah, absolutely, just let me know,’ and sometime within that week or the next week he sent me an email with his rough draft of the script and I went through and edited it and made it more conversational.”

The film has been and will be shown in multiple film festivals across the country: the 2022 Austin Micro Film Festival, the 2022 Dead in Decatur Film Festival, the 2022 Oregon Screams Horror Film Festival and the 2021 Golden Short Film Festival.

Byers said that the film was primarily shown in micro film festivals or featured in micro film categories due to its short length, which is roughly four minutes.

“A short [film] can be anywhere from a couple minutes to

40 minutes maybe, but micros are kind of like, zero to three minutes or four minutes or something like that, so it’s kind of a new-ish category,” Byers said.

Besides Byers, the film’s crew consisted entirely of students taking the mass communications class “Advanced Video Directing and Producing.”

Carlos Dulcamara, a recent mass communications alumnus who served as director of photography on “Restroom,” said that the crew worked well together because of good chemistry.

“We were all in that class, so we all kind of knew each other, and knew who was good at what, and who was more comfortable doing a specific job,” Dulcamara said. “I’m still friends with those people to this day, and so having to work with them and being able to produce this video art form was a lot of fun.”

The film was created largely by the collaboration of mass communications and theater students, respectively being the crew and the cast. Byers, Harvey and Dulcamara all said this type of collaboration is becoming a lot more common and is mutually beneficial.

“I know I’ve heard recently other students in the [theater] department talking about how they’ve been asked to work on different student projects in mass communications. It’s definitely becoming a lot more prevalent, I think because we’re realizing we can all benefit from each other,” Harvey said.

Byers said the general public can possibly expect to see the film online later this summer.

“I’m gonna submit it to the St. Louis filmmaker’s showcase which is in the summer. So hopefully it gets into that, and if it does I’ll probably put it online soon after that would screen there,” Byers said.

“Restroom” has been and will be screened at several film festivals across the nation, including the Oregon Screams Horror Film Festival. | Photo courtesy of Cory Byers

Margaret Sommerhof (left) and Sadie Harvey (middle) act while Carlos Dulcamara (right) records. | Photo courtesy of Cory Byers

Thursday, 04.07.22

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Authors of ‘Bone Deep’ come to SIUE to host book talk LIV KRAUS reporter Best-selling author Charles Bosworth and defense attorney Joel Schwartz will be coming to SIUE to talk about their co-written book “Bone Deep.” They will be discussing their book at the book talk and following up the event with a book signing.

SIUE Office of Online Services and Educational Outreach will be hosting a book talk for Bone Deep: Untangling the Twisted True Story of the Tragic Betsy Faria Murder Case on Wednesday, April 6 at 6 p.m.

For those who wish to grab a copy at the event, Books-A-Million will be selling

copies of the book during the event.

“Bone Deep” tells the tragic and true story of Betsy Faria, who was found dead in her home by her husband, having been stabbed 55 times in the chest.

Betsy’s husband, Russ Faria, returned home from a friend’s game night to the gruesome sight of his wife laying dead in their living room. It had been concluded that Besty had been dead long before Russ found her.

Despite no evidence of Russ Faria being the culprit, the police insisted that the newly widowed husband was guilty of her murder. After spending four years in prison, Russ Faria was granted a retrial and was proven innocent.

The true murderer of Betsy Faria turned

out to be her close friend and insurance beneficiary, Pam Hubb. “Bone Deep” implies that if it wasn’t for Joel Schwartz, Russ Faria would still be sitting in a prison cell today.

Before “Bone Deep” was even written, the blood-curdling true crime story shook millions and continued to gain media traction.

The story of Betsy Faria was featured on two episodes of “Dateline” in 2016 titled “Stranger Than Fiction” and “Return to Game Night.”

Joel Schwartz was Russ Faria’s defense attorney. His contribution to “Bone Deep” allowed for an inside scoop as to how things went down in court and the steps he took to prove his client’s innocence in the case.

Charles Bosworth has written six New York Times best selling true-crime novels.

He started his career working for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and later moved on to reporting for the Chicago Tribune as well as the New York Times.

“Bone Deep” has been adapted into the NBC mini-series starring Renée Zellweger called “The Thing About Pam.” The crime drama premiered on March 8 of this year and will be a total of eight episodes long.

The book talk will be held in-person at the National Corn-to-Ethanol Research Center and will be over Zoom for those who are unable to physically attend. The event is free, but those attending will need to register in order to save a seat.

Wheels and Walk Festival showcases Edwardsville attractions SANGIMA RAI reporter

Wayne Chambers gets ready to ride his bike at the festival. | Jihun Han / The Alestle

Russell Rodely (left) counts how many people joined the Wheels and Walk Festival with Carolyn Compton (right). | Jihun Han / The Alestle

The Wheels and Walk Festival highlighted the beauty of the city’s bike trails and gathered donations for the local food banks.

The City of Edwardsville’s Campus to Community Committee hosted the Wheels and Walk Festival on Saturday, April 2, which started at 11 a.m. and continued to 3 p.m.

The event departed from SIUE’s Technology and Management Center parking lot and proceeded onto the MCT trail to Ironworks. Ironworks is home to Sugarfire Smoke House, Global Brew Tap House, Chicken Salad Chick, Just Right Eating Edwardsville and Waxing the City.

Participants were seen walking, cycling and skateboarding. Most of the participants were from Edwardsville, particularly from SIUE, and partly from Lewis and Clark Community College.

Chad Verbais, chair of Campus to Community Committee and assistant director of Supplemental Education at SIUE, said “Our goal as a committee is to bring together the campus and the community.”

Verbais said they periodically have such events to showcase things that are going on in the city to publicize things that are happening on campus and to the folks in the city.

According to Verbais, the Campus to Community Committee is funded by the city and is composed by its members as well as the SIUE community.

Verbais said a purpose of this event is to showcase the beauty of the trails to the community, particularly SIUE students.

The first 200 participants were given a food voucher of $5 for the donation of food items they made, to be used at the

food trucks at Ironworks.

Carolyn Compton, assistant director of SIUE Community Engagement, said “We layered in the opportunities for people to bring in a donation of canned food items and get a $5 food voucher.”

According to Compton, the donated items will be divided between Cougar Cupboard and Glen-Ed Food Pantry.

Jo Gibson, vice chair of Bicycle and Pedestrian Committee Edwardsville and an SIUE retiree, said that the Edwardsville Bicycle and Pedestrian advisory committee is conducting a study and trying to connect the trails to the city to make it more bike and pedestrian friendly.

Participants came to the event with their families, friends and some of them brought their pets too.

Jason Fultz, an SIUE alumnus, and Robin Fultz, marketing specialist at SIUE, participated in the event with their two kids.

“The kids did good, he was on a bike trailer, daughter fell asleep in a stroller so that was pretty easy,” Fultz said. “It was a good excuse to get out and enjoy the weather.”

Outdoor games and live music were also provided at the Ironworks. Participants enjoyed the food, nice weather and live music by Matt Taul.

“The forecast scared a lot of us but the day really delivered. There are a lot of families out here, there are bikers, walkers, skateboarders … We look forward to growing this next year and Lewis and Clark is really happy to be a part of it,” Elizabeth Grant, professor of speech at Lewis and Clark Community College said.

Grant said that it was Lewis and Clarks’ very first year of being on a Campus to Community Committee and happy to be a part of this event.

Workforce Development Program offers outreach to East St. Louis men AHMAD LATHAN reporter Young East St. Louis men learned how to cut hair and received job training at a recent event with the help of SIUE Outreach.

The Office of Online Services and Educational Outreach partnered with Illinois Coalition for Community Services to offer help with workforce development opportunities along with barber lessons on March 19, 2022.

Rhonda Currie, field supervisor for ICCS, was one of the main organizers of the event. She has the responsibility of figuring out what type of resources a community needs and what events could work for them.

Currie said the idea was thought about while in a board meeting and eventually led to the planning of the barbershop event.

“Somehow, we got on the topic of

haircuts. I believe East St. Louis School District was doing something around Christmas time and a part of what they were doing was trying to get haircuts to some of the young men at the school,” Currie said. “The timing that we talked about was too short to really get anything together to help that, but we knew that was something that would be helpful, that would be positive and then we could build from that besides doing a haircut.”

Currie said the event was big and people came to speak well about the available resources.

“It ended up being bigger than we thought and had people who just wanted to come in to let them know we are resources to you,” Currie said.

Mary Ettling, who has been the director of SIUE Outreach for three years, said her stance is that everyone deserves a shot at education.

Ettling said she plans to continue

to help as much as possible in the future working with the Illinois Coalition for Community Services.

Stormy Tovar, co-organizer of the barbershop event, has some experience with different groups in East St. Louis.

“When it comes to working with clients in the community and kids in the community. The most effective approach is to have a wraparound approach,” Tovar said.

According to Tovar, the young men enjoyed the event.

“It was wonderful. They were really excited,” Tovar said.

Tovar said that the program was geared towards helping the young men clear their records.

“They are in our first time weapons offender program and if they successfully complete the program they will avoid a felony on their record,” Tovar said.

People who helped out in the event demonstrated genuine care.

“I think that sometimes they just get

a bad rap. For some mistakes, just kind of hang over them and we let them know that that’s not all we see in you and that we care about you,” said Tovar.

Rhonda said that SIUE and the OSEO Director Mary Ettling did a great job helping the young men and the event the best way possible.

“Mary Ettling even donated dress socks to make sure that they would have the full outfit needed for future interviews and, you know, future jobs,” said Currie. “We were just really surrounded

by SIUE in their plan and so we really appreciated that.”

Currie said that if people want to see the organization’s plan they could check out their social media accounts.

“We do have Facebook, so we do have some more party events listed on our Facebook,” said Currie.

ICCS has community board meetings once a month where they plan events for the community youth that need resources.

NEXT WEEK: TIKTOK HARMS BODY IMAGE, ATTENTION AND ADDICTIVENESS

opinion alestlelive.com

PAGE 6

LETTER TO THE EDITOR ALEX AULTMAN Editor-in-Chief

GABRIEL BRADY Managing Editor

EMILY STERZINGER Lifestyles Editor

BRANDON WELLS Sports Editor

DAMIAN MORRIS Opinion Editor

NICOLE BOYD Online Editor

JULIANNA BIRKEY ELIZABETH DONALD JANA HAMADE Copy Editors FRANCESCA BOSTON SANGIMA RAI LIV KRAUS AHMAD LATHAN Reporter KIRSTEN O’LOUGHLIN Graphics Manager TAMMY MERRETT Program Director

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We stand in solidarity with the trans community QUEER FACULTY & STAFF ASSOCIATION

Over the past few months, an unprecedented amount of anti-trans legislation has swept across the country. In fact, of the nearly 200 proposed bills this year, nearly 30 have specifically targeted the LGBTQIA+ community; in particular, trans, gender non-conforming and non-binary individuals in the community. Unfortunately, this negative line of thinking and anti-trans rhetoric has found its way on to our campus

with materials appearing in restrooms targeting trans individuals. While these materials have since been removed, the underlying sentiments of hate and bigotry remain.

This abhorrent level of targeting and profiling does not align with our institution’s values and commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion. We whole-heartedly denounce these acts of vandalism and hatred and firmly stand with the trans community at SIUE following the International Transgender Day of Visibility.

Thursday, 04.07.22

With the understanding that these continue to be trying and difficult times for many members of the LGBTQIA+ community, listed below are campus and community resources that are available to any and all who need them: On Campus Resources www.siue.edu/lgbtqia/resources/index.shtml

LIST OF PHYSICAL SAFE SPACES ON CAMPUS:

Off Campus Resources www.siue.edu/lgbtqia/resources/off-campus.shtml

The Hub— Morris University Center ACCESS Office— Student Success Center, Room 1203 STEM Center— SE 1276 Lovejoy Library— LL 1051, 1052, 1053, 1054 Department of Social Work— Peck Hall Room 1306

Metro Trans Umbrella Group www.stlmetrotrans.org

In solidarity,

Counseling Services www.siue.edu/counseling Bias Incident Report Form https://cm.maxient.com/reportingform.php?SIUEdwardsville&layout_id=10

PrideSTL www.pridestl.org SQSH www.thesqsh.org List of faculty, staff and students certified as Safe Zone Allies www.siue.edu/lgbtqia/find-an-ally/index.shtml SIUE GSA Student Group getinvolved.siue.edu/organization/gsa

Rex Jackson, Co-Founder, Queer Faculty & Staff Association Nick Niemerg, Co-Founder, Queer Faculty & Staff Association Elizabeth Kamper, Co-Founder, Queer Faculty & Staff Association Jennifer Wagner, Co-Founder, Queer Faculty & Staff Association Mitchell Haas, Co-Chair, SIUE Safe Zone Committee Dr. J.T. Snipes, President, SIUE Black Faculty & Staff Association Dr. Duff Wrobbel, President, SIUE Faculty Senate Keith Becherer, President, SIUE Staff Senate Dr. Barbara McCracken, Chair, Graduate Council Hailee O'Dell, Student Body President, Student Government

ALESTLE VIEW: Greed and greenwashing will destroy our planet, paper straws are not enough THE ALESTLE STAFF editorial board

In July of last year, the Gulf of Mexico burst into flames as a result of an oil spill underwater.

Since then, there has been plenty of news regarding companies like McDonald’s, Starbucks, Coca-Cola and more ending the sale of single-use plastic straws.

The switch to paper straws instead of plastic is usually done in reference to the deteriorating environment and seen as a necessary sacrifice that needs to be made to prolong life on Earth.

But with natural disasters like forest fires becoming far more common, it’s hard to see how the reason is plastic straws.

Even if individuals want to combat climate change and make personal choices and sacrifices that benefit the environment, there is a chance they will fall victim to greenwashing. Greenwashing is when a company lies about how eco-friendly a product

is to make it sell better than it normally would.

There are plenty of examples of this, like Volkswagen fitting some cars with a device that detected when an emissions check was taking place and caused the car to temporarily emit less carbon dioxide. Another example is Starbucks switching to strawless lids and claiming that this choice benefits the environment because of less waste. In actuality, the new lids on their cups included more plastic than it did previously.

Climate scientists have found that the largest cause of climate change is not gas-powered cars, individual littering or even personal plastics, but the burning of fossil fuels. The biggest source of those fossil fuels is not cars or trucks, but power plants that burn coal and other fossil fuels.

An argument has been made that companies may be at fault for producing fossil fuels to burn, but the public is also to blame for continuing to support those com-

panies. However, more often than not, the more environmentally-friendly options for consumers cost far more than other options, leaving lower-income people to purchase cheaper options at the cost of their own environment.

If the general public is to blame for the use of fossil fuels by companies, then how is the success of Tesla explained? Tesla only produces electric cars, but is still very frequently considered to be one of the most successful car companies to date. There is also the point that Toyota was the most profitable car company in 2020. This is because they received a huge increase in the number of electric cars sold. Individuals are trying to purchase the environmentally-friendly option, but with so many companies doing so much more that is not environmentally-friendly, doing so feels almost insignificant.

The power industry in the U.S. is 80 percent owned by private companies, but the other 20

percent is all government. We’ve discussed how companies are trying to pass the blame of climate change onto individuals, but the government is doing so as well.

During his most recent campaign for president, Joe Biden said he wanted to ban plastic straws. There’s a chance that was just an empty promise to garner political support, but regardless, it was still something that a prominent political figure stated to the public.

In no way does this mean that individuals should begin littering and stop taking any action on climate change; every bit does help. But we are fed up with corporations and even the government acting as if the solution to climate change is the average person making changes and sacrifices in their lives. Although that can help, the best solution is companies cutting back or changing how they do business entirely, like the B Corp. changes themselves.

we should be encouraging social and legislative changes rather than telling people to leave their homes — it’s not that easy.

A lot of people from the South feel a deep connection to the land and environment there, which is what makes it hard for them to leave behind. I still miss catching and releasing lizards in the swampy summer heat, eating honeysuckle nectar and exploring the woods.

The South also has its own powerful history of resistance.

Workers in the region organized unions and fought for the eighthour work day. Union workers during the 1920s actively worked against the police who were supporting the interests of the ruling class and trying to steal their wages. Appalachians have fought

against oil pipelines, destructive mountaintop coal mining and cuts to education and healthcare.

Black activists are the main reason the South has come as far as it has. Freedom Summer, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, desegregation, interracial marriage, school integration and sit-ins all occurred due to the power and determination of Black Southern activists. Black women in particular have been an often overlooked driving force behind organization and education in social movements.

The South was also home to the first Black members of Congress, whose very campaigns were acts of resistance.

The South has the capability to change if society looks beyond stereotypes and sees the lived re-

ality of people in the region. This change is already happening, which can be seen in the response to Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill and Georgia electing two young, Democratic senators in 2020.

Support Southern activist groups. There are a variety of organizations doing important work from large ones like the Southern Poverty Law Center to grassroots organizations like Healthy and Free Tennessee.

This support is needed now more than ever with the war on education being waged by legislators. States are banning books, discussion of LGBTQ+ people, race, or even just “divisive topics.” It’s time to rethink perceptions of the South and see its rich, complicated history for what it is.

The South can and will change if we let it ALEX AULTMAN editor-in-chief

There is no denying that the American South has a troubled history, but ignoring its history of activism and rich culture causes harm to the marginalized groups that live there.

Growing up as a queer, neurodivergent kid in the South was undeniably brutal. But after moving to the Midwest, it became clear that the South’s issues with racism and poverty are not unique to the region. Although these problems span across the country, people look at states like Texas or Florida and say their residents should “just leave.”

Moving to another state can cost thousands of dollars and isn’t accessible to everyone. Also,

contact the editor: sports@alestlelive.com 650-3527 Page 8

sports

NEXT WEEK: RAY’SEAN TAYLOR’S ROAD TO THE OVC ALL-AMERICAN TEAM

alestlelive.com

Men’s soccer welcomes Grant to team, hopes to build ‘championship culture’ AHMAD LATHAN reporter SIUE men’s soccer coaching staff got a new addition with the hiring of Jordan Grant.

The team has been without an assistant coach since November of 2021 and recently hired Grant in March 2022.

Grant grew up in the Cincinnati area and played club soccer for United Premier when he was younger. He said he played soccer in college where he was successful.

“I played two years at Northern Kentucky University, Division two program at the time,” Grant said.

During my sophomore year we won a national championship,” Grant said.

“I think that was something that he was excited about some of the experience that I could bring, especially after the year that Belmont had this last year. Over the last two years of making, it to the conference fi-

Grant said he has been nal in the Southern Conference,” Grant said. “Having some very with the team since early March big wins, we broke our single sea- and is getting accustomed to the team while preparing for the son shutout record.”

Grant said his core values for fall season.

“It’s been great coaching are work ethic to get to know the and competitiveness. team, get to know “I think for me, the players. We my work ethic is somejust had our first thing that’s incredibly spring game this important to me and past Saturday. Got to the players that are four more coming not coaching. There up. So, I think it’s needs to be competition. allowing us to build I think that it creates resome of those relaalistic scenarios, which tionships and have puts them in positions | Jordan Grant a good idea of what’s to make those decisions expected for the and those are coaching fall,” Grant said. opportunities,” Grant said.

Cale Wassermann has been Grant said he has had a lot of experience within the champion- the head coach for the men’s ship setting which can be a good soccer team since January 2019.

He said he believes Grant addition to the soccer team. good qualities to “You know my experience adds of being in a national cham- the team.

“Yeah, I think he brings pionship, understanding what it takes to get to the national great energy, a bit of temperchampionship as a player and ament in the way he coaches, then you know, as a coach,” but also a very relatable experience,” Wassermann said.

Grant said.

Wassermann said hiring Grant before the season starts in the Fall was good timing.

“The timing could not be any better for him to come in and, you know, get ingrained with us and fully on board now,” Wassermann said.

He also said the team wants to build their culture for the future.

“We’re trying to prioritize having a championship culture,” Wassermann said.

Wassermann said Grant’s qualities are making a good impact towards the team. “I think he’s a very good communicator and he has a detail-oriented eye for not only soccer tactics but also body language,” Wassermann said.

Grant’s past experience of success with other programs is a tool that Wassermann said he plans to use this upcoming season.

“I think his experience in other quality institutions and programs will bring some new ideas to us,” Wasserman said.

CAB hosts glow-in-the-dark mini golf: ‘Something different we’ve never done before’ NICOLE BOYD online editor The most recent Late Night at the MUC event was mini golf in the Meridian Ballroom, with a glow-in-the-dark twist.

The event was hosted by Lindsey Miller, a senior accounting major and Late Night at the MUC chair from Gillespie, Illinois. She said she came into Campus Activities Board wanting to create a mini golf event.

“We came across this inflatable mini golf course and it looked really exciting and it was in budget and so we went ahead and rolled with it,” Miller said.

Miller said by hosting events such as these, she hopes people get to just have fun with their friends.

Amanda Wayman, a senior

applied business administration major from Springfield, Illinois, volunteered at the event. She said she liked the glow-in-thedark aspect.

“I think it’s definitely something different that we’ve never done before. I really hope students just like the opportunity to actually have a real-life golfing experience inside,” Wayman said.

Wayman said events like these give students chances to meet new people.

“I really feel like it’s a good way to … socialize and do something that’s not just watching TV or streaming the new season of Bridgerton, and just actually go out and do some stuff and talk to other people,” Wayman said.

Violet Tirk, a freshman environmental management major from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, said she attended the event be-

cause she’s always wanted to explore more of America.

“This really helped with that, and also just to get away from my roots and more so find out who I am as a person. I also have a couple of friends out here, so just coming here made sense,” Tirk said.

Tirk said she liked the originality of glow-in-the-dark mini golf.

“I think it’s really fun. I really like these unique events instead of just the usual, like, trivia, or just ones you see more often,” Tirk said.

Alaa Aloteibi, a second-year industrial engineering major from Kuwait, said she came because she’d never seen anything like it before.

“It’s amazing. We did not imagine that it would look like that … I took a lot of pictures,”

Aloteibi said.

Aloteibi said she had never tried mini golf before, and while she didn’t score, she had fun.

“I feel like this is a good place for students to communicate, stress relief, especially if students don’t have [anywhere] to go or they don’t have friends that they can go with, they’ll meet a lot of people here,” Aloteibi said. “It’s something nice to do, like they can play, chill [with] food and drink, talk to other students.”

Damilola Adebisi, a junior sociology major from Peoria, Illinois, said they came to the event because it was something to do for free, despite never having mini golfed before.

“It feels like there’s nothing to do out here, but definitely coming here [helps],” Adebisi said.

Thursday, 04.07.22

SIUE STANDINGS Softball

OVERALL OVC

SIUE Murray State UT Martin Belmont Tennessee Tech Southeast Missouri Austin Peay Eastern Illinois Morehead State Tennessee State

13-20 25-10 20-12 18-9 23-11 17-13 17-18 19-17 2-25 11-25

Baseball

OVERALL OVC

SIUE Belmont Austin Peay Southeast Missouri Tennessee Tech UT Martin Morehead State Eastern Illinois Murray State

12-13 19-9 10-19 19-7 16-10 8-17 12-15 17-7 15-11

Women’s Tennis OVERALL OVC

Murray State Belmont Austin Peay SIUE UT Martin Eastern Illinois Southeast Missouri Tennessee State All stats are from the OVC

UPCOMING Track and Field at Illini Classic April 8 and 9 Softball vs.

Tennessee Tech 1 p.m., April 9 Women’s Tennis vs.

Murray State 12 p.m., April 9 Softball vs. Tennessee Tech 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., April 9 Baseball vs.

Eastern Illinois 2 p.m., April 9

8-7 9-5 4-5 13-2 2-12 2-14 11-4 0-6