Garlic can protect against COVID-19

SIUE continues to support student employees through pandemic

Many college students have found themselves out of work due to COVID-19, but administration is working to help those in need.

To help students in this tough time, the university has made efforts to make sure its employees are financially secure. Students who had scheduled hours will be paid for those hours through May 3 as determined by their supervisors.

“What we asked the supervisors to do is to look at what the projected hours would have been per week per student … If they’re asked to [work remotely], they get paid for those hours. Otherwise, they get paid for projected [hours],” Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Jeffrey Waple said. “The only students who are living on campus [and working] are resident assistants who are in housing.”

While campus employees are not currently working, the university expects to welcome students back to their jobs after the pandemic is over.

“When we did this, every student employee who was under contract, we didn’t lay anyone off,” Waple said. “Student care is obviously at the top of our list. If you just look at what’s happening nationally, with companies closing and restaurants closing, students weren’t going to be able to have a steady income, so we wanted to make sure that those who were employed on campus had that through this time period. I don’t know if every campus feels that way about their students, but we do.”

Along with resident assistants who are staying on campus, the university has also made efforts to help students who have essential off-campus jobs, allowing many of them to continue living in campus housing.

“Of our 341 students who are on campus now living in Cougar, we have 28 resident assistants who stayed with us to help support housing, and of the 341, 27 percent are living here because they have a job that’s local where someone needs them,” Waple said.

Senior biology major Jake Richardson, of Springfield, Illinois, has generally been satisfied with the university’s response to COVID-19 in regards to employees.

“I was a fitness attendant, so as a fitness attendant we ended up closing campus and I’m out of work on that. However, I still get paid for the hours I was scheduled, so thankfully that’s been a great benefit,” Richardson said. “I’m also a [Supplemental Instruction] leader, and in light of this pandemic, I’m still able to continue that position remotely through Zoom, so it’s been a bit of work but it’s been fine.”

Senior mass communications major Mark Albrecht, of Granite City, Illinois, was a bit frustrated with the university’s response at first.

“I wasn’t sure if I was going to have a job or not for about a week,” Albrecht said.

According to the Illinois Department of Employment Security website, students who do not work for the university but are out of work elsewhere are eligible to apply for unemployment insurance in most cases. An exemption has also been created to the rule that normally makes it necessary to seek a job as long as employees are willing to return to work when asked.

Students who need to file a claim for unemployment insurance should do so in the state where they were employed. In Illinois, they may do so on the Illinois Department of Employment Security’s website. MORGAN JACKSON photographer

Most of SIUE’s students and staff are attempting to continue class while staying off-campus. To help adapt to these changes, some departments at SIUE have offered new services.

ITS is one of the several departments which aided in the online transition with many new options for students and faculty alike, according to Assistant Director of ITS Michael Pulley.

“We now offer increased device checkouts for students without devices at home for online education,” Pulley said.

Some of these devices available are iPads and laptops, and students can email help@ siue.edu for more information.

Matt Schmitz, SIUE’s assistant director of online and blended education, said the technology that has been rented to students came from devices that were already on-hand, as well as from donations.

“There has been a lot of support from campus as far as donating technology to rent and check out for students,” Schmitz said.

Schmitz also said the things possible with technology have increased as well thanks to larger corporations introducing new offers due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“SIUE upgraded our Zoom tech so now all students and staff have a licensed account,” Schmitz said. “And, to help faculty, we’ve offered webinars on how to use Zoom.”

SIUE has done a lot to help students in this transition, according to Pulley.

“We’ve been able to greatly expand software and expand existing agreements,” Pulley said.

Another department at SIUE with new technology for the transition to online is Lovejoy Library. Electronic Resources Librarian Neil Das said the library has been aiding professors in using electronic databases in coursework.

“We normally have 209 databases online, and we’re always experimenting with new databases to add, like Jove, which is a new one. These closures give us more reason to get more databases up,” Das said. “Usually these databases have things like user limits, but we’ve been getting rid of some of those for courses that use certain databases more. We also have instructions online on how to imbed these databases or specific ebooks into Blackboard for faculty.”

Das credited Interim Dean Lydia Jackson with helping move resources online and offering new ideas for the library.

“She was the one who wanted the 12- hour response time, so we made sure to get it down to that,” Das said.

Das said the library has also changed some more of its guidelines in response to the university‘s closure, such as increased librarian research support and less wait time on emails.

“We have greatly expanded our chat hours on our live chat website,” Das said. “Also, we have been very responsive to emails and requests for research. We have a guaranteed 12-hour maximum wait time for responses.”

Contact with students was also stressed by Pulley, who said students or faculty should not feel afraid to ask for help, especially now.

“Don’t hesitate to contact us. Most of the time, we’ve already handled a situation like the ones students are in,” Pulley said. “We’re offering all we can to help.”

Pulley said some resources that are relatively unknown are especially helpful for students and faculty, like the VLab, which is designed to give people access to various software available at SIUE.

“Siue.edu/vlab is a great resource that some people don’t know about,” Pulley said. “It’s got plenty of software available for anyone at SIUE to download.”

Schmitz said there are many resources to help anyone who feels lost in their new, online classes. Schmitz also said some students ask their professors for help, who then direct them to ITS, whereas students can go straight to ITS themselves.

“We have faculty that’s been helping the general faculty and students transfer,” Schmitz said. “We’ve also been trying to push anyone with questions to email the help desk. We can help them directly.”

For more information on other resources being offered by ITS, email help@siue.edu or call 650-5500. The parking lot outside Lovejoy Library sits nearly empty following its closure. The library is still providing assistance through online resources. | Dominick Oranika / The Alestle ITS, library still offer aid to students during closures GABRIEL BRADY reporter Students’ votes are in for SG 2020-2021

Student Government released the unofficial results for those elected to the 2020-2021 SG positions, following elections that took place last Tuesday and Wednesday.

The newly elected candidates for SG’s executive branch include Maddie Walters as president, Ronald Akpan as vice president and Jacob Graham as student trustee.

The SG legislative branch now includes the following: - Ricky Beck and Samuel Childerson for the School of Business; - Carson Brimm and Hailee O’Dell for the School of Health, Education, and Human Behavior; - MacKenzie Randolph and Clinton Jones for the School of Engineering; - Nicole Obert and Cort Jackson as Senators at Large; - Callie Krager for the College of Arts and Sciences - Science and Math; - Justin Shiau for the School of Pharmacy; - Alexia Burnett for the School of Nursing; and - Lindsy Perry and Brigid Aslin as Graduate Senators.

SG still has to confirm the writein senators for the College of Arts and Sciences - Arts and Communication, and the School of Dental Medicine, and the write-ins for the second senators for the College of Arts and Sciences - Science and Math, School of Pharmacy and School of Nursing according to the social SG Facebook page as of April 2.

SG is still accepting applications for the College of Arts and Sciences - People and Culture senator and to fill one Senator at Large position.

For more information go to the Student Government website.

The stimulus check: Common questions answered

JOHN MCGOWAN reporter

While the federal government will be providing many Americans with $1,200 checks to help those left without work during the coronavirus pandemic, many are left wondering if they are eligible or not. Students in particular have lots of questions.

The White House and Senate came to a deal on March 25 for the CARES Act, providing a $2 billion stimulus package to the nation in order to help the economy and the people. It includes individual stimulus packages for not only U.S. citizens, but businesses as well.

Since its announcement, there has been plenty of confusion about who exactly is getting a $1,200 check, with many finding they aren’t eligible at all. Here are answers to some of the most common questions:

Who is eligible for a stimulus check?

The stimulus check works primarily based on income level. According to the IRS, individuals with an adjusted gross income of up to $75,000 a year and married couples with an adjusted gross income of up to $150,000 a year are automatically eligible for the full $1,200.

Limits come when individuals or married couples earn more than the max income. For every $100 earned above the thresholds, $5 is removed from the payment. Those who earn at least $99,000 and $198,000 respectively are not eligible.

According to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, all Social Security recipients will receive the full payment.

Are college students eligible?

According to Alliance’s summarization of the CARES Act, those listed as dependents on someone else’s tax returns are not eligible for the stimulus check, so any student listed as a dependent on their parent or guardian’s tax return is out of luck.

Another aspect of the CARES Act that affects college students is payments on any student loans taken out from the federal government have been suspended for three months.

How do I get a stimulus check?

For someone to receive the stimulus check, the IRS needs either their 2019 or 2018 tax filings. Those who haven’t done their 2018 or 2019 taxes yet can still do so as the deadline has been moved to July 15.

Those with direct deposit information set up with the IRS will get the check the fastest. In the coming weeks, the U.S. Treasury will have a website set up to make the process simple for those who do not yet have their information registered, according to the IRS website.

Those who wish to learn more about the CARES Act can read a summary at alliance.org, and the full act is available to read at congress.gov.