The Alestle Vol. 74 No. 25

HOW TO TEACH CHILDREN ABOUT CONSENT page 5

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ALESTLE

SOFTBALL NARROWLY DEFEATS SEMO IN GAME SERIES page 7

vol. 74 no. 25

The Student Voice Since 1960

New Edwardsville mayor, aldermen look forward to work ahead DALTON BROWN copy editor

With the April 6 elections officially over, the city of Edwardsville looks forward to the induction of a new mayor, as well as a new member of its board of aldermen.

Mayor: Art Risavy Art Risavy, Edwardsville’s former Ward 7 Alderman for the past decade, was recently elected as the city’s new mayor. He campaigned against challenger Stephanie Malench for the vacant mayoral seat left by Hal Patton, who voluntarily stepped down.

Risavy won 69.45 percent of the vote with all 25 precincts reporting.

With his campaign over, Risavy said he’s been able to both reflect on his past experience and look forward to the work yet to be done.

“I’m just so proud that people have supported me. I’ve had so many people help me with my campaign. I’ve had the great honor to work for two mayors … three city administrators … and most importantly, I’ve had the opportunity for 10 years as an alderman to work for the citizens of Edwardsville,” Risavy said. “So, I feel like I have the experience as a small business owner to lead the city through the next four years with a group of aldermen that are outstanding.”

Risavy said one of his first priorities upon officially taking office will be restoring Edwardsville and its local businesses to a sense of normalcy.

“The one thing that I’m most

excited about is getting our businesses moving forward, getting all of our volunteer organizations out working again, getting all of our festivals and … just all the different things that have had to really shut down, just getting our community moving forward again and getting back to the new normal,” Risavy said.

According to Risavy, one of his long-term goals includes upgrading the city’s water treatment plants. He said he also looks to reinvigorate the north end of Edwardsville’s Main Street and support the construction of a new fire station near the I-55 corridor region.

Risavy said he’s ready for the work ahead and thankful for the support he’s received.

“I just want to thank everybody for their support,” Risavy said. “I had such an amazing campaign team that has supported me, and I look forward to representing all of the people — those people who didn’t vote for me, or did, I’m excited to represent everyone and work with our fellow aldermen to make sure we move our city forward.”

Ward 2 Alderman: Jack Burns Incumbent Ward 2 Alderman Jack Burns won his re-election campaign against challenger Yolanda Crochrell with 59 percent of the vote, all seven precincts reported. While Burns said he’s happy to be re-elected, he also gave credit to the campaign Crochrell ran.

“It feels good [to have won],” Burns said. “My opponent, she did a great job — I worked harder on it than I thought I would, to

Mayor

Ward 2 Alderman

Ward 6 Alderman

Art Risavy

Jack Burns

Jennifer Warren

be honest with you.”

Now that he’s been re-elected, Burns said there are a few things he’d like to see done over his next term. Like Risavy, he said he would support the construction of a new fire station and upgrading the city’s water treatment plants — however, he also has plans in a few other areas.

“I’d like to get involved in looking into affordable housing,” Burns said. “My background’s in finance and I’d like to see what programs might be available out there. I want to continue to support smart but controlled growth; I want to make sure that we do this properly.”

Some long-term goals of Burns include maintaining the city’s public safety and family friendliness; he said he plans to partner with local law enforcement to look into public safety grants available for various subdivisions around the city. He also wants to see the city’s infrastructure improved in the form of sewer line and road maintenance, as well as look into the possibility of incorporating additional parking downtown.

Burns said he credits his victory to mutual support between himself and the citizens of Ward

2.

“I know I responded to my constituents, and I believe that because of that, people voted for me out there,” Burns said. “And the ones that didn’t vote, that’s their prerogative, and that’s why we live in a democracy.”

Ward 6 Alderman: Jennifer Warren Jennifer Warren won her campaign against challenger Larry J. Miller for the vacant seat left

by Craig Louer, who did not seek re-election. With all six precincts reporting, Warren won with 82.34 percent of the vote. While she said her election will take some getting used to, she’s glad to finally be done campaigning.

“It feels good — a little surreal right now, but it’s starting to feel more real,” Warren said. “It’s definitely nice to have my campaign behind me and starting to focus on getting ready for the role of responsibility of serving the city.”

Warren said one of her top priorities upon taking office will be to ensure the needs of Ward 6 are not lost within Edwardsville’s ambitious city agenda.

“If there’s something that

I feel should be reprioritized or something is lacking, then I would hope to have a voice to talk through those things and see if there are other things we could focus on in addition to what’s on the plate,” Warren said. “I would like to focus on more trail access from within Ward 6, and then just kind of looking at the infrastructure needs of Ward 6 as it relates to drainage, sidewalks, things of that nature.”

As far as long-term goals, Warren said she’s open to explore solutions related to the downtown area’s spatial needs.

“I know that there’s some discussion about a parking garage for downtown, and I will personally say that as someone who has spent time seeking parking downtown, I could see where that would be a pretty solid goal, and definitely long-term. It would obviously take several years, I would imagine, to accomplish that,” Warren said.

Warren said she’s prepared to serve as alderman to her supporters from Ward 6.

“I’m very humbled by the support of Ward 6, and just excited and eager to represent Ward 6 and the greater city of Edwardsville,” Warren said.

Memory of Moneer Damra to live on through new nursing scholarship KRISTINA JOHNSON reporter

The Student Nurse Association held a trivia night last Friday in which all funds raised went towards the Moneer Damra Memorial Nursing Scholarship.

SNA President Lindsey James said the trivia night, which is a part of their annual social event, usually generates money that is used within their association, but this year they decided to donate the money gathered from the trivia night towards the scholarship fund.

“We were still planning on doing the trivia night, just virtually, and then when the events with Moneer took place, we [said] okay we need to do more,” James said. “We thought that the trivia night would be a way to raise funds — first of all, for the scholarship and also kind of a way for nursing students to get together and feel some sort of comradery with the whole situation.”

Dean of the School of Nursing Laura Bernaix said the idea of a scholarship, named after Damra began to circulate within SON faculty, ROTC members and faculty of SIUE at large.

“We got a lot of people coming forward interested in setting something up,” Bernaix said. “They all asked how we can @thealestle

honor his name, honor what he stood for Damra lost a significant amount of weight. and the suggestion was creating something His weight loss journey turned into a passuch as this. He would really have found sion that he showed through his lifestyle this to be a real tribute to him and what he with food, working out and taking care of himself. stood for. We’re excited to do this.”

“He was vegan, so he always had The scholarship will be awarded to a nursing student who demonstrates the pas- healthy meals with him,” Card said. “We’d sion and dedication which Damra’s friends talk about it sometimes and he actually enjoyed it, which is hard for me to compresaid he embodied on a daily basis.

“Moneer was always so dedicated to hend … but he absolutely loved it. He loved going to the everything he gym and workdid — and not ing out. He was just school or so happy with ROTC, but how far he had he was always come.” working on S e n i o r nursing or army criminal jusor something,” tice major and junior nursing ROTC cadet student McKKeith Elden, of enzie Card, Geneseo, Illiof Salem, Illi- LINDSEY JAMES nois, said during nois, said. “In Student Nurse Association President Zero Week, the mornings a time when I would get [to the library] around 7 a.m. and get us a room, [and] he would’ve been ROTC seniors bring in the juniors to help up since 4 a.m. [and] then he would come them focus on the upcoming year, Damra’s straight to school. He would spend the next upbeat spirit could be seen through the eight or so hours with me on campus doing constant smile on his face.

“Moneer was known as that guy with school work, army work or any of his other a smile and had the best attitude,” Elclass work.”

Before coming to SIUE, Card said den said. “One of the tasks [during Zero

“We needed something to channel our feelings into that was positive, so raising funds for the scholarship in his name was the best way to help.

@thealestle

The Alestle

Week] is grabbing these really heavy logs and [pushing] these two ginormous [and] overly sized tires a ridiculous distance. No matter how much that log weighed, Damra kept smiling.”

James said originally, the money gathered from the trivia night was to go to Damra’s family, but the family wanted it to go elsewhere.

“What better way to memorialize him for years to come so that we don’t forget about him and the kind of person he was, [than] to create an annual scholarship?”

James said. “We needed something to channel our feelings into that was positive, so raising funds for the scholarship in his name was the best way to help.”

Bernaix said the scholarship is still being established as of now, but they are hoping to make it into an endowed scholarship for years to come.

“Then we can award a scholarship in his name every year, but we are not at the point yet,” Bernaix said. “We’re very grateful the Student [Nurse] Association, ROTC and the SIUE community have all come together to increase those funds and really put the purpose of that scholarship to use.”

For more information about how to donate to the scholarship fund, visit the scholarship’s website. alestlelive.com

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Student government results are in: New plans for SIUE BRANDON WELLS reporter

New student government officers plan to focus on student mental health, sustainability and campus involvement.

Sophomore psychology and elementary education major Hailee O’Dell of Edwardsville was elected as the new student body president. O’Dell said that advocating for and helping students is her primary goal.

“I really love advocating for students and being a part of student government. I just thought [of being] student body president as a way to grow in my leadership and represent the student body,” O’Dell said.

O’Dell said her position is about being the voice of the students. “[Student Government is] a student-run organization that represents the student body,” O’Dell said. “As student body president, I will be sitting in on meetings [with faculty and staff] as a student representative.”

O’Dell said one of her larger plans is related to student mental health.

“I want to do [implement] a dead week or something similar to a dead week, where professors can’t assign exams a week before finals week or a least a couple of days before,” O’Dell said.

To do this, O’Dell said communication with the campus administration is necessary.

“I have to talk to and have a meeting with the people who oversee these types of things,” O’Dell said. “Something such as dead week would go through Provost Cobb.”

O’Dell said one of her initiatives involves diversity and its representation on campus.

“I think that the best way to be a campus that accepts diversity is to be open about it and have conversations,” O’Dell said.

Freshman public health major Isabella Pruitt of Springfield, Illinois, is the new

vice president of the student body. Pruitt said one of her top priorities is sustainability on campus.

“We’re currently working on using some reusable things in the MUC when COVID-19 gets better so we don’t have any safety issues,” Pruitt said. “We have Pepsi signs that go up and we throw them away every time, so we’re trying to get that fixed.”

Pruitt said she also wants to implement a syllabus bank to help students prepare for classes ahead of time. “[With the syllabus bank], students will be allowed to see syllabi of the classes they would like to take before they get into it,” Pruitt said.

Pruitt said she will work closely with the Student Body President to implement their plans.

“We work as vice president and president closely with administration and with the rest of student government,” Pruitt said. “We advocate for the students and do what we think would make SIUE better.”

Due to COVID-19, Pruitt said some of these plans will take some time, but their benefit will be felt even after the pandemic.

“A lot of these [plans] have been put off because of COVID-19, so we think that it’ll be more beneficial when COVID-19 dissipates,” Pruitt said. “We don’t want to use reusable cups or bags and make anything less safe.”

Senior economics major Maddie Walters of Elizabeth, Illinois, was elected to be the student trustee. Walters said that her position as student trustee is different from her prior role as student body president because she now has a vote on the Board of Trustees.

“When you’re on the SIU system Board of Trustees, you’re going to have an influence over the entire SIU system,” Walters said. “The Board of Trustees votes on whether or not to increase tuition and fees every year and that vote’s going to be see PLANS on page 8

thursday, 04.15.21

Pre-commencement honor celebrations (These are not in place of commencement ceremonies)

• Hispanic/Latinx Student Graduation Celebration

4 p.m. on Monday, April 26 This celebration honors Latino, Latina and Latinx students who have completed their graduate or undergraduate degree through a virtual presentation. https://www.siue.edu/csdi/events/Latinxgraduatincelebration.shtml

• Black Student Graduation Celebration

4 p.m. on Tuesday, April 27 The Black Graduation celebration honors African and African American students who have earned their undergraduate, graduate or professional degree. https://www.siue.edu/csdi/events/Blackgraduationcelebration.shtml

• Rainbow Student Graduation Celebration

4 p.m. on Wednesday, April 28 The Rainbow Student celebration honors LGBTQ+ and ally graduate, undergraduate and professional students virtually. https://www.siue.edu/csdi/events/RainbowGraduation.shtml

• Virtual International Student Graduation Celebration

3:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 29 International students graduating in May or over the summer of 2021 may participate in the International Student celebration.

• Center for Student Diversity and Inclusion Graduation Celebration

4:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 29 The CSDI celebration honors BIPOC students who have completed undergraduate or graduate degrees. The celebration will be held virtually. https://www.siue.edu/csdi/events/CSDIGraduation.shtml

• Non-Traditional Student Graduation Celebration

5 p.m. on Friday, April 30 The Non-Traditional celebration honors students who have completed their undergraduate degree. Non-traditional students are those who are financially independent, have children or attend college part time. A full list of who qualifies as a non-traditional student can be found at the website. This celebration will be held virtually.

https://www.siue.edu/csdi/events/NonTraditionalGraduationCelebration.shtml

| Summer Bradley / The Alestle

Sourced from www.siue.edu/csdi/events/

SIUE police joins IDOT on Distracted Driving campaign BRANDON WELLS reporter

SIUE is joining the Distracted Driving Month campaign for the first time since its start in 2012.

Lt. Adam Severit from the SIUE Police Department said the SIUE police are now issuing citations for distracted driving for the rest of April.

“During this campaign, we’re mainly issuing state citations [for distracted driving],” Severit said. “This offense is serious and is more ample for a citation [regardless of the month].”

Severit said he believes students should not take the risk of driving distracted because there are consequences.

“Last year when COVID-19 came out, we had a student who was coming on South Circle Drive towards Parking Lot B and [Residence Hall Drive] over by Art and Design and she dropped her mask.

She bent down to pick up her mask and in the time she bent down to pick it up, when she came back up to look and she was off the road, flipped the car and totaled her vehicle out,” Severit said.

This April is the first time SIUE has ever gotten involved with Distracted Driving Month.

“This is something that we had been looking into and decided to go with,” Severit said.

Since the first Distracted Driving Month in 2012, the Illinois Department of Transportation has been cracking down on distracted driving to encourage public safety.

IDOT Public Information Officer Paul Wappel said IDOT partners with local law enforcement all over the state to help prevent distracted driving.

“We have more than 200 law enforcement agencies statewide helping IDOT to enforce the efforts to stop and ticket those who violate the distracted driving and other motor vehicle laws,” Wappel said.

Wappel said he greatly appreciates SIUE becoming a part of Distracted Driving Month due to its importance.

“The more law enforcement agencies that are involved, the more enforcement that can be done to eliminate distracted driving,” Wappel said.

Wappel said the goal of this month is to make roads safer, and that it’s important to know how dangerous distracted driving really is.

“Three, four or five seconds to read a text, look at a message, can be fatal — for you, for people in your vehicle and for other motorists and pedestrians,” Wappel said.

Lt. Chris Byrne with the city of Edwardsville Police Department said distracted driving has become more common than it used to be.

“I’m sure as you drive around and as you look around, you see it without even paying attention. There are people on their phones too often while they’re driving,” Byrne said.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 3,142 lives were claimed by distracted driving in 2019, an increase from 2,841 in 2018.

Byrne said distracted driving can encompass many different things, but all can be dangerous.

“There are a lot of different types of distracted driving. [There are] distractions from inside the car, outside the car, it’s a broad term,” Byrne said. “We try to focus our efforts on educating the public on not using cellphones [while driving].”

Byrne said there are various dangers posed by distracted driving.

“You’re not watching out for emergency vehicles that need to pass, for cars that are stopped in front of you, pedestrians crossing the roads, your safety,” Byrne said.

Byrne said he encourages students to think about the risks before they answer a text.

“All things considered, your safety is more important,” Byrne said. “The text or post that you don’t make in the short trip that you’re driving could very well save your life. Nothing is so important that you should allow yourself to drive distracted.”

04.08.21 Officer responded to a domestic disturbance call in Parking Lot E. Officer advised the argument was verbal only.

Person was arrested on a warrant for failure to appear. She was transported to the SIUE PD where she was fingerprinted, photographed, processed and released after posting $3,000 bond and $75 warrant processing fee.

Officer responded to a report of a raccoon sleeping on the stairs. Officer was able to relocate the raccoon.

Officer responded to an active fire alarm. Officer advised the alarm was activated by shower steam. No fire, no smoke, no damage.

04.09.21 Officer responded to numerous alarms in Building E. Alarm was activated by an unknown cause. Alarm was reset.

Subject came to the SIUE PD to turn himself in on a SIUE warrant for forgery.

Subject was arrested for forgery. Subject was fingerprinted, photographed, processed and released with a Notice to Appear.

thursday, 04.15.21

alestlelive.com

BY THE NUMBERS

COVID-19 at SIUE

New confirmed positive cases (from tests conducted by SIUE and self-reporting):

April 2 - April 8: 0 students, 0 faculty/staff March 26 - April 1: 3 students, 1 faculty/staff 14-day new positive tests: 3 students, 1 faculty/ staff All prior weeks positive tests (Aug. 1 - March 25): 343 students, 87 faculty/staff Total positive cases: 367 students, 94 faculty/staff

Tests conducted by SIUE

April 2 - April 8: 448 March 26 - April 1: 576 14-day new tests conducted: 1024 All prior weeks tests conducted (Aug. 21 - March 25): 11,197 Total tests conducted: 12,017

Positive cases identified by SIUE testing:

April 2 - April 8: 1 March 26 - April 1: 1 14-day new positive cases: 2 All prior weeks positive cases (Aug. 21 - March 25): 378 Total: 385

80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

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News in brief

Madison County confirmed cases by day

April 3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

Source: Madison County Health Department COVID-19 Dashboard, as of April 12

Percentage of isolation/quarantine space available on campus (as of April 12): 100 percent Source: Health, Reporting, and Testing page on SIUE’s COVID-19 website, as of April 12

COVID-19’S impact on Madison County

All of Illinois’ regions remain under Tier 4 mitigations, which went into effect Feb. 4. These mitigations include the following: - All gatherings of 50 people or fewer are allowed with this limit subject to change based on latest data & guidance - Travel should follow IDPH and CDC approved guidance - All health care providers are open - P-12 schools, higher education, all summer programs and child care open with IDPH approved safety guidance Source: dph.illinois.gov.

- All outdoor recreation allowed | Summer Bradley / The Alestle

U.S. urges pause of Johnson & Johnson vaccine over ‘extremely rare’ blood clotting KATIE CAMERO McClatchy Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — Local and state officials nationwide scrambled Tuesday to keep their COVID-19 vaccination campaigns on track after federal health agencies recommended pausing the use of Johnson & Johnson shots while they studied reports of very rare but dangerous blood clots.

The White House said Pfizer and Moderna were producing enough of their own vaccines to meet President Joe Biden’s goal of having enough doses for every American adult by the end of May. But the announcement was still a blow to the U.S. inoculation effort, which relies on public faith in the rapidly developed vaccines to persuade enough people to get shots to prevent another wave of infections and end the pandemic.

Officials have been struggling to overcome some public hesitancy over receiving the shots, and Tuesday’s development raised concerns that the news could spark unnecessary fear about vaccine safety.

Federal health officials said the pause in using Johnson & Johnson vaccines may last only a few days, depending on what they learn in their review of medical data, and it’s possible they will adjust their guidance on the best candidates to receive the company’s product — for example, by age group. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention scheduled an emergency meeting for Wednesday.

Officials are investigating blood clots suffered by six women between the ages of 18 and 48. One woman died and another is in critical condition. About 7 million Johnson & Johnson shots have been administered, which is less than 5 percent of those received to date, according to the White House.

By comparison, about 185 million shots of Moderna and Pfizer vaccines have been given out in the United States, without raising similar concerns about clotting. Recipients must receive two shots of the Moderna and Pfizer versions to be fully vaccinated, but just one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

“Out of an abundance in caution, we’re recommending a pause in the use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine,” said Janet Woodcock, the acting commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. “We’re recommending this pause while we work together to fully understand these events and

also so we can get information out to health care providers and vaccine recipients.”

She emphasized that reports of serious blood clots are “extremely rare,” but “COVID-19 vaccine safety is a top priority for the federal government, and we take all reports of adverse events after vaccination very seriously.”

One reason for federal agencies’ sweeping response is because the most common anticoagulant drug, called heparin, can be dangerous when used to treat this particular kind of blood clot, known as a cerebral venous sinus thrombosis. Federal officials said people who received a Johnson & Johnson vaccine in recent weeks should contact their health care provider if they experience severe headaches, abdominal pain, leg pain or shortness of breath.

Kathleen Neuzil, director of the Center for Vaccine Development at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, said it was “a very wise move” to warn doctors and patients about the potential for these rare clots and how to treat them. However, she acknowledged that the announcement could increase concerns about the vaccines.

“News like this is scary,” she said. “And we can be rational, and we can give numbers, and it all makes sense. That doesn’t take away the fact that people are concerned when they hear this news.”

Neuzil said Americans should be reassured by how the federal government handled the situation. “We have government officials who are taking action so quickly and putting safety first,” she said.

The fallout rippled across the country as state and local governments took stock of their vaccine supplies and adjusted their inoculation programs.

Health officials in Los Angeles and elsewhere said they would heed the federal recommendation and pause administering Johnson & Johnson shots. Some appointments are being rescheduled; others are being fulfilled with vaccines from other companies. Federal vaccination sites also stopped providing Johnson & Johnson shots.

Anne Schuchat, the CDC’s principal deputy director, said people should continue to get inoculated when an appointment is available, although she acknowledged that the process “may be a bit bumpy” in the days ahead.

The country has been averaging 3 million shots per day. Biden, during an Oval

Office meeting, said there will be enough vaccines for every American adult. “That is basically 100 percent unquestionable,” he said.

Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine was the third to be authorized in the U.S. Biden has been trying to accelerate the U.S. inoculation effort to protect more Americans and to prevent any new variants from spreading. He’s scheduled to participate in a star-studded NBC television special Sunday to encourage Americans to “roll up your sleeves” for the vaccine.

New York City Councilman Mark Levine, who chairs its health committee, tweeted that officials now faced “the biggest messaging challenge yet.” He added, “We have to do everything possible to avoid a collapse in confidence in vaccination overall.”

Unlike the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, the Johnson & Johnson version not only requires just one shot but it also does not need to be stored at extremely cold temperatures, making officials optimistic that it could be transported and administered more easily.

The New Jersey-based company, however, has been battling perceptions that its vaccine is less effective than others, as well as the revelation that millions of doses produced by a Baltimore factory had to be thrown out because of quality problems. The latest announcement created an even greater cloud.

Johnson & Johnson said it was working with officials to investigate the reported blood clots.

“At present, no clear causal relationship has been established between these rare events and the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine,” the company said in a statement, referring to the division that developed the vaccine. “We continue to work closely with experts and regulators to assess the data and support the open communication of this information to health care professionals and the public.”

Gigi Gronvall, a senior scholar of immunology at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, described the blood clots as “literally a one-in-a-million adverse event” given how many Johnson & Johnson shots had been administered so far. She said the FDA was “a very conservative organization” and people should have confidence that officials were carefully scrutinizing the vaccines.

“There will be more of an effort to help people understand all of the complexities involved here,” she said. “But it’s an important job, and we’ll just have to do it.”

Alton elects first Black mayor, several new officials The city of Alton elected its first Black mayor in a historic election April 6, along with a new city clerk and a few new aldermen.

David Goins, a former Alton police officer and current pastor at Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church in Alton, unseated incumbent Mayor Brant Walker. He won 55.43 percent of the vote with all 25 precincts reporting, making him Alton’s first Black mayor.

In addition to a new mayor, Alton also elected a new city clerk. Cheryl Ingle won against three challenger candidates to unseat incumbent Alton City Clerk Mary Boulds, who did not seek re-election. Ingle won with 34.56 percent of the vote, all 25 precincts reported.

Raymond Strebel won against three challenger candidates and unseated incumbent Ward 3 Alderman Michael Velloff, who did not seek re-election. Strebel won with 38.99 percent of the vote, all nine precincts reported.

Rosetta “Rosie” Brown unseated incumbent Tammy Smith for the position of Ward 4 Alderman with 56.95 percent of the vote, all six precincts reported.

Nate Keener was elected Alton’s new Ward 7 Alderman, replacing incumbent David Boulds, who did not seek re-election. All four precincts reported Keener won against challenger Patricia Ford with 61.31 percent of the vote.

Carolyn MacAfee won her re-election bid as Ward 2 Alderman with 51.73 percent of the vote. Charles Brake also won his re-election campaign for Ward 5 Alderman against two challengers; all seven precincts reported he received 52.37 percent of the vote.

Brian Campbell and Stephanie Elliott were uncontested as aldermen for Wards 1 and 6, respectively. Cameo Holland was uncontested as Alton city treasurer.

Madison, St. Clair Co. open vaccinations to everyone 16+ Madison and St. Clair County health officials recently announced they are expanding vaccine eligibility to include anyone over the age of 16.

The only vaccination criteria listed on Madison County’s website is to be at least 16 and to have proof of Illinois residency or employment. Sixteen and seventeen-year-olds are only eligible for the Pfizer vaccine and must be accompanied by an adult.

The news comes as vaccines are becoming more and more available in the U.S. and in Illinois. As of today, over 100,000 vaccination doses have been given in Madison County.

However, the number of vaccines available isn’t the only thing that’s increasing. From March 8-18, hospitalizations for COVID-19 in Illinois increased, along with positive test results, which have increased from 2.5 percent to 3.3 percent. The Illinois Department of Public Health urges all who are eligible to get vaccinated.

To schedule a vaccination appointment, head to Madison County’s website or St. Clair County’s website.

NEXT WEEK: NEW COURSE CATERS TO WIZARDS AND MUGGLES ALIKE page 4

lifestyles alestlelive.com

contact the editor: lifestyles@alestlelive.com 650-3527 thursday, 04.15.21

New campus web captures community’s attention Strand said Bradshaw would occasionally ask her for her opinion on some of his projects, but has developed his At the beginning of this month, own unique vision.

“He asks questions about how I bikers and trail-goers may have noticed might think it would look better or what a web-like installation lining the walls of the top of the tunnel near the Metcalf I think might work well in the way that Theater. Passersby quickly become en- it looks, but he has developed a body of expertise in that particular style that tangled in the mysterious piece.

The artist behind the vibrant green doesn’t require any questions from me,” web is second year graduate art and de- Strand said.

Art and Design Professor Ivy Coosign major Ben Bradshaw. Bradshaw said that the knotless netting technique used per is a member of Bradshaw’s graduate in the tunnel piece’s design is reminis- committee. Cooper said that for the Masters of Fine Arts program, he has to show cent of his childhood camping trips.

“One of the things that one of our her and the other members his work.

“His committee had a meeting with family friends showed me how to do is how to cut down a branch and wrap it him and he had to present all of his work in a circle and make a dream catcher,” in the program up to that point and so Bradshaw said. “This process of netting he presented drawings and fabric works and prints and videos of his piece out in emerged from the woods,” that child-like Cooper said. creation meth“The term ‘liminal’ is Cooper od.” suggestive of this transitory space said that this Bradshaw piece said that this fas— the idea of a tunnel being like a recent in the tunnel cination resurwormhole that takes you from one is really somefaced as he got thing to be older and began place to another. proud of. to experiment “ T h i s BEN BRADSHAW with netting piece in the second year art and design graduate student more small projtunnel is my ects. favorite work that he’s done,” Cooper “I was actually wrapping boards and then spray painting them to use as a said. “I think that it is doing unexpected things. It’s doing things even he didn’t masking element,” Bradshaw said.

Before this tunnel piece, Bradshaw expect.”

Bradshaw said one of his favorite said he made another web in the woods near Prairie Hall. The tunnel piece is parts of this piece was the interactions he something that Bradshaw said he was had with people.

“I’ve really enjoyed the conversalooking to do for some time.

“The title of the piece is ‘Liminal tions that happened with the passersby.

Lime’ and the term ‘liminal’ is suggestive There’s so much traffic on that trail from of this transitory space — the idea of a students of the campus and locals that I tunnel being like a wormhole that takes had some really great interactions with you from one place to another,” Brad- people that I would never have talked to otherwise,” Bradshaw said. shaw said.

Strand said that she believes one of With this recent piece being so large, Bradshaw’s motivations is to see how a Bradshaw said that it took a lot of time space is transformed and see how this and resources to make it.

“It took me 56 hours of active weav- affects these conversations and interacing and spooling of my netting needle, tions.

“Right now what he’s speaking and I used 2.72 miles of yarn, which is 19 about is the relationship of the world at spools,” Bradshaw said.

Laura Strand, a professor of art and large, the Earth itself and the places that design and area head of the Textiles Pro- are occupied by people — to be overgram said that she’s known Bradshaw for whelmed by the process of making the two years and that his work is particularly thing that will make people really re-associate themselves to the space,” Strand interesting.

“It’s a technique that he has in his said.

Visit Bradshaw’s Instagram page own repertoire, and he has expanded it and looked for ways that it can take over @spacetime.mtn to learn more about his work. spaces,” Strand said.

BRANDON WELLS reporter

After 56 hours of work, Bradshaw completed ‘Liminal Lime,’ which can be seen when walking to and from Bluff Hall. Bradshaw said the piece will be on display throughout the rest of the month. | Photography courtesy of Ben Bradshaw.

REVIEW: ‘Fearless (Taylor’s Version)’ is a cathartic nostalgia trip, and I’m here for it ALEX AULTMAN editor-in-chief

Many people, including myself, have been regressing back into childhood interests during the pandemic. I loved Taylor Swift as a child. There are recordings of a little 9-year-old Alex covering her songs floating in the ether somewhere. When “Evermore” was released back in January, I started catching up on Swift’s music after not having listened to her since “Red” came out.

Swift opted to rerecord her first six albums after Big Machine Records was bought by Scooter Braun, who refused to give her ownership of her masters. Master

recordings get royalties whenever they are played on the radio or streamed, so Swift not owning her masters prevents her from receiving the royalties. She’s releasing the albums out of order and many fan theories are floating around on which one will be released next.

“Fearless (Taylor’s Version)” is just as good as the original release, if not better. It sounds the same, but more polished, which is largely due to how much Swift’s vocals have matured since she was 18. I still knew all the words, surprisingly.

Despite her recent music being more indie-pop, she managed to re-create the young, country sound of the original album.

Some of the songs have taken on different tones though. “White Horse” sounds much different now that she has found someone who actually treats her well. “The Best Day,” a song about Swift’s mother being her best friend, is much sadder after her mother’s cancer diagnosis in 2015.

My favorite songs on this album have also changed. When I was younger I really loved “Jump Then Fall” but now I really like “Tell Me Why” and my old favorite just falls short, partially because my taste has changed. The song I was most excited to listen to was “The Way I Loved You” because that chorus is just iconic.

I was also a bit swayed by all the TikToks of people sitting in their

bathtubs with alcohol screaming the lyrics. The piano version of “Forever And Always” also slaps.

I love the intentionality of the vault songs. The new album starts with “There’s somethin’ bout the way/ The street looks when it’s just rained” and the first vault song starts with “Once the last drop of rain has dried off the pavement.” It creates a cool callback and some of the vault songs are really good. “Mr. Perfectly Fine” is my favorite partially due to all of the jokes about Sophie Turner, Joe Jonas’s wife, posting on her Instagram that it’s a bop after fans theorized it was about Swift’s breakup with Jonas.

One criticism I have of Swift’s music in general is that she only

gives male musicians verses in her collaborations. All of the female collaborators I can think of are only doing background vocals.

She rerecorded “Breathe” with Colbie Caillat and while you can hear her better in this version, it’s still a very minor part compared to her songs with Keith Urban.

I thoroughly enjoyed the album as a whole. It’s hard to mess up something that was already successful once. I normally don’t like country and wouldn’t be a fan of this music if it weren’t for the nostalgia factor, but it’s something fun and familiar in a really uncertain time. Now I, along with other Swifties, will go back to debating over if she’s releasing “Speak Now” or “1989” next.

thursday, 04.15.21

alestlelive.com

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Even after pandemic pause, local chess group ramps up at Sacred Grounds KRISTINA JOHNSON reporter

Sacred Grounds Cafe almost didn’t make it through the pandemic, but with a new owner, regular customers were excited to get back in and play chess with old friends and new customers.

Cafe regular Lony Ness has been playing chess at Sacred Grounds for years. The cafe, which has been a constant Edwardsville favorite, shut down indefinitely during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ness said he was worried about a corporate business taking over and making another chain out of the space. Now with new owner Kate Baumgartner, a 2013 SIUE graduate, the cafe has reopened and the regular customers are back.

“Now that COVID-19 is closing down again [chess] is building up, and we’re back to it,” Ness said. “We’re really excited about it.”

Ness began visiting Sacred Grounds Cafe almost 20 years ago. He said when he began to come in regularly, he rekindled his relationship with chess, making a couple new friends along the way.

“The chess thing really started with Dan, who is one of the Sacred Grounds junkies like myself,” Ness said. “We started playing chess [together] a good 15 to 18 years ago real sporadically. Then a third person joined us, Pat. It always ended up being the same [old] people playing the same people and then we

Lony Ness teaches a budding chess player the game at Sacred Grounds. | Kristina Johnson / The Alestle

wouldn’t play for a few years.”

It was off and on for a little while until Ness said things started to pick up again two years ago.

Ness said now the cafe may have multiple games going on during a busy Sunday afternoon.

As customers get their coffee and pastries, some of them are staying longer to play a game of chess when they come in. Retired people, SIUE students, children and more have started playing chess alongside each other through the Sacred Chess club.

“My dad and I always played

[at Sacred Grounds Cafe] after going to the Goshen Market,” Ericah Leone, a freshman undeclared student from Edwardsville, said. “We’ve been playing there since at least 2014 [or] 2015.”

Growing up in Edwardsville, Leone said Sacred Grounds has always had a sense of community to it. She said playing and getting to know a couple of the main guys of the club has helped her become a better player.

“Lony, Pat, Tommy and Danny [are] some older gentle-

men who have a good time with the game,” Leone said. “I still have a lot to learn and I enjoy learning through the fun of the game playing against opponents of different skill sets.”

Junior applied communications major Matt Voltz, of Edwardsville, is a barista at the cafe.

He said on any given day, he can always count on someone from the club playing a game during one of his shifts.

“It’s a pretty constant thing for someone from the club to be there,” Voltz said. “I’ve gotten

to know them better which is important as a worker there. [By] knowing more about any one [of the customers] is always good.”

Ness said he envisions Sacred Chess eventually spreading to other businesses on Main Street, but for now he hopes to bring new people into the game of chess.

“The good thing is we have a good circulation of people,” Ness said. “There are college age people, young people, older people [and] all different walks of life. Some of them didn’t even know how to play and are beating me, beating us or challenging other people. It’s such a great feeling to have a student beat you and that’s what we’re all about.”

Voltz said he has been playing since he was a child with his dad, but by working at Sacred Grounds, he has become involved with the club as well.

“I’ve been playing probably a few months, at the least, [at Sacred Grounds Cafe],” Voltz said.

“It would be cool to have more people in there. Chess is fun and it seriously is a great time for everyone.”

Ness said Sacred Chess Club is open for anyone wanting to learn more about chess or simply wanting to meet new people.

“My whole message is trying to promote this area,” Ness said. “This is my home here. I’ve seen generations of people here and when this place closed it was just an empty bit of my soul, and everybody else’s soul, that was gone. It’s not just chess.”

‘From a rape culture to a consent culture:’ Teaching kids about consent NICOLE BOYD copy editor

Experts say it’s best to start teaching kids about consent at an early age to not only lay the foundation for their own boundaries, but also to understand how to respect those of others.

Destiny Green, prevention education manager at Safe Connections, a domestic violence treatment center, said millennials and previous generations have operated in a youth-oppressive rape culture under the notion that young people don’t deserve to have their boundaries honored and respected.

“We can talk to tiny humans about how to ask for consent before touching or hugging a playmate, and we can do that by modeling the behaviors at home as guardians or safe adults in their lives,” Green said. “Lots of us grew up in households where if we didn’t want to show affection to caretakers, it would get taken personally. Some of us would even get punished.

So this is also when asking a child for a hug or kiss and they say no, we could use that moment, like a teachable moment of how to model handling rejection gracefully, which is also super important.”

Green said many sex educators and sexual and domestic violence prevention educators encourage conversations around consent as early as 1 to 5 years old, and parents can create a consent culture in their home even when their child is a baby.

“There was an interview that went viral where a sex educator encouraged those conversations to start before tiny humans are even walking, as babies, where you would ask, ‘Is it OK if I change your diaper?’ The internet exploded because a lot

of folks held the perspective, like, ‘That is such a wild concept,’ but it’s not,” Green said. “Of course a baby cannot give verbal consent, but it’s more so about introducing a world of consent culture to a baby since birth and laying a foundation of open, honest communication and boundary-setting that a child will later need. So it’s about scaffolding that conversation and adding to it as they get older.”

Carrie Cohan, executive director of the Madison County Child Advocacy Center, said one of the most important things parents can teach their kids when discussing boundaries is to use the correct names for their body parts.

“A very important thing is that parents teach kids the proper names for their private parts, and all of their body parts for that matter. It is really important that kids know what they’re called and what the real names are and that they feel comfortable talking about those parts with their parents,” Cohan said.

Cohan also said that everyday situations may be a way for parents to help. For example, if they hear a kid saying stop and the other one doesn’t stop, they can have a conversation with their kids.

“Everyday things like tickling, playing, hugs, kisses, what you teach your kids is that if you don’t like it, you should say no and ask someone to stop. And when someone says no or says they don’t like it, you stop, and that’s the rule always, and it goes both ways,” Cohan said. “Even if you’re in the middle of having fun and laughing and carrying on, you stop because if somebody asks you to stop touching their body you do it … we respect peoples’ right to say no.”

Green said parents can use things like

tickling and play fighting to teach about safe words.

“It can be ‘no’ and ‘stop,’ or it can be something funny like ‘peanut butter’ or a favorite color, and that is introducing that consent culture to a tiny human, and when they become middle schoolers and high schoolers and whenever they decide to be in a romantic relationship, they can apply that to romantic aspects of their lives,” Green said.

Green said children may be sent wrong messages when they are told that someone is being mean to them because they have a crush on them.

“I think about how impressionable you are and how literal we take things when we’re young … ‘Oh, this person just likes you, that’s why they’re hitting you or bullying you.’ Think about when you get older and when you finally are in romantic relationships, someone hits you and it’s like, ‘Oh, this person must love me,’ because that is the messaging we were told when we were younger, which is why prevention education is so super important,” Green said.

Cohan said forcing children to give hugs or sit with someone they don’t want to may also send the wrong message.

“Forcing kids to let someone into their personal space when they don’t want to is being counterintuitive to everything you’re trying to teach them,” Cohan said.

Mary Grinstead, a first grade teacher at St. Elizabeth School in Granite City, Illinois, said when she sees her students cross a boundary, she encourages communication on both sides.

“I’ll just ask them to do a little bit of

The basics of teaching

boundaries

• If a child says “stop” while tickling or play fighting, IMMEDIATELY, even if they are laughing.

• Don’t force a child to hug or sit on the lap of someone they don’t want to — including relatives.

• Parents may prepare relatives that the child is learning about boundaries and may choose not to hug them, but that they can offer a high five or a fist bump instead.

• Ask for permission before hugging a child, kissing them or touching their hair. Respect their wishes if they say no.

• Model handling rejection gracefully.

• Teach children the proper names of their private parts, and allow them to feel comfortable saying those names.

• Ask if a child wants help undressing or washing their private parts.

Respect their wishes if they say no.

•

Don’t shame or punish children for addressing concerns.

• When children reach middle school, teach about sexual harassment.

• When children reach high school,

teach about the nuances of consent.

Sources: Destiny Green, Carrie Cohan, happyyouhappyfamily.com

see CONSENT on page 8

| Summer Bradley / The Alestle

opinion

NEXT WEEK: THE IMPORTANCE OF A DIVERSE MUSIC TASTE page 6

T H E

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share your thoughts: opinion@alestlelive.com 650-3527 thursday, 04.15.21

alestle ALEX AULTMAN editor-in-chief

DAMIAN MORRIS managing editor

MADISON LAMMERT lifestyles editor JENNIFER GOECKNER sports editor

GABRIEL BRADY opinion editor

EMILY STERZINGER online editor

KHOI PHAM photographer NICOLE BOYD DALTON BROWN ELIZABETH DONALD DANA MCLENNAN copy editors PAULA BROOKS THOMAS DRAKE KRISTINA JOHSNON JOHN MCGOWAN BRANDON WELLS reporters SUMMER BRADLEY graphics manager CAMILO ZULUAGA-CAICEDO advertising manager JIHUN HAN GRACE JOSEPH advertising consultants TYMEI DAPPERT office clerks BROOKE KRANKEL circulation manager ANGIE TROUT office manager TAMMY MERRETT program director

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Influencers should be punished for abusing power THE ALESTLE STAFF editorial board

Warning: This piece contains some content related to sexual assault.

Influencers are a huge part of social media, but they are sometimes brewed in controversy.

It seems like it’s every other week that we hear some crazy drama coming from the cesspool that is YouTube. Usually it’s petty garbage, maybe one YouTuber said something controversial or disrespected another YouTuber in some minute way, but it’s never anything truly awful. When one of these influencers actually does something awful, we have to play our role in making these influencers pay the consequences for their actions.

Influencers should be held to the same standards as everyone else and wrongdoings shouldn’t be swept under the

rug. Some influencers in a situation like this are James Charles and David Dobrik.

Charles is a 21-year-old YouTuber who focuses on makeup and beauty culture. Recently, he has admitted sending sexual messages to multiple teenage boys after many accusations. He isn’t really facing any drastic consequences for his actions. Most of the companies and brands Charles is partnered with have not cut ties with him yet or have even commented on the controversy.

Like Charles, Dobrik is a 24-year-old YouTuber who does vlogs and pranks on his channel, with a group of friends called The Vlog Squad. Dom Zeglaitis, a member of The Vlog Squad, was accused of raping a woman during the filming of one of Dobrik’s vidoes with Dobrik’s knowledge. Dobrik filmed him-

self and other members of The Vlog Squad listening and making jokes that were awful to hear.

These are the current biggest examples of influencers who have used their power to do wrong and these aren’t their first offenses, but they keep getting away with it because of their fans that ‘stan’ them. They have huge fandoms of mainly minors who watch their content, and we truly hope that it doesn’t affect how their behaviors develop. But making videos titled in the vein of, ‘WE CAUGHT HER IN BED LIKE THIS!!’ with a clickbait thumbnail of a half-naked woman in bed, or getting caught up in petty drama or using their power to get whatever they want (and that thing that the influencer wants is usually fairly unethical).

It isn’t uncommon for these influencers to be accused of do-

ing something immoral, but it isn’t always proven true. One of two things happen when an influencer is accused of a crime. They are either completely forgiven and treated like angels after a single apology video. Or, in the other situation, large portions of the social media community just destroy and completely deplatform the influencer and really hurt the influencer’s viewership.

We should only judge influencers harshly when there is some genuine evidence of the influencer’s crime. Influencers are real people and we should treat them like real people. We can’t ignore heinous actions, but we shouldn’t attack them when their actions are unproven.

When evidence exists to prove the crime of the influencer, we should judge them for their actions, but we shouldn’t try to put them down when something happens to them just because we don’t like them.

se some representation can show the communities in a bad light.

Bad images can be placed into the minds of others because the media does affect people’s reality.

Examples of good representation that people should draw inspiration from are She-Ra and the Princesses of Power and The Owl House, two cartoons with characters that are in the LGBTQ+ community that aren’t overly stereotyped or forced.

Both shows present a cast of not only LGBTQ+ individuals, but also different shapes and sizes. This is how the LGBTQ+ community should be represented. They should be seen as normal people.

We need to strive to do better than what we have been doing when it comes to representation.

All groups of people need to be represented in a light that doesn’t make them look strange. What we put out in the world will either

solve or cause problems for minority groups.

It is important to at least do research on the sexuality or gender that you will be representing if you aren’t part of the group yourself. It’s important that you learn everything you can before diving into telling a story about the topic.

I believe that a little research can go a long way. You can easily find out about something from the push of a button. You don’t even need to ask someone for the information. If you look hard enough, you can find whatever you’re looking for.

When it comes to the LGBTQ+ community, you need to be able to write with an open mind without any biases that might come from religion, personal beliefs or things you heard from other people. If you want to have a character that is not like you, you should never write the character in a villainizing way. To

be a good writer is to write about experiences that can be different from your own.

It’s important when writing a character that is different from you that you do so respectfully and accurately. If you do those two things, you can really make LGBTQ+ representation pop and create characters that many kids can relate to.

Stories are made to tell stories and speak on experiences either true or completely fictional.

Either way you should write as though it is your own story. You want to take the journey of the person you’re writing about seriously.

If you are planning to create a story that involves LGBTQ+ characters, please do research on what you’re writing about. The more you know about the community you are making your piece of media about, the better it will be in the long run.

LGBTQ+ media representation still has a long way to go

PAULA BROOKS reporter

Representation can mean everything to a community. It can show them in a good or bad light; those perceptions can follow a group of people for a long time.

Representation for the LGBTQ+ community can be quite lackluster, from the gay best friend to the ultra-feminine gay men. The media also shines a negative light on the transgender community by depicting them as predators, and the media can overly sexualize members of the LGBTQ+ community. The representation that we have been getting has been overly stereotyped and sometimes just completely wrong.

People may say that any representation is good and brings light to the communities they are about. This is untrue becau-

sports

contact the editor: sports@alestlelive.com 650-3527 thursday, 04.15.21

One day after finding out the Cougars would travel to the Ohio Valley Conference Championship, a positive COVID-19 test on the team ended their season.

After their win against Eastern Illinois University on March 29, the Cougars earned themselves a spot in the tournament.

As part of the tournament’s rules, all teams had to take COVID-19 tests before competing. The day after defeating Eastern, the players were notified of one member of the team testing positive for COVID-19.

“We re-ran it to make sure it wasn’t a false positive,” Head Coach Kendall Paulus said.

“There was still this small possibility [of playing], but it officially came back on Wednesday. The girls were waking up saying, ‘Are we getting on the bus or are we not?’”

With the disappointment of their season ending early, junior libero Grace Hurst said it was upsetting at first, but grateful it didn’t happen earlier.

“It could have happened to us at any point in the season and

it just happened at the wrong time,” Hurst said. “What was amazing was the thought that we ended our season on two sweeps.

There’s not many times in my athletic career where I can say I ended the season with my team with two back-to-back sweeps.”

Volleyball’s season is usually during the fall, but because of the pandemic, their season was moved to the spring this year and included a handful of changes.

“We only played part of our conference and had no preseason games to prepare for conference [games], so that was very different,” Hurst said. “I think that we just focused on what we could control.”

Paulus said her team was able to succeed during a season full of unknowns through the help of her six seniors who took the team to an overall record of 10-4.

“What drove [the seniors] was how they wanted people to feel by being a part of this team and how it made them feel when

they thought about the senior class,” Paulus said. “We showed up last summer thinking we were going to play in the fall, so we show up in the summer [holding] open gyms [and] working hard. I think it was the weekend before we started we got told officially we’re not going to start.”

In addition to the shortened season, the OVC also minimized the amount of players who could travel with each team for their games.

“The OVC this spring only let us travel with 15 [players], which was a really big bummer,” Paulus said.

“That meant we left two people at home during COVID-19 when they had nothing to do.”

Sophomore defensive specialist and libero Nicole Kijowski said through all the changes, the hardest one was not being able to be as team-oriented compared to past seasons. “[The biggest change was] not being able to hang out on

the weekends, not being in teammates’ rooms in the hotels, being separated in the locker room, not having the whole team traveling,” Kijowski said.

Despite the COVID-19 precautions, Hurst said their team was able to maintain a close-knit feel throughout the season.

‘We all love each other and would do anything for one another on and off the court, which is what makes this team so special,” Hurst said. “We were a unit on and off the court, and knew that no matter what was going on with volleyball, winning or losing, or what was going on outside of volleyball we were all there for each other.”

Even though their season ended faster than they wanted, Kijowski said knowing their senior class was a special group pushed the rest of the team to give it all they had.

“The best part of being on a team is making memories with each other and always feeling included and welcomed,” Kijowski said. “Despite all the adversity, we wanted to show everyone how hard we had been working and how much we [could] overcome challenges and setbacks.”

Softball overcomes rough start to earn nail-biting victory NICOLE BOYD copy editor

After a tough loss on Saturday, the Cougars ended their three-game series against SEMO with a win.

The Cougars lost Saturday’s game 11-2. The game was played to five innings, with SIUE getting three hits compared to SEMO’s 15. However, the team returned with a new attitude on Sunday.

The first game on Sunday proved to be a closer loss for SIUE. SEMO was winning 3-0 in the top of the third inning, but freshman utility player Ava Bieneman and redshirt junior outfielder Alana Cobb-Adams brought the score to 3-2 in the bottom of the third. However, SEMO scored once more in the fifth inning, ending the game in a SEMO win of 4-2.

During the second game on Sunday, SIUE was up 3-0 in the bottom of the fifth inning. However, in the sixth inning, SEMO scored two runs, bringing the

score to 3-2. In the top of the seventh inning, SEMO scored two runs from one hit, which put them ahead of the Cougars 5-3.

The Cougars came back in the bottom of the seventh to tie the score at 5-5. The game went into an extra inning. In the bottom of the eighth inning, with bases loaded and two outs, Bieneman hit a single, allowing redshirt senior first baseman Zoe Schafer to score, ending the game 6-5.

Head Coach Jessica Jones said SEMO always offers a fun challenge, but the Cougars were especially excited to play them at home.

“We’re excited to play them at home, obviously, in front of our fans, but the approach is very similar to a lot of our other games in the sense that we prepare ourselves for the game and we go off the scouting reports,” Jones said. “We try to tailor our offensive strategies to their pitchers, as well as our pitchers, some of their workouts, to our hitters … Overall we like to just take the

The Cougars competed at SEMO in early April. The men placed fourth of 11 teams, while the women finished sixth of 12.

At Eastern Illinois last week, several Cougars earned personal records, including COVID senior distance runner Aly Goff, who won the 1,500-meter.

SIUE Standings MEN’S SOCCER

OVERALL MAC

Bowling Green Western Michigan Western Virginia Akron Northern Illinois SIUE

6-4 6-3 6-3 4-3-1 5-7-1 5-5

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

WOMEN’S SOCCER

OVERALL OVC

Murray State SIUE UT Martin SEMO Belmont Tennessee Tech Jacksonville State Eastern Kentucky Austin Peay Eastern Illinois Morehead State

9-1 6-2-2 6-3-1 6-3-1 5-4-1 4-5-1 4-5-1 4-5-1 2-7-1 2-7-1 2-8

9-1 6-2-2 6-3-1 6-3-1 5-4-1 4-5-1 4-5-1 4-5-1 2-7-1 2-7-1 2-8

SOFTBALL

OVERALL OVC

SEMO Eastern Kentucky Austin Peay Eastern Illinois Jacksonville State Murray State UT Martin Tennessee Tech SIUE Belmont Tennessee State Morehead State

19-12 25-9 20-9 19-12 13-18 15-23 20-11 15-19 8-19 10-17 8-22 9-20

15-3 16-4 15-7 11-7 11-9 12-10 9-8 9-10 8-12 6-13 4-18 1-16

BASEBALL

OVERALL OVC

Morehead State SEMO Murray State Jacksonville State SIUE Eastern Illinois Belmont Austin Peay UT Martin Tennessee Tech Eastern Kentucky

15-12 16-14 16-14 16-15 15-13 17-14 14-16 10-20 11-17 11-14 10-21

6-3 9-6 7-5 7-5 8-7 7-8 7-8 7-8 4-5 5-7 5-10

name off the jersey and just play the game and put out a competitive atmosphere on the field.”

Jones said she was proud of how the team came back from Sunday. “[They were] two hardfought games today. We had some ups and downs through both. We could’ve and should’ve won both games; however, they had fight.

They had fight in both games, and I’m extremely proud of their fight in the second game,” Jones said.

Redshirt senior pitcher Emily Ingles also said the team played with a sense of fight.

“I think that we played with heart and we never lost fight, and that’s the most important thing, especially where we’re at right now — that we just keep fighting and keep winning for each other, and I think we did that today,” Ingles said.

Jones said the team’s freshmen played especially well.

“Sydney Baalman, she was a queen on the mound that sec-

ond game, and Ava had a wonderful, amazing day today. Those two freshmen led today, and I’m extremely proud of them,” Jones said.

Ingles said the team improved by learning what they needed to work on.

“We definitely saw the things that we needed to work on, made the quick adjustment, came back the next day and focused in on those things, and we made things happen out there,” Ingles said.

Redshirt junior infielder Bailley Concatto said the improvement from Saturday to Sunday was in the team’s mindset.

“I think we provided fight both days, but the difference from Saturday and Sunday is we came out with an attack mindset and we said, ‘We want to go get them today.’ We had a lot of young players step up and really own their role on the team and prove themselves,” Concatto said.

The softball team will play their next game at 1 p.m. April 17 at Tennessee Tech.

SOFTBALL

SOFTBALL

SOFTBALL

WOMEN’S SOCCER

Tennis has taken one win and two losses this month. The Cougars faced Belmont, winning 4-3 and remaining undefeated at home.

The team then took a 4-3 loss against Murray State and a 5-2 loss against Austin Peay, both away games.

Golf finished 11th of 14 teams at the Missouri Tiger Invitational. Redshirt senior Zak Butt led for the Cougars with a top-15 finish.

The Cougars finished their regular season in Omaha, placing third of nine teams. Butt picked up his third top-five finish.

SIUE began April with a 3-2 loss on the road against Western Michigan. The team then faced Northern Illinois at home and claimed a 3-2 victory in double overtime, with sophomore defender Aaron Crabtree scoring the winning goal. This victory ended a five-game losing streak.

The Cougars’ game against Belmont ended in a 1-1 draw in double overtime. They then lost 2-1 against Jacksonville State.

The Cougars have earned a place in the OVC tournament as the second seed. They will face third-seeded UT Martin at 2 p.m.

April 15.

week in review TRACK & FIELD

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Volleyball’s post-season run ends with COVID-19 case KRISTINA JOHNSON reporter

READ ONLINE: BASEBALL WINS SERIES AGAINST UT MARTIN

TENNIS

GOLF

MEN’S SOCCER

WOMEN’S TENNIS

OVERALL OVC

SEMO Austin Peay Murray State Jacksonville State SIUE Belmont Eastern Illinois UT Martin Tennessee State

12-4 9-3 8-8 8-9 9-6 5-8 4-11 1-13 0-0

5-0 4-2 4-2 3-3 2-3 2-4 1-4 1-4 0-0

VOLLEYBALL

OVERALL OVC

Jacksonville State Morehead State SEMO SIUE Austin Peay Tennessee Tech UT Martin Murray State Tennessee State Belmont Eastern Illinois Eastern Kentucky

16-1 15-1 14-3 10-4 9-5 9-7 6-10 5-11 4-12 3-13 2-14 2-14

15-1 15-1 14-2 10-4 9-5 9-7 6-10 5-11 4-12 3-13 2-14 2-14

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CONSENT I page 5

personal reflection: ‘Did you ask them if that’s OK?’ But even to the person that was touched or whose boundary was crossed, I will say, ‘Did you communicate that you don’t like that?’” Grinstead said. “Because while I don’t think that it is necessarily appropriate for somebody to cross your boundary [unwillingly] or without permission, I think that it’s important for kids, anybody really, to learn to verbalize that, ‘I don’t like that. What you’re doing is not OK.’” Becky Corbett, a second grade teacher at St. Elizabeth School, said teaching kids about consent when they are young is important because there are so many evils in the world.

“It gives them the confidence that they know that they are allowed to say, ‘No, I’m not comfortable with this,’ ‘No, this doesn’t feel right,’ rather than just feeling obligated because they’re kids that they have to do whatever this adult says,” Corbett said.

Cohan said sometimes people think teaching about consent is complicated, but it can be done through everyday interactions.

“I think when parents realize it can just be part of everyday life, it’s less intimidating. It all is connected and makes a big impact in the long run even though it happens through tiny little interactions,” Cohan said.

Green said it’s also important for adults to create an environment to talk about consent.

“When I say environment, I mean an environment where young people feel like they can bring anything to the table and they will not be shamed for it, they will not get punished for it … I think it’s an act of love for one another and for our community,” Green said. “This is how we can help keep each other safe and this is how we can go from a rape culture to a consent culture.”

Those seeking more information or in need of support can call or text Safe Connection’s 24 hour crisis helpline at 314-5312003.

thursday, 04.15.21 PLANS I page 2

coming up at the next meeting.”

Walters said one of her main goal in her new position is to be more involved on campus.

“I want to be able to reach out to students more and talk to students more, whether that be in the Student Government office, out on the Quad or wherever else

on campus,” Walters said.

Walters said she wants to help plan more events on campus when it’s safer to do so.

“I think for all students, engagement is a really big part of the college experience. Having more opportunity for students to connect with the university and connect with other students is going to be really important,” Walters said.

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