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Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Criminal justice professor speaks on police reform
Trivia night with drag queen emcee raises funds for scholarship
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Athletic director joins NCAA Softball Selection Committee PAGE 8
Thursday, April 28, 2022 Vol. 75 No. 28
the student voice since 1960
Cougar Bucks discount to decrease by 5 percent LIV KRAUS reporter
Starting July 1, the Cougar Bucks discount for Dining Services will decrease from 10 percent to 5 percent. Any student ID at SIUE can be loaded with Cougar Bucks, which is real money that can be used to purchase items at a discount on- and off-campus. Jeffrey Waple, vice chancellor of Student Affairs, said the decrease in the Cougar Bucks discount will only be for the dining options on campus and not the Cougar Store. He said that by cutting down the discount by 5 percent, it will allow the university to redistribute funds that will aid in reviving dining options for the fall. Waple said, in order to reopen more dining locations and extend the hours of operation, there needs to be more staff. “It allows us to redistribute the funds so we can hire more students, more staff, extend hours and do all those things we need to do to support our university a little bit better,” Waple said. Waple said unlike most other universities, SIUE doesn’t have a buffet-style of dining where students swipe a card and have access to an unlimited amount of food. “SIUE is a unique dining operation. It’s the first campus I’ve been at where it’s more of a retail operation than an all you
CURRENT COUGAR BUCKS DISCOUNT
NEW COUGAR BUCKS DISCOUNT
(10% OFF)
(5% OFF, EFFECTIVE JULY 1)
Sandwich from Sammiches
$5.18
$5.46
Single Cheeseburger from Boss Burger
$4.95
$5.23
Chick-Fil-A Sandwich
$3.74
$3.94
Starbucks Grande Mocha Frap
$4.59
$4.85
Disclaimer: Prices calculated do not account for taxes can eat,” Waple said. Waple said the university decided to get funding for these issues through the Cougar Bucks discount decrease. Cambria Johnson, senior in liberal studies, said she is not a fan of the recent changes being made to Cougar Bucks. “I think it’s ridiculous and ultimately not a smart decision because it will deter more peo-
ple from using Cougar Bucks,” Johnson said. Johnson said she would like to see the funding for dining options come somewhere else besides Cougar Bucks, like from fundraising or donors. Johnson said the advertising for the new Cougar Bucks discount did not mention that it was a decrease and that it should’ve been made more apparent.
“The advertising was not clear and I didn’t even realize there was going to be a change in the discount,” Johnson said. Molly Tippen, first year nutritionist student, said all first year students who are living on campus are required to have some sort of meal plan. “I feel like it shouldn’t be required because I only eat in the MUC a few times a week and it
can be a little expensive on top of paying for other college-related things,” Tippen said. Tippen said the decrease in the Cougar Bucks discount doesn’t bother her, but she can see where other students might be frustrated. She said it makes sense for them to cut the discount down. “I think it seems fair if they’re going to be needing the extra money. I know that prices are going up everywhere now,” Tippen said. Tippen said she is excited to see what dining options look like in the fall and the change to Cougar Bucks seems like a small price to pay. Morgan Jackson, senior in computer science, said he’s noticed the posters that advertise the change all over the MUC. “I think one of the biggest things that annoyed me the most was their method of announcing it. It almost looked like an advertisement, like a promotional deal. There was no explanation with it, just a promotional poster plastered across campus telling you there’s going to be a worse deal than the previous year,” Jackson said. Jackson said once he realized why the change was being made, his perspective slightly changed. “Initially, I was very annoyed. Upon the realization that it may mean longer hours or more dining options I’m a little more okay with it,” Jackson said.
Drop-N-Serve event brings students together for community service LIV KRAUS reporter
The Kimmel Student Involvement Center hosted the Drop-N-Serve event, which allowed students to drop in, craft a service gift and donate them to community agencies on April 21. Jimmy DelVecchio, general assistant at Kimmel Student Involvement Center, said he and his supervisor wanted to come up with an event to honor SIUE volunteers, faculty, staff and students during national volunteer appreciation week. “We’ve never done an event in the past, because of COVID, where we actually have all of our volunteers gather to celebrate them. However, our office does like to put on service programming so we wanted to make an event that was going to benefit the community but also show our appreciation, so we came up with Drop-N-Serve,” DelVecchio said. The Drop-N-Serve event had tables set up with different kinds of decorative paper, fabric and necessary materials needed to craft tiles that could be used as
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very engaging, it’s always an opportunidrink coasters. Andreya Ayers, graduate student ty to meet people who are like-minded from Chicago, said she does an average of and it’s fun to get involved in one way 2,000 hours of community service a year. or the other,” Shrestha said. She said she enjoyed the Drop-N-Serve Shrestha said she event because it incorthinks more students porated arts and crafts should get involved and served as a relaxwith the SIUE coming activity leading up munity service events to finals week. on campus “I’ve created my “I think it’s very service tile to be doimportant because nated to local agenthese events are not cies. I’m a scrapbooker only fun and enterso it was pretty fun for taining for students, me. It was therapeubut also for a good tic,” Ayers said. cause and to appreSagarika Shresciate the volunteers Sydney Brainerd tha, graduate student and to get us all enSophomore in Pharmaceutical Sciences from Nepal, said she gaged together,” thought the Drop-NShrestha said. Serve event was fun and Ashma Bhattrai, a freshman from a great way to meet new people who share Nepal, said she first heard about the the same interests. “I’ve always been interested in any- Drop-N-Serve event at the MUC on thing that [Kimmel Student Involve- the same day. “This is important because it helps to ment Center] does because it’s always
“
I think it’s adorable and I feel like it will brighten somebody’s day.”
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enhance our creativity through arts and crafts and it also gives back to the community,” Bhattrai said. Sydney Brainerd, sophomore from Bonne Terre, Missouri, said she found out about the event through the SIUE Get Involved page. “I wanted to come out and help the volunteer organizations because, to me, that’s something that’s very important,” Brainerd said. Brainerd said there were lots of different designs to choose from when making her tile. She said she was able to make a bee-themed tile with the crafting materials provided. “I think it’s adorable and I feel like it will brighten somebody’s day,” Brainerd said. Brainerd said she hopes to see more people get involved in community service. “I think it’s a great thing to do. I wish more people would come and get involved in them. It’s very important for them to do and it’s a great thing,” Brainerd said.
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