The Alestle Vol. 73 No. 29

FOOD PANTRIES SEE NEW PANDEMICRELATED PROBLEMS page 3

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HOW ONE SORORITY USED POPULAR SOCIAL MEDIA APP TO HOLD EVENT page 5

vol. 73 no. 29

The Student Voice Since 1960

Online learners, instructors express Zoom safety concerns GABRIEL BRADY reporter

He said some landlords have waived rent payments, but it’s on a case by case basis.

“That’s between them and the landlord, we don’t interfere with that. Several of our property owners have allowed businesses to not pay their lease, but that’s few and far between,” Williams said.

Williams said only the strongest businesses will survive through the pandemic.

“It’s the survival of the fittest right now … The businesses that can come back, will come back, and I believe they will be stronger for it,” Williams said.

Shawntá Ray, owner of toy and games store Happy Up Inc., said losing

Zoom has proved to be a popular tool in the transition to online only classes for colleges across the nation, but not everybody is on board.

When Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Brad Noble realized he would have to move classes online, he did not plan on using Zoom at all.

“Over spring break, I knew that most likely we wouldn’t be coming back, so I started figuring out how to move my classes online,” Noble said. “Cybersecurity is one of my areas of expertise, and Zoom is not secure. Additionally, Zoom isn’t what I needed. It’s not necessary that I see every student’s face for a lecture class. If it was a smaller class, it would be better.”

Noble discussed different options with junior electrical engineering major Dexter Elmendorf, of Alton, Illinois, who is a supplemental instruction leader for one of Noble’s classes.

“Over spring break, Dr. Noble and I discussed how to move the classes online, and he and I agreed that Zoom would not be the best,” Elmendorf said. “A problem with Zoom was that if there wasn’t a meeting going, the students really had no way to quickly message us. We also tried Twitch, but we couldn’t control who joined, and the students still wouldn’t be able to message us privately.”

Elmendorf said regardless of security concerns, Zoom was not what he and Noble wanted.

“Zoom’s video and sound quality really don’t hold up well compared to other streaming platforms, and it also has some serious data breach concerns, if you check the news,” Elmendorf said.

Elmendorf was referring to lawsuits in both California and New York that accuse Zoom of selling users’ data to Facebook.

see BUSINESSES on page 2

see ‘ZOOMBOMBING’ on page 3

It’s ‘survival of the fittest’ for local businesses Before Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued a stay-at-home order, many local businesses remained fully functional, including RunWell on Main Street. The running shop set up this sign in front of its entrance in mid March, reassuring customers it was maintaining a healthy environment in the midst of COVID-19 concerns.

I Morgan Jackson / The Alestle JOHN MCGOWAN reporter

For businesses struggling from the shutdown, the city of Edwardsville is providing help and guidance, but for some businesses, it may not be enough.

According to Economic Development Director Walter Williams, the city is keeping in contact with businesses and making sure they have the resources they need, including the payroll protection loans they might need in order to keep their employees paid.

“We are encouraging our local businesses to take advantage of the payroll protection program as well as other as-

sistance,” Williams said. “We are making sure that they have a bank, they have a contact and that they are getting in contact with their lenders.”

Williams said the city is also taking donations in order to help out citizens and businesses.

“The city of Edwardsville is taking donations, and we are spending those donations on gift cards at local restaurants, and we are distributing those gift cards to families in need … We have even given several SIUE students who are stuck on campus gift cards,” Williams said.

While the city is helping out in some ways, they haven’t provided aid for rent and other bill costs, according to Williams.

COVID-19 could have a big impact on the election ALEX AULTMAN reporter

The upcoming presidential election won’t look the same as previous years due to pandemic precautions, such as social distancing causing an increase in online campaigning and fear of voting in person.

The COVID-19 pandemic’s impacts have already been felt in the primaries, with some states postponing due to safety concerns and others continuing as planned.

However, it is unlikely that the November general election will be postponed because the date for it to be held is written into federal law through the Presidential Election Day @thealestle

Act of 1845. Instead, there are other ways the pandemic will change what election season looks like for Americans.

Political science professor Laurie Rice said the pandemic will change how citizens vote and turnout will vary by state depending on how accessible it is to vote by mail.

“I think we might see really distinct differences in voter turnout by state, so states that make it easier to vote absentee or vote by mail you would see high voter turnout,” Rice said. “Whereas in states that make it hard for voters to do that, voters would be in two groups largely: people with a really strong sense of civic duty that’s so strong that they’re willing to put their health potentially at risk, or voters that are extremely strong partisan who feel like it’s worth that risk to go and vote. People who are less strong partisan or who don’t have a really strong preference for the election outcome will probably stay home.”

Concerns over the safety of voters and poll workers are causing many to call on lawmakers to make voting by mail more accessible. Junior political science major Jakhari Watson, of Chicago, said this is a

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better option than postponing elections.

“I recommend not postponing elections but just allowing vote by mail. There are multiple states that have it,” Watson said. “I know President Trump has said that he opposes vote-by-mail because of voter fraud, but if you look at it, you see that there’s little to no voter fraud in any of the states that have had vote-by-mail.

I think that’s one thing that should happen for the November general election.”

States vary in their stances on allowing residents to vote by mail. Some states, like Illinois, allow any registered voter to request an absentee ballot, while other states, like Missouri, require an approved excuse. Missouri Gov. Mike Parson recently said fear of contracting or spreading COVID-19 or following a stay-at-home order are not considered valid reasons to qualify for an absentee ballot, according to the Kansas City Star.

The ACLU of Missouri is currently suing the state to allow voters to request absentee ballots due to the pandemic.

Another important aspect of election season that could change is cam-

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paigning. Rice said it is likely we will see an increase in the use of online campaigning.

“We might see significantly different party conventions than we’re used to with social distancing measures in place,” Rice said. “We won’t see the same kinds of campaign rallies with social distancing, so that is probably really going to increase the trend of more and more campaigning online and the use of social media. If the pandemic continues and we have to keep social distancing throughout the campaign season, then the only place candidates will be able to campaign is online.”

Many candidates rely on rallies to connect with their see ELECTION on page 3

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Domestic violence and child abuse rates rise, as pandemic limits availability of resources

DAMIAN MORRIS reporter

Rates for domestic violence and child abuse are rising with COVID-19, but there are still resources out there.

According to Sheriff of Cherokee County, South Carolina, Steve Mueller in an NBC News article, the rates of domestic violence have increased by 35 percent in March compared to February due to COVID-19.

Prevention Education and Advocacy Center Coordinator Samantha Dickens said increasing rates of domestic violence and child abuse may result from families being stuck in close quarters.

“In all my research recently [through] the pandemic in domestic violence and child abuse, it’s definitely a concern that the domestic violence rates and child abuse rates will go up because people are in close quarters and because the resources that are usually available may not be as easily available,” Dickens said.

Dickens said these rates ordinarily rise in the wake of a disaster or pandemic.

“Past research shows that during major disasters and pandemics, like Hurricane Harvey ... domestic violence and child abuse cases do rise fairly significantly during those times,” Dickens said.

She said resources are more limited now, and shelters have even less space.

“Shelters might have anywhere from as few as five or 10 beds to 30 beds or 40 beds, it just kind of just depends on the size,” Dickens said. “They’re having to make decisions about, ‘Are we going to fill beds that come open, [or] are we going to keep them aside for people who might have been exposed to COVID-19 who might be getting sick so they can quarantine away from everyone else?’”

Dickens said children have lost access to many of the places that have individuals trained in recognizing abuse signs.

“With child abuse, one of the safety

nets is children go to daycare, they go to school, they go to other peoples’ houses, they go to church — they’re not doing any of those things,” Dickens said. “So the providers who would usually be trained to recognize signs of child abuse aren’t seeing those children.”

According to Dickens, domestic violence services often go to victims as well as their children. However, due to most child abusers being the parent or guardian and the child not being able to leave on their own, there are resources available to specifically help children in these circumstances.

Dickens recommends contacting the National Domestic Violence Hotline for domestic violence concerns.

“The National Domestic Violence Hotline, they do a call and a chat function that is a really great place to go if you don’t know your locals. You can call that and they’ll link you to your local resources,” Dickens said.

National Domestic Violence Hotline Advocate Chad Thomas said their resources are limited due to COVID-19, but they are working to continue providing assistance and are still fully functional online.

“With COVID-19, we’re still getting resources that are available, but a lot of it is just validating their experiences and also planning for when this is over with because we understand that it’s not going to be forever, that when those resources do open up to full capacity, they can have a plan of action to work with,” Thomas said.

Thomas said although it is difficult to work without all resources available, it gives more time to help victims plan their steps in staying safe.

“The plus side of this is it gives a little bit more time to plan and get to that safe point they’re looking to get at,” Thomas said.

Another resource available for domestic violence support is the Oasis Women’s Center, located in Alton, Illinois.

Certain staff, students allowed on campus for tasks deemed essential JOHN MCGOWAN reporter

Almost everyone who works on campus is now gone due to stay-at-home orders. However, there are a few select people who are allowed to continue to work on campus to complete necessary tasks.

Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Greg Budzban said there are some faculty who have to be let back on campus to maintain animals they have for research.

“They have specimens of various sorts – everything from microbes and amoeba to actual animals, like zoological animals – they have to get back on campus to care for those specimens,” Budzban said.

Some are allowed back on campus because they have external funding requirements they have to meet. These requirements include federal agencies funding research that haven’t changed deadlines, so faculty members have to finish their work.

Select staff members are allowed back intermittenly to check on their labs. Applied Health Professor Joshua Wooten said he goes back once a week.

“I’ll go up there weekly to check and make sure that the lab hasn’t been broken into,” Wooten said. “Also, we have freezers that have samples. I need to make sure those freezers haven’t gone down or something like that. That would be horrible to lose all those samples.”

Budzban said heavy sanitary precautions are being taken for every person allowed back on campus, with custodial workers continuing to work on a regular rotation.

“What we came up with was a way to ensure that when they were on campus doing those things that there was social distancing. In other words, they were the only person in their building or the only person on their floor, and there was appropriate sanitization going on before and afterwards,” Budzban said.

Faculty and staff are only allowed back for tasks deemed most essential by the Office of the Provost, so there are those who wish they could work on campus right now but still cannot. Primary Care and Health Systems Professor Chaya Gopalan was about to start extracting RNA before the shutdown. She said while she can’t get her lab work done, she understands why.

“It’s totally unexpected. I’m not going to be upset. It’s not because of anyone’s fault. It is for a health reason, safety reason, and I would not sit and blame it on anybody and complain,” Gopalan said.

“I have other research activities that I can continue to do from home.”

According to Budzban, some music students have been permitted to visit campus in order to practice. They need to perform as a graduation requirement, but many don’t have large-scale instruments like pianos at home to practice on.

“This was a graduation requirement that was unwaivable,” Budzban said. “But they hadn’t been able to practice for the first three weeks … They don’t have pianos at home, or they don’t have large-scale percussion instruments at home.”

Students who believe they have an essential reason to be on campus can contact the Office of the Provost.

Oasis Women’s Center Plans Service Coordinator Marcy Jacobs said they are available to call 24 hours a day.

“For help they can just call [4651978], and it’s answered 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to have them ask for whatever it is they need. We’ll talk with them and try to help them,” Jacobs said.

Jacobs said they offer a variety of resources but are forced to move primarily online given the current circumstances.

“We offer a 24-hour hotline, temporary shelter, walk-in counseling and legal advocacy,” Jacobs said. “We’re doing most of our counseling now by telephone. The shelter is still open.”

Dickens said the best resources to reach out to for child abuse cases are Illinois DCFS Child Abuse Reporting Hotline and the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline for reporting, general information and guidance.

While the Illinois DCFS Child Abuse Reporting Hotline is designed for reporting cases of child abuse, the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline is aimed at deciding what steps to take or to learn more about child abuse.

Dickens said along with the resources available, people looking at these cases from the outside in can provide support as well.

“For anyone who is on the outside looking in and might want to help, someone who maybe has a neighbor or a friend or family member that they’re connecting with digitally and they’re concerned about them, one of the best things that they can do is let them know, ‘Hey, I’m worried about you because I’ve seen this, this and this. How can I help?’” Dickens said.

For more information go to Illinois DCFS Child Abuse Reporting Hotline, the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline, the National Domestic Violence Hotline, the Prevention Education and Advocacy Center and the Oasis Women’s Center websites.

BUSINESSES I COVER

businesses would negatively affect the town.

“Edwardsville is a pretty great place.

They have a lot of good independent stores and independent restaurants,” Ray said. “When you start to lose independent retailers, you start to lose the personality and flavor of your town.”

Wang Gang Asian Eats owner Ryan O’Day said right now, he’s one of the only businesses in his area that is open.

“The only other business at my strip center that you see volume at is a physical therapy rehab place,” O’Day said. “It’s depressing.”

Businesses like Happy Up Inc. and Wang Gang Asian Eats are facing varying levels of success through the pandemic.

Ray said her store is managing by doing curbside pick up, but business isn’t as good as it was before stay-at-home orders.

“Puzzle business has quadrupled, if not more. Big high-count puzzles have been the big [COVID-19] winner,” Ray said. “But I don’t think it’s possible for us to do as much business had we been fully open.”

O’Day’s restaurant is a different story.

According to him, Wang Gang Asian Eats has always largely operated on takeout and delivery, so business is actually doing well.

He said he’s very grateful the restaurant has been able to manage.

“I got guardian angels looking over me, man,” O’Day said. “I don’t get it, I don’t understand it, but I am lucky as hell.”

To read more about Edwardsville’s response to the coronavirus, visit their website.

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*prior to the COVID-19 pandemic

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State-by-state guidelines for voting by mail States with all-mail elections States that do not require an excuse for absentee voting States that require an excuse for absentee voting

Washington Oregon

Nevada

Montana Idaho

North Dakota

Wyoming

South Dakota Nebraska

Utah

Colorado

California Arizona

New Mexico

Kansas

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the unemployment rate is higher than it has been in years, largely because of the COVID-19 pandemic. With so many people out of work, people have had trouble paying for their basic needs, like food.

Off-campus food pantries in the area have had more customers recently, but the Collinsville Food Pantry is dealing with the influx well according to Micaela Rodriguez, pantry manager at the Collinsville Food Pantry. She said customers range outside of Collinsville, Illinois, city lines.

“We’ve gone up from about 100 customers a month to about 600 to 700, at least in March,” Rodriguez said. “We’ve handled it well, and we’re still meeting these people’s needs. In fact, sometimes we get customers from surrounding cities, where they either don’t know about their local food pantry, or their local one is closed. In the cases where they don’t know about a closer pantry that’s still open, we help them, but then tell them they can go to a closer one.”

Other food pantries have gotten more customers as well. Melanie Williams, executive director of the Community Care Center in Granite City, Illinois, said her pantry is one of those.

“Last month, we served over 2,000 individuals, which is a lot, to say the least,” Williams said.

Jane Ahasay, director of de-

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Hawaii Information retrieved April 27 from the National Conference of State Legislatures

about American politics. The state of the economy about three months out is the No. 1 predictor, in terms of issues, of presidential vote choice. The overall predictor, of course, is party,” Moffett said.

“If the economy is going well or is perceived to be going well about three months before the election,

people tend to vote for the incumbent. If the economy is not going so well, they tend to blame the incumbent and vote for the opposition.”

President Donald Trump has created a committee to advise him on how to reopen and stimulate the economy. Moffett said this is a

Food pantries see more clients, new challenges with COVID-19

GABRIEL BRADY reporter

New Hampshire Maine Vermont

Minnesota

sipp i

supporters. Watson said online rallies may lead to a loss of that connection.

“I think online campaigning will impact the election negatively. Obviously social media and the internet is all great but it doesn’t compare to the in-person feeling you get when attending rallies.

Biden is one that connects well in a town hall format, one-on-one with people,” Watson said. “Now with it being a virtual format, it’s not as personal. He won’t have as personal of a connection as he would have in person, so that might be an issue for him.”

Rallies are only one part of the campaigning process. Watson said the pandemic will prevent campaign workers from organizing fundraisers and going doorto-door.

“On the organizing front, as far as being able to knock on doors for candidates and hold events for candidates like fundraising, that’s all pushed online,” Watson said. “Those who want to work on campaigns, it can help them because there are more options for that, but it also hurts because knocking on a person’s door and giving them candidate information is one of the most effective ways to get them to vote for your candidate.”

Many citizens and politicians are concerned with the pandemic’s impact on the economy, resulting in people protesting stay-at-home orders and some governors making plans to reopen their respective states. Political Science Department Chair Ken Moffett said this is because it significantly impacts the outcome of presidential elections.

“This is a ‘Did you know?’

issis

ELECTION I COVER

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velopment at the Glen-Ed Pantry, said they have had a more diverse group of clients recently.

“We’ve received new clients almost everyday,” Ahasay said.

“Some of them are working, some are not, some disabled, some geriatric, some with homes, some without.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has introduced some new challenges for food pantries, which Ahasay said took time to adjust to.

“Although we’re happy to help anyone who comes to the pantry, it has been a little difficult to keep up with all of them,” Ahasay said. “Another thing that caused some issues was that some of our volunteers have stopped coming in order to stay safe from COVID-19. We respect their decision and we don’t blame them, because this is a scary situation.”

Rodriguez said a unique problem the Collinsville Food Pantry has had is that they can’t accept donations of food. This is because they have no way to disinfect any food people bring in.

“A big problem we have now is that there are certain donations we can’t accept,” Rodriguez said.

“It’s killing us not to take physical donations of supplies or food, but we don’t have the facilities to properly sanitize them, so we can’t accept them. So, if anyone wants to donate to us, really the only things we can accept are monetary donations. Additionally, a lot of our suppliers have stopped doing bulk orders due to the pandemic.”

According to Williams, the

Community Care Center is also weathering the loss of bulk orders.

In addition to this, Williams said converting to curbside-only has caused its own issues.

“Many places where we normally purchase bulk orders have been out of stock, and that’s probably because so many food pantries in the country have been needing more supplies,” Williams said. “We can’t allow clients inside anymore, even though we normally would. On a normal day, we would let people inside to shop around to some degree. They would physically be able to walk around and pick out what they want. Now, we’ve had to do curbside, which takes a bit more time.”

Since SIUE has had to cancel many community service events due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Rodriguez said she and the whole Collinsville Food Pantry have been waiting for student volunteers to return.

“We usually see so many students coming in to help, and we’re always very grateful for Service Saturdays, sororities, students who need hours for scholarships and whoever comes to help,” Rodriguez said. “We’re very thankful for them and we can’t wait for this to be over so they can come back and give us a hand.”

For further information, or questions about volunteering to help out, call the Collinsville Food Pantry at 346-1861, the Glen-Ed Food Pantry at 656-7506 or the Community Care Center at 8768770.

| Summer Bradley / The Alestle

result of election year politics.

“I think part of the reason why many of them want to reopen the economy in the timeframe that they want to is absolutely centered around election year politics.

As much as many office-holders might say otherwise, no, let’s not kid ourselves here,” Moffett said.

“I think absolutely this is a way by which those who want to reopen the economy sooner — want to make things better economically sooner — because they know good and well that that does affect election response.”

The presidential election will be held Nov. 3.

‘ZOOMBOMBING’ I COVER

SIUE. “Zoombombing is when an uninvited or unwanted participant joins a meeting and harasses participants, or sends out inflammatory content in a meeting,” Schmitz said. “To my knowledge, there haven’t been any reports of it at SIUE.” Mark Dorris, associate director for learning spaces and the help desk, said Zoombombing is very simple to control.

“Most of the fear [about Zoombombing] has been a bit sensationalized, but if people are worried about security, there’s plenty that they can do, like requiring a meeting password or setting up a waiting room,” Dorris said.

Schmitz said not sending out meeting IDs or links publicly is another way to prevent Zoombombing.

“We rarely advertise meeting IDs publicly,” Schmitz said.

“They’re usually either emailed or posted on a Blackboard page for a class. And, if it’s posted on Blackboard, only some students and faculty can see it.”

Even if someone gets the meeting ID that shouldn’t have it, Schmitz said Zoom has one more level of security.

“You can lock meetings and stop anyone else from getting in, even if they have the link, like locking the door to your house,” Schmitz said. “There’s also options to require attendees to wait in a waiting room before joining the meeting.”

Any security concerns can be directed to the ITS help desk at 650-5500.

Freshman computer engineering major David Mathus, of Godfrey, Illinois, is a student in one of Noble’s classes, and he talked to Noble and Elmendorf about a different application that they could use.

“I convinced [Noble] to use Discord instead of Zoom,” Mathus said. “Discord is a lot better. You can stream your screen like on Zoom, but there’s more noise control, and it’s harder to let people in who shouldn’t be.”

Mathus said Discord is a system of voice channels that users can set up to talk to each other, with video and text chat optional.

Now, Noble has moved most of his classes to Discord, and said it works well.

“If you have a Zoom meeting coming up, you have to get dressed typically, and that immediately makes students less comfortable,” Noble said. “Discord is great. We have specific voice channels that students can message me on. I’ve actually had the class take some quizzes over Discord. If I’m not on Discord, the students can send me a [direct message], and I’ll be able to send back a reply right away, but if we were on Zoom, there’d have to be a meeting in progress.”

Despite concerns raised by students, faculty and staff, ITS asserts SIUE’s use of Zoom is safe. Some security concerns with Zoom fall under the term “Zoombombing”, which Associate Director of Online and Blended Education Matt Schmitz said is not currently a problem at

READ ABOUT ONE STUDENT’S STUDIES ON RURAL ECONOMIC DISPARITIES IN GRAD ISSUE page 4

lifestyles alestlelive.com

contact the editor: lifestyles@alestlelive.com 650-3527 thursday, 04.30.20

Animal shelters desperate for fosters during pandemic

NICOLE BOYD copy editor

As animal shelters are forced to adjust operations during the COVID-19 pandemic, they need more people to foster animals.

Many have been forced to close or reduce their hours, meaning they must now rely on more people to foster the animals they care for.

Anne Schmidt, executive director of the Metro East Humane Society, said the shelter was forced to make cutbacks in adoptions as the pandemic worsened, so they decided to focus more on fostering.

“We were limiting the people that were coming into our building … Because of that, we decided to move most of our animals into a foster situation,” Schmidt said. “You know, look at how our budget is, kind of cutting back on staff hours and being conscious of the fact that we’re nonprofit.

The revenue that’s coming in isn’t normally coming in right now for us.”

Schmidt said the animals are not getting their usual amount of human interaction as a result of the outbreak.

“The animals are used to human contact that they’re not getting right now, so fostering or putting animals into a foster situation is really important to us,” Schmidt said.

According to Schmidt, the need for fostering has increased, as shelters are taking in more animals than are being adopted.

Schmidt said they are used to doing more than 100 adoptions a month and bringing in animals at the same pace, but because people can’t come to the facility, adoption numbers are down.

“We pull — and this is the case for most rescues in the area — we pull most of our animals from Madison County Animal Control or animal control facilities around the area. Just because of this pandemic doesn’t mean that animals coming into animal control facilities have slowed down in any way, shape or form,” Schmidt said. “If anything, people are surrendering more of their animals. So the need for fostering, and our services, is even more important right now than ever before.”

Instead of offering the option to foster, some shelters have simply closed their doors. Karla Krane, an employee at Alton Area Animal Aid Association, said even when the shelter reopens, they must have restrictions.

“We are just now going to start taking appointments the first of May for people to come and look at the dogs. We’re only letting one person, or maybe if there’s a spouse or somebody with them, two people, come in with masks on, of course, and they can look at the dogs,” Krane said.

Like Schmidt, Krane said the lack of adoptions has hurt the shelter.

“We’ve had no dogs adopted, which means we’ve had no income at all. It’s just been very hard, but

we’re surviving,” Krane said.

Since 5 A’s is closed, the employees’ hours have been reduced, but they often stay longer without extra pay to take care of the animals.

“We just stay. Like today, I’m supposed to get off at noon, but I’ll be here until we close at 2:00 [p.m.] because I want to get dogs out, because it’s such a beautiful day outside,” Krane said.

Krista Bennett, an SIUE alumna of 2017, has fostered dogs from Stray Rescue in St. Louis, and Pound Pets, Inc. in Granite City, Illinois. She said her job as a foster parent is to do what she can so the dog can be adopted.

“Most of everything that you will need is provided for, so you just give the pet a home and try to help with training, anything that it needs to be adopted,” Bennett said.

Those considering fostering an animal should be prepared to have some things in the house get torn up, Bennett said.

“A lot of these animals have never been in a house before, so some of them are a lot of work.

Or, have never been on a leash before, so if you’re trying to walk them if you don’t have a big yard, just be prepared,” Bennett said.

“And they help you with training, too. If you have a pet that has a lot of issues, they’re really good about getting you the resources you need to make it a happy thing for you and the animal.”

Bennett said one of the benefits of fostering is the opportunity to save animals.

“The fact that you are allowing the shelter to have another kennel open and available for another stray dog, I mean, it’s just amazing to know how many animals you can help save,” Bennett said.

For more information, visit the Metro East Humane Society website, 5 A’s website, Stray Rescue’s website or Pound Pets, Inc.’s website.

Each animal pictured is currently available to be fostered.

Top: Sigmund is 15 years young. He’s very, very social and active. He enjoys following his humans around for love and attention, but he’s just as happy sunbathing in a window. Sigmund enjoys having conversation with anyone who’s willing to talk back.

Bottom Left: This guy received his name for obvious reasons! Wile E is a great boy. He’s full of energy and very smart. He keeps his kennel clean and loves being outside. Wile E will require a home without kids and other animals.

Bottom Right: If we had to choose a favorite dog, it just might be Remi! He’s the happiest boy in the world and absolutely adores human attention. Belly rubs are his favorite but his noise making ball is a close second. He’s the king of the full body tail wag and thinks he’s the best boy when you talk to him. Remi also keeps his kennel clean and enjoys going for rides in the car. Remi would do well with a well socialized dog and older kids. | Photos courtesy of Metro East Humane Society

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TikTok makes splash in sorority, becomes viral sensation JOHN MCGOWAN reporter Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the virtual entertainment industry is thriving – much in part due to the success of TikTok as a new social engagement platform.

The app has garnered enough popularity to attract student organizations to creating accounts to market and engage with their members.

According to Harvard Business Review, the app accumulated more than one billion downloads in only two years. While their original plans for a Spring Formal were canceled due to coronavirus, the Alpha Phi sorority recreated their formal through a mix of social media, including TikTok. Vice President of Marketing for the sorority, junior business major Chloe Bosaw, of Ridgeway, Illinois, said they filmed multiple videos through the app.

“We made a video of our girls getting ready at their own houses, and then our members had the chance to make their own videos on their own TikTok accounts. Then we took all of their videos and put them together and made a little [compilation], and we actually posted that on our Instagram,” Bosaw said.

Bosaw said they considered other options first, but TikTok was the best app to host a formal.

“It started out, you know, ‘maybe we should do a Zoom,’ and then we had a few Zoom chapter meetings and we decided it’s a little chaotic with 120 girls on there. So, we had an idea to have our Alpha Phi TikTok account post a video of our girls getting ready,” Bosaw said.

The sorority previously used the app to post videos of events like mixers, and they plan to continue doing so if they are back on campus in the fall.

Mass communications professor Alex Leith believes what sets TikTok apart is its short form content. While other apps like YouTube can have videos of any length, TikToks have a limit of either 15 or 20 seconds. Leith said TikTok is also interesting because of its lack of identity.

“There’s no central identity of TikTok yet, so every person that comes to TikTok can find something unique for them,” Leith said. “Vine very quickly built an identity. Vine was very much known for comedy, and TikTok’s not.”

Junior geography major Charlie Brown, of Owensboro, Kentucky, said he likes TikTok because of its ‘For You’ page.

“It shows endless videos that relate to you, like if you share a culture, location or interest,” Brown said. “My favorite videos are the ones where people reenact scenes from TV, movies and viral videos.”

According to Leith, going viral on TikTok takes exactly what it does for any other app: lots of content and luck. Leith said the most popular TikTok creators often post multiple times a day.

“Just like with every other field, you have to be posting all the time. I know the biggest TikTok stars post three to five videos a day,” Leith said. “For some viral stars it’s basically staying in the same lane and doing the same things over and over again, and for others it’s basically popping around to all those different areas of TikTok.” Leith believes the one thing TikTok has done that no other app has managed is to make dance popular.

The most famous users on the app are well known for the dance trends they follow, which users can mimic and upload themselves.

Leith said many TikTok users dance now, but that would not have been normal when he was a child.

“The idea of dance is popular. I – as a kid – danced, and it was the most bizarre thing to most people in the world. But now you walk into any junior high school class and you drop the name of a current dance and everyone will do it,” Leith said.

Students who want to check out Alpha Phi’s virtual formal can download TikTok on the App Store or the Play Store.

Sophomore Carmen Cornejo, of Bloomington, Illinois, gets ready for Alpha Phi’s “virtual formal” in a TikTok video alongside other members of her sorority. | Photo courtesy of Chloe Bosaw

Mental health struggles made worse by COVID-19 GABRIEL BRADY reporter Between stress caused by fear of contracting — or spreading — COVID-19, the impacts of the disease on one’s mental health are far-reaching.

According to a study done

by Pew Research, 42 percent of Americans feel lonely every one or two days due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and 48 percent feel depressed just as often.

Freshman English major Kendra Mackey, of Columbia, Missouri, said she has her own struggle with the pandemic, specifically when she has to leave the home. Mackey said she had mental health concerns before the pandemic hit, and they have only been elevated since COVID-19 came to the U.S. “The biggest thing that’s affected me is that pharmacies are not working the same way at all,” Mackey said. “It’s the same with doctors and therapists. They’re all worried about corona patients, so there’s all sorts of precautions being taken. But it’s a lot harder for me to get my anti-depressants now.”

Sophomore construction management major Joe Patridge of Alton, Illinois, said one of the biggest worries he’s had isn’t for himself, but for his grandparents, because, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, older adults are at higher risk for COVID-19.

“[The pandemic] hasn’t stantly,” Mackey said. “I can’t go been a huge detriment to me, but do anything other than sit and I’ve definitely felt it. Not being look at my laptop. There’s no goable to go places or see people ing out with friends, or working has definitely affected me, and it out at the gym. It all feels fake. I probably has affected most peo- know it’s real and people are dyple. I’m mostly worried for my ing, but it still feels like any mograndparents because they like going out,” Patridge said.

“My family has offered to go to the store for them, but they insist on going out on their own. I know that since I’m younger, I most likely wouldn’t die from the virus, so it does comfort me to know that even If I get it I’ll be okay, but that is obviously biased. If I was older, I would have a different KENDRA MACKEY opinion.”

Freshman english major Mackey said she also had to travel because of her familial situation. She said ment, someone will jump out and there is a silver lining to some of say, ‘Gotcha!’”

When the pandemic finally it, but she has still felt the strugpasses, Mackey said she expects gles of the pandemic.

“My parents are split up, so the world’s view of mental health I do get a slight change of scen- to change greatly, and maybe ery once in a while, but with my more people will seek the help schoolwork, I’m still just sitting they need.

“I think a lot of people are around working on stuff con-

finding out about themselves,” Mackey said. “They feel isolated and alone. If you have undiagnosed mental health [concerns], usually you’re around people and you can distract yourself. With no one leaving their houses, people will realize they should go get help.”

A f t e r the pandemic, freshman accounting major Miller Wiseman from Alton, Illinois, said he expects people to have diverse reactions to what has happened.

“I think for some people the struggles this causes will be short term, but for everyone, once we’re back, it will probably take a long time to get back to normal,” Wiseman said. “Like, I haven’t been diagnosed with any mental illness before, though I have always been a little bit anxious. But every time the government extends the stayat-home order, I definitely start to feel a little overwhelmed.”

Wiseman said that the COVID-19 pandemic will in-

“I think a lot of people are finding out about themselves.

They feel isolated and alone.

If you have undiagnosed mental health [concerns], usually you’re around people, and you can distract yourself.

With no one leaving their houses, people will realize they should go get help.”

crease people’s dependence on social media for validation.

“I feel like a lot of people are really focused on social media or other people for validation, and if people aren’t able to get that from classmates and friends, it might result in them thinking less of themselves,” Wiseman said.

There are other ways to adapt to the pandemic than just using social media. Patridge said a good way to de-stress is to focus on finding the most factual information possible.

“This is definitely a serious situation, but it feels like it’s being blown out of proportion,” Patridge said. “I’m going to stay inside and follow the guidelines, but I don’t know anyone who has it. As for information, there’s a YouTube channel called The Infographic Show, and they’ve done a bunch of videos on [the pandemic], and I feel like getting correct and reasonable information is more helpful than just looking at how many people have died from the virus. There are actually more people who recover from it than die from it.”

If you feel as though you may be suffering from severe mental health issues, it can never hurt to see a therapist and discuss your mental health.

The CDC recommends taking breaks from the news, taking care of your body, making time to unwind and connecting with others.

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If you’re sharing conspiracies a n d h a ti ng on the m edia — stop THE ALESTLE STAFF editorial board A few weeks ago, our staff editorial centered around the importance of helping to “flatten the curve.” At the time, the first infant death related to COVID-19 was just reported in Cook County, Illinois. While certainly many were concerned about their futures and staying healthy, we still needed to write to urge the rest of the population to stay at home.

A month later, we are at it again, issuing another public plea.

This time, stay-at-home deniers don’t just include selfish college students booking a last-minute trip on cheap airfare, but people who are actually taking to the streets to “protest” the orders.

Armed with signs donned with messages such as “Reopen!

Now,” tyranny is spreading faster than the China virus,” “Free (insert state name here),” “Stop the hysteria, end the shutdown,” and “We Have Rights,” these protesters include those wishing businesses to return to their former full functioning with the “reopening” of their respective states, and some who just claim COVID-19 is a hoax.

While the reasoning behind one’s choice to protest differs from person-to-person, anybody who looks at images from the handful of protests the country has seen will notice a couple of things: 1. Few protesters, if any, adhere to the CDC recommendations and cover their faces; 2. Many are marching alongside each other, not six feet apart; and 3. Many are clothed in red, white and blue, insinuating they are advocating for what’s best for America.

But they aren’t. Leading scientists have shown this, and these are the people we should be listening to right now. The Center for Disease Control and World Health Organization say the same things: Don’t go out unless absolutely necessary; if you have to go out, wear face coverings and stay at least 6 feet apart; flatten the curve; the list goes on and on. Hell, it has been named a pandemic for a reason.

We at The Alestle understand the impacts restrictions have on both one’s economic stability and mental health. We have talked to many local business owners and listened to — and reported on — their struggles, we have seen our incomes and those of our loved

ones fluctuate or disappear entirely.

We get the urge to open our economy, but will not advocate we do so at the expense of innocent lives.

Now, others are channeling fear in a new way: conspiracy theories. These theories are all about the coronavirus, and there are even some about the vaccine that doesn’t exist yet. There are some theories that new 5G towers have something to do with spreading the coronavirus. One video said that being around lead wallpaper was safer to be around compared to 5G towers, and another video even said the coronavirus vaccine will install microchips in people’s brains.

These conspiracy theories are very dangerous for people to believe, especially because there have been reported burnings of 5G towers directly linked to these theories.

Instead of spreading misinformation and dangerous ideas about safety during this pandemic, post information from official sources, like WHO and the CDC, so people won’t buy into something so dangerous that they burn towers for communication.

In the midst of all this, both local media, like The Alestle, as well as national news organizations

are working non-stop to keep people informed, seeking information from those most qualified to give it: scientists (particularly those who specialize in infectious diseases) and medical professionals.

Never has the need for public information been greater, and the same shutdown that is impacting all other businesses is seriously impacting the news media, with furloughs and layoffs compounding the stress on people literally risking their lives to keep you informed.

We aren’t brainwashing you. We aren’t “spreading hype” or sensationalizing very real problems. We are simply giving you information.

What you do with it is another story.

Don’t share things on social media just because they make your jaw drop or the headline seems to support your already-existing opinions on the pandemic. Karen may be advocating for businesses to return to full operation, but is Karen a scientist? Did Karen get her info from scientists who have been studying infectious diseases for the majority of their lives? Did Karen get her information from a trustworthy news source? No? Well then don’t take her words as facts.

I t ’s h a r d t o t e l l i f t h e r e u n i o n o f bands is for nostalgia, money or both ISOBEL ABBOTT- DETHROW reporter I began going to music festivals my senior year of high school, beginning with the now-dead local LouFest. Since then, I have gone to Chicago, Detroit and Atlanta for other festivals, such as Shaky Knees, in Atlanta. After my first experience, I could not wait to go again.

The line-up for this year’s Shaky Knees festival was the most anticipated because of its top headliner: The Strokes. It had been years since The Strokes released their last album and performed live, going on a hiatus in 2016. In 2019, they started playing shows again and on April 10 of this year, they released their latest record, “The New Abnormal.” If the COVID-19 pandemic was not happening, they would be playing songs off this album in Atlanta this upcoming weekend and I would have been there in the front row to listen to it.

The Strokes are not the most recent band to reunite and gain a massive craze over the idea. My Chemical Romance came back and played shows last year after their 2013 break-up, selling out arenas.

Famed British-Irish boyband One Direction is having a reunion in the works, with their 10 year anniversary around the corner, sending fans from over the decade into a frenzy.

Most of the bands reuniting today were formative for people of the most current generations.

According to Grazia, millennials are “the most nostalgic generation ever” because they were the first generation to grow up online and have their whole life practically on the Internet; millennials are able to retrace their childhood and adolescence. Discovering foundational bands online is definitely a clear memory for me and many others.

Usually, when a band goes on hiatus or breaks up, it’s because of strain between band members or

simply moving on to other projects. Ari Herstand of Digital Music News said that the top reasons why bands break up is because of “money, clashing personalities and allocation of business duties” among other factors. However, with reuniting bands selling out concert venues and arenas because of a strong fanbase, money could also be a factor that brings them together.

In the mid 2000s, there was a VH1 show dedicated to bringing broken up bands back together called “Bands Reunited.” For two seasons, host Aamer Haleem and a crew hunted down members of defunct bands and attempted to convince them to come together for a special reunion show in either London or Los Angeles. However, the show has been criticized for sensationalizing bands’ break-ups, focusing on the drama of that rather than the band reunion. I agree with the criticism. Reality shows are already known for sensationalizing the negative and possible drama,

which takes away the true reason for the show.

Perhaps time heals all wounds and ex-band members can build new bridges after a break-up.

However, one thing is for certain: Britpop band Oasis will never get back together, no matter how much money is offered to Liam Gallagher or how many fans plead for a reunion. His feud with brother and Oasis co-founder Noel Gallagher is a sensation on Twitter, with Liam explosively rejecting any possibility of the band reuniting.

If a band wants to get back together, of course there should be a healthy friendship between its bandmates. Reuniting for the sake of nostalgia and fans is probably not the best idea when the members are obligated to perform. I would like to think that bands reunite without any bad blood between them and an obligation to play for fans or money. We don’t know what goes on behind the scenes of bands we listen to.

contact the editor: sports@alestlelive.com 650-3527 thursday, 04.30.20

I Photo by Scott Broome on Unsplash MATT BARTELS reporter

Campus Recreation’s fitness instructors have made the switch to online livestream workouts, allowing those who have normally taken their classes to still get their workouts.

Kayce Beatty is the Fitness Programs Coordinator for Campus Rec, and she created the schedule for these online workouts. The workouts themselves are being created by the individual instructors.

“They are all group fitness instructors who teach for Campus Rec currently,” Beatty said. “They have been teaching with us all year, all semester. They were the ones who agreed to continue teaching online for the live videos.”

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Working (out ( from home According to Beatty, Campus Rec has 19 live classes each week, with nine of them being done via Zoom and the other 10 being done on their Facebook page.

They have had many people show up and participate in their workouts.

“I think our highest participant count was 45 for a Zumba class,” Beatty said. “I took an average of all the class numbers and it was 32 per class. It’s awesome!”

One of the fitness instructors who hosts some of these workouts is freshman business administration major Tessa Schwarzentraub. She teaches yoga classes on Mondays and Fridays, and she posts her live-stream workouts on the Campus Rec Facebook page.

Schwarzentraub said even though these classes are live-streamed, viewers can still go back after the workout is over and

get their workout in if they missed it.

“I’ll livestream [my workout] and I post it on the Campus Rec timeline.

There’s a bunch of videos on there from past sessions,” Schwarzentraub said.

Freshman business major Kelly Cruise is also an instructor. She teaches a class called “Total Body Burn” on Mondays and Wednesdays. Cruise said her classes focus on a mixture of cardio and strength exercises.

Cruise said there are multiple workout classes you can participate in throughout the week.

“There is a schedule posted on the Campus Rec [home] page that shows when classes are throughout the week,” Cruise said.

According to Cruise, even though participants aren’t there in person, they can

still communicate with the instructors using the chat feature on Facebook Live.

“I have had a couple people who have been consistent and been on multiple livestreams and have liked or commented, so I know that they are participating, which is really nice,” Cruise said.

According to both Schwarzentraub and Cruise, people comment on their videos saying how much they have enjoyed the workouts and some have even thanked Campus Rec for uploading the videos.

“I’ve had a couple people say that they have enjoyed the workouts,” Cruise said.

“Just as a broad comment a bunch of people have thanked the Campus Rec for putting these [online].”

Those interested in finding a workout plan should visit SIUE Campus Rec’s Facebook page.

Track and field head coach resigns after more than a decade of coaching MATT BARTELS reporter

After 11 years with the Track and Field program, Scott Block has announced his resignation.

Block’s last five years at SIUE were spent serving as head coach. Despite his love for the program and the sport, Block said he thought it was time to step away and focus on himself and his family.

“The past year and a half I’ve had a couple major life events happen. Last February, I was diagnosed with cancer,” Block said. “That weighed heavily on my decision. And in August of last year, my son was born.”

With his contract ending with this season, Block said he thought the timing was right and he should be at home with his newborn son and his wife.

“My contract was up. So it just kind of worked out nicely, where my wife was at, where I was at,” Block said. “But I will always be a supporter of SIUE.” Block said he hasn’t really looked for any other jobs at the moment. He said his plan for the time being is to be a father and a husband.

“My son is right at 8 months old.

My plan for the time being is to be Sam’s is very different when compared to other dad,” Block said. programs. Smith said Block wasn’t strict Michaela Smith, a senior thrower on and said it definitely made a Division I the Track and Field team, said Block was program less intimidating. the reason she came to SIUE. They had “He was definitely someone you attended the same high school in the Chi- could go to whether you needed help with cago area and Smith said he has had a big practice or just your life, if you needed impact on her throwing career. someone to talk to,” Smith said. “ H e Sophomore was the Conor McCarthy main reason is a sprinter and why I went competes in the to [SIUE], long jump. Mcand why I Carthy said even fell in love though he wasn’t with [the around the coach team],” a lot, due to Block Smith said. being a throwers’ “I knew I coach, he knew could trust Block had a very him and laid back personit was like ality. a home McCarthy MICHAELA SMITH away from said he undersenior track and field thrower home.” stands why Block While decided to resign, most Dias he told the vision I team of his recent coaches have a history of being rough health issues and the birth of his child. Acand tough, Smith said his coaching style cording to McCarthy, he broke the news

“He was the main reason why I went to [SIUE], and why I fell in love with [the team]. I knew I could trust him and it was like a home away from home.

Track and Field Head Coach Scott Block I Photo courtesy of SIUE Athletics

of his resignation to the team in a meeting before spring break.

“He said, ‘My contract is up. I’m resigning. It was an honor to be your coach.’

He also said that he has a [child] and that his life is very different now,” McCarthy said. “He said that it was time for him to move on and focus on other things.”

There is no word on when the next head coach will be hired.

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Last updated on April 29, 2020.

The key word here is “accurately.” An article from CNN points out the following deficiencies: It is a mere conspiracy theory that it was created in a lab. The biological weapon “Koontz” describes has a 100 percent mortality rate, COVID-19 does not. However, COVID-19 is said to have originated in Wuhan, China.

According to The Washington Post, “Fauci’s” face has donned doughnuts in Rochester, New York, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.