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Wednesday, July 13, 2022 Vol. 75 No. 34
Local activists call for reparations for 1917 massacre in East St. Louis GABRIEL BRADY managing editor
On a rainy Saturday in East St. Louis, protestors took to the streets, calling for reparations to be paid for the damages done 151 year ago throughout the city.
LABOR VIOLENCE, RACISM COMES TO A HEAD IN 1917 EAST ST. LOUIS
In the early 1910s the city of East St. Louis’ Black population nearly doubled from around 6,000 to 12,000, according to Smithsonian Magazine. This was part of what many historians call The Great Migration. From the early 1900s until the ‘70s, approximately 6 million Black Americans in the South moved states further north or west in an attempt to find a better life for themselves and their families. In many cases, however, the Black Americans were met with very similar circumstances from which they had fled. East St. Louis in 1917 was an example of this. Smithsonian Magazine reports that in late 1916 and early 1917, hundreds of white workers in East St. Louis went on strike to protest for higher wages. However, since a large population of Black Americans in East St. Louis who had recently moved in, the owners of the factories fired almost all of the white workers on strike. Those positions were then filled by Black workers who were paid less than their white counterparts. At a city council meeting on May 28, 1917, white workers registered formal complaints against the Black population of East St. Louis. Later in June, a mob attacked the Black neighborhoods of East St. Louis, pulling Black people off of streetcars and trolleys. The National Guard were called, though they were impartial to the violence at first. After the initial violence subsided, a group of white men drove their black Model-T Ford through a predominantly Black neighborhood and shot out of the car into homes on July 1. The Black people in that
neighborhood organized themselves to prepare for another attack. Later that day, another black Ford drove down the same street, prompting the Black citizens to fire their own guns at it, thinking it was the previous car. Two police officers were driving that car, and both of them died. The next day, an even larger mob descended on the Black neighborhoods of East St. Louis. Black homes were burned down, children were killed and there was even an organized effort in the city of St. Louis for Black refugees to cross the Eads Bridge and escape into the city. Some refugees, however, had to swim across the Mississippi River to escape. The official reported death toll, after full days of riots in East St. Louis, was 39 Black Americans and nine white. However, many believe the correct total of Black deaths was in the hundreds.
“REPARATIONS NOW!”: LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS FIGHT FOR REMEMBRANCE AND REIMBURSEMENT
Julian Johnson, co-founder of local activist group Empire 13, was present at the march on July 2, exactly 151 years after the riots. Empire 13 was one of the groups that helped organize the protest. “Years later, today, we are marching for reparations and calling for back pay for what we need, what we are owed,” Johnson said. “If it weren’t for the horrible events of that day, so much would be different here. Land would be owned by different people, different businesses could have been built up and could maybe have even still been here now. A lot of legacies were basically cut short.” Larita Rice-Barnes, executive director of the Metro East Organizing Coalition, said the only criminal trial that ever came to pass regarding the East St. Louis riots was the trial of Leroy Bundy. Although many white men were sent to trial and imprisoned for the riot, Bundy, a Black man, was found by an all-white jury to be the instigator of the riot. “Leroy Bundy was prosecuted, and
his home and all of it was destroyed right today is to pay the millions of dollars back here on the grounds of East St. Louis,” that Black Americans are owed,” Dixon Rice-Barnes said. “That could have been said. “The tragedy that happened here in a home for his grandkids and great-grand- 1917 is one thing, but we also deserve pay kids to have today, but our city is still suf- for the unpaid labor of our ancestors for fering with dilapidated buildings, vacant four hundred years.” Eastern said the purpose of the prolots from those buildings that were detest is not a complex one and should be stroyed and so we brought to more just want to make attention. sure that the peo“People say, ple, the children ‘What exactly that are here, are are you fighting able to benefit If it weren’t for the for?’ We’re fightoff of what their horrible events of that ing for freedom, ancestries and freedom to live ancestors did and day, so much would be our lives as they what they went different here. Land would should be if that through.” awful day didn’t East St. Loube owned by different happen,” Eastern is Mayor Robert said. “What else is Eastern III spoke people, different there to even say? to the crowd afbusinesses could have We can’t go back ter the march. and change what He said this was been built up and could happened, but we the second year can change the they had held this maybe have even still future. I can’t do protest, and the been here now. A lot of that all by myself, community will nobody can, but continue to hold legacies were basically that’s what we’re this protest annuall out here for.” ally until reparacut short.” R ice-Barnes tions are paid. Julian Johnson, co-founder of local activist group said protests and “We always Empire 13 marches like this need a lot of are important to people, we always any community need a lot of voices,” Eastern said. “So don’t be deterred in the U.S. or even the world, but the real by the rain, or the sun. Last year, it was so importance and power comes from local hot. This year, it’s rain. It’s probably going activists organizing themselves together. “The importance [of a group like to snow next year. But we’re going to keep pushing until we get our reparations, no MEOC] is we raise attention to issues that affect those who are marginalized, and matter what.” Both before and after the march, letting them know that they are not alone. JD Dixon, co-founder of Empire 13, ad- We stand in solidarity with them,” Ricedressed his fellow marchers about the im- Barnes said. “We need to be on-the-ground portance of local activist groups and pro- with them and be with them as a voice tests like this one. Dixon specifically cited for justice and peace and righteousness.” For more information, visit the the work of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. “[King] knew. He saw the only way to Facebook pages of Empire 13 and of eliminate poverty in the Black community the MEOC.
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Pumpkin toadlets trend on Twitter thanks to SIUE-based research LIV KRAUS reporter
Pumpkin toadlets, tiny frogs no bigger than a dime, have been gaining lots of attention on Twitter thanks to a research paper examining their inability to jump. Rick Essner, professor of biological sciences, said it started back in 2014 when he gave a presentation at the St. Louis Ecology and Evolution Conference (SLEEC). The presentation focused on research he had done on frogs from the Pacific Northwest and New Zealand that branched off from other frogs around 200 million years ago. Essner said someone in the audience tweeted about the presentation, gaining the attention of Marcio Pie, a professor from the Federal University of Paraná in Curitiba, Brazil (UFPR). “He was looking for somebody who was interested in studying jumping loco-
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motion in these tiny frogs to try and figure out how small body size might affect jumping and so when he saw I did that work, he reached out,” Essner said. Essner said what made the pumpkin toadlets interesting was their inability to land after jumping. He said most frogs fold their hindlimbs in mid-air while the pumpkin toadlets left them extended. Essner said he was on sabbatical at the time and was able to take a trip to Brazil to research the pumpkin toadlets. André Confetti, a graduate student from UFPR, said Essner is the first person outside of his research group that he has worked with. He said it was a nice opportunity to learn more about frogs and practice his English. “When Rick came to Brazil, we went to collect the frogs and it was a very nice experience, particularly for me as a master’s student,” Confetti said. “My first international collaboration was really nice
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and this is my best work now and I’m really happy with the results.” Confetti said that because the pumpkin toadlets are so small, ranging from only about one to two centimeters, they were difficult to spot in the forest. He said they were able to find these frogs by listening to their call. “We collect the frogs, put the frogs in coolers and bring them to the lab to record the frogs jumping and then extract some material for genetics and other stuff,” Confetti said. Essner said the frogs are related to a group of frogs that are advanced
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jumpers, which didn’t make sense as to why they struggled with landing. He said it occurred to him that
see TOADLETS on page 3
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Wednesday, 07.13.22
SIUE COVID DASHBOARD DISCONTINUED 06.27.22
SIUE has discontinued their online COVID-19 dashboard. According to a statement on the dashboard's webpage, the university decided to stop updating it because the CDC has transitioned to reporting on “hospital beds being used, hospital admissions, and the total number of new COVID-19 cases in an area”. For more information, check the SIUE COVID Dashboard webpage to read the statement in full. The Alestle will continue to follow this story.
Officer took a report of a drivers license and a credit card being stolen from a vehicle in Parking Lot 4D.
07.01.22
Officer took a report of three different cars that had their catalytic converters stolen. Officer responded to a report of a suspicious person in Dunham Hall. Officer advised the building was checked and the subject was gone on arrival.
07.07.22
Two debit cards were found in the MUC
07.08.22
A backpack was found on Annex Street on the Alton campus.
Mindfulness course teaches how to better manage stress LIV KRAUS reporter
SIUE recently introduced a new course, CI-495, also known as Mindfulness for Helping Professionals. The class teaches students how to practice mindfulness, self-compassion and stress management. Wendy Weber, professor of teaching and learning, is the instructor of this course. She said she does a lot of mindfulness workshops for teachers and has found that many people in service professions such as nursing, teaching and social work are likely to experience stress and burnout. “I wanted to offer something for students who are going into those careers to give them the skills and the practices that could help with stress management, self-care, self-compassion and those kinds of things,” Weber said. Weber said she developed the course before the COVID-19 pandemic and it was previously focused towards general mindfulness. She said when the pandemic hit, everyone seemed more anxious and isolated. “People felt like they didn’t have the bandwidth to handle the things that they used to be able to handle,” Weber said. “For sure, these practices and these concepts that we go over in this course were really helpful for people during COVID, but also now that we’re hopefully on the other end of it, I think people are still feeling those difficult, challenging emotions and experiences.” Weber said when developing the course, she mainly looked at the audience’s needs and decided which concepts to talk about. She said the class does self-reflections and journals about their own life. “It’s not changing your life, but changing how you relate to the things that are going to happen in your life that you can’t control most of the time,” Weber said. Jenna Tebbenkamp, a profesor in nurse anesthesiology, said she took the course a
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year ago for her own personal and professional education. “I was in the doctoral nurse practitioner program at SIUE and when I was looking at my project for my DNP completion, I was looking into mindfulness practice for anesthesia students,” Tebbenkamp said. “I’m also faculty at SIUE so I looked at the course and thought it would be a good gateway for me to get into a mindfulness practice and also to get another avenue for resources as I figured out what a mindfulness practice would look like for individual people.” Tebbenkamp said the course was broken up into sections where people were put in smaller groups. She said this made people feel more comfortable communicating and sharing with each other. Amaya McKinney, from Chi-
cago, Illinois, took the course in the spring of 2020. She said she wanted to learn more about dealing with the stress that comes with teaching before she entered that profession. McKinney said Weber was respectful towards everyone and asked people what pronouns they used. She said her class focused a lot on journaling and meditation. “Dr. Weber would check in with us and ask how we are feeling, how our jobs are going, and everyone was able to chime in and express how they are feeling and how their meditations are going,” McKinney said. “It was very open and I feel like I was definitely able to express myself without being afraid to.” Tebbenkamp said Weber was able to help her class individualize what mindfulness practice looks like and recognize that everyone’s
needs are different. “Dr. Weber was able to help me realize that whatever your mindfulness practice looks like is acceptable,” Tebbenkamp said. “If it’s five minutes a day or if it’s even three minutes a day, it’s going to be helpful to you to get in the habit of practicing.” Tebbenkamp said she would recommend this course to anybody, whether it’s a requirement or not. “Many of my students have come to me with test and evaluation anxiety and I’ve used some of the tools and tricks that I learned in that mindfulness course to help them deal with that anxiety and bridge their own mindfulness practice,” Tebbenkamp said. McKinney said this course has not only helped her with teaching, but has also helped
her practice mindfulness in her everyday life. “I got into yoga after taking this course, I’m able to journal more, it’s helped with anxiety as well because I had really bad anxiety before,” McKinney said. “I feel like the course really helped with that in my everyday life as well.” Weber said this course can be beneficial to everyone, regardless of age, gender, background or belief system. “It’s things that are common to all humans, which is something we talk a lot about in this course,” Weber said. “This is the practice of just being human and learning how to get through your life the best you can with the great things about humans but also our limitations.” For more information, visit the online courses webpage.
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‘The virus is not done with us yet’: New COVID-19 variants better evade antibodies, doctors say MADELINE BUCKLEY Chicago Tribune
For people who contracted COVID-19 during earlier omicron surges, doctors have some unwelcome news: You are again susceptible to catching the virus. Two new variants of the virus appear to more easily evade immune protection from prior infections, meaning even some who have recovered from a case of COVID-19 in recent months may become a clean slate for the virus. The vaccines still remain effective in largely preventing hospitalizations and death, doctors say. The variants in the omicron family, BA.5 and BA.4, together are now the dominant strains in Illinois and across the country, according to medical experts and data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “For right now, everybody is basically susceptible to this,” said Dr. Emily Landon, an epidemiologist at the University of Chicago School of Medicine. With the new variants circulating, doctors still recommend people wear masks indoors and ensure they are up to date on booster shots. The COVID-19 booster remains an underutilized resource, with only about 34% of people 5 and over having received the third shot, according to the CDC. People should also consider masking during crowded outdoor events as well, doctors said, such as the upcoming Lollapalooza music festival from July 28 to 31. “People have gotten it in their head that being outside is magic,” Landon said. She noted that cases will likely rise after Lollapalooza, but added that fact alone doesn’t make it unsafe to hold it, as the festival is a voluntary event. She
implored attendees, though, to take care of their impact on others after the events by testing themselves, staying home if they feel sick and avoiding immunocompromised people. “You can make your choice about whether you go to Lollapalooza,” Landon said. “The grocery store is a completely different thing.” As of last week, about 72% of cases in the Midwest were either the BA.5 or BA.4 strain, according to CDC data, which groups Illinois with Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota. Nationwide, the new variants make up about 70% of cases. Most of the cases are the BA.5, which appears to be outcompeting the similar BA.4, experts say. The new variants have “a few more mutations in the spike protein” that make them more resistant to antibodies, according to Dr. Egon Ozer, an infectious disease specialist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Ozer said early data show that the BA.5 had reinfected people who contracted earlier variants of COVID-19 in the winter or early spring, who for a time had carried some immunity guarding against a new infection. “Every infection is an opportunity (for the virus) to adapt further and to overcome new defenses,” Ozer said. “It’s probably a bit of an arms race over time in terms of the virus changing and us changing the vaccine.” Pfizer and Moderna have been working on a booster shot designed specifically with omicron in mind. New cases in both Illinois and Chicago have gone down since May, when a prior strain of omicron caused a spike in infections, but doctors note that the prolific use of at-home tests
means official case numbers are likely undercounted. The CDC has designated Cook County as having a medium level of community transmission. Chicago Public Schools’ inschool COVID-19 testing program resumed last week for those participating in summer session. Forty-two people tested positive among 2,670 tests administered last week, according to online CPS data. The 1.6% positivity rate is higher than the 1% positivity CPS recorded days before the school year ended on June 14. The district is reporting 200 adult COVID-19 cases and 32 student cases so far this summer. Even though the vaccines, along with new therapies that treat COVID-19, increasingly make the virus less deadly upon infection, its ability to continue to reinfect the population at rapid rates raises the specter of continued disruptions as the U.S. continues to face supply chain issues. “There’s always economic costs and issues with health care when people are having to stay home from work,” said Dr. Jonathan Martin, an infectious disease physician with Cook County Health. “I know there are people out there who think the pandemic is over. I assure you, the virus is not done with us yet.” Much is still unknown about the long-term health impact of COVID-19, with evidence mounting that prior infections can put people at higher risk for other medical conditions. “I don’t think people are taking it quite as seriously as they should,” Landon said. Doctors stress that the more the population reduces infections, the fewer chances the virus has to continue to mutate. “There’s still really good reasons to avoid getting COVID,” Landon said.
Appeals court reinstates Missouri Down syndrome abortion ban, citing Supreme Court ruling KACEN BAYLESS The Kansas City Star
Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last month to strike down Roe v. Wade, a panel of federal judges on Friday ruled in favor of an appeal that allows Missouri to prohibit abortions based solely on a prenatal Down syndrome diagnosis. The ruling gives the state power to proceed with enforcing its ban on Down syndrome-related abortions. This policy was already in effect after Missouri enacted a statewide trigger ban of the procedure last month following the Supreme Court ruling. The provision banning abortions after a prenatal Down syndrome diagnosis was tucked into the state’s 2019 law that banned the procedure after eight weeks. Reproductive Health Services of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region, which operates Missouri’s sole abortion clinic, filed suit against the law in 2019. The judgment by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals reverses two previous rulings that kept the state from enforcing the ban since 2019 and sends the
case back to the lower courts. In Friday’s ruling, the federal judges cited the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to strike down Roe v. Wade. “In light of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ... and the parties’ input, we vacate the district court’s preliminary orders from August 27, 2019 and September 27, 2019, and remand for further proceedings,” the judges wrote in Friday’s order. Republican Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, a candidate for U.S. Senate, said the ruling was a win for antiabortion activists. “Individuals with Down syndrome bring joy, love, and light to those around them and society as a whole. They are daughters and sons, sisters and brothers and friends,” Schmitt said in a statement. “A pre-natal Down syndrome diagnosis should not be a death sentence … I’m proud to have led this fight to protect individuals with Down syndrome and uphold the sanctity of life.” Planned Parenthood’s St. Louis office did not immediately respond to a call and text for comment on Monday.
TOADLETS | cover
the issue might stem from their small body size affecting the semicircular canals in the inner ear, which offsets the vestibular system and makes them unable to control their posture. “What we think that we do is basically stay in launch mode and keep their hind limbs extended the whole time which causes them to do backf lips and all kinds of rotations because they can’t really compensate for it,” Essner said. Confetti said they compared the pumpkin toadlets to other frogs to help make the connection between their size and jumping behavior. “Some frogs from New Zealand have the same movement during the jump so we realized that if this can happen with other frogs, it can happen with our frogs,” Confetti said. “This can be explained by the miniaturization and the reduction of the internal ear of these frogs.” Confetti said once the data was
collected and the paper was written, it was a matter of deciding what journal to publish the paper. He said he was very excited that the paper was published in the open-access scholarly journal, Science Advances. Essner said he is pleased with the attention his research has received. “I’ve never published in a journal like that before where so many people are downloading the paper,” Essner said. “It’s open-access, so that’s opened it up to the larger community, just even outside of science, which I think helps in terms of getting attention.” Confetti said he saw the photos and videos from the research trending on Twitter and was happy to see people enjoying them. It’s cool because it’s a recognition of our hard work along those years. I’m very proud of everyone who worked together,” Confetti said. For more information, the article on the frogs can be found online for free.
NEXT WEEK: WHAT TO WATCH FOR SIUE THEATER AND DANCE FALL 2022 PAGE 4
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contact the editor: lifestyles@alestlelive.com 650-3527 Wednesday, 07.13.22
SIUE’s Wells recognized for contributions to Metro East and jazz communities BRANDON WELLS sports editor
Associate Professor Prince Wells III, SIUE alumnus and lifelong musician, was awarded the Clark Terry Jazz Ambassador Award for both his contributions to music in the Metro East and service to music education. Wells, being a Black trumpet player, was also recognized in a St. Louis Civil Rights exhibit in 2017 for his activism for Black musicians. Wells also served the Black Music Society for 20 years, even serving as president of the organization for some time. He also holds the distinction of being one of only five people in the U.S. to hold the Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization certification. The award was presented by Jazz St. Louis, an organization that serves to honor many of the jazz musicians throughout the history of the St. Louis area. This organization is also headed by many former SIUE students, including several that Wells taught. John Korak, chair of the Department of Music, said he has worked with Wells for over 27 years and has always had positive experiences with him. “I think he’s been a wonderful colleague in every sense of the word. He’s a fine person, a great teacher and the nicest colleague one could
ask for,” Korak said. reer, Wells said Terry was also a good As a fellow musician, Korak said friend because of the time he spent he believes this award is something learning from him right after graduthat represents a lot of dedication to ating college. the art. “I was a senior at SIUE and I “I think it’s a wonderful recogni- applied for a grant. I graduated, and tion of lifelong dedication, not only around the time I graduated I reto music, but to the St. Louis com- ceived the grant. So I waited until munity as well,” Korak said. “Prince the Summer of 1977 and I went to has really been a tremendous asset not New York and I studied trumpet with just for SIUE, but for the Clark Terry,” Wells said. greater St. Louis region, Throughout his life, and this award recognizes Wells said he maintained his vast contributions. I this relationship with Terthink he’s very deserving ry both professionally and of it.” personally until Terry died For Wells, he said his in 2015. lifelong dedication to mu“I knew him up until sic started in a music classthe time he died. I had a room in grade school. very good relationship “I took a music class with him,” Wells said. when I was in fifth grade, “I directed a concert [and] Prince Wells III / which would be back in he was a guest artist. [It Courtesy of the early 60s. I started was] a salute to Duke ElSIUE Marketing playing the trumpet [and] lington and I was conduchad an outstanding mutor of the band.” sic teacher,” Wells said. After graduation, Wells “My music teacher was a famous also said he taught for some years bemusician here in St. Louis [and] his fore realizing he didn’t want to be a name was George Hudson.” high school music teacher and then The musician the award is named decided to go to grad school in Bosafter, Clark Terry, was an icon in the ton. jazz world. He played with big names As a young Black musician resuch as the Duke Ellington Orches- turning to the St. Louis area, Wells tra, Count Basie Orchestra and even said he believed he would have lots of played in the Tonight Show band opportunities, but soon found out he for a time. was mistaken. Aside from his professional ca“What I found out is that there
were no real opportunities for an African American trumpet player,” Wells said. “So the thing is ‘how do you make a living?’ You want to buy a house, you want to buy a car, you want to raise your family, the things that normal human beings like to do. Those are opportunities that were not available and they still aren’t available to African American musicians here.” Another struggle Wells said he faced was getting hired in the first place as a Black man. “These places did not hire Black musicians [except for] only when they needed a token. ‘That’s the way it’s always been,’ they told me, and they were quite satisfied with that,” Wells said. While still maintaining his music career, Wells decided to come back to SIUE in 1989 to teach. Teaching many students throughout his career, Wells said quite a few of his students have become successful, with some becoming part of the leadership at Jazz St. Louis. He said this is something he as an instructor is very proud of. “I bet I can speak for all of the teachers, every single professor at SIUE to say that this is what they strive for. They want everybody in their classes to be successful, and we try to help them prepare for a successful career. So we’re awfully proud when any of them achieve success,” Wells said.
Tenderloin Farms opens to the public for lavender picking EMILY STERZINGER editor-in-chief
The farm opened to the public on June 3, 2022 for shopping, lavender picking and wandering in wildflower fields.
The farm, which is open Friday-Sunday, opens during the early summer for lavender picking, but closes during the height of the summer, waiting for the English lavender to bloom.
The farm, owned by the Stahlhut Girls, featured several types of lavender including super blue and elegance pink.
A buggy passes by one of the farm’s buildings on the way to the lavender area.
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Summer camps offer opportunities for learning and fun NICOLE BOYD opinion editor
SIUE offers 19 summer camps for children of all ages, in areas such as science, music, art and athletics. Emily Wonnacott-Stanley, coordinator for community outreach at the Center for STEM Research, works with the Odyssey Science Camp, which returns this year after a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19. She said the camp is divided into five sessions by grade level; the first two are about general STEM with handson activities to learn the basics of science and outdoor explorations, and the third is about math patterns and sequencing with logic games and large puzzle activities outdoors. Wonnacott-Stanley said the fourth group is CSI-themed and called “Super Sleuths.” “They’re going to look at some simulated crime scene setups and do some evidence analysis, and a little bit more chemistry. [We] might bring in a wildlife officer to talk about poaching and how we would catch poachers or what things are legal and what things are not legal, and wildlife science in Illinois,” Wonnacott-Stanley said. “Our fifth session, which is for our older kids, the sixth through seventh graders, is all about robots, so coding and building and programming robots … There’s basically a lot of different robotic platforms, and they’re going to learn a little bit about coding and algorithmic thinking.” Wonnacott-Stanley said the goal of the camp is for kids to experience the excitement of science firsthand, learn about how the world functions around them and develop critical thinking skills. “We know that not everybody who comes out of Odyssey Camp is going to be a scientist, but we know at least they’re going to be a critical thinker, and that’s really important for our world,” Wonnacott-Stanley said.
Wonnacott-Stanley said her philosophy with science is to just allow kids to explore and the more hands-on, the better. “We keep them safe, we keep them contained, but we allow them to just experiment and try things. Maybe they don’t have something within their comfort level and what they’ve learned in school, or [to] play with at home. Not many kids have access to a lot of robotic platforms or have the ability to make a huge mess that they’re not going to be responsible for cleaning up,” Wonnacott-Stanley said. “The last two years we didn’t operate, we’ve received a lot of calls and emails from parents looking for that opportunity so I really feel like this camp is filling a niche for parents who are looking for some opportunity for their students to learn hands on and get to experiment and play in science,” Wonnacott-Stanley said. Nicola Schmidt, an instructor in the English department and director of the writing camp, said they welcome any kids from the ages of eight to eighteen. She said the day is split between writing in classrooms and recreational activities such as dodgeball or kickball in the Student Fitness Center. “Kids write stories, sometimes on their own, sometimes in groups, or write poems. Sometimes, just depending on the group and the weather, they might take a walk around campus and maybe use some of the art to inspire them or go into the library or something like that,” Schmidt said. “In the June session I know there [were] some pretty active magnet poetry sessions and one group wrote this great mystery story collaboratively. Another group made up a planet that was populated by butterflies.” Schmidt said while the camp is for kids who like to have fun writing and to encourage budding writers, she hopes that even if this is just a day camp they or their parents were interested in, maybe it will
light a spark. “A lot of the campers are readers, and if they’re not, maybe camp nudges them towards a greater enjoyment of reading as well,” Schmidt said. “It’s sponsored by the English department. If in the long run they’ll be English majors, or at least readers and writers, that’s great. But the immediate goal is just that kids have something fun and interesting to do for a couple weeks over the summer.” Schmidt said her own children did the writing camp when they were in middle school, and they got to try new activities and make new friends. “Although it is not meant as school or as instruction, just writing right and being encouraged to write is good for anyone really,” Schmidt said. Dan Smithiger, a percussion instructor, started and directs the Percussion Institute summer camp. He said he calls the Percussion Institute a “total” percussion camp because it encompasses all types of percussion, including marching percussion, jazz, drum set and world percussion. “I believe that the percussion of the 21st century percussionist needs to be versatile, so the total percussion camp gives that versatility to younger students. As students get older, they can focus in on this, that or the other, but our camp really gives that versatility that base or are all the students,” Smithiger said. Smithiger said all participants perform in an ensemble and rehearse in a marching percussion class in addition to other modules, and this year’s camp included lessons from musicians around the country via Zoom. “My former teacher, he did an advanced timpani class. We had a Zoom from Michigan where a company talked about their products and did a shop tour,” Smithiger said. “We had a video about Christian drumming, about drumming in the church, by a drummer in the Fairview Heights area. ”
‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ succumbs to same pitfalls as recent Marvel movies NICOLE BOYD opinion editor
“Thor: Love and Thunder” is fine as an individual movie, but isn’t immune to the typical issues of Marvel’s phase four. “Gorr the God Butcher” is on a mission to kill all gods in the universe, fueled by the loss of his daughter and having been mocked by the god of his planet. While defending New Asgard, Thor finds ex-girlfriend Jane wielding Mjolnir, his old hammer, and the two reunite to stop Gorr and rescue the Asgardian children he kidnapped. Along the way, they seek help from Zeus, and Thor and Jane must navigate their complicated feelings for each other. The movie’s tone is much more lighthearted than most recent Marvel movies, and a lot of its humor is intentionally silly rather than using dry one-liners as comic relief. It was fun to watch an army of small children sharing Thor’s power to fight Gorr’s black berserkers, and the ending is heartwarming and cute. The biggest issue is not with “Thor: Love and Thunder” itself, but with the MCU’s phase four. Up to “Avengers: Endgame,” Marvel movies often followed different characters, with storylines that converged to the ultimate battle against Thanos. In the past year, however, the franchise has introduced a possible new direction with Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine in “Black Widow’’ and “Falcon and the Winter Soldier,” the Eternals and Thanos’ brother in “Eternals,” the Illuminati in “Multi-
Photo courtesy of Marvel
verse of Madness,” the Egyptian gods in “Moon Knight” and Kang the Conqueror in “Loki.” Now, “Thor: Love and Thunder” has set up yet another new antagonist in future movies. Having a few different potential directions was fine at first. But at this point, it seems as if each movie exists to set up the next phase, with nothing pointing the many movies or shows in the same direction. Marvel movies don’t even feel like they take place in the same universe anymore.
Another issue with so much happening, and everything in the Marvel universe being on such a large scale, is that the movies end up feeling rushed, and moments that should give a movie emotional impact lose their meaning. The Guardians of the Galaxy gang are introduced only to split from Thor ten minutes into the movie. Valkyrie, one of my favorite characters, gets little character development. Thor and Jane only have two scenes together before they rekindle their romance. Darcy makes an appearance for maybe two
minutes. Rather than spending so much of the movie in Omnipotence City with Zeus, which ultimately does nothing for the plot in this movie except to set the stage for the next, it would have been nice to see these moments more fleshed out. “Thor: Love and Thunder” is only the most recent movie to fall into Marvel’s pattern of doing too much, too fast, and it’s an otherwise entertaining movie. But it lacks the substance of early Marvel movies, and upcoming movies likely will too unless the franchise regains its focus.
NEXT WEEK: J.B. PRITZKER FOR PRESIDENT
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Spread the Word: Illinois is a safe haven for abortions THE ALESTLE STAFF editorial board
Women are scared, angry, sad and downright infuriated with the overturning of Roe v. Wade. They are scrambling all over the country to find somewhere safe and legal they can go for an abortion, should they ever need it. Roe v. Wade was the 1973 court case in which the Supreme Court ruled, in a paraphrased version from Subscript Law, “Before the point of viability, the state cannot ban abortions based on the concern for prenatal life. After the point of viability, it can.” When this decision was overturned, progress made in American female history was lost. Before abortions were made legal, women would die from ectopic
pregnancies, children would be born into homes that were not stable or into families that were not able to provide for them. Mom and baby were both in danger with the inability to have a legal and safe abortion. Illinois, along with eight other states, have state constitutions that have been interpreted lawfully as legalizing abortion as well as additional laws that ensure the protection of these rights. 12 other states have laws protecting abortion rights that aren’t built into their constitutions. Twenty-one states have gone against the Supreme Court decision in a complete Nick Fury fashion to continue offering access to safe and legal female healthcare establishments. As the man himself said, “I recognize the council has made a decision, but given that it’s a stupid ass decisions, I’ve elected to ignore it.”
Illinois has approximately two dozen abortion clinics in the state, most of them north of Springfield, and 17 Planned Parenthood clinics statewide. Contrary to most of the rumors circulating social media, Planned Parenthood clinics nationwide are keeping their doors open even if they can’t offer abortions because they’re still offering health services. Alongside Illinois, California, Oregon, Washington, Hawaii, New York, Vermont, New Jersey and Connecticut all have state constitutions that protect the right to decide whether or not to have an abortion and to actually have the abortion. Social media has been flooded with posts of people who live in these states offering places for people to stay when/if they need to flee their state to have an abortion.
TikToks of people offering their couches, their spare beds, even tents to put in their back yards for people who are coming to their state to have a legal abortion have taken over the app after the ruling was announced. Tumblr posts detailing exactly how to get an abortion in the states where it’s still legal, how to get there, how to fill out papers, how to find a place to stay and what your rights are once you’re there have filled its home page. Having an abortion is something lots of women and people with uteruses experience at least once in their lifetime and it’s something that should be talked about more than it is. Those with uteruses shouldn’t be shamed into silence by their choices to protect themselves nor should they be forced into silence by states that aren’t willing to help them have safe and accessible healthcare.
Declawing cats is a dangerous and inhumane practice EMILY STERZINGER editor-in-chief
Contrary to popular belief, declawing cats isn’t even close to the same thing as a nail trim. In fact, by declawing your furry friend, you’re effectively cutting off its fingers. Though the term declawing invokes the idea that it’s just a removal of part of the claw, it’d be more appropriate to label it as a form of amputation. Functionally, it’s like cutting off fingers at the first knuckle. Obviously, your cat will trust you less after this kind of procedure, which can lead to behavioral issues. Cats who are declawed often resort to biting, as they no lon-
ger have claws for self defense, and can feel threatened more easily. They also may pee outside of the litter box, as the litter’s texture hurts their partially amputated paws. Cats can even develop arthritis from this kind of procedure. It’s not just their behavior that changes, but their personality too. A playful, energetic cat may become defensive and depressed after being declawed, as they’ve been hurt by someone who is supposed to care for them. I have a cat who had a botched declawing that required surgery, which is a very possible outcome of declawing. The procedure left her with intense pain and several behavioral issues. I didn’t do this; the family who originally owned her did. They gave her up shortly afterwards, likely because of said behavioral
issues. I love my cat, but her special needs are challenging to deal with, and it’s unfortunate and cruel that her first family treated her in such a way. If your cat’s scratching gets out of hand, it’s important to consider alternatives to declawing. Proper training combined with plenty of safe-to-scratch places like scratching posts can prevent cats from clawing at furniture. Another option is to simply trim your cat’s claws, a safer option that still dulls them. There are tools made to clip cat claws specifically, but you can even use a fingernail clipper to do that. It’s recommended to trim them every two to three weeks. Vinyl nail caps are another humane, even stylish op-
tion which can be found in many colors. These should be changed every six to eight weeks, to prevent overgrowth of the nail underneath. Besides all that, if you learn your cat’s body language and respect their boundaries, they’re less likely to scratch. It’s all about respecting your cat, as you would any living being. Overall, if you love your furry friend, it’s important to protect them from getting hurt. Always consider more humane options over declawing. After all, is protecting your furniture really worth permanently changing your cat’s physical and mental well-being for the worse? If that’s the case to you, you shouldn’t own a cat.
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NEXT WEEK: TENNIS TEAM ADDS NEW PLAYERS TO ITS ROSTER Wednesday, 07.13.22
Edwardsville Futures tennis promotes community engagement alongside tournament DAMIAN MORRIS multimedia editor The only professional tennis tournament in the St. Louis area, Edwardsville Futures, is preparing for a week of men’s tennis and community events. The annual Edwardsville Futures, which is presented by the EGHM Foundation, is scheduled for July 25-31 and tournament director David Lipe said he believes the event has a very positive effect on the tennis community. “I think it motivates our young players to see the best players in the world training and competing and … it gives our tennis community an opportunity to come out and watch world class tennis,” Lipe said. Beyond the tournament itself, the head boys and girls tennis coach for Edwardsville High School, Lipe said the event receives a lot of community involvement, which is unique compared to other Futures tournaments. “For a lot of places, they host these tournaments as a means to develop their players … and they don’t really have a lot of community involvement,” Lipe said. “Here, we’re having events that raise funds and we’re having events to garner interest … and it’s a community event.” These community events include a kid’s night, diversity day, a tennis clinic for kids with special needs and a fan appreciation day. The Edwardsville Futures follows a previous tournament, the Edwardsville Open, where players competed for wildcard entries into this tournament along with the Evansville Futures, a professional tournament for womens tennis players that’s scheduled for July 18-24. University of Illinois junior Hunter Heck was the winner of the men’s single championship where he defeated his college teammate Ollie Okonkwo. This earned him a main draw entry, which means he gets a direct spot into the Edwardsville Futures and will not have to compete in the qualies — a qualifying tournament to earn a spot into the main draw for those who won a wildcard in the futures tournaments — to gain entry. University of Illinois coach Brad Dancer said he has seen a lot of improvement from Heck, particularly towards the later part of this year. “Hunter’s a great challenge, he’s a great talent, he’s stubborn and I love that,” Dancer said. “Most great athletes are stub-
| Zoe Reeve via Unsplash born, so trying to figure out the best way to connect with him each day is a unique experience, but he’s got a great passion for our program and Illinois, he’s got a great passion for people [and] people love Hunter Heck as a person and as an individual, so he’s a great ambassador for our program.” Heck said the potential to win a main draw entry was his primary motivation for participating in this tournament, and he seeks to continue moving up in his athletic career. “The main goal is to just get
some ATP points, starting my ranking up,” Heck said. “These tournaments are really good for just the experience and getting yourself acclimated to playing professional players, which is really fun.” Heck and Okonkwo later paired up to win the doubles championship, which earned them main draw entries into the Edwardsville Futures. Ava Markham won the womens singles championship, which earned her a wildcard entry into the Evansville Futures qualies. Markham, who just graduat-
ed from the University of Wisconsin, is returning for her last year of eligibility for college tennis. She said last year she focused on playing a lot of high quality matches, but that her focus has shifted this summer. “I think this summer that focus is still sort of there, but also trying to transition into some more [International Tennis Federation] events to see how I stack up against these pro players and prepare myself going into … [my] last year of college tennis. I really want to make it count and put myself in the best posi-
tion possible to help my team at the end of the day so we can have a really good year,” Markham said. Lipe said SIUE is looking for ways to get involved and assist with the Edwardsville Futures, according to a message he received from Illinois State Representative Katie Stuart. He said in the past, they have sometimes used SIUE’s tennis courts for these tournaments. For more information about the upcoming tournament, visit the Edwardsville Futures website.