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REMEMBER THE ‘QUAD PREACHER’? HERE’S WHERE HE IS NOW. page 2
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ALESTLE
BEST BOBA TEA IN THE METRO EAST page 4 & 5
vol. 74 no. 5
The Student Voice Since 1960
Beyond the numbers: 294,526 Tests Conducted
294,526 Tests Conducted
SIUE to add mandatory Faculty raise red flags regarding SIUE’s COVID-19 testing, contact tracing by 2021 testing process, fear undetected outbreak
COVID-19 Numbers in Illinois Colleges
GABRIEL BRADY reporter
7,587
Tests Conducted
Statistics collected from each college’s website.
3,603
Tests Conducted
1,760 Positive Cases
45
147
University of Illinois requires all students and employees who visit campus to get tested. Additionally, any students living in Champaign, Urbana or Savoy must get tested, even if all their courses are online. U of I’s enrollment for the Fall 2020 semester is 52,331.
N/A Tests Conducted
Positive Cases
Tests Conducted
University of IL Urbana-Champaign
1,383
SIUE
GABRIEL BRADY reporter
The University of Illinois made headlines for its system of mandatory COVID-19 testing, which revealed a spike in cases on campus. A similar COVID-19 testing system will soon be at SIUE, but some community members wonder why it wasn’t already in place, and what damage has been done in its absence. Faculty Association President Mark Poepsel said since SIUE has no system of testing all on-campus individuals, there may be an undetected outbreak. “One of the things this year that pro-
Confirmed positive cases (from tests conducted by SIUE and self-reporting): Sept. 4 - 10: 11 students, 2 faculty/staff Aug. 28 - Sept. 3: 7 students, 4 faculty/staff Aug. 21 - 27: 4 students, 3 faculty/staff Aug. 14 - 20: 4 students, 3 faculty/staff Aug. 7 - 13: 2 students, 2 faculty/staff Aug. 1 - 6: 2 students, 1 faculty/staff Total positive cases: 30 students, 15 faculty/staff
Tests conducted by SIUE Sept. 4 - 10: 54 Aug. 28 - Sept. 3: 63 Aug. 21 - 27: 30 Total tests conducted: 147
Positive cases identified by SIUE testing: Sept. 4 - 10: 4 Aug. 28 - Sept. 3: 5 Aug. 21 - 27: 1 Total: 10
@thealestle
Positive Cases
Positive Cases
Western IL University
SIUC is also operating under an optional, by-appointment system for testing; however, on-campus testing just became available beginning Sept. 14 and will only be provided two days a week. SIUC’s current enrollment is 11,366.
Percentage of isolation/quarantine space available on campus (as of Sept.10):
IL State University
Western is requiring all members of its community to complete a daily self-check questionnaire before coming to campus. Testing is optional and is currently not available on campus. Western’s total enrollment is 7,490.
fessors [from all around the country] are talking about is what cities are the worst for spreading COVID, and they’re almost always college towns. It’s simple logic: where they test more, they find more cases. Like at U of I, [St. Louis University and] University of Iowa, you have plenty of cases. It’s more of an issue of we’re not testing enough people and don’t know how bad it is,” Poepsel said. “And [as of early September] there [were] only five to 10 people on campus that have it. That can’t be true, and that means our system has a problem.” Although there is no system of mandatory testing, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Jeffrey Waple said SIUE most like-
BY THE NUMBERS
COVID-19 at SIUE
97
SIUC
SIUE offers free, optional on-campus screening tests to students and employees through Health Service. Testing can be done by appointment on weekdays; although, individuals are asked to contact their health care providers or Health Service rather than signing up for appointments through Health Service’s online portal if they are experiencing symptoms or have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive. SIUE’s total enrollment for the Fall 2020 semester is 12,860.
Positive Cases
124
At ISU, testing is optional but available at multiple locations on campus. Students with symptoms may be tested by appointment at ISU’s Student Health Services during weekdays. Those not experiencing symptoms have two additional testing location options. ISU’s enrollment for the fall semester is 20,720. | Summer Bradley / The Alestle
ly does not have an undetected outbreak, because he thinks SIUE has controlled the virus better than other colleges. “My opinion is I think the test results are [accurate] for students at SIUE. We don’t have a downtown bar district like most colleges, or fraternity or sorority houses. Fraternities and sororities at SIUE actually voted to not have any informal events, and there have been no football games either,” Waple said. “With all of that and low campus density as well, I’m not surprised [the number of cases on campus is] this low.” see TESTING on page 3 Madison County Confirmed Cases by Day
95 percent
Chart from gisportal.co.madison.il.us
Required precautions
Madison County is part of Region 4, which is currently grappling with the following precautionary measures: -Bars and restaurants must close at 11 p.m. and may not open earlier than 6 a.m. Indoor dining is prohibited. -All gatherings are limited to 25 guests or 25 percent room capacity, whichever is less. -Casinos must close at 11 p.m. and abide by the same regulations as bars and restaurants when serving food and drinks. -Party buses cannot operate.
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SIUE leaders revealed plans to implement a mandatory COVID-19 testing process for students and employees on campus and to hire a contact tracer during a COVID-19 update webinar held Sept. 11. During the webinar, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Jeffrey Waple said SIUE has had plans to create a mandatory testing process for a while, but it is now being put into motion. To bring mandatory testing to campus, the university has formed a working group to develop a plan in coordination with Shield T3, the organization that is making the saliva test developed by University of Illinois available to other colleges. “We’re going to put together a team that [former Director of University Housing] Mike Schultz is going to lead, with members across campus, that will develop a plan that will look at … mandatory testing in January, with a pilot to start in November,” Waple said. “After talking with the SHIELD program developers, it takes a good couple weeks to get a site identified, get people trained and hired to do the testing … There’s a whole bunch of logistical things that need to be set up. We’re going to task that group and form it later next week.” Waple said the partnership came about through many meetings with SHIELD and staff across the SIU system. “We had a meeting with the SHIELD program directors … with myself, [Chancellor Randy] Pembrook, Michael Schultz, [Director of Health Service] Riane Greenwalt and [Vice Chancellor for Administration] Rich Walker, along with representatives from the Carbondale campus, and [SIU] System President Dan Mahony … discussing [SHIELD’s] programming, and their applicability to our college campus,” Waple said. “From that discussion … there are many logistical things to be set up, like contracts and those types of things, but it looks like in the upcoming months, we’ll be ready to use SHIELD.” As well as mandatory tests for individuals on campus, Greenwalt said there will soon be a contact tracer at SIUE. The contact tracer will help identify people who were in close contact with individuals that have tested positive for COVID-19. “Madison County has hired and is training our own on-site contact tracer so that we’ll have a quicker turnaround time for our students to acknowledge who they’ve been around, and get information out to those close-contact exposure students quicker … If faculty, staff or students are seeing people on campus who seem to be missing from the classroom, they could possibly be a close-contact exposure,” Greenwalt said. To watch the town hall, visit siue. techsmithrelay.com/1wwq. alestlelive.com
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Listserv to return at unspecified date, with added moderation DALTON BROWN copy editor
A new committee has been formed to discuss the future of the campus faculty and staff discussion listserv, which was shut down over the summer following a heated exchange between participants. The exchange, in which a faculty member questioned the validity of terms such as “systemic racism” and “white privilege,” brought about racial tension that led to the Office of the Chancellor’s decision to shut the listserv down. Kim Durr, the chief of staff for the Office of the Chancellor, is the coordinator of this committee, the Discuss List Working Group. Their first meeting was Thursday, Sept. 10. “We met [Thursday] morning and the chancellor gave us a ‘charge,’ kind of our ‘marching orders’ as far as what he would like to see accomplished, and the timeline involved in that,” Durr said. “We anticipate having another one or two [meetings] … The intent is to have our work done by Oct. 1.” Nicole Klein, a professor in the Department of Applied Health, said this charge included a review of the listserv’s history, an examination of its purpose to promote scholarly discord and a discussion
over the capacity of its return. tary” depends on one’s perspective, which As for the status of the listserv itself, may be impacted by their race, according Durr said this is a temporary suspension, to Faculty Association President Mark not a permanent shutdown. A specific date Poepsel. for the listserv’s return has not yet been de“It leaves the realm of academic distermined. cussion when it’s your ass who’s worried Klein said the committee identified about getting killed by cops,” Poepsel the listserv’s lack of said. “I don’t feel that moderation as one of directly, but I under“It leaves the realm its potential problem stand when people areas. and they’re saying of academic discussion do, “It is currently ... ‘There [are] peoreally a non-moderple being killed in the when it’s your ass ated listserv at this streets now, and so liswho’s worried about point, so we talked ten to us and knock it about … who is the off,’ and then the guy getting killed by cops. monitor in place, doesn’t knock it off … MARK POEPSEL or if we don’t have then it becomes more that, do we want of an instigation than president of the Faculty Association that, and is that the a discussion … you way to kind of make can say things, but sure that people are following the policy?” you can’t say things without consequencKlein said. es.” The listserv’s current policy states that Poepsel said administration’s proposal posts must be respectful, and discriminato- of an external moderator would be more ry or offensive language is forbidden. Ac- effective than leaving the participants to cording to Klein, there is someone moni- moderate themselves. toring the listserv for obvious instances of “Community policing only goes so solicitation or spam mail. However, there far, because people only have so much is no specific monitor on less obvious in- time, energy and interest in protecting or stances of offensive commentary. defending a listserv space. It’s not people’s What constitutes “offensive commen- first priority,” Poepsel said. “What are they
going to do, go be a tattletale and complain to the provost every time someone says something offensive? They would have to do it once a week sometimes, so if you had moderation, that would be a good step in my opinion.” So far, any updates faculty have received on the status of the listserv have been vague, according to Poepsel. “The last thing I heard, like maybe a week ago, was that they were looking into how to restart it and they would let us know,” Poepsel said. “I don’t know if I can go with that news to my union members, because it’s kind of not news, it’s kind of like, ‘still working on it.’” According to Durr, administration will be more transparent going forward. “We regret the fact that it’s taken a little bit longer than we anticipated, but there’s been so much going on that was also very pressing that needed to be dealt with immediately,” Durr said. “We don’t have a clear answer yet about what [the listserv’s future] will be, but … we’ll make a recommendation to the chancellor, and then he will make the final determination on next steps, and that will definitely be communicated to the campus.” For more information about the listserv’s purpose and code of conduct, review Employee Listserv Policy 6B3.
Pandemic prevents campus preacher from returning to quad — for now GABRIEL BRADY reporter
Campus is a whole lot quieter this semester for a number of reasons surrounding the pandemic. Returning SIUE students may have noticed the absence of “the Quad preacher” and those protesting his speech. Preacher Tom Rayborn, from Redeeming Grace Church in Alton, Illinois, has been coming to SIUE for seven years, although he didn’t return this semester because of the COVID-19 pandemic. “When I contacted the campus in order to reserve the Stratton Quadrangle, I was told by my main contact that the Quadrangle would be closed for activities, as well the whole campus,” Rayborn said. This decision came about on July 13, when SIUE announced there would be no more immediate on-ground events. Some students, like Kimberly Hickman, a junior anthropology major from Edwardsville, were part of protests against Rayborn’s sermons, which were organized by two different groups on campus — the Gay-Straight Alliance and the Psychology Club. These protests sought to either remove Rayborn from campus, or take away his megaphone. Hickman said the protests didn’t happen just because Rayborn was preaching, but because of what he was saying. She said Rayborn has a history of saying bigoted, racist and homophobic things under the guise of religion. “I’m all for people preaching their beliefs and believing what they want … but what gets me is that this is a campus that prides itself in diversity, but they still let a guy come onto campus who constantly says things about how being gay is equivalent is to murder, and he says the same thing about people of other religions,” Hickman said. Sophomore psychology major Elly Bollinger, of Edwardsville, was surprised when Rayborn was not on campus this semester. Bollinger is also a member of the Gay-Straight Alliance on campus, and took part in the protests. “I was a bit surprised at first, because I thought he had changed his mind [about coming to SIUE], but after giving it some thought, I figured [Rayborn wasn’t on campus] most likely because of the pandemic,” Bollinger said. “I’m mainly glad
that while [the pandemic is going] on, students who do go to campus won’t have to worry about being pointed out or anything for the time being.” Despite the strength of the protests against Rayborn’s rhetoric, he said he doesn’t have negative feelings toward SIUE or the individuals who protested. “Those are some neat students, even the ones who have protested vocally and even said some things that are certainly untrue. But I love them and I invite their actions. I haven’t been deterred by them,” Rayborn said. “[There have been] times where they talked with administration, and my name was certainly brought up. I’m on good terms with [administration]; they‘ve told me that I have their direct support.” Doug McIlhagga, executive director of University Marketing and Communications, said on behalf of administration that Rayborn being allowed to speak on campus should not be interpreted as endorsement. “SIUE, in accordance with First Amendment rights/free speech, provides Mr. Rayborn access to the Stratton Quadrangle, in the same way SIUE provides access to other outside individuals and groups. This should not be interpreted as an endorsement or support for the views that he or others express,” McIlhagga said. Rayborn said he respects the protesters doesn’t hold anything personal against people with different views or lifestyles than his own. “I keep coming back because I love [the students]. Sometimes, the things you say are misconstrued. Maybe I don’t always say them in the right way, because I’m just a man. They get misconstrued, but it’s out of love and good for the students. I have no hate for any lifestyle or anything that’s said about me, and there’s been some pretty rough stuff that’s been said,” Rayborn said. “Even when it’s been pretty bad, when I have an opportunity to respond, I make sure to tell them I love them.” Bollinger said they feel as though Rayborn’s love for the SIUE community can be hard to see, due to his actions on campus. “He has referred to some girls as whores because of their shorts, or pointed out gay students for walking with their partners. It didn’t seem like he was trying to preach his religion, but hate instead,” Bollinger said. “I want to encourage peo-
Top: Weekly demonstrations were held on Wednesdays last fall as protesters called for the university to ban quad preacher Tom Rayborn from campus. Above, Rayborn continues to preach despite the protesters, trying to be heard above their chants. Bottom: Protesters use a megaphone to chant “Your hate is not welcome here” on Nov. 13. | Dominick Oranika / The Alestle
ple to go back to school when they’re able to, and if they love their religion, to spread the word. Go do it. There’s nothing wrong with getting people involved in what you
care about. But don’t be hateful, or teach that it’s the only way.” For more information, see The Alestle’s past coverage on this topic.
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page 3 TESTING I COVER
Political science professors say young people are shifting St. Louis further left
JOHN MCGOWAN reporter
Just a half hour away from SIUE’s main campus, with only a river as a divider, St. Louis is seeing great political change fueled by young voters and racial reckoning. With the short distance between the main campus, the Alton school of Dental Medicine and the East St. Louis Center, it’s only natural that the politics of Missouri have a large impact on many SIUE community members. Political Science Professor Timothy Lewis said the two cities have a worker relationship that benefits them both. “There’s this connection because there are people who live in St. Louis and work in Edwardsville, like myself, and then there are people who live in Edwardsville and work in St. Louis. So, there is this commuter exchange that makes people in Edwardsville invested in St. Louis, and people in St. Louis invested in Edwardsville,” Lewis said. The protests St. Louis has seen aren’t entirely new. Protests have been going on in America for years – longer than just the past decade. Political Science Professor Andrew Theising said the main difference with the protests today is the factor of awareness.
Protesters march from the Metropolitan Police Department in St. Louis to Busch Stadium, where the Cardinals were playing against the Cleveland Indians. The protest was organized by Expect Us and took place Aug. 28. | Dominick Oranika / The Alestle
“What I see changing in St. Louis … is awareness,” Theising said. “People are now asking questions not about others, but about themselves. I really think many people are saying, ‘How am I privileged? How does this touch me? How do I contribute to this situation?’” Another apparent change over the last decade is in the voting population itself. Congressional Candidate Cori Bush has almost secured her election, and according to Lewis, that is due to the increasingly small baby boomer vote. Lewis said this is leaving space for millennials to take the baby boomers’ place. “[Baby boomers] are passing on. According to PEW Research, the largest politically active group now are millennials, and millennials tend to be pro-diversity, pro-equality, pro-inclusion. So now, the largest politically active group has a different approach to politics,” Lewis said. The vote from both millennials and Generation Z is becoming more and more important. Lewis’s claim was corroborated by Political Science Professor Laurie Rice, who said the clearest trend in student voting habits right now is young adults voting
at higher rates. According to Rice, young adults are a large reason why the 2018 midterm elections turned out the way they did. “This generation leans more to the left. There are a lot more self-identified Democrats than self-identified Republicans, but there is also a substantial portion of the young adult population who labels themselves as independent, that feels like neither party fully represents their views,” Rice said. Rice said she has a few explanations as to why young people are voting more and more. “Those who weren’t quite old enough to vote in 2016 saw what happened in 2016, and I think that was a motivating factor to say, ‘votes matter,’ ‘our votes could have changed things,’ so it brought more people to the polls,” Rice said. “Also, we started to see some movements that were concentrated among young adults that emphasized the role of voting. The biggest one that comes to mind is the March for our Lives movement against gun violence.” Students in Madison County who want to vote can learn how to register on the county’s website.
Charles Berger, an English professor, said he feels the testing process at SIUE needed to be expanded and made clearer. Berger sent a message to one of SIUE’s listservs, comparing the COVID-19 testing process at SIUE versus Western Illinois University. “I think administration has done a great job in preparing the campus, but this is one area where I think they have fallen down ... Testing procedures are vague, and until recently, they did way too few tests,” Berger said. “If you compare the whole process between [SIUE and Western Illinois University], we’ve administered maybe close to 70 tests, but they’ve done maybe 2,500.” Waple said a mandatory, mass-testing process wasn’t set up in time for the start of the fall semester because Shield T3, the organization distributing the COVID-19 tests developed by the University of Illinois, did not yet have the capacity to expand to other colleges. “[SHIELD was] working through their own processes and procedures and specificities, in order to get emergency FDA approval, and that didn’t happen until a week or two before [U of I] started [school],” Waple said. “With any disease test, you need to have enough cases and lab work to determine if the test is valid, so once they had enough, they got emergency approval, which was in the middle of August. Then, they figured out campus policies and procedures. They’re in a lot better shape now, rather than before.” Regardless of a mandatory testing system, Poepsel said he wanted more clarity on how SIUE was handling COVID-19. “Other schools have succeeded in instituting more comprehensive testing protocols and we haven’t. SIUE has been working with [University of Illinois] to use some of their innovations in terms of saliva testing of COVID, but it wasn’t ready in time,” Poepsel said. “I asked what Plan B was, but they had nothing.” Berger agreed with Poepsel, saying he ultimately felt SIUE’s approach leaves much to be desired. “I think we need more transparency, and more widespread testing. We need to comfort students and parents. How do you think parents feel when they see next to nothing on the website?” Berger said. For more information, see The Alestle’s past coverage about testing at SIUE or SIUE’s COVID-19 Dashboard.
SIUE recognized with HEED Award for diversity efforts NICOLE BOYD copy editor
Certifiable changes, such as the Political Science Department requiring students to take classes related to race and identity, led SIUE to win the HEED Award for its diversity efforts. The HEED Award is given by Insight Into Diversity magazine, a diversity publication in higher education, and requires documented progress each year. “What you have to do is each year be able to document the progress you’re making, and also what are you doing in certain areas when it comes to diversity, equity and inclusion,” Venessa Brown, associate chancellor for the Office of Diversity and Inclusion and chief diversity officer said. “You have to show progress from year to year.” Brown said SIUE’s Anti-Racism Task Force and graduation rate are two items they could document. “We can document what efforts are we making to ensure that all students graduate,” Brown said. “We document the work we do on Diversity Day, bringing all of us together. We document our summits, we document our town halls, we document how LGBT students feel at SIUE, we document how our military students progress and how they feel at SIUE.” Ken Moffett, chair of the Political Sci-
ence Department, said courses that were once electives will now be requirements for political science majors to graduate. “Students have to choose between one of four different courses. One on African American politics, one on women in politics, one on gay and lesbian politics and then a fourth one on women in cross-national politics,” Moffett said. “All of those are courses that the department currently offers as elective courses to political science majors, but those four courses are put in a grouping and will now be required for all political science majors to graduate, to choose one of those four.” Moffett said changes to the department are a result of a broad overhaul of the political science program, as the undergraduate program had not been looked at holistically in a long time. “The political science major in some ways didn’t necessarily reflect student demand at times, and also at times what political science as a profession looks like. This particular change intersects very nicely with both of those because, for one thing, students now place a much higher degree of importance on issues of diversity and equity and equality and along those lines than, say, students in previous generations did. And there’s a fair bit of survey data to back that up,” Moffett said. “Another thing is that political science as a pro-
fession itself has much more emphasized approaches in race and ethnic politics, and women in politics, than it did in previous generations.” J.T. Snipes, assistant professor in the School of Education, Health and Human Behavior and president of the Black Faculty Staff Association, said a single award may not capture a campus’s culture, but reflects anti-racism efforts from a campus community. “I think awards are recognition of something. On … places as diverse as college campuses, it’s hard to even capture the culture or the efficacy or what an institution does through a single honor or an award. I think what the HEED Award acknowledges is effort, and action taken by a community on campus that values diversity,” Snipes said. The HEED Award is particularly noteworthy because it is external recognition, Snipes said. “Over the past 40 years, there has been an increase in institutional diversity from these different units internally, so that process is very common, and I think to be recognized externally is less common. There are less spaces that are awarding campuses around the work that they’re doing,” Snipes said. Visit the website for Institutional Diversity and Inclusion to learn more.
09.07.20 SIUE Police received a report of an individual in Cougar Village who was banned from campus. Jaylen Hooten was arrested for criminal trespass to state supported property and was transported to SIUE PD where he was processed and released with a notice to appear.
09.08.20 During a follow-up to the incident above, Hooten was found in the same Cougar Village apartment. He was arrested and taken back to SIUE PD, where he was processed before being transported to the Madison County Jail on a felony hold.
09.12.20 An SIUE Police officer assisted Edwardsville PD with crowd control for multiple parties. Ashley Nicastro was pulled over on New Poag Road and arrested for driving under the influence. She was transported to SIUE PD, where she was processed and released after posting bond. She was issued state citations for driving under the influence and improper lane usage.
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EAST EATS
The Alestle staff visited five different bubble tea restaurants in the Metro East. We noted the presentation, taste, price and ability to social distance at each location. See which ones we liked best!
Bubble Tea House proves location is (almost) everything Bubble Tea House is located right at the bottom of the escalators in the food court of the Galleria Mall in St. Louis. Right off the bat, Bubble Tea House gets points for its location. Most bubble tea places offer tea, tea with boba, and maybe some Chinese food. Since Bubble Tea House is in a food court, there’s far more options than usual, which I liked quite a bit. Additionally, there’s plenty of stores in the Galleria to look around while you finish your tea, like I did. I ordered a mango boba tea, and finished it fairly quickly. Other than myself and a friend, there were no customers there at the time, and we showed up there at about 1 p.m. Normally, most bubble tea places would be incredibly busy then. The tea was good, although the boba were a bit too big, or maybe the straw was too small. While I was drinking my tea, the boba would get stuck in the straw. This would usually only happen once or twice at most boba places, but it was almost constant here.
I asked my friend how his drink (a thai iced tea) was, and he said he was blown away. I had a sip then, as well as more later, and I had to agree. I would almost say Bubble Tea House does more traditional teas better than bubble tea. One of my pet peeves with bubble tea is the ratio of boba to tea. In my opinion, there should be a couple boba in every sip, even at the very end of the drink. I know it sounds meticulous to complain about, but that ratio is incredibly important, because that’s what bubble tea is all about. Even though the boba couldn’t make their way up the straw easily, the proportion was pretty good, by my standards. As we got up and walked around, I continued sipping my bubble tea. My friend and I actually lost track of time, and I had a Zoom class to get to. However, while we were preparing to head home, I noticed I still had quite a bit of tea left. This wasn’t because of how slow I was drinking, because we had even stopped
walking at one point, just to sit down and drink a bit more. I had just barely finished it when we left, which was a good three hours later. For the amount of tea, it was priced very moderately (which is something I’m always happy to see, especially with bubble tea). For a large mango bubble tea, which was big enough to last me a couple hours, I paid about $6, which is very good by bubble tea standards. I wouldn’t say Bubble Tea House is perfect, but it’s definitely pretty good. If you want bubble tea, other places are available, but at those other places, you’d most likely have to deal with at least a 15-minute wait, as well as higher prices. Plus, not every bubble tea place is right in front of a movie theater. THE BUBBLE TEA HOUSE 1155 St Louis Galleria St. St. Louis, MO 63117 (636) 386-6213 bubbleteahouses.com
| Gabriel Brady / The Alestle
Kung Fu Tea tastes yummy, but menu photos can be misleading
| Nicole Boyd / The Alestle
Located in the University City Loop, Kung Fu Tea has plenty of competition, but that doesn’t seem to be a problem for the bustling business. Even on a rainy Saturday afternoon, the line was backed up to the door, and there wasn’t one available table outside. However, the line moved quickly, and as a boba enthusiast, I would’ve been willing to wait much longer. I decided to splurge and get a fancy-looking drink, the “cocoa cream wow.” I’m not sure what makes the “wow” drinks different from standard boba tea, but the picture of the drink on the menu shows what I assume to be coconut milk tea with boba at the bottom and some sort of chocolate drizzled down the sides. My boyfriend ordered a taro oreo slush, one of their “top 10” menu items. The cocoa cream wow was $4.75, and the taro oreo slush was $4.95, which wasn’t too bad for specialty drinks.
Considering how busy the small store is, the wait wasn’t very long. We got our drinks quickly, but I have to admit, I was a bit disappointed to see my drink in real life. My cocoa cream wow looked a far cry from its advertising, with only a bit of the chocolate in the bottom of the cup instead of cascading down the sides. My boyfriend’s taro oreo slush was also disappointing in one aspect; the bottom of the cup was filled with crushed oreos, but there was no boba. Although the cocoa cream wow wasn’t what I expected, it still tasted good. It tasted a lot like coconut milk tea I’ve had in the past. The boba itself was surprisingly good, as it had a delightful hint of chocolate in each bite and wasn’t too chewy. I liked the taro oreo slush better, even without boba. The crushed oreo paired nicely with the taro, and there’s really no beating a taro slush, in my opinion. My boyfriend’s only complaint was
that he had to drink it quickly so the oreo wouldn’t get soggy. All things considered, I would like to go back to Kung Fu Tea. After all, looks aren’t everything, and I did like the cocoa cream wow. They have a seasonal pumpkin milk tea I’d like to try, as well as an orange yogurt drink with popping boba that is supposedly good for digestive health. I would also like to go during a time that’s not quite so busy so I can sit down and enjoy my drink. Between the vast menu selection and reasonable prices, it’s easy to see why Kung Fu Tea is such a popular boba option, even though the pictures are misleading. Kung Fu Tea is a national chain, so you can check it out even if you don’t live in the St. Louis area. KUNG FU TEA 6600 Delmar Blvd. St. Louis, MO 63130 (314) 256-1395 www.kungfutea.com
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Cube Tea Studio makes perfect drinks for your Instagram page Cube Tea Studio is a small tea vendor located on Olive Boulevard in University City, Missouri. As someone new to boba, my visit to the studio proved to be a tasty, overall pleasant excursion, but it’s not somewhere I’d go again. From the outside, the studio is hard to find, which only added to its charm. It’s located in a small space attached to Olive Supermarket, with a small sign that’s easy to miss from the road. The studio is clearly meant to be experienced up close. Visitors are greeted by a small window just outside the door of its neighboring market. Inside the window, a lush, white, modern environment stood out from the drab look of the outside of the building. They had their own door, but they clearly preferred selling from the window for social distancing reasons. The look of the shop was what made me excited for my tea. Until then, I had just driven way out of my way to find an Asian supermarket that looked indistinguishable from any other that
could be found near St. Louis, but based on the way the inside of the shop stood out, I was sure my drink would, too. I looked at the menu that had over 100 different items and ended up ordering a mango milk tea with boba. After a short wait, my friend and I got our drinks and sat down to enjoy them on a small patio outside around the corner of the building. The tea was as good as any other milk tea. I’m honestly not a huge purveyor of boba, but on a scale of good tea to bad tea, this was definitely good tea. The mango taste was really pleasant, and not too strong or disgustingly sweet. The boba itself was chewy and soft to the point where you think it might melt in the drink, but it never did. The presentation of the tea was as appealing as well. I ordered a small size that came in a unique shape that was rounded on the bottom, and my cup had cute little cartoon characters on it. My friend ordered a large, and while that size didn’t have any cool cup
shape, the lid had a playboy bunny logo sticking out of it, which went really hard in my opinion. The place is clearly meant for those who like to take pictures of their tea for their Instagram stories. The cups were trendy, the patio was pretty with plenty of plants and a brick wall background, and like I said, the inside of the shop would be great for photos if you were allowed in. I have nothing but good things to say about the shop itself, but I just can’t recommend this to any SIUE students living on or near campus. It’s a 30-minute drive for a place you can’t stay at unless you happen to nab one of the two available benches. The tea was good, but I’m sure one of my colleagues wrote about a closer location that is just as good as or even better than Cube Tea Studio. CUBE TEA STUDIO 8041 Olive Blvd. University City, MO 63130 www.cubebubbleteastudio.com
| John McGowan / The Alestle
La Patisserie’s boba tea wasn’t up to par, and it breaks my heart
| Madison Lammert / The Alestle
Any STL foodie has heard of the expansive dining scene surrounding the Botanical Heights area, but one corner bakery stands out with macarons and the most beautiful cake displays in its windows. This is La Patisserie Chouquette, owned by pastry chef Simone Faure. Already a huge macaron fan, I knew I had to venture beyond these delectable French staples and try their boba tea. La Patisserie is a luxury I can always afford, even if it means my checking account dwindles substantially. So, even though their milk tea with boba adds an extra $5.50 to my tab, I don’t mind the least bit. I tried the taro tea over the summer and loved it. Not only was it beautiful — the boba was perfectly chewy and the flavor was anything but subtle. For those not familiar with taro, it actually comes from a root vegetable but it’s not bitter. It’s quite sweet and almost vanilla-like, making brown sugar boba and taro milk tea the
perfect pairing. I’m always looking for time to go, and so when we decided we would be doing boba tea for this Metro East Eats, I quickly claimed La Patisserie. Given that our lifestyles editor, Alex, is also a huge fan, I picked them up to visit our favorite STL business. Right now, the store is taking online orders for pickup — the doors to the bakery are not open due to the pandemic. I ordered the taro milk tea I fell in love with over the summer, expecting to be satisfied as always. I’m regretful to report the tea was not nearly as good as usual. The flavor was quite muted, even for taro, which isn’t necessarily super strong, and the large cup was mostly ice. I’m wondering if this contributed to the flavor being so watered down. On the flip side, Alex’s thai milk tea was super strong (this could be seen by how bright orange the drink was). The boba was perfectly cooked through. It was chewy
Tastea introduces adventurous sweet treats to Edwardsville Despite the numerous other restaurants on Main Street, Tastea won’t have much competition since it’s the only dedicated bubble tea place in town. With options ranging from fruit tea to salted cream cheese tea, there is something for every palette. I went twice, both times were on a weekend, and it was fairly busy. The store is pretty small, so I opted to wait outside until some people cleared out. The inside only had a bar at the window with two seats, but in the time of COVID-19 that isn’t an issue. There were shelves with various decorative plants and chill music was playing. Upon my first visit, the card reader wasn’t set up yet, so they could only accept cash, Venmo or Cashapp. They had just opened, so it was understandable. The card reader was fixed by the time I came back the next weekend. The first time I went, I got the taro bubble tea. It was a very aesthetically pleasing lavender color. Some say taro tastes like sweet potato, but it’s more like a nutty vanilla to me. The only is-
sue I found was that because they use powdered milk, it sometimes isn’t completely incorporated. I also liked the lids they use. A lot of bubble tea places seal a thin sheet of plastic over the opening, but this one had a removable lid, allowing you to get every last piece of boba or jelly you desire. It also had a sipping side and a straw side. The second visit, I got the coconut boba. I’m not sure what the tea base was, it was fairly mild and just tasted milky. Most of the flavor came from the coconut jelly cubes. It wasn’t as good as the taro in my opinion, but it was still good. My partner got the “3 Guys” which had tapioca pearls and jelly cubes. He had never tried boba before, but he really enjoyed it. The different ingredients made it “texturally diverse” in his words. I do wish they had more fruit-flavored options for the milk teas. Many other places I’ve been to have flavors like lychee, peach and strawberry. I think it would also make the menu a little less intimidating.
without being underdone and the flavor was noticeable. When I found out the boba I was accustomed to was brown sugar flavored, it was hard to believe because it really didn’t taste like anything to me. After having La Patisserie’s boba teas, I can taste the true flavor profile everybody describes. Having had La Patisserie’s drinks before, I chalked up the lack of flavoring to it just being an off day. Considering how awesome their drinks have been every other time I’ve gotten them, one imperfect drink isn’t enough to write off La Patisserie. While it deeply saddens me that this review wasn’t perfect, I’ll still enthusiastically recommend them for anybody needing a special treat. LA PATISSERIE CHOUQUETTE 1626 Tower Grove Ave. St. Louis, MO 63110 (314) 932-7935 www.simonefaure.com
The drinks we got were only a fraction of the fairly large menu. They had several different boba teas, yogurt teas, salted cream cheese teas and fruit teas. The fruit teas are probably better for those not ready to venture into bubble tea, but it’s also a good option for those who are lactose intolerant since they don’t have dairy in them. The chalkboard menu doesn’t give much insight into what is in some of the drinks, so if you’re unsure, it is best to ask. Drinks also come in two sizes and range from $5 to $7. Tastea also has convenient hours that are better than expected for a place that only serves drinks. It’s open from 10 a.m. 6:30 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. on weekends. We will definitely be coming back, considering my partner has made it his mission to try every item on the menu. TASTEA 112 N Main St, Edwardsville, IL 62025 (618) 307-5432
| Alex Aultman / The Alestle
opinion
NEXT WEEK – GROWING UP IN EDWARDSVILLE page 6
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alestle VIEW
Stop destroying entire ecosystems to tell the world about your child’s genitalia THE ALESTLE STAFF editorial board
As gender reveal parties continue to rise in popularity, the announcement displays have become increasingly inventive — and significantly more dangerous. One such gender reveal party is now the cause of wildfire raging through thousands of acres in San Bernardino, California. The gender reveal party began as most do, a gathering of family members and friends in excitement for the announcement. However, the party quickly turned deadly when the parents decided to set off a “smoke-generating pyrotechnic device.” The device was intended to expel blue smoke for a boy or pink smoke for a girl. The color
MACKENZIE SMITH multimedia editor
The name Alestle is an acronym derived from the names of the three campus locations of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville: Alton, East St. Louis and Edwardsville.
A privilege is a right given to a particular group or person that leaves outside groups or people at a disadvantage. As a white woman, I have realized recently that not everyone understands this concept, nor do all choose to accept that white privilege has ruined how our generation, and past generations, accept diversity into our lives. White representation is widely presented to us from a very young age, normalizing being white in the United States. We play with white dolls and superheroes, watch TV shows with white characters and learn about white historical figures. Historical figures of color are typically
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the child’s physical appearance and notes what they see. Here’s a radical idea — these are all characteristics subject to change during development or self-discovery as the child grows up. Their hair color might change, their weight will change, their eye color might change and their perceived gender might change. If the expense of announcing a characteristic prone to fluctuation is a massive wildfire, it’s not worth the trouble — nor is it worth such catastrophic consequences. This isn’t the first time gender reveal parties have turned deadly. Last year, a family in Iowa decided to create a pipe bomb to announce their baby’s gender, which resulted in the death of a grandmother-to-be.
Aside from the deadly and environmental consequences of these gender reveal parties gone wrong, there are many legal implications to also be considered. The family who started the wildfire in California are now facing three charges, including “igniting the land” and arson. Authorities have said the person charged will be the person who actually detonated the device. Depending on the level of recklessness authorities perceive in regard to this incident, the charges’ severity could vary. Regardless of the outcome, do us all a favor — stop throwing reckless gender reveal parties. If it’s important to your family, opt for cutting open a cake instead of setting off a pipe bomb or pyrotechnic device.
Your white privilege is showing – and you are oblivious
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of the smoke became the least of the family’s concerns once the ground and trees around them burst into flames. The wildfire it caused has killed a number of fauna and nearly the entire local ecosystem, with only 7 percent of the fire currently being contained by local forces. Despite the fact that gender reveal parties are centered around surprises, we can assume this isn’t the surprise they were expecting. Though, the resulting wildfire isn’t at all surprising — considering 80 percent of wildfires are man-made. The assigned gender of your child is not any more important than the child’s hair color, weight or eye color at the time of birth. The doctor takes one glance at
only talked about during diversity days or when celebrating specific months, such as Black History Month. What message do we send the children of color in our country by not representing their history in pop culture or school? Whether you believe it or not, these are just a few privileges white kids have from what seems to be a never-ending list. These white kids then grow into teens and adults who cannot view the world from the shoes of an individual within a different racial category. We have to do better. I recently saw a post on Facebook where a white woman denied the presence of white privilege in our society. This proved my point. It may be hard to understand as a white person, as the author of the post does not di-
rectly experience the struggles of people of color. However, this is not an excuse for her systemic ignorance. Although this was only one opinion, many similar opinions have come through my social media platforms recently. Not recognizing our race or our privilege is a problem. We have normalized our race in our minds so strongly that we have a hard time associating race to ourselves, but are easily able to associate race to others. When talking about what a white man looks like, do you identify his race? When talking about what an Asian man looks like, do you identify his race? Race comes with a long history of how we got here. Chances are, we will use “Asian” as an identifying feature, whereas we will not men-
tion whiteness. This shows how whiteness has become the norm in our society – the ideal. Because of this, many don’t feel the need to recognize their whiteness, leading them to not examine how whiteness has hurt others in the past. This recognition would allow for empathy and understanding to be shown towards members of nonwhite races. Privileges are unearned when it comes to race. I was born with these privileges because of where I came from, not because I am a positive contributor to society. While some of these privileges may be out of our control to a certain extent, we should recognize them so we can use them to continue to fight for equality and eliminate misunderstandings due to a lack of cultural awareness.
contact the editor: sports@alestlelive.com 650-3527 thursday, 09.17.20
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THE PANDEMIC HASN’T STOPPED SIUE ATHLETICS. IT DOESN’T STOP US EITHER. WWW.ALESTLELIVE.COM page 7
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Taking a stand, taking a knee
SPORTS in brief Community remembers Kevin Martin Former colleagues of Athletics’ Director of Special Projects and Internal Operations Kevin Martin came together at the Vadalabene Center on Saturday, Sept. 12, to share stories and memories of the man who spent 20 years serving the university. Martin was appointed to his position as athletics’ director of special projects and internal operations in January. Prior to this, he had spent his time working for the university as the director of university advancement and foundation operations. While speaking at the memorial, SIUE Chancellor Randy Pembrook said he knew Martin was excited to move forward in his relatively new position at the university. “When we were discussing the things he might do — the kinds of things he could accomplish with his skill set here — he was just genuinely excited. I’m sad that he didn’t have a longer period to do that with Athletics,” Pembrook said. At the memorial, Director of Athletics Tim Hall said despite only knowing Martin for 11 months, it felt like much longer than that. “We had a fabulous conversation that was scheduled for 45 minutes and went on for 90. I came away from that visit feeling like we had known each other for many years … My only regret is that I did not have the honor and privilege to know Kevin longer,” Hall said.
A group of protesters with Expect Us gather outside Ballpark Village on Aug. 28 to send a message to the St. Louis Cardinals: No justice, no baseball. “When dollars matter more than Black lives, that’s a problem,” a protester said when taking into the megaphone. “When entertainment matters more than Black people surviving, that’s a problem.” I Dominick Oranika / The Alestle JOHN MCGOWAN reporter
Major league sports have been dealing with racial issues for decades, but in today’s climate, support is becoming more vocal on many fronts, and where it’s not, people are demanding change. In June, Commissioner of the NFL Roger Goodell made a statement on Twitter apologizing for the past actions of the league, and voicing support for the fight against police brutality. “We, the National Football League, admit we were wrong for not listening to NFL players earlier, and encourage
all to speak out and peacefully protest,” Goodell said in the statement. “We, the National Football League, believe Black lives matter.” Now, peaceful protests are in fact being demonstrated by parts of the organization. In a press release from Monday, the Pittsburgh Steelers announced their helmets would be bearing the name of Antwon Rose Jr., a victim of police brutality in Pittsburgh. The MLB doesn’t have the recent history of not supporting protests like the NFL does, but their Players Association voiced support for the Black Lives Matter movement. In a video on Twit-
ter, several players asked the MLB’s fans to support the movement. “You have cheered for us, but we need you to cheer with us now when we need you most. Black lives matter,” said several players in the video. The NBA has an organization dedicated to social justice called NBA Voices, and in June they made plans to paint “Black Lives Matter” on courts. Recently, the Milwaukee Bucks refused to play one of their games to show support for Jacob Blake, who was shot by in Wisconsin on Aug. 23. Learn more about change in sports at voices.nba.com.
Former STL Cardinal player continues making history Pujols hits 660th home run to tie Willie Mays for No. 5 all-time MIKE DIGIOVANNA Los Angles Times (TNS)
Albert Pujols has passed a number of Hall of Famers, including Ken Griffey Jr., Jim Thome, Frank Robinson, Reggie Jackson and Mike Schmidt, during his two-decade ascent up baseball’s all-time home run list. But on Sunday afternoon, the Angels slugger pulled even with one of the legends of the game, a superstar whose bust would likely appear on a Mount Rushmore of baseball players if such a sculpture existed. Pujols hit the 660th home run of his career in the eighth inning of a 5-3 win over the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field, a two-run shot that tied him with Willie Mays for fifth place on the home run list behind Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth and Alex Rodriguez. The towering 402-foot blast, on a 1-and-1, 96.5-mph fastball from Colorado reliever Carlos Estevez, traveled 402 feet and gave the Angels a 4-3 lead. It also snapped a string of 93 plate appearances without a homer, his longest such streak since 2014. Pujols, 40, is a three-time National League most valuable player who helped the St. Louis Cardinals win three World
Series championships, a 20-year veteran expected to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. But Mays, known as the “Say Hey Kid,” is widely regarded as the best allaround player of all-time, a powerful, speedy and athletically gifted center fielder who batted .302 with a .941 on-base-plusslugging percentage, 523 doubles, 140 triples, 1,903 RBIs and 338 stolen bases in a 22-year career that ended in 1973. Mays, who played the bulk of his career with the New York and San Francisco Giants, was a 20-time All-Star who won the 1951 rookie-of-the-year award, two most valuable player awards and 12 Gold Glove Awards. Pujols is also among the top 10 alltime in several offensive categories, ranking fifth in doubles (669), third in RBIs (2,095), fifth in extra-base hits (1,344) and fifth in total bases (5,907) entering Sunday. His lifetime batting average is .299, dipping below .300 for the first time in his career this season. He batted .314 or better in each of his first 10 seasons and won the batting title in 2003 with a .359 average. The first baseman was considered the best right-handed hitter in the game during his 11seasons (2001-11) in St. Louis before signing a 10-year, $240 million deal with the Angels before the 2012
season. The 10-time All-Star also won two Gold Glove Awards. With this season shortened to 60 games because of the COVID-19 pandemic and Pujols’ contract expiring after 2021, it appears unlikely that Pujols will join Bonds (762), Aaron (755) and Ruth (714) in baseball’s 700-homer club. Next on the list would be Rodriguez, who hit 696 homers. “I never thought about home runs in my career,” Pujols said on a recent video call. “You know, I accomplished 500, 600, and just to be out there in the top five, top six in home runs is pretty special. So, if the opportunity (to hit 700) comes and I do it, great. But if it doesn’t, there’s no regret. There’s not anything I can look back and say I wish I would have done.” Falling short of 700 homers would in no way diminish Pujols’ career. “When he’s all said and done, [Pujols] is a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Probably it should be unanimous, I would imagine,” Angels manager Joe Maddon said. “The way he came up [in St. Louis], he took everything by storm early on in his career. Everybody had to watch Pujols, ‘who is this guy Pujols?’ when he first showed up. And then he continually just piled on the numbers. “He’s known for his hitting, but he’s
a good baseball player. ... He’s got this intellect about the game beyond hitting.” Pujols’ milestone homer comes after a sluggish start that got him benched against the Dodgers on Aug. 15 and 16, the first time in his nine-year Angels career that he hadn’t started two games in a row without a sidelining injury. Pujols also sat out two straight games at Oakland on Aug. 22-23. He hadn’t homered since Aug. 4. “Yeah, it’s tough when you know that you’re healthy and you feel good, you work your tail off every day to try to go out there and play and get yourself ready to play,” Pujols said of his reduced role. “But at the end of the day, you know, that’s the manager and the general manager’s call, and my job is to, whenever I’m in the lineup, just give 110 percent.” Pujols entered Sunday with a .235 average (27 for 115), .661 OPS, three homers and 20 RBIs in 30 games this season, a slight drop-off from his production in 2019, when he hit .244 with a .734 OPS, 23 homers and 93 RBIs. He retained more of a regular role after Tommy La Stella, the left-handed-hitting utility infielder who was sharing time with Pujols at first base, was traded to Oakland on July 28, but is now splitting time at first base with left-handed-hitting Jared Walsh.
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