The Alestle Vol. 74 No. 8

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vol. 74 no. 8

The Student Voice Since 1960

From Nigeria to the United Sta tes: Protesters in the Metro East demand an end to Nigeria’s police brutality JOHN MCGOWAN reporter

Over the past two weeks, protesters have been gathering at SIUE and St. Louis to advocate for the endSARS movement.

To outsiders looking in, it may have seemed the endSARS movement could claim victory on Oct. 11 when it was announced the special division of the Nigerian Police would be dissolved. However, it quickly became clear to protesters their work was not yet done.

Two days after the initial announcement that Nigeria’s Special Anti-Robbery Squad would be abolished, the government said it would be converted into a new unit called Special Weapons and Tactics, or SWAT. The protest on campus occurred the same day the news broke.

The leader of the protest, senior English

major Olabidemi Animashaun, of Nigeria, said a name change wasn’t what the protesters were asking for.

“We don’t want a reform of SARS called SWAT, which is going to be the same police officers who are brutalizing our brothers and sisters.

That’s not what we want. They’re still not bringing justice to the people who have died,” Animashaun said.

One of the protesters at SIUE, senior biology major Mustapha Shobola, of Nigeria, said it’s important to hold protests for this cause to show the Nigerian government other countries are watching.

“They crack so much under international pressure. Social pressure is the worst thing for them. Once they know that people from other countries can see the terrible things they’re doing, they start to make changes. That’s the easiest way to get them to make changes,” Shobola said.

Shauni Burns, a senior elementary education major from Chicago, said international protests also show the protesters in Nigeria that other countries stand in solidarity with

them.

“There’s people who are affected by it who might see it, and they’ll know that we’re standing with them,” Burns said. “They’ll know that they have support all over the world.”

Burns said protesters want to get rid of SARS for several reasons.

“They’re really just abusing their power. They’re taking the lives of innocent people, especially young people. They’re stopping them,” Burns said. “They’re killing people for not showing them their phone. They’re killing people because they suspect them of doing something, if they have a nice car or something.”

Animashaun said she was motivated to hold the protest on the Stratton Quadrangle by thinking about what she and her friends would have to deal with if they were currently in Nigeria.

“I have a lot of international friends. I’m a citizen, they’re not, so they eventually have to go back,” Animashaun said. “If I go to Nigeria see endSARS on page 2

Left: Junior biochemistry major Jochabay McGeeBey, of East St. Louis, holds a sign that says “Say ‘no’ to police brutality. SARS must end.” Right: Senior English major Olabidemi Animashaun, of Nigeria, leads the endSARS protest on Tuesday, Oct. 13 on the Quad. Protesters painted “End Police Brutality” and “End SARS” on the Rock and the ground surrounding the Rock. I Khoi Pham / The Alestle

BRIEF: Congressman to join SIUE’s political science department after retirement Instead of spending his days golfing or honing new projects like other retirees, Rep. John Shimkus (R-Collinsville) will be returning to his love of educating, this time as part of SIUE’s Department of Political Science.

After 24 years of serving in Congress, Shimkus will retire and join the SIUE community as a professor.

Shimkus will mostly teach undergraduate introductory political science courses, though he will also teach some higher-level courses in the department, according to a Zoom meeting held Wednesday.

Chancellor Randy Pembrook said Shimkus is an educator at heart and brings @thealestle

some experience to the table from his time teaching at Metro East Lutheran High School in Edwardsville.

Shimkus earned his MBA from SIUE in 1997, and while in Congress, he hired SIUE students both as interns and to work on his campaign. Shimkus said he wants to give back to the community that has given him so much, and hopes he will do the university proud.

“If students want to talk to me and grab a cup of coffee … I really want to join the SIUE community and family,” Shimkus said.

For more information on Shimkus, visit his biography on his website. @thealestle

Plaza that pays homage to controversial town namesake to be renamed GABRIEL BRADY reporter

After much public outcry against a statue and plaza honoring Edwardsville’s namesake, Ninian Edwards, the city council announced it would rename the Ninian Edwards Plaza, last week during the Administration and Community Services Committee meeting.

However, no official plans have been decided regarding the statue’s placement. Groups calling for its removal cite many parts of Edwards’ history as one of Illinois’ first governors as reasons behind these deThe Alestle

I Mackenzie Smith / The Alestle

mands. Edwards vetoed a law that would have completely abolished slavery in Illinois, and revommended the erradication of Indigenous people.

Edwardsville’s Administration and Community Services Committee consists of Alderman Art

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Risavy, Alderman Will Krause and Alderman S.J. Morrison, but other members of the Edwardsville City Council were in attendance at the meeting and gave input throughout. The council stated they would try to rename the plaza as quickly as possible and would make preparations to create an educational lithograph for the statue.

Risavy laid out a possible plan for creating the lithograph, which would take longer than renaming the plaza. “[I would like to cooperate with] two people from every group. Potentially the NAACP, the group to remove the statue, the group [of history professors] from SIUE, two aldermen and also citizens who may be interested, along with maybe a historian [who could] come up with that language for the … I no longer want to call it a plaque, because to me a plaque sounds small. I like the idea of an educational lithograph,” Risavy said.

Walter Williams, vice president of the local NAACP chapter, was in attendance, and he said the NAACP would be willing to help write the lithograph. Assistant Professor of Sociology Ezra Temko is a member of the group advocating for the relocation of the statue, and he said he would like to discuss things further with the rest of the group before stating his opinion.

City Clerk Emily Fultz read a total of 11 letters, which were sent to the council to be read during the meeting. All of the letters asked for the city council to either

relocate, remove or at least try to better contextualize the statue of Edwards. Some of these letters explained stories of encountering racism in the city, but some of them were short and to the point, like the last letter read, which was from Latrice Lott.

“I am a 56-year-old Black woman that has lived in Edwardsville since 2008.

Given that Ninian Edwards was not only a slaveholder, but that he actively worked to bring slavery to the state of Illinois, having a statue of him is a slap in the face to the Black residents of Edwardsville,” Lott wrote.

Of the public comments made at the ACS meeting, there was only one that was unrelated to the Ninian Edwards statue.

Former Edwardsville Police Chief and City Administrator Ben Dickmann gave the first comment, and he said he felt the institution of slavery in the U.S. was deplorable, and Edwards’ opinions on it were as well. However, Dickmann said there are positives to Edwards’ life that are being overlooked.

“Edwards did what few, if anybody … [had] done, or would be willing to do: he cared for people dying from the then cholera epidemic … It was in Belleville where Edwards accepted what he knew would be his own demise. Edwards knew that caring for the gravely ill cholera victims would cause him to become infected, and eventually kill him, and it did,” Dickmann said. “Is that act of human kindness and compassion enough to overcome years of slave ownership? I don’t know … I have

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resigned myself to a realization that this is not my call to make.”

Leaders of the group demanding the statue’s relocation spoke as well. Grad student in business administration-management Asher Denkyirah of Glen Carbon, Illinois, SIUE Alumni Emily Klingensmith and Temko spoke in person, while other members of the groups spoke remotely.

One of these remote speakers was Edwardsville resident Eden Vitoff. Vitoff said the debate on the statue primarily affects racial minorities, so their opinions should be heard and respected.

“It’s very easy for individuals who are white, who have immense privilege based on their race, like those on the council, like me, to speak at these ACS and city council meetings [and] to freely give our opinions without fear of repercussion … My sister is an Indigenous and Hispanic woman of color, and she’s asked me to relay to you today the fact that she has experienced quite a bit of racism throughout her time in Edwardsville. I won’t go into too much detail, but these aren’t always as explicit as someone saying ‘I hate people of color’ or denying someone the right to vote,” Vitoff said. “The continued reverence we give to a man who led the charrge to kill Indigenous people, who fought to keep slavery alive with all his power as governor, this is another such act of racism.”

The group advocating to relocate the statue will hold a protest Oct. 31.

The Alestle will continue to follow this story as it develops.

Student organization raises alarm about new restrictions limiting engagement NICOLE BOYD copy editor

Nonresidents are currently not allowed to enter residence halls per COVID-19 precautionary measures, posing a new challenge for students trying to promote their organizations.

Students for Reproductive Rights was recently barred from putting out safe sex kits and flyers in University Housing as a result of COVID-19 safety regulations.

Vice President of Students for Reproductive Rights James Beverly, a senior applied communication studies major from Los Angeles, said he wanted to put safe sex kits containing condoms, lubricant and an instructional pamphlet at the front desks of residence halls for students to take, but that was not allowed per Housing’s COVID-19 policy.

“I just emailed [Housing] seeing if there’s a way we can get in contact with students, and they were saying it can cause [cross-contamination] so they weren’t really wanting outside sources getting things

Jackson said organizations may not have items spaced out on a table due to this new policy, as Students for Reproductive Rights had planned to do.

“In a non-pandemic year, where they could have a table in our lobby and engage with students for their organization, and maybe do the ‘draw a sucker out of a bowl’ or whatever, this year we’re not letting outside groups into our spaces like that,” Jackson said.

Mikaila Crawford, president of Students for Reproductive Rights and a senior economics and finance major from Jerseyville, Illinois, said the organization was also unable to post flyers in residence halls because nonresidents are not allowed inside.

“Their whole reasoning was because of COVID-19, and for some reason they wouldn’t allow [putting up flyers]. Which, that doesn’t make sense to me, because they’re just flyers … If there’s worries of people coming in and out of the residence

to students,” Beverly said. “Which makes sense, but we were just going to leave them at the front desk and let them take them at their own risk.”

Rex Jackson, associate director for residence life, said shareable items that may prompt students to reach into a bowl would not be allowed at the university level or at the Housing level.

“The only way you could really have a shareable-type thing would be if you would sanitize it each time, that kind of thing … You wouldn’t want people putting their hands in the same bowl, just like we wouldn’t set out a bowl of candy at the desk for residents to grab because of the pandemic, because you don’t want all of these people putting their hand in the same bowl,” Jackson said.

Jackson said another precaution Housing is taking is prohibiting outside organizations from reserving space in the residence halls.

“We’re not allowing any outside [of] Housing group to table, or anything, in our spaces due to COVID,” Jackson said.

BY THE NUMBERS

COVID-19 at SIUE

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

Oct. 9 - 15: 13 students, 2 faculty/staff Oct. 2 - 8: 5 students, 0 faculty/staff 14-day new positive tests: 18 students, 2 faculty/ staff All prior weeks positive tests (Aug. 1 - Oct. 1): 101 students, 18 faculty/staff Total positive cases: 106 students, 18 faculty/staff

Tests conducted by SIUE

Percentage of isolation/ quarantine space available on campus

(as of Oct. 15): 95 percent Source: Health, Reporting, and Testing page on SIUE’s COVID-19 website, as of Oct. 15

Oct. 9 - 15: 111 Oct. 2 - 8: 54 14-day new tests conducted: 165 All prior weeks tests conducted (Aug. 21 - Oct. 1): 501 Total tests conducted: 666

SPRING 2021

as of 10/15/2020 Instructional Method Number of Sections

Percentage of Total

599

18.41%

1574

48.37%

Traditional

475

14.60%

Other

606

18.62%

Blended Online

Total

3254

Campus/Instructional Method

Positive cases identified by SIUE testing:

Oct. 9 - 15: 5 Oct. 2 - 8: 2 14-day new positive cases: 7 All prior weeks positive cases (Aug. 21 - Oct. 1): 19 Total: 26

see FLYERS on page 8

Source: SIUE campus update via email on Oct. 16

Number of Sections

Percentage of Total

On Campus

1026

31.53%

Online

1574

48.37%

Off Campus

259

7.96%

Independent

395

12.14%

Total

3254

News in brief New scholarship now to include transfer students

When the SIU System Commitment, a scholarship for students from low-income households, was first announced, it only included incoming freshmen. Now, it has been extended to include transfer students.

According to SIUE Chancellor Randy Pembrook, transfer students weren’t originally mentioned in the scholarship announcement, as the system’s top priority was on first serving incoming freshmen just out of high school.

The announcement was made for SIUC’s Commitment in the form of a press release, but the only confirmation of the change for the SIUE Commitment came as a quiet update to their financial aid page.

Pembrook said it’s important the school provide access and affordability to every student, regardless of if they’re a traditional or transfer student.

“It didn’t really matter whether they were going to be a freshman or a junior. We want them to be able to come to SIUE, and to be able to afford it and finish,” Pembrook said.

Aside from the addition of transfer students, the other details of the scholarship remain the same. As long as they are Illinois residents, students with household incomes of $63,575 and assets of $50,000 or less will be eligible for fully paid tuition.

Money for the scholarships will come from a combination of financial aid sources including Pell Grants, the Illinois Monetary Award Program, the AIM HIGH Grant Pilot Program and SIU system scholarships.

Learn more about the SIUE Commitment on the Financial Aid page.

endSARS I COVER

this December, which I was planning on doing, I’m very certain I will be harassed

by SARS.” Another protester, senior criminal justice major Ukachi Nkwocha, of Chicago, said anyone who travels to Nigeria could be affected.

“I am Nigerian. Although I do live in America, it’s important to show my support … It could affect any one of us,” Nkwocha said. “If we travel to Nigeria, we could be affected by police brutality there just simply because of how we look, and who we are and how we dress.”

Animashaun also played a part in organizing another protest in St. Louis over the weekend. The protest started at the Old Courthouse in St. Louis, and eventually marched to nearby Kiener Plaza Park.

Animashaun said another activist for the movement contacted her after the initial protest on campus, and they set up the next one in St. Louis from there.

“I told him about how there’s no protests going on in St. Louis and we should definitely start one … We basically just joined forces with other people, other organizations,” Animashaun said.

Those interested in learning more about the movement can check out last week’s episode of Alestle After Hours, and those interested in donating to the cause can check out a GoFundMe entitled #ENDSARS for the protesters in Nigeria set up by Animashaun.

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School of Pharmacy provides added wellness programming through new Director of Well-Being and Resilience role DALTON BROWN copy editor

Students, faculty and staff in SIUE’s School of Pharmacy may forget to maintain their physical and mental health due to the demanding nature of their field. Kelly Gable, the School of Pharmacy’s recently named Director of Well-Being and Resilience, is taking a number of steps to help those in the School of Pharmacy stay mentally and physically well.

The School of Pharmacy’s former Mental Health and Wellness Taskforce, which was led by Gable in 2019, has since been reformed into the Well-Being and Resilience Committee, which Gable now oversees as its director. Dean of the School of Pharmacy Mark Luer said Gable’s background made her perfect for the position.

“She has a passion for self-care … She had already been very successful with a substance abuse and mental health services grant on suicide prevention, that was a

university-wide program called SAMHSA … She brought together interested parties from across campus … She just has that documented history to lead those efforts,” Luer said.

The Well-Being and Resilience Committee not only includes faculty and staff, but also two students from each class, according to Gable. This October, they are promoting a sleep challenge to encourage people to get seven hours of sleep each night in October. In November, Gable said they are working with Alive & Well Communities to bring a four-part trauma-informed care series to the School of Pharmacy.

Students, faculty and staff in the committee have led virtual wellness activities, such as mindfulness exercises and monthly Wellness Wednesdays, which Gable said are accessible to all pharmacy students through a Wellness Team in the School of Pharmacy’s Microsoft Teams app. A video compilation of committee members shar-

ing their tips for wellness is also publicly available on Gable’s YouTube channel.

As far as what well-being and resilience means to the campus community, Gable said it’s different for everybody, emphasizing that it shouldn’t feel like additional work. Another part of this, Gable said, depends on faculty and staff leading by example and doing themselves what they ask of students.

“One of the biggest things I think we can do as leaders is to demonstrate [selfcare] ourselves,” Gable said. “We can push and really talk about all these wellness ideas and activities, but if we don’t do it ourselves, what does that say to our students?”

While Gable and the Well-Being and Resilience Committee’s efforts mainly focus on the School of Pharmacy, Counseling Services works to address the larger campus community.

“In terms of what kinds of opportunities are generally available to the cam-

pus community, Counseling Services has always been home to an outreach and prevention education sort of subfunction, and Lisa Thompson-Gibson on my staff oversees … those efforts, and so she’s the person who sort of works with the campus community to broker what those opportunities would look like,” Director of Counseling Services Courtney Boddie said.

To help maintain their personal well-being and resilience, Gable said she encourages the use of Counseling Services, but also recommends external resources.

These include the Crisis Text Line and a tool to find a therapist in your area from Psychology Today, which Gable said can help students who are thinking about seeking counseling but may not be ready to talk to someone about it yet.

For more information about student well-being and resilience, read its entry on the School of Pharmacy’s webpage. To learn more about Counseling Services, visit their webpage.

Kappa Delta Pi offers free virtual tutoring sessions for K-12 students VERNON SMITH JR reporter

Kappa Delta Pi has been offering free virtual tutoring sessions for K-12 students for all subjects since Aug. 31.

Kappa Delta Pi, an international honor society in education, has been at SIUE for more than 30 years. Their goal is to develop members’ professional development skills and enhance scholarships, according to their about page. Meghan Kleeb, a senior elementary education major from Collinsville, Illinois, said the organization does service within the Madison County community.

“Kappa Delta Pi is the international honor society in education. We volunteer throughout the community, donate to organizations in need, bond with fellow educators and attend professional development to grow as educators,” Kleeb said.

Tutoring sessions last up to an hour, covering any subject in which the student may need help. Amanda Frisch, a senior elementary education major from Red Bud, Illinois, said students have to sign up through SignUpGenius.

“We have a link that is put out every

week. We try to get it out by Monday, and students can click that link and it will take them to a SignUpGenius page, and they will be able to see a various amount of time slots with different tutors. Along with that it will show the tutors major and maybe something that they specialize in. When the student goes to sign up they can pick the time that works for them and if possible they can pick a major that suits what they need help with,” Frisch said.

The honor society is dedicated to the ideals of fidelity to humanity, science, toil and service. They are not just focused on serving the community with education, but helping the children as well. Paige Orlando, senior elementary education major from St. Louis said they still wanted to serve during a pandemic.

“We were thinking with the pandemic and everything being virtual, how do we volunteer our time? So, with the lovely Zoom that we all have been using a lot lately, we just thought that this is something that could be accessible to many people … parents have been doing a lot and have been struggling to help their child, especially if they are fully remote,” Orlando said. “So our organization wanted to put something

together to be able to help them, so we did tutoring so they can sign up and we can help them with their homework or help them focus on something that they are struggling with that teachers aren’t able to give a lot of one on one instruction right now.”

According to Megan Periandri, a junior secondary education and mathematics major from Troy, Illinois, the sessions are open to anybody and it’s not targeted to a specific region. She also said she finds it nostalgic at times to be tutoring the students in subjects she learned in the past.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve taken those classes and it kind of makes me miss those classes, so I can put myself in their shoes and remember what I struggled with. And I can kind of be that role model for them and explain to them it’s not easy doing math, especially online, so it’s fun helping them out,” Periandri said.

Helping students over Zoom helps the tutors as well; they get to do what they love and put a smile on some of the kids’ faces.

Abby Forlines, senior elementary education major from Moweaqua, Illinois, said there are, however, some challenges

tutoring over Zoom.

“I think the most challenging thing about tutoring over Zoom is technology.

There can always be technological issues like the Wi-Fi could be down, maybe the Zoom link didn’t work, but the great thing is that no matter what happens, typically everything is able to work out, whether it’s a quick Google search or contacting the parent and the tutor trying to see what works,” Forlines said.

Kleeb said the overall goal is to help students get a better understanding of their material.

“We are hoping to offer both parents and students relief from online learning.

This school year has been like no other, which has brought a lot of stress and confusion. Through tutoring, we are hoping to give students one-on-one instruction that will help deepen understanding of the content areas,” Kleeb said.

Members in the organization plan to continue their online tutoring sessions even after this pandemic.

More information on the organization can be found on its Get Involved page.

One can sign up for tutoring through SignUpGenius.

‘The uncertainty was the main issue’: Small businesses push through pandemic GABRIEL BRADY reporter

After seven months, small businesses have begun to stabilize during the COVID-19 pandemic, but it hasn’t come without hardships. Plenty of businesses have had to rethink their models and prepare for change.

Roberto Sanchez, owner of Riviera Maya, a Mexican restaurant in Alton and Godfrey, said the scariest part of the pandemic was when it first hit. According to Sanchez, there was a short period when he was getting almost no business.

“The first two weeks when the restaurant was closed, there was very little to no business, because people were scared to go out. I remember it was like 8 p.m., [and as] I drove ten miles home from work, and I saw no other vehicle on the road,” Sanchez said. “We weren’t covering our daily expenses, but [after] two, three or four weeks, eventually people came back out. You have to be prepared for a few weeks of bad times in order to survive [as a business]. It will

happen for some reason, and you never know why, but you have to be prepared.”

Preparation is a necessity for any business, according to Robert Sancamper, owner of Sancamper Farms. Sancamper said too much preparation can never hurt.

“With a pandemic, it’s like anything else [as a business owner]. If you’re not thinking six months to a year ahead, you’re making a mistake,” Sancamper said. “You solve one problem, and you get to the next one and solve it too, and that’s how you get through these things.”

The pandemic hit every business hard, but Theodora Farms owner Kris Larson had a unique struggle — starting a new business during the pandemic.

“This was our first year of operation.

So, we are a vegetable farm, and when the pandemic hit, we were just starting our season, but we knew right away that we were deemed an essential business, so we had to do what we had to do to keep in business,” Larson said. “We immediately protected our staff, and made sure we were all distanced at work and wore our masks and all

that early on.”

All businesses have had to follow plenty of regulations due to COVID-19, even the Alton Farmers’ and Artisans’ Market, where Sancamper and Larson have stands.

Sancamper said the COVID-19 regulations have led to new perspectives on the farmer’s market.

“We went back to a regular farmer’s market, but we still have a 10 foot spacing between the vendors, so it actually made the market expand a little bit,” Sancamper said. “We’re looking at the market in a different way now, and how to use it a little different than we have before.”

Larson said Theodora Farms had to find new customers since staying open.

“The biggest impact on the new business was that most of our buyers, our large buyers like restaurants especially, were essentially shut down, so we lost at least one or two market channels right away, and lost some income there, but on the other hand, the household market picked up,” Larson said. “Individual families and consumers started buying more, so we just had to ad-

just our focus, but as a new business, we didn’t have a lot of brand recognition right away.”

According to Sanchez, brand recognition and a strong customer base is incredibly important for any business, especially now.

“Restaurants, or anything locally owned, are very local things,” Sanchez said.

“We have people from Alton and Godfrey, or even East Alton who know our name, so they come here more, so we stay steady easier.”

Above all, Sancamper said the most important thing to remember is to go with the flow and stay optimistic.

“All you can do is adapt to what they tell you. You have a problem, you work through the problem. You figure out how to do without what you don’t have,” Sancamper said. “Despite all that’s been going on, I think it’s all gonna work out pretty nice.”

For more information, visit Theodora Farm’s website, or the Facebook pages for Riviera Maya and Sancamper Farms.

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Looking for chills and thrills? No need to go far to get in touch with the paranormal this October NICOLE BOYD copy editor

Those searching for a supernatural experience this Halloween don’t need to look beyond the Metro East — or even leave campus.

Steve Kerber, university archivist and special collections librarian, said the north elevator in Lovejoy Library is rumored to be haunted by former Research Professor of Humanities John Francis McDermott, who died of injuries after an elevator accident in the library.

“The elevator had come to an uneven stop vis-a-vis the floor level, and he had fallen when he was exiting the elevator and struck his head, and tragically eventually died of that in 1981.

And so when I started working here in 1995, there was an old wives’ tale about Professor McDermott haunting the north elevator in the library,” Kerber said.

Kerber said while the story may have been a tale told to scare new faculty members, some people have said they experienced paranormal activity.

“Some people said they saw something. Some people said they experienced some kind of eerie feeling,” Kerber said.

There is also a rumor of the ghost of a cougar named Kyna that haunts the lawn sloping toward Circle Drive, where live cougars were once caged, Kerber said. Live cougar mascots were kept on campus until 1987, when Kyna was given away to an animal

park due to liability concerns.

“The story was that the second cat that they gave away came back in a ghostly manifestation and walked in that area south of the [Morris University Center],” Kerber said.

Students wanting to venture off campus may be able to get their thrills in Alton, Illinois, a town that is widely recognized for its supernatural history. McPike Mansion, located in Alton, is believed to be haunted

by Henry McPike, who had the house built as a country estate in 1869. The mansion has been featured on an episode of “Ghost Adventures.”

“I think that most [of] the spirits are there because they want to be there. I don’t really know of any real tragic things or anything like that. Several years ago, there was a few psychics, different people, intuitives, that said there was a lady pushed down the back stairs. I don’t know that that’s the truth, I can’t prove that,” owner Sharyn Luedke said. “I’ve always kind of looked at it like if I hear something three times and no one knew the other person said it I would at least consider there’s some validity there, so I do think that’s a possibility.”

Luedke said she hosts dark room sessions in which people can book a time to visit the cellar, where lots of paranormal activity takes place.

“When we’re doing our dark room sessions in the cellar, sometimes we see James. That

Three members of the McPike family tree, shown above, are said to haunt the mansion. Luedke says Henry McPike, his son James and his wife still inhabit the grounds.

would be Henry’s firstborn son, James, and then he married Jenny Wilkinson. They usually are in the cellar. Jenny tends to be the trickster, kind of, maybe touch peoples’ hair, nothing bad. James tends to pace back and forth, so I have seen him. Henry appears in the cellar. He’s also appeared in some pictures in the window,” Luedke said.

Just outside of Alton, in Grafton, Illinois, is Baby Hollow, where people with contagious diseases such as cholera and smallpox were quarantined in the 19th century. George Milnor owns an 1850 stone house in Grafton, thought to previously be owned by a Civil War doctor who came to Baby Hollow and cared for those who were quaran-

tined. The house is now privately owned, but vacant. “[Apparitions] have ranged from numerous occasions of neighbors seeing somebody in the stone house over time, shadows in the stone house from the outside at night … and yet there’s been nobody in the house really, for decades,” Milnor said. “Secondly, then, one night I got a call that there was a greenish-blue light in the house, and I actually have a picture of that, with … a shadow of some sort in the windows. But there were no lights on in the house and no reason for there to be lights in the house.”

Milnor said the doctor is buried in Jerseyville, Illinois, but the body of his unmarried daughter cannot be found. According

to Milnor, her name is scrawled behind a wall, along with some pictures.

“At first we couldn’t make sense of the pictures, but they’re scrawled on the old horsehair plaster behind the walls that we uncovered. One of the pictures is actually … a picture of two people, one with a knife pointed at the other, and both of these figures are actually shown below the ground with gravestones and trees above the line in the ground,” Milnor said. “And then the daughter’s name, the daughter of the doctor, her name is there on the wall along with another name.”

Schedule a group tour or investigation of the McPike Mansion through their website.

| Photos courtesy of Sharyn Luedke

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SIUE professor’s new book pushes for religion to be studied in the context of race, class and gender DAMIAN MORRIS reporter

“Remixed and Reimagined: Innovations in Religion, Spirituality, and (Inter)faith in Higher Education” is a new co-edited book inviting readers to re-examine the way higher education has studied religion, spirituality and interfaith.

SIUE Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership and co-editor, J.T. Snipes, said the book is a way to start thinking about religion in a more multidimensional way.

“We’ve often thought about [religion] along a single dimension. So religion exists in a space that is separate from race, gender, class, and what we’re doing in this text is trying to bring those identities and trying to understand the world together,” Snipes said.

The book is split into two parts, both about having different thought processes in the way religion is studied.

“The first half of the book invites scholars to rethink their methods of studying what religion is … In the second half of the book, we want you to think differently about it, and want to include different stories of religion,” Snipes said. “So the second half of the book focuses on topics that are under-researched in higher education.”

Snipes said the idea of reimagining religion in this book is metaphorically the same as creating a mixtape in hip-hop.

“It’s taking something that has already been created, using it, using parts of it, reimagining it, in a different way,” Snipes said.

“So they are two completely different songs, but share a common lineage of sound, song, words, or phrases. I think hip-hop, for me, is the space in which I begin to remix and reimagine, so I’m

drawing from what’s there, cre- premise of disrupting the way religion is thought about and his ating something new.”

According to University of own experience of not being repSouthern California Assistant resented in literature.

“When you’re talking about Director for Student Leadership and Education and co-editor, Sa- being a Muslim and being queer ble Manson, she and Snipes were at the same time, it’s not somevery intentional about focusing thing people are comfortable on organizations and new profes- talking about, including myself,” sionals when finding authors for Shaheen said.

There doesn’t have to be a the book.

“J.T. and I really wanted large number of people within a this to be a platform for new demographic to make the group voices, and the title was about worth researching, and a personinnovation,” Manson said. “We al narrative is a very legitimate really wanted to recognize and way to go about it, Shaheen said.

“It’s a way of bringing this acknowledge that some of the most innovative subjects or investigations “I would say that there’s a were actually strong connection of culture students, people fresh out of to spirituality and that that their doctorate spirituality, faith, or religion programs and they had a lot is really connected to social to say.”

Manson justice narratives or actions. said while she Issac Carter expected a diUniversity of La Verne program chair for the versity of perSocial Justice Higher Education Administration spectives while Program making the book, she was very impressed by the depth in which these new into the conversation as a topic, professionals were investigating and also to comment on how we don’t need a critical mass, or a their subjects.

“I was just very impressed statistically significant number that ‘quote on quote’ new schol- of people,” Shaheen said. “So ars had such depth of insight, sometimes we are our data and and such a real argument for why the scholarly personal narrative is these subjects needed to be in- a real way of writing, and is the method of which I wrote.” vestigated more,” Manson said.

In another chapter within One of these scholars was Ohio State University doctoral the book, titled “Critical Intercandidate in Higher Education faith Praxis in Higher Educaand Student Affairs Musbah tion: The Interfaith Collective,” Shaheen, who authored chapter writers Issac M. Carter, Adonay 6, “Creating My Borderlands: Montes, Beatriz Gonzalez, ZanQueer and Muslim Identity De- dra Wagoner, Nancy Reyes and velopment Through a Scholarly Veronica Escoffery-Runnels, explored religion through figuring Personal Narrative.”

Shaheen said his chapter out how to engage students.

Issac M. Carter, University came about through the book’s

of La Verne program chair for the Social Justice Higher Education Administration Program, said while it wasn’t the only thing focused on the chapter, a large theme was connecting interfaith and social justice ideas.

“I would say that there’s a strong connection of culture to spirituality and that that spirituality, faith, or religion is really connected to social justice narratives or actions,” Carter said.

University of La Verne Chaplain Zandra Wagoner said when conducting their research for the chapter, they asked interfaith student leaders, as well as Black and Latino students, what was important to them around their religious and non-religious identities and how that matters on campus.

“This chapter was taking that raw data and asking the question, ‘what would be the best interfaith practice for a mutiracial, multiethnic, multi religious effort on a college campus,’” Wagoner said. “We wanted to get a sense of what our best practices for a truly multiracial interfaith culture on our campus.”

According to University of La Verne Associate Professor of Education Adonay Montes, while their research was focused on college students and the interfaith culture on campus, it was also important to focus on questions of the students’ development as individuals and outside of the college as well.

“We’re looking at how the landscape will manifest if students are given the opportunity to understand and gain the awareness that interfaith may play in their development as individuals,” Montes said. “What we were looking to find is, does interfaith, if they have the right spaces of success, allow for students to be themselves? Does it allow the students to develop an authenticity

Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership J.T. Snipes co-edited “Remixed and Reimagined: Innovations in Religion, Spirituality, and (Inter)faith in Higher Education” with Sable Manson. | Photo courtesy of SIUE Marketing and Communications

globally when they’re interacting inside the campus, but also outside the campus?”

While this book represents a large number of diverse perspectives within religion, Snipes said he believes it’s important to gather even more in his future books. He said this book is only the start of a larger idea and is designed to get the conversation started about lesser studied topics with religion, spirituality and interfaith.

“This current text, I think, represents a small push to us rethinking, when we say the word religion, what does that mean?”

Snipes said. “When we say the word spirituality, what do we mean by that, and who’s included in that articulation, and who’s left out?”

For those interested in connecting with critical religious researchers in higher education, visit Critical Religious Studies in Higher Education Network.

REVIEW: ‘The Haunting of Bly Manor’ is not as scary as the trailer made it seem, but it’s still worth a watch GABRIEL BRADY reporter

With necks snapping, faceless figures and creepy children in the trailer, the producers of “Bly Manor” made the show seem like a horror series. After binging the series last week on Netflix, I found it to be more of an 1800s gothic romance, but mystical nonetheless.

“The Haunting of Bly Manor” certainly has scary, tense moments and a very ominous atmosphere, but the show is mostly a series of romantic and supernatural events. Does this mean I disliked it?

No, but it was not as scary as I expected it to be. I definitely enjoyed watching it, which surprised me. Normally, I don’t enjoy love stories too much, because they all seem to play out the same to me. However, “The Haunting of Bly Manor” adds in touches of horror which kept me interested in the story and excited to watch more.

In horror, I find the scariest pieces of media to come from the unexplained.

In some of my favorite horror media, like “The Lighthouse” or “Eraserhead,” you

don’t know what’s going on until you watch it a few times, and that’s scary. Not only are you scared because the main characters are in peril, but you are also scared because you don’t know why everything is happening, just like the characters.

“The Haunting of Bly Manor” handles this well in the first few episodes.

Occasionally, the main characters will see someone who isn’t there in a mirror, or something will happen out-of-focus in the background, or the two children at the manor do something very strange and very creepy. While all this happens, the audience is left frightened, but curious. Who is the man with the round glasses in the mirror? Why does a crack in the walls appear and disappear throughout the house?

Are the children protecting the other characters or trying to hurt them? All of this is explained quite clearly later in the show, which removes the horror aspects, but there is still plot to unravel.

A complaint that some people have made with any Netflix series is the over-inclusion of LGBTQ+ characters. I don’t see much merit to that complaint, and I only

bring it up because Dani, the protagonist for the majority of “The Haunting of Bly Manor,” is a lesbian, and this is revealed as a major plot point partway into the show.

I would say “The Haunting of Bly Manor” does a great job of representation overall.

One of Dani’s main struggles is that she is lesbian, and it’s handled quite well. Her struggle with her sexuality is part of her character arc.

Alternatively, characters like Hannah and Owen are non-white, but their race doesn’t define their characters. Their existence shows that non-white characters can exist without their race being a major plot point. If Hannah or Owen were white, the plot of the show and their struggles as characters would not change. They are not written with their race as part of their identity.

While talking about the writing, I have to talk about the fantastic acting from everyone in the show as well. It would be hard to find child actors that can play such strange characters as Miles and Flora Wingrave, but Benjamin Evan Ainsworth and Amelie Bea Smith both do a great job of

showing their characters’ range. And, specifically in the fifth episode, entitled “The Altar of the Dead”— one of my favorites— T’Nia Miller’s performance as Hannah Grose and Rahul Kohli’s performance as Owen Sharma are both fantastic and keeps the audience very invested. The recurring scenes and interesting writing techniques are put into practice very well by the both of them.

“The Haunting of Bly Manor” is exactly what it says it is in the Netflix description: a gothic romance. Although it definitely has some tense, horror-filled moments, the series sticks mainly to drama and intriguing plot twists. This contrast between horror and love story is explained very well in the final episode, as well as every other major plot point the audience witnesses until then. As I’ve said, I personally don’t like when the plot of a story is wrapped up perfectly with a bow and everything is clear; ambiguity can be much more frightening. So, if you want a dramatic romance, with a hint of horror, “The Haunting of Bly Manor” is great for you.

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There is no excuse not to vote, period THE ALESTLE STAFF editorial board

With early voting, mail-in ballots and same-day voter registration available, there is no excuse not to vote in the upcoming election.

Voter turnout in the U.S. has historically been low, with an average of between 50 and 60 percent of all eligible voters taking part in presidential elections over the past 30 years, according to FairVote.

Among young adults, voter turnout is consistently even lower, typically in the 30 to 40 percent range, according to a report from the Census Bureau. This is the lowest of any age group, with 25 to 44-year-olds averaging around 50 percent, 45 to 64-year-olds in the low 60s and those 65 and over averaging around 70 per-

cent. Meanwhile, 18 to 44-yearolds make up roughly half of all eligible voters.

Voting is possibly our greatest civic duty as American citizens. Our vote allows us to influence policy and promote the beliefs and values we hold, in addition to choosing the individuals who will lead us. It allows us as citizens to provide a check for the government by voting for the candidates we believe have our best intentions in mind and the greatest vision for the future of the nation. For our voices to be heard, we must vote.

With the COVID-19 pandemic, voting will look different this year. The pandemic will provide new challenges to some who are planning to vote, but it has also led to more discussion about how to make voting available through alternative options.

These include expanded mail-in voting and early voting options.

While voter registration by mail or online has ended in Illinois, in-person voter registration is still available through Election Day. Absentee ballots can be requested through Oct. 29 and simply must be postmarked by Election Day on Nov. 3. Additionally, early voting can be done at various locations throughout the state leading up to Election Day. This leaves plenty of opportunities for those who have not yet developed a plan to vote to do so.

Beyond just voting, we also need to make informed decisions about which candidates and policies we are voting for. While it can be draining to try to keep up with the various local, state and national campaigns in addition to keeping up with other responsibilities

that come with our daily lives, our votes will not truly matter unless they are informed votes.

Sample ballots can be found on most county websites. The Alestle will also provide sample ballots for local counties with explainers in our election issue next week.

Any amount of research will leave one in a better position to pick the candidates that best align with beliefs. Using websites like the Illinois Voter Guide can allow a prospective voter to learn more about all the races appearing on their ballot in one place. While it may seem like a daunting task at first, take researching and developing a voting plan one step at a time. The more preparation you do beforehand, the more confident you will be in the decisions you are making when you do vote.

were always available, but were never given.

People with disabilities have been advocating for themselves for a long time to try to get accommodations like recorded lectures and remote work. Back in March, people with disabilities across the country took to Twitter with the hashtag #DisabledAndSaltyAF to share their frustrations. Many shared stories about being denied accommodations in school or at work that are now widely available for able-bodied people.

Meanwhile, other accommodations have been forgotten about in the rush to create online curriculums. Professors sometimes neglect to provide captions or transcriptions of their video lectures. Some websites offer auto-generated captions, but those are often inaccurate. Students who are hard of hearing or have some form of auditory processing difficulties need accurate cap-

tions to understand their lectures.

Many online readings are images of the text that are unable to be read by screen readers. Students are given longer reading assignments than pre-COVID that are especially difficult to read for students with learning disabilities.

Online classes and policies are also incredibly classist. Many instructors ask students to keep their cameras on, and in some cases, their microphones unmuted.

This can be really uncomfortable for students who live in poverty and don’t want to show their living conditions to their teachers and classmates. It can make learning difficult for some students due to potentially not having fast enough Wi-Fi to handle using video. Some students don’t have desks to work at or computers with webcams. Students who are now at home may also be helping care for younger siblings or their own children due to online

schooling.

There is also the issue of the digital divide, which disproportionately impacts students of color. An estimated 16.9 million students don’t have access to high-speed internet according to a report compiled by education and civil rights organizations.

Native American students are the most likely to be without internet at 34.2 percent, followed by Latino students at 31.2 percent and Black students at 30.6 percent.

While the CARES Act funding SIUE offered attempted to rectify this, the money ran out before some students could apply.

There needs to be more of an effort made by school and university administrators as well as educators to make sure everyone has equal access to education even during the pandemic. It’s been proven that it can be done and the only thing preventing it was ableism.

Zoom classes can teach us how classism and ableism are ingrained in our education system ALEX AULTMAN lifestyles editor

Students with disabilities and students with low incomes face more barriers to online education than able-bodied, financially upper class students and it needs to be addressed.

Due to the pandemic, there has been a call for teachers and professors to show more compassion and leniency, but they have spent years withholding that same compassion and leniency from students with disabilities.

Able-bodied students have been getting extensions and accommodations that were scoffed at before COVID-19, like attending class remotely. Students with disabilities have been asking for these accommodations for years and they’re only now being implemented because it is able-bodied students who are affected. It shows these accommodations

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THERE WILL BE NO SPORTS COVERAGE IN NEXT WEEK’S ELECTION ISSUE page 7

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SIUE athletes join in voting initiatives, fight for social justice JOHN MCGOWAN reporter

SIUE’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee is one of many college athletics groups across the country stepping up to promote social change, whether this is through advocacy or getting other students ready to vote.

Most notably, SAAC organized a Black Lives Matter march at the end of September for student-athletes to walk. They also recently set up a voter registration table outside the Vadalabene Center to help athletes and students register to vote.

President of SAAC, senior soccer goalkeeper Jensen Schoch, said members of SAAC have also partnered up for another voting initiative.

“A couple members on our SAAC board have partnered with SIUE Votes, which is a newer organization that is just encouraging all the students to get out and vote and participate in politics.

They’ve been doing a lot of social media campaigns and making sure that all of the teams in the Athletic Department are registered to vote,” Schoch said.

Senior softball infielder Bailley Concatto, a SAAC member, has been working with the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge, an organization that aims to normalize political involvement on college campuses, and the Ohio Valley Conference, who has started a similar initiative.

Concatto said they’re doing everything they can to help spread information. “[We have been] throwing all the information out on social media that we could get. We’ve been

talking to students … Really, just getting all of that non-partisan information out there to students that need it,” Concatto said.

Schoch said it’s important for all students to vote because today’s young voters are voting to change their future.

“We’re 18, 22, 23, and we’re eventually going to be 40 and have to live in the world that we’ve created, and it starts by us voting now and being politically active,” Schoch said.

Concatto said it’s important that student-athletes set an example by getting involved.

“Student-athletes get involved in things like BLM and all of the things that are going on in the world right now because we have a platform … We have a very, very unique platform to stand on when it comes to social issues and just drawing attention to things that need it,” Concatto said.

SAAC isn’t the only collegiate athletics group encouraging students and athletes to vote. The University of Oregon succeeded in their “Keep it 100” program, an effort by two of their coaches to get every one of their eligible athletes registered, and members of the Big 10 Conference recently released a video with tips on how to convince family members to vote.

In a video from the University at Buffalo in New York, various coaches, faculty and athletes encouraged students and athletes to vote.

“I vote because I have a voice, and I understand that I can lay the foundation for change,” University at Buffalo’s Director of Athletics Mark Alnutt said in the video.

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes warms up in a shirt with a message to vote on September 10, 2020, before the Chiefs play host to the Houston Texans at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. However, the NFL is not the only sports organization pushing its audience to vote, colleges across the country, including SIUE, are as well.

I Tammy Ljungblad /The Kansas City Star/ TNS

Advocacy among athletes doesn’t stop at the collegiate level. For the election, the NFL has launched NFL Votes, a new initiative that aims to educate fans on how to make their “voter game plans,” which include registering, figuring out the best way to vote and deciding where to vote. On its NBA Voices website, the NBA has compiled a list of its stadiums being used as polling places, as

well as included information on how to make a voting plan.

“Last election, millions of voters were unable to cast their ballots. Why? No gameplan.

What’s yours?” Seattle Seahawks Head Coach Pete Carroll said in a video on the NFL website.

Vice President of SAAC, graduate track and field thrower Catherine Jakich, said the SAAC has more coming up.

“[This] week we’re having Social Injustice Week for the Ohio Valley Conference. Every day is different, and on Tuesday I’m in charge of the Ethnic and Racial Issues Day … We’re focusing on BLM and COVID, and how it has affected specifically minorities, and we’re talking about ICE and detention camps,” Jakich said.

For more information, visit SAAC’s website.

Money moves: Athletics budget changes with COVID-19 GABRIEL BRADY, LILY SCHNIEDERS reporters

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the world of collegiate athletics has been thrown into limbo. With more students returning for their lost seasons — and new freshmen still arriving — there is a dire need for more funding.

The NCAA announced on March 30 that student-athletes who had their spring season canceled due to COVID-19 could choose to play an extra year. Director of SIUE Athletics Tim Hall said this has opened up many opportunities for student-athletes at SIUE. “So, if you’re what we call a ‘COVID senior,’ where you’re going to exhaust your eligibility, you can still come back and compete in this season, because the NCAA said the athletic aid for that wouldn’t be part of the aid limit,” Hall said.

However, with some seniors staying for another season, Hall said there will now be less money to hand out, since there will be five classes of student-athletes instead of the usual four. To sum it up, Hall said seniors from Spring 2020 are allowed to return so they can make up for their lost semester, but that means they will have one more class of students than usual.

“Each team has a limit of aid. Say you were a senior, and in your fourth year,

your season was canceled, but we awarded them the scholarship for the following year because they missed it,” Hall said. “But, you’d still have freshmen coming in, so the aid amount would go over. So, anybody who is a senior, as long as they stay at the same institution, the school award would not count against aid totals.”

Head Coach of Men’s Soccer Cale Wassermann said this system seems beneficial, but it has its faults. Even though the teams will be allowed to use additional funds for these extra students, there will still be a need for money.

“There are some new NCAA guidelines allowing for the players who return for an extra year to potentially receive non-countable aid, but although the NCAA is allowing it, it still costs programs money, so it will be a case-by-case and school-by-school institutional decision,” Wassermann said.

SIUE had two ideas to raise money for the returning student-athletes, and the incoming athletes as well: the Cougar Athletic Excellence Fund — which has been used before — and the new $28 for 28 Campaign.

According to the SIUE Athletics website, The Cougar Athletic Excellence Fund is used for helping with the cost of scholarships and operations for all 16 Division I varsity sports. There were also specific

perks for some donors, like those who donated upward of $100 during July or June would be considered Cougar Athletic Excellence Fund members. Alternatively, the $28 for 28 Campaign is reserved only for student-athletes that earned a grade point average of higher than 3.0 for 28 consecutive semesters.

Although the fundraising has helped, SIUE Athletics has still been very low on funds due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Associate Athletics Director for Student Services Jaci DeClue said this has led to moving around some money in the department.

“While we have faced many budget challenges due to [COVID-19] and had to make various budget cuts, providing our student-athletes with their agreed upon athletic scholarship was a top priority of our department,” DeClue said. “In order to provide scholarships to students who chose to return, we have to look at other areas we can cut expenditures in. For every $1 we use on scholarships that were not budgeted, we have to cut a dollar somewhere else or increase our external fundraising.”

The NCAA has allowed students to make up for lost time, but student-athletes could also choose to opt out due to the pandemic while still maintaining 2020-21 athletic scholarships. Those who opt out

still have to adhere to NCAA rules, like rules against drug use, but they don’t have to attend practices and lifts with the team.

One athlete who opted out is DeVonté Tincher, a senior on the track and field team from Glen Carbon, Illinois. Tincher said track became a source of stress instead of a source of relief, which influenced his decision to opt out.

“I had injuries and illnesses come along. It was hard for me because I was someone who never got injured and was always fine,” Tincher said. “If I did have an injury then I would only have to take a week or two off. Having to take four to five months off was something challenging for me.”

Tincher said the decision to opt out helped him reflect on his own life more, and gave him a new outlook.

“Opting out allowed a lot of time for me to self-reflect about who I am outside of sports,” Tincher said. “Seeing who I am outside of athletics has been one of the most positive things that I could have done. I enjoy waking up and going to class, but not [on campus] class, and then doing my homework and after choosing what I want to do throughout the day … learning new things like the piano and being able to apply for jobs when I graduate.”

For more information, visit the NCAA website.

page 8

alestlelive.com FLYERS I page 2

halls, I could understand that, but if we could give them to the resident advisers beforehand and they post them up in the residence halls, I think that would be super beneficial,” Crawford said.

According to Jackson, students may come into the lobby to deliver flyers to be posted, but

may not go into the residential area to post the flyers themselves.

“If there’s something that they want to put up, we handle that. We do all the posting to make sure it’s put in the right spot, in an area that is going to be visible to the students, that it’s hung with appropriate material, those kinds of things,” Jackson said.

Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Jeffrey Waple said the protocol for student organizations posting flyers elsewhere on campus has not changed.

“The process for flyers is the same. They just need to get them stamped at the information desk in the [Morris University Center] and they can put them up on the public bulletin boards on

thursday, 10.22.20

campus,” Waple said.

Waple said tabling in the MUC is allowed, but with a few restrictions.

“We can’t do food sales right now. I think that’s probably the biggest thing. You can’t have candy or things where people can reach in and grab things,” Waple said.

Beverly said he is current-

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