The Alestle Vol. 74 No. 11

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ALESTLE

thursday, 11.12.20

The Student Voice Since 1960

vol. 74 no. 11

Freshman nursing major Emily Roberts, of Williamsville, Illinois, studies outside with a friend on Nov. 6 when the temperature was 73 degrees. Roberts and her study buddy are not the only ones taking advantage of the unseasonably warm weather by studying on the Quad.

AN ALBUM LIKE NO OTHER: Dorian Electra’s new album blends music styles, comments on incel and LGBTQ+ cultures | page 5

LOOKING AHEAD: The NCAA must now navigate standardized testing requirements as many schools drop them | page 7

HOLIDAY HELP: All you need to know about area food drives this Thanksgiving season, whether you receive or donate | page 8 | Khoi Pham / The Alestle

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One construction project ending, another beginning on Alton campus GABRIEL BRADY reporter

The School of Dental Medicine has been eagerly awaiting the completion of the Advanced Care Clinic. While this is being finished up, Facilities Management is looking ahead to a new auditorium for the campus.

Director of Facilities Management Craig Holan said there are a few specifics that are desired for the auditorium, but a lot of details are still up in the air.

“We’ll be looking at a new auditorium for up to 600 students, and three areas that can be combined or separated … like movable, folding walls and some additional lobby space … so it will have a variety of uses,” Holan said. “Early on, there were proposals for various locations, and right now, we’ve kind of settled on the north side of the campus, kind of close to where the Wadlow Carriage House is. The tentative location is immediately south of that, along the parking area.”

Executive Director for Administration Kenneth Holbert said planning for the auditorium is still in its infancy, and there’s still not complete certainty that the project will be possible.

“It’s in the very, very beginning stages. We’re still putting together what the building looks like, and where it will be,” Holbert said. “We would love to pursue this, but as we all know, it all comes down to funding. I’m sure the university and the School of Dental Medicine want to do it, but as is true with every project, it all relates to funding.”

While funding is incredibly important for any project, a budget won’t be one set until a floor plan is made, according to Holan.

“The auditorium is, at this point, just a planning thing that’s getting ready to kick off … It’s not a funded project yet.

We still need floor plans and renderings, and we’ll get all that together with our study, but we don’t have a set time to finish [the study or the project] yet,” Holan said. “The study will be quick, and when the study is done and when we have a plan, then we go out and get the funding. The timeframe is really up to a few years [for the whole project] right now.”

11.02.20 Student Affairs requested SIUE Police’s assistance with an incident that occurred in Prairie Hall. The police found that no crime had been committed.

A parking hangtag was reported stolen from a vehicle in Parking Lot 4E. A student reported receiving harassing text messages. The investigation into the text messages continues.

11.04.20 A resident living on the 500-side of Cougar Village reported cash stolen from her room. Investigation into the theft continues.

Construction for the Advanced Care Clinic on the Alton campus began in April with the demolition of the former Multidisciplinary Lab Building 283. | Gabriel Brady / The Alestle

Assistant Director of Alton and East St. Louis Operations Agustin Bramwell said there is still a very long way to go on the auditorium before any on-ground work can begin.

“We need a set location and a floor plan. There’s a lot of options we need to look at and get set in place before we even go looking at a budget,” Bramwell said.

“I’d say we’re about a half of a percentage point done with that whole project.”

However, Bramwell said the Advanced Care Clinic will be done very soon.

“That project started on March 16 of this year, and it’s probably going to be done in March of 2021,” Bramwell said.

“It should be totally done and open for people again in April.”

Holbert said there will be a few differences between the new Advanced Care Clinic and the previous building.

“The new building will obviously con-

BY THE NUMBERS

COVID-19 at SIUE

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

Oct. 30 - Nov. 5: 11 students, 3 faculty/staff Oct. 23 - 29: 8 students, 1 faculty/staff 14-day new positive tests: 19 students, 4 faculty/ staff All prior weeks positive tests (Aug. 1 - Oct. 22): 127 students, 24 faculty/staff Total positive cases: 146 students, 28 faculty/staff

Tests conducted by SIUE

Oct. 30 - Nov. 5: 111 Oct. 23 - 29: 169 14-day new tests conducted: 280 All prior weeks tests conducted (Aug. 21 - Oct. 22): 740 Total tests conducted: 1020

Positive cases identified by SIUE testing:

Oct. 30 - Nov. 5: 3 Oct. 23 - 29: 3 14-day new positive cases: 6 All prior weeks positive cases (Aug. 21 - Oct. 15): 29 Source: Health, Reporting, and Testing page Total: 35 on SIUE’s COVID-19 website, as of Nov. 6

160 150 140 130 120 110 100

tain an advanced care clinic. It will have a clinic but also a student area. Before, it was just student space, and it was also a pre-clinical lab, but the pre-clinical lab was replaced with the new building on the corner [of Annex Street and College Avenue] in January of 2014,” Holbert said.

Before fully completing the Advanced Care Clinic, Holan said there are plenty of other parts of the project that will be done leading up to completion of the project.

“Our contractor is on schedule, and we’re looking to be buttoned up by [the] end of November. That means the building will be watertight, but there still won’t be windows, but there will be plastic covering over them,” Holan said. “Heating and ventilation will be in, and the sprinkler system is getting put in. A lot of major components are being done.”

For more information, check the Facilities Management website.

Madison County confirmed cases by day

Nov. 1

Nov. 2

Nov. 3

Nov. 4

Nov. 5

Nov. 6

Nov. 7

Nov. 8

Source: Madison County Health Department COVID-19 Dashboard, as of Nov. 9

Percentage of isolation/quarantine space available on campus (as of Nov. 5): 99 percent Source: Health, Reporting, and Testing page on SIUE’s COVID-19 website, as of Nov. 6

COVID-19’S impact on Madison County Region 4 remains under added mitigations, which were put in place Oct. 28.

These mitigations include the following: -Bars and restaurants must close at 11 p.m. and may not open earlier than 6 a.m., and indoor dining cannot be offered.

-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.

Source: dph.illinois.gov.

| Summer Bradley / The Alestle

SIUE Police received a report of a resident living on the 400-side of Cougar Village possibly having a gun. Upon making contact with the resident, police found they had an airsoft gun in their apartment. These are not allowed under University Housing policy, and the airsoft gun was signed into possession at the SIUE Police Department in the public weapon storage.

11.06.20 SIUE Police assisted Edwardsville PD with traffic control for a traffic accident.

SIUE PD responded to a welfare check request from a father regarding his daughter. The police made contact with the daughter, who informed them she did not need police assistance.

11.09.20 SIUE Police received a report of two dogs being off their leashes on campus. When an officer responded to the area, they reported the dogs and owner were no longer there.

News in brief

Racial and Social Justice Scholarship added to SIUE’s financial aid offerings A new scholarship was recently created at SIUE called the Racial and Social Justice Scholarship, which the university plans to begin offering in Fall 2021.

This scholarship will be given to at least one student each year who demonstrates commitment to anti-racism and a desire to pursue this cause both while at SIUE and beyond.

The Anti-Racism Task Force proposed creating this scholarship. Vice Chancellor for Advancement Rachel Stack, a member of the Task Force’s Core Council, is leading the efforts to collect donations for the fund.

Stack said they recently received a $5,000 donation and are about halfway to their initial goal of raising $25,000.

For more about this scholarship or to donate, visit siuegive.com.

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Quad decorations give campus community a way to connect NICOLE BOYD copy editor

The pumpkins, chairs, games and lights that popped up on The Quad one day have a purpose behind them: Student Affairs set up the fall decorations in hopes of boosting campus morale and allowing students to forge connections during the era of social distancing.

Miriam Roccia, associate vice chancellor for Student Affairs, said she had the idea after Student Affairs sent out a survey to gauge how students were feeling during COVID-19.

“Probably about the fifth or sixth week of school, we distributed a check-in survey to students, really easy, kind of 10 questions, ‘How’s your semester going?’

And one of the things that came back, I think, pretty loud and clear to us was that students were struggling with connection — connecting with one another, connecting with the campus,” Roccia said.

Roccia said the seating serves as a way for students to gather safely.

“The decorations in The Quad really grew out of a perceived need, I think, to create more spaces for students to gather in safe ways that were outside, which based on CDC guidelines we believe to be a safer environment, and still with a mask and all of that stuff,” Roccia said. “We kind of parlayed that into, ‘How do we get seating out there, but make it a space that students want to be in?’

Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Jeffrey Waple said this is not the only way campus has been providing students safe ways to interact during the pandemic.

“Beyond this fall festival thing we’re doing in The Quad, Keith Becker out at Campus Rec had a whole two, three weeks full of things including glow spikeball, glow dodgeball, and Housing’s been doing some outdoor things. We’ve been try-

ing to do more things where students can actually face-to-face connect with one another in a safe environment,” Waple said.

Roccia said she has seen small groups of students posting photos on social media using the decorations as a background.

“You don’t have to go over to …

Relleke [Pumpkin Patch in Pontoon Beach, Illinois]. You don’t have to go off campus to go to a pumpkin patch — not that it was a full-blown pumpkin patch or anything, but I think it still provided a good backdrop for folks,” Roccia said.

Paula Birke, director of business operations for Student Affairs, said students and faculty alike seem to be enjoying the decorations.

“I have heard from students as well as staff, passing through campus, they love the way it looks, [they] enjoy the space to sit and hang out,” Birke said.

Students have shared their thoughts about the decorations on social media.

“I loved them. They make campus feel festive and less empty,” Ashley Schaller, sophomore nursing major from Chicago, said in a Facebook comment.

However, Kasey Mitchell, a sophomore psychology major from New Lennox, Illinois, said she wished the fall festivities offered more activities for students.

“I do appreciate it, like I think it was something really nice to do, especially with COVID and that kind of changing the daily life of a student here. I wish there were more games. I think that would have made it seem like they really wanted this to be something big for the students, but, I mean, it looked nice. It was definitely a nice change in scenery,” Mitchell said.

Birke said Student Affairs wanted to incorporate fire pits into the decorations.

“We had really wanted to get fire pits or something of the sort to put out there, but due to the fire policy on campus, we weren’t allowed, but it’s kind of what we

Junior biology major Samantha Gallatin, of Rockford, Illinois, (left) and sophomore elementary education major Alice Yerby, of St. Louis, (right) enjoy the new seating on The Quad while studying and wearing masks for safety. | Khoi Pham / The Alestle

envisioned. But we did hang some lights overhead in the trees so it kind of sets the mood,” Birke said.

Waple said student organizations may set up something similar, as long as they follow safety protocol. “[Student organizations] just have to follow the event safety procedures. Student organizations are still doing events.

Now they’re dwindling down a bit, and they were a little bit easier when the mitigations were when you could do groups of 50. Now it’s 25,” Waple said. “So they can still do outdoor things like that, or indoors, just have to follow the safety

guidelines and fill out the event safety procedures.”

Waple said while Student Affairs does not have any plans for new seasonal decorations in the future, some of the current decorations may be here to stay.

“The chairs that we have, and the boards and the games and stuff, I think those are going to be common out on The Quad as weather permits … I think the chairs might stay, but we’ll have to bring some of the other things in when we start to get snow,” Waple said.

To learn more about Student Affairs, visit their website.

A rundown of diversity and inclusion positions at SIUE

SIUE’s organizational structure includes several positions dedicated to diversity and inclusion efforts. With the addition of a Vice Chancellor for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, these positions and their responsibilities may be restructured, Chancellor Randy Pembrook said in a recent press release. Here are some of the duties that currently fall under each position:

Associate Chancellor for Institutional Diversity and Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer

Position currently held by: Venessa Brown This position oversees the Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion, which works with units across campus to ensure their practices align with these values. They help to establish policies and programs at the university level to also promote diversity and inclusion efforts.

This office often works on hiring procedures and focuses on hiring and retaining faculty and staff who come from a variety of backgrounds.

Director of the Center for Student Diversity and Inclusion

Position currently held by: Lindy Wagner The Center for Student Diversity and Inclusion’s goal is to promote a positive campus community that is accepting and respectful of all backgrounds, according to the center’s mission statement. The director oversees these goals and ensures programs and policies are put in place to promote them. The center often holds events and programs to celebrate various cultures. This includes events for Native American Heritage Month, which is going on right now. The center also hosts Inclusive Conversations and graduation celebrations for several underrepresented groups.

Associate Dean of Students for Diversity and Inclusion

Position currently held by: Courtney Boddie This position was created within Student Affairs in July. In this role, Boddie serves as a member of the Student Affairs Senior Leadership Team and chairs the Division of Student Affairs Diversity and Inclusion Committee. He is responsible for ensuring Student Affairs is doing its part to promote diversity and inclusion efforts on campus through reviewing its policies, training and hiring processes.

He also serves on a number of campus-wide initiatives toward these purposes, including the Anti-Racism Task Force and the Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation Campus Center.

Vice Chancellor for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

Position currently open, with search underway The Vice Chancellor for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, once appointed, will serve as the university’s new Chief Diversity Officer. As such, they will have the power to reorganize SIUE’s diversity initiatives to make a more coordinated effort toward promoting diversity and inclusion. This position will provide leadership to the Anti-Racism Task Force, and will work closely with the SIU System’s Diversity Advisory Council. The vice chancellor will also lead the Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion and chair the Bias Incident Response Team.

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Headshots courtesy of University Marketing

| Summer Bradley / The Alestle

NEXT WEEK: SUPPORTING THE COMMUNITY THIS HOLIDAY SEASON page 4

lifestyles alestlelive.com

contact the editor: lifestyles@alestlelive.com 650-3527 thursday, 11.12.20

SIUE faculty call for more Indigenous professors this Native American Heritage Month ing or prosecuting non-Native Americans who commit crimes on Native land.

“The result has been a jurisdictional tangle that often makes prosecutAs the Center for Student Diversity ing crimes committed in Indian Country and Inclusion hosts events to celebrate Native American Heritage Month, some prohibitively difficult. In 2011, the U.S. are calling for the university to better rep- Justice Department did not prosecute 65 percent of rape cases reported on reservaresent Indigenous people year-round.

Julie Zimmerman, professor of an- tions. According to department records, thropology and chair of the anthropology one in three Native American women are department, said while the university of- raped during their lifetimes—two-andfers a Native American Studies minor, the a-half times the likelihood for an average minor’s interdisciplinary classes are dwin- American woman—and in 86 percent of these cases, the assailant is non-Indian,” dling.

“We do have this Native American the article states.

Wagner said the CSDI is also hosting Studies minor. It’s an interdisciplinary events throughout November to celebrate minor and there’s a lot of anthropology in there, both cultural anthropology and Native American culture, such as a collabarchaeology. Dr. McClinton just retired, oration with Artist-in-Residence Karen so we’ve lost a lot of our history classes, Ann Hoffman, and Native storytelling.

“The idea is that it’s a person who which is very unfortunate … We lost our political science classes with the loss of a identifies and is also an artist of the culfaculty member from that department ture … and then the storytelling, to me, is years back,” Zimmerman said. “So at this very art-ish, because the art of storytelling point, our minor is limping along to main- is truly cultural and truly an aspect that is tain its interdisciplinarity.” a learned skill,” Wagner said.

Zimmerman said the vacancies should Professor Emerita of History and Nabe filled by hiring Native American faculty tive American Studies Rowena McClinton members. said while Illinois does not currently have “We need any federally Native Amerior state-recog“We need Native American can faculty. Can nized tribes, you imagine many tribes faculty. Can you imagine Women’s Studlived in Illinois Women’s Studies without ies without any prior to the women faculty? any women faculty? Can you 1840s before Can you imagbeing moved to ine Black Studimagine Black Studies without Oklahoma. ies without any prinany African American faculty? cipal“The African Amergroup that ican faculty?

But this is typical for Native has been studBut this is typied the most American Studies. ical for Native is the Illinois American StudJulie Zimmerman C o n f e d e r a c y, ies,” ZimmerAnthropology Department chair and the Illinois man said.

Confederacy Zimmerman said the university can [and] … their tribal names were Kaskaskia, further its diversity initiatives by bringing Cahokia, and also the Peoria tribe … now in more Native American students. we don’t know how and why a lot of these “I know what Native American stuconfederacies came about, because we feel dents want to come here. They want to like the confederacies were established to see Native American faculty, but they also assist the internal and external protection want to see scholarships. So give them of these tribes,” McClinton said. scholarships, and that will bring them,” McClinton said the tribes in the IlliZimmerman said. nois Confederacy shared many similarities, Lindy Wagner, director of the Center as they spoke the Algonquian language for Student Diversity and Inclusion, said the CSDI’s upcoming Inclusive Conversa- and had similar political, economic and tion will be focused on issues that Indige- social structures.

“Beyond their political organization, nous people continue to face. we know more about their economic and “The one that’s happening on Nov. social organization.

All these tribes, espe13 is actually about missing and murdered Indigenous women, as well as historical cially east of the Mississippi River, were trauma that is part of being Indigneous very much a part of a community or of a and also being [a] woman. I’m actually town. And in that town and in that comlooking forward to that one, because I munity, they revered the woman, because think that’s a topic that not a lot of peo- the woman, the female, was the cultivator ple are talking about and I think it’s re- and the female also planted and harvested ally important that we raise awareness for the fields,” McClinton said.

To learn more about the CSDI’s Namurdered and missing Indigenous women, and historical trauma of Indigenous tive American Heritage Month events, visit their calendar of events. To learn more people,” Wagner said.

According to an article by The Atlan- about violence against Indigenous womtic, the Supreme Court case Oliphant v. en, visit the website for the Coalition to Suquamish prohibited tribes from arrest- Stop Violence Against Native Women.

NICOLE BOYD copy editor

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REVIEW: “My Agenda” taps into the animosity between LGBTQ+ and incel cultures JOHN MCGOWAN reporter

Dorian Electra’s newest album, “My Agenda,” delivers a unique sound that might split hyperpop fans, while also commenting on the conflict between the incel and LGBTQ+ cultures.

Hyperpop is a relatively new genre, but it can be described as pop music taken to an extreme through the use of electronic beats, high pitched autotuning and fast tempos. Electra has pushed this already experimental genre to its limits once again by throwing in plenty of other genres to the mix.

The songs on “My Agenda” range quite a bit, from aggressive and in your face, to cute and poppy, to slow and seductive.

The album opens with “F the World,” a song that in just over three minutes combines spooky organs, heavy EDM, rap and experimental punk.

Another song on the album, “Gentlemen,” pulls a jazz influence, though it starts with what I can only describe as medieval pan-flute music. Though the genre shifts are hectic, Electra somehow manages to make it work.

The album is only 25 minutes long, with multiple songs only lasting one to two minutes.

These songs are musical shots of adrenaline that unapologetically move on without any breaks, apart from just a few songs that take it easy.

This album will scratch an itch in your brain that you didn’t know was there. The combination of genres all make so much sense when it shouldn’t make any sense at all, and you’re left wondering how something so odd could be so likable. Along with that, the hook of just about every song on this album is so catchy.

I never would have imagined I’d be walking around campus humming a song called “Edgelord.”

The off-the-wall sound of the album is due in part to the wide variety of features it has.

Gaylord appears on “Monk Mode” to bring some death metal influence. Another appearance is Rebecca Black, who you might remember from the viral song “Friday” that became a meme nine years ago. Electra even managed to pull Village People, of “YMCA” fame, for the title track.

My only personal complaint with this album is one or two of the features bring a sound that I tried to like, but they ultimately just threw me off.

This is best shown by the opener, my favorite song on the album. It starts off as wild as I would expect from a Dorian Electra project, it moves on to two great features from d0llywood1 and The Garden, and it moves on to a lackluster feature from Quay Dash. While the other

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two features were great to listen to and they contributed to the idea of the album, Dash’s verse was boring, and I was wondering why it was even included.

The concept of “My Agenda” is just as crazy as its musical content. Through its short runtime, Electra examines the perspective of the “incel,” an internet subculture composed of ultra-misogynistic involuntary celibates, with songs like “M’Lady” and “Edgelord.” In “Edgelord,” Electra sings, “I’m so edgy, Wanna F me? Okay F you, I don’t need you. Pushing me right to the edge.”

In contrast, they have plenty of songs depicting LGBTQ+ culture in a satirical way, with songs like “Sorry Bro (I Love You)” and the title track, which makes fun of and even re-appropriates the idea of the “homosexual agenda,” with lyrics like “My agenda, Might offend ya, Out here flexin in my rainbow suspenders. My agenda, Will infect ya, Out to getcha.”

With the satirization of incel

| Photo courtesy of Eric Nopanen on Unsplash

culture, and the re-appropriation of harmful LGBTQ+ prejudices, Electra paints an exaggerated, intense and sometimes hilarious picture of these two groups. This war depicted in the album also gets a satisfying— if not weird ending.

To recap, this album has

songs about internet hate groups, as well as LGBTQ+ culture and society’s interpretation of LGBTQ+ culture. It features many artists, old and new, and it has just about every genre in the book.

The cold truth is many people won’t be interested. This al-

bum is sensory overload for 25 minutes, and that might not be to some people’s tastes. However, if you’re looking for something new, experimental and intense, give this album a listen. It will be something you didn’t know you wanted, and it will leave you wanting more.

An Important Message About Gas Safety Natural gas is delivered to the University from Ameren IP through an underground piping system. It is used to provide fuel for clean, efficient heat to all campus buildings and residence halls. It is also used for hot water and food preparation.

Overview of Hazards of Pipeline and Prevention Measures Used The hazards associated with the pipeline include fires, explosions, leakage, damage to the facility, and loss of gas service. In order to prevent these incidents, the pipeline is maintained and inspected according to state and federal regulations. Facilities employees receive ongoing training to ensure the continued safe transport of natural gas to the campus.

In order to prevent damage to the pipeline due to construction excavations, SIUE participates in the one-call system known as JULIE. Within 2 days of a call for a planned excavation, SIUE will mark the location of underground gas, as well as other utility lines.

Recognizing and Responding to Gas Leaks Pure natural gas is colorless and odorless. Before gas is delivered to the SIUE campus, an odorant called mercaptan is added to give gas its distinctive odor so you can smell a leak immediately. The odorant makes the gas smell like sulfur or rotten eggs.

If you smell a faint gas odor in any campus building, notify Facilities Management at extension 3711. If the gas odor is strong and/or you hear hissing or a leaking sound, you should leave the building immediately.

If the odor is strong: • Do not use telephones, cell phones, computers or elevators.

• Do not smoke, or use a lighter, match or open flame.

• Do not operate vehicles near where the leaking gas could be.

• Do not re-enter the building to retrieve personal effects.

If you smell a strong gas smell in the air outside or you see unusual occurrences such as a high-pitched whistling or hissing sound, blowing dust, dead vegetation in a normally green area or ground fires, you may be observing signs of a leak in a natural gas line. Always use caution near an outdoor gas leak and recognize the possible hazards such as fire, ignition or explosion.

In these conditions: • Do not use any device or equipment that may generate a spark of flame.

• Do not start up or shut down motor vehicles or electrical equipment.

• Do not use a telephone or cell phone in or near the area.

In either case, notify Facilities Management at extension 3711 or call 911 after 4:30 p.m.

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alestle VIEW

Who’s going to tell Trump that his loss isn’t the result of voter fraud?

THE ALESTLE STAFF editorial board

In the wake of a stressful presidential election, President Donald Trump is attempting to reconcile his shortcomings by claiming there was voter fraud — a claim which could radically distort the general public’s view of democracy and create further divide between the parties.

Shortly before the election was called in battleground states like Pennsylvania and Nevada, Trump took to Twitter and a White House briefing statement to announce his claims of widescale voter fraud.

“The observers were not allowed into the counting rooms. I

won the election, got 71,000,000 legal votes. Bad things happened which our observers were not allowed to see. Never happened before. Millions of mail-in ballots were sent to people who never asked for them,” Trump said in a tweet.

Trump alleged ballot counting was illegal after Election Day and that several battleground states had denied access to legal observers during the counting process. Among his calls for an immediate stop to ballot counting in these states, Trump has also made statements about pursuing lawsuits in states of interest that went to President-Elect Joe Biden.

It was predicted months ago

that if Trump were to lose the election, there would likely not be a peaceful transition of power.

After the election of 2016, former President Barack Obama invited Trump to the White House to talk about the transition, and Biden, vice president at the time, met with Vice President Mike Pence. It is said that this meeting is a tradition that passes the power on to newly elected presidents; however, Trump has not yet invited Biden and Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris to the White House to discuss the transition.

Trump continues to allege he won the election, despite Biden’s prospective wins of 290 electoral votes and the popular

vote. These allegations, attached with Twitter warning labels identifying the information as disputed, might appear comical to Biden supporters. However, they threaten the foundation of democracy in this country.

We at The Alestle believe any warranted concerns surrounding voter fraud should be investigated to the fullest extent, but these claims should not be carelessly made or only surface when the election results are not in favor of the party alleging voter fraud.

Political losses should be handled with grace, and concerns regarding voter fraud should be handled professionally — not tweeted without any supporting evidence.

meant basically the same thing. I thought national problems were best solved through the national government. All of that has changed. Now that the Trump administration is nearly over, we finally have the opportunity to apply what we have all learned.

There is a lot to address, and I do not expect the federal government to provide meaningful help. Yet without their help, I do not know of much we can do for people detained by ICE. My best plan for addressing that is just to pressure everyone involved with the decision-making at these detention centers to stop detaining people.

We have to do something about the police ourselves. There are no official channels capable of removing the systemic biases inherent to the police force; as long as police continue to enforce property law, they will continue to oppress poor people, especially minorities. Ordinary citizens

can’t cut the police budget, but we do have some control over the spaces they occupy. We need to seek out and use other means of handling situations typically delegated to the police.

In many cases, there are already other organizations that can be used instead, like suicide prevention lifelines and Copwatch, a community organization that monitors police for wrongdoing and trains volunteers to resolve sensitive issues without calling the police. We can all use and support organizations like these to keep the police out of our neighborhoods.

So many people are being forced to work during a deadly pandemic while their landlords continue to increase their rent prices. Every employed person reading this should join a labor union. While most of these are job-specific, the International Workers of the World will accept members from any field. If you

can join a tenant union, please do so. It’s cheaper than renter’s insurance and can protect against crises that are more likely to happen, like evictions, illegal searches and gentrification.

Organizations including Planned Parenthood, Wikipedia, Project Gutenberg, the Socialist Rifle Association, Democratic Socialists of America and any local food pantries or churches that deal in community service, as well as many others, need a wide range of skilled volunteers in order to aid their communities. We need members of these communities doing as much as they can to make things a little nicer for everyone.

Just having the time and motivation to perform this sort of work is difficult, even now, but without our help, that will never get easier. This is our best chance to organize ourselves and start taking direct action to solve many of the problems society faces.

It is time to stand together and strike back BROOKE HILL copy editor

The presidential election is finally over, and a lot of us who have been afraid for the last four years are starting to feel safer now.

Many of us are hopeful that things will calm down and the new administration will not ruin as many lives as quickly as the last one.

Some are also hopeful that news media will cover a wider range of topics in the vacuum left by the current president’s social media feed. If you feel like a weight has been lifted from you after the election, please use that energy to lend a hand to improving the lives of common people in your own communities.

The past few years have irreversibly changed us. In 2015, I had never seen a fascist and an anarchist squaring off at a protest.

I had never cut someone I loved out of my life for political reasons.

I thought “leftist” and “liberal”

sports

contact the editor: sports@alestlelive.com 650-3527 thursday, 11.12.20

THE ALESTLE GOES ALL ONLINE THROUGH JANUARY STARTING NEXT WEEK page 7

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NCAA SAT/ACT testing requirement complicated by pandemic DAMIAN MORRIS reporter

(Left to right) Freshman defender Mary Wessel, junior midfielder Katie Mahoney and sophomore midfielder Emma Dutko prepare for the Spring 2021 soccer season at a practice in September. The SIUE women’s soccer team is scheduled to start games, both at home and away, in March.

I Mackenzie Smith / The Alestle

Athletics releases some teams’ schedules, others yet to be announced SIUE Athletics has released the spring schedules for men and womens’ basketball, women’s soccer and volleyball, with every sport at SIUE playing this spring.

Men’s basketball will start the season on Nov. 27 at Youngstown State. The first home game will be against the University of Nebraska Omaha. They’ll be finishing the season at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana, for the OVC Basketball Tournament, scheduled to start March 3.

Women’s basketball will

be starting their season at Purdue Fort Wayne on Nov. 25, and their first home game will be against the University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis. The Ohio Valley Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament is also scheduled to start March 3 at Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana.

Women’s soccer will be starting the season at Eastern Kentucky University on March 2. The first home game will be held against Austin Peay State University on March 5.

According to the Ohio Valley

Conference website, details on the tournament will be revealed at a later date.

Volleyball will start their season at Southeast Missouri State University on Feb. 7, and their first home game will be against Murray State on Feb. 14. Volleyball’s OVC Tournament date has also not been announced yet.

Check out schedules for men’s basketball, women’s basketball, women’s soccer and volleyball on SIUE Athletics website. The Alestle will continue to provide updates.

With SIUE and many other colleges removing standardized test scores from admissions requirements, questions are being raised about how this will impact Athletics.

SIU System President Dan Mahony said if the NCAA reinstates the policy that requires athletes to take standardized tests, incoming athletes will be required to take these tests regardless of SIUE’s general admission policy not requiring test scores.

This could create a large discrepancy in many schools between athletes and non-athletes.

“I think the question in mind is, what happens after this year because SIUC and SIUE are not the only schools who have gone test-optional, and some schools are planning to go test-optional for the long-term, ” Mahony said.

“So we’ll have these inconsistencies where the NCAA says for athletes, ‘you’ll have to take the test,’ but the schools aren’t going to require it for admissions.”

Sophomore softball outfielder Micah Arps said she believes these inconsistencies are understandable because it’s the NCAA’s decision what they require for athletes.

“If the NCAA wants that [requirement] for athletes, I guess that would be fair,” Arps said. “If SIUE doesn’t do that for other people, then athletes are just going to have to do it.”

Director of Athletics Tim Hall said the NCAA requirements might go away for good.

“So if institutions decide that they’re going to go optional, but then the NCAA reinstates it, then young [athletes] will have to take tests,” Hall said. “My gut tells

me, I think over time ... we’ll see it go away.”

If the NCAA does waive the admissions for athletes, then SIUE will rely on other factors such as high school GPA and class rank, according to Mahony.

“Frankly, they tend to be much, much better predictors of success than the SAT or ACT has ever been,” Mahony said. “Just as an example, I did some analysis on our data, and when looking at predicting college success, so college GPA or retention and graduation, the high school GPA predicted about 25 percent of the variance. So, if I know your high school GPA, I could be 25 percent accurate. The SAT predicted 1 percent, so it was almost meaningless in predicting whether you were going to do well in college or not.”

The NCAA, according to its website, decided to waive the testing requirements this academic year to ensure all students could safely and fairly meet the NCAA eligibility requirements.

Arps said she thinks it’s a good idea to waive the standardized test for the time being for the sake of decreasing stress levels for incoming students.

“You have kids stressing over what’s going to happen with [COVID-19] and their scholarships and stuff like that,” Arps said. “So I think them not having to focus on getting a high score on the SAT/ACT would be a good thing.”

According to the NCAA, athletes enrolling in Division I will still have to meet the NCAA requirements of a 2.3 GPA in 16 NCAA-approved core courses, and athletes enrolling in Division II have to have a 2.2 GPA in 16 NCAA-approved core courses.

For more information, visit the NCAA website.

Directors of operations, other team staff work as unsung heroes VERNON SMITH JR. reporter

With women’s basketball recently announcing its new director of operations, sports fans may wonder exactly what this position does.

“Our director of operations does a little bit of everything, he does everything from organizing the day-to-day schedule, to gym time, to lifting time, to making sure the guys get to their appointments and also organizing scouting,” Men’s Basketball Head Coach Brian Barone said.

Colin Schneider, men’s basketball director of operations, is also sometimes in charge of booking travel arrangements and keeping those plans in check. According to Barone, Schneider makes sure the program is successful each day. However, not all teams have a director of operations.

Derek Burton, SIUE women’s soccer head coach, said they do not need one because they have many people on staff who split the work.

“The director of operations can cover

a wide area of things. We don’t really need ule for the women’s soccer team.

“Morgan Betscher, one of our assisone necessarily; we have three full-time coaches for our team and team managers. tant coaches on staff, handles all of the hotel arrangements, T y p i c a l l y, reservations, what you bookings and paywould see in ments. Our buses a director of are coordinated operations between us obvirole, we all ously ... Within handle as a our department staff,” Burthe bus schedule ton said. is made because All the the department behind the owns three of scenes roles their own buses, don’t just so it’s scheduled go to the through the athdirector of BRIAN BARONE letic department,” operations, men’s basketball head coach Burton said.

Barone said.

On the men’s The men’s basketball team has assistant coaches and soccer team, Assistant Coach Matthew graduate assistant Jacob Whitehead, who Cannady is in charge of booking hotels is also in charge of making sure the team and transportation.

“In the department, I work with a has a thoroughly planned day. Burton said the assistant coaches handle the bus sched- few administrators to make sure where we

“Our director of operations ... does everything from organizing the day-to-day schedule, to gym time, to lifting time, to making sure the guys get to their appointments and also organizing scouting.

are going and what hotel we are staying at. That is approved from an administration level … We have administrators who help by pointing me in the right direction with which hotel we should stay at. Our administration also helps us with reserving charter buses so that we can transport our travel party to and from games. I think it’s a very good team effort,” Cannady said.

Barone said it’s not just about splitting up the work to make things easier on the organization, but having the right people who are capable enough to do the task is what makes the planning manageable.

“The more capable people you have, it obviously allows your focus to be in other areas when you’re coaching. Just because you have more people doesn’t necessarily mean the jobs get done. You have to have the right people in certain positions, and fortunately I do,” Barone said.

To read about Angel Whetstone, the women’s basketball director of operations, visit women’s basketball’s webpage. For other matters, visit the athletics website.

page 8

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CLASSIFIEDS GIVE YOU MORE

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thursday, 11.12.20

Thanksgiving Food Drives

COVID-19 has changed many things, including holiday food drives. Here’s what you need to know:

Place your classified ad at a convenient time for you using our easy and secure online interface at: alestlelive.com/classifieds Deadlines: By noon Monday for Thursday issue or any time for Online.

Having trouble?

Call 618-650-3528 or email classifieds@alestlelive.com

The Glen-Ed Pantry is offering a Thanksgiving Basket. In order to receive one, you must be signed up as a client before Nov 16. To become a client, call 656-7506, or visit the pantry.

Alestle Office Hours: MUC 0311 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Monday-Friday

The Alestle goes all online through January starting next week

The River of Life Family Church in Alton, Illinois, is holding its 20th Annual Thanksgiving Dinner. The event is free to whoever wishes to attend, and they will be accepting both monetary and food donations.

For more information,call 465-4000.

SIUE’s Cougar Cupboard is offering a system of holiday boxes for Thanksgiving, which contain both food and toiletries. They were prepared through donations from the SIUE community. It is still possible to sign up for these holiday boxes through SignUpGenius.

The Litchfield Ministerial Alliance is also holding their annual Thanksgiving food drive. The Litchfield Community Thanksgiving will take place on the evening of Nov. 24. Due to COVID-19 regulations, the food drive will be done through a drive-thru at Litchfield Community Center.

Although they are not holding an event for Thanksgiving, the Collinsville Food Pantry will be holding a O Come All Ye Joyful Donations Drive from Nov. 7-14 for Christmas. This drive is happening earlier this year so that all donated items can be properly stored due to the pandemic. They will be accepting toys and Christmas decorations. | Summer Bradley / The Alestle