The Alestle Vol. 74 No. 12

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‘I SUPPORT THE GIRLS’ SEES INCREASED DEMAND DURING COVID-19 page 5

thursday, 11.19.20

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ALESTLE

BASKETBALL FACES MOST INTERESTING SEASON YET page 7

vol. 74 no. 12

The Student Voice Since 1960

SIUE officials respond to local TV news report of campus ‘outbreak’ JENNIFER GOECKNER managing editor

The Madison County Health Department and Illinois Department of Public Health offer free COVID-19 testing to the public at SIUE on Saturday, Nov. 14. Participants are given a nasal swab and test tube, along with instructions on how to complete the test themselves. This event came as Illinois reported 11,003 new cases on Nov. 14, according to the New York Times. I Khoi Pham / The Alestle

Following a recent article from KSDK that claimed SIUE was experiencing a COVID-19 outbreak, university leadership say appropriate safety measures are in place and students should not be concerned about an increase in campus cases ahead of Thanksgiving Break. Chancellor Randy Pembrook said he wouldn’t use the term ‘outbreak’ to describe the current state of the pandemic on the SIUE campus. The positivity rate for screening tests conducted by SIUE fell at 2.78 percent for Nov. 6-12, according to the university’s COVID Dashboard. This reflects an increase to 29 new cases for the week, up from 14 the previous week. “If you look back in the last few months, the positivity rates that SIUE has had in our surveillance testing — 1 percent, 2 percent, not even up to 3 percent see OUTBREAK on page 2

Off-campus shooting raises communication concerns One resident avoided being the getaway driver, but she didn’t know it at the time ALEX AULTMAN lifestyles editor

Many students were worried by the Halloween shooting at The Reserve, an off-campus student apartment complex, and confused by the lack of communication, while one woman narrowly avoided her car being used by the suspect to get away. One SIUE student and Reserve resident reported the shooter attempting to get into her car and asking her for a ride. She wishes to remain anonymous because the suspect has not been arrested at the time of publication. The U.S. Marshals are currently assisting with the search, according to Edwardsville police. The student said the suspect approached her car as she was getting ready to go home for the weekend. He walked in front of her car and couldn’t see her at first due to her tinted windows. Once he was

standing in front of her car, he noticed she away and I was like, ‘Okay that was weird.’” was in there and knocked on her driver side A few moments later, he approached window. her vehicle again “ H e from the othknocked on the er side and was window, so I more aggressive. rolled it down “Then he probably an came to my pasinch and I was senger side door like, ‘Yeah? Can this time. That I help you?’ window was also and he was like, cracked and he ‘Hey do you started knockhave Uber on ing on it like, your phone?’ I ‘Can you at least was like, ‘No, just give me a I’m sorry,’ ANONYMOUS STUDENT ride? I need to driver approached by suspect which I did get out of here. [have Uber], I don’t have any but I didn’t money. I just need to get out of here,’ and I know his situation because at this point I had no idea what was going on because I was like ‘I’m sorry I’m leaving town I can’t guess this had just happened … He was just help you.’ After that happened, he started getting angry, so then he started walking cussing at me and he tried yanking on my

“I had to pull over on the side of the interstate because I was so emotional ... [because] the idea that he had hurt somebody before [approaching my car] had freaked me out.

door handle, so I started to put my car in reverse and ... he ran through my building, 550, so I backed up and that’s when I saw all the cop cars down at 540 and fire trucks and ambulances. I saw him running away and at this point he ran over to the Axis apartments.” She didn’t discover what had occurred until she got a call from a friend while driving home informing her about the e-lert the school put out. “Then that was when the police released that there was a shooting and that also freaked me out double. I had to pull over on the side of the interstate because I was so emotional that he could have — I didn’t believe that he would have hurt me besides getting in my car, I don’t think he would have — but like the idea that he had hurt somebody before kind of freaked me out. Also, back in 2018 or 2017 I had a school shooting so it just hit a little close see SHOOTING on page 2

‘Fair Tax’ failure leaves schools preparing for potential budget cuts DALTON BROWN copy editor

After the Illinois Fair Tax amendment failed to pass on election night, many worried there would be substantial budget cuts to K-12 and higher education. State-funded institutions like SIU have plans in place to prepare for potential budget shortfalls. SIU System President Dan Mahony said while the implications could affect both the Edwardsville and Carbondale campuses differently, each has safety

nets in place to protect their budgets. “Any reduction in the budget is going to impact both [campuses] to some degree. Carbondale has usually more of a decline in enrollment, so [they] rely a little more on the state allocation than Edwardsville for those reasons,” Mahony said. “And both campuses this year put in a contingency in their budget, so they … kind of kept back some money for any reductions we might see.” SIUE Budget Director Bill Winter said the effects of the Fair Tax’s absence will likely not be

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felt directly through the university, but through the state of Illinois. “The Fair Tax is basically a source of revenue for the state of Illinois, so … I think it would be accurate to say that it doesn’t directly impact us, because the Fair Tax money is not coming directly to us,” Winter said. “However, the state of Illinois has had its own budget challenges over the years, and this was something that was going to help the state … so when you had something that was supposed to help plug a budget hole, and they don’t have it, then

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that likely means that everybody … might receive a budget cut.” Assistant economics and finance professor Alicia Plemmons said SIUE’s budgeting practices have placed them in a position to be prepared for any state-level budget problems. “I think SIUE is particularly well off to deal with budget [shortfalls], because it seems like we already have a very conservative approach where we set aside extra money,” Plemmons said. “We have thought years ahead of time about ‘if there’s a budget shortfall, what should we do?’

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… so I think if there were going to be higher cuts to education, SIUE has already planned for this potential … and I think that they make very smart budgetary decisions that might be able to help them get through if there’s a lack of revenue.” Winter said SIUE’s approach includes setting aside parts of the budget in case of potential funding problems. “We’ve asked the vice chancellor areas to hold back a 6 percent budget contingency, so what

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see FAIR TAX on page 2


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