The Alestle Vol. 77, No. 21

Organic chemistry adds extra hour of class

SAM MUREN reporter

This semester, the chemistry department introduced an extra hour of organic chemistry classes to assist students with the challenges of the course.

The hour is designed to give students an extra, built-in hour with their professor. Each class will use the hour at the discretion of the professor.

The organic faculty pushed for the extra hour to try to work more content into the class.

“[The hour] was initiated by those organic faculty, and they pretty much have the latitude to use that hour however they want to use it,” Chemistry Department Chair Eric Voss said.

Each professor may have a specific and unique use for the hour each week.

“It might even change throughout the semester [based] on what the needs are,” Voss said.

The addition of the class will not affect the cost of the class or the credit of the class. Extending the class without added cost requires no change to the accreditation or professor’s salaries.

Overall, the class is designed to be of service to students. Organic Chemistry Professor Cristina De Meo’s goal is to serve students as much as possible.

“For now, we are using [the hour] for study groups,” De Meo said. “[We] move the chairs to make round groups.”

Along with reviewing the content of the class, De Meo wants to prepare students for when they are on their own or with their peers.

“I think we need to train the students to work with other students,” De Meo said. “I’m hoping [the study groups] will bring back this team feeling within the classroom.”

While De Meo focuses on group work, fellow professor Yun Lu focuses on extra-practice problems.

During Lu’s extra hour, he reviews assigned bonus problems that pertain to the lecture earlier in the week.

Lu reviews important concepts and problems throughout the hour and then allows an open forum for students to ask specific questions concerning the problems.

Lu stresses the importance of students asking questions because he will take one student’s question and use it as a refresher for the whole class.

“it helps will take time to reveal. So far, feedback seems positive and optimistic.

“I’ve only been to two so far. I think it does help more than, like, [peer-led team learning]. I really don’t like [peer-led team learning],” Julianna Sotelo, an undeclared freshman said. “I’ve liked it so far because before our first exam, we had [the hour class] and that really helped me prepare.”

We’re always very sensitive to the success rates of our students.”

“[A question from one student] may be the question of many others,” Lu said. “[The students] are engaging. They prepare the questions that they have in the studies of this course.”

Eric Voss,

Chemistry Department Chair

The hour block provides a set time for students to focus on extra practice. Professors and the department realize that having a set time is beneficial to students who struggle to designate time themselves.

Clerical workers reach tentative agreement with SIUE

BRUCE DARNELL managing editor

After more than 600 days of bargaining, SIUE’s clerical worker union AFSCME Local 2887 has reached a tentative agreement with the university and will soon set a date to ratify a new contract.

The agreement was made at 9:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 26. The details regarding the agreement and contract have not been made available to the public as of publication.

02.19.24

Feminine hygiene products were destroyed in a MUC men’s bathroom again. This is the third incident for February.

02.23.24

An officer responded to a report of a pair of people smoking marijuana on a park bench in The Gardens. The officer said the people were gone when they arrived.

02.26.24

A person was arrested in Cougar Village for window peeping. The person was processed and released with a notice to appear.

With the hour being introduced this spring, the goal is to give professors a needed edge to help students.

De Meo has been meeting and continues to meet students for study groups on Sundays since students have restricted schedules with work and other activities.

“I ended up seeing students on Sundays, and I still do in order to be able to catch them,” De Meo said.

The additional hour is also supposed to help students who may be struggling with organic chemistry and prevent them from failing or withdrawing from the course.

“We’re always very sensitive to the success rates of our students. There’s a university initiative to lower the DFW rates,” Voss said.

DFW rates are the percentages of students with grades of D or F in the class, or they have withdrawn.

Since the hour was just instituted, the results of how much

“Having [the hour] actually on the schedule, it doesn’t move and [that] helps so much,” junior biochemistry major Christopher Declue said.

The organic chemistry group is hoping that this hour can be the start of helping students. Professors like De Meo note that more could be done in the future to help.

De Meo pointed out that the professors don’t require any specific accommodations for this extra hour, but would like to see graduate students be paid more.

“What I need is to have again that feeling that SIUE cares about the people that work here,” De Meo said. “Our graduate students are underpaid. It’s a butterfly effect. If [they] are unhappy, they don’t feel motivated.”

Time will tell how the extra hour benefits students academically and what else the department will establish to continue to help.

The building service workers union AFSCME Local 2232 has yet to reach a tentative agreement with the university.

A tentative agreement is a plan to eventually ratify a new contract but without any official signing involved. It is, in essence, a handshake agreement between the negotiating parties until they ratify the new contract.

The last tentative agreement and ratification at SIUE was made in July 2023, when the Faculty Association signed a three-year contract.

Dental school flood causes electrical damage; Students still on track to graduate

CHLOE WOLFE lifestyles editor

Over winter break, police found that the basement of the School of Dental Medicine in Alton flooded, causing damage to the main building. Patients and students have been sent to different SIUE campuses to manage education and business.

Dental School Dean Saulius Drukteinis said that everything has been moved around to the four other SIUE campuses to ensure business continues as normally as possible.

Drukteinis said they are utilizing the two other clinics located on the Alton campus, a clinic on the main Edwardsville campus and a clinic located on

the East St. Louis campus to ensure that students stay on track to graduate.

“[The students have] gotten back to work very quickly. They’re still seeing patients,” Drukteinis said. “We’re monitoring very closely to see if we’re still expecting normal, on-time graduation.

We’ll have to monitor very closely to make sure that their students are getting off-campus experiences that they need.”

The flooding took place on Christmas Day. The SIUE police blotter said that an officer responded to an alarm at Building 263 located at 1700 Annex

Street, Alton, Illinois. Upon arriving, the officer said that the basement had flooded. Power was shut off and Facilities Management began pumping water out of the building.

Drukteinis said that the flood was due to a ruptured water heater that has already been repaired. The electricity was also affected, but the university is working with Ameren to restore power to the building as soon as possible. He also said that none of the equipment for their appointments was affected.

Although Drukteinis said it’s difficult to say when they will be back to regular function, they hope Alton’s Building 263 will be back to full operation sometime in March.

PALESTINE

President Biden has said a temporary ceasefire could begin in Gaza. This would allow aid and hostage trading to occur. However, peacemakers are still unsure if the truce will happen.

SOUTH KOREA

The U.S. and South Korea are planning annual military drills as a result of increased missile testing in North Korea. One primary scenario is simulating nuclear war.

CHINA

China has called for nuclear-armed states to agree to a no-first-use policy in a step towards nuclear disarmament. China and India are the only nations using the policy.

AUSTRALIA

A heat wave has created conditions that could lead to deadly bushfires in southeastern Australia, causing 1,000 people to be evacuated from their homes.

GERMANY

A member of the leftwing militant group Red Army Faction has been arrested after 30 years as a fugitive. Two other RAF members are still on the run.

Information courtesy of Reuters / AP

The Alestle wins 17 state college media awards in Chicago

The Alestle won 17 awards at the recent Illinois College Press Association’s Convention and Awards in Chicago. The publication ranks third in the top student news orgs in the state — improving upon its position in the most competitive division that it joined two years ago.

After a reorganization of ICPA divisions two years ago, The Alestle joined the largeschool division that is populated by schools with daily newspapers and new organizations that very recently were daily news orgs like The Daily Northwestern, The DePaulia at DePaul University, The Loyola Phoenix, The Daily Illini, Illinois State University’s Vidette and the Northern Star at Northern Illinois University.

“We came up against the heavy hitters in the state and not only held our own, but improved our ranking to third out of the largest programs in the state.” Alestle Program Director Tammy Merrett said. “I can’t even express how proud I am of The Alestle staff from 2023.”

The Alestle staff won third place in General Excellence for its print edition – the top two being The DePaulia and The Daily Illini, in second and first place, respectively.

The Alestle won three first place awards – two in design categories and one in photography.

Editor-in-Chief Dylan Hembrough and Lifestyles Editor Chloe Wolfe won first place for Front Page Layout for The Alestle’s coverage of the 2023 Bronze Boot match against SLU. Wolfe also won first place in the photo essay category for her photo piece on the same match.

The staff won first place in Feature Page Design for its regular food feature, Metro East Eats, which consistently wins state, regional and national awards.

“The senior most members of this staff have been here for a year and a half, and more than half of the current staff was hired within the last seven months,” Hembrough said. “The haul we brought home is indicative of this staff’s talent and potential.”

The staff’s collaborative efforts in opinion in 2023 were recognized with a second place award in the opinion page category. Alestle Podcast Producer Hannah Ledford was a particular standout for her work in news

and entertainment podcasting. She won two second place awards for news and entertainment and culture podcasts about campus street preachers and “Barbenheimer,” as well as third place for another entertainment and culture podcast entry about 57 things to do at SIUE.

Opinion Editor Brandi Spann, a relative newcomer at The Alestle, won third place in the open division category of critical review writing with her review of “Saltburn.” The open division is open to all schools of all sizes statewide.

Wolfe also won third place awards for her entries in the sports photo and spot news photo categories.

Wolfe and former Lifestyles

Editor Francesca Boston won third place for their sports game coverage of the Bronze Boot match. She was also recognized with an honorable mention in general news photography.

Photographer Maximilian Lenhart, another newcomer to The Alestle, received honorable mention for his work in sports photography. Hembrough received honorable mentions for his work in front page layout and his work in diversity, equity and inclusion coverage in the large school division. For their in-depth reporting about ongoing union negotiations at SIUE, Hembrough,

Wolfe and Managing Editor Bruce Darnell were also recognized with an honorable mention in the large schools division indepth reporting category.

The Alestle competed in 30 categories against seven larger or daily student news organizations on campuses with more than 7,000 students, including Northwestern University, DePaul University, Loyola University Chicago, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Illinois State University, the University of Chicago and Northern Illinois University.

Almost more than 800 entries in the competition were judged for excellence by working journalists across the country.

Most of The Alestle staff were in Chicago recently to accept 17 awards at the Illinois College Press Association’s Convention.

| Olivia Whitlock / The Alestle

GRACE GENTEMANN reporter

Black artists, from St. Louis specifically, have contributed largely to shaping the music industry, pioneering new genres of music and setting the standard for what music has become today.

St. Louis, being a river city, carried many types of music and an abundance of new sounds up and down the river. One of the most prevalent genres of music in St. Louis was blues.

Some popular artists to come out of St. Louis include famous blues artists Henry Townsend and Bennie Smith. Townsend was born in Mississippi, but traveled to St. Louis to learn and perform blues. Smith was born in St. Louis and used his skills on the electric guitar to create what he called the “St. Louis Sound.”

The Sounds of St. Louis: Black jazz, blues artists changed the music industry

Heavily inspired by blues, the genre R&B, or rhythm and blues, was created. R&B artists like SZA, a St. Louis native, have said that they have been inspired by jazz and blues artists. This inspiration can be heard throughout SZA’s music.

SIUE’s radio station, WSIE The Sound, was also inspired by St. Louis’ music history playing primarily jazz, blues and easy R&B. General Manager Jason Church expressed the importance of artists being influenced by other artists to form music as we know it today.

“[For example]: artists like Little Richard and Big Mama Thorton. You would not have [artists like] Elvis Presley without them. You would not have those artists without jazz or blues,” Church said.

Rock artist Tina Turner, is mentioned by Beyoncé as being one of her many musical inspirations. Often referred to as the

BRUCE DARNELL managing editor

I spend most weekends visiting my girlfriend, Olivia, either by going to Carbondale or having her come up to Edwardsville. This week, we both went back to our hometown Metropolis, Illinois, instead.

On Friday night, I told her that I would leave as soon as I woke up and be there at around 10:30 a.m. I ended up leaving at 10:30 a.m., and got there at around 1 p.m.

When I finally got there, we went back to my house and napped for a few hours in preparation for the rest of an awesome day. We watched TikTok and played Plants vs. Zombies on my phone.

At around 4 p.m., we left the house to go get food in Paducah, Kentucky.

She wanted Tropical Smoothie Cafe and I wanted China Max. We got her smoothie and wrap first because she was hungrier and I wanted to have my food still be warm and eat it at her house.

China Max is my favorite Chinese restaurant. For three entrees — which fill a takeout box to the brim with food — the price is only $8. The food

“Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll,” Turner had her beginnings in St. Louis and later gained national acclaim, according to the official Missouri travel website.

According to the same website, Ike and Tina Turner bridged the gab between R&B and rock ‘n’ roll when they began performing together in St. Louis. They produced several hit songs that made it on to different charts for both R&B and rock ‘n’ roll.

Jazz, another genre made from a conglomeration of other genres, was based heavily in St. Louis. Born in East St. Louis, Miles Davis changed jazz for not only St. Louis, but the world.

“He had a huge impact on music in general. [Miles Davis] was wellknown for jazz,” Church said. “He went through six different evolutions, [each genre] completely different styles of

playing. [He] impacted several genres of music over the years.”

Breaking into the music industry was not without its difficulties for Black artists. Robin Boyce, associate director for corporate support at WSIE, grew up in St. Louis seeing racism stifle Black artists’ talents. Boyce said that these drawbacks have stopped many Black artists from reaching their potential.

“There was a time when Black artists could not play in certain places. I remember that clearly as a little kid … We have been traumatized by being told ‘no’ constantly,” Boyce said.

From the roots planted by many of these Black artists, music has been able to branch beyond the scope it did years before. Being able to expand the bounds of what music can be would not have been possible without the artists before them paving the way.

Every Saturday is a perfect Saturday with my girlfriend

is delicious, but it can sometimes be overwhelmingly sweet.

My order always includes noodles and sesame chicken as a baseline. This time I radically changed my order by getting peppered steak instead of bourbon chicken for my third entree.

Once we got the food, we went back to her house to watch a movie.

I spent probably 15 minutes scrolling through streaming services trying to find something to watch. Anytime I would recommend something great like “Ice Age,” she’d say no and recommend something terrible like “Twilight.”

We eventually settled on “The Menu,” the 2022 movie starring Anna Taylor-Joy. Originally, we picked the movie to make fun of her and see how bad it was.

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. I don’t know why I went into it thinking it was a critically-panned movie, especially since I searched it up afterward and saw it had pretty good reviews.

I enjoyed it as a little message on the death of art and the artist for the enjoyment of the rich and in the interests of profits.

It seemed like a personal jab at Hollywood for the writer but can be ap-

plied to anyone who has enjoyed doing something but had it ruined because of someone else’s pressure — which I can certainly relate to.

Anna Taylor-Joy’s performance wasn’t bad either. Apparently, people online thought her appearance didn’t fit a working-class character and at one point she bit into a cheeseburger in a strange way; I agree with both of these, but she still did well.

After the movie, we drove around Metropolis for a little while. Small towns get weird at night.

crossing the road without any lights. This didn’t happen this night, though. We had a peaceful drive through the countryside and town before looping back to her house.

There have been occasions where I’ve almost flattened grown men on children’s BMX bikes because they tried

When we got back, we sat in her driveway for about half an hour. We talked and watched videos on my phone again. After a while, because she hates me, she left to go finish some homework. We kissed and said goodbye, and I went back to my house and slept for the rest of my Perfect Saturday.

Bruce Darnell and his girlfriend Olivia.

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Bruce Darnell / The Alestle

Making up for lost time: How leap days keep our years on track

DYLAN HEMBROUGH editor-in-chief

Calendars from humanity’s early history did a decent job of tracking the passage of time, but it wasn’t until more recently that they were adjusted to more accurately reflect the march of time.

Early calendars were mostly lunisolar, meaning they followed the movements of both the sun and the moon throughout the year. Months followed the moon — that’s where the word “month” comes from, after all — and years followed the sun, according to Britannica.

Since months don’t line up perfectly with the solar year, many ancient calendars dealt with this issue by inserting “intercalary days” every so often — extra days that would help the calendar play catchup with the cycle of the seasons. Some calendars used entire months as catch-up devices.

Regardless, each month would begin with the sighting of the new moon, where the half of the moon that faces the Earth is not illuminated. New moons aren’t always on the first of each month now, though, so what gives?

The calendar most of the world runs on today is a solar calendar, based solely on the movement of the sun across the sky throughout the year. The ancestor of today’s modern calendar was introduced by Julius Caesar in 45 BCE, defining a year as 365.25 days. This is where Leap Day took off in the West, but this isn’t the end of its story.

Leanne Italie wrote in an AP article that the leap day was added to keep the calendar in sync with annual events, such as solstices and equinoxes. However, it isn’t quite every four years that another

day is added to the calendar.

In short, years divisible by 100 do not get leap days unless they are also divisible by 400. This is why 2000 had a leap day, but 1900 did not.

This complicated system of leap days is because the Julian calendar wasn’t quite accurate. According to Britannica, the Julian calendar would shift from the cycle of the seasons by almost one day per year. By 1582, the year had drifted several days. Pope Gregory XIII revised the calendar, defining the year as 365.2422 days.

Pope Gregory reset the calendar based

on the spring equinox in 325 CE, the year of the Council of Nicaea, a pivotal moment in Christian history. Because of his revision, people went to sleep the night of Oct. 4, 1582, and woke up the morning of Oct. 15, 1582. Talk about “leap forward!”

The question remains as to why February won the leap day lottery. The answer is a lot simpler: February was the last month of the year in Roman times, so it made sense to add the extra day to the very end of the year. February’s former placement in the year is still reflected to this day by the names of September, October, No-

club members.

GRACE GENTEMANN reporter

Founded in 2007, the African Student Association provides a welcoming space for African students to make connections and embrace their culture.

Bridging the gap for foreign students, the association provides a space for African students to create a community on campus with peers with similar backgrounds.

The association also holds fundraising events on campus as well as social events that allow students to connect more with

vember and December, which come from Latin roots meaning “seven,” “eight,” “nine” and “ten,” respectively.

There are some calendar systems that don’t bother with tracking the sun at all, instead basing the passage of time on the movements of the moon. One of the most widespread lunar calendars in use today is the Islamic calendar.

The Islamic calendar also has 12 months, according to an article by Iqbal Akhtar, associate professor of religious studies at Florida International University. Each lunar month is 29 or 30 days long, meaning the Islamic calendar drifts from the Gregorian calendar over time.

“That’s why the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan can fall in October one year, and a few years later it would be in July,” Akhtar wrote. “It also means that the Islamic New Year is never on the same date.”

While the Gregorian calendar is the standard across most of the world, the Julian calendar still sees some limited use in Orthodox Christianity as a religious calendar. This is the reason Christmas is celebrated on Jan. 7 by Orthodox Christians instead of Dec. 25.

The leap day is a game-changer as far as accurate timekeeping goes. However, as technology has evolved to keep track of time more accurately, new problems have cropped up. According to a study entitled “The Future of Time: UTC and the Leap Second,” the length of a day will be longer by one-thirtieth of a second by the year 3000. This doesn’t sound like much, but it means “leap seconds” will be a much more frequent occurrence than they are currently.

Luckily, unless the secret to immortality is discovered soon, those of us living in the 21st century can rely on the leap day to keep our years on track.

African Student Association: Bridging cultural gaps, demystifying differences

The club’s President, Oyeyemi Oluwaseyi Efunkoya, said she enjoys when students from different countries that are not already represented join the club.

“Last year, we had our first Malawian, and this year, we had our first person from Uganda join,” Efunkoya said.

The organization is composed not only of African students, but also a significant number of American students. The club provides the opportunity for everyone to learn more about African culture.

Mass Communications Department Chair and Professor Musonda Kapatam-

oyo, the advisor for the club, said that one of the main objectives for the organization is to bridge cultural gaps and demystify the differences between people.

“SIUE has a mission about diversity as something we should be doing all the time and the activities held by the ASA fit right into that vision,” Kapatamoyo said.

One such event, called Afro Beats and Beads, provides a social aspect as well as teaching students the importance of African waist bands in their culture.

One of the highlights of the club is the Annual African Banquet that students host. Students participate in dances,

African food exchanges and a flag ceremony to display their home countries’ flags. Students spend anywhere from weeks to months practicing dances from African cultures to showcase at the event.

“They do a variety show [and] they have people coming in [showing] different fashions from different countries,” Kapatamoyo said. “There is food at the event and all sorts of buffet items.”

This year, the Annual African Banquet doors will be at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 30 at the MUC Confrence Center. Tickets can be purchased online or at the door.

BRUCE DARNELL Managing Editor

DYLAN HEMBROUGH Editor-in-Chief AUDREY O’RENIC Sports Editor

T. BRANDI SPANN Opinion Editor

CHLOE WOLFE Lifestyles Editor Grace Gentemann Sam Muren Ava Galban Reporters Matthew Wolden Olivia Whitlock Tori Waters Copy Editors Maximilian Lenhart Pedro Henrique G-M Photographers

HANNAH LEDFORD Podcast Producer

Over 600 days in: The time is now for SIUE’s unions to get a fair contract

THE ALESTLE STAFF editorial board

A group of SIUE’s unions have gone over 600 days without a contract. This is unacceptable for any employer, but is especially disappointing from SIUE considering their claim to provide equality, accessibility and inclusion to all students, faculty and staff.

The unions still negotiating with the university are the clerical workers and building service workers, represented by AFSCME Local 2887 and AFSCME Local 2232 respectively.

Without a contract, the workers are guaranteed nothing more than what the state mandates, such as the minimum wage.

Rameshwar Gundem Circulation Manager Meghan Fosnock Damon Fowler Front Desk Clerks Shoba Swar Advertising Manager Tammy Merrett Program Directo r Angie Trout Office Manager

Despite many of the staff having college degrees and working on a college campus, they’re not compensated at a level fitting their education

And since so many work at

minimum wage, they are forced to take on other jobs on top of the one they have at SIUE.

Since the jobs at SIUE are undesirable, people are leaving.

A noticeable amount of building service workers are gone and have yet to be replaced, which is shown by a growing number of dirty buildings as the remaining workers simply cannot clean the entire campus.

The clerical staff have also been burdened with the workload of multiple people as their offices have become understaffed — all for the pay of one person.

All of this comes at a period of supposed growth for SIUE. The university has surpassed SIUC in enrollment numbers and has new development projects such as the Health Science Building.

However, the university is not acknowledging or compensating the workers who helped them achieve this.

Owing to the growth, SIUE has recently rebranded. The university no longer uses “the little e,” and yet it is treating its workers as though they are nothing more than ants to the colony.

SIUE cannot continue to toy with the lives of its critical staff. They know that without them this place would cease to exist, and yet they’re still dragging their feet through the negotiations.

Some unions protested against the administration recently and had their biggest showing yet. Not only did students, staff and faculty show up in solidarity, but other union leaders came and reprimanded the university for allowing this neglect to continue for so long.

The president of the Illinois AFL-CIO — which represents about 900,000 workers — said that he has yet to see an Illinois contract negotiation go this long without resolution. This should be a wake-up call.

Clerical and building service worker unions have been at multiple Board of Trustees meetings to make their voices heard loud and clear. The most recent time was not news to the administration — they’ve known for many, many months.

So why hasn’t the administration finalized a contract with the remaining unions? The answer is still unknown.

CHLOE WOLFE lifestyles editor

From R&B to rap and country to house, there are not many genres Beyoncé can’t do. But with all the discourse and doubts surrounding her upcoming country album, and the chart-topping release of “TEXAS HOLD ‘EM,” it’s crucial to remember how important Beyoncé is to the music industry.

Beyoncé broke into the industry in 1996 with the group Destiny’s Child. After putting out a couple of albums together, the group decided to focus more on their individual careers.

In 2003, she released her first solo album, “Dangerously in Love,” and her career only got bigger from there with the release of six more albums that all debuted at number one in the United States. This made her the first woman to have her first seven albums to debut at number one in the United States.

She paved the path for an industry-wide change with her innovative ideas and dedication to her music and authentic selfhood.

As a result of her seven studio album releases, two live album releases and many other releases, she has received the most Grammy wins in history, surpassing music industry titans like Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley and Aretha Franklin. She has won record-breaking amounts of awards from Black Entertainment Television Awards (BET) (29), NAACP Image Awards (25) and Soul Train Music Awards (22).

Other unions on campus at SIUE had their contracts finalized long ago, and while the negotiations are different for each union, the university should have compromised by now to provide all their workers a dignified workplace.

As members of SIUE’s community, we must support the staff that keep the school running in their mission to secure a better future for themselves and their families. They deserve a fair contract, and we should be right there beside them supporting their cause.

Hustle personified: There is no denying Beyoncé’s impact on the music industry

MICHAL KATE CASTLEMAN Online Editor see BEYONCÉ on page 7

A Harper’s Bazaar article said that the surprise release of Beyoncé’s 2014 self-titled album sparked an industry shift away from the cycle of promoting singles and radio hits back towards celebrating the artistry behind albums as cohesive units of art. She also changed the industry standard of releasing albums on Tuesday when she dropped the album on a Friday instead.

Despite having the most Grammys ever, Beyoncé has never won “Album of the Year.” The Recording Academy has a long-standing reputation of bias against Black artists in their general category nomination and voting history. Since the beginning of the Grammy Awards in 1957, only 11 Black artists have won that award, and only three of those winners were women.

Beyoncé continues to be a pioneering and uplifting force for her peers and fellow creatives. She has highlighted Black models in her music videos and collaborated with icons like Missy Elliott, Kendrick Lamar, Alicia Keys, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and a plethora of other established and

rising industry stars.

Beyoncé honors those who came before her with her most recent releases. Her 2022 album, “Renaissance,” pays tribute to the legacy of ballroom and the drag scene as well as her late uncle Johnny.

An Out article said the album auditorily incorporated and

Why are politicians celebrating the death of a teenager?

DYLAN HEMBROUGH editor-in-chief

The Alestle’s Editor-in-Chief, Dylan Hembrough, is passionate about the national and international political scene. He will share his opinions on current events in this column every two weeks.

When politicians are celebrating the death of a teenager, that should raise more than a few red flags for voters.

Nonbinary teenager Nex Benedict died earlier this month after a fight in the girls’ bathroom at Owasso High School in Owasso, Oklahoma.

It is important to note that Oklahoma has a law mandating that students may only use bathrooms which align with their biological sex. Benedict used he/him and they/them pronouns. They could not use the bathroom of their choice because of this law.

Advocacy groups, as well as Benedict’s friends, have said Benedict was bullied for their gender identity for about a year beforehand.

The official autopsy report has not been released yet, and questions remain over the nature of Benedict’s cause of death. Whether or not Benedict’s death was the direct result of the fight, the situation has garnered national attention and brought to light certain politicians’

penchant for hate.

When asked about Benedict’s death, Republican Senator Tom Woods, a state-level legislator in Oklahoma, said, “We are going to fight to keep that filth out of the state of Oklahoma.”

If only Woods was referring to bullying.

Woods also said Oklahoma is a “moral state” and a “Christian state” multiple times and has since clarified what he meant by “filth.”

Woods released a statement later on in which he briefly expressed sympathy for Benedict. Immediately afterward, the senator condemned groups “who push gender reassignment on children in our schools … to normalize behavior that shouldn’t be tolerated.”

This sort of talk isn’t isolated, either. Ryan Walters, the superintendent of Oklahoma State schools, assured parents that he would never back down to the “woke mob.” According to Laurel Powell, a representative of the Human Rights Campaign, comments like that stoke the flames of hate.

“When he is denigrating LGBTQ+ students, that sends a very clear message about what kind of … discourse is acceptable,” Powell said.

Benedict’s death is also not an isolated event, but part of a greater disturbing trend. According to Trans Murder Monitoring, 320 transgender people were killed in 2023 alone.

Words are incredibly powerful, and politicians know that. So, when a politician uses their words to further encourage violence and hate instead of promoting inclusion and cooperation, it’s the electorate’s duty to let them know.

That said, politicians also know that voters are sensitive to buzzwords. Walters’ use of the phrase “woke mob” is a perfect example. In the same breath he used to express sympathy for Benedict, Walters used his position of power to encourage more violence when he promised to “fight for parents.” This sort of language creates an out-group that, once labeled, can be more easily targeted.

Buzzwords, in particular, permit voters to not think too critically about what they’re being told. It’s a lot easier, then, to do and say things that they may not have otherwise. We saw it live on Jan. 6, 2021.

More relevant to this discussion is that it becomes much easier not to think of other people as people. The out-group becomes “others” and later “enemies.”

The fact that this sort of speech is becoming normalized is not just worrying — it’s downright terrifying. Public figures who effect real change on the masses are encouraging genocide in a nation that teaches its kids about personal freedom.

And no, using the word “genocide” is not an exaggeration. Just last year, Michael Knowles of The Daily Wire was cheered on by the crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference after he called for the “extermination” of transgenderism.

“Transgenderism must be eradicated from public life entirely — the whole preposterous ideology,” Knowles said.

Listen to the words your representatives are using. Do they encourage you to think about the perspectives of other people, or do they ask you to fall in line in the great American culture war?

If we, as voters and the future of America, stay silent about this sort of language, the fallout of Nex Benedict’s death is just the prelude to what could happen next.

BEYONCÉ | PAGE 6

In a Houston Chronicle interview, Filipino drag queen Matilduh said, “I really look up to her, and she’s my main inspiration for some of my performances. I hope I can give back to my hometown like she does in the future.”

Beyoncé’s art has addressed racism, religion, freedom of expression and sexism. She places a powerful emphasis on femininity and Black autonomy. It’s no surprise that her art resonates with such a large, international audience.

While she is most known for her pop and R&B music, Beyoncé has strong ties to country music.

Even though her newest release propelled her to become the first Black woman to debut a song at number one on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, “TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” is not Beyoncé’s first country song. That title goes to “Daddy Lessons” on her 2016 album “Lemonade.”

“Daddy Lessons” faced extreme scrutiny following her performance at the 50th Country Music Association Awards performance with The Chicks. After the performance, country music fans questioned why Beyoncé was performing at the awards since she was, according to them, “not country.”

The definition of who or what a country artist can be is often exclusionary towards Black artists and women artists. In this regard, Beyoncé is a trailblazer who stands outside of these constricting requirements, introducing a fresh take on the country genre. She successfully releases music spanning across genres, winning awards in multiple areas as proof that artists don’t have to stick to one area of music.

After over 20 years in the industry, there is no denying Beyoncé’s impact and importance when it comes to music and culture, and there is absolutely no genre that Beyoncé cannot thrive in.

Episode

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Women’s tennis falls in close match, regains momentum next day

AUDREY O’RENIC sports editor

SIUE women’s tennis earned a victory and faced a loss this weekend at the Edwardsville YMCA Meyer Center.

The Cougars fought the closest match of the season Friday against Illinois State University.

ISU bested graduate student Jill Lambrechts and senior Jordan Schifano in No. 1 doubles, 6-3. Freshman Stefaniya Anikina and sophomore Amelia Gorman also fell in No. 2 doubles, 2-6. Despite a lead in the first set, sophomore Margaux Guibal Britt and sophomore Cydney Rogers remained unfinished as ISU earned the

doubles point.

Although Guibal Britt lost in No. 2 singles, 3-6, 0-6, Lambrechts swiftly made up for it and secured the first singles point in No. 1 singles for the Cougars, defeating her opponent 6-3, 7-5.

The Cougars fell short once again with Schifano’s loss in No. 3 singles, 2-6, 5-7. However, Anikina bounced back with a second singles point, winning No. 5 singles 7-6, 6-2.

Senior Fabiola Perez secured the third singles point after her 6-3, 6-2 win in No. 6 singles, bringing the overall score to 3-3.

All eyes turned to the last singles match: No. 6. Gor-

GRACE GENTEMANN reporter

As a tight-knit community, SIUE Women’s Club Basketball offers competition and camaraderie, working as a team to accomplish goals both on and off the court.

The SIUE Women’s Club Basketball team currently sits at number one in their conference with a record of 7-1.

The team travels to different states to play at a collegiate level against other club

basketball teams, such as the University of Missouri and Creighton University. Home games, as well as practices, are hosted in the Student Fitness Center on campus.

Women’s Club Basketball plays under the National Club Basketball Association, which determines the teams that will fall under their conference. SIUE’s club team competes not only against the five teams in its conference but also against outside teams.

Kelsi Bales, a senior nurs-

man would be the deciding factor if the team won or lost. Unfortunately, she was defeated in the third set 7-6 by ISU’s Silvia Pomarolli.

Illinois State, who were last season’s Missouri Valley Conference champions, overtook SIUE by just one point, 3-4.

This loss did not discourage the Cougars, but instead gave them a sense of motivation for the next-day match against the University of Northern Iowa.

Guibal Britt and Rogers opened the match with a strong 6-0 win in No. 3 doubles. Anikina and Gorman followed up with a 6-2 win in No. 2 doubles, securing the doubles point for

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the Cougars. This 1-0 lead gave the Cougars the motivation they needed for singles matches.

Anikina clinched the first win in No. 5 singles, 6-1, 6-0. Schifano then followed with a 6-1, 7-5 victory in No. 3 singles. Guibal Britt strengthened the lead after her 6-1, 7-5 win in No. 2 singles.

Lambrechts won against UNI’s Andrijana Brkic in the third set of No. 1 singles due to opponent retirement.

Gorman finished No. 4 singles 6-4, 4-6, 6-1, and Rogers drove the Cougars to the final score of 6-0, winning No. 6 singles 6-2, 6-4.

Anikina was awarded the Ohio Valley Conference’s Co-Women’s Tennis Player of the Week, as she won both matches in straight sets playing at No. 5 singles.

The Cougars will take on Missouri State University at 2:30 p.m., March 2, at the Edwardsville YMCA Meyer Center.

Women’s Club Basketball: Competition, connections go beyond the court

ing major and co-captain of the team, said there are many ways the team has positively benefited her life.

“[Basketball] keeps me in shape, [and] this team has been the reason I have the core group of friends I have now,” Bales said.

The team will play each team in the conference twice. The top two teams will then play against each other for the regional title and will then go on to play at nationals.

The SIUE team has made

it to nationals the last two years and plans to qualify again this year. Eight teams are taken to nationals each year, and games are played in a single game elimination-style tournament with the winner holding the national championship title.

The team members said that in order to work well together on the court, they also want to have a bond off of the court.

Kyndel Arthalony, a junior power forward, said she has played basketball compet-

itively since she was in fourth grade. She said being a part of the team has impacted her life in many ways.

“We make it a point to hang outside of basketball,” Arthalony said. “We have great chemistry and we play well together all the way around. A lot of us grew up in the same area so we grew up playing against each other.”

The next upcoming game is set for March 17, against the Mizzou Women’s Club Basketball team.

Senior Fabiola Perez serves against Valparaiso in No. 6 singles on Jan. 27. Her set remained unfinished as the Cougars won 4-1 overall. | Chloe Wolfe / The Alestle

Graduate student Jill Lambrechts (left) shakes women’s tennis Head Coach Adam Albertsen’s hand in between sets in No. 1 singles. | Chloe Wolfe / The Alestle