The Alestle Vol. 77, No. 3

Domestic violence accommodations to be made for victims on campus in attempt to fix issues

GRACE GENTEMANN reporter

Domestic violence does not stop when students step foot on campus; SIUE is continually making accommodations that address victims’ grievances.

Domestic violence is an issue that persists even when students step foot on campus. It resides in all types of places in many different forms. It can be emotional, verbal and physical. In dealing with these situations, it can be emotionally strenuous for all those involved. This begs the question: what is SIUE doing to support students who may witness or experience these situations themselves?

Sergeant Katie Kircher has worked for the SIUE Police Department for just over nine years. Over her nine years of work, she said she still feels that some of the most dangerous situations to handle are those dealing with domestic violence.

“Law enforcement history will show that domestic type calls are some of the most dangerous calls we go to because of the dynamic of those that are involved,” Kircher said. “Right off the bat, we are more tuned into what we are responding to.”

Kircher also said many of these situations are often heightened by emotions and, therefore, it is incredibly important that they handle these situations with care.

In addition to this, Kircher also said that in some situations, it can be bystanders who make these calls. In these situations, law enforcement can be met with resistance because those in the

situations fear they might intervene. Because of this, SIUE has many preventative measures in place for these types of situations.

“It is all about education, and making people aware of what domestic violence looks like because it comes in many different forms. It is not just physical,” Kircher said. “Verbal abuse is just as damaging as physical abuse.”

She also said many other departments around campus work collectively with the police department in these types of situations.

“There are offices on campus that we work collaboratively with, [such as] Student Affairs [and] Title IX, which help students when they do not necessarily feel comfortable on campus,” Kircher said. “One of our lieutenants has a weekly meeting with all of those folks, and they go over different things. Just constant communication across campus, so we are all aware of what is going on.”

Student Health Services is another outlet for students who may find themselves or someone they know that may be dealing with a domestic violence situation. Jessica Ulrich, director of Counseling Services, said much of their work is confidential.

“We are often trying to encourage students to let them know what their rights are,” Ulrich said. “It can be difficult at times because, unless there is imminent risk of harm in the form of suicide or homicide, we cannot report anything.”

Student Health Services strives for anonymity with students, which allows them to express concerns in their relationships without fear of

judgment.

“Maybe they do not want to report anything, but they do want some emotional support,” Ulrich said. “If I am working with a student in counseling, I very well may know that they are in an abusive relationship but I will not come out and say it right away, because that could really mess with rapport, and you want to be able to come at an angle that it’s going to be received.”

Ulrich said that while they do not necessarily handle the filing of restraining orders, she may encourage a student who she feels may be in a dangerous situation to make a report, but it is all up to the student’s discretion. She said they work closely with other departments if they need to get connected with campus police or Title IX.

“Having more discussions … outreach events, things like that,” Ulrich said. “I know that oftentimes domestic violence [and] sexual assault violence, they go hand in hand.”

In hopes for the campus to be more aware and educated about domestic violence and other related issues, Counseling Services said they hope many of the services and outreach programs will allow students to realize the help they have available for them.

“A lot of people that are experiencing domestic violence do

09.01.23

not want to even identify it as that, and so maybe recognizing some of the signs and symptoms … is helpful,”

Ulrich said.

SIUE offers many departments available on campus to help with domestic violence.

SIUE also offers help online; the Rave Guardian app is one of those tools. It connects you to a “guardian,” whether that be a family member, friend or other person that will be alerted when you arrive safely at your designated location.

It also offers quick contact with any law enforcement in the area. If you or someone you know is in a domestic situation that you feel is violent or life threatening, take into consideration your safety as well as others when trying to do your part as a bystander to step in to help prevent these situations.

Ulrich also said domestic abuse is a topic she wants more students to be educated on. In doing so, Counseling Services and other departments are working together to host an event about domestic and substance abuse education.

Counseling Services and other departments will be hosting an event on domestic and substance abuse education from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 5, in the Goshen Lounge.

U.S. risks government shutdown, Congress short on time

ERIK WASSON Bloomberg News (TNS)

The U.S. risks a government shutdown early next month, with Congress short on time to reach a temporary spending deal and House conservatives vowing to disrupt negotiations unless their demands for cuts are met.

Senators returned to Washington this week to discuss a short-term funding compromise to keep government services, salary payments and benefits flowing after the fiscal year ends Sept 30. The House returns next week.

Democrats want the stopgap measure to include billions of dollars in more aid for Ukraine’s war effort — a sticking point with House Republican hardliners — and relief funding for victims of disasters such as the Maui wildfires and Florida hurricane.

Any interim deal amenable to the Democratic-led Senate is unlikely to include spending and policy concessions the hard right demands. Members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus say they don’t fear a government shutdown and they intend to leverage the threat of one to force Democrats to accept priorities such as toughening the process for refugees seeking asylum.

While most forecasters see

little risk of a recession, a government shutdown would hit the economy at a vulnerable moment. Job growth cooled over the summer, a major auto strike is looming later this month and consumer spending is expected to weaken as student loan payments resume in October.

A shutdown and the resulting disruption poses a risk for any sitting president, especially if it weakens the economy ahead of a reelection year. But prior Republican-provoked shutdowns have damaged the party’s standing with voters, and the White House is already using the shutdown threat as one more way to hammer the GOP as extremist.

Republican Senator Mitt Romney of Utah derided the threat as a losing strategy for his party.

“If you look at the prior shutdowns, Republicans basically just gave in and the shutdown didn’t save any money. It actually cost more money,” Romney told reporters Tuesday.

There’s too little time for agreement on the 12 spending bills traditionally used to fund the government before the Sept. 30 deadline, leaving a temporary stopgap as the only solution. But there is no certainty such a measure could pass the House, how long it would last and whether it

would include Ukraine aid.

Democrats want a stopgap measure that keeps the government running through Dec. 8 and includes $44 billion in disaster, Ukraine and border aid. They also want to address their own priorities, including billion-dollar boosts to assure continuation of child nutrition benefits and refugee funds.

“Both parties in both chambers will have to work together,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Wednesday. “The last thing Americans need right now is a pointless government shutdown.”

Senate Republicans, whose votes Schumer needs to overcome any filibuster, appear largely open to a months-long stopgap as well as to Ukraine funding.

U.S. aid for the Ukraine war effort weakens Russia “without firing a shot,” Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday. “It’s certainly not the time to go wobbly.”

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has acknowledged that a stopgap bill is likely necessary but his office says he wants it to be short-lived to avoid a year-end rush to pass a large spending bill. An extension into November is being considered.

To appeal to hardliners, McCarthy has argued that a shut-

An officer responded to a report of a person knocking on doors asking for food. They had left before the officer arrived.

09.04.23

An officer responded to a report of a snake being on the stairs of a Cougar Village apartment. The snake was removed and released outside.

09.04.23

An officer responded to a report of a bat being inside a Cougar Village apartment. The bat was similarly removed and released outside.

down could force a halt in any impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.

McCarthy almost certainly has the votes from Democrats and moderate Republicans to push a continuing resolution through the House. But doing so without Freedom Caucus support could risk his speakership and present the GOP as a party in disarray ahead of the 2024 elections.

Florida Representative Matt Gaetz has raised the possibility of trying to oust McCarthy if he doesn’t take a more hardline stance on spending and on initiating an impeachment inquiry.

Alternatively, the speaker could tee up for a vote on a bill that fulfills conservative demands. That, too, is risky as such a vote could haunt moderate Republicans, particularly those from districts Biden carried in 2020.

The Senate is planning to vote as soon as next week on a package that includes funding for the Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Transportation and Housing and Urban Development departments.

The so-called “minibus” is expected to attract strong Senate Republican support, adding pressure on McCarthy to resolve the spending impasse before Oct. 1.

INDIA

India’s government has indicated a desire to change the country’s name to “Bharat,” stemming from attempts to distance themselves from their colonial past.

CHINA

A couple demolished a portion of the Great Wall of China in an attempt to create a shortcut. The damages were structurally significant, and the pair were arrested.

UKRAINE

A drone attack in Kostiantynivka market resulted in the deaths of 17 people and injured 32. The attack occurred while U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was visiting.

MEXICO

The Supreme Court of Mexico denied a law that prohibited abortion access, which could pave the way to federal legislation codified abortion rights in the country.

GREECE / TURKEY

Heavy rain downfalls have caused dangerous flooding in Turkey and Greece, resulting in the deaths of a dozen people with many more missing.

Information courtesy of Reuters / CNN

“

It can be difficult at times because, unless there is imminent risk of harm, we cannot report anything.”

Jessica Ulrich, Director of Counseling Services

From The Alestle to HuffPost Belton’s passion for journalism never dies

DYLAN HEMBROUGH editor in chief

St. Louis native and Alestle alumna Danielle Belton has certainly run the gamut of journalism jobs — from Alestle reporter to HuffPost editor-in-chief, she stuck with the often stressful career and is now one of the biggest names in the world of news.

Though she got her start in journalism at SIUE, Belton said her love for journalism has permeated her whole life.

“I’ve always been fascinated by journalism,” Belton said. “Both my parents were news junkies. My earliest memories were watching the Iran-Contra hearings with my father, [and] me and my mom used to read the paper aloud to each other.”

Belton began her college career at SIUE in the mid-’90s, a time when she said the university was rebuilding its mass communications program. As a result, The Alestle was going through some growing pains and needed a leader.

“Almost immediately I realized there needed to be someone to actually help foster and support the newspaper,” Belton said. “I’ve always been a really ambitious person, just starting out in the journalism program, but in my efforts in mass comm, I thought this would be fun — to run the student paper — so I applied the following year for the editor-in-chief position and I did it two years in a row.”

Belton, who said she is not someone who “half-does anything,” went to work revitalizing The Alestle and working to reclaim the influence it held in years prior. Part of her work involved appealing to the student body, which is where she could let her creativity run wild.

“One year, one of my friends had the most adorable baby, so we just dressed the baby up as a college student and took photos of him in the library with a little backpack for a ‘back to school’ story,” Belton said. “We did a story once on a guy who had an insane amount of parking tickets. We took a photo of the student

… posed with his car covered in all his parking tickets.”

A periodic editor’s column also appeared in The Alestle’s opinion section, only some of which Belton said stands the test of time.

“I was very strong in my opinions as a young person,” Belton said. “I had no life experience, I don’t know why I thought I could be the authority on everything, but that’s one of the beauties of youth.”

The last issue of The Alestle Belton presided over was printed in April 1999. After that, equipped with a major in mass communications and a minor in English, Belton began her post-college journalism journey.

“I worked in advertising for a hot second — and hated it — and eventually got a job at the Midland Reporter-Telegram, where I took a job as an education reporter, which was the only one that was available,” Belton said. “I worked my way up to drawing editorial cartoons and writing columns. Eventually, I became the assistant lifestyles editor, and that was all over the course of two years. I wore as many hats as I could possibly wear.”

Journalism took Belton from Texas to California, and later to Washington, D.C., New York City and back to her home of St. Louis. Belton said her pattern of getting experience in as many different jobs as she could followed her to each new place of work.

“I would do court reporting, city councils, school boards, fires, murders, everything,”

Belton said.

Belton said her first appearances on TV came after she started her blog, “The Black Snob,” in 2007. A fusion of pop culture, politics and racial commentary, Belton said the blog more or less turned her into a pundit for a while and gave her the opportunity to lean into her identity as a Black woman in journalism.

“I learned so much about the civil rights movement,” Belton said. “I worked with Dream Defenders in Florida [and] we got to be on the ground in Ferguson after Mike Brown was killed.”

Belton eventually turned her sights on The Root and asked for a job there. The Root, which describes itself as “Black news and Black views with a whole lotta attitude,” hired Belton in 2015. She became the managing editor one year later, which was the highest position at the time.

After a conversation with the thenCEO of Gizmodo Media Group and her subsequent promotion to editor-in-chief of The Root, Belton said she was free to take the publication in a new direction.

“We’re going to really lean into what it means to be Black in America today,” Belton said. “We’re going to be unapologetic, we’re going to be aggressive, we’re going to be funny and in your face, we’re going to be everything that the culture is. We’re going to have both journalistic principles and ethics, but also be really witty and use swear words.”

Belton said her ultimate strategy for increasing website traffic was to inject each writer’s unique voice into their stories.

“The best way to get people to read a difficult story is to make it funny, make it entertaining, make the reading tap into an emotion,” Belton said. “Just writing a dry news story, you can read that anywhere, but voice can really carry a story and

Colorado voters sue to stop Trump in 2024

NICK COLTRAIN

The Denver Post (TNS)

A group of Colorado voters filed suit Wednesday to keep former President Donald Trump off the state’s ballot in 2024.

The ballot-qualification suit names the Republican front-runner and Colorado Secretary of State Jenna Griswold as defendants. The lawsuit cites Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, the Civil War-era federal constitutional amendment which bars people from holding office if they have “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against the country. It cites events on and around the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

“(Trump) knowingly sought to subvert our Constitution and system of elections through a

sustained campaign of lies,” the lawsuit states. “His efforts culminated on January 6, 2021, when he incited, exacerbated, and otherwise engaged in a violent insurrection at the United States Capitol by a mob who believed they were following his orders, and refused to protect the Capitol or call off the mob for nearly three hours as the attack unfolded.”

The lawsuit was filed in Denver District Court. The petitioners include three Republicans: former Rhode Island Congresswoman Claudine Cmarada, who now lives in Colorado; Norma Anderson, a former Colorado state representative and Senate majority leader; and Denver Post columnist Krista Kafer.

Plaintiff’s attorney Mario Nicolais said the complaint faces

take it to that next level where people are liking it [and] people are sharing it. You tap into an emotional cord.”

The Root averaged around 3 million visitors per month before then, according to Belton, but soon jumped to 10 million visitors per month.

“We became a New York Times crossword puzzle answer, we were on late night talk shows,” Belton said. “My favorite was a skit on SNL with Issa Rae where she played a freelance writer, and I was like, ‘We did it! We’re in the cultural zeitgeist!’”

Amid this rampant success, however, Belton said she dealt with struggles in her personal life.

“I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder after spending two and a half weeks at a mental hospital over Christmas break [2005] in Los Angeles,” Belton said. “I suddenly became shy and insecure in situations where normally I never would’ve been shy and insecure as a child. I got married to a guy who I had met at SIUE, and it was not a good idea. When I went through the divorce process, that was the first time I’d had suicidal ideation. I didn’t know what was going on with me.”

Belton said much of her career was plagued by depressive episodes, which often threatened her drive to advance into higher positions.

“It was really hard when I was in my mid-to-late twenties,” Belton said. “I’m grateful for the love and support of my family. They’re the ones that really got me through it.”

In addition, Belton said her work often elicited racist hate mail that she eventually began seeing on a regular basis. During her time at SIUE, Belton said she struggled with the sheer amount of hate she received.

“Probably the hardest thing for me being at The Alestle was the hate mail I got from the local Klan,” Belton said. “I used to get tons of hate mail from white supremacists and the KKK, and just trolls in general. The amount of energy it takes to actually write something out, put it in an envelope, lick the stamp

and send it to me, you must’ve been mad.”

Belton said she was upset to the point of tears by the things people said to her and about her, her opinions and the direction she chose to take The Alestle. However, Belton also said her love for journalism guided her through the hate.

“I can take it. I’ll toughen up,” Belton said. “I just love journalism so much that I’ll just have to develop a thick skin. That’s the only way I’m going to survive this.”

After all her trials and tribulations, Belton said the moment she felt like she had really “made it” in journalism was when she was selected to be the next editor-in-chief of HuffPost.

“I went through a very rigorous interview process,” Belton said. “I had about 16 interviews, I had to write two memos and I made it. My goal at HuffPost was to improve diversity, to improve coverage of communities and to get us to profitability, which we’ve been at for the last two years. I really attribute all the HuffPost success to my team — we have amazing journalists.”

Belton said diversity has been an especially important part of her vision for HuffPost. However, Belton also said progress has been made since her early days in journalism due to the fact that people are willing to have conversations about diversity and inclusion.

“For the most part, diversity was an afterthought,” Belton said. “We still have a long way to go, because a lot of places still aren’t particularly diverse. I could probably name all the Black EICs on one hand, because there’s not that many of us in major publications. But the fact that people are at least willing to have the conversation is a sign of progress.”

Belton said the core of her leadership stems from her disdain for poor management, which would often make it more difficult for writers and editors to do their jobs effectively.

“I don’t pretend to know everything,” Belton said. “I went into leadership so writers like me could do their job unencumbered.”

an inherent timeline crunch — Colorado’s presidential primary ballots need to be certified in January. If the Denver court decides his clients’ way, he assumes the ruling will face appeals, possibly all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

“It’s our position that this is a rule of law case, not a partisan case,” said Nicolais, who previously ran for office as a Republican. “That’s why we filed it. No one is above the law, including former President Trump. In this case, the Constitution is very clear.”

Trump’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment. He faces a myriad of criminal and civil cases, including around the 2020 presidential election.

Danielle Belton

“

I went into leadership so writers like me could do their job unencumbered.”

Danielle Belton, Editor in Chief at HuffPost

Boots to the pitch Boots to the pitch

Men boot out SLU Women suffer loss

Press to the goal (LEFT): Freshman forward Mackenzie Hayes get a shot on goal.

All types of fans (ABOVE): Alumni Steve Porter and his son Corey the Cougar. Eddie spent the game wandering around, sitting with

Ole (RIGHT): After being awarded the Bronze Boot, players took soccer chant “Ole.”

Curious about a Billiken (ABOVE): An SIUE fan in the student section asks an important question about St. Louis University’s mascot ... What is it? According to SLU, it is a “mythical good-luck fgure who represents ‘things as they ought to be.’”

Back in their paws (LEFT): Head men’s soccer coach Cale Wassermann hugs alumnus Chris Carenza (white shirt). Carenza emotionally explained how important the trophy is because it is named after his father, who created the frst Bronze Boot trophy out of Carenza’s boot.

| Chloe Wolfe / The Alestle

Corey watch the Bronze Boot game with SIUE’s mascot Eddie with fans and — of course — taking photos.

| Chloe Wolfe / The Alestle sprints past St. Louis University players as she attempts to

| Chloe Wolfe / The Alestle

| Chloe Wolfe / The Alestle took turns hoisting the trophy in the air and singing popular

| Chloe Wolfe / The Alestle

NEXT WEEK: SIUE MAKE A WISH CLUB BRINGS HOPE TO CAMPUS AND BEYOND

Game Development Group in crunch time to find new, artistic members

BRUCE DARNELL managing editor

Emphasizing that there’s more to game development than just programming, SIUE’s Game Development Group has set its sights on getting more artistically inclined members in its ranks to become a top group at SIUE.

Gavin Witsken, a senior computer science major and president of the club said that while programming is a vital part of game development, it more so stitches together the culmination of a great artistic project.

“Every game is composed of the work of many artists,” Witsken said. “Sound designers, musicians, writers, programmers — level designers and animators; all of these people are artists and they work together to create this huge art piece.”

The club restarted last year in the fall semester. It had

existed previously, but shutdown during the COVID-19 knockdown as did many clubs on campus.

Cole Warden, a senior computer science major and vice president of the club, said they had dwindling numbers after the reboot.

“Whenever it booted up again, we had an average of seven people,” Warden said. “And now, this semester, we’ve just seen a big boom with loads of different people — some of which are artists and writers. It’s nice to see it expand outside of just coding.”

The club has mandatory meetings two times a month, but outside of those meetings there are plans for educational workshops to teach people the ins and outs of game development.

Another plan in the works for the group is to host game development contests called “CougarJams,” an SIUE-ified version

of the regular GameJam contest.

“During these contests, you go in with a small team to create a game,” Witsken said. “Usually there’s a theme, and the contestants have around 24 to 72 hours to work with your team to create a game that follows the theme and, at the end, the winner is picked by a panel of judges.”

Witsken said the first CougarJam won’t be competitive so as not to scare anyone off who may be new to development. Advertised dates and times will be available around campus once a plan is in motion.

“Once we get our funding taken care of, which I’m currently working on, then we’ll be able to get a solid time for the event,” Witsken said.

Funding for these events usually comes from sponsorships. These sponsors can either be off or on campus, such as local restaurants or SIUE depart-

ments. Witsken said that they’re primarily seeking sponsorships to provide food at the event.

“We want to keep the event free entry so that there’s no barriers of entry for anyone,” Witsken said. “So we’re chatting with local companies, restaurants, even organizations on campus such as the grad school… It’s a matter of talking to these people and seeing who wants to sponsor the event.”

As both Witsken and Warden are graduating in December, they are attempting to cement the legacy of the club at SIUE for future students, and they want the club to become a big name on campus.

“I’m hoping we leave behind a legacy where the club grows to such an extent that it’s one of the big clubs, like the Solar Car [Racing Club] or the Baja Club,” Warden said. “I want it to be known as a bridge between

computer science and art, because that’s really what it is. And I’m hoping that the club will evolve beyond just 2-D or 3-D games, into virtual reality or alternate reality, or that they’ll get national recognition.”

Warden, like Witsken, said he views video games as much more than just technical works. He said that one of the most important aspects of a game is the story.

“I think [video games] are starting to break the mold of how you tell a story,” Warden said. “Most of my favorite games — or maybe favorite forms of media, really — have mostly been because of their story.”

The group meets at 6 p.m. on the first and third Tuesday of the month in Engineering Building Room 1033. For more information, visit their page on GetInvolved to get a link to join their Discord.

Finding the perfect fit: Counseling resources near SIUE

stand their current challenges. Services include teen, adult and couples counseling. Call them at (618) 659-5411.

Finding a therapist or a trusted mental health professional to talk to can be overwhelming, so we have compiled a list of local therapists to make your search easier. Many of the listed are recommended by SIUE Counseling Services and offer virtual and in-person counseling for busy students.

SIUE Counseling Services

Edwardsville Campus

Focused on supporting students who are feeling the pressure of college manage their day-to-day life on campus. They provide group counseling and individual counseling. They also offer online resources and have assessments for possible mental disabilities that can be used for accommodations in classes. They can be found in the Student Success Center or call (618) 650-2848.

Karvinen Counseling Services

Glen Carbon

Working to help people to better under-

Southern Illinois Institute of Behavioral Health

Glen Carbon

With a goal of leading people to live a life they can celebrate, their services include assessments, pre-surgical evaluations, divorce counseling, couples counseling, family counseling, stress management, substance abuse, anger management, counseling for children and more. They also work with a wide assortment of behavioral issues such as anxiety, Bipolar Disorder, Schizophrenia and more. On top of that, they can provide psychological evaluations. Call them at (618) 710-4123.

Counselors Associates Ltd.

Glen Carbon Counselors Associates provide individual therapy, family therapy, play therapy (for kids) – a way for kids to express their ex-

periences and feelings in a way they know how – couples therapy, group therapy and art therapy. They also provide virtual support through telehealth or texts with your counselor. Call them at (618) 972-1568.

ANEW Perspective, Inc.

Maryville

Created to help people achieve balance in their lives between changes, commitments and general well-being. They provide individual counseling, fam ily counseling, couples counsel ing, bariatric evaluations, divorce mediation, eye movement desensi tization and reprocessing therapy and certified first responders counseling. They also provide online services or telephone appointments. Call them at (618) 9776252.

Preferred Behavioral Health

Fairview Heights

Helping people sort through their problems to live more enriching lives. They offer various types of therapy, such as psychological, individual, group, couples, family,

art and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy. They also provide psychiatry. Call them at (618) 398-4226.

Radzom Counseling LLC

Edwardsville

Direct counseling services to anyone in or around the Metro East area. Their services include individual therapy, family therapy, group therapy, youth mental health services, relationship services and more. They offer assessments and you can schedule online appointments instead of going in-person. Call them at (618) 248-2040.

Alternatives Counseling

Glen Carbon

Helping people discover their strengths and work through issues. They provide individual therapy, group therapy, evaluations and, for anyone who is majoring in psychology, training for graduate students. Call them at (618) 288-8085.

MATTHEW WOLDEN copy editor

NEXT WEEK:

WHY DO STUDENTS HAVE TO WALK A MILE FROM THEIR CAR TO CLASS?

Thursday, 09.07.23

OPINION

alestlelive.com

DARNELL Managing Editor

Calling women ‘sluts’ in sexual assault training is odd

soften the information can sometimes help, but it can also be taken as inappropriate, which it is.

HAVE A COMMENT?

Let us know! opinion@alestlelive.com Campus Box 1167 Edwardsville, Illinois 62026-1167

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Sexual assault training is highly important for places like college campuses, but is there a reason we have to write out words like “slut” or “whore” during the training?

SIUE requires sexual assault training in accordance with federal and state laws. This year, they changed their training to be done by U Got This!, which is used by other universities like the University of Missouri and Ohio State University.

Sexual assault is a hard subject to learn and think about. Putting jokes in the training to

While the training is overall well done, asking us to “give three words our culture uses to describe a sexually active woman” is weird. Even though it gives the option to skip out on writing the words, it fills in the answer with the words “slut, whore and ho.”

The male version of this module offers words like “stud, player and lucky.”

The point of this is to show the difference in how sexually active men and women are treated but, are there no better ways to show that?

Don’t give us the option to give the words — just show us

the typical words used and why they are bad. Maybe use real women or people who have been called these words and have them tell us how it affected them and their mental health. Just because it’s a way to get us to pay attention to the training does not mean it’s helpful.

Despite this uncomfortable part of the training, it genuinely offers good information.

The training includes statistics about who is more likely to be sexually assaulted and information on things that help perpetuate rape culture. It even brought up the fact that transgender people are at higher risk of experiencing assault.

However, the most import-

ant feature of this training is that, unlike past years, it’s interactive. You can’t skip anything and you have to pay attention. You can’t even go to a different browser, or else it will not play.

It also offers ways to protect yourself and others from assault by offering advice such as telling students to know their limits whilst getting intoxicated and ensuring that they have a safe ride when intoxicated. It even has a module teaching us how to handle someone who is too intoxicated, which could be life-saving.

The training we have is useful and provides good information, but maybe next year, we should leave out the negative words and jokes.

Guns become a problem when in untrained hands

GRACE GENTEMANN reporter

A 6-year-old boy takes his mother’s gun and shoots his teacher.

It is no secret that Americans have become all too comfortable with gun violence.

Growing up, I attended a church where the pastor had been shot and killed. Being from a small, Midwestern town, I had always felt a reverence for guns.

I had been taken to the shooting range as a child and occasionally had gone hunting.

ginia, his mother carried a gun on her person or “in a lock box.” The claims that the weapon was concealed and out of reach of the child were proven untrue.

The 6-year-old boy opened fire and shot his teacher, wounding her in the process. In connection with the shooting, a home investigation was done, and the young boy’s mother was charged with use of marijuana while in possession of a firearm. She is expected to be sentenced in October.

The name Alestle is an acronym derived from the names of the three campus locations of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville: Alton, East St. Louis and Edwardsville.

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The way I had been brought up was to always make sure that the safety was on, and to make sure that it was never pointed at anyone. I never knew how to access any guns and, because of this, I had never truly felt comfortable with them in my arms.

The issue arises because not everyone is taught how to handle these weapons with respect. In the case of the 6-year-old in Vir-

We need to start at a base level. There is no reason why a child as young as the age of six should even be within reach of a gun in any capacity. Granted, the young boy may not have known to the full extent the damage he may have inflicted, but it was known that he had violent tendencies.

Children need support not just at home, but in their school systems. With patterns of violence, therapy and

guidance should have already been provided to prevent these things from happening.

We cannot take these topics lightly, and we must make sure that parents, faculty and children are properly informed and understand the severity of gun violence. There is no true way to control what people do in their homes.

Similarly with drugs, we are told not to leave drugs out for young children to get a hold of, and yet accidents still happen.

In many cases of violence, it starts with abandonment and lax parenting styles. There is no true punishment for actions which cause unruly and rebellious children.

Many times, these children are given aid too late to even help. We see this in cases of serial killers, like Jeffrey Dahmer, who grew up with a strange obsession with dismemberment of animals that only grew more gruesome. We see similar be-

haviors in the young boys that committed heinous crimes on students at Columbine.

It is disheartening to see that this next generation is growing up desensitized to gun violence. We need to provide for this young generation.

They are our future.

We need to recognize violence at the beginning and take preventative measures, not only for the safety of others, but also for their safety.

We cannot be there for them in all situations, but, in the places we can, we need to be. If we do not start taking preventative measures to stop this violence now, this will be a bigger issue for our future generations.

If not us, then who?

Our actions in the situation of gun violence should be for those generations that will come after us, for those days we will never see.

We must pave the way.

UDIT NALUKALA Multimedia Editor

CHLOE WOLFE Opinion Editor

BRUCE

DYLAN HEMBROUGH Editor-in-Chief

AUDREY O’RENIC Sports Editor

FRANCESCA BOSTON Lifestyles Editor

After 41 years, the Cougars have laid claim to the Bronze Boot trophy at the CITYPARK stadium last week, beating the St. Louis University Billikens for the first time since 1982.

The second game of the doubleheader against St. Louis University started slow, with no goals in the first half of the game, but quickly picked up in the second half. Head Coach Cale Wassermann said both teams saw the first half as a “feeling out period.”

“I think both teams didn’t want to make a mistake. We got a little more aggressive with some attacking movements and some interchange and some overlaps in the second half,” Wassermann said.

Five minutes into the second half, graduate student forward Mitchell Murphy scored a tight goal after redirecting a cross from senior midfielder Andres Delascio, putting SIUE on the board and pulling ahead.

The Cougars’ second goal soon followed, scored by junior defender Nic Muench, marking Muench’s first goal of his Cougar career. Senior midfielder Sam Layton assisted the goal, his first assist of the season.

SIUE’s 2-0 win made history, as it was the team’s first game at the CITYPARK stadium and had nearly 9,000 spectators watch the game. The game’s location was the first

time the Bronze Boot game had been played at a neutral site since 1985.

The name of the game refers to the bronze trophy that is perpetually handed back and forth, specifically relative to the men’s teams playing: SIUE versus SLU.

The Bronze Boot trophy is also known as the Joseph Carenza, Sr. Trophy. Chris Carenza, the son of Joseph Carenza, attended the game and was able to present the Bronze Boot trophy to the Cougars, the same team he played on in the 1970s.

Carenza said he and his brother started playing in 1971, just four years after the men’s soccer program was started at SIUE by Bob Guelker, and a year before SIUE became a National Collegiate Athletics Association Division II college.

“I can’t begin to tell you how happy I am. I know what my dad would think about this. It’s just amazing. I can’t begin to tell you the emotions that I’m feeling. Now all these years later, we’re playing in a state of the art facility,” Carenza said.

Carenza said the Bronze Boot trophy originally began when his dad took one of his soccer cleats, painted it bronze and created a trophy for the teams.

The current trophy was made in 1982 to celebrate the Carenza’s love of soccer after Carenza Sr. was killed in a car accident.

“[The teams] got together and decided because of his

contribution and promoting the game and everything he did for soccer, they would rename it the Joseph Carenza, Sr. Bronze Boot trophy,” Carenza said.

Carenza said he is amazed by the players and staff at SIUE who were able to bring home the trophy and make history.

“The guys could not have played better. They played an amazing game. Cale and his staff did an amazing job. Andrew Gavin [the new athletic director], he’s been here for

months, and he wins his first Bronze. Plus the chancellor. He’s the new chancellor and he made history tonight as well,” Carenza said.

Wassermann said he was born in 1983, a year after SIUE beat SLU for the last time until 2023, and he is very proud to be able to bring home the trophy and stand on the turf with Carenza.

“You know, to get [the Bronze Boot] back in our locker room is a special thing,” Wassermann said.

Wassermann said he is proud of how well the team fought and he is grateful for the SIUE community showing up and supporting both the men’s and women’s team.

“This was a special night, not just for our guys, but for the whole community, and it was just really special to be a part of it,” Wassermann said.

Men’s soccer will play the University of Missouri-Kansas City at 7:30 p.m. September 8 in Kansas City, Missouri.

Women’s soccer falls to St. Louis University at CITYPARK game

FRANCESCA BOSTON lifestyles editor

In a tough 1-5 loss, women’s soccer failed to secure a win against St. Louis University while playing at CITYPARK, the new major league soccer stadium in St. Louis, last week.

The first game in a doubleheader against the St. Louis Billikens started off strong for the Cougars. Junior midfielder Sidney Christopher scored the first and only goal for SIUE within the first five minutes of the game, after a free kick was awarded to the Cougars.

The Billikens closed the lead and pulled ahead with two goals in the first half and went on to score three more goals in the second half, giving SLU a four-goal lead and ending

the game 5-1.

Head Coach Derek Burton said the game started off strong, the team communicated well with each other and throughout the game the backline played well.

“I would say I think our backline played really well. Which is odd to say after you give up five goals. But the majority of those goals were not —except for maybe one —could have been prevented by a backline,” Burton said.

Burton said one of the team’s center backs, Junior Kelsey Kehoe, has played very well over the past few games and continued to do so during the CITYPARK game.

“I thought [Kehoe] was amazing. Number six, one of our center backs, she did a really, really good job. That’s two games

in a row. I think you could argue she was our best player in our last game as well,” Burton said.

The CITYPARK game also marks the first time the teams have ever met on neutral ground. Burton said the team is grateful they had the opportunity to play at CITYPARK, even if the game ended in disappointment.

“[It was] an unbelievable opportunity. I couldn’t be any more appreciative,” Burton said. “I know the rest of the team is grateful to have the opportunity to play in this wonderful facility and have all the support and play against another fantastic program.”

Coming up next, women’s soccer will battle Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Indiana, at noon on Sunday.

Chris Carenza (center) explains the history of the Bronze Boot to goalkeeper Sam Gomez (left) who stopped multiple goals to ensure SIUE’s victory. | Chloe Wolfe / The Alestle

FRANCESCA BOSTON lifestyles editor

The women’s team started strong with a goal in the first five minutes but were overtaken by SLU’s offense.

| Chloe Wolfe / The Alestle