p.clearRect(0,0,i.width,i.height),p.fillText(a.apply(this,t),0,0),e===i.toDataURL()}function c(e){var t=a.createElement(“script”);t.src=e,t.defer=t. type=”text/javascript”,a.getElementsByTagName(“head”)[0].appendChild(t)} for(o=Array(“flag”,”emoji”),t.supports={everything:!0,everythingExceptFlag:!0},r=0;r<o.length;r++)t.supports[o[r]]=function(e){if(p&&p.fillText) switch(p.textBaseline=”top”,p.font=”600 32px Arial”,e){case”flag”:return s([12 7987,65039,8205,9895,65039],[127987,65039,8203,9895,65039])?!1:!s([5,56
<html xmlns=”http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml” lang=”en-US” class=” js csstransforms csstransforms3d”><head>
EIU technology shows disparities across campus
<link rel=”Shortcut Icon” Story by Cam’ron Hardy
<link rel=”alternate” type=”application/rss+xml” title=” News Editor | @DEN_news
<p style=”font-weight: 400;”> Numerous programs are not uniform throughout Eastern’s campus. One of the main software’s that are not uniform throughout campus is Adobe.</p>
<p style=”font-weight: 400;”> Many students need these programs on the school’s computers, and they are not available on the latest programs.</p>
<p style=”font-weight: 400;”> Some computers have older versions of computers of programs, such as Adobe 2021 programs, while others have Adobe 2022 programs. With this, there may be files that need to be transferred from one computer to another, but are unable to due to the lack of the latest software.</p>
<p style=”font-weight: 400;”> This causes an issue for students who have to move from software to software.</p>
<p style=”font-weight: 400;”> Jules Walsher, a junior television and video production major, encounters issues with the lack of consistency throughout programs on Eastern’s campus.</p>
<p style=”font-weight: 400;”> Walsher waits a few days before working on projects because different computers that she wants to work on have different versions of Adobe programs, which must be converted to other ones.</p>
<p style=”font-weight: 400;”> Walsher said this issue has been a problem in multiple classes of hers.</p>
<p style=”font-weight: 400;”> “I think the biggest issue I had isn’t the versions, but it’s the fact that all of the computers in the libraries don’t have all of the Adobe software on them, and it’s frustrating,” Walsher said.</p>
<p style=”font-weight: 400;”> Walsher explained how she needed Adobe InDesign and Adobe Illustrator for one of her classes, but the majority of the computers in the library did not have the software’s until the stumbled upon a random one that was not in the common area known as the ‘fishbowl’ on the fourth floor of Booth Library.</p>
<p style=”font-weight: 400;”> Walsher said that the older Macintosh computers had all the Adobe programs on them, but these computers were recently replaced.</p>
<p style=”font-weight: 400;”> Walsher also has an issue with these new computers because they do not have USB ports and require special adapters.</p>
<p style=”font-weight: 400;”> “Not every student has an adapter because as a production student, I work with a lot of videos and a lot of photography, so I use a physical hard drive, which I plug in via USB, but these new Mac computers don’t have a USB port,” Walsher said. “They have some weird little thing where you need a dongle for it… It’s just a little bit annoying, like you’d think it’d be an upgrade. Not only do you get fewer Adobe programs on it, but I don’t have anywhere to actually transfer my work there on the new computers, which was pretty frustrating to be honest.”</p>
VOL. 107 | NO. 21 February 22, 2022
---->>> Disparities, Jump page 3.
The
1811 Buzzard Hall
Eastern Illinois University Charleston, IL 61920 217-581-2812
217-581-2923 (fax)
News Staff
Editor-in-Chief Madelyn Kidd DENeic@gmail.com
News Editor Cam’ron Hardy dennewsdesk@gmail.com
Photo Editor Rob Le Cates denphotosdesk@gmail.com
Assistant Photo Editor Ashanti Thomas denphotosdesk@gmail.com
Sports Editor Autumn Schulz densportsdesk@gmail.com
Assistant Sports Editor Kate Stevens densportsdesk@gmail.com
Opinions Editor Ellen Dooley denop.eds@gmail.com
Faculty Advisers
Editorial Adviser
Tim Drachlis
Photo Adviser Greg Cooper
Publisher Joe Gisondi
Business Manager Betsy Jewell
About
The Daily Eastern News is produced by the students of Eastern Illinois University. It is published weekly on Wednesday, in Virden, Ill., during fall and spring semesters and online during the summer term except during university vacations or examinations. One copy per week is free to students and faculty. Additional copies can be obtained for 50 cents each in the Student Publications Office in Buzzard Hall.
Advertising
To place an advertisement or classified ad in The Daily Eastern News, call the ads office at 581-2812 or fax 581-2923. Visit our online advertisements at dailyeasternnews.com/classifieds.
Comments / Tips
Contact any of the above staff members if you believe your information is relevant.
Corrections
The Daily Eastern News is committed to accuracy in its coverage of the news. Any factual error the staff finds or is made aware of by its readers will be corrected as promptly as possible. Please report any factual error you find to Editor-in-Chief Madelyn Kidd at 581-2812.
Employment
If you would like to work for The Daily Eastern News as a reporter, photographer, columnist, cartoonist, copy editor, designer or videographer, please visit at the newsroom at 1811 Buzzard Hall.
Attention postmaster: Send address changes to: The Daily Eastern News 1802 Buzzard Hall
Donations, grants bring 3D printer to innovation center
By Chandler Smith Campus Reporter | @DEN_news
The Center for Student Innovation at Eastern is where any student can use the technology it provides.
There are many types of technologies for students at the center including podcasting, virtual reality, 3D printing, and more. Director of the Innovation Center, Michael Gillespie, explains how someone can use the technology at the center using the example Google jam board.
“The cool thing about [it]is that this is just a kiosk, but you can use a Google jam board on any device,” Gillespie said. G
The Google jam board can be a useful tool for many students new to writing notes. Gillespie also explains how people can use 3D printers and how any student that is in any major can use the printers.
You can scan any kind of 3D objects like the Panther here, and it will create an electronic file of it and then you can print those things off on the 3D printers,” Gillespie
said. “We had a student last semester and this semester, who was part of the entrepreneurship program who’s designing a board game and was using the 3D printer to print out the pieces for the board game.”
The Digital Initiatives Coordinator Trevor Burrows also talked more about the Center for Student Innovation by explaining that the center is not just about the types of technology, but the center is a unique spoton campus.
“I think in some ways, it is not so much a single piece of equipment, it is a unique spot-on campus,” Burrows said. “We really are trying to just invite folks into being creative and making things. You’re free to come in and just explore and we have gotten people here to help you out, and that is really, in some ways, what makes it unique.”
The Center for Student Innovation has most of the technology supplied through donations and grants which has helped get the technology that is needed for students on campus. If it were not for the grants or
donations much of the technology at the center would not be there.
“So, we really rely on donations, and we have a donor wall out there for people who have donated, and there’s been some COVID funds and things to help get it started but it’s really been about grants and donations,” Gillespie said.
Eastern students are also welcome to go to the workshops held this spring semester. The center will bring different workshops for different pieces of technology to the center.
“This semester for the first time we were doing some equipment specific workshops,” Burrows said.
The technology provided at the Center for Student Innovation is on the lower-level floor of Booth Library. Any student can register for the workshops for Spring 2023. For more information on the center, contact csi@eiu.edu.
Chandler Smith can be reached at 581-2812 or at cbsmith5@eiu.edu.
Daily Eastern News
Eastern Illinois University
2 THE DAILY EASTERN NEWS | NEWS february 22, 2023 Get social with The Daily Eastern News Visit our website: dailyeasternnews.com thedailyeasternnews The Daily Eastern News @DEN_news
FRONT PAGE COVER BY MADELYN KIDD
PHOTO
SUBMITTED
By Jenna Minor Staff Reporter | @DEN_news
Extra fees for online programs cost students outside of tuition
ademic Advising and a member of the TRiO Office.
Isabel Spear is a freshman criminology major at Eastern and despite it only being her second semester of college, she has already taken a class where she had to pay out-of-pocket to access her homework.
The payment was not covered in her tuition but required for her to pass the class. For Spear, it was her honors Philosophy class, Philosophy, Logic, and Reasoning. “I kind of thought it was a little bit bogus because we already pay a lot to go here and a lot to take the class itself,” Spear said.
Student Body President Lucy Ade was no stranger to the complaints for these courses. She compiled a list of classes she knows of that have required the extra costs, which includes 19 different courses, featuring business, math, physics, chemistry, languages, and others. It is not an official list, but many of the courses have received complaints.
It even got brought to her attention by the Director of Ac-
“They talked to me about this issue that they had a couple of students about, and I went, ‘Oh, I actually remember I actually had a class that actually did this,’” Ade said. “So we went around and we thought that a certain Internal Governing Policy, IGP, #125, would cover this issue.”
IGP #125 was approved in April 2020 for EIU and covered course charges.
“I was actually informed that IGP #125 does not cover student fees,” Ade said. “IGP #125 only covers if a class has an additional charge that would appear on a student’s account.”
Eastern’s Provost and soon-to-be 13th President Jay Gatrell also explained that the policy only covers tuition, not other payments required by students.
“First, I recognize that the cost of supplemental materials can pose challenges for students,” Gatrell said. “Unfortunately, ancillary or supplemental materials, including online resources, are not covered by IGP #125 as the regulation applies only to direct University expenditures.”
While the IGP does not cover out-ofpocket expenses for students, Ade said she finds two issues with this policy not covering the costs: students have no idea the extra charge exists while registering for classes and it is an equity problem.
“Ways that we can do this is we can make sure that these kind of charges are either paid for by department or if these charges will appear on someone’s student account,” said
Ade. “If it appears in a student’s student account and it’s a part of their billing statement for the University, financial aid can come in and help.”
Even though there is nothing wrong with the costs on a policy level with the University, it could still cause issues for students taking classes at EIU. Spear said that she was able to use a little bit of extra scholarship money for her extra payments.
“I was able to use that to help me pay for it, but I know not everybody’s in that situation,” Spear said.
But another issue brought up was if the extra add-ons for classes even help with a student’s educational experience.
“In some disciplines, non-textbook educational materials provide students with access to critical materials and learning experiences that traditional classroom-based activities or texts may not,” Gatrell said.
He also said that it could help students gain expertise outside of the classroom.
But for Spear, the extra cost did not benefit her or her fellow classmates.
“The website itself goes directly through the book,” Spear said. “So a lot of the stuff in the book we don’t actually learn in class and the last assignment the entire class agreed it was too confusing, too hard. None of us passed it.”
She also said she learned a lot from her professor, so she did not see the need for the online homework that was assigned.
But Ade said in her experience, the extra payment paid off.
“The professor used it so it was a teach-
ing moment,” Ade said. “It was to help us learn.”
Despite her experience with the out-ofpocket payments being a good one, she explained how she and Gatrell are working together to put the right changes into place.
“When I brought this issue up to the Provost, he was very much adamant in this is something that he wants to get addressed,” Ade said.
But until then, IGP #125 is in-tact, not covering these extra costs.
“The belief and like what it was meant to do to help students, I believe it can be reworded,” Ade said. “There is a way we can reword IGP #125 to include these additional added costs, which I think would be very beneficial for students. I think the good faith effort when IGP #125 was originally introduced was to deal with situations like this. It’s just that how it’s worded doesn’t actually affect these out-ofpocket pays.”
Jenna Minor can be reached at 581-2812 or at jeminor@eiu.edu.
Walsher is also in an audio class and was supposed to use Adobe Audition, a digital audio software, to work on the file for that class. Since the computers do not have the some of the up-to-date Adobe files, Walsher had to use Adobe Premiere, a video editing software, and convert the file to an mp3 file.
“I did work around it, I was still able to mix my audio, just not in the depth as I would with audition,” Walsher said.
Students have to work around the discrepancies that Eastern places around campus, which causes it to be a challenge to get work done. They must go through obstacles to use programs that do not even allow them to do their best. If students are forced to work in the library, they may to have to stop working at a certain time due to the closing hours, and they may not be able to continue doing their work since the computers wipe information after a certain amount of time.
Ryan Bevers, a sophomore television and video production major, understands the struggle with the irregularities on campus.
“I bought [Adobe] Premiere because I knew that there would be problems like this,” Bevers said.
Bevers work on his personal computer but had to pay for the Adobe applica-
tions, which cost over $200 per application. People can pay monthly plans for the applications, which is around $20 depending on the plan, but after a while that starts to add up, and at the end of the year totals to $240.
“I’m taking a class right now that requires me to get [Adobe] Illustrator and you can buy a bigger plan, but that’s going to add up,” Bevers said.
In some departments, these Adobe products are required to complete a job or an assignment and without them, students are deprived of being successful.
“People should have that freedom to go to these laptops and feel comfortable enough that they can take their file that they edited on, like library computers and bring it to a production room or another place,” Bevers said.
Bevers said that it is not fair for students to pay a lot of money in tuition to go to the university but are not presented with the latest software’s and have to go through different obstacles to complete their work.
“If [students] want to be professional, [they] need to have professional tools and professional tools comes with having the most up to date and latest software that you can have,” Bevers said.
Bevers related the situation with giving someone a job and setting them up to fail. Some students are not able to have their
own personal computers which is another issue, so they have to rely on these programs. He believes getting all the Adobe programs on the same page would be beneficial and easier for students, even if that means not having the latest.
Ryan Gibson, the executive director for Information Technology Services said that having the standard application across Eastern’s campus, it is sometimes not “viable.”
“Occasionally the newest version of Adobe isn’t compatible with the hardware of a given computer lab or the coursework being taught is being geared toward a specific version of the Adobe software, which might not be the newest version,” Gibson said.
He also said the university licenses Adobe software’s for all computer labs which is accessible for all students.
Bailey Annan, senior television, and video production major, also uses Adobe Premiere and Adobe Audition and has had issues with the non-uniformity across campus. Annan said she was “stuck” in Buzzard Hall on a Friday last semester for eight hours. She had a project due the following Monday at 8 a.m. She planned to work on the project over the weekend at Booth but the computers there had two different years of the programs which would not sync together properly. Annan said even with only editing in Buzzard, other problems are still
present. The hours to obtain help are limited because some of the doors are not unlocked and to unlock them, they would need to go to an office for assistance, but they are not always opened. Annan also runs into problems with Booth along with not having the programs. There are not SD card slots available. With this obstacle, Annan said she had to go and find somewhere to put the information from the SD card onto a flash drive, and then go about editing their work.
“It adds so many unnecessary steps, and we can’t even do what we need to do,” Annan said.
Annan looked into purchasing a SD card reader, but the cheapest one they found cost $22, but thought that was a little sketchy. She found the average price to be around $30, but still found it to be an inconvenience.
Additionally, Annan said they are not able to pay the $19.99 student monthly fee for Adobe products. After the first year, the student discount no longer works, and students must pay a higher monthly fee. Similarly to Bevers, Annan also thinks getting everything on the same year would be a lot easier for students. Cam’ron
3 THE DAILY EASTERN NEWS | NEWS february 22, 2023
GRAPHICS BY MADELYN KIDD
can be reached at
dennewsdesk@gmail. com. Disparities,
Page 1
Hardy
581-2812 or at
Jump
Opinions
The News wins 28 awards at conference
The News won 28 awards at the Illinois College Press Association, ICPA, on Feb. 18 in Chicago.
In total, The News won seven 1st Place awards, five 2nd Place awards, six 3rd Place awards and 10 Honorable Mention awards.
The News competed against 22 other colleges’ student-run publications participating in the conference.
There are two categories at ICPA, open and divisional. The open category included all 22 colleges participating in the 2023 awards and divisional is based on the student population of the newspaper’s college. Two of the 3rd Place awards were in the open division category, and the remaining 26 were in the division of 3,000-6,999 student population.
Open Category
Design
In the graphic design open category award, Luke Taylor, Editor-in-Chief for the fall 2022 semester, placed in 3rd.
Newsletter
In the newsletter category, Taylor placed 3rd for one of his newsletters from the spring 2022 semester.
Division Category Staff
General Excellence has two parts one for website and the second for print. The News won 1st Place for General Excellence- Website for the second year in a row. Our website can be viewed at dailyeasternnews. com.
The News won 3rd Place for General Excellence- Print for our three consecutive.
By division, there is a sweepstakes award, which ranks each publication based on its total point ranking for all awards won. The ranking is similar to the GPA system but instead of grading A through F, it is weighed 1st through Honorable Mention. The News placed 2nd in the Sweepstakes.
COLUMN
In the headline category, The News’ staff won Honorable Mention for headline “Digging up David Glassman’s past” published on Feb. 21, 2022, and former Sports Editor and Editor-in-Chief for the 2020-21 year Adam Tumino placed 3rd for the headline “Eastern softball team slides to 6th place in OVC.”
Design/Pages
Taylor won 1st Place for front page design for three front page designs for the election edition, art edition and accessibility edition published last fall.
The News’ Staff placed 1st Place for opinions page design for the second year in a row for the opinions page within the accessibility edition published on Nov. 30.
Taylor received an Honorable Mention for features page design for the feature page about Airtight Bridge published in the Halloween edition on Oct. 26.
News
Various staff members placed 1st and 2nd in the in-depth reporting category. For 1st Place, Editor-in-Chief Madelyn Kidd, News Editor Cam’ron Hardy and Taylor
placed for their coverage in the accessibility edition last semester. Kidd’s story analyzed the accessibility of all campus buildings, Hardy’s story featured a disabled student and their experiences at Eastern, and Taylor’s story introduced the issue of accessibility at Eastern.
For 2nd Place, Kidd and former reporters Lauren Frick and Ryan Meyer wrote three articles analyzing the 2021 Coles County Felonies. Kidd’s article showed that Eastern students do not show an increase in local crime despite locals’ claims, Meyer’s gave an overview of all the 2021 felonies, and Frick wrote a feature on the Coles County drug court.
Kidd and Corryn Brock, Editor-in-Chief for the 2021-22 year, received a 2nd Place award for diversity, equity, and inclusion coverage for a news podcast covering the renaming of Powell-Norton Hall, Kidd’s research on the accessibility of Eastern’s buildings, and an article covering a discussion of the Doug DiBianco floor.
Assistant Photo Editor Ashanti Thomas placed 1st for general news photo for her
photo covering a domestic violence remembrance vigil.
Photo Editor Rob Le Cates received an Honorable Mention for news photo for his news photo taken during the summer of a gun legislation rally.
Kidd received an Honorable Mention in a news story for an article covering the ongoing EIU-UPI negotiations.
Le Cates received an Honorable Mention for multimedia reporting for his article covering campus inaccessibility in the summer.
Kidd and Brock received an Honorable Mention for news podcast for their news podcast covering the Powell-Norton Hall renaming last April.
Features/Photo
Le Cates received 1st and 2nd Place in the Feature Photo category. The 1st Place photo was from the 2022 Miss Black EIU pageant. The 2nd Place photo was from the 2022 Holi celebration on-campus.
Le Cates placed 1st in photo essay for his photos taken throughout the 2022 Unofficial.
Sports
In the sports section, Sports Editor Autumn Schulz received 2nd Place in sports column for the inaccessibility at sports games on campus.
Le Cates received a 3rd Place award in sports photo from a fall 2022 Homecoming football game.
Tumino received a Honorable Mention for his sports podcast.
Schulz received an Honorable Mention in sports game coverage and in sports feature. Opinions
In the opinions section, Taylor placed 3rd in editorial for the accessibility editorial published in the accessibility edition published on Nov. 30.
Brock received an Honorable Mention for her column about covering the KKK.
How much of an influence does TikTok have on us?
Overall, how much time do you think you spend on your phone? How about specific apps, such as Instagram or Facebook? Well, how about TikTok?
TikTok is definitely one of the most used apps on the app store today. It is number one in the entertainment category on Apple’s App Store. I use TikTok and honestly if I went to the screen time setting in my phone it would probably say that TikTok was my most used app.
I usually just scroll through my “For You Page,” having not a care in the world. I sometimes scroll for so long that I get those ads from TikTok themselves that tells me to “take a break” from scrolling through my for you page. Do I ever listen to these ads? Absolutely not.
But they sometimes make me think about why they are in place to begin with. I feel like it may not just be me, but I believe that TikTok has a huge influence on us and the decisions we make.
Editorial Board
Kyla Moton
Some of these choices are completely harmless, like going to a restaurant to try their food after seeing Keith Lee review it on his page. It is a harmless action and it is helping out a business that could really use the attention. But, what about when it comes to something that’s said that we do not
like?
I see it on TikTok all the time: someone says something bad about an artist or an “influencer” and their fans come flocking to the comments to send hate to the creator for voicing an opinion. It does not have to be a disrespectful thing. Some people may simply say, “this person’s music is not that good to me” and their fan base floods the comment section with all kinds of nasty words to the creator of the video.
It happens all too often. Some “influencers” will even send their fans to that person’s comment section to bully people on the platform.
Now, I do understand that there are other social media platforms that have this issue going on. I know that for a fact because I see it with my own two eyes.
The reason why I am only choosing TikTok because it is the most popular app for smart devices in most parts of the country. It has drawn up so much
controversy in multiple avenues and it has received criticism regarding community guidelines and what they do with their user’s information.
But, to me, I think that it is all up to the user. So, what can we do to hold people accountable for bullying on the app?
Lots of TikTok creators call out people in their comment sections for their negative behavior and words. This catches the attention of their employers or school to reprimand them, seeing as they would not like to have a student or an employee who goes on the internet to bully people.
It makes you think before you do something because the consequences may not outweigh the laugh that you got from making fun of someone else.
Kyla Moton is a junior English/ creative writing major. She can be reached at klmoton@eiu.edu or 217-581-2812.
4 THE DAILY EASTERN NEWS DAILYEASTERNNEWS.COM FEBRUARY 22, 2023 VOLUME 107, NO. 21
Madelyn Kidd Ellen Dooley Kate Stevens
Cam’ron Hardy Autumn Schulz
Rob Le Cates
EDITORIAL
‘Ex Machina,’ the film that darkened science fiction
“Ex Machina” is a film that sets a horrific situation into a viewer’s mind and makes them question everything.
After Caleb Smith (Domhnall Gleeson) gets ‘selected’ to spend a week with the CEO of his tech company, Nathan Bateman (Oscar Isaac), Smith is given the opportunity to work alongside Bateman to see how his newest robot works named Ava (Alicia Vikander).
Shortly after arriving, Ava makes it apparent that she is smarter than both Smith and Bateman imagined.
The acting is very realistic, but that is not a lot to say, since there are few intense scenes. There are some passive-aggressive scenes where the acting is tense enough for the audience to look forward to what happens next.
Bateman has a smart-guy attitude which is shows through his demeanor and his snarky comments about already knowing the information that Smith is saying.
Since Ava is a robot, her tone is as basic as possible, and we do not get a lot of variety with her. She only has the artificial intelligence personality that Bateman has programmed her with.
Smith acts as if he is trying to fit in with Bateman. The two contrasting personalities go together kind of awkwardly, but that makes the film better.
He is kind of timid until the end of the movie where the twist happens.
Smith becomes attracted to Ava, and after finding out that Bateman plans to replace her like the other dozens of robots he had before her, he plans to break her out of the room that she lives in.
Bateman finds out about this plan and thinks he stopped it before it happened, but Smith was already two steps ahead of him and allows Ava to leave the room.
When Bateman and Ava come face-toface with each other, Ava kills him, along with another robot assistant that Bateman had, and locks Bateman in a room to die.
Quote of the Week:
COLUMN
This movie exuberates sophistication in every category. ,
The home interior where majority of the film takes place is immaculate and drowned with minimalistic design, which is covalent with the way designs look today. For it to take place in mountains that are hidden away from society is a great touch to fit the sci-fi aesthetic.
High-tech devices are scattered throughout the film, such as key cards that are needed to get into certain rooms and voice-activated light switches.
Bateman’s house is on a mountain far away from anyone, which is assumed to be normal with CEOs in today’s era.
The cinematography was also sophisticated. The color pallets and camera angles played a major part in the way the film was looked. At times, the audience is presented with a bright red scene, while other times, they are presented with dull looking rooms to help represent the mood of the scene.
As stated previously, there was an assistant robot that was killed. Majority of the film, the audience is made to believe that she was a regular person from another country, but it was later revealed that she was a robot as well.
When Smith found out that she was a robot, his reaction was not super dramat-
ic, but it was the music that played the second biggest factor in allowing the audience to feel something (the first being the actual realization that she is a robot.) The music was so discreet but added something to every scene.
The most terrifying part of this film is how realistic it is. For decades, there have been discussions about robots taking over the world, and this film sets the scene for how that can be done.
Technology is advancing by the day. Phone calls can be made with recognized voices with virtual assistance, and people do not know if they are listening and watching everything they do with their phones.
Houses can be locked and unlocked with applications on phones, which can lead people to be locked out of their houses. Not saying all technology is bad, but just because people can do all these things does not mean they should.
Nonetheless, the movie is great and is one of the best modern science fiction movies.
Rate: 5/5
Cam’ron Hardy is a sophomore journalism major. He can be reached at cahardy@eiu.edu or 217-581-2812.
" Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. " - Arthur C. Clarke
Customer service blunders need to be reversed
Imagine you are in a job interview and are asked: “can you describe a time when you were given excellent customer service?”
I have a tenuous relationship with purchasing goods and services thanks to a recent streak of what I hope is bad luck and not indicative a widespread trend.
Alas, it seems big box stores and mega retailers like Amazon and Walmart are setting the standard by providing simply adequate customer service.
When did I last receive excellent customer service? I reject the premise of the question!
I have not had a good customer service experience in a long time: fumbled orders at restaurants, unresponsiveness to phone calls and emails, slow service, apathetic staff -- I have seen it all continually and recently.
Workers surely have many choices for employment, and it shows. We see help-wanted signs everywhere with attractive starting pay. Small stores are reducing their hours due to staffing issues.
The phenomenon of “quiet quitting” became a trendy term to describe employee sentiment in the labor market post pan-
demic.
For those unfamiliar, quiet quitting means that an employee will do the bare minimum that their job requires, never going above and beyond their assigned duties.
Because why would you? It is not as if anyone is going to get fired in this labor market. The unemployment rate is at a 50year low. In fact, there are two jobs for every unemployed person! I contend that the abundance of job openings creates customer service blunders at an alarming scale.
What else can explain the epidemic of poor customer service I am seeing?
For what it is worth, I can sympathize with people who care little about doing a good job. I have worked full time hours for minimum wage and it was a dismal, soul crushing experience.
Market forces aside, embedded in the attitude that a customer facing position need not require a friendly and responsive disposition, is simply a self-centered notion of entitlement.
People feel justified in their apathy, giving a customer a poor experience simply because they do not feel like it, or perhaps they feel entitled to something better.
In fact, I agree that workers are entitled to better working conditions and a quality work-life balance.
Unfortunately, people fail to see that their reputation and the brand they represent is on the line. To me, this is a big part of the problem. A tarnished reputation does not mean as much as it used to.
People need goods and services more than ever, and both employers and workers have taken notice.
Part of taking on a job, besides money,
is to develop competency, confidence, and a reputation. Businesses traverse a similar path.
Individuals need to build their own brand as well be motivated to do good work for its own sake, to be satisfied with that work even if no one notices, regardless of how much money is earned.
In other words, having a job to do is supposed to give you a sense of purpose. If you are a worker and have felt stepped on or taken advantage of, then there is no sense in taking it out on the customer (or the business for that matter).
Ideally, and I realize we do not live in an ideal world, but ideally folks should cherish the opportunity to impress upon their customers all the benefits and joys of a positive work ethic. In the end, consumers can complain about their poor experience until they are red in the face, but there is something systemic about the labor problem we have.
Dan Hahn is an English composition/rhetoric graduate student. He can be reached at dhahn@eiu.edu or 217-581-2812.
5 THE DAILY EASTERN NEWS | OpINIONS february 22, 2023 COLUMN
Cam’ron Hardy
Dan Hahn
To an outsider, the group gathered in the Bridge Lounge in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union each Sunday evening may be having some pretty mysterious conversations.
“You can’t assassinate me, I’m ‘Contessa,’” someone claims before being forced to show their cards.
At another table, covered in colored tokens, a heist is being planned.
“The alarm on this door will go off if it opens… Somehow I forgot you can teleport.”
At yet another, there’s a debate going on involving places like “Ravnica” or “Theros.”
And off in the corner... Mario Kart.
Even with all of these very different activities going on, newcomers are welcomed with open arms and taught how to participate no matter how complicated the game.
These gathered students are all part of the Gamers’ Guild, Eastern’s registered student organization for enjoyers of everything from video games to tabletop roleplaying or card games, TTRPG.
The group has been around for some time but current president Bryan Lasso, a senior computer and information technology major, is making an effort to bring in new membership.
“I wanted to open it up so that people felt like they had a place to come and hang out if they were interested in games of any type,” Lasso said. “I think my role in the Guild is to bring EIU Gamers into one space so they can find people with common interests.”
“Common interests” becomes a pretty broad category in the gaming space.
In just a few hours of one meeting, members played “Super Smash Bros,” “Coup,” “Magic: The Gathering,” “Exploding Kittens,” “Betrayal at the House on the Hill,” “Oblivion,” chess and “Generic Universal RolePlaying System.”
Lasso says it isn’t hard managing all these different categories, though.
“If people want to play a specific board game they can ask around our Discord [server] and to find people to play that game with,” Lasso said. “Some members bring video game consoles, Wii’s and Nintendo Switches for example, and ask around who wants to play.”
One category, tabletop roleplaying games, only became a true part of the Guild in the last year or so. Credit for the addition, at least in part, goes to Peter Grichnik, a senior chemistry major.
Grichnik joined the club when he transferred to Eastern in 2021, then began encouraging TTRPG, play sometime the following year.
“Beyond being a
ROB LE CATES | THE DAILY EASTERN NEWS
good way to have fun, TTRPGs can help connect students that wouldn’t normally interact, as well as help develop critical problem-solving teamwork, and interpersonal skills,” Grichnik said. “I view a well-executed TTRPG campaign as a safe place for individuals to explore aspects of themselves they may not have thought about before.”
While the TTRPG community has been active for decades, the hobby grew in popularity as people used it to connect during the pandemic. Most games can be played via video call, maybe with the help of various virtual tabletop options.
Grichnik is running a game in the Guild using the General Universal RolePlaying System, GURP, which is famous for its massive range of character options and adaptability to different genres. In this particular game, the players are superheroes with powers ranging from teleportation to being made out of
rocks.
While the game hasn’t been going very long, Grichnik says an early highlight is one player’s character who has a superpower allowing her manipulate particles in objects she can hold.
“She used this ability to incapacitate (if not outright kill) at least a quarter of the enemies on the field using nothing but a fork. Seriously badass,” Grichnik said.
Whether students are interested in more complex games like GURPs, need competition in “Magic: the Gathering” or just want to try out new board games, Lasso encourages them to join.
“If you’re looking for a place to nerd out and be yourself, this is the place,” Lasso said. “Bring friends and make new ones as you relax after a long week on campus. We love getting new people on the server so if you have any interest in games come say hi in person or online.”
You can find the link to join the Gamers’ Guild Discord on their RSO profile on Eastern’s website. Additionally, anyone can join in on the Guild’s “Super Smash Bros.” tournament scheduled for Feb. 23 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. at 7th St. Underground. There will be a $5 entry fee and the club’s collection of board games will also be available to play.
Luke Taylor can be reached at 581-2812 or at lrtaylor@eiu.
2023, 1:00
6 THE DAILY EASTERN NEWS | Features february 22, 2023 STORAGE UNIT
In
Name/Unit:
Contact
info:
SALE
person auction. Location: 1385 Beech Tree Rd, Charleston, IL 61920 Date and Time of Sale: March 5,
pm Facility: Midwest Storage, LLC
Susan Frederick, Unit 16
for more
217-549-4114 or 217-294-3381
GRAPHIC BY MADELYN KIDD | THE DAILY EASTERN NEWS
BY
Dungeon Master Peter Grichnik, a senior chemistry major, runs a game of Generic Universal RolePlaying System (GURPS), with fellow students in the Gamers’ Guild registered student organization in the Bridge Lounge in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union Feb. 5. GURPS is famous for its variety and adaptability to different genres. The players Grichnik is guiding are playing as superheros who have powers ranging from teleportation to being made of rocks.
5 things to watch in women’s soccer’s spring season
By Nick Bays Women’s Soccer Reporter | @DEN_Sports
Dirk Bennett, newly appointed head coach of the women’s soccer team, has recently released the spring schedule for the Panthers.
Matches this spring include an appearance in the Illinois 7x7 indoor tournament Feb. 26 and three home matches in April.
As the spring matches approach, let’s take a look at five things to keep an eye out for in this preseason schedule.
1. Old Name in a New Role
We can’t talk about the upcoming Panther season without looking at what is potentially its biggest change entering the year.
A familiar face to the program, Dirk Bennett has recently been appointed as head coach of the Panthers. Bennett served as an assistant coach for six years, and now it’s time for him to step into the head coaching spot.
Needless to say, this is a program he’s familiar with. Helping coach the team to multiple OVC tournament appearances, he understands the culture and the players on his roster.
Bringing knowledge of the program combined with his emphasis on goalkeepers and defense, one thing to keep an eye on this spring season is how Bennett deploys his players on the field and in what role/ formation.
2. Karima Rangel Potentially Bursts onto the Scene
2022 saw Karima Rangel score one goal, one of five Panthers to do so. What’s interesting, though, is that Rangel’s goal came in only 587 minutes of play last season, the least number of minutes played for any Panther that scored a goal last season. Much of Rangel’s contribution came when making blistering runs on the edge of the field progressing the ball forward. Last season, she looked very confident on the ball. She was not afraid to take on defenders and use a combination of quick pace and technique on the dribble to move EIU’s attack down the field.
Players such as Nicoletta Anuci and Amanda DaSilva dominated on the flank for Eastern last season. However, with them now having graduated, there will be minutes on the edge that will need to be filled. And Rangel is in prime position to potentially fill those minutes.
Rangel’s continued development into becoming a genuine force on the flank these past few years has me excited for what her senior campaign could deliver in the fall. Whether it’s in a substitute role or as a starter, Rangel could provide an exciting spark for the Panthers on the edge.
So, this spring, it’s worth keeping an eye out for Karima Rangel. How she’s utilized this spring and how impactful she is could provide a sneak peek into what to expect from her senior campaign.
3. A Young Defense comes into its Own
Fun fact: no defender listed on Eastern’s 2023 roster will be considered a senior next season. That didn’t stop the defense from posting the best goals-against-average in conference last year only allowing 0.81 goals per game.
Naturally, some players have come and gone, but defenders such as Espi Logan, Morgan Rinker, Kya Trejo, and Morgan Goodman are returning from last season’s defense that frustrated OVC attackers throughout the year.
Another fun fact: all four of those previously mentioned will either be sophomores or juniors next season. So, they not only have experience on a sharp defensive unit from last season, but they will also have more time to continue and develop into a potentially even stronger defensive force in the coming seasons.
With new head coach Dirk Bennett known for being defensive-centric in his tactics while also having extensive knowl-
edge of the roster already from his time as an assistant coach, this defense could be in position to enter a potential “golden age”.
So, keep an eye out this spring to see how the Panther defense maintains the back line.
They will have some tough tests this spring as two of their matches in April include Indianapolis, who posted 22 goals in just 17 games, and Heartland Community College, who found the back of the net a whopping 69 times in 17 games as well.
If the Panthers defense can hold their own against such prolific scoring teams, the future will look incredibly bright for this young Panther defense.
4. Who will fill Jenna Little’s Big Shoes?
Jenna Little truly had a campaign to remember in 2022. With four goals and one assist in less than 900 minutes of play, Little was Eastern’s most prolific offensive weapon and was recognized for her contributions as she was named to the All-OVC team.
Patrolling the front line and hooking in sensational shots that painted the corners of opposing goal keepers, Little was always good for a shot or two on goal every match. Every defense in the OVC had to account for her and try to keep her from roaming the edge of the box.
However, Jenna Little is gone now. And even with Little’s impressive campaign, Eastern struggled as a whole offensively last season as they were last in the OVC in total offense only averaging 0.62 goals per match.
So, there’s going to be an offensive vacuum that needs filled.
That doesn’t mean one singular player has to account for all those goals. A balanced attack that sees multiple goal scoring threats could prove difficult for opposing defenses to deal with.
But the question still remains: who could possibly fill that role? Well, a few players come to mind.
When it comes to offense, Zenaya Barnes is no stranger. An injury would keep her sidelined in 2022. However, she’s making her return to the field this spring and will certainly be looking to re-establish herself as an undeniable offensive force.
In 2021, she had an impressive three goal campaign that saw her be named to the All-OVC Second Team. During her 2021 season, Barnes utilized a combination of accurate shooting as well as great positioning to bother defenders. Barnes had a
7 THE DAILY EASTERN NEWS | SPORTS February 22, 2023
FILE PHOTO | THE DAILY EASTERN NEWS
Kya Trejo, a freshman defender, will return to the program next year as a sophomore defender as a key defender on the team.
FILE PHOTO | THE DAILY EASTERN NEWS
The rest of this story can be found online on The Daily Eastern News website: dailyeasternnews.com
Former Eastern forward, Jenna Little transfered out of the program to go to Central Michigan University to play in the fall as a senior.
Nave says athletic training technology is up to par
By Autumn Schulz Sports Editor | @autschulz
The athletic training staff here at Eastern successfully help the athletes by utilizing the technology that is available to them.
Jim Nave is the head athletic trainer for Eastern, and he is also the director of sports medicine for athletics.
Nave said that his duties are split between making sure that the athletic training staff is following the policies set by the medical side of the NCAA and being the supervisor of his three full-time staff members and three graduate assistants.
Nave is also responsible for making sure that athletics is following the health policies enacted by the Ohio Valley Conference.
Some of the policies enacted by both the NCAA and the university that Nave had to keep up with were the COVID-19 protocols when it came to athletes. The type of testing impacted if an athlete could travel and participate in their sport.
“When we first came back, we had to test the basketball team three times a week,” Nave said. “We would have to be within certain times depending on what kind of testing we did have, again, if we did a PCR within 72 hours.”
Nave said that there have not been any new policies or protocols that they have had to keep up with because everything is updated quite often.
Another large part of making sure Eastern athletics is staying up to protocol is improving emergency action plans for different sports.
Nave said that the NCAA was prompted to request emergency action plans from colleges after a Maryland football player passed away during summer workouts in 2018.
“We need to look at and make sure we have everything we need for sudden death, Rhabdo for sickle cell and how we prevent those and what our emergency plan is for those things,” Nave said.
Associate athletic trainer Scott Goehner takes care of the Eastern football team and he and Nave work together each summer to prepare for critical injuries during summer workouts.
“In the summer, we rehearse if we have to spine board or we will ask a football player to help us out or one of us will put on a helmet and shoulder pads,” Nave said.
Of course, there are rare circumstances surrounding injuries, one happened not too long ago on Monday Night Football.
When asked if the Eastern athletic staff is equipped to handle a similar situation as what happened to Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin, Nave responded with full confidence in himself and his staff.
“I think we’re equipped, and I think one of the other things is that is this is an NCAA thing too, that we stay on top of,” Nave said. “One thing we’re
very good about is that not just our sports medicine staff, our strengthen and conditioning staff is CPR certified and all of our coaches here,” Nave said.
The American Heart Association requires that CPR certification is updated every two years, Nave said.
Nave specializes in the cross country and track and field teams while his other staff members handle the other 19 collegiate sports offered on
because of the chances of winning.
“If I have a healthy team, I have a chance of doing the little things better,” Nave said. “It’s not just health and safety, the athletic student athlete experience that all ties in but we have a big picture too. Healthy teams win or have a better chance of winning.”
One way that the training staff stays organized is through a scheduling system where athletes can log in and schedule their respective appointments every 15 minutes throughout the day with the appropriate staff member.
“It’s kind of nice, it helps us be efficient and it also helps us keep track of hey, here’s who we saw today,” Nave said.
Nave was hired by Eastern athletics in 2015 and before that, Nave worked as an athletic trainer for Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Care.
He was also the head athletic trainer at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology for four years.
Nave said that one of the biggest technological advances in the athletic training world is the tools that they use each day.
The tool that gets used the most is NormaTec boots because they help in injury prevention, which is what one of the main focuses for the athletic training staff here.
According to medicalnewstoday. com, the boots provide air compression therapy for the legs, arms, and hips which aids in recovery following rigorous training sessions and events.
“Some of the teams are buying the boots so that their student athletes can have access even when we don’t have access because that is one of those technologies that you don’t have to have a physician overseeing the administration,” Nave said.
Some of the other tools that the staff utilizes are ultrasound, electrical stimulation, cold laser, rapid release, and oscillation therapy.
Although Nave and his staff have multiple different tools to help the athletes, there is always room for improvement and upgrades.
One of the pieces of technology that Nave wishes for him and his staff to have is an AlterG treadmill.
“It’s almost like you slide down into a pair of shorts and it suspends you so you can do the running,” Nave said. “You can do conditioning, you can do that motion, but you’re only carrying a little bit of your weight.”
campus.
Nave said that one common thing that brings athletes to the training room is shin splints, especially with the track and field athletes.
The athletic training staff has developed a shin splint program that they see utilized the most during indoor track season because of the hard surface.
Nave said that coaches buy into the maintenance work of their athletes
Another piece of technology that would be useful is underwater treadmills that allow athletes to swim or run in place and only carry 20 percent of their body weight.
Nave said that the staff tries to replace and phase out old modalities and get something new.
“Our bikes are only a couple years old, so we always make sure that we try to stay cutting edge on our technology,” Nave said.
Autumn Schulz can be reached at 581-2812 or acschulz@eiu.edu.
SPORTS 8 THE DAILY EASTERN NEWS DAILYEASTERNNEWS.COM FEBRUARY 22, 2023 VOLUME 107, NO. 21
PHOTOS BY HAN BYER | THE DAILY EASTERN NEWS
Head athletic trainer, James Nave, helps Eastern track sprints runner Taylor Wright, figure out why her quads are sore. Naves adds pressure to her knee to try to find out where the soreness is coming from.
BY HAN BYER | THE DAILY EASTERN NEWS
Ohio Valley Conference trophies that head athletic trainer, James Nave, has won. Nave wins a trophy every time cross country and track win a competition.
