2024.03.13

You’re taking what this semester?

By Gunnar Olsen Reporter | gwolsen2@eiu.edu

If you browse through Eastern’s course catalog, you will probably find what you’d expect: general education classes and a couple of electives. But if you look deeper, you can find some unexpected courses hiding among the pages.

Uniquely, Eastern’s students have the possibility of enrolling in a bowling class.

The class is run by the department of kinesiology, sport and recreation and is open as a class to anyone attending Eastern.

(See BOWLING PG 5)

OVC Tournament run comes to an end

By Zaria Flippin Sports Editor | @zariaflippppin

Eastern’s women’s team clinched a spot in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament for the fifth year in a row.

Eastern came into the tournament as the fourth seed, so the Panthers did not have to play until Thursday, March 7.

(See WBB PG 11)

Religious protester draws crowd at EIU

The student counterprotest formed shortly after noon

By Jacob Hamm Reporter | jmhamm@eiu.edu

A religious protestor on the Library Quad drew dozens of students to form a counterprotest Thursday afternoon.

The man, who only identified himself as Chris Svochak, held a sign of various activities and groups of people who he believes to be sinners.

The man told people directly that they are going to hell and that they are sinners. He vocalized these beliefs to people who engaged with him and those who were passing by.

He said other religions and other sects of Christianity were fake.

The man stated that he was a saint, saying God chose him to spread his message.

The protester arrived on campus in the late morning hours. Word quickly spread about the event through word of mouth and through various social media platforms.

Kristian Cedar, a freshman majoring in psychology, was passing by the protest coming out of class.

He was curious about what was going on and went over. He had advice for Christians who want to reach out to the LGBTQ+ community.

“I wouldn’t blame them, and by blaming them I mean saying that they’ll go to hell or they’re being punished for the way they feel,” Cedar said.

Many students came to voice their support for the LGBTQ+ community after Svochak yelled various homophobic tropes about the community, calling them “pedophiles” and “child groomers.”

The man also said that homosexuality can be cured, saying how he himself used to be gay before repenting approximately five years ago.

(See

CAMPUS

BY IYANNA STANTON | THE DAILY EASTERN NEWS

Sophomore Kenize Harrell, a sport management major (left), and sophomore Abbey Boyars, a neuroscience major, argue with Chris Svochak protesting sins in the Library Quad Thursday.

CAMPUS

BY SIA DEYKOONTZ | THE DAILY EASTERN NEWS

Junior forward Taris Thornton shooting a contested layup during Eastern’s game against Southern Indiana at the OVC tournament.

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CAMPUS

Overseas students share stories

By Jacob Hamm Reporter | jmhamm@eiu.edu

Three international students from China, Pakistan and Vietnam shared their experiences with several community members in a panel titled Glimpses of Asia on Wednesday afternoon.

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The event took place in the Rathskeller Loft, located in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union basement. The event was overseen by the Office of International Students and Scholars.

The panelists told their stories of why they decided to study in America, how they learned English and how they immersed themselves in American culture.

Anh Bui, a graduate student from Vietnam double majoring in construction management and sustainability, was inspired to come study in America after his sister did a few years earlier.

Bui first came to America in 2016 and started his education career at Olney Community College before transferring to Eastern. He said that living in a small town with a host family helped him learn English.

When he is not studying, Bui likes to travel across the country. He has been to over 30 different states and intends to travel to more places.

Haoran Du, a sophomore majoring in mathematics, is originally from China. He described the differences in the academic systems between the two countries. In China, a student’s ranking among their peers is put on a list and made public to their classmates.

Muhammad Ibrahim, a graduate student from Pakistan, is majoring in graphic design. During the panel, he discussed how art, particularly graphic design, is not wide-

BY JACOB HAMM | THE DAILY EASTERN NEWS

ly celebrated in Pakistan. He aims to teach Pakistani people about graphic design once he graduates.

As to why the students chose to attend Eastern, Du stressed the safety of the surrounding community. He voiced concerns about crime in other college towns such as Champaign and Chicago. He also worried about potentially being the target of a hate crime due to his Asian descent if he went to college in a larger city.

Ibrahim chose Eastern due to the fine arts program and its success. Bui chose Eastern due to affordability and the university offering academic programs he was interested in.

Each of the students shared their success and challenges. One challenge they all faced is meeting new people and immersing themselves in American culture. All of them mentioned how being away from most of their families was a challenge.

Ibrahim offered advice to any interna-

tional student who may be struggling.

“Just don’t worry,” Ibrahim stated. “It takes time to develop and fortunately, you will experience very good people around here that will help you in different areas.” He stressed how the Office of International Students and Scholars is helpful to new international students.

The audience, mostly comprised of members of the local rotary club, guided the discussion towards how their organization facilitates exchange programs for high school students. They also elaborated on the history of their organization both domestically and internationally.

The audience members stressed how the organization aims to help those in need and accepts everyone of different backgrounds as members. They also invited the students to attend their monthly meetings.

Jacob Hamm can be reached at 5812812 or at jmhamm@eiu.edu.

FRONT PAGE COVER BY HARPER HANCOCK

Sophomore Haoran Du, a mathematics major, discusses his experiences as a student from China at Eastern.

Cicadas incoming by the trillion Brood

XIX and Brood XIII are set to emerge in late May and early June

By Olivia Bennett Reporter | ojbennett@eiu.edu

The United States is about to see a special emergence of insects this spring that hasn’t happened since the time of Mozart’s music. But prepare for the volume—the bugs’ noisy call is projected to ring out just as loudly as one of his orchestras for several hours a day.

Sometime between late May and early June, 17 states across the Midwest and Southeast will experience a rare phenomenon called a dual emergence. For the first time since 1803, cicada Broods XIX and XIII will be crawling up from their burrows at the same time. Almost the entirety of Illinois will be home to cicadas this year, said University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign horticulture educator Ken Johnson.

Not everyone in Illinois will encounter the insects, Johnson said. The concentration of cicadas in an area will largely depend on the number of mature trees available.

Forested areas will be home to many cicadas, while farm fields will see very few cicadas due to the lack of mature trees for cicadas to munch on as they burrow. Dense urban areas will also see fewer cicadas, Johnson said.

Brood XIII has been underground for 17 years, while Brood XIX has been underground for 13 years. This pattern will prevent the two populations from spending time above the soil together for another 221 years.

A brood of cicadas refers to a geographically based population that emerges at the same time, not a species of cicada. Brood XIII consists of three cicada species and Brood XIX consists of four species, Johnson said.

The insects will begin to appear once the soil hits 64 degrees, Johnson said.

Cicadas spend most of their lives underground as nymphs feeding on tree roots then rise after a number of years. The nymphs crawl up the trees they have spent their time underground feeding on and then molt, leaving a crunchy exoskeleton behind.

Once the nymphs emerge as cicadas, the males call out to the females to begin the mating process, another U of I horticulture educator Christopher Enroth said. Soon afterwards, the females sing back.

After mating, the females find branches on trees about the size of a pinky or less and cut them open with their ovipositor, a sharp organ that several female insects use to deposit eggs, Enroth said. The females will lay their eggs in the slits they create.

The insects will begin to die after four to six weeks. As the remaining nymphs hatch, they drop to the ground and burrow to start the cycle over again, Enroth said.

There are several points in the life cycle of cicadas that can cause issues for affected areas while they are above ground.

As the cicada males attempt to attract mates, they produce a loud sound described to resemble screeching by many.

The noise is projected to reach anywhere between 90 and 100 decibels, Enroth said. This could sound like a lawnmower constantly going off, Johnson said.

“When we had a periodical brood emerge a couple years ago, in 2013 or 2014, I remember driving in my car,” Enroth said. “As I was driving my car, I heard this rumble, this high-pitched rumble, and it was the cicada sound. I was coming down the highway too, so you have road noise and all of that stuff, and I still heard that coming through closed windows and everything.”

The sound could become overwhelming for those that work outside. People who could be exposed to the sound for a long time may want to consider buying a pair of earplugs, Johnson said.

While the noise will eventually die along with the cicadas, there are other habits of the insects that may cause more permanent damage.

As the females use branches to hold their eggs, they will cause flagging in trees, an event where certain branches of trees turn brown and die, Enroth said. While mature trees will be able to recover from the flagging and regrow their branches, younger trees could be killed entirely, Johnson explained. Commercial orchard growers and peo-

cadas. There are several animals that use cicadas as a food source.

Insect-eating birds like turkeys, chickens, cardinals and robins along with mammals like foxes, coyotes and mice will feed on the insects. Even the year before they emerge, moles feed on the growing nymphs.

This is why ecologists believe cicadas burrow underground and come out all at once, Enroth said.

Their goal is to overwhelm the system so they can’t possibly all be eaten by predators before they have time to reproduce.

“Everything is going to have a feast come May and June this year,” Enroth said.

Cicadas are such a rich source of nutrients that we may see other insects that feed on cicadas emerging this spring as well.

One of these predators will be a wasp called the cicada killer, Enroth said. Cicada killers usually emerge in small numbers at the end of each spring to feed on annual cicadas called dog-day cicadas.

Female cicada killers, for example, paralyze cicadas, drag the bodies back to their burrows and lay eggs in the still-living cicada so the hatching cicada killers will have something to feed on, according to a Purdue University report. Cicadas may be large, but the cicada killers will be larger.

However, Enroth said not to worry about being stung by these wasps when they arrive at the end of the season to clean up any remaining cicadas. They have no interest in disturbing humans, he said.

ple who have planted trees within the past two years are at risk of being more seriously affected by cicada-induced flagging, Enroth said.

There is a way to prevent younger trees from suffering during cicada season.

If trees are wrapped in a fine-mesh netting and secured firmly at the base, the insects won’t be able to break through the cloth and injure the tree, Enroth said.

There is one con of the dual emergence that will have no solution. As the trillions of cicadas begin to die, they will emit a noticeable decaying smell.

Overall, there shouldn’t be any life-changing negative events accompanying the insects, Johnson said.

“It’s not going to be the end of the world,” he said. “This has been happening for thousands of years and everything has been fine.”

In fact, there are a variety of benefits that the dual emergence will induce.

When the insects emerge, they naturally aerate the soil by leaving thumbsized holes behind them, Enroth said. When the cicadas die, they return nutrients to the ground and feed plants, Johnson said.

Plants are not the only organisms that will benefit from the increase of ci -

The males, which are the wasps you will typically encounter flying around and looking for mates, don’t even have stingers.

“Nature was very smart when it designed them like this,” Enroth said.

The females will rarely be encountered, since they spend their time searching for cicadas and laying eggs underground, marking humans safe from being stung.

Animals aren’t the only ones who eat cicadas.

“Humans could eat them, if you really wanted to. Personally, that’s something I’m looking forward to—getting to try it,” Johnson said.

Evidence shows that Native American tribes used to use cicadas as a prominent food source, Enroth said.

They have been reported to taste like almonds with a crunchy outside and gooey center. There are some cookbooks isolated to recipes concerning preparing cicadas.

Overall, experts believe this will be a year to remember.

“I would say to everyone to just try and enjoy what’s about to happen, because no one is going to see this for the next couple generations,” Enroth said. “Experience something weird that nature does. It’s pretty neat.”

Olivia Bennett can be reached at 581-2812 or at ojbennett@eiu.edu.

FILE PHOTO | THE DAILY EASTERN NEWS

For the first time in over 200 years, Illinois will experience a dual emergence of cicada broods.

Some of the counterprotesters brought various pride flags to show their solidarity and express themselves. One protestor even bought pride-themed merchandise at the campus bookstore because of the protest.

Many counter protesters confronted the man, asking questions about religion and various subjects relating to Christianity. Some of the counter protestors were Christians themselves, saying the man was misinterpreting the Bible.

Tatianna Stringer, a sophomore majoring in health administration said, “I do have a relationship with God, and I feel like this is not putting the best light on Christianity. I believe it’s bringing more division among everybody else because it’s portraying something that may not be fully true.”

A student, identified by a secondary source as Ethan Lozada, came to the event dressed in a costume of Jesus.

Lozada confronted the protestor directly and had a heated exchange with him about Christianity.

Many people in attendance voiced their support for the LGBTQ+ community.

Some people in attendance voiced their support for Svochak’s right to protest and some of his message but thought his approach was wrong.

Some attendees voiced opposition to both the religious protestor and the counterprotestors, saying that both sides were purposefully stoking division

to anger the other.

The polarizing protest drew the attention of the EIU Police Department, who monitored the event to ensure that violence would not break out at the im -

promptu event.

The crowd was moved by police around 1:30 p.m. due to the protest disrupting students’ exams in nearby McAfee Gym.

Svochak returned again on March 11 to continue protesting.

Jacob Hamm can be reached at 581-2812 or at jmhamm@eiu.edu.

BY IYANNA STANTON | THE DAILY EASTERN NEWS

Sophomore Jullian Deters, psychology major (top), and freshman Evelyn Bogard, secondary education major, stand alongside other students protesting against Chris Svochak’s sin protest. Bogard wears their LGBTQ+ flag as a rebuttal in the Library Quad.

Student government presents revised constitution

By Veronica Gipson Reporter | vmgipson@eiu.edu

A revised version of the student government constitution was presented to the student senate at their general body meeting on March 6 featuring task reassignments and the removal of the judicial branch.

Student body president Nidhi Patel and speaker of the senate Madison Veatch, who jointly headed the constitution revision task force, gave the presentation outlining all the changes made.

The student senate did not vote on the constitution during its meeting, as the revised constitution will be added to the spring 2024 ballot and incorporated during fall 2024’s semester.

A new student government role was introduced in the amended constitution: the student trustee.

The student trustee is a student representative on the board of trustees, a responsibility that has until now been that of executive vice president August Biernbaum, a senior political science major. The student trustee will attend trustee meetings, participate in discussion and vote on matters that affect the university.

A significant change to the constitution includes the removal of the judicial branch, which has not been active at all since the last time the student constitution was amended. Duties of the judicial branch were largely delegated to various student government officers and faculty members.

Examples of such include that the

evaluation of student government executive officers has now been delegated to the student government advisor, currently Ceci Brinker. Additionally, if a student government officer were to be removed from their role, they would appeal to the university vice president of student affairs.

The responsibilities of the student body president were workshopped largely. The student body president’s power and responsibility were reduced.

Previously, the constitution stated that the student body president may veto any action passed by the student senate with the sole exception of parliamentary procedure. The amended constitution would further limit their power

by not allowing vetoes of RSO charters or resolutions.

Responsibilities that were completely removed from the constitution were meetings with judicial branch officials, holding a review of the speaker of the senate before the speaker election process and meeting with other executive branch executive officers semiweekly.

While the student body president’s duties were largely limited by the amended constitution, the executive vice president gained new responsibilities. The proposed constitution ordains that the executive vice president is also to serve as the chairperson of the Appropriations Board, maintaining records following both the board’s bylaws and

public law. The executive vice president is also to consult with the leaders of the executive and legislative branches and assist in creating itemized budgets for the following fiscal year.

They will be expected to provide updates to the student senate each semester on the budget of any boards funded by the student activity fee, and they are meant to regularly review and audit the budget of each of these programs under the revised constitution.

Further, the new constitution dictates that before any student government expenditures are presented to the student senate, the executive vice president is to review them. The final new proposed duty of the student executive vice president is to sit on the senate tuition and fee committee.

The fiscal duties of the vice president of student affairs were substantially reduced from the amended constitution, as many of their previous responsibilities were reallocated to the executive vice president.

They do maintain the role, in conjunction with the executive vice president, of approving registered student organization funding.

The revised constitution states that the vice president of student affairs is to head the diversity action council and head diversity, equity and inclusion week.

The amended constitution will be voted on in early April.

Veronica Gipson can be reached at 581-2812 or vmgipson@eiu.edu.

Eastern’s bowling class is a one credit hour class offered to students every year with multiple sessions to fit the schedules of those students either interested in the class or for those trying to get their final few credits to complete their degrees.

“I think it’s pretty fun,” said Michael Otzwirk, a senior geography and geology major. “It’s one of those sports that you can do it in whatever clothes you are in, and it makes it pretty easy to enter because of that fact [that] you can kind of just dress casually and play a sport, which is kind of unique.”

Bowling class is a lot like other classes. There are quizzes, study guides and much in-class participation.

“There’s a vocabulary that goes along with bowling,” said Mary Atteberry, who works as an instructor for one of the sections of bowling class. “You still need to learn terminology.”

This is Atteberry’s first year teaching the class.

The game of bowling has shown to have health benefits including weight loss, muscle straightening and muscle toning. Bowling can also help with developing hand eye coordination.

Atteberry’s class began this week bowling in league style. To start out the class, the bowlers get their shoes and are divided into their new groups based on their skill levels.

After some friendly teasing among the groups about their bowling abilities, the

friendly competition begins to see who’s on their A game today.

The class teaches students the ins and outs of bowling like how to properly score a game. This is done the old fashion way, as the students must keep track of their scores on paper.

The class being more hands-on allows the students to bowl multiple games per person in each class.

Bowling in small groups in class is also a big part of building students’ confidence not only in the classroom but for the real world.

The class at first glance might sound like a slacker’s paradise, but do not be fooled. Bowling class is just as much a class as it is a game. Atteberry teaches students the mathematics behind the sport because without being able to calculate scores and averages, there is no game.

“I’m liking it. I think that it’s a bit faster pace than how we have been doing it in the past,” said Riley Bauer, a senior English major.

Bauer is taking the class because it is a nice buffer for him between his English classes.

He is not the only one who feels this way.

“I like that it’s not my calculus class,” Otzwirk said. “It’s nice to have something that’s relaxing during the day as opposed to calculating numbers and derivatives.”

Because of Atteberry’s background in therapeutic recreation, for her class she has an adaptive bowling ball that has

Bowling class is offered to Eastern students as a single-credit elective.

a handle and a spring release. Instead of putting your fingers into holes of the ball, users instead hold on to a retractable handle.

The adaptive bowling ball has been shown in the class to improve the ability to knock over pins for those who have been struggling.

Not only does Eastern offer a class on

bowling, but EIU Lanes is a fully operational bowling alley and is open to anyone who is interested in playing. For more details game prices and open hours, see the EIU Lanes page on the EIU website.

Gunnar Olson can be reached at 581-2812 or at gwolson2@eiu.edu.

BY IMMANUEL JOHNSON | THE DAILY EASTERN NEWS

The Student Government board announced new changes to its constitution Wednesday, March 6, 2024.

FILE PHOTO | THE DAILY EASTERN NEWS

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Even the worst speech deserves protection

By Rob Le Cates Editor-in-Chief

As I sit and write this column hunched over my laptop, I recognize this is going against what I tell people when offensive demonstrators visit campus: Ignore them and keep walking.

This past week, a man set up shop on campus to spread negative religious rhetoric about who he believes are sinners in the eyes of God, which promptly grabbed students’ attention. This rhetoric included hateful comments toward the LGBTQ+ community, followers of alternative religions, marijuana smokers and abortion to name a few.

He remained on campus for around four hours on Thursday and Monday and reeled in a horde of argumentative students and an impromptu Jesus who followed him around the Library Quad in the free speech zone.

The man visited Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville campus last November where he and a student had a slight physical altercation after spilling his drink on the student. He also received a noise complaint.

People certainly can choose how they respond, “whether that be through debate, protest, questioning, laughter, silence or simply walking away,” the Foundation of Individual Rights and Expression noted

erate threats made toward individuals or hate speech attacking a person or group based on race, religion, ethnic or national origin, sex, disability, sexual orientation or gender identity.

The vast majority were wholeheartedly against the man’s hateful message.

I’m glad to see fellow members of the LGBTQ+ community and allies taking a stand.

This man is not having a discussion.

If yelling slurs, homophobic tropes and promoting harmful viewpoints are a form of discussion, then we need to reconstruct how we have meaningful exchanges.

Everyone loves a good screaming match. While they yield great photos, people who go to heckle back do not help the problem at all.

Although we as people will adamantly defend our beliefs, only so much corrosive confrontation and quality conversation can happen before we should cut our losses.

You can’t force a standpoint on someone who is not willing to consider different opinions.

Hate speech is commonly found in the forms of name-calling and usage of slurs used to demean others’ identities based on race, color, gender, ethnicity, religion, national origin, disability or intellect, according to my communication law and ethics textbook “The Law of Journalism and Mass Communications,” written by Susan Dente Ross, Amy Reynolds and Robert Trager.

to create a space where ideas can be spread, but if it comes at the detriment of others, it is not worth the pain.

Another case helped separate hate speech from intending to incite violence or immediate harm. Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire involved a man named Walter Chaplinsky who protested in the streets.

Chaplinsky saw the town marshal and went ballistic calling the marshal a “god-damned

on its site.

Eastern’s stance on free speech says it is dedicated to providing a safe and educational environment, encourages respectful discussions.

It goes on to say the university does not tol-

Courts have classified this form of speech as protected under the First Amendment unless other actions and elements are introduced. The textbook goes on to define these elements through important court cases.

Several cases like Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire, Brandenburg v. Ohio and Schenck v. United States made the differentiations clear.

Schenck v. United States paved the way for understanding clear and present danger for many pivotal early-stage cases.

Charles Schenck oversaw the production and distribution of more than 15,000 flyers to drafted men during World War I.

The flyers urged men to stand against the draft because of its involuntary servitude claim.

Courts convicted Schenck of violating a section of the Espionage Act of 1917 through the flyers’ intent to obstruct recruitment or enlistment. The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction saying the papers could endanger national security during a time of war and allowed for greater restrictions of free speech. In its ruling, the court introduced the concept that free speech could be restrained if it was a clear and present danger.

Guest columnist Jacob Kimsey wrote about his experience with the heckling and said although he received insults from the man, the number of students boldly supporting each other made him feel safe.

He engaged in a conversation with a Christian man attending the protest, and the two asked and answered genuine questions.

Although it led to both concluding they won’t have the same views, they agreed to respect each other.

I’m happy Kimsey had a productive conversation. I also agree that we should always try

“A lthough we as people will adamantly defend our beliefs, only so much corrosive confrontation and quality conversation can happen before we should cut our losses.”

- Rob Le Cates

racketeer” and “a damned fascist.”

Police arrested the man and convicted him under a state statute of forbidding intentionally offensive speech directed at others in a public place.

The man appealed, but the Supreme Court upheld the conviction because his words were deemed as “fighting words.”

While the speaker on campus Thursday and Monday did hurl offensive words toward others and made generalized hateful comments, he did not cause immediate harm or trigger a violent response.

A later case, Brandenburg v. Ohio, led to how the courts now define hate speech. A Cincinnati television station filmed Ku Klux Klan leader Clarence Brandenburg giving a speech in which he made racist and anti-Semitic remarks and made vague threats against government leaders.

The Supreme Court found that although his comments were highly offensive, “Mere advocacy of the use of force or violence does not remove speech from the protection of the First Amendment.”

With this ruling, the court established a new test for determining what is unconstitutional.

From what I observed, the demonstrations Thursday and Monday displayed no sign of violence.

Free speech zones on college campuses are essential for upholding a marketplace of ideas. Even if we do not like what someone says, the person has the right to say it.

Rob Le Cates can be reached at 581-2812 or deneic@gmail.com

A queer student’s perspective on the March 7 protest

By Jacob Kimsey Guest Columnist

EIU’s courtyard in front of the library is deemed a free speech area, and as such, protesters are welcome to speak their minds on campus in this area.

However, March 7, a certain protester armed with a sign condemning many groups of people caused a large crowd to form around him. His message was controversial to the students on campus, and many felt threatened, unsafe and offended.

I showed up to the scene about an hour after the crowd had first formed.

People with pride flags, signs and even a man dressed as Jesus had gathered to dispute the protestor’s hateful claims.

I managed to get up front. The man’s sign condemned many groups, but he focused on one in particular: the LGBTQ+ community.

I am a gay and transgender man living on the campus of EIU.

My friend group warns each other about religious fundamentalists whenever they arrive on campus so that we can avoid them. Most are harmless to us. They only display their messages and talk to people who come up to them first.

But as queer people in the United

States, we have learned to be afraid of them.

We are not willing to take the chance that one of the people who come to campus to spout homophobia will insult us, condemn us or, God forbid, attack us. Several of us have been victims of hurled insults on the street or familial rejection because of who we are.

When I heard this man was yelling insults and loudly professing that gays will burn in hell, I rushed over.

At one point, I managed to get his attention. Without knowing anything about me, he called me a “lesbo” and professed that I would never be a real man. He held up a ball and announced that he had balls and that I never would.

In a less public setting, I would have left, but the people around me made me feel safe enough to stay and talk to the other people there. I talked to people who vehemently disagreed with him and people who agreed with him.

No matter how they felt about his views, all of these people shared a common belief: the way this man chose to protest was excessive, unnecessary and gave Christianity a bad name.

Some of them were afraid that the situation would escalate. One person expressed a fear of being killed by people like him on campus.

“What if he kills me? Then we’re one down. I would be the second queer Choctaw kid to get killed in one month,” he told me.

Many people had a sense of humor

about the situation.

“I can’t tell if I want to laugh or cry at him,” one attendee said. “I keep telling him ‘you don’t know what’s in my pants,’ and he doesn’t like that,” a woman remarked.

One man joked about how he had kissed the man dressed as Jesus in front of the protester.

“I will never get cancer ‘cause I kissed a guy dressed as Jesus,” he said.

Speaking of the man dressed as Jesus, he also had a lot to say about the protester’s claims.

“Jesus loves everybody. Don’t matter your race, your religion, your gender, your sexuality. I love you,” the man said.

I talked to two Christian men who told me that they agreed with some of his points but not the way that he had chosen to present his opinions. One of them simply remarked that he “could be a bit nicer.” He also told me that while he held the same view about queer people sinning, he felt that they were entitled to make their own decisions in life and that he believes they shouldn’t be condemned by others.

The other Christian man I spoke to had a very open discussion with me about religion, sin and queerness. I did my best to be as respectful as possible despite our different worldviews, and in return, he was polite, kind and understanding.

He asked me genuine questions about my identity. By the end of the conversation, we came to an agreement that

though we may not understand each other, we are entitled to do and believe what makes us happy, so long as it doesn’t hurt others, whether that is worshiping God or changing our gender.

I appreciated this conversation greatly. This is the kind of conversation that we should be having—a respectful exchange of ideas and an attempt at understanding each other. The protester had been doing the opposite: slinging slurs and insults, condemning others based on hatred and telling them that they deserved to die.

Yes, he said that. He said it multiple times, in fact.

I cannot be the only one who found this entire situation unacceptable. While I understand that this area of campus is designated for free speech and protests are explicitly allowed, the aggressiveness and hatred of this man made many people, including myself, highly uncomfortable and borderline unsafe.

After witnessing this event, I feel that it’s time that we as a student body and as an institution ask ourselves: To what extent should we allow this on campus? At what point does free speech become unprotected hate speech?

It is difficult to feel safe as a queer person on campus when we openly allow people like this to come into the area where we live, where we go to school, where we are told we are protected and tell us that we deserve to die.

Jacob Kimsey can be reached at jwkimsey@eiu.edu.

General education courses are not for college

By Kierstyn Budz Columnist

General education courses should not be required for all college students.

I do want to preface I do understand why general education courses do exist.

General education courses are useful for some students who might not have the same education across the board. But a biology major should not have to take a music class or an English major take a chemistry class.

I know it is good to get other knowledge in different topics, but high school should focus on a wide variety of subjects.

College should be a time to hone your skills and focus on specialization while high school is for broad learning.

Now, I do think there are some

classes that are helpful to all majors across the board and should be required. These include the composition one and two courses, speech, foreign language, psychology/sociology and a diversity class.

I will say, some might ask why I specify these so I will explain.

When it comes to writing in college, not every student understands how to write a college-level paper. I can say when I got to college, I had to completely change how I wrote papers. With the composition classes, students learn those skills and can keep them for the rest of their time in school.

To my knowledge, every major needs to write a paper at one time or another whether it be reflections, research papers, etc. Learning these skills is necessary for a successful college career.

Next, everyone needs to talk to each other, and this could be casual or public speaking. For that reason, I think having to take speech and some type of foreign language (if not taken in high school) should be required.

People do not know how to speak publicly anymore, and since COVID-19, people have become more reserved and lost their social skills. By taking a speech class, students would basically be forced to work on these skills to hopefully turn people into better communicators.

The world is also becoming more diverse which by taking both a foreign language and a diversity course, we would propel the current and future student body into a world of more open-minded and aware humans.

This gets me to my last class suggestion, psychology and sociology. In the past few years, especially as a substitute teacher for K-12 and just as a college student, people do not understand social cues.

This does account for the introduction of technology and COVID-19 keeping people from actual human contact.

By taking a psychology and sociology class, students will learn how the brain works and how to be social in general.

By focusing on these classes, stu -

dents would be able to focus on their majors without the issues that come with so many gen ed classes. Take for example, if you are really bad at science or math and you are a music major, what happens if you cannot pass those classes? You can pass every music class with flying colors but fail math or science multiple times over.

This can lead to stress and even lead to dropping out. I know multiple people who dropped out because they could not pass a gen ed course that had nothing to do with their major. By focusing on the specialization of your major and what you want to do with your life, college would also be shorter than four years. That would allow for more people to go into the workforce quicker and a younger workforce in general.

I will stand by the fact that college should be specialization and focusing on your major while high school is for learning a broad selection of subjects.

Kierstyn Budz can be reached at krbudz@eiu.edu or 217-581-2812.

COLUMN

MEET THE COACHES

Former NBA player coaches EIU players

By Cameron Thomas Sports Reporter | @DEN_News

Marlon London is currently the assistant coach for the Eastern men’s basketball team.

London is from Broadview and played high school basketball at St. Joseph High School in Westchester.

At St. Joseph, London was coached by Gene Pingatore, the winningest high school basketball coach in the state of Illinois. Pingatore also coached NBA champion Isiah Thomas, national champion Daryl Thomas and Kansas State alum Deryl Cunningham.

After high school, London took his talents to the University of Kansas, where he was coached by legendary college coach Roy Williams, who London says is an allaround legendary person that he still keeps in touch with to this day.

London played two years at Kansas, and then went back home to play in front of

friends and family at DePaul University.

London spent his last college years at DePaul then entered his name in the 2003 NBA draft.

London was selected in the ninth round in the 2007 annual NBA G League Draft by the Idaho Stampede. After spending time with the Stampede, London kept playing basketball overseas in Mexico.

After playing overseas, Marlon went back home and went to a barbeque on the west side of Chicago, running into his high school coach, Pingatore.

Pingatore was there recruiting a player and then asked London what his plan was. Pingatore wanted London to coach with him, but London denied it at first.

After multiple conversations, London went to a practice.

“I didn’t think I had the personality. As a player I was fiery, so I didn’t think that younger players would follow me,” London

While watching practice, London knew he could give coaching a try, but Pingatore

BY SIA DEYKOONTZ | THE DAILY EASTERN NEWS

In London’s first season, Eastern went 14-18 and 8-10 in the Ohio

Valley Conference.

made London coach the freshman level first to teach him the patience aspect of coaching because Pingatore knew London’s personality possibly would not work at the varsity level that fast.

“Coaching freshmen was an eye-opening

experience,” London said.

Marlon went on to coach at the University of Illinois Chicago, North Park University and Lewis University.

“As an assistant, you want the head coach to do the least amount of work as possible,” London said. “So, you check classes, put players through individual workouts through the day, set up practice plans with coaches, on the road recruiting and be an extension of the philosophy that coach Marty [Simmons] has and follow that so the players can follow the philosophy as well.”

In London’s first season, Eastern is 1012 and 4-5 in the Ohio Valley Conference.

“It has been amazing here at EIU. We are on track to have the most wins this program has seen in a while, so we just have to keep stacking and building together.”

Cameron Thomas can be reached at 581-2812 or at cathomas8@eiu.edu.

Men fall short against SIUE in OVC tournament

BY SIA DEYKOONTZ | THE DAILY EASTERN NEWS

My journey from shot put to sports media

By Payton Liggins Sports Reporter

“Women’s sports are not as entertaining.”

“Women’s sports are not aggressive.”

“You throw like a girl.”

“Women in sports don’t count.”

Ever heard those before? I have and I’m sure many women in sports have too.

Happy Women’s History Month!

Those phrases are echoed throughout society to many women in sports. They are used to undermine and create a negative view of the women’s sports industry.

As a past female athlete but now a woman in sports media, comments like this enrage me. Do you really think that low of women?

This type of thinking comes from the stereotypes that were created generations before us, but now it’s time to change the culture.

In years past, I celebrated the amaz-

ing women who’ve made many contributions for me, but today I am celebrating the women who work in sports that have paved the way.

Being in sports as a child made me realize I either wanted to be in front of the camera or behind it, and now working in sports media, I want to do both.

It’s been clear to me for some time now that I want to work in the sports industry. Since deciding to pursue my ambition and make this my career, I haven’t actually looked back.

I was a track and field athlete. I threw shot put and discus since sixth grade, and it was fun. Except, I was the only girl on the team in middle school and high school. So, being around a bunch of jock football players didn’t help at all.

It being the only sport I knew, there was no way I could find another sport to put my focus on.

Slowly falling out of love with shot put, I started focusing on sports media. It all started in high school. I was a mini content creator, and that’s when I knew this is what I wanted to do.

Having the opportunity to start working for my hometown’s youth football and cheer program is where I first got to

express my creativity the most.

During this opportunity, I learned from a lot of people and realized what I wanted to do in sports media.

Being a part of The News and writing sports articles have given me life and made me a different person. I love having connections with athletes and coaches and telling their stories through articles and graphics.

Showing my creativity and becoming as some say a “sports content creator” is one of the main things I have interest in. That is how I landed the student internship with Eastern’s baseball team’s social media team.

Taking risks is a part of the job, and I’m glad I took the risk of emailing the coaches at Eastern for opportunities. I am now expressing my best creativity through writing and social media.

The journey of being a woman in sports has been nothing but good to me.

Yes, I’ve only been working with sports (women’s and men’s basketball, baseball and a little football) full time since January, but if anything, I feel rewarded. I’m finally doing something I enjoy.

With the sports industry being so male dominated, it’s hard and some -

times scary to voice your opinion. Like “Sir, I’m on your team because I know sports too. Let me talk.”

Sometimes people will try to give me trivia questions to see if I really know what I’m talking about…duh. I obviously know what I’m talking about.

In high school, I wasn’t open about “sports talk” so I got the looks and stares when I told them I want a career in sports media.

I want people to realize that women in sports isn’t an outlandish or uncommon thing, especially with African American women. Showing more representation is one of my main goals.

I wouldn’t change anything in my life right now. I am learning and getting the experience and working with different athletes, coaches and writers to help live out my dream.

Being totally transparent, I know women in sports media isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when you think of “women in sports,” especially African American women, but let’s put a little respect on our names when we put the work in.

Payton Liggins can be reached at 581-2812 or at paliggins@eiu.edu.

WBB CONTINUED FROM PG 1 >>

The day before, the Panthers’ possible opponents between the fifth seeded Morehead State Eagles and the eighth seeded Tennessee State Tigers.

Tennessee State ended up winning the game over Morehead State 58-50 to advance on to play the Panthers on Thursday.

Although the game was fairly close in the first half, the Panthers extended their lead late in the fourth quarter as they beat the Tigers 60-48 to move on to the semifinals.

“I’m really proud of the team,” Panthers’ head coach Matt Bollant said after the Tennessee State game. “It was not an easy game, and I thought it was a good lesson to stay with stuff. We didn’t have many things going right, and I felt the offensive rebounding kept us in the first half.”

Panthers’ junior forward Macy McGlone recorded a double-double against the Tigers, as she ended the game with 22 points and 12 rebounds.

One player that also put in valuable minutes was senior guard Emily Meidel. She recorded 11 rebounds along with four points and two blocks.

With this win, the Panthers were set to play the number one seed in the conference tournament, the Southern Indi-

ana Screaming Eagles.

Before the tournament, Southern Indiana has lost only one game in the OVC conference, so the Panthers knew this would be a competitive matchup.

The Panthers kept game close throughout the first three quarters, but the Screaming Eagles outscored the Panthers 19-9 in the fourth quarter to obtain the 69-54 win.

“We didn’t make enough plays in the

Panthers

The freshman pitcher from Marseilles went 2-0 against the Southeast Missouri State University.

Oslanzi pitched 12 innings throughout the first game as the Panthers won 7-4 in Cape Girardeau, Missouri in the first game of the doubleheader on Saturday.

Although the Panthers lost the second game of the doubleheader, Oslanzi started the next game on Sunday as the Panthers beat the Redhawks 2-1.

fourth quarter,” Bollant said after the Southern Indiana game. “We had some shots that hung on the rim and didn’t fall down, and we just needed a few of those to go in.”

McGlone, Eastern’s leading scorer throughout the season only scored four points against Southern Indiana.

Junior guard Miah Monahan led the Panthers in scoring against the Screaming Eagles, recording 15 points. Meidel

of the Week

followed with an additional 11 points, and junior forward Taris Thornton recorded 10 of her own points.

Here are some aspects of the game that played a role in the Panthers’ semifinal loss:

Lack of three-pointers

Along with the Tennessee State game, Eastern also struggled from the threepoint line against Southern Indiana. Eastern was six of 23 from the threepoint line.

One of Eastern’s best three-point shooters, sophomore guard Ellie Buzzelle, shot one of six from behind the arc.

Monahan shot two of five and Meidel was three of six from the three-point line as well.

The rebounding battle

The rebounding battle might be the most important part of the game besides the scoring aspect.

Eastern got out-rebounded by Southern Indiana 45-37. Although a margin of eight rebounds isn’t a huge margin, rebounds can be a factor on if a team wins or not.

The Panthers ended their season with a 15-18 overall record and an 11-7 OVC record.

Zaria Flippin can be reached at 5812812 or at zhflippin@eiu.edu.

The senior utility player from Mascoutah helped the Panthers win one of two games against the Arkansas State Red Wolves on Saturday.

In the seventh inning, Gober hit a home run while the bases were loaded to give the Panthers an additional four points.

Gober’s home run allowed redshirt junior outfielder Dylan Drumke, junior infielder Danny Infante and redshirt senior infielder Robby Taul to score as they were the three runners on base.

MCKENZIE OSLANZI

COLE GOBER

BY SIA DEYKOONTZ | THE DAILY EASTERN NEWS

The EIU women’s basketball bench got excited as the team scored and advanced to the next game Thursday, March 7.

BY SIA DEYKOONTZ | THE DAILY EASTERN NEWS

Redshirt forward freshman Ella Lune (1) and junior guard Juila Bengtson (20) getting the next play during a timeout huddle during the game against Tennessee State at the OVC Tournament.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

EIU senior Emily Meidel played

a critical role in win against TSU

By Aidan Cusack Sports Reporter | atcusack@eiu.edu

A sense of joy took hold of the players on the Eastern women’s basketball team after their 60-48 win over Tennessee State University. The win meant the Panthers are advancing in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament, playing number one seed University of Southern Indiana on Friday.

Yet, for one player on the team, losing meant more than just heading back to Charleston.

Senior forward Emily Meidel walked into the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana, knowing a loss meant never playing collegiate basketball again.

“It’s definitely bittersweet,” Meidel said. “I’m just trying to take every game as something to be thankful for and cherish this opportunity with the team, play like it could be the last.”

Meidel’s year has been a tale of two halves.

In the first 15 games, Meidel averaged 7.7 minutes a game. While 7.7 is low, it was still a step up from her 2023 season. She recorded 6.9 minutes per game that year.

Shortly after the halfway point in 2024, Meidel’s minutes exploded, averaging 19.5 minutes a game over the last 15 games.

Bollant made the decision to play Meidel more based on

her intellectual ability, he said.

“The one thing is that she’s incredibly

smart, and she can play so many spots,” Bollant said. “We joke that Emily has never made a B in her life, and that translates to basketball as well. We put her in different spots; she really plays the two through four.”

Her increase in playing time led to her playing 21 minutes in the first OVC tournament game of her career.

Her minutes were cut short at the 4:16 second mark of the third quarter. Meidel suffered a knee injury and limped off the court.

“I just fell hard on my knee,” Meidel said. “Pain for a second but I was able to get back out there.”

Miedel indeed came back shortly at the start of the fourth quarter. 39 seconds in, she drained a three-pointer.

On top of that, Meidel got eight rebounds in the second half while having 11 total in the game.

“Emily in the second half giving us some rebounding, for her to have 11 rebounds, I’m just proud of that,” Bollant said.

The Panther win means Meidel will play again, extending her basketball career by at least one more game.

Aidan Cusack can be reached at 5812812 or at atcusack@eiu.edu.

Panthers’ exit in OVC Tournament explained

By Zaria Flippin Sports Editor | @zariaflippppin

For the first time since the 2019-2020 season, Eastern men’s basketball team clinched a spot in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament in Evansville, Indiana.

Eastern came into the tournament as the seventh seed and was set to play the sixth seeded Southern Illinois University Edwardsville on Wednesday, March 6.

“We were excited to have the opportunity to compete in the tournament,” Eastern’s head coach Marty Simmons said after the game.

The Panthers ended up losing to the Cougars 68-57, as the Cougars dominated throughout the first half.

SIUE would have a 17-point lead over Eastern to end the first half.

“We dug ourselves a hole,” Simmons said. “Being down 17 in the half was tough, but I thought our guys did a great job coming out in the second half.”

The Panthers started the second half with a 10-4 run over the Cougars, but in the end, the Panthers could not catch up.

Booker also led the Panthers in assists with six, as Davis recorded an additional two throughout the game.

Here are some aspects of the game that played a role in the Panthers’ first round exit:

The absence of Kooper Jacobi

Jacobi, the redshirt sophomore forward transfer from Sellersburg, Indiana, was the leading rebounder for the Panthers until the last game of the regular season against Western Illinois University on Thursday, Feb. 29.

Jacobi ended the season with 131 total rebounds.

Jacobi was ruled out with a stress fracture in his foot for most of the team’s conference games. Before Eastern played SIUE on Tuesday, Feb. 27, Jacobi was cleared to play, yet he did not appear in the game nor any of the other games for the remainder of the season.

Without Jacobi, the Panthers were down one of their tallest players that added height down in the paint.

Grbovic, fifth-year forward Jermaine Hamlin and junior forward Rodolfo Rufino Bolis played valuable minutes for the Panthers against the Cougars.

“We lost one of our leading rebounders and leading scorers [in] Kooper

A big aspect from this Panthers’ team were the six transfers that played in the tournament: junior guards NaKyel Shelton, Corey Sawyer Jr. and Jaylin Gibson, junior guard/forward Kyndall Davis, redshirt sophomore forwards Lazar Grbovic and senior guard Tiger Booker.

BY SIA DEYKOONTZ

Jacobi, and it just seemed after that, we just kept losing a guy or two,” Simmons said. “I love how our guys kept battling and hanging in there, and they earned their way into the tournament. Not being healthy 100 percent of the time; they never used it as an excuse.”

The Panthers have experienced numerous injuries throughout the season, from head to toe, but the team continued to fight throughout the season to get their spot in the tournament. The rebounding battle

The rebounding aspect of the game is something the Panthers have struggled with throughout the season. Eastern lost the rebounding battle to SIUE 39-34. The Panthers struggle to win games when they are out-rebounded by the other team.

The Panthers ended their season with a 14-18 overall record and an 8-10 record in the OVC.

Zaria Flippin can be reached at 5812812 or zhflippin@eiu.edu.

Eastern’s head coach Matt

BY SIA DEYKOONTZ | EASTERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS Senior forward Emily Meidel ready to shoot the ball during the game against Tennessee State at the OVC tournament..

| THE DAILY EASTERN NEWS

Men’s basketball players are distressed over the game against Southern Illinois University Edwardsville on Wednesday night, March 8.