THE Daily Egyptian
Southern Illinois charities fight food insecurity
Enan ChEdiak @EnanChEdiak
When 94-year-old Bob McKnight entered the Herrin House of Hope in the morning, the volunteers were preparing for the day’s service. He’s a well-known figure in Herrin, serving as a pastor in a Baptist Church in Herrin for over 50 years. So, when he led the morning in prayer, many of the volunteers stopped what they were doing to hear him.
McKnight is often involved at the House of Hope and said that he was concerned about the issue of hunger.
“There’s people out there that’s homeless, and people out there that’s hungry,” McKnight said. “It’s a good cause, and things is free for people who don’t have anything…”
Although McKnight spoke about Herrin, which is a small town of just over 12,000 people, what he said reflects a broader issue in the United
Taking the reins: three new faces sworn into Jackson County Offices
Judge Christy W. Solverson, who gave some opening words to the crowd.
States – food insecurity. According to feedingamerica.org, more than 47 million Americans deal with the issue of hunger and more than 50 million have used food assistance from places like the Herrin House of Hope.
In southern Illinois, Feeding America estimates that 16%, or around 8,520 people, experience food insecurity in Jackson County, and 14%, or around 9,400 in Williamson County.
With more than one out of
ten people in these two counties experiencing food insecurity, the need for access to food for everyone grows.
But for the people in the front lines of this work, things aren’t always easy.
Amy Simpson has been working in the field for over 15 years.
“The kids love Pop Tarts,” Simpson said. “I won’t buy them. They’re too expensive.”
Empty grocery bags, topped with
FOOD INSECURITY 2
Hangar 9 set to close Jan. 1
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its doors on Jan. 1, 2025.
After a long and historic race in Jackson County, Marsha Cascio-Hale, Christian Hale and Amy Wilson-Dallas were sworn into office on the morning of Nov. 27, 2024 at the Jackson County Courthouse in Murphysboro, Illinois. They were sworn in by Presiding
“It really, truly is my honor and privilege to preside over the installation of our newly elected county officials,” Solverson said.
She also emphasized the importance of voting, which we saw in the historic
Circuit clerk Christian Hale (center) places his hand on his grandmother’s Bible, held by his wife Marsha Cascio-Hale (right) while being sworn into office by Presiding Judge Christy Solverson (left) Nov. 27, 2024 at the Jackson County Courthouse in Murphysboro, Illinois. Enan Chediak | @enanchediak
to
Sally Carter, who’s owned the venue since the 1980s, announced the closure on Friday, Nov. 22 in an email to staff. With decreased business and the urge to retire, Carter listed the building for sale several years ago in hopes someone would follow in line to keep the establishment open to the live music and bar scene. On and off, potential buyers have taken interest in purchasing but none ever came to fruition.
“The realtor and I discussed reducing the price, which we did a couple of times,” Carter said. “In the back of my mind I knew that if something didn’t happen by the end of the year, that was giving it long enough.”
Popular among alumni and current students, Hangar 9 is open Wednesday through Saturday from 3 p.m. to 2 a.m. and welcomes the community inside for a variety of events including weekly trivia on Wednesdays and karaoke on Thursdays. Carter said the lack of live music has contributed to the building’s decrease in popularity, but it will be missed.
“We’ve always tried to be a good friendly neighborhood kind of joint that you could hang out in and feel comfortable in,” Carter said. “I want to say thank you for all the years of success that we got from it, and love, so many marriages came from Hangar.”
The space saw a vast amount of live music from SIU’s School of Music giving students the opportunity to gain musical experience on stage. In the age of digital streaming, Carter believes the decline in the School of Music hasn’t fueled Hangar 9’s fire.
The well-loved bar is open for the remainder of the year with its traditional schedule. Typically closed the week between Christmas and New Years Eve, Hangar will be open additional days to give the community one last dance or drink. The final night is set for New Year’s Eve with a drag show.
Editor-in-Chief Lylee Gibbs can be reached at lgibbs@dailyegyptian.com
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Snow melts from the top of the Coal Miners Memorial statue in Herrin as it stands in front of the Herrin House of Hope Dec. 1, 2024 in Herrin, Illinois. Enan Chediak | @enanchediak
Ramen noodles, pudding cups, crackers and other food items lined the tables, waiting to be filled. The walls were lined with supplies, and the back shelves were sparsely filled with boxes.
Simpson runs a charity in Carterville, Illinois called Gum Drops which makes bags of food for students in schools throughout Carterville. “I take the money, the donations, very seriously, and I make it go as far as I can. So, that is something that I do not buy,” she said.
Volunteers create hundreds of these bags weekly, which are delivered to local Carterville schools. “Gum Drops began in 2008 with 12 children,” she said. “And now we’re currently pushing about 13,000.”
The bags go to at-risk children in southern Illinois. “Most of the kids get free and reduced lunches and breakfasts at school,” she said. “This is to help them on the weekends until they get back on Monday.”
But over the years that Gum Drops has provided its services, the charity has experienced its share of difficulties, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. “We couldn’t get food, first off, from Sam’s Club or anything… You could only get five cases,” Simpson said. “I need 50 to 70 cases a week to feed all these children.”
Simpson said that the rising prices of food have affected Gum Drops. “Last year…was the first year since we started that, [for] 3 weeks, I couldn’t feed the kids: I didn’t have the money,” she said. “I’m sure it hurt the families terribly as well because you know they’re already struggling to find groceries and put gas in their car to try to go to work…”
But it’s not just young families that are affected by the rising prices. “I’m at the age that I’m living it one day at a time,” McKnight said. Recently, McKnight suffered a stroke and had to be taken to the hospital, which affected his medication. Since he doesn’t have a retirement plan, money is short for him. “When I had this stroke, they put me on a particular medication,” he said. “And this pill costs $700 for a month of medication.”
But higher prices affect the average person in southern Illinois in ways that are not always obvious to our wallets.
Lisa Cherry, the administrative pastor of the Victory Dream Center in Carbondale, Illinois, was working at the pantry Wednesday Nov. 20, 2024. A line formed outside of the foodbank in the bright midday sun, almost reaching the road.
The Victory Dream Center has been offering free food and supplies to the Carbondale Community for about 16 years. “About 10 years ago, we began to change and have a larger variety of food,” Cherry said.
Cherry said that they are connected to the St. Louis Food Bank, which supplies food shipments to Carbondale and throughout southern Illinois, but it also serves as a connection to grocery stores for overstock items. “We’re one of the largest of their agencies in this region, receiving food from Sam’s and Aldi’s and Walmart and places like that,” Cherry said.
“We are not able to get everything we need from the St. Louis Food Bank,” Cherry said.
“Donations are dependent on what’s going on in other domains of our economy and whatever’s going on in the corporate world. And so sometimes those supplies are high and sometimes they’re not. But the needs of the people and the inflation and the food [have] been constant.”
Cherry said that she has been concerned about the possibility of cutting back on spending because of the fluctuating prices. “If we have more cuts…in the supply chain and we don’t see a relief in our prices at the grocery store, our neighbors are going to be hurt,” she said.
The Victory Dream Center is also trying to get involved in measures that will help to stretch supplies. “On a regular basis, we will go to the microphone and talk about how to stretch your dollar – how to take the food we have out there and make it something that’s attractive, which is a constant need,” Cherry said.
The hope is that perishable items will last
longer through these measures. “I’ve really seen an increased participation of some of our ladies that have been coming here for years that’ll say, ‘Hey, I’ve figured out how to make the bread last. I’ve figured out how to pre-cook the vegetables so that they don’t spoil…’”
Also, the charity has been changing what kind of food is offered to Carbondale’s homeless population. “Of course, we can’t hand them a bag of dried beans and get anywhere,” she said. “So, constantly we’re looking for solutions for people who have no cooking facilities [and] are not able to carry much with them at a time.”
In addition to serving the homeless population, the Victory Dream Center also serves a variety of demographics. “Sometimes I’ll notice particularly young moms coming in in various kinds of uniforms,” Cherry said. “When I talk to them, I find out that they’ve been working
Gala carries out pitchers of sweet tea to the dining hall at the Herrin House of Hope Sept. 27, 2024 in Herrin Illinois. Enan Chediak | @enanchediak
Amy Simpson prepares empty grocery bags on the tables to be filled with food for students Oct. 29, 2024 at Gum Drops in Carterville, Illinois. Volunteers will prepare hundreds of these bags throughout the week.
A bicycle is loaded with food supplies Nov. 20, 2024 at the Victory Dream Center in Carbondale, Illinois.
tie between Cassio-Hale and Joseph Cerventez in the race for states attorney, where the tie breaker was decided by a mere 19 votes.
“We are here today because the citizens of Jackson County have exercised their constitutional right to vote,” Solverson said.
First, Wilson-Dallas was sworn in as coroner. The coroner’s duties include working with law enforcement, determining causes of death, issuing death certificates, notifying next of kin, maintaining records, testifying in court or at trial and making recommendations to improve public health and safety.
After an emotional oath, WilsonDallas thanked the crowd.
“I appreciate the support in the coming years,” Wilson-Dallas said. “I promise to do a great job on my duties every day to the best of my ability.”
Newly appointed circuit clerk Hale was sworn in using his grandmother’s Bible, held by his wife, Cascio-Hale. The clerk of the circuit court is the official record keeper for the courts, the circuit clerk is an integral part of the entire county governmental process, and is endowed with certain authority to aid and promote the judicial process.
FOOD INSECURITY
“I’m going to do my best for everybody,” Hale said, thanking the crowd. “If anyone needs anything, please don’t hesitate to talk to me.”
Newly elected state’s attorney Cascio-Hale was sworn in with a family Bible held by her son, her sister and husband. The state’s attorney is the chief prosecuting officer in the county.
more than one job, but they simply cannot make all ends meet.”
In many circumstances, the government assistant programs are insufficient or unavailable, and people rely on resources like the Victory Dream Center. “You’ll find that a lot of our people are receiving government assistance in the SNAP program, but quite a few are not,” Cherry said. “We really like it that we’re able to be a bridge for those people who are not going to be qualified for other helps.”
By offering its services for free, these charities can help people from a variety of circumstances. Emily Howell came into the Herrin House of Hope on Sept. 30, 2024 with her six children. They pushed two tables together in the corner of the red dining room near the window.
Howell says that she comes to the House of Hope one to two times a week. “It helps with the cost of food being able to eat here a few times a week,” she said. For three years, she has been homeschooling her children, and she said that one of the reasons that she comes to the Herrin House of Hope is that her children no longer have access to school lunches.
“We also have benefits because I’m not working right now,” Howell said. “But those benefits still only go so far with a family of eight.”
Regardless of where people come from, resources like these that give people access to food are becoming more necessary for people from varying walks of life. “I’m not going to turn any child away,” Simpson said.
“These are our neighbors,” Cherry said. “And I’ve come to see not just statistics; I’ve come to see their faces.”
Photo Editor Enan Chediak can be reached through Instagram @enanchediak or through email at echediak@dailyegyptian.com
The state’s attorney has the exclusive and statutory responsibility for prosecuting violations of the criminal law of the state of Illinois, as well as many other regulatory laws of the state and the county, including traffic regulation, juvenile court matters and mental health hearings.
said. “Our heart is here in Jackson County.”
“And as my colleagues have said,
Staff reporter Mylee Walker can be reached through Instagram @MyleeWalkerwrites or through email at mwalker@dailyegyptian.com
we will do our very best,” CascioHale
Amy Wilson-Dallas (left) is sworn into office by presiding judge Christy Solverson Nov. 27, 2024 at the Jackson County Courthouse in Murphysboro, Illinois. Enan Chediak | @enanchediak
States attorney Marsha Cascio-Hale places her hand on a Bible, held by her son and sister, while being sworn into office.
Bob McKnight leaves the Herrin House of Hope with a to-go box of food, specially made for him Sept. 27, 2024 in Herrin, Illinois. McKnight is a regular to the House of Hope. “We need togetherness,” he said. “We need to be more together than we’ve ever been.” Enan Chediak | @enanchediak
Compensation 2030 forums reveal faculty pay disparities
AnnAlise schmidt Aschmidt@dAilyegpytiAn com
Faculty and staff gathered at open forums in November to hear the latest updates on SIU’s Compensation 2030 initiative, a project Chancellor Austin Lane described in an email sent to all faculty and staff as “a comprehensive study that will provide us with the foundation we need to move forward.”
Lane wrote that due to historical factors such as the 2015-2017 state budget impasse and inflation exacerbating salary misalignment, the initiative aims to provide equitable and competitive pay for all employees.
The project is taking steps to address faculty pay disparities and improve salary competitiveness with its Compensation 2030 initiative, which involves CBIZ, a consulting firm specializing in higher education compensation. Through a job analysis questionnaire and faculty market studies, SIU is evaluating its pay structures against peer institutions to determine fairness and competitiveness.
The most recent forums centered on data from the faculty compensation survey, which compares SIU salaries to national benchmarks at other research institutions. Forums for staff results are expected to follow in early 2025, as the initiative progresses.
Nick Wortman, associate vice chancellor for human resources at SIU said, “The main goal is to make sure that we are recruiting and retaining top talent, so top faculty and top staff, to be able to really help us deliver student success and recruit and retain students.”
Wortman emphasized that the initiative is not just about adjusting salaries but also creating a sustainable framework that ensures long-term fairness and competitiveness across all employee roles.
Wortman said, “We can’t get the best of the best if we’re not competitive with what we’re paying people, and we can’t keep our
insights about their current compensation and its alignment with their roles and responsibilities. This process was used to identify areas where salaries were misaligned at SIU or lagged behind market benchmarks.
“I think that initially there was a lot of fear of, ‘Is the job analysis questionnaire going to be used against me? Am I going to lose pay out of this?’ And so it was one of the reasons why we did open forums in the early stages, to help dispel some of that and provide a time for people to ask those questions,” Wortman said.
He said the initiative aims to reassure employees that no one’s pay will be reduced as part of the project, and said, “That’s the piece I keep reiterating. We’re not taking pay away from anyone. Absolutely honest, legitimate fear for people to have, right, because it’s their life.”
For faculty, the market analysis is based on national data, specifically from R1 and R2 research institutions. These institutions include a range of peer schools that serve as competitive benchmarks for faculty compensation at SIU, including Bowling Green State University, Central Michigan University and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
The recommended approach from CBIZ suggests SIU anchor its pay structure at the middle (50th percentile) of the market range.
According to Joe Rice, Director in the Compensation Consulting Division of CBIZ, the proposed faculty pay structure changes include adding a maximum pay level, optimizing pay range widths to ensure competitive starting pay, and adjusting midpoint differentials to provide more flexibility at lower levels and larger salary increases at senior levels. The goal is to bring the internal pay structure more in line with market trends and dynamics.
The process involves documenting market competitive pay using faculty
costs of adjustments for those below the minimum.
Employees below the minimum will be recommended for an increase to the minimum, while those above the maximum will not have their pay reduced. A financial impact analysis estimates that 494 faculty members are currently below the minimum, at a cost of $3.8 million to bring them up to the updated range.
In terms of future pay increases, Rice said, “We want those minimums to stay competitive, those maximums to be appropriate. But…on top of that, we’re also recommending what we think is a marketcompetitive salary increase budget. The goal with that is not to match that market movement, but to structure things so that you don’t just stay at the minimum.”
“The main goal is to make sure that we are recruiting and retaining top talent, so top faculty and top staff, to be able to really help us deliver student success and recruit and retain students.”
- Nick Wortman
SIU Associate Vice Chancellor for Human Resources
good folks if we’re not paying competitive to other places that are trying to poach them. That’s kind of at the micro level, and at the macro level, it’s all about, how are we the best institution for students?”
He said there is a sense of relief among staff and faculty and said he hopes it brings optimism for meaningful change.
“In general, the feedback that we get, I think that our folks are happy that we’re doing something,” Wortman said. “There’s a lot of institutions out there that know they have a problem, but they don’t want to address it head on. If you don’t understand the magnitude of your gaps in terms of good compensation, then you can’t really put together a good plan to address it.”
The initial step of the project involved surveying staff and faculty to gather
survey data. This includes analyzing pay by faculty rank and academic discipline, and leveraging the data to understand national trends in discipline differentials. Rice said that SIU currently has a minimum but no maximum pay level in place.
The proposal includes bringing all employees to the updated minimum pay level, with a potential pay freeze for those currently above the updated maximum. For faculty members below the updated minimum, the cost to bring them into the range would be approximately $3.8 million, or about 7% of faculty payroll.
Rice said that SIU has 116 employees above the proposed range maximum, at an additional cost of about $1.4 million, but these higher salaries do not offset the
He said they want the minimum to increase, but also aim for faculty to receive more than just that minimum, helping them progress toward the midpoint of the pay range.
The proposed structure also includes tenure-track and non-tenure-track positions, with no major structural changes from the current system. The new pay structure would feature range spreads of 12.5%, allowing more flexibility for salary changes, particularly for tenure-track roles. A tiered system (A, B, C, D) is proposed, with Tier B set at the national average and the other tiers offering 10% discounts or 20-40% premiums to account for market differences across disciplines. The tiers will be assigned to specific disciplines based on market demand and compensation trends.
One key aspect of the CBIZ recommendations is for SIU to implement a career architecture to create a clearer structure for employees.
“Right now, we’ve got classified civil service, and we’ve got administrative professional, and there’s not a whole lot of consistency through,” Wortman said. “People can’t identify a career path from entry level to executive management very easily. The career architecture not only gives us a consistent and objective way to set pricing for jobs, but it also will help employees understand what the path is for their growth.”
Rice said, the career architecture framework aims to standardize job classifications and pay structures while providing employees with transparency about their roles and opportunities for advancement. By clearly defining pathways, the system is designed to help further support professional growth and ensure fairness in compensation.
Wortman said, “One of the big benchmarks that we also want to do with this, is to start building developmental opportunities into that career architecture so folks know what they’re going to be paid. Everything’s very transparent, and it really geared towards employee growth and retention.”
The initiative focuses on developing a more structured and consistent system aimed at improving clarity and alignment in employee roles and compensation. As the project progresses, the strategies will be further refined.
Rice said, “We track a lot of different wage and inflationary metrics. I’ve been in compensation for 20 years, and for 17 or 18 of those 20 years, wage growth has been faster than inflation. We’re in an environment now where wages are growing faster than inflation, so we’re taking those adjustments into account.”
Wortman said that typically, once the structure is established, it is reviewed every two to three years to ensure that jobs continue to be valued in the market appropriately.
“We’ve also got to look at equity too,
and make sure that as we’re bringing in new people, we’re not bringing them in over top of where others in comparable positions are,” he said. “So it’s kind of like the spirit of continuous improvement. You’ve got to keep adjusting.”
Wortman said the process cannot move forward until all data is collected and thoroughly analyzed.
“I think people are super anxious about the timelines... but, until we have those results, we don’t even want to start talking about when we can start implementing the changes, just because we don’t know how big the impact is yet,” he said.
The data, which is needed to understand the full scope of the necessary adjustments, will determine the next steps.
“We’re super complex here, so it’s not just a matter of leadership saying, ‘Okay, we’re going to give X group of employees a raise tomorrow’. A lot of those employees are represented by a collective bargaining unit. So before we can do anything with wages, we’ve got to sit down and basically go through negotiations with those groups,” Wortman said.
The implementation of changes will likely span several years, involving continuous conversations with a wide range of stakeholders to ensure that all voices are heard and that the changes are aligned with both institutional goals and legal frameworks.
Wortman acknowledged that the most challenging phase of the project is still ahead.
“I think what we’ve done thus far is kind of the easy part. And then when we get all of the final picture painted, the hard part’s going to come with how we make decisions about the prioritization of how we fund some of this over time,” he said.
Wortman said this will require a careful balance of financial resources and thoughtful planning to ensure the adjustments are sustainable over the long term.
Staff reporter Annalise Schmidt can be reached at aschmidt@dailyegyptian.com.
Illustration by Yarauseth Zavala | @yzavala.designs
Mental Health Support at SIU
On
campus SIU Counselors are available:
SIU Students have access to counselors by visiting our office in the Student Health Center Monday - Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. or by calling (618) 453-5371 to schedule an appointment.
Counselors are also available at various locations on campus Monday - Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from 12:30 - 9:00 p.m. (excluding university closures). Please call (618) 453-5371, so we can direct you to a location.
Connect@SIU
After 9 p.m. mental health support line.
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Get started by calling the support line after-hours. Connect@SIU after 9 p.m. call (833) 434-1217
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In the shadow of a bullet: the lasting impact of gun violence
LyLee Gibbs @LyLeeGibbsphoto
Gun violence casts a long shadow across America. It kills some, injures more and leaves ripples of torment on the lives touched.
The numbers tell the story: Gun violence kills 45,738 and injures 96,935 on average nationwide each year. In Illinois alone, an average of 1,061 deaths per year are by gun-related homicide making it the 11th highest in the nation. Nearly 5,000 are wounded by guns, the 12th highest rate according to everystat.org – the largest gun violence prevention organization in the nation.
Gun violence costs the state of Illinois $18.6 billion each year, $625.5 million of that paid by taxpayers. Nationwide, it costs the United States $556.2 billion annually – which averages to $1,698 per person.
Illinois leads the nation in gun-control laws following California and New York with laws like prohibition on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines according to Everytown for Gun Safety.
It does not discriminate, touching cities both small and large. Carbondale, a small college town of just over 20,000, is no stranger to its toll. In the rural, southern Illinois town, police have responded to over a thousand shootings in the last five years.
Behind these numbers are real people grappling with loss and life after guns. Southern Illinois residents have lived and breathed it.
“Until it impacts you, you know, it’s just sort of a story out there,” Jennifer Boyd said.
This is an ongoing series. If you are open to sharing your story, please contact lyleegibbs@gmail.com.
Editor-in-chief Lylee Gibbs can be reached at lgibbs@dailyegyptian.com or on instagram @lyleegibbsphoto.
Gun violence took 72-year-old Jennifer Boyd’s daughter and changed the entire trajectory of her golden years.
It was late evening on Friday, May 25, 2024 when Boyd received a call. The
other end of the line was telling her that they had heard a shooting on the police scanner and were unsure if it was her daughter. The nightfall of Friday had rolled over to the early Saturday hours
and Boyd was calling the police, rushing to the hospital, just trying to find out if her daughter was safe.
She arrived at the hospital to find Autumn Blue Cole, 43, her daughter, laying in the emergency room with her head wrapped up, shot in the left eye.
Cole lived another day. Boyd held her daughter in the emergency room until she made the decision to let her go and pulled the plug.
“I mean, it’s been five months. almost can’t hardly believe it, like I’m going to wake up from this,” Boyd said.
Cole held a deep love for the outdoors and was a mother to her own two children: 10-year-old daughter, Ellie, and 19 year-oldson, Michael. Without their mother, Boyd will be Ellie’s primary caregiver.
“Not only that have lost the child that I birthed, but now I’m raising her daughter and her daughter’s special needs,” Boyd said. “She’s got autism. She’s a lot and, you know, I have to be there, and so I’m changing the whole trajectory of my life because of this, this gun violence.”
Cole spent much of her time caring for her daughter, Ellie, keeping her alive. As a young child, Ellie underwent three open heart surgeries and still might need another. The impact reaches beyond for Ellie: difficulty in school, anger and outbursts all following the death of her mother.
“My message is, you know, how does this impact our children?” Boyd said. “You know, they have to live in a world where they fear guns. How sad.”
40-year-old Michael Valliant has grappled with the heavy cost of gun violence on both sides of the weapon.
Born and raised in Carbondale, he became a victim to gunviolence at an early age after his father was killed in 1985. As he went through life, he lost various family members and friends to gun violence, all impacting him in different ways.
At age 16, Valliant was incarcerated for first degree murder and was sentenced to 18 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.
He was living beyond his years, he said. Selling drugs in the community that led him to develop a relationship with 26-year-old Michael K. Corney that later turned sour. The feud landed on Valliant’s doorstep in June of 2001 where the two exchanged verbal altercations, threats and a physical scuffle ensued.
Corney told Valliant he would go get a gun and kill anyone around – at the time, the only people nearby were Valliant’s family. Corney walked off from the scene towards his vehicle and Valliant followed with his eyes, so he went inside to retrieve a firearm. When he returned outside, Corney was fighting with Valliant’s mother, where he pushed her to the ground and cocked back his hand. Valliant shot and killed Corney before he could swing at his mother.
“I came to realize that created a void in the world, but also within the lives of his family. It’s a situation that you can’t undo,” Valliant said. “Death is a permanent judgment.”
Valliant served 17 of the 18 years before he was released, but in those years, he spent time finding himself. He came to the conclusion that if he didn’t change his way of thinking, prison would always be a reality, and he wanted to prevent himself from ever having to go back.
“I’m motivated by that to try to create a change in the minds of people, in hopes that whatever I could do as far as outreach and trying to educate people about the different forms of violence that we can create a better society,” he said.
Now, back in the Carbondale community, Valliant is an advocate against gun-violence and a violence interrupter for Carbondale United. He steps in between momentary situations and offers a listening ear. His guidance has
helped to disrupt the instantaneous emotion of anger that is a driving force behind violence.
“The lived experiences is what has shaped me to be who I am now. That is the driving force behind what do now,” Valliant said. “I don’t think that had I experienced what I have, even been a perpetrator of violence and have to spend so many years in prison behind it, that has led me to be the person that I am today. So I breathe this thing every day, every day that I wake up, breathe it.”
losing signs of life in critical condition. They cracked open his chest to resuscitate and rushed into the operating room to fix injuries to the victim’s lung, esophagus, kidneys, liver and bowel as a result of the gunshot wounds. With the response of Dr. Badami and the hospital, the victim recovered.
“I think that was the moment where, you know, was like ‘Okay fine, I’m on the right track and you know, this is why we do what we do,” he said.
Badami’s job begins upon a patient’s arrival in the emergency room and ends in two ways: discharge or death. He is with them upon arrival, into the operating room and into the intensive care unit.
“When you manage those patients, you truly make an impact in their lives because trauma does not see a race or ethnicity. It’s like it can happen to anyone,” Badami said. “When that happens, you know, that person might be someone’s father, someone’s daughter, someone’s son.”
Originally from India, Badami grew up in Dubai before coming to the United States nearly a decade ago to practice medicine. He completed his surgical training in New York where he received robust training in split-second, life-or-death decision making. An interest in going somewhere that could benefit from trauma surgeon skillset landed him in the operating rooms at Southern Illinois Hospital in Carbondale.
Badami feels the impact outside of the operating room: in the road to recovery, in the post traumatic stress, in the lives touched around the victim.
“The trauma episode does not end once the patient leaves the hospital,” Badami said. “I might get busy with another patient, but the patients carry it with them outside the hospital and that they might carry it for a week, for a month, for a year, or for even more than a year, or for years, for decades. And that changes them, that changes them as a person, that changes their personality, that changes the outlook towards life. And sometimes people just live in constant fear.”
Jay Smock has carried the weight of gun violence through the death of a friend.
At age 19, he was pallbearer to his friend Kayce Steger after the Heath High School shooting of 1997 in Paducah, Kentucky. It was a Monday, and he had heard about the shooting quickly after it happened through the news. Perpetrator Michael Carneal opened fire on a group of students in a prayer circle in the school, killing three and injuring several more. Two or three hours later, Smock found out one of the three girls killed was Steger. The last time he ever saw her was that previous Saturday.
He met Steger through Law Enforcement Explorer Scouts, a division of the Boy Scouts. He stood in uniform for the funeral and carried her casket.
“Definitely kind of gives you a little realization just how fragile life can be,” Smock said.
For eight months, he saw the gun’s cost as a 911 operator in the western counties of Kentucky. It was everyday he heard calls of shots fired or someone had been impacted.
“I was glad I did it, sometimes I’m glad don’t do it anymore,” Smock said. “You are beat by the end of the day.”
Now 46, Smock has moved to Carbondale in recent years and feels as though he’s not escaped the unsettling conversation of gun violence.
“Around here, it seems to have gotten worse,” Smock said. “Even in just the two years that I’ve lived here… it’s almost like you get a Facebook or notification alert darn near weekly.”
The lasting impact of gun violence greets 34-year-old trauma surgeon Dr. Abbasali Badami at the hospital’s sliding doors under the red emergency sign.
He was training at Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn, New York when a victim came in with four gunshot wounds: one in his neck, one to the chest and two in the abdomen. Upon arrival, the victim was
Photos taken by Lylee Gibbs | @lyleegibbsphoto
GUN VIOLENCE 10
“It’s really helping out a lot of
people:” Saluki Food Drive gives students options
Alli GoerinG
On Nov. 19, the Saluki Food Pantry held a food drive in the Student Center on campus. They set up a booth and were accepting various food to stock up the pantry for students staying on campus during break.
“It’s something really great that SIU is doing, this low-key food pantry is doing a lot for students who actually need it, it helps them out throughout the year. With all the tuition cost and other costs, this gives them the support they need through college. A lot of kids drop
out of college because they’re not able to afford food and stuff like that; it’s really helping out a lot of people,” said Saluki Food Drive volunteer Dale Sunny.
The food drive was accepting fruits, vegetables, grains, protein, side dishes, pantry items and soups. They had their booth set up in the Student Center from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
“For the food drive, we accept food and other sorts of essential for students at SIU, so they can save money by using the food pantry. So we’re accepting donations and food essentials for the students who need them,” said Saluki Food Drive Volunteer Autumn Meyer.
If people who wanted to donate could not bring a food item, they could leave a donation to the pantry at the table. People can also visit the Saluki Food Pantry page on the student center website to contribute.
“If you’re an SIU student, you can sign up for the food pantry online, and it only takes about five minutes,” Meyer said.
On the Saluki Food Pantry page,
students can sign up to be able to stop at the food pantry monthly and pick up what they need. The food pantry is open Monday and Wednesday from 2 to 4 p.m. and Tuesday and Thursdays 9:45 to 11:45 a.m.
“It’s in the basement of the Student Center. If you’re a student at SIU, you can go in once a month and get food that you need for the month,” Sunny said.
With donations the food pantry receives, they visit local grocery stores to purchase items to stock the shelves. As donations come year round, one of the volunteers makes note of what items need to be replenished.
“Usually we get the money to purchase the food from donations. I know last year it was bought at Kroger, we have someone that goes and picks out things. People can donate all year round, it doesn’t have to be during a food drive,” Meyer said.
Staff reporter Alli Goering can be reached at agoering@dailyegyptian.com
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Saluki Food Pantry volunteers Quinn Sammarco (left) and Emma Carl (right) organize and count food donations during the Thanksgiving food drive Nov. 19, 2024 at the SIU Student Center in Carbondale, Illinois. Libby Phelps | @libbyphelpsphotography
Ryan GRieseR RGReseR@dailyeGyptian com
Hill’s seat heating up after rough 2024 season
Head Saluki football coach Nick Hill will never be a maligned face in southern Illinois.
Much like his former counterpart, Bryan Mullins, Hill is a product of SIU and will always be remembered for what he did during his playing days. But Hill may soon join Mullins as a former player who couldn’t live up to the same glory as a coach.
Hill has been SIU’s coach since 2016, when he was hired as a 31-yearold, first time head coach. He had served as the offensive coordinator and co-offensive coordinator for Dale Lennon’s Salukis before being promoted to interim, then finally permanent head coach in early 2016.
In nine seasons, Hill is still under .500 as a head coach, coming in at 4856, including 28-42 in the Missouri Valley Football Conference. In my eyes, and in what I believe to be an increasing number of supporters’ eyes, this simply isn’t good enough.
This opinion isn’t based only on the 2024 season. Hill and the Salukis had some of, if not the worst injury luck in the MVFC, if not the whole country. They also played a very difficult schedule, which was ranked the hardest in the FCS, according to WarrenNolan.com.
I’ll also say that I don’t believe Hill should be fired, at least right now. He deserves a season to prove that he should remain the coach of the Salukis for a long time. He also hasn’t seemed to lose the respect of his players despite such a poor season, which is highly important for the success of a program.
But, Hill’s seat should be very, very hot. He has consistently underperformed as a coach, reflected by only having four of his nine seasons
end with more wins than losses. He also has made the FCS playoffs only three times in nine tries.
To me, realistic success for SIU is winning six or seven games a year, playing the Dakota schools hard and losing narrowly to them and possibly even getting the occasional upset, and finishing in the top five of the MVFC.
This is an achievable standard, and one that Hill has struggled to achieve. His performance in the MFVC is particularly galling, and something that I just can’t shake. While he has beaten the top teams in the conference, he hasn’t done so on a consistent basis.
Previous coaches, like Mullins, have been fired for their conference performance. Mullins never finished higher than third, and was consistently closer to the cellar of the conference.
Basketball is a much different sport than football, considering teams play three times as many games, but this is an important parallel to draw. Athletic director Tim Leonard has proven that he isn’t afraid to move on from a Southern Illinois legend in order to bring in his guy in a coaching spot.
Another important note in HIll’s situation is his contract. While his salary of $280,000 (and climbing by $15,000 every year) is a relatively palatable amount as far as coach contracts go, the number of years left on his deal is the key here. He is signed through the 2026 season, meaning that SIU would only have to buy out one year of his deal if he were to be fired after next season.
Again, Leonard and the rest of the decision makers involved with the job have shown a willingness to do this. Mullins was fired with one year left on his deal, and was set to enter a
anticipating answers.
Nancy Maxwell relocated 331 miles south to the small town of Carbondale, Illinois in 1997 from Chicago. She thought the move would help her family escape the city’s notorious crime and it did. Until 2020 when her step-son was killed by a gunman. She now leads an advocacy program in Carbondale against gun-violence and racism.
In August of 2020, Maxwell was in a Zoom meeting when she got the call. Her step-son, Marquavion Purdiman, was shot and killed in nearby Marion, Illinois. She dropped the phone. The people on the other side of the line were still trying to talk to her, but all that didn’t matter. She rushed to the car trying to get to him. Upon her arrival, they had already transported Purdiman to the hospital. He was in critical condition.
“I will never forget seeing the yellow tape just like flying in the wind and this blood spot just on the ground,” Maxwell said. “They were telling us to move away and I’m like, ‘That’s my son. I’m trying to find out what happened to him.’”
It was the height of COVID and the limitation on hospital visitors had dwindled to none. Purdiman was in the hospital alone, but the parking lot overflowed with cars
lame-duck year. It’s incredibly hard for a coach to recruit to a school when they don’t know their own future, and that begs the question; does SIU want to extend Hill?
And while administration has stood by Hill so far, will they really want to pay him? He’s guaranteed to get a larger per-year salary than he already gets, as the market for coach contracts has only gone up. And with average-to-mediocre results, is it really worth paying Hill that kind of money?
Again: I’m not advocating against Hill remaining at SIU. He has shown to be a great leader for the program, a wonderful ambassador for the university, and truly loves the area. Personality wise, there is not one person who would be a better fit for SIU.
However, it still may not be worth paying Hill that money, even if he is a solid coach. Finding someone who can take the program to another, championship-contending level is the administrations’ duty, and determining whether it truly is Hill who can get them there is going to weigh heavily on their minds within the next year.
As a result, the administration should be breathing down his neck, making sure that he knows that he must improve to make sure he keeps his job. If they don’t do this, it’s a failure on their part, as it’s their job to make sure that programs are in the best shape that they possibly can be.
I don’t think that Hill will get fired; I can’t see Leonard canning another SIU legend, simply because of the emotional attachment the region has to him unless Hill has another season like this one only with a healthy roster. I could expect that many
“He had no idea that the whole hospital parking lot was full of people out there praying and hoping and wishing that he’d make it,” Maxwell said.
The death of her step-son increased her desire for programs that would work to eradicate the reasons behind gun violence. But before his death, two young men planted the seed in her mind initially.
Five years ago, Maxwell was busy in a smaller, for profit t-shirt making business when a young man approached her to buy a shirt. The young man’s cousin had been killed and he was looking for a way to memorialize him. Three to four months later, another young man approached Maxwell with a similar story, except he was looking for a t-shirt to memorialize the first young man who came months prior.
That moment motivated her; she knew Carbondale needed a solution. She took to Facebook with the intention to get several organizations in the community to work together on one prompt – gun violence.
Maxwell was attending a sociology class at SIU when she heard of Violence Interrupters in Chicago: individuals who go out and deescalate violence. This was her answer. So, each
would be calling for Leonard’s own job if that were to happen.
I, like many fans, want to see Hill take this program to another level, but also want the program to improve, even if it’s without him. I hope that I get to write about Hill getting an extension at this point next year. But, I would also not be at all surprised if I’m writing a brief about his firing.
Sports consultant Ryan Grieser can be reached at rgrieser@dailyegyptian.com.
city council meeting, Maxwell was there asking what could be done to make this happen. With no real answer, she began the process herself. Intensive time was spent submitting grant applications that she never thought would become a reality – until it did.
Chicago’s Violence Interrupters made the trip down to Carbondale to help mold Maxwell’s idea to fit the rural streets of southern Illinois. Given the name Carbondale United, the space works to eradicate gun violence and racism, but also provides an avenue of services for those in need.
Alongside being the director of Carbondale
United, Maxwell now serves on the city council. Her wish is for Carbondale United to be a possibility in every town.
“One bullet does so much damage to so many people. You know, it kills more than the victim,” Maxwell said. “The victim, if the victim had children, parents, family, you know, the other family it’s like, wow, their family member maybe didn’t die, they’re going away for a long time.”
Editor-in-Chief Lylee Gibbs can be reached at lgibbs@dailyegyptian.com
illustration by Dena Rendleman | @dena.rendleman
Volunteers prep for 56th annual Thanksgiving meal
Photos taken by Enan Chediak | @enanchediak
The Newman Catholic Center hosted its 56th annual Thanksgiving day meal, beginning preparation for the event days before Thanksgiving. Preparation involved volunteer work, donations, and lots of ingredients.
The Newman Center began hosting this event 56 years ago after a group of students were unable to go home over the Fall break. “Over the years, it’s grown and now everyone’s invited,” JP Dunn said.
Now the event has grown to serve more people than the few who gathered there 56 years ago. “Last year, we served 1300 meals,” Dunn said.
This number of servings requires a lot of food. “With this dressing that we’re making, there are 30 pans,” Dunn said. “Each pan takes a dozen eggs. So, that’s 30 dozen eggs that go into this.”
The Newman Center gets some of their ingredients from donations like the turkeys, which were donated by the Knights of Columbus. “They cook the turkeys and debone them and have them in pans, and all we have to do is thaw them out and heat them up on Thursday morning.” Dunn said. He estimated that they donate between 80 to 90 turkeys to accommodate the number of people who come.
In addition to the Knights of Columbus individuals volunteered for the event from outside the Newman Catholic Center from various churches and abroad. “They either volunteer with coming to help us, or they buy pies and cakes and cookies to bring in and serve as dessert.” Dunn said.
“Sometimes there are 20-25 people here buzzing around, working,” Dunn said.
In addition to this event, the Newman Center also hosts charity events year round. As an outreach of St. Francis Xavier Church, the Newman Catholic center aims to support Catholic students at SIU. “A priest from there comes here and says mass every Sunday, Tuesday nights, and Thursday nights, and it’s a place for students to gather.” Dunn said.
Every week, the center hosts a free meal on Thursdays for students. “Somewhere around 50 to 60 students show up for that every week,” Dunn said.
Photo Editor Enan Chediak can be reached at echediak@dailyegyptian.com
The Newman Catholic Student Center prepares Nov. 26, 2024 for hosting its 56th annual Thanksgiving dinner at the Newman Catholic Student Center in Carbondale, Illinois.
Karen Lesniak (left) and Pam Jerreell (right) prepare celery for stuffing. Lesniak has been volunteering at this event for 10 years, and this year and the last she has driven for five and a half hours from Chicago to volunteer. Jerrell has also been volunteering for 11 years and comes from Anna.
Rows of portioned, shredded bread for stuffing fills up a group of tables Nov. 26, 2024 in preparation for the Thanksgiving dinner.