The Daily Egyptian - January 25, 2023

Centralia native Javon Williams Jr. declares for 2023 NFL Draft

Centralia, Illinois, is a 12,000-person town roughly an hour north of Carbondale.

Among its claims to fame are its high school basketball team, which is the winningest program in America. But soon, it could be the hometown of an NFL player.

On Jan. 11, Javon Williams Jr. announced that he would be forgoing his final year of eligibility and declaring for the NFL Draft after a five-year Saluki career. The Centralianative served several roles for Saluki football, including running back, quarterback, receiver, and kick returner.

“It’s starting to grow on me more and more, just knowing that I’ll never be playing on that field as a Saluki, or ever again,” Williams said. “Knowing that the next time I go watch a football game, I’ll be in the stands... It’s the next step to growing up as well. Being more of an adult than just, ‘oh, I’m a college student still.’”

Typically, NCAA rules grant players five years to play four seasons worth of games. When the COVID-19 pandemic canceled several sports and derailed others, an extra year of eligibility was given to all affected athletes.

Despite this opportunity, Williams’s decision to not take advantage of it came partly from his academic progress. He is set to graduate in May, and will be the first in his family to do so.

“The end goal has always been making it to the NFL, but

main focus was always getting a degree,” Williams said. “I was making sure I went to college until I got my degree, and when I get it, I’m ready for the next step, the next chapter, which is the NFL, the highest you can play.”

Williams finishes his Saluki career sixth all-time in rushing yards and third in rushing touchdowns. He tallied 50 total touchdowns: 43 on the ground, five thrown and two caught. He was named an AllAmerican twice by Stats FCS, and received All-MVFC honors four times.

During Williams’s career, the SIU football program reached highs not seen since its mid2000’s golden age. The Salukis

reached the playoffs in backto-back seasons, and notched marquee wins against nine-time National Champions North Dakota State and a Power Five team in Northwestern.

“That’s one thing me and Coach [Nick] Hill talked about. It was at the end of the year meeting. He said, ‘you’ll be able to say when you leave college that you were part of the team and a part of producing to make the team a winning team and a playoff team,’” Williams said.

While he played a vital role in bringing Saluki football back to national prominence, Williams credits his teammates for helping raise the bar in Carbondale.

“I stay humble with it, because I know it wasn’t just me out there on the field,” he said. “Avante Cox, Nic Baker, Branson Combs, Zach Burrola on the defensive side, P.J. Jules. We had weapons on each unit and each side of the ball.”

Originally recruited to Carbondale as a quarterback, Williams made the transition to running back during his first year. As a freshman, he spent much of practice on the scout team, which allowed him to prove his ability against some of SIU’s best defenders.

“Because of my running ability throughout high school, they could tell, ‘this kid has some sense of how to run good,

how to run hard,’” Williams said. “Just going out there and just executing when I was running the ball. It was like ‘this would probably be the best transition for you.’ I couldn’t agree any more. I told coach ‘yeah, I want to play some running back,’ and it was up from there.”

Some of those defenders included Jeremy Chinn and Madre Harper, who are two of the 42 Salukis to have played in the NFL, and among the five still active in the league. Chinn was the most recent Saluki drafted into the NFL, being picked at the end of the second round by the Carolina Panthers in 2020.

Even though Williams was officially listed as a running back, he got several reps at other positions. A few times per week, Williams would line up as the quarterback in the Wildcat formation, while other plays featured him as a receiving threat.

“I’m blessed and thankful that my career was drawn out and blueprinted out that way, where I would get my opportunity to play some receiver, some tight end, blocking, play quarterback, kick return, punt return,” he said. “Just being able to be a part of every position. Like they say, this army Swiss knife, like you can do everything. That’s good because you play in different positions, and it’s beneficial to the team at all positions of the game.”

Later in his career, he split playing time in the backfield thanks to SIU’s abundance of talent at the position.

Brandyn Wilcoxen | @BrandynWilcoxen

SIU running back, Javon Williams Jr., runs during a play during SIU’s 31-28 win over North Dakota during the Homecoming game on Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021 at Salukis Stadium at SIU. Williams Jr. ended the game with 38 yards on 6 carries. Jared Treece | @bisalo

Contact Us

Email: editor@dailyegyptian.com

Faculty Managing Editor: Annie Hammock ahammock@dailyegyptian.com

Editor-in-Chief: Sophie Whitten swhitten@dailyegyptian.com

Design Chief: Peyton Cook pcook@dailyegyptian.com

Photo Editor: Lylee Gibbs lgibbs@dailyegyptian.com

Multimedia Editor: Kylen Lunn klunn@dailyegyptian.com

Sports Editor: Joey Bernard jbernard@dailyegyptian.com

Assistant Sports Editor: Cole Daily cdaily@dailyegyptian.com

News Editor: Jamilah Lewis jlewis@dailyegyptian.com

Ad Chief: Hannah Combs hcombs@dailyegyptian.com

Social Media Editor: Logan Brown lbrown@dailyegyptian.com

Interactive Editor: Domonique MartinezPowell dmartinez-powell@ dailyegyptian.com

Black Excellence with Mr. and Miss BAC

About Us

The Daily Egyptian is published by the students of Southern Illinois University Carbondale on a weekly basis. Fall and spring semester editions run every Wednesday. Free copies are distributed in the Carbondale, Carterville, and Springfield communities. The Daily Egyptian can be found at www.dailyegyptian.com or on the Daily Egyptian app!

Mission Statement

The Daily Egyptian, the student-run news organization of Southern Illinois University Carbondale, is committed to being a trusted source of news, information, commentary and public discourse, while helping readers understand the issues affecting their lives.

Publishing Information

The Daily Egyptian is published by the students of Southern Illinois University Carbondale and functions as a laboratory for the School of Journalism in exchange for the room and utilities in the Communications Building. The Daily Egyptian is a non-profit organization that survives primarily off of its advertising revenue. Offices are in the Communications Building, room 1259, at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Carbondale, Ill., 62901.

Copyright Information

@2021 The Daily Egyptian. All rights reserved. All content is property of the Daily Egyptian and may not be reproduced or transmitted without consent. The Daily Egyptian is a member of the Illinois College Press Association, Associated Collegiate Press, College Media Advisers Inc. and the College Business and Advertising Managers Inc.

Submissions

Letters and guest columns must be submitted with author’s contact information, preferably via email. Phone numbers are required to verify authorship, but will not be published. Students must include their year and major. Faculty must include rank and department. Others include hometown. Submissions should be sent to editor@dailyegyptian.com

Black Affairs Council (BAC) is recognizing Black students with its second annual Mr. and Miss BAC and the Ebony Ball. Firstyear and fourth-year students are allowed to apply for Mr. and Miss BAC. Contestants are also a part of BAC’s annual Ebony Ball.

Mackenzie Gaines, the finance coordinator and the organizer of Mr. and Miss BAC, said BAC’s main goal is to encourage Black students on campus to get involved.

“We try our hardest to continuously reach out to the students. We make sure that we’re talking to admin, making sure that our Black student’s needs are getting met and we just try our best to talk to every student we see to make sure they feel welcome,” Gaines said.

Gaines said BAC not only works to make sure Black students are thriving academically and socially but makes sure their accomplishments are highlighted with events like Mr. and Miss BAC and the Ebony Ball.

The Ebony Ball and Mr. & Miss BAC, although fairly new events, have a great meaning to SIU’s Black student population,

she said.

“Well, so originally the Ebony ball was created for SIU alumni and students to get together [...] [because] a lot of people didn’t have prom, so it’s so that we could have prom and then a big end to Black History Month,” Gaines said. [...] “We wanted a way to showcase our Black students like those who are trying their best in school and that are excelling that may not get the same light or attention as their peers. So that’s why we started Mr. and Miss BAC.”

Daniel Killins, a first-year graduate student who was on the Mr. BAC court last year, said his experience was good and felt he got a chance to meet new people and get his face out there.

“My running mates, [..] we’ve all known each other since we came here. So there was no beef. So that probably was a big part of it, [...] what also was good, it was just nice to pass around candies. It was nice for people to know me,” Killins said.

If you are a Black student, whether you are a part of BAC or not, being involved in this event is a great way to show people who you are and promote Black

excellence, he said.

Killins said last year no freshman signed up for BAC and the reason for that could be because they were possibly nervous.

“It’s, like, everyone’s going to know me. Like from this night to the day I graduated from Carbondale SIU, Carbondale people are going to know me and it’s hard to put yourself out there. But you should do it anyway because, just because you’re a freshman doesn’t mean you’re a loser. [..] You have something to offer. We all do,” Killins said.

If you are a fourth-year student or, especially a first-year, you should get involved in this event because it is a great way to get your face out there and be recognized for all the hard work you do, he said.

“I’m excited to really see what the BAC is going to be cooking up for us this year. I think each new ball should be an evolution of getting better and better,” Killins said.

Staff reporter Janiyah Gaston can be reached at jgaston@ dailyegyptian.com or on Instagram @janiyah_reports.

Janiyah Gastion | @Janiyah reports

Devon Moon | @woah_devon

Concussion protocols inconsistent at southern Illinois high schools

Daniel Bethers | @DBethers@ DailyeGyptian com

When you hear the word “concussion,” it’s easy to picture six-foot-tall juggernauts blasting across stadium fields, sending their opposition rag-dolling to the cheers of thousands of spectators. Previous coverage can have the effect of inuring audiences to the morbid realities of brain injuries in professional football, rendering news about the health of a select few millionaire athletes sterile and distant. The concussion reform efforts of years past have lost their novelty, even though new research continues to take place at accelerated rates. What many don’t see in the limelight of media coverage is the concussions in our own backyards, sustained by potentially vulnerable high school and college athletes who don’t have the resources and constant professional medical attention that professional athletes enjoy.

According to Illinois concussion law, schools are required to have a designated staff member responsible for concussions and programs that safely return students to academic and athletic participation after they receive concussions. Out of 10 Southern Illinois high schools, all have medical professionals present at sporting events throughout the sporting calendar. Eight of the 10 schools have medical professionals observing practices when they can (depending on the risk of injury in the sport). Still, many high schools don’t provide their own medical professionals, instead relying on contracts with local hospitals and colleges to provide athletic trainers and doctors covering their area, which can result in less coverage of potentially dangerous events than if schools had resident professionals.

“SIH (Southern Illinois Healthcare) provides the athletic trainers to some high schools, but we’re only there two times a week for school visits, meaning checking injuries and coverage of the games,” said Sarai Yates, coordinator of sports rehabilitation at SIH and a certified athletic trainer at SIH for 20 years. “We’re not at every practice and we’re not at every sport. I think it should be covered more. Obviously, most concussions are gonna happen at practices, not at games because you have kids who maybe don’t play as well, don’t hit as well - or maybe they’re learning to hit - or that’s when they try the new cheerleading pyramid and they drop someone on the head. I truly believe every school in Illinois, high school and junior high, should have an athletic trainer on-site at school during practices and games, but there’s no law. That’s not forced everywhere.”

Specifically, Illinois concussion law requires high schools to have designated concussion officers to supervise games and practices and create concussion protocols at each school, preferably medically trained. In practice, the law allows schools to

contract with medical professionals or even use completely untrained concussion officers if the expense of having medical professionals on staff is prohibitive.

“Are we really covered here in Southern Illinois? We’re doing the best we can, but no,” Yates said. “Those little schools are not. Murphysboro and Marion are really the only schools in this area that have a full-time athletic trainer on-site at all times. And then there are the schools we cover, and that’s close to every school.”

In the local area, financial resources remain the main issue in getting professional supervision for athletic events.

“It comes down to money and being able to have staff there whereas, you know, the local high schools have one athletic trainer, you know, for all their sports,” said Dr. Scott Schonewolf, SIU’s Director of SIU Sports Medicine Fellowship as well as the Medical Director for the SIU Center for Family Medicine. “Now, the NCAA and high schools, you know, mandatory you need to be at more of these anywhere where you could have collisions - what we’d call a collision type sport. So it should be there for football, men’s and women’s basketball, soccer, baseball, softball, anywhere we could have that now. But you have your athletic trainer, that is at every practice and everywhere. If you were at the professional level, yes, there might even be a physician there but I don’t know that for sure. They’ll also have ten trainers vs one or two. At the high school, you have one.”

SIU itself sports 12 athletic trainers including assistant and intern athletic trainers (not including Schonewolf and Dr. Jose Aliling, a fellow in sports medicine at SIU), nearly one for every sport and with two additional interns

covering football.

As for the rest of Southern Illinois, the quality of their care really depends on the location, schools size or wealth and whether or not institutions with resources like SIU’s can reach them.

“We try to provide the best care we can. But yeah, the quality of care may be a little bit decreased and it’s just location. If you’re at a big high school with lots of money, you might even have your own, you know, physician that’s contracted with them,” said Schonewolf. “It’s unfortunate, but it’s understandable that schools don’t have athletic trainers at every event. I mean, there are some poor school districts in this state and even, I came from Pennsylvania, where they just don’t have the money or resources. So you use EMS. And we have that, we have had some away teams coming into our local high schools and they don’t [have athletic trainers] and they use our trainer and that is fine. Athletic trainers will help out the best that they can to both teams.”

Research done by the National Library of Medicine shows that athletes are more likely to have a concussion during a practice rather than a game. In those findings from 2015 to 2019, 72% of concussions occurred during practices. Another contribution to the high percentage of concussions within practice would be the high amount of practices compared to games. Another interesting statistic is that 48.5% of concussions occurred during preseason training, despite preseason representing only 20.8% of the football season.

Aliling said some schools he’s worked with even have problems providing equipment to keep athletes safe, relying on used safety equipment donated by the community.

Oftentimes this equipment is underinvestigated, despite the fact that it could provide inadequate protection due to crack and wear.

For smaller schools, like the ones in the area, players are at high risk of having a concussion go completely unnoticed.

According to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and the University of Michigan concussion center, five out of 10 concussions go unreported every year within sports. Two out of 10 high school athletes in contact sports get a concussion within a year. Contact sports are primarily football, wrestling, soccer, and hockey. Basketball, baseball, and softball are additional sports at the high school level that can feature a handful of concussions.

Jaryd Clark, a former multi-sport athlete at Frankfort Community High School in West Frankfort, has his own concussion story, and it shows just how easy it is for a concussion to go unreported or overlooked.

During a high school football game in September of 2015, Clark was struck with a friendly fire blindside hit. Playing defensive end, Clark was attempting to tackle the running back when he was involved in a helmet-to-helmet collision with a teammate. Clark has a hard time remembering most of the specifics, but some were too eerie to forget.

“I was knocked out cold for a second. When I stood up, the sky was green, and the field was blue.”

Clark said.

This happened during a game, yet Clark wasn’t evaluated until after the game. He finished the game after an obvious crushing blow to the head. A blow that left Clark laying on his back and needing assistance to get back to his feet. Still, he remained in the game. During the postgame,

it was quickly determined that Clark had indeed suffered a concussion.

“Bright lights would cause headaches and loud noises as well. I could just tell that it wasn’t normal.” Clark said.

Clark was forced to sit out of practice for a week and would miss one game as well. He was given some headache medication that helped the pain wear off after four days. Clark returned two weeks after the injury and still didn’t feel 100% healthy.

“I had a couple more during practice throughout the season for sure, I just wasn’t evaluated for whatever reason. I was having the same symptoms and they didn’t check on me at all. They never really evaluate for hits during practice.” Clark said.

When no medical professionals are available to observe teams, coaches are the next line of defense against injury. They are expected to know what concussion symptoms are and how to respond when an athlete takes a heavy hit. All 10 southern Illinois schools confirmed that every coach must watch a set of concussion training videos prior to each season, often in meetings with all the other coaches.

Players are also expected to watch concussion videos prior to the start of their sport’s season. Not all 10 schools could confirm whether their student-athletes had watched concussion prevention and treatment videos prior to the 2022 school year. A major problem, particularly among high school athletes, is that the athletes often don’t know what concussion symptoms are. Even if they are aware that something is off and they’ve taken a large hit, some athletes feel like playing through an injury is more important than their health.

Saluki defenders, PJ Jules, 4, and Raquan Lindsey, 44, make a tackle during Saturday’s game at Saluki Stadium on March 20, 2021. SIU lost to South Dakota State by the score of 44-3. Angel Chevrestt | @sobrofotos

Fraternity honors Dr. Martin Luther King with annual march

Janiyah Gaston| @Janiyah reports

Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. hosted its annual MLK March on Jan. 16. The event started at Grinnell Hall and went through downtown Carbondale. Students, Registered Student Organizations (RSOs), and other fraternities and sororities came out to participate.

Nigel Singleton, the president of Alpha Phi Alpha said the group honors MLK with its annual march because King was a part of their fraternity, and he had a big impact on bringing the Black community together.

Jakari Patterson, a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, said he does the march because it gives a face to the community and brings awareness to the issues that Black Americans are still struggling with today.

“From the time it’s been since when he spoke, of course, it’s gotten better throughout the years, but there’s still work needs to be done. [...] it’s an improvement but it’s not where our accomplished goal is,” Patterson said.

He said when it comes to MLK’s legacy, for him, it has evolved throughout the years.

“To me, it’s really grown because the of more knowledge I’ve gained since being in Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated. He’s done a lot and it’s a lot of effort being put into changing the community and what he tried to do,” Patterson said. “He tried to change the country. So the stance that he stood for is the same principles we stand for as some being a brother of one of us. So it means everything to me.”

Members of Alpha Phi Alpha lead the march holding up a flag that said “Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc.” while participants walked behind

them. Throughout the march, drivers honked their car horns in support.

Femi Terebo, another member of Alpha Phi Alpha, said having the march shows the community how much change has happened since MLK was alive.

“It shows improvement from time to time but it also serves as a reminder not everything’s perfect yet. So there’s still work to do,” Terebo said We made progress. He was doing. Now it is, like, we made progress, but we do, we still have to work on.”

MLK’s legacy is more than just a march, he was trying to help give the Black community a chance to get the rights they deserve, Terebo said.

“You gotta think about it, [...] we just finished marching and we didn’t have no type of resistance from people in the area, from no police. {MLK[ He had all of that and then some, so I started thinking about it was way more than just a march when he was doing it, so when we march it is way more than just marching,” he said.

Once people made their way back to Grinnell, Singleton thanked attendees for coming out and talked about how the march inspires people to bring awareness about issues the Black community is dealing with.

Alpha Phi Alpha then opened up the floor for people to say a few words about the event. Groups such as Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc., Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc., Black Affairs Council (BAC), and other organizations said they were glad people came out to show their support for MLK and the men of Alpha Phi Alpha.

“MLK’s legacy means to me, it means everything, that’s the guy that fought for us. We

wouldn’t be where we are today without MLK. So I’ll be forever grateful to him,” Singleton said.

Staff reporter Janiyah Gaston can be reached at jgaston@dailyegyptian.com or on Instagram @janiyah_reports.

Attendees of the MLK Day march pose outside of Southern Illinois University on Monday Jan. 16, in Carbondale, Ill. Naia McPherson @naiamcpherson

From left, Darryl Skinner, Diante Skinner, 6, and Mathias Wint pose for the camera during the MLK Day March hosted by the Beta Eta Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha on Monday, Jan. 16, Carbondale, Ill. Naia McPherson | @naiamcpherson

Andre Council and Nigel Singleton, president of the Beta Eta Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha, lead the MLK march on Monday, Jan. 16 in Carbondale, Ill. Naia McPherson @naiamcpherson

Kania Dockery and Jessica White pose for the camera during the MLK Day march on Monday, Jan. 16, Carbondale, Ill. Naia McPherson | @naiamcpherson

(left) Anaiyah Agee, Briyanna Robinson, and Diamond Russell pose for the camera during the MLK Day March on Monday, Jan. 16 in Carbondale, Ill. Naia McPherson | @naiamcpherson

Andre Council and Nigel Singleton, president of the Beta Eta Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha, lead the MLK march on Monday, Jan. 16 in Carbondale, Ill. Naia McPherson @naiamcpherson

Labor and the lifeblood of America

William Box WBox@dailyegyptian com

Steady, rhythmic thumping fills the air. It shakes the ground and resonates like a heartbeat that grows louder until its all-consuming thrumming crescendos to a climax as the train passes by and fading back into the backdrop of our everyday life.

On December 2, President Joe Biden signed a bill instating a resolution which forced the rail unions who had been negotiating for a list of demands including an increase in allotted sick days and pay increases, averting a potential strike but removing the agency from the workers to negotiate on their terms before the busy holiday shopping season.

Transporting valuable resources across the length and breadth of its larger body, America’s railways act, in many ways, like the blood flowing through the veins of a living organism. The wellbeing of the country is dependent on the free and constant transport of goods along its railways and through its ports, but what if America suffers a heart attack?

These arteries are reliant on a round-the-clock staff of professionals to maintain the tracks and machines that keep America running. However these workers have historically been treated less than favorably in the past by institutions; attempts to organize large scale efforts to ensure safe working conditions and adequate pay have been cracked down on at times by employers and other times through governmental channels to prevent them from using the ultimate tool available to workers, the organized strike.

Tabitha Tripp is the wife of a railroad worker and an active member of Railroad Workers United (RWU), a multi-union organization which helps to facilitate organizing rail workers across the country.

“Being a part of RWU, I got to hear from other crafts and the things they were going through,” she said. “They were literally calling into the meetings from their job because they don’t get days off. They are literally on call 365 and 24/7.”

Tripp said one of the major issues with the railroad industry, namely the unforgiving nature of their scheduling, makes it difficult to maintain a healthy personal life and leaves the industry vulnerable to shocks like sickness affecting the workforce.

“They didn’t mandate a vaccine, even though they’re federally regulated employees. So most of the guys, when COVID started going around, there were entire gangs of people that were completely out sick,” she said.

According to Tripp, much of congress only allowed the bill to be passed as it stands without adjusting it to account for the inordinate amount of stress it puts on rail workers because they don’t understand the jobs they are legislating over.

“It makes my blood boil,” she said. “Do they understand that my husband is standing out in the frickin’ nasty rain today making sure that the track is working properly?”

Before Congress and the President stepped into the negotiations, the rail unions had reached an impasse with their employers and were gearing up for a large-scale strike, which could have reduced profits across the economy by an estimated $2 billion per day according to her.

Tripp said this potential should have government representatives looking out for the interests of the workers that keep this machine running, and the lack of attention paid to the workers frustrates her.

“It’s so disappointing that elected people in the highest branches of government don’t understand what they do,” she said. “If these guys can shut down the economy, maybe they’re worth their weight in gold. They don’t understand, they don’t empathize and they don’t sympathize.”

According to her, an estimated 120,000 direct members and affiliated workers were represented at the negotiating table and the decision by the government to prioritize moneyed interests over the needs of workers is detrimental to the overall health of the system.

“I’m really, really worried. I’m worried that the largest railroad companies have congress in their pocket and the unions are just like, ‘oh crap.’ We were trying to negotiate in good faith, but the railroads didn’t even show up. So why didn’t congress push so it was actually fair bargaining,” Tripp said.

While the contract forced on rail unions has averted a strike, it has only kicked the proverbial can down the road, she said. The contracts are set to expire in two years, forcing the unions to go back to the negotiating table as early as January, despite not even having a full, unedited contract distributed to the workers yet.

“It was decided that the rail companies would distribute [the contract] and would pay for printing to distribute the copies, so there’s going to be over 60,000 copies between all the unions involved,” Tripp said.

A complicating factor in these contracts getting distributed is the fact that there are a large number of contracts all dedicated to the agreement between employers and the different professions involved in keeping the railroads running, according to her.

“There’s maybe nine or 10 different contracts for each railroad,” she said. “If you’ve got us fractured in this many different spaces and places, we can’t communicate with each other, and that was the goal. If you disenfranchise your working class to the point they can’t communicate with each other, then they can’t ever gain traction for a powerful strike.”

Luke Heron-Titus, co-chair of the Southern Illinois Democratic Socialists of America, said recent trends in the political landscape seem oriented toward a surface-level support for labor organizations while remaining incapable or unwilling to address the needs and concerns of labor unions.

“The Obama administration wasn’t able to pass the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), even though they had a blue Senate and a blue House,” Heron-Titus said. “The Protect the Right to Organize (PRO) Act was a big incentive, something that the left has talked about and Democrats kicked around. But that did not happen.”

EFCA was introduced to Congress most recently in 2009 and was intended to make the joining of a union easier and enforce the ability of labor unions to make demands of employers. The PRO Act, which passed the House in 2021 but has yet to pass the Senate, would provide protections for unions

on a national level to prevent members from being retaliated against and allow unions to encourage participation in strikes.

A series of essays written by the Department of Labor (DoL) detailing the history of labor relations in the U.S. goes into detail on the various acts and legislation levied against unions with the ending of World War II as the Red Scare came into full swing. It was from this wave of anti-union and anticollectivism sentiment that the Taft-Hartley Act was passed, imposing new limits on union power.

“Denounced by unions as a ‘slave-labor act,’ the Taft-Hartley Act outlawed closed shop, jurisdictional strikes and secondary boycotts. Union power in emergency disputes, political contributions and negotiated health and welfare funds were curtailed,” according to the DoL.

The bill also brought about the rise of Right to Work legislation, state laws ensuring the right of workers to choose whether to join unions when employed, disincentivizing union membership and reducing union numbers.

Around the same time, the Railway Labor Act was passed, giving the government the power to step into negotiations and perform arbitration for air and rail employees or, as was the case for the Air Traffic Controller union strike, to dissolve the union and break a strike altogether under the premise of keeping valuable infrastructure functioning.

“Congress has used [the Railway Labor Act] to intervene in strikes in the past, but I think, in terms of what’s happening now, a lot of people are shocked at how early the current intervention is,” HeronTitus said.

Because of the entrenched nature of the government’s ability to step into rail and air negotiations, Heron-Titus, like Tripp, believes the best way to go about creating a better environment for the contract negotiations for these workers is to install members in Congress who are sympathetic to the issues they face and shifting the focus of labor organization from ideological arguments to utilizing the economic needs of lower class workers.

“There’s an economic basis of the labor movement by engaging in economic struggle,” he said. “And then the economic struggle reaches such a fever pitch that they need to also incorporate the political struggle into their economic struggle and I think that’s kind of backwards.”

He also said he believes increasing funding to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), a government entity established to help workers, unionized or not, to advocate for their interests before a professional, third party government entity and resolve disputes.

“We have to get the NLRB fully funded,” HeronTitus said. “I think it’s been really opportune for Amazon and Starbucks to have the NLRB be more friendly toward them.”

The fallout of the contract will likely not be made known in its entirety for months or years to come, but the immediate effects on the rail workers and their families has led to an impact on morale, which can quickly become dangerous according to Tripp.

“They’re making sure that track contains the train that’s on it and it doesn’t go offrail,” she said. “Because if it goes off, you’ve got bomb trains, you’ve got all kinds of chemical spills, and it’s [my husband’s] job to stand out there in the rain and make sure that track works.”

As of January 10, the heads of the Illinois executive and legislative branches, Governor J.B. Pritzker, House Speaker Jehan Gordon-Booth and Senate Majority leader Kimberly A. Lightford jointly expressed support for a bill currently making its way through legislation to ensure Illinois workers as a whole, not just rail workers, will have mandated and protected paid leave.

The bill, Illinois Senate Bill 208 is currently set to include a minimum of 40 hours of paid time off (PTO) per year with room for employers to add more. It will guarantee the leave begins to accrue the first day of employment and allows the PTO to carry over each year.

Despite the abundance of confusion and lack of clarification for the rail workers at the moment, Tripp said it is still better to have large union organizations advocating for the interests of the laborers.

“I have a lot of respect for unions, if they’re able to actually stand tall in the face of corporate power,” she said. “I appreciate that they are there to negotiate on the workers’ behalf, but my concern is that it took us three years to get to this pivotal point and yet I still feel like they caved. When push came to shove, they buckled.”

Staff reporter William Box can be reached at wbox@dailyegyptian.com

Brooke Nicholas| bnicholas@dailyegyptian.com

The unseen faces of men in mental health

daniel Bethers dBethers@dailyegyptian com

“I think, therefore I am,” said the 17th century philosopher René Descartes, finding himself unable to question his own existence after exhausting every other avenue of doubt. According to Descartes, the very action of doubt proved that his existence was so. This struck directly at the heart of one of the most profound questions of philosophy, helping to establish the mind as something far more than a secondary vessel for the heart: the seat of the soul itself.

Today, questions of mental health and the differences between genders once again recast our thoughts of the mind in battleground where the most salient questions are those with no straightforward answers. Who is the modern man, and, after endless debate over the societal or biological nature of his difference from women, how is his mind actually different? What are his role models? Does he have less problems or more? Is there truly a right way to think, or are there just healthier ways to think? A barrage of questions put what previously appeared to be men’s safe refuge of unquestioned identity into upheaval. Understandably solid ground is hard to come by when it comes to how men should approach the world. Whether for good or bad, this time of change gives mental health professionals an opportunity to smooth the harsher edges of our culture while the iron is still hot.

Towards that end, Centerstone, a provider of mental health services including counseling and addiction recovery services and frequent host of presentations on social issues, observes “manuary,” this month to raise awareness for men’s mental health issues.

According to Dr. Shane Kuhlman, the Chief Psychology Officer for Centerstone and a specialist in community/clinical suicide prevention and substance use, men do behave differently from women when it comes to mental illness, if not always in the the way popular myths would have us believe.

“I’m passionate about both gender norm research and suicidology research,” Dr. Kuhlman said. “I think, getting into that field as throughout my life, I’ve seen a lot of restricted emotions in men, both in my family and external to my family and some of the problems that that can potentially create as well as history of suicide attempts as well as suicidal thoughts in my friends and family.”Dr. Kuhlman includes both cis men and trans men in this assessment of men’s issues, though he acknowledges that trans men have their own unique situation. He is also careful to state that men’s issues are not necessarily harder than women’s issues, simply different.

“One of the unique things about men’s mental health in our Western society is that they are expected to have it all together,” Dr. Kuhlman said. “So we expect men to constantly know what they want, when they want it, and how to get it, and that’s just simply not the case. As with all people in this world, stuff gets messy and you may not always have things together.”

In addition, Dr Kuhlman finds that there is a wide array of emotions that it’s simply not acceptable for men to express in our traditional western society, even

though they have them just as often as women.

“So when you think about these emotions that men are expected to, or are likely to be reinforced to express, these are things around anger, guilt, shame, vengeance. You know, the things that we see traditional men express in movies, media, things of that nature,” said Dr. Kuhlman. “So when we see this that men are supposed to express emotions in this way, and we don’t really have a lot of experience of men expressing emotions another way. And then you pair this with the mess that is, you know, normal society. But men aren’t supposed to be messy. You can see how that can lead to some distinct problems. Men can tend to express this messiness in anger, external anger, aggression towards others, internal aggression or self-hatred is something I commonly see in men: shame, guilt.”

According to Dr. Kuhlman, men are judged by their careers and their accomplishments far more than women are. Men that come to Centerstone often feel insecure about their achievements in life, and whether or not they’ve succeeded in their career. Men often think that they are not good enough, and need to be better in their careers.

Interestingly, problems of money were the main issue brought up by male students.

“Well, as far as my finances, I certainly struggle, but also, bear in mind that there’s always a solution for things since I’m quite tranquil about that stuff,” said Daniel Pedraza, a sophomore . It affects my mental health, really. So luckily, it hasn’t gone too bad. Although I do struggle sometimes.”

In particular, Pedraza’s logic professor assigned the class a textbook worth over 150 dollars written by himself. The textbook was only available through SIU’s own bookstore, and couldn’t be obtained through more affordable means.

“This is my fourth semester with this school,” said River Atwood-Winninger, a mortuary science major at SIU.”I’ve dealt with mental illness all my life and my parents both had their things. I got my fair share of it from them. I definitely would be doing a lot worse if I didn’t have resources provided like therapy and medications that helped with suicidal ideology, generalized anxiety, things like that. It’s a lot easier when you have the means. I think that the biggest problem for college students in my position is those that don’t have the means.”

If it weren’t for the fact that he already had one of the books required, AtwoodWinninger’s book expenses would have come out to 610$ this semester. Despite having well intentioned people in them that are “willing to work with you”, Atwood-Winninger’s experience with CAPS is that it was ineffective, and alienating. He was removed from his behavioral therapy group for missing sessions for emergencies.

“Yeah, it doesn’t help either that I tend to surround myself with other people that have mental illness because they’re easier to relate to,” Atwood-Winninger said. “So I when, say for example, my boyfriend tries to commit suicide. I obviously have to take some time off school to make

sure that I’m doing all right as well as him. I drove back to Chicago last semester because my father had a psychotic break and ended up in the ER. So I’ve missed a couple of weeks at school that barely passed.

Though many of his more experienced professors were okay with his absences due to emergencies, newer and more by the book professors weren’t as sympathetic and made it difficult to pass. In another instance, he ran out of money completely over thanksgiving break. Because SIU makes students leave their dorms during the holidays, he was left with a choice between a fee he was unable to pay to stay at the dorms over break, and an amtrak ticket back to chicago that he couldn’t afford.

“SIU overall, I’ve noticed, that the school is much more concerned with the academics of their students than their mental health or their financial stability,” Atwood-Winninger said.

Several of the people in AtwoodWinninger’s life have died because they refused to seek mental health support, something which he says comes down to finances mostly. His boyfriend has been completely unable to find a therapist that will work with him in the area, and he himself is currently off his meds because

his psychiatrist is overbooked.

“I’ve had friends that thought that they could, you know, knuckle through during some of the worst parts of their lives when they really needed the support,” said Atwood-WInninger. “And some people I know have died because they didn’t seek that support.”

Getting men to accept that they have a problem in the first place has proven difficult for mental health professionals given traditional male values of strength and independence, especially when men feel guilty about their problems.

“I think getting men into mental health treatment is a problem in itself,” said Dr. Kuhlman. “Even more than women coming into mental health treatment - and I do this anyway and I suggest it to our professionals - but with men especially, applaud them for coming into treatment and how much strength it takes to get in. This is the first step to breaking that thinking trap - that there’s something wrong with you and you need to be better. This is the first step to dispelling the myth that you’re supposed to have it all together.”

Staff reporter Daniel Bethers can be reached at dbethers@dailyegyptian.com

48HR Film Festival

Team Cool (Johnny Martinez, JT Atwood, Grace Brown, and Matt Alleyne) work on set shooting their short film Jan. 21st, 2023 at their apartment in Carbondale. “This festival was a lot of hard work in a short amount of time, but it was well worth it and very fun,” Martinez said. Ethan Grimm | egrimm@dailyegyptian.com

Students listen to instructions for the 48 Hour Filmmaker Festival Jan. 19th, 2023 at the Communications Building in Carbondale, Ill. Ethan Grimm | egrimm@dailyegyptian.com

Team Cool (Ara Jay Rice, Johnny Martinez, JT Atwood, Grace Brown, and Matt Alleyne) work on set shooting their short film Jan. 21st, 2023 at their apartment in Carbondale. “This year’s Festival has been a lot of fun, we’ve really enjoyed pushing ourselves,” Rice said.

Ethan Grimm egrimm@dailyegyptian.com

Johnny Martinez (Junior, Cinema Major) and Ara Jay Rice (Senior, Cinema and Theatre Major) work on edits to their short film together for 48 Hour Filmmaker Festival Jan. 22nd, 2023 at the Communications Building in Carbondale, Illvvzv. Ethan Grimm | egrimm@dailyegyptian.com

Johnny Martinez (Junior, Cinema Major) and Ara Jay Rice (Senior, Cinema and Theatre Major) work on edits to their short film together for 48 Hour Filmmaker Festival Jan. 22nd, 2023 at the Communications Building in Carbondale, Ill. Ethan Grimm | egrimm@dailyegyptian.com

“Even though the kids are educated, they might be educated so much that they know they’re gonna get pulled,” said Yates. “We have a new concussion at Herrin that got reported yesterday, but she got hit on Monday. She didn’t report it until Wednesday. She didn’t report it because she took a blow from a volleyball right before a sectional game. One, she wasn’t sure if she was really concussed, she was embarrassed that she got hit, she wanted to play and so she just went home after the game. The next day she went, ‘oh no big deal, I feel a little better’ but then, by Wednesday, she felt worse, probably because she went to school and tried to focus all day.”

SIU doctors, who cover several of the local highschools and collaborate with SIH, are no strangers to the concept of patients tricking medical practitioners.

“Yes, there are going to be some athletes that won’t tell you,” said Schonewolf. “You know, I think I just read a quote from Bart Scott, a former player here. He kind of scored low on his initial assessment [SIU students complete baseline concussion assessments so that their normal results can be compared to post impact results]. He failed it so he could score better when it was real so he could go back out and play.”

Aliling said he’s seen opposing teams attempt to put athletes back out to play after they’ve suffered head injuries that removed them from games or practices.

“When the patient gets concussed, there are several mandatory observable signs that we need to be able to elucidate,” Aliling said. “That patient, when he got hit, remained motionless for more than five seconds. He was staring a blank stare. And then when it came up, he’s very disorganized in terms of his balance, and then he was disoriented.”

This patient in particular also failed neurological tests asking him where he was and what he was doing, even though he reported no pain. The patient, one of the opposing team’s star players, wanted nothing more than to go out and continue to play, despite being clearly injured. Though he was taken out of play at Aliling’s recommendation, the debate still continued in the second half of the game.

“So I checked him out during halftime, he’s still a little bit disoriented, still kind of like having some neurologic deficit during that time, but he was improving and they were thinking of bringing him back to the second half,” Alilings said. “So I talked again to the other team’s athletic trainer, ‘You know, I’m not biased in any way because I’m currently working for the other team. I’m just here to kind of make sure everybody’s going to be safe and nobody gets injured. I have good intentions. So you know what, even though I’m the opposing team’s physician, I saw what happened in the field. And I think he really does have a concussion.’ So I think they were attempting to bring him back. But I said, ‘there’s no way that you can come back.’”

If the scenario had gone differently, a lack of medical professionals at the site of the game could have forever changed this athlete’s life. The effects of multiple concussions in short succession can range from increased recovery time to catastrophic brain injury or death, yet even a large and obvious injury nearly wasn’t enough to convince this team to keep their star player out of the game.

“This phenomenon is called the second hit phenomenon, wherein you have a concussion and you’re not completely healed and you pretty much go back to sports and get another concussion,” Aliling said. “The brain has not calibrated to where it was before. So it could cause a catastrophic, catastrophic event, which is kind of weird. It’s kind of like a swelling of the brain where injuries can occur - dysregulation in the blood flow into the brain. It causes cerebral edema and herniation. It could cause lots of disabilities. That’s why we need to do a thorough evaluation of athletes, making sure that when they go back they follow the return to play protocol and when they come back, they’re back to their baseline.”

Though most concussions are mild, suffering a

second impact even without obvious concussion symptoms can result in a prolonged recovery time, or worsened injuries.

“I mean, it [the brain] will usually reset back to normal, but the biggest thing, when you look at advanced - and maybe you were gonna ask this question or not - CTE, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, whether it’s one big major concussion, or if it’s a lot of small things that the brain might not even realize a small brain injurysmall little hits - things build up,” Schonewolf said.

According to Schonewolf, everyone reacts differently to concussions. Children with developing brains often take longer to recover than adults. According to the University of Michigan Concussion Center, females take longer to recover than males. Even individuals are subject to great differences in recovery time and symptoms. Individuals that have received concussions before are even more predisposed to them in the future, suffering more symptoms from smaller impacts. Many concussions don’t even come from sports so much as everyday events.

What all concussions have in common are their bewildering effect on the brain. Concussions cause a flurry of activity in the brain, sending confused signals between the various centers of the brain and producing a mental fog as brain activity slows. Generally fatalities from concussions are caused by exessive blood flow to the brain as a result of this confusion of signals, but over long periods of time concussions begin to have an effect on the structure of the brain itself. This is called Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy or CTE, something that’s only really detectable by postmortum autopsies of repeat concussion victims.

“Once you have CTE, it’s permanent. It’s a progressive deterioration in the neurologic status,” Aliling said. “So it affects your cognitive function and executive function, your memory, it alters your behavior. You lose impulse control, it is a form of impulsivity as well so you become impulsive. You have some mood disorders, you lose some cognitive function, especially memory. And then you also have alterations in sleep. So it’s a progressive deterioration. It is actually an accumulation of certain abnormal proteins, tau proteins that kind of developed in the brain. So what they think we’re University of Michigan is doing to kind of get a biomarker to detect tau proteins. Just a way to get it from the blood or from fluids in the body. It’s a technology still in development.”

Athlete’s attitudes towards football are often cultivated by coaches and teammates to inspire loyalty to the team and put great emphasis on winning. Turning a player’s engagement with the sport and loyalty to the team into a risk to their own health is unthinkable, but nonetheless a problem according to the CDC’s online training pamphlet on concussions.

The American Journal of Sports Medicine claims as many as 7 in 10 young athletes with a possible concussion report playing with concussion symptoms. Out of those, 4 in 10 said their coaches were unaware that they had a possible concussion.

Yates said that the big concussions are easy to notice, because students immediately display obvious symptoms like losing consciousness or experiencing seizures. The smaller concussions are tricky to notice, and yet dangerous to athletes due to the cumulative effects multiple untreated concussions can have on the brain.

This is why it’s concerning that coaches are sometimes the only group responsible for observing concussions at schools, due to the fact that coaches have many other things to worry about, including managing their teams strategy and keeping team morale up. Although they may be able to recognize some signs of concussions through their familiarity with their players, at the end of the day coaches aren’t able to diagnose concussions. The best they can do is watch for heavy hits in games and, even in that area, coaches are unlikely to match the level of attention that an athletic trainer or doctor with only one job can give to the heavy blows in the game.

Despite it all, Schonewolf said, as the atmosphere of today’s athletic world becomes more aware of the health implications of concussions, athletes

are acknowledging the importance of concussion protocol more but also says that it depends on the place.

At SIU, Shonewolf says that players and coaches understand the risks of concussions well. According to the university’s official concussion protocol documents, every year each SIU student athlete is informed about concussions and required to sign a form saying acknowledging that they were educated.

High schools are supposed to have a designated employee at the school that oversees concussion management. Seven of the 10 schools couldn’t give a good answer when asked who that employee is. Most of the schools break up the oversight among three or four individuals. These individuals ranged from athletic trainers, athletic directors, school nurses, and head coaches. The remaining schools rely on professionals that are under contract with nearby hospitals, such as the SIH Carbondale Memorial Hospital.

A major positive for the local schools is the reporting of concussions to the IHSA. All 10 schools said that they report their concussions to the Illinois High School Association, the main body serving high school athletics within the state of Illinois. It oversees everything that pertains to high school athletes including concussions and other injuries, but seldom intervenes to alter high school programs. According to Yates, IHSA monitors the number of concussions reported by high schools, but mostly for research purposes. However, there are firm guidelines for treatment once athletes are confirmed to have concussions. Once an athlete has a concussion, they must follow certain guidelines in order to fully return to their schoolwork and their athletic pursuits. The first is “return to learn” and the second is “return to play”. “ That’s where it can get sort of murky. Each school is allowed to list its own versions of return to learn and return to play. They all have the same ideas, but different wording can lead to different interpretations. Out of 10 southern

Illinois schools that were surveyed, none of them had the same definitions of the return process for a concussed athlete. This is because Illinois law requires each school to come up with its own concussion protocol, rather than prescribing one state-wide protocol. While this could potentially result in further inequalities in the treatment quality given to athletes based on the staff and expertise at the school, concussion protocol across the entire country has made great advancements in the last couple of decades overall, and did not vary drastically across most of the local highschools.

“I’ve been here for 20 years, so when I started there were really no concussion protocols for the high schools,” Yates said. “You probably could talk to people my age who would say ‘well back in the day no one had concussions.’ Well, they probably did, they just didn’t know they had a concussion. Even when I started, if someone took a blow you didn’t even test them for 15 minutes. You let them sit and get their bearings. You didn’t test them because they weren’t accurate. Now we know that that’s not necessarily true. It’s gone from us being educated - as medical professionals even - at a conservative level to now we’ve got protocols for academics, protocols for return to play, protocols for vestibular and vision issues…It’s gone pretty far in the 20 years that I’ve worked. In the medical world that’s pretty impressive.”

Specifically, advancements have been made in the treatment of concussions, even if detection remains an issue.

“Where it used to be ‘they need to rest, they need to be checked every hour, don’t let them do anything, put them in a dark room’ to ‘well we need to have them doing some activity just no blows to the head, they need to start walking more they need to increase their heart rate to get some blood supply.’” Yates said.

Staff reporter can be reached at dbethers@ dailyegyptian.com

Using fashion to battle the winter blues of spring semester

AAron Elliott AElliott@dAilyEgyptiAn com

Something about the first week back after holiday break makes me feel so ridiculously lazy. January is supposed to be the month of resolutions and starting over, but when you’re a college student, there is only so much energy to go around, and school somehow just brings out the exhaustion in all of us, and it is visible.

That first full day of classes is always thrilling in a way. There is a breath of fresh air, and a bit of optimism as you look down the barrel of the semester. You sit in those first classes doing the opposite of what you’re supposed to, but your adrenaline is pumping and you can’t stop fidgeting with excitement about what lies ahead. My mouth always feels like I am going a mile a minute, catching up with professors and peers, listening to what they did over break and for what our class endeavors will be.

I feel as if first day excitement is a universal emotion felt by everyone, and sparked by so many different reasons. For me, I am excited to look around to see all the new bags and clean shoes that most folks got as gifts over the break. I always expect to see some swanky boots of any kind, and the wearer making big eyes at me as I stare, very obviously looking for someone to comment on them.

I know this look so well, as I am a shopaholic and have perfected the face. There is nothing better in the world than showing up on a big day wearing something new.

Hopefully that something new was a coat, as the weather here in Southern Illinois is still now in the dead of winter and an insufferable game of inconsistency. Although we call this the spring semester, I forget that the first half of it is in winter months and enveloped by cold weather. It is so frustrating because it limits you to

either jeans or sweatpants, as there aren’t many options in times like these.

The first day back on campus was surprisingly warm and sunny with a light breeze, allowing us all to show off a little. Everyone was dressed well that day, and I would have expected nothing less. I was delightfully met with everyone dressed in what seemed to be confidence boosting outfits. Then, on the second day, a freight train. Remember that one gorgeous day, well forget about it, because day two was frigid and raining. I woke up that morning and glared back and forth from out the window to the neatly placed pile of clothes that I had so sweetly laid out for myself the night before, really thinking through if I wanted to even try to look put together that day.

I was quickly comforted once arriving on campus and taking a glance around to see mostly sweatpants and hoodies. I sighed a breath of relief knowing that I was definitely not the only person in the world that morning who woke up and made the decision to be lazy. Somehow, I ended up making that same decision every morning for the rest of the week, but that is how it goes. The ball is moving, but it’s starting slow.

Sitting in the sewing lab at our machines, gabbing away about pretty much anything that came to mind, my fiend Lisa said to me something that follows true to the latest big trend. “I just wish it wasn’t so cold so I could wear skirts.” she remarked. Bingo. I erupted into voracious agreement, carrying on with her about how much we love skirts, and that not being able to wear them right now is a pain.

Strutting runways for the spring/ summer collections of multiple designer houses like Givenchy and Bluemarine and more are skirts of all different lengths, volumes, and

fabrics. A notable guest of many collections were specifically denim skirts, and I don’t mean the itty bitty things of the early aughts. I mean that type of jean skirt that would normally be paired with a bouffant hairstyle and some nylons. Long denim skirts are getting popular, and I must be honest, I am on the bandwagon. Many designers even opted to make fully denim ensembles, or what many would refer to as a “Canadian Tuxedo” or Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake at the American Music Awards circa 2001. Don’t cringe at it yall, just embrace it.

I noticed a lot more loose fitting garments this week, which piqued my interest in why. I am so used to seeing form fitting Shein tops that actual natural fiber sweaters and loose gauchos kinda shocked me, but then I remember that Carbondale has its own fashion identity in a way, and I believe that I have stated that in publications in the past. You start to get neutral, and more earthy. Clunky things and

accessories become more attractive, and suddenly you have entwined maroon into more than one outfit a week.

Freshmen come in their first semester bringing in a sense of self identity and expression through their clothing, representing who they are and where they came from. Coming back into second semester, Carbondale vibes have rubbed off on you and you have been welcomed into a very specific aesthetic. I used to think of it as a sense of camouflage, but I would rather think of it now as a form of unforced unity.

With actual spring time coming ahead, I am excited to see what actually takes foot in fashion. Lately, It feels as if we are in this endless loop of a bit over designed goods in that late 1990s going into the early 2000s style. This nostalgic style is of course cute, but now starting to feel over designed, as we are still seeing it through fast fashion brands all the way up to the top of the chain. It is hard not to turn your head and see someone that looks as if they just stepped out of a Hillary Duff film, and I was really into it, but it is

definitely starting to become boring. It is a very fun juxtaposition between the fashions that are popular in Carbondale, and what is popular in more up to date places like New York or even St. Louis. I am not calling our little town left behind, but just a bit more slow to follow. It is interesting how trends briefly stop here, latching on to some, but letting go of few, allowing people to really explore their own sense of style.

Carbondale, and of course SIU, are captivating safe places for all different walks of fashion, and I truly believe that that is what keeps this place so unique. There’s plenty of bad here, but if you look around there is much more beauty than you would expect. The one thing that this town has that a lot of people look directly over is that it is a place for growth.

Whether that growth be through your mental state, or your education, maybe even in your style, this place is a unique place to be while you carry on with that.

Staff reporter can be reached at aelliot@dailyegyptian.com

Alainna Tate and Salvatore Maggiore, SIU students, enjoy their day at Starbucks. 23 Jan, 2023 at the Student center at SIU in Carbondale, Ill. Saba Saboor Rooh Mofrad | @ssaboor_

Mattie Bowyer, an SIU student, draws a picture at the student center. 23 Jan, 2023 at the Student center at SIU in Carbondale, Ill. “ I really like vintage stuff, anything vintage is for me. I do a lot of online shopping but I work at T.J.Maxx so I get a lot of my clothes from there.” Bowyer said. Saba Saboor Rooh Mofrad | @ssaboor_

Yashodhana Morganraja, a junior SIU student, Biological sciences major from Malaysia enjoys the time between his classes at the international lounge at the student center. 23 Jan, 2023 at the Student center at SIU in Carbondale, Ill. “ Usually I go for online shopping from Shein or Adidas because they have nice things there.” Morganraja said. Saba Saboor Rooh Mofrad | @ssaboor_

THE DAWGS 78

Jauwan Newton (13) gets up towards the basket as Gabe Bobe (0) of Evansville attempts to block Jan. 17, 2022 at Banterra Center in Carbondale, Ill. Lylee Gibbs | lyleegibbsphotography

Lance Jones carries the ball towards the basket on a jump against the University of Evansville Purple Aces Jan. 17, 2022 at Banterra Center in Carbondale, Ill. Lylee Gibbs | @lyleegibbsphotography

Trent Brown (24) shoots from behind the three line against the University of Evansville Purple Aces Jan. 17, 2022 at Banterra Center in Carbondale, Ill. Lylee Gibbs | @lyleegibbsphotography

Tyler Lawrence of the Dawg Pound yells in excitement as the Salukis sink the first points of the game causing streamers to rain over the student section Jan. 17, 2022 at Banterra Center in Carbondale, Ill. Lylee Gibbs | @ lyleegibbsphotography

VS THE ACES 70

Dalton Banks (3) stares down Gabe Spinelli (21) of Evansville while on defense Jan. 17, 2022 at Banterra Center in Carbondale, Ill.

Lylee Gibbs @lyleegibbsphotography

Grey Dawg pumps his arm to the SIU Fight Song during halftime of the game against Evansville University Jan. 17, 2022 at Banterra Center in Carbondale, Ill. Lylee Gibbs | @lyleegibbsphotography

Marcus Domask (1) pushes through Antoine Smith Jr. (1) of Evansville towards the basket Jan. 17, 2022 at Banterra Center in Carbondale, Ill. Lylee Gibbs | @lyleegibbsphotography

Saluki Basketball seniors looking to go out with a bang

Joei Younker @JYounker@dailYegYptian com

Ending the season with a ring has always been the end goal for this year’s Saluki Men’s Basketball seniors.

“Since the day Marcus [Domask], Lance [Jones], and I showed up on campus, starry eyed, shooting around in the Banterra Center, looking up at all of the banners, we knew for a fact we had to hang one before we left,” said senior Guard Trent Brown.

Coming to Southern for their freshman year in 2019, the three have always had their sights set on hanging a Missouri Valley Conference Championship banner in the Banterra Center.

Over their four years here, this group has stuck together through teammates transferring out of the program, seniors graduating, and freshman and transfers coming into the program. One thing that has stayed consistent is their want to win and willingness to put forward the effort it takes to accomplish it.

“They’ve put in a lot of extra work over the past few years, they all have a year of eligibility left, but in terms of being in their fourth year at SIU, that’s all they’ve been about since they’ve been here. All they’ve cared about is winning, an MVC Championship is the goal this year for sure,” head coach Bryan Mullins said.

Now that conference play is getting well into its stride for the season, there is a difference in attitude and game plan among the Salukis when it comes to Missouri

Valley Conference opponents. Having been in the program for four years now, Brown, Jones and Domask see a lot of familiar faces when it comes to scouting. The courts and arenas have become a little more comfortable and familiar and rivalries have developed.

“When it comes to conference play, it’s all so familiar. It’s a lot of the same names we have played throughout the years so scouting for a team and executing our game plan becomes so vital in order to succeed,” Brown said.

Domask agreed with this: “Our scouting is more in depth, we get into a position where we’ve already played teams once before during the season so we can watch film of ourselves playing them to see what we need to work on more in depth than we would in a non-conference game situation.”

Ending last season 16-15 overall and 9-9 in conference play, the Dawgs have started this season with a will and a want to win which has given them their 15-5 overall and 7-2 in conference records so far this season. There has been a lot of leadership and growth brought to the team this season, and those leaders are partially responsible for the success so far.

“I think a lot of guys have taken a big jump. Marcus, Lance and Trent, this year is by far their best in terms of being leadership. I think JD Muila has stepped up as well as Dalton Banks. Those five guys have been in our program the longest out of anyone, so I think

they understand what it takes, how we operate on a day-to-day basis, and what the standards are for this program,” Mullins said.

Along with players who have been in the program for a while, the whole team is always willing to step up when needed.

“We’re able to play a lot of different guys, and, if certain people aren’t playing that well, we have replacements to where we can always have fresh legs on the court,” Domask said.

From a step up in leadership to a locker room full of talented players who are willing to put their all on the line, there is a lot that separates Southern Illinois not only from its MVC opponents but the team

that they were last season. There is a new mindset in how the Salukis compete.

“It all started this summer when we got together. We could feel that the energy had picked up and it was up to us to do something with it,” Brown said.

Two of the biggest leaders for this team have been the Jones and Domask duo. Having played a high number of minutes and in some big games throughout their careers, these two have a lot of experience under their belts that helps them understand what it takes to get the best outcome out of each game.

“I’ve trusted them in a lot of close games over the past couple years, and I think as you get that

experience you understand how important every single possession is. I think they’ve matured and done a good job leading this season,” Mullins said.

Brown said he, Domask and Jones have one clear goal for ending their fourth season.

“It may seem cliche, but hanging an MVC championship banner in the arena would mean everything. It would show the culmination of all the work we have put in over the years and show that we worked for something bigger than ourselves,” Brown said.

Sports reporter Joei Younker can be reached at jyounker@dailyegyptian.com

Marcus Domask and Lance Jones guard opponent at the Banterra Center Jan. 14, 2023 in Carbondale, Ill. Mo Collar | @m0.alexander

Trent Brown and others clap for teammates on the court at the Banterra Center Jan. 14, 2023 in Carbondale, Ill. Mo Collar | @m0.alexander

Marcus Domask successfully blocksvzwwzvv opponent at the Banterra Center Jan. 14, 2023 in Carbondale, Ill.

Mo Collar | @m0.alexander

“Justin Strong, Romier Elliott, “Pop” Robert Jones whenever he started getting back healthy. It was just so many weapons in each position group,” Williams said. “It was hard to keep Javon in, but I’m glad that we utilized other weapons, because all my teammates and brothers, they got to grow just as much as I did.”

Although Williams was responsible for 50 touchdowns across his time as a Saluki, one of his favorite memories came during a teammate’s big moment. On October 19, 2019, the Salukis defeated Youngstown State in a 35-10 blowout. Williams showed off his versatility by getting three touchdowns that afternoon: one rushing, one receiving, and one passing.

The latter was a 41-yard pass to fullback Jacob Garrett, who had entered the game with only three career receptions. It was Garrett’s first of what would be 10 career touchdowns over the next four years.

“Just to throw that to him and be a part of that experience, that moment of him getting his first career touchdown in college. It was just so surreal, so amazing to be a part of,” Williams said.

For five years, Williams represented Southern Illinois on

the field. As a local product, his connection to southern Illinois spans farther than just donning the Maroon and White.

“If any kid at a young age got the opportunity, or even told they get the opportunity to play somewhere close, and continue to put where they grew up on the map even more, and bring more popularity, it’s just a blessing,” Williams said.

There are only a few athletes from Centralia who have reached the level that Williams has. Regardless of how his NFL career may go, his accomplishments as a college football player already put him in elite company.

Dwight “Dike” Eddleman graduated from Centralia High School in 1942, and went on to participate in basketball, football and track for the University of Illinois. The university’s hall of fame page describes Eddleman as being “generally considered the greatest athlete in UI history.”

Edelman was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the 1947 NFL Draft, as well as the Cleveland Browns in the 1948 AAFC Draft. However, he would never play in either league, as he chose to play basketball professionally in the NBA.

Other notable athletes from Centralia are Saluki Hall of Famers Harvey Welch and

Bill Norwood. Welch made history as SIU’s first Black athlete to earn a varsity letter in basketball, while Norwood did so as the school’s first Black quarterback.

Both would go on to have distinguished careers in the U.S. Air Force. Norwood would break barriers in the aviation field, as the first Black pilot for United Airlines and first to achieve the rank of captain. Meanwhile, Welch returned to SIU as the Dean of Student Life and Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs.

The announcement video released by Saluki athletics, titled “Leaving a Legacy,” highlighted Williams’s connection to the region. For a student-athlete representing a small town and a small school, and carrying his father’s name on the back of his jersey, Williams has not only left a legacy at Southern Illinois, but has carried on that of his roots.

“Hard work comes in with it, but being from Centralia and coming here to Southern, an hour away, it felt right,” he said. “It felt great, knowing that I have family at home. I know they’re gonna be at my games. When players play and they get their families to be able to watch, it brings a little flair to the game. It brings a little bit more passion, because you want

to represent your last name. You want to represent your family well.”

Head coach Nick Hill, who had a hand in Williams’s recruitment, is a native of Du Quoin. He spent his college career representing the region in a similar fashion to how Williams has done so.

“It’s just a special feeling to be a Saluki, and to grow up in this area, and then to come here,” Hill said. “For him to kinda have that pressure on him since he stepped foot on campus, and then have the career he had. I think no doubt will go into our hall of fame.”

In preparation for the draft, Williams has been working with Meade Smith, the head strength coach for Saluki football since 2016. In addition to his experience in college sports, Smith worked with professional athletes during his time with the then-Anaheim Angels of Major League Baseball in 2003.

“He’s known my body for the last five years, how to sculpt it and mold it,” Williams said.

“It’s good to just be there with somebody that knows you, because it’s all safe, it’s cautious. It’s all taken care of.

Williams is also linked with agent Brett Tessler, who represents notable NFL players like Minnesota Vikings kicker Greg Joseph and Miami

Dolphins running back Raheem Mostert. Tessler also represents former Saluki linebacker Bryce Notree.

Only 1.6% of college football players make it to the professional level. Among them, a large portion come from a Power Five conference like the SEC or Big Ten. Simply put, it is a rarity for someone from a school like Southern Illinois University to have an opportunity to play in the NFL. Whether Williams gets drafted or not, the fact that he is in the position he is now speaks volumes to his ability as a player. With his Saluki career now officially in the books, he will be remembered as one of the best of his generation, and among those who helped put the Salukis back on the national stage.

“I feel like I’ve done everything I could do to my best ability,” he said. “I gave my all. I put my heart out there every game. And my body, I’ve been hit several times, ankles wrapped up several times. Just being able to get back on that next rep, next play. I’m coming again. I’m playing hard every play. I feel like I had a great career.”

Staff reporter Brandyn Wilcoxen can be reached at bwilcoxen@dailyegyptian.com or on Twitter at @BrandynWilcoxen.

Sophie Whitten

Sophie Whitten swhitten@dailyegyptian.com

Gus. Gus Bode