The Daily Egyptian - February 9, 2022

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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2022

VOL. 105, ISSUE 5

Printing Plant brings local businesses together during trying times

Dominique Martinez-Powell | dmartinez-powell@dailyegyptian.com

If you ever walk into the Printing Plant, you’ll find their store mantra encompasses their business model perfectly: Think BIG — Shop SMALL. In downtown Carbondale, Illinois, there is a humble little building that hosts the Printing Plant, owned by Jason Buehner. Its name is very clear about its purpose, but once you enter, there is more in store than one might expect.

Opening under its original name, Copycat, in 1974, the shop focused on performing the typical services of a copy shop. The shop was rebranded as the Printing Plant before being bought by Jason Buehner in 2007.

He started working at the copy shop in his college years. Currently, he owns and runs the shop with the help of his wife Meghann Buehner.

According to her, when they first acquired the Printing Plant, it was very much just a standard copy shop, but as times and business practices have changed, so have they.

In 2016, the Printing Plant expanded with the goal of introducing the Award Shop, a service that focused on engraving trophies and making awards, and the beginnings of their Gift Shop into their new upcoming location which boasts more space to grow as a business.

“We’re kind of multiple businesses under one roof. We have our regular printing as we’ve always done. We have an award shop where we do trophies and plaques. We’ve got a gift shop where we do laser-engraved, promotional items or gifts. We do signage, where we do everything from vinyl to banners, etc.”, Jason Buehner said.

The Printing Plant building sits along S. Illinois Ave Feb. 5, 2022 in Carbondale, Ill. “We’re kind of multiple businesses under one roof,” owner of the Printing Plant, Jason Buehner said. Dominique Martinez-Powell | @ dmartinez_powell.photography

In spring of 2015, after its location at the Murdale shopping center closed, FedEx reached out to the Printing Plant to become a shipping center. The Printing Plant didn’t have the space initially, but in May of 2016, the Beuhners set up a small shipping station at their old location mostly functioning off of a folding table.

On August 15, 2016, when the Printing Plant opened its current location at 608 S. Illinois Ave,

Gift crates of Fired Up Jellies and Jams rest on a shelf Feb. 5, 2022 at the Printing Plant in Carbondale, Ill. “[The Printing Plant] really supports small businesses, being a small business themselves,” said Michael Smith, one of the owners of Fired Up Jellies and Jams. Dominique Martinez-Powell | @dmartinez_powell.photography

in addition to the new services it offered, it had a fully functioning FedEx shipping center operating out of the shop. During the height of the pandemic, this was their saving grace.

“It was hard to understand what to do. There was a lot of messaging that wasn’t super clear as to whether or not we were supposed to be open or not open [...] Ultimately, we were asked to stay open because we were considered essential. Primarily

because FedEx was integrated into what we did,” Jason Buehner said.

When they were determined to be an essential business during the pandemic, the Printing Plant opened its doors to other local businesses. The Printing Plant helped to keep these businesses’ products available to the public in a time when many were forced to shut down, by offering curbside and online options through their own shop.

Please see PRINTING | 3

Pagliai’s Pizza gift crate sits on display for sale Feb. 5, 2022 at the Printing Plant in Carbondale, Ill. Dominique Martinez-Powell | @dmartinez_ powell.photography

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Carbondale’s poverty crisis Jamilah Lewis Kamaria Harmon @jamilahlewis @QuoteKamariaa.can

Steven Schauf, a Carbondale native, is familiar with the city’s poverty problem which inspired him to start his credit mending company, Impressive Funding Solutions.

Carbondale has the highest level of poverty in the state of Illinois, according to the most recent US Census Bureau data.

“I’m going on my second year owning a credit repair business,” Schauf said. “We deal with financial literacy, and, being in this sector, it gives me the opportunity to help some of the individuals down here with [… learning] the foundation of basically all of your finances.”

When Schauf worked at a Volkswagen dealership in Marion, Illinois, he saw many people who weren’t able to secure loans for a car and would be pushed towards “buy here, pay here” car dealerships, where customers would spend three times more than they should have.

“This is what’s keeping most people in poverty,” Schauf said. “You’re doing things like that, as well as[…] having to come up with crazy down payments.”

Emilia Ruzicka, a data reporter at Stacker, said many people have written studies about what it takes to lift people out of poverty.

“There have been many studies put out about what raising the minimum wage might do to help alleviate certain amounts of poverty, or providing additional social services through local, state or federal government,” Ruzicka said.

About 43% of Carbondale residents live below the poverty line, according to the most recent U.S. Census data.

The percentage is especially concerning because the national poverty rate is only 13.4%, Schauf said, a statistic corroborated by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Schauf said the most impoverished area in Carbondale has always been the Northeast side of the city, the Tatum Heights and the Lake Heights areas.

Quianya L. Enge, founder of the nonprofit Beyond the Walls, which provides resources for people returning from prison or local jails, said Carbondale has a lot of room for improvement in terms of socioeconomic equity and a positive net outlook.

“The town is so small, and the houselessness rate is so high,” Enge said. “In every space, you see groups of homeless people […] the warming center has tripled its size since the opening.”

Part of the problem is a low level of home ownership, Schauf said.

“The national population for homeownership is 65.4%, but in Carbondale, it is 28.9%,” Schauf said.

High unemployment, racial bias and bad practices among landlords all also contribute to the problem, Enge said.

“We definitely know that racism is prevalent in Carbondale, and they use it to discriminate when they’re hiring. They use it to discriminate when they’re doing pre-screening for housing applications,” Enge said.

People who can find housing in Carbondale are often in precarious situations and don’t have a way to address neglect or malfeasance by their landlords, Enge said.

“The circumstances they (tenants) are living under is horrible,” Enge said. “I think the city contributes to people living in poverty because they don’t hold businesses liable, and they don’t hold property management liable.”

The city has mixed up priorities, Enge said, and described the local legal and economic situation as “colonial-adjacent.”

“You can’t say you want people to come to visit and improve tourism, but you don’t improve the way that

“There’s problems and poverty because a lot of students here, they’re barely making it. They’re trying to overcome all of the struggles that they have in order to study, and still eat and do the things that they need to do.”

- Ginger Rye-Sanders Carbondale City Council member

the people [who] pay your taxes live,” Enge said.

Cities like Carbondale often don’t have resources to address poverty issues, Schauf said, which is why state and federal programs are so important for locals.

“There are so many people with a lack of jobs. Even the ones who do have jobs, it’s so low paying,” Schauf said. “Without that help of SNAP, Section Eight and all of those programs it’d be tough for a lot of those mothers.”

Carbondale City Council member Ginger RyeSanders said the impoverished community is scattered around the city.

“There’s problems and poverty because a lot of students here, they’re barely making it,” Sanders said.

“They’re trying to overcome all of the struggles that they have in order to study and still eat and do the things that they need to do.”

Sanders said documentation disparity is one of the big problems when it comes to people getting employed.

“I have people that come up to me and they say […] ‘I applied for this job, and I never got a phone call or plan for the apprentice program with the labor union,’” Sanders said.

Sanders attempted to contact Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s Chancellor Austin Lane about employment programs and hasn’t gotten a response, she said.

SIU could be doing more for the community by funding programs in the city and providing better benefits to the people, Schauf said, but, right now, SIU is disconnected from the rest of the city.

“I just think with the help of SIU getting out there, Impressive Funding Solutions can have more interns to come out and help these businesses,” Schauf said.

Schauf thinks his company’s tools could help bring more business and customers to the area, which, he said, could also help locals with money troubles.

“Another thing that we teach at Impressive Funding Solutions is how to obtain business credit,” Schauf said. “I think that will help the area as well with jobs and actually bring in people from other areas that visit and traffic to come to patronize different companies from the area.”

Enge said the city needs to overhaul its housing regulations.

Sanders does what she can to reach out to groups in the community about spreading awareness on concerns of poverty, she said.

“We need more organizations like the Eurma Hayes Center, the organization that I’m with, Women for Change, Carbondale United,” Sanders said. “It’s not until we all get on the same page and work together to come up with solutions that this is going to be resolved because it’s systemic.”

Staff reporters Jamilah Lewis and Kamaria Harmon can be reached at kharmon@dailyegyptian.com and jlewis@ dailyegyptian.com or on Twitter @jamilahlewis and @ QuoteKamariaa.can

Wednesday, February 9, 2022

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Term paper uncovers the dangers of working at the Koppers site Janiyah Gaston | @DEJaniyah

A 1932 paper written by William S. Stewart, a Northwestern University student, detailed how he worked at the Ayer and Lord Tie Company wood treatment site for three months to get a better understanding of how African American workers were treated.

Residents on the northeast side of Carbondale have been negatively impacted by creosote contamination from the site, known popularly as the Koppers site, and now owned by Beazer Inc. According to Stewart, if men had to carry the cross ties, it was likely to result in crushing certain limbs or pulling certain muscles.

“The very fact that the ties are so heavy makes the work especially perilous. A falling tie, either in a car, off a tram, or from a man’s shoulder, can cause terrible injury. Crushed hands and feet suffer every month,” Stewart said. “Perhaps the most frequent injury is the straining of back and shoulder muscles. These injuries often occur when a carrier loses his balance or tries to hold a tie that has started to fall from his shoulder.”

Stewart said houses were intentionally built near the site so more Black men could move there to work at the site.

“These houses were for the negroes, and they were rented at a very nominal [rate]. The hope was that this would help to keep men there all the time. The plan did not work out at all well.

Before long, the houses were filled with women and children only,” Stewart said.

Because women and children mostly lived in the houses, the company stopped doing maintenance on the houses, Stewart said.

James Chappell, a Carbondale resident who worked as a laborer at the Koppers site in the late 1960s, also attested to how difficult the work at the site was.

“We didn’t have any masks. [...] We weren’t protected by anything like that. We just went in there, and we did what we had to do because that creosote was almost up to our knees,” Chappell said. “All they gave us was some rubber boots to

put on, and to go in [the furnaces], and put the cross ties back on the rail cars to be pulled out.”

Chappell’s grandfather and great uncle worked at the site in the 1950s. His great uncle, Clay Chappell, was killed at the site in 1952 because of the lack of safety precautions.

“He fell on one of the conveyor belts that put the coal into the boilers, or into the furnace to be baked. I was about eight years old when that happened,” Chappell said.

Chappell said people developed diseases because there weren’t safety precautions concerning exposure to creosote.

“We don’t have the safety checks that they have now. We didn’t have that back then. Like [Occupational Safety and Health Administration] OSHA and all that stuff, we didn’t have all that stuff back then,” Chappell said.

Bennie Scott, a former supervisor of the Koppers site, said he worked in the yard moving the railroad ties which caused health issues for the men.

“When I was a group leader [my supervisor] he put me up there loading cars, railroad ties or utility poles. It messed up my legs so bad and my face, you know, but I just stayed working,” Scott said.

Scott said after it was found out that creosote was deadly, the only person to be compensated was a farmer whose cattle was poisoned by it.

“They drank the water out of one of the ponds out here, and he lost some cattle,” Scott said. “He certainly got settlements.”

People from the northeast side should be compensated because of the amount of people that ended up with cancer and other health problems, Scott said.

Maxine Lewis, a Carbondale resident, said the men who worked at the site and people living in the northeast side community have suffered many negative health effects because of the site.

“My mom, my grandmother, an aunt and a cousin died from cancer,” Lewis said. “They took a lot of that toxin home to their families[...]

People, you know, having rashes and burns on their skin, you know, was just horrible.”

Although the city claims they cleaned up the site, there could possibly still be contamination throughout the neighborhood, Lewis said.

“That toxicity has been out there for 87 years, and there’s talk throughout that they have cleaned up. Okay you may have cleaned up out there, which I don’t believe, but how about coming into the town where I live where all the people who live on the northeast side live, and test this soil also,” Lewis said.

Councilwoman Ginger Rye-Sanders said people are still developing cancer till this day on the northeast side. She said there is a woman who lives near the site that has a daycare.

“These kids when they get old, they develop cancer. They’re wondering, ‘how did I get cancer,’ because things are happening inside of our city [and] no one is taking the responsibility to see what’s going on,” Sanders said.

Sanders said because no one is making an effort to test the land properly, people will continue to develop cancer.

Sanders said another resident, Daryll Webber, is working on getting a congressional hearing to get justice for the people on the northeast side of Carbondale.

“I’m hopeful that he will be successful and hopeful that, at some time, we can attract someone that legally represents the people on the northeast side that have been affected by the terrible condition [of these] chemicals that have been affecting our livelihood for such a long time,” Sanders said.

Jonathan Wheeler, an industrial service engineer who worked at Ameren when Ayer and Lord owned the Koppers site, said the company knew the chemicals they used were harmful.

“When Beazer began environmental remediation of the site, I was aware of that process and the general nature of the threat posed by the contamination of soil and water by creosote and other hazardous chemicals known to have escaped containment over the years,” Wheeler said.

According to Wheeler, Beazer Inc. knew the chemicals they used at the site were hazardous to

soil, water and possibly to the people.

Wheeler said the Koppers site is not the only example of environmental racism.

“I’ve long had an interest in environmental science and, more recently, the undeniable existence of environmental racism and what needs to be done to mitigate the results of a long history of locating environmentally hazardous facilities in and around marginalized low-income, often Black, neighborhoods,” Wheeler said. “We, here in Southern Illinois, have a case study for this phenomenon in our own backyard,” Melissa McCutchen, another Carbondale resident, said the northeast side needs to be compensated for the lack of action taken to help them.

“I doubt that it will ever happen because most of the employees are deceased, so the point will be argued that there aren’t any living victims,” McCuthchen said. “Similar to many instances in the country where people were denied reparations.”

The city should feel responsible for not taking any action to help rectify the issues that occurred in the past that are still causing problems today, McCutchen said.

“Some would say if you are not a part of the solution you may be a part of the problem,” McCutchen said. “No one in leadership has the ability to reverse past evils, but they do have the power to acknowledge that it existed.”

McCutchen said if the city does decide to help, they have to be completely transparent and willing to do everything in their power to help the community they have neglected for so long.

“Unfortunately, I think money becomes more of a priority than people, and so, I believe that that sums up where we are today. If there’s a choice between money and people, I think money usually wins or is the priority,” Sanders said.

By showcasing some of those favorite places in Southern Illinois, it sparks memories and creates good conversation starters and brings a little bit of nostalgia to the product,” Meghann Buehner said.

Randy Miller, the owner of Steamshovel Coffee, first met Jason Buehner when inquiring about hand stamps for his business. Miller owned a coffee shop in Cobden, Illinois, and during the pandemic, he closed his storefront and found he needed to refocus his business.

During this time, he refocused on providing coffee to the region rather than focusing on serving coffee at a shop, and Jason Buehner approached him about being part of a project focused on promoting small businesses within his store. “[The Printing Plant] is a company that really cares. They get business. [...] [Jason Buehner] wants to see us as Southern Illinois companies, successful. Then when we’re successful, we’re buying more product from them, and he’s more successful,” Miller said.

Fired Up Jellies and Jams is another Southern Illinois business that got a boost during the pandemic with help from the Printing Plant.

Michael Smith and his partner Krista Daniel started Fired Up Jellies and Jams in 2019 and started wholesaling to other retailers

later that year. They were planning on doing promotional events for their products in 2020, but, due to the pandemic, they were never able to do so. They found it hard to get people to try their products, let alone get interested in buying them.

Daniel brought the project to Smith’s attention and suggested reaching out. Jason Buehner decided to take them on and Fired up Jellies and Jams has been in the Printing Plant for the past two years.

“It became a great outlet for smaller companies like ours that didn’t have a lot of exposure. Because the Printing Plant has been around for a while, we were allowed to piggyback the exposure they already have and get our products out in front of people. Which for all of us, the local products, that’s great, especially in a time when we couldn’t get out in front of people ourselves,” Smith said.

Both Jason and Meghann Buehner said operating a small business helped to understand and aid others who were in similar situations, especially when it came to helping local businesses during the pandemic.

“They were trying to support us and we kind of just tried to band together to become a little bit stronger of a selection and variety and destination to be able to serve the community,”

Jason Buehner said.

He said he and his wife never planned to implement some of the retail aspects to their shop in the way they have been in the last few years. When people started to come into the shop to browse the products the Printing Plant carried instead of utilizing the copy shop’s initial services, Buehner found himself a little shocked. However, he feels the community’s positive response has encouraged them to keep pursuing the current direction they have taken and support the community the best they can.

“Because of COVID and the way that we adjusted, it really made us feel like we are part of a large local community,” Jason Buehner said.

Meghann Buehner said she hopes to see more local products carried in the Printing Plant in the future. She believes small businesses are the lifeblood of small towns.

“The money that they’re making goes home to them. This is their livelihood [...] if we can be a catalyst to help these other businesses survive and be able to take care of their families, that’s huge for us,” Meghann Buehner said.

Staff reporter Janiyah Gaston can be reached at jgaston@dailyegyptian.com or on Twitter @ DEJaniyah.

Printing 1 continued from

The Printing Plant began to focus on working with the local businesses of Southern Illinois such as Fired up Jellies and Jams, Steamshovel Coffee, Big Muddy Root Beer and more.

“Having that ability to be able to serve the community, the more the merrier type of thing was kind of the thought process behind it,” Jason Buehner said.

Other businesses had already started to become present in the store like Sauced Up Smokers Barbecue Sauce, which had been present in the copy shop for many years under Jason Beuhner’s ownership. Meghann Beuhner said the creation of their business, 618 Candle Co., launched their project to promote local small businesses into their shop.

618 Candle Co. is a soy wax melt brand, created in March 2020, which focuses on Southern Illinois, naming some of the scents after local businesses and Southern Illinois landmarks such as Giant City Peach Cobbler, Saluki Snickerdoodle Dandy and ColdBlooded Caramel Macchiato, named after one of the local coffee bean businesses they carry at the Printing Plant.

“Our hope with the product is that it would inspire people to think locally and shop locally.

Staff Photographer Dominique MartinezPowell can be reached at dmartinez-powell@ dailyegyptian.com.

Wednesday, February 9, 2022

Page 4

SIU Alumnus empowering the public through writing Jamilah Lewis | @jamilahlewis

A story about the unsolved murder of a gay man in Eldorado, Illinois, helped Southern Illinois University (SIU) alumnus Chris Dennis earn a creative writing fellowship of $25,000 from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) in January.

Dennis is an overdose educator at the Egyptian Health Department in Eldorado and an author best known for his 2019 story collection Here Is What You Do. According to Dennis’ profile on the NEA website, the story that won him the fellowship tells the story of him looking into a 40-yearold unsolved murder of a gay record producer whose body was found in a house across the street from his.

Dennis said he recalls the investigation taking place when he was younger and seeing his parents and neighbors being interviewed about it.

“There’s not a lot of murders in our little town,” Dennis said. “The fact that he was gay was this kind of salacious piece of the story that everyone wanted to talk about.”

Wanting to find the truth in all

“I feel like that’s part of why I was able to recover… people reminded me that my life mattered even when I didn’t think that it did.”

- Chris Dennis Egyptian Health Department educator

the stories he heard growing up, Dennis went to his local courthouse and looked through the evidence.

He discovered that no one was ever convicted for the murder.

Dennis said he applied for the fellowship in January but was discouraged from submitting his entry because out of the thousands of application. The NEA only fills around 30 slots.

“You really win the fellowship based on a writing sample that you send to them,” Dennis said. “The people who are judging it, they’re just reading everyone’s writing that they send and then they make a decision based on that.”

Dennis said he plans to use the fellowship money to take time off work to travel and spend time

gathering research for his first draft of a book.

While attending SIU before graduating in 2007, Dennis worked as an intern at the Crab Orchard Review, a literary magazine, he said.

“I would fantasize about sending things to magazines or trying to get something published,” Dennis said.

“But it was probably… eight years later I got a story published in a magazine.”

His work as an overdose educator and author connect to personal challenges he surpassed in his life writing about incarceration and decriminalizing substance use, Dennis said.

“I was in jail for six months… for possession of drugs, which there are people who are in prison for

much longer than that, but it was a devastating experience,” Dennis said. “I just thought about a lot afterward about the people who are, like, in prison for years and years for drug offenses.”

Besides Dennis’ work as an author, his work as an overdose educator at EHD was inspired by his own addiction recovery.

“We [EHD] want to respond to the overdose crisis or the opiate crisis, especially in Southern Illinois,” Dennis said. “I [also] think when I give people or teach them how to recognize or respond to an overdose, it also opens up a bigger conversation about harm reduction.”

Dennis said he goes about his job in a progressive way. He said giving people more access to healthcare and

people in the healthcare community improve their chances of recovery.

One of the things EHD specializes in is training people to recognize and properly respond to an overdose, Dennis said.

“We train a lot of police departments and first responders,” Dennis said. “But we really want to reach people who are still using substances [or] are friends and family members of people who are still using because those are the people who are around when somebody overdoses.”

Dennis said he’s seen his old self — when he used to be homeless and still using drugs heavily — in some of the people he’s taught and how having a support system helped him want to improve himself.

“Sometimes there were people who were still really kind and made me feel like I mattered,” Dennis said.

“I feel like that’s part of why I was able to recover… people reminded me that my life mattered even when I didn’t think that it did.”

Staff reporter Jamilah Lewis can be reached at jlewis@dailyegyptian.com or on Twitter @jamilahlewis.

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Wednesday, February 9, 2022

Page 5

Members of the Peace Coalition of Southern Illinois protest the U.S. involvement in the Russia and Ukraine conflict Feb. 5, 2022 in Carbondale, Ill. Photo taken by Rich Whitney

Peace Coalition protests U.S. involvement in Russian, Ukraine conflict

Janiyah Gaston | @DEJaniyah

The Peace Coalition of Southern Illinois hosted a protest on the corner of Main St. and Illinois Ave. in response to United States saber rattling amid diplomatic talks between Russia and Ukraine. The protest took place on Friday, Feb. 5, between 12 p.m. and 1 p.m.

Georgeann Hartzog, the president of the coalition, said the media and US government rhetoric have increased tension between Russia and Ukraine.

“There are a number of peace organizations around the country taking actions today,” Hartzog said.

“It coincided with our monthly peace vigil, and the topic is diplomacy and the de-escalation of the war with Russia over Ukraine.”

Military movements at the border between Ukraine and Russia have generated international tension in the past month. Groups like the Peace Coalition of Southern Illinois are holding protests in response to the U.S getting involved with Ukraine and Russia.

“We as a Peace Movement are calling for a reduction in that escalation of words and escalation of sending weapons and troops,” Hartzog said. “[We are] calling on our government to make some serious negotiations in the region and understand that Russia feels threatened and they do not have a democracy there now.”

While the United States continues to add fuel to the fire they fail to realize when it comes to Russia one person can make a decision about whether or not they will go to war.

The United States is slowly involving themselves in a dispute that does not concern it and will cause more problems down the road Hartzog said.

“There’s certainly no reason for Russia to have all those troops around the Ukraine, but there’s also no reason for NATO to be expanding up to

Russia’s borders or threatening to expand up to Russia’s borders, you know, sending weapons into the area that could escalate tensions, because the very worst thing in the world would be a war between Russia and the United States,” Hartzog said.

With the U.S. sending weapons and increasing NATO’s presence near the Russian border this most likely end up causing more issues between the U.S. and Russia.

The peace coalition’s goal is to help encourage government leaders to practice diplomacy first before taking any military action, Hartzog said.

“I became a member probably in 1984. It was founded in 1983 and I’ve just been one of the longer living members that stayed around here and stayed active in it,” Hartzog said. “There are many people in the community who support our work, or support the idea of, you know, peace and justice.”

Mike Gunn, a protestor at the event, said the United States at one time made it clear that they will make sure to stay aware of the internal affairs of any country.

“Bill Clinton once said [..] in the 90s that the internal affairs of any country will be part of the national security interests of the United States of America,” Gunn said. “That’s never been the case. It’s never been the case when they involved themselves within the internal affairs of countries back in Latin and South America throughout the 50s and 60s. It wasn’t the case when they installed Saddam, it wasn’t the case when they toppled Saddam, it isn’t the case in any of the wars they’re doing.”

The U.S. should stop focusing on what is going on in other countries and should focus more on how to improve the problems in America, Gunn said.

Gunn said the Biden administration and other previous administrations are only concerned with making themselves look good

Peace Coalition protestors stand on the side of the road to speak out against U.S. involvement in the Russia and Ukraine conflict Feb. 5, 2022 in Carbondale, Ill. Photo taken by Rich Whitney

on paper and not following through on their promises.

“I believe the Biden administration cares about maintaining the status quo [...] I don’t think they have the interests of the American people at heart no matter how many times they say it on paper or in public or in newspapers,” Gunn said. “Ultimately, it’s their actions that prove what they are really standing for. I don’t think they care about the United States people or any people other than what interests back them up in their own political values.”

If the United States wants to show the American people they want to improve our society, they should focus more on repairing the issues at home first, Gunn said.

Kyle Sullivan, another participant at the protest, said the trend of the United States trying to control how other countries operate is not new.

“People need to take into consideration more how the US has

been a bit of an aggressor in an issue that doesn’t really concern them. Just look at all just the trends that have happened since the fall of the Soviet Union, where NATO is gobbling up more and more former Eastern Bloc countries into their alliances and pushing this military alliance closer and closer to Russia’s borders,” Sullivan said. “They’ve been pursuing regime change and all these countries that are friendly to Russia, like Venezuela and Syria, and Iran.”

According to Sullivan, the U.S. has played the role of the aggressor more often than they seem to realize and puts more countries on high alert when they come around.

Sullivan said no other country spends as much as the U.S. does when it comes to increasing its military.

“We make up for half of all military spending worldwide, and then when you take all of our allies into account, we account for 60 to 65% of military spending. There is not a single

country in the world that has built up a military large enough to challenge us,” Sullivan said.

The U.S. should allocate funds from the military and put them into government programs that could help improve the quality of life here in America, Sullivan said.

“How would the US respond if, for instance, Russia made a military alliance with Mexico or somebody else on our close border and started putting troops and weapons there?

We would not respond well, so that’s essentially what the Russians are doing,” Hartzog said. “They’re using very dangerous tactics to get us to back off and you know, there’s lots of ways that we could negotiate and use diplomacy instead of building up militarily.”

Staff reporter Janiyah Gaston can be reached at jgaston@dailyegyptian.com or on twitter @DEJaniyah.

Page 6

Wednesday, February 9, 2022

Protest for Laquan McDonald highlights need for police accountability Joel Kottman | @JoelKottman

Southern Illinois Unity Coalition (SIUC) organized a protest demanding justice for Laquan McDonald, which took place on Feb. 3 over Zoom and Facebook Live. The protest was set to be in-person but moved online due to the winter storm.

Laquan McDonald was 17 years old when he was fatally shot by then Chicago Police officer Jason Van Dyke on Oct. 20, 2014. Van Dyke was sentenced to six years in prison but was released on Feb. 3 after serving 39 months of his sentence.

Patrice Mannie, a member of SIUC who organized the protest, said protestors highlighted how convictions, like in Van Dyke’s case, don’t necessarily lead to punishments that fit the severity of the crime.

Chastity Mays, president of the Black Chamber of Commerce of Southern Illinois, said recent convictions of police officers who killed Black community members were relieving but don’t address the full scope of the problem.

“There has been lukewarm justice,” Unity Coalition Director Nancy Maxwell said. “I mean, this is a perfect example because the officer [Van Dyke] was arrested, he was charged, and now in a mere three and a quarter years, he’s out

“This event shows the public that racial injustice happens everywhere, and the victims and families are not alone.”

- Patrice Mannie SIUC Protest Organizer

for murder.”

In the wake of McDonald’s death people mobilized en masse to protest but eventually moved on, Maxwell said, but she wants to keep marching and retain awareness about these issues to elicit change.

“There can be changes made in the legal sense, but the right lawmakers have to be in power,” Maxwell said.

It’s important for locals in Southern Illinois to participate in protests like this because those actions can have a ripple effect across the country, Mays said.

“You always have those people who are in their local community with boots on the ground doing the real work,” Mays said.

Mannie said better bonds can be established with the police and their communities, by the police department hosting community events like Coffee with a Cop or hosting community block parties. She also said police need to be able to understand their local communities to prevent incidents like this.

“It’s necessary for police officers to understand all cultures that the community is comprised of so they can understand their reactions to certain situations,” Mannie said. “Carbondale has residents who come from other states and all over, so their experiences are very much different.”

The SIUC is known for marching and protesting different issues pertaining

to racial justice.

“We actually received [an] award last year from the NAACP for our work, which leads people to pay attention when we come to march about these issues,” Maxwell said.

Mays also said the police need to be open to learning and listening to their community.

“What is the community asking for? What does the community need from them? The community needs to [ask] the same thing. These get open conversation,” Mays said. “That open court of communication is what really is the key to everything.”

“This event shows the public that racial injustice happens everywhere, and

the victims and families are not alone,” Mannie said.

An additional issue is that officers are shielded from accountability, Mays said.

“The real reason police can get away with murder is qualified immunity,” Mays said. “So, until we look into getting rid of qualified immunity, we’re gonna still see these types of police shootings happen, because they have the law behind them.”

Qualified immunity is a legal statute protecting police from conviction when acting within the requirements of their job.

The proponents of qualified immunity say the practice allows police to make split second decisions without fear of reprisal.

The future is in the hands of the children of families in Southern Illinois.

“We must train our kids to understand that although people are different, we are all still human and have feelings,” Mannie said. “Everyone, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, should be treated as equals and given the same rights as the majority.”

Staff reporter Joel Kottman can be reached at jkottman@dailyegyptian.com and on Twitter: @JoelKottman.

Page 7

Wednesday, February 9, 2022

Covid delays and cancellations continue for men’s and women’s basketball Joseph Bernard @Jojobernard2001

Over the past couple of months, COVID delays, cancellations and pauses have affected the SIU men’s and women’s basketball seasons.

Between the women’s and men’s teams, a total of six different contests have had to be rescheduled, postponed or canceled. The latest cancellation was a women’s game against Indiana State.

The women were supposed to travel to Terre Haute Indiana to play the Sycamores on Jan 27. However due to COVID complications, The Sycamores ruled they were unable to play on the scheduled date and have moved the game to Feb. 9.

Such concerns have been lingering ever since the pandemic began back in early 2020. A season ago, the schedule was restructured so the teams would play in two-game series of home-andhome. Meaning, the teams would play two consecutive games against the same opponent, one at home and one on the road.

Throughout last season, nine different games had to be rescheduled or canceled between the men’s and women’s teams. Some games were even

added to counteract the loss of games in this instance.

With these cancellations, pauses and delays comes a lot of hardships for the players in terms of scheduling.

At certain points, players would have an extended amount of time off from playing in the middle of the season.

At other times, the teams might be playing every other day to make up for lost time.

Men’s junior guard Trent Brown said each player is using the days off wisely to focus on themselves.

“It’s annoying to break up the play but I would say more so that we are using it as a tool,” Brown said.

“Everyone took advantage of it in their own way whether it was rest if they did contract the virus or if they were grinding on the court the whole time.”

On the flip side, Brown said whenever the team has had a tight schedule of playing games, the routine stays the same with high-intensity practices whenever possible.

“There isn’t too much of a worry in terms of exhaustion and stuff like that.

Our goal is to win every game on the schedule and to do whatever it takes to make that happen,” Brown said.

Coach Bryan Mullins, having

coached through two different seasons riddled with Covid issues now, said focusing on the present is the best thing his players and he can do during a big break.

“Try not to let it take all your energy and emotion away from the things you can control,” he said. “Do the best you can at the present time and not worry about the next day, week or whatever is ahead of you but to really focus on the present.”

Mullins said the players have still been eager to play all these games in a short period of time, despite the little amount of rest the players have received.

“All they want to do is play basketball right now. We haven’t got as many live reps in practice to go over scouts and things like that, but playing a game on Saturday and then immediately again on Monday, as a student-athlete what more could you want,” Mullins said.

On the women’s side of things, the Salukis will be starting a stretch of five games in 10 days starting from Feb. 4-13. Just like the men’s team, preparation time will be low for a lot of these games. Senior point guard Caitlin Link said the team is accepting the situation for what it is. Link said

the team is not going to overdo it at practice but will be prepared for other teams in scouting.

“We’re not going to sit here and complain about it or get too nervous about it. We’re just going to play our game,” Link said.

At separate points in the season, the women’s team has 16, 11, 8 and 7 day long breaks between certain games.

Link said throughout those breaks, the team stayed ready to play.

“We were sick of playing each other so much. It was obviously difficult at the same time with not playing and we weren’t getting in the flow like some of these other teams. But the anticipation of it made us all ready for that next game,” Link said.

Link said the previous year’s scheduling has given the team confidence in being able to handle the upcoming stretches of games they’ll be facing.

“We’ve gone into this year saying whatever happens we’ll deal with it the best way we can. We’re very thankful now for playing a game. Anytime we have a game and the season’s going normal, we appreciate it more than we did in the past,” Link said.

Mullins of the men’s team would

concur with Link’s statements for his own squad. Mullins said the team’s maturity is better now considering the scheduling of last season.

“The mental part and the preparation part have been huge for our guys. Last year with the back-toback games has helped us prepare a bit and I think the maturity of the team now that we got some older guys,” Mullins said.

Brown said he’s been appreciative of the way the scheduling has been this season to prepare for cancellations like these to happen and still work around fitting them in to play the games at a later date.

“I don’t think anyone has the perfect answer for anything with this, but I think the league has done a great job restructuring their rules to allow rescheduled games instead of a cancellation and an automatic loss for the team that can’t play,” Brown said.

The seasons for both the men’s and women’s teams will continue barring another one of these delays, cancelation or postponements.

Sports reporter Joseph Bernard can be reached at joseph.l.bernard@siu.edu or on twitter @Jojobernard2001.

presented by

Page 8

Wednesday, February 9, 2022

Snow much fun: a snow day gallery

Janiyah Gaston | @DEJaniyah

Southern Illinois University will not be open Friday as initially expected due to continued severe winter weather conditions.

With ice and several inches of snow on the ground, dangerous driving and walking conditions persist.

“All Friday classes (face to face, hybrid and online) will be canceled and will not be delivered remotely. Residence halls and residential dining centers will remain open as will the Department of Public Safety. The Rec Center will be open until 7 p.m. today and noon to 7 p.m. on Friday.

All other campus buildings and offices will be closed,” said a statement from SIU’s Emergency Operations Center.

Normal operations were set to resume Saturday at 6 a.m. but the university will “continue to monitor the weather forecast and road conditions.”

Offices will be open and classes will be in session on Monday, and staff should report as regularly scheduled, the statement said.

A snowboarder glides down a hill at the Banterra Center Feb. 4, 2022 in Carbondale, Ill. Sophie Whitten | @ swhittenphotography

A man wipes out while sledding down a hill at the Banterra Center Feb. 4, 2022 in Carbondale, Ill. Sophie Whitten | @swhittenphotography

A girl sleds down a hill at the Banterra Center Feb. 4, 2022 in Carbondale, Ill. Sophie Whitten | @swhittenphotography

A girl throws a snowball at a sledder Feb. 4, 2022 at the Banterra Center in Carbondale, Ill. Sophie Whitten | @swhittenphotography

Wednesday, February 9, 2022

Page 9

A young girl slides down a hill on her stomach shouting, “I’m a superhero!” at the Banterra Center Feb. 4, 2022 in Carbondale, Ill. Sophie Whitten | @swhittenphotography

Two girls sled down a hill Feb. 4, 2022 at the Banterra Center in Carbondale, Ill. Sophie Whitten | @swhittenphotography

A young boy flies over a snow ramp on a hill at the Banterra Center Feb. 4, 2022 in Carbondale, Ill. Sophie Whitten | @swhittenphotography

A group of sledders coast down a hill at the Banterra Center Feb. 4, 2022 in Carbondale, Ill. Sophie Whitten | @swhittenphotography

Page 10

Wednesday, February 9, 2022

MSU and UIC join Missouri Valley in conference expansion

Cole Daily | @cdaily_de

University of Illinois at Chicago will be joining the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) at the end of the current collegiate season, expanding the conference to 12 just three weeks after Murray State University came on board.

Murray State has been the home of two NBA lottery picks in the past seven seasons (Cameron Payne in 2015; Ja Morant in 2019). SIU Junior guard Ben Harvey said the Salukis are ready for that level of competition.

“They always have a great team [and] a great coaching staff. Obviously coming from Eastern Illinois, I experienced that first hand,” Harvey said, “But we know we’re ready for it because we’ve shown we can compete with anybody in the country.”

Murray State is coming from the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC), a league comparable in skill level to the MVC. The Racers won multiple OVC championships in the past couple of years.

SIU sophomore center Kyler Filewich said there is a lot of respect for the status of Murray State’s program.

“We usually play them in our nonconference schedule. Having them come in will definitely be great for the conference,” Filewich said.

The Racers aren’t the only team coming from the OVC. Belmont is also one of the teams mentioned in joining the Missouri Valley.

Coincidentally, both were considered “top dogs” in their previous conference.

“They just win games at a high level, whether that be in the OVC or NCAA tournament,” Harvey said. “It could be tough for Belmont coming in, and they are probably going to have to adjust, but they’ve established a great program.”

Belmont won multiple women’s basketball Ohio Valley championships too. Its Women’s program has been even more successful than the men’s.

“We play in a very competitive conference. With their addition it’ll push our conference that much further skill-wise, and next year it (conference championship) may be up in the air,” Freshman forward Tyranny Brown said.

The latest team to join the Missouri Valley would be the University of Illinois at Chicago Flames. Unlike

both Belmont and Murray State, UIC hasn’t been as fortunate with its success on the court.

The Flames currently sit at 7-12 for men’s basketball, while the women’s team holds a 2-16 record. It’s safe to say both programs could use a change of scenery.

“They know what they’re coming into when you talk about the competitiveness of this conference,” Brown said. “I think mentally they understand that they’re going to have to work very hard, but that’s no different than any other team.”

UIC competes in the Horizon League for this season, which is viewed as lower-level competition. However, with a move-up to the MVC, it could open new opportunities for the Flames in its pursuit of athletic excellence.

“Obviously being up in Chicago and having that recruiting base is a big tool. Plus, now that they’re coming to the Missouri Valley, that could help them get more recruits,” Filewich said.

With so many new schools joining the conference, these moves could put the Missouri Valley ahead of the curve and be the beginning of a bright

future for the league.

“Both athletically and academically it’s such a great conference. There’s so many great fanbases, facilities and teams across the MVC,” Filewich said. “It really speaks to the level of talent in the athletics being played here.”

While the expansion could bring many great moments for the future of the Missouri Valley, there certainly will be an adjustment period. Harvey said for teams joining the conference, and the teams already in it.

“The new teams coming in are definitely the odd ones out, because every game in the Missouri Valley is a ‘grind it out’ type of game,” Harvey said. “But it could certainly go the other way with the teams already here where they have to adjust to new playstyles and gameplans of certain teams.”

The move has the potential to have a major impact on recruiting. Harvey said the expansion is sure to have a butterfly effect.

“All three of the teams are located in great spots with Chicago and Nashville (Murray State is roughly two hours from Nashville),” Harvey said. “Plus all three places have loyal

and strong fan bases which can attract any recruit.”

The Missouri Valley isn’t the only conference to be welcoming new members. In the past year, 22 college football teams (FBS and FCS combined) have announced they will be changing conference affiliation.

In college basketball, 18 of the 32 conferences have announced they will have conference realignment before the 2022-2023 season.

Whether it’s Texas and Oklahoma joining the Southeastern Conference, or Loyola-Chicago to the Atlantic-10, it’s going to take some getting used to.

“It’s certainly very different with the number of changes that have happened,” Filewich said. “It’s tough playing different teams than you’re used to and adjusting to that. But I think it’s good we change it up.”

Until then, all three players (Filewich, Brown, and Harvey) agree SIU can compete with any team in the country, so they welcome any new competition to the Missouri Valley.

No matter where they lie on a map.

Sports Reporter Cole Daily can be reached at cdaily@dailyegyptian.com or on Twitter at @cdaily_de.

Wednesday, February 9, 2022

Brandyn Wilcoxen @Brandyn_2020

Page 11

Saluki golf ready to tee off spring season

The women’s and men’s golf teams are prepared to get back into the swing of things after a four-month hiatus.

Unlike most sports offered at Southern Illinois, golf plays throughout the academic year. Each team participated in a handful of tournaments in September and October, and will return to the course starting in February until the Missouri Valley Conference tournament in April.

Fifth year golfer Moyea Russell is in the midst of her final season at SIU. She earned the conference’s Golfer of the Week award for her performance at the Hoover Invitational in Birmingham, Alabama back in September.

“The fall was like a test to see how we all work well with each other, and what we need to work on, and overall how we can just be like a cohesive team and play well, and ultimately get the championship in the spring,” Russell said.

Russell is taking advantage of the extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA by athletes from the 2019-20 season. When sports were shut down for the year in March 2020, she was recovering from an injury, and the extra year gave her more time to do so.

“Now, getting this extra year back, I was able to play my senior year no problem, and then this year no problem, hopefully,” Russell said.

“That extra year gave me the little bounceback that I needed to recover from my injury.”

Another golfer playing her fifth and final season for the Salukis is Rose Bundy. Like Russell, Bundy was a junior when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and has been dealing with the effects of that through the back half of her collegiate career.

“I think people think maybe [COVID] doesn’t affect [golf], but I think most of my teammates would agree that there’s a big impact,” Bundy said.

Danielle Kaufman is the director of golf, overseeing both the men’s and women’s teams as well as being the head coach of the women’s team. In her view, golf’s individualistic nature makes it so the pandemic does not affect play on the course as much as it would other team sports.

“When things were really bad a couple years ago, honestly, we probably could have still played, other than the travel. That’s the only thing that would keep us back,” Kaufman said.

However, pandemic-related restrictions stripped away much of the team aspect of golf during the 202021 season. Several Saluki athletes have noted a feeling of isolation when playing their sport, and in a sport like golf where players are typically playing on their own, that isolation is even greater.

“I would say we’re probably, compared to other sports, more used

to isolation, but for us it was on a different level,” Bundy said.

In most team sports, the players involved are able to spend most of their off time together because of their sport’s necessity for close contact. By contrast, golf is played individually, so close contact among teammates is not deemed necessary.

“When we were in the pandemic mode, we really were only allowed to be close on the team with the people that we roomed with,” Bundy said.

“Nobody got [COVID] during the season, so it worked out, but it was tough.”

What sets college golf apart from recreational golf is that golfers play for their team and work together throughout the season to help each other improve and build relationships with each other and their coaches.

As COVID narrowed golf down to focus on individuals, it stripped away a major part of the sport.

“We came here to be with other people to motivate us, to push us, to have that team aspect,” Bundy said.

“Otherwise, for most golfers, there’s no point in doing it. This is something that you can do individually.”

As the 2021-22 season resumes, the focus of the team shifts towards the looming conference tournament. After half a year of playing tournaments and practicing, the end of the year is finally in sight.

“I’d say it’s just more exciting,

because you have the anticipation for the championship at the very end,” Russell said. “All your hard work is for that last tournament in the spring.”

Starting the spring season in February means weather will not always be permitting, especially in southern Illinois, as evidenced by the recent winter storm that blanketed Carbondale in snow. To accommodate, the golf teams typically play tournaments in the southern United States where the weather tends to be more suitable for golf.

“Every spring, we try to do 3-4 matches south so we can actually play. We don’t want to play in super cold weather,” Kaufman said. “It’s a true test for us, especially the first few tournaments going south, to see who’s practiced and who’s ready to go.”

Kaufman’s duties for both the women’s and men’s programs have her traveling across the country, constantly shifting her focus from one team to the other. She credits her staff – including 21-year volunteer assistant coach Denny Kortkamp, director of operations Sharon Lipe and graduate assistant Lauren Bond – as well as the golfers themselves for keeping the program running smoothly.

“It’s a lot, but it’s rewarding,” Kaufman said. “I enjoy it, both teams.

I have a great bunch of girls and a great bunch of guys. They’re all eager to win.“ For Russell and Bundy, the decisions

to exercise their extra year of eligibility were relatively easy. Granted a oncein-a-century opportunity, neither hesitated at the chance to have one last year representing Southern Illinois University.

“I told myself coming back, golf is important, but lifelong teammates as friends and relationships with my coaches to really get something more than just golf out of being here was really important to me,” Bundy said.

“Which is why I am very grateful for every moment and every tournament that we get to go on, and every day I get to be with my teammates.”

As for goals this season, Russell hopes to make a push for the AllMVC team and potentially earn MVC Golfer of the Year honors “My main goal is just to leave it all on the course and just have no regrets when I’m done with it,” Russell said.

“I’ve put my heart and soul into all of this for five years, so I might as well walk away happy with everything I’ve accomplished.”

At the time of printing, the women’s golf team is playing in the Lady Bison Bay Point Classic in Panama City, Florida. The men’s team will begin their spring at the Pizza Hut Pat Hicks Thunderbird Invite in St. George, Utah on February 11-13.

Staff reporter Brandyn Wilcoxen can be reached at bwilcoxen@dailyegyptian. com or on Twitter at @Brandyn_2020.

Page 12

Wednesday, February 9, 2022

SIU Women’s Basketball remains undefeated at home

Cole Daily | @cdaily_de

The Bears of Missouri State (MSU) traveled to the Banterra Center on Friday, Feb. 4, to take on the Salukis in a highly anticipated matchup between two of the top teams in the Missouri Valley. The MSU women’s program has dominated the MVC in recent years.

It seems it’s SIU’s turn to shine at this point, as the Salukis walked away with the win on their home court, 6549.

Missouri State managed to get on the board first just forty seconds into the game.

On the very next play, sophomore guard Quierra Love pulled the trigger from deep, which gave SIU its first lead of the game, 3-2.

Both teams went cold over the next couple of minutes leading up until the first media timeout of the game. With 4:02 left on the clock, MSU led 9-5.

The Bears and Salukis both continued their struggles putting the ball in the basket. SIU gained momentum after a three-pointer with 16 seconds left in the first quarter, courtesy of freshman guard Tyranny Brown.

Senior center Gabby Walker

“I definitely think I’m a more confident player recently.

My teammates and coaches push me to be more confident and believe in myself.”

- Quierra Love Salukis sophomore guard

regained the lead with a turnaround layup for the first bucket of the second quarter. The SIU defense wasn’t letting the Bears near the cup.

Southern Illinois then forced a turnover, which led to a wide-open layup for senior forward Mackenzie Silvey. SIU held a 16-12 lead with 8:05 left in the half.

Both teams managed to get their momentum going, as the next four minutes were a back-and-forth affair.

The score was tied, 20-20, by the second media timeout of the game with 4:28 left in the second quarter.

The Salukis led by just two heading into the second half, 27-25.

The Bears came out of the break with all of the momentum after multiple baskets. Silvey put a stop to the run with a three-pointer from the right wing. The Salukis regained the

lead with 7:30 left in the third quarter, 32-30.

Brockmeyer caught fire in the following minutes, forcing Missouri State to call a timeout with 6:09 left in the third. SIU led 36-30.

Head coach Cindy Stein said Brockmeyer and Silvey are very special players, and their impact is felt insurmountably when the team needs to get out of a dry spell.

“They know when they need to step up. And not only that, but they understand when they need to give it to someone else and let them go to work,” Stein said.

The Salukis went on another run to close out the third quarter.

Southern Illinois headed to the bench up 46-43.

Southern Illinois got lucky in drawing some fouls to start the

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fourth quarter. With the free throws SIU was able to knock down, they held a 50-44 lead with 7:30 left in the game.

The lead only increased, as the Salukis found themselves winning by almost 10 by the final timeout of the game. SIU led 55-46 with 3:02 left in the fourth.

Silvey hit a three-point dagger with 2:35 left in the game that sealed the deal. Realization set in for the Dawgs that they would be winning their first game in the past five matchups.

It was at this time that Silvey pulled off her best Stephen Curry impression after making a heavily contested three-pointer to put the Salukis up 15.

Southern Illinois coasted the rest of the way to its fourth straight win

and remained undefeated at home.

The Salukis beat its rivals handily, 65-49.

As usual, Silvey led the way with 20 points (12 of those coming from the three-point line), three assists and two steals. She was aided by Walker, with 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Love, who had arguably her best game of the year.

She put up 12 points and two steals in her heroic effort. Love said she felt confident in her performance as the season has gone along.

“I definitely think I’m a more confident player recently. My teammates and coaches push me to be more confident and believe in myself,” Love said.

Stein said the next game is going to be a battle, and they might not be able to run away with it like they did tonight.

“It’s tough to think of any advantages to that (playing them twice in three days), especially a team like Missouri State. But they’ll be fresh in our mind,” Stein said.

Sports Reporter Cole Daily can be reached at cdaily@dailyegyptian.com or on Twitter at cdaily_de.

Wednesday, February 9, 2022

Page 13

Jones drops career-high 31 points in road win over Illinois State Brandyn Wilcoxen | @Brandyn_2020

Junior guard Lance Jones shot 71% from the field, including 5-6 from three point range, as the Salukis (1212, 5-7 in MVC) topped the Illinois State Redbirds (10-14, 3-8 in MVC) at Redbird Arena in Normal, Illinois.

Jones’ 31 points on Saturday night was a career high. He was joined in double-figures by junior forward Marcus Domask (18 points) and senior guard Ben Coupet Jr. (12).

“I feel like I was playing with a lot of confidence tonight,” Jones said on the Saluki Radio Network post game.

“I thank my teammates first, though.

Without them, I don’t feel like I would have gotten the wide open shots I was getting.”

The team as a whole shot over 50% from the field for only the second time in their last 10 games, en route to a 75-69 road victory that may prove to be crucial in the Missouri Valley Conference standings.

Saturday’s win is the second in their last three outings. SIU has struggled for much of 2022, finishing the month of January with a 3-6

record. If the Salukis are to make a run into March, their first step is to start putting together more complete performances like they did against Illinois State.

“We needed this win,” Jones said.

“That was the team motivation heading into this.”

Defensively, the Salukis were able to hold the Redbirds’ leading scorer Antonio Reeves to just eight points.

Illinois State kept it close, however, as they scored 19 points off the bench along with 12 points from Liam McChesney – a relative newcomer to the Redbirds starting five after star bigman Sy Chatman’s season-ending injury two weeks ago.

“The guys did a good job not giving them a lot of space,” head coach Bryan Mullins said on the Saluki Radio Network post game. “[The Redbirds] are averaging 80 points a game in their wins, and that’s a hard team to defend.”

Saluki sophomore Dalton Banks joined the starting lineup on Saturday in place of Steven Verplancken Jr. and dished out a career-high seven assists

in the win. Additionally, Banks’ added presence helped draw the Redbirds’ attention away from his teammates.

“Dalton’s a really good point guard.

He takes pressure off me,” Jones said.

“I feel like it kinda opened up my shot a little bit more.”

The first half saw back-and-forth action with five lead changes and four ties between the two teams.

It was capped off by Jones scoring seven points in the final four minutes to round out his first half production at an even 20 points, and Domask turning a Redbird backcourt violation into a layup in the closing seconds to bring his halftime total to 10. “[Jones and Domask] got us going in that first half,” Mullins said. “Both of them, offensively, had a good rhythm. Lance was shooting the ball well, and Marcus had some really nice drives.”

SIU never relinquished its lead in the second half, although Illinois State brought it to within two after a 9-0 Redbird run with just under seven minutes to go. The Salukis experienced

a few scoring droughts lasting a couple minutes each but held up defensively to maintain their lead until the final buzzer.

Despite being a road game for the Salukis, the team was able to bring a bit of home with them, as the Dawg Pound made a bus trip to Normal to cheer on SIU from section 230 of Redbird Arena. “S-I-U” chants could be heard on the ESPN+ telecast, and the visiting student section was acknowledged by the broadcast. The Salukis recognized the Dawg Pound as they left the court following the victory.

“It felt like the Banterra Center at times,” Mullins said of the student section’s impact on the game. “That’s what makes this place so special, and I appreciate it.”

With the first night of Arch Madness just 26 days away, every Valley game for the rest of the season is crucial in the battle for seeding.

This is especially true for the Salukis, who control the sixth seed in the conference. Seeds 7-10 will have playin games obran Thursday, March 3,

while the top six seeds receive a buy into the quarterfinals beginning the next day.

Saturday’s road win puts some distance between SIU and the teams behind them, including Illinois State.

The Salukis now hold wins over every team ranked below them and finished a season sweep against the current seventh seed Valparaiso (11-12, 4-7), who sits just a half-game back of Southern Illinois.

“Every Valley win is so significant,” Mullins said. “You’re playing for St. Louis.”

The Salukis will finish their road trip on Wednesday, paying a visit to Northern Iowa (13-9, 9-3 in MVC), who beat SIU by a single point in their January meeting at the Banterra Center.

They will then return to Carbondale for a two-game homestand starting with a game against Evansville (5-16, 1-9 in MVC) on Saturday, February 12.

The Salukis managed to keep pace with one of the Missouri Valley Conference’s best teams, as they traded leads back and forth on their way to a 29-24 halftime score. However, just like the weather outside, SIU went ice cold once again, allowing a 20-3 run in

the second half that made all the difference.

During its worst stretch, the team shot 1-12 over a ten minute period.

The Salukis were dominated on the glass in the second half, with the Bears grabbing 20 to Southern Illinois’s 10.

“It kinda snowballed on us,” head coach Bryan Mullins said. “That stretch… where we didn’t play SIU basketball. Offensively, we took a couple questionable shots, and defensively is where we really kinda got disconnected.”

Sophomore Dalton Banks agreed with Mullins’s assessment of the team’s second half dry spell, which was the perfect storm of the Salukis missing most of their shots and the Bears hitting most of theirs.

“I just thought there was a lack of energy, lack of togetherness in the second half,” Banks said. “You can’t have that against a really good team, because all it takes is a couple runs and all of a sudden it’s a 10, 15 point game.”

A pattern during the nearly monthlong slump SIU has experienced – seven losses in nine outings – is the absence of its best scorers. Junior Marcus Domask shot 2-10 from the field, and junior Lance Jones was held scoreless in the first half before beginning to find his rhythm later in the game.

“I think he had some good looks early on,” Mullins said of Jones’s first half. “He made a couple passes. I think he had three assists at halftime, which was positive.”

Along with Jones (14) and Domask (nine), Banks had nine points in 24 minutes off the bench. Most of his scoring – as well as Jones’s – came

when the game was already pretty much decided.

Missouri State was led by two players who are surely bound to play professionally once their college careers are over: 6’9 forward Gaige Prim, who put up 22 points, shot 9-11 from the field, and grabbed six rebounds to give the Bears a dominant inside presence; and junior guard Isiaih Mosley, who also had 22 points and six rebounds, and was perfect in eight attempts at the charity stripe.

“They’ve got two high-level iso individual players who don’t need plays called for them,” Mullins said of the Bears’ stars. “Where they can give them the ball and they can just make a play.”

Southern Illinois, on the other hand, does not have stars like Prim and Mosley, who they can trust to put the ball in their hands and score baskets. Domask has not found his shot lately, Jones has been hot and cold, and big men J.D. Muila and Kyler Filewich are not a consistent enough interior presence to platoon them successfully.

Mullins has often characterized his squad as a team of shooters. In recent games against Indiana State and Valparaiso – the only Saluki wins since January 8 – the team has proven that they can string together runs and take over games. But when the shots aren’t falling, as evidenced by their recent record, SIU seemingly has no answer offensively.

“We haven’t shot the ball this well this year,” Mullins said. “But we’ve been in every single game because guys have played extremely hard every possession.”

Perhaps the most telling statistic from Wednesday’s loss is that SIU won the turnover battle 13-7, but Missouri State scored 12 points off turnovers against Southern’s six.

Defensively, the Salukis carried over their performance from the past week or so and gave the Bears a run for their money for the entire first half. But the offense never clicked, and Missouri State only stayed down for so long.

“I think we let some of our offense affect our defense, and we can’t be like that,” Mullins said.

Including Wednesday’s loss, the Salukis have lost every game they’ve played against teams ranked above them in the Missouri Valley Conference standings. They have also beaten every team ranked below them, with the exception of their opponent on Saturday night, Illinois State (10-13, 3-7). That bodes well for them, as the rest of their schedule sees them play 4 of their final 7 games against teams ranked below them, but Southern Illinois cannot rest on that fact if they want to make a run in the postseason. If the Salukis go into Arch Madness with an 8-10 Valley record, one can easily predict what will happen when they face a higherseeded team.

Southern Illinois wins the games they are supposed to, but have not been able to find that second gear to be a threat night in and night out to the top Valley teams. If they can’t figure that out soon, the countdown to the end of Saluki basketball might just be under 30 days.

Staff reporter Brandyn Wilcoxen can be reached at bwilcoxen@dailyegyptian. com or on Twitter at @Brandyn_2020.

Salukis freeze up against Missouri State

Brandyn Wilcoxen | @Brandyn_2020

Southern Illinois (11-12, 4-7 in MVC) couldn’t keep pace with the Missouri State Bears (17-7, 8-3 in MVC), losing 69-54 on a cold Wednesday night at the Banterra Center.

winter.

Staff reporter Brandyn Wilcoxen can be reached at bwilcoxen@dailyegyptian. com or on Twitter at @Brandyn_2020

Page 14

Wednesday, February 9, 2022

Salukis lose in heartbreaker on the road at Missouri State

Cole Daily | @cdaily_de

On Sunday, Feb. 6, the Salukis took on the Bears of Missouri State (MSU) in a highly anticipated battle. Southern Illinois headed into the game hoping to sweep the Bears en route to a five-game winning streak.

Unfortunately for them, they fell to MSU by just one, 53-52.

The game started with both teams failing to gain any rhythm.

The first bucket came at the hands of SIU senior forward Abby Brockmeyer with a free throw. The basket came with 6:52 left in the first quarter.

By the time of the first media timeout, the score was just 6-2, SIU in the lead. After the break, it was more of the same. Freshman forward Laniah Randle scored next with 2:24 left in the first.

The score was 10-6 at the end of the first quarter.

The rust finally wore off at around the seven-minute mark of the second quarter. The Salukis and Bears finally managed to get their shots to fall.

Missouri State managed to score so efficiently, the Dawgs were forced to call a timeout with 2:12 left in the half. At this point, Missouri State held a 22-16 lead.

Men’s, Women’s Track and Field host Don DeNoon Invite

Joseph Bernard | @Jojobernard2001

On Saturday afternoon at the SIU recreation center, the Saluki men’s and women’s track and field teams hosted the annual Don DeNoon Invitational. Out of the 28 different events that occurred, the Salukis picked up wins in 12, with six coming from the men and six coming from the women’s teams.

Highlighting the women’s team in the shot put was senior A’Veun Moore-Jones with her first place 17.58m throw for a personal record. The mark is the fourthlongest measure in the NCAA this year and puts her at #3 in the alltime SIU record books. Two more Salukis followed her up in the shot put in second and third in junior Bri’yanna Robinson (15.43m) and senior Kayleigh Conlon (14.87m).

In the women’s weight throw, four Salukis finished second, third, fourth and fifth. Senior Elisia Lancaster got second with 21.19m, senior Shaunice O’Neal in third with 20.69m, Robinson in fourth with 20.24m and a personal best, and sophomore Matison Ingle in fifth with 19.87m and a personal best. It took Saluki Hall-of-Famer,

DeAnna Price with 23.13m to beat all of them and come in first.

In the women’s triple jump, Britney Mosby came in 1st with 11.06m, and in the women’s 60m dash, sophomore Iaunia Pointer came in 1st at 7.54 seconds and junior Olivia Garner came in third with a new personal best of 7.66 seconds.

As for the men, it was senior Omar Rodgers who had two firsts for himself in the 60m hurdles and the 400m dash. Rodgers ran an 8.44 second 60m dash and a 50.73 second 400m dash.

Redshirt junior Cole Taggart earned the win in the Men’s shot put at 16.96m and freshman Josh Delgado earned the win with a 4:32.61 run, while senior Corey Sherrod earned a win in the 200m dash with a 22.33 second run.

The Salukis will continue their season next Saturday, February 12 with their final meet over at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee before the Missouri Valley Conference Championships.

Sports reporter Joseph Bernard can be reached at joseph.l.bernard@siu.edu or on twitter @Jojobernard2001.

MSU held a solid 25-21 lead heading into the tunnel for halftime.

The Bears managed to go up by eight, 31-23, with 8:45 left in the third quarter. If the Salukis wanted to stay in the game, they needed to put some points on the board and minimize MSU’s lead.

Luckily for them, their stars, Brockmeyer and senior forward Mackenzie Silvey, happened to nail a layup and a three-pointer to cut the lead to just three.

By the first media timeout of the second half, with 4:30 on the thirdquarter clock, the Bears led 42-38.

The Salukis managed to regain the lead, 41-37, at the end of the

third quarter.

The game became a back-andforth affair to start the fourth, with neither team gaining any sort of advantage. That was until Brockmeyer knocked down a momentum-building three-pointer with 6:53 left in the game.

The Dawgs led 50-49 by the final media timeout of the game. 4:49 stood on the clock as both teams prepared for the final stretch.

Brockmeyer helped SIU gain a 52-50 lead with 4:03 left in the game. In the following minutes, Missouri State knocked down three free throws to take the lead once again.

It was all up to Silvey with 15 seconds left in the game. The Salukis came up short, missing the final shot and losing 53-52.

Brockmeyer put together a heroic performance against the Bears, totaling 19 points and six rebounds.

Silvey assisted her teammate on the court with her 15 points, three assists and two steals.

SIU’s next game will be against the Indiana State Sycamores on Wednesday, Feb. 9. This will be Southern Illinois’ second game on a two-game road trip.

Sports Reporter Cole Daily can be reached at cdaily@dailyegyptian.com

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