www.dailyegyptian.com Wednesday,November 11, 2020
Vol. 134, Issue 37
Region 5 to Southern Illinois move back to reacts to Biden win tier 2 restrictions
Vice President Joe Biden delivers remarks on Monday, Oct. 3, 2016 as he rallies supporters for Hillary Clinton in Orlando, Fla. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/TNS) George Wiebe | gwiebe@dailyegyptian.com
The 2020 election is almost complete and as of now every major outlet has called the race in favor of Joe Biden, but not all southern Illinoisans are happy about the results. Contention over the 2020 presidential election results has caused a new political rift at a time when the public hoped to find unity. “I voted as soon as possible,” Isaac Ludington, a junior studying political science at SIU said. “And I voted for Joe Biden.” Isaac described an anxious mood around campus prior to the election and the relief following its results. “Most of [the students] are letting themselves relax like they haven’t been able to in the last four years,” Ludington said. As of Nov. 10 president Donald Trump has not conceded the election. “I think what most people are seeing at this point is an unprecedented confusion,” Virginia Tilley, a political science professor at SIU said. The president’s claims of election fraud has caused a rift between Congressional Republicans who see this reaction as a conspiracy theory full of misinformation. “Even his Republican colleagues are saying you have to show us the evidence […] and no evidence has come forward,” Tilley said. “I don’t think there’s ever been anything like this.” Tilley said she felt relief over the election results due to the president’s disruptive actions and behavior while in office. Mike Bost, the Republican Congressman for Illinois’s
12th District who won reelection this November, said “I support President Trump’s efforts to ensure that every legal vote is counted” when asked if the election was handled properly. “If it isn’t proven to the people that it’s fair and it was honestly done then that is going to undermine the people’s ability to believe in the government,” Bost said. Bost said it is in the hands of the legal system to figure out if there was any fraud and what the results would be, not the “media making a statement in an evening broadcast.” The Congressman went on to say he would support whichever candidate won. When asked about the legitimacy of the Illinois election, Bost said the lack of voter I.D. laws in the state were an issue. “We’ve always had a problem in Illinois with certain areas of the state,” Bost said. “It has been a system wrought with fraud.” Illinois, along with 16 other states, do not have any requirements to show proof of identification at the polls; of the major swing states this election only Pennsylvania and Nevada are included in that group. The American Civil Liberties Union opposes voter identification laws in the U.S. saying that as many as 21 million people lack a government issued photo I.D., particularly the low income population.
Staff reporter George Wiebe can be reached at gwiebe@ dailyegyptian.com.
Regions 5, 7 and 8 of Illinois will be moving back to tier 2 mitigations beginning Nov. 11 due to an increased rolling positivity rate. These regions are seeing a test positivity rate that remains above 8% and continues to rise after more than 14-days under Tier 1 mitigations, which exceeds the threshold set for establishing additional mitigation measures under the state’s Restore Illinois Resurgence Plan, according to a release from the Office of the Governor. As of Tuesday, Region 5 is seeing an average positivity rate of 11.5%, with more than twice as many COVID-19 patients entering a hospital each day compared to the summer peak in late August, the release said. These mitigations will reduce the maximum gathering number both indoors and outdoors from 25 down to 10, it will reduce the maximum party size allowed at bars and restaurants from 10 to six and organized recreational activities will be limited to 25 guests or 25% of overall room capacity both indoors and outdoors with a group limit of 10 individuals. “Mitigations are only effective if they are followed,” Gov. JB Pritzker said. “The end goal of mitigating the damage the virus is doing to people’s lives is this: keep as much of our economy and our schools as open as possible in a safe manner, and when risk rates in the community surge up, take meaningful action to bring things back down in order to protect ourselves and the people we love.” These restrictions will not apply to schools, according to the release. “We continue to see COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths increase,” Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said. “Science tells us that when you are in close contact with someone, there is an increased risk for virus transmission. We must reduce the opportunities for the virus to spread. Only when the virus can no longer sustainably spread can we end this pandemic. It will take all of us working together, so please, be part of the solution and not the problem and help us reduce the risk of spread.” Every region in Illinois is currently under stricter mitigations due to a resurgence of the virus. “In the coming days, IDPH will continue to track the positivity rate in Regions 5, 7, and 8 to determine if mitigations can be relaxed, if additional mitigations are required, or if current mitigation should remain in place. IDPH has been working closely with local health departments in the three regions to provide education to the public and offer information to businesses and organizations on safe ways to reopen,” the release said. The Daily Egyptian News Desk can be reached at editor@ dailyegyptian.com
Wednesday,November 11, 2020
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COVID-19 expands staffing concerns at Southern Illinois Healthcare hospitals
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Jason Flynn | @dejasonflynn
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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 daily at www.dailyegyptian.com or on the new Daily Egyptian app!
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COVID-19 has exacerbated a nationwide nursing shortage and has placed massive pressure on hospitals. SIH hospitals at one point had more than 100 staff members out due to exposure to COVID-19, Rosslind Rice, the communications coordinator for Southern Illinois Healthcare said. “We have to be very creative and diligent with how we staff when we have, especially, nurses and employees out that are specific to the COVID unit,” Rice said. Staffing concerns are mounting as Region 5 counties in southern Illinois have been experiencing increases in positive tests for the past two weeks. “We would take an airplane full of nurses just like any hospital across the country right now,” Rice said. “Our teams are working very hard. They’re mobilized, they’re energized, they’re standing in the gap for each other, and showing extraordinary resilience, but it’s taking a toll.” As of Nov. 3, there have been 1,703 confirmed cases in Jackson County, and SIH has seen 318 individuals hospitalized. “About 60% were admitted in September and October alone,” Rice said. Jackson County Public Health reported the last two weeks have been two of the top four weeks for the county in terms of average cases per day, according to a press release. SIH conducts COVID-19 testing at two drivethru locations and at its hospitals.
“Since March [13th], between those two drive thru testing locations and our hospitals, we’ve conducted over 53,000 tests.” Rice said. “Last week, among the tests that we conducted and analyzed, we spiked to a 13% positivity rate. The week prior, we were at 11%.” As of Nov. 3, more than 30 individuals are hospitalized at SIH. Health officials are urging everyone to follow the guidelines set out for COVID-19, wearing a mask, hand washing, and social distancing, people may be relaxing as “COVID fatigue” sets in. “We believe people are really just exhausted,” Rice said. “But we’re seeing the consequences of that in our positivity rates and in our in-patient hospitalizations for certain.” Officials are also highly recommending everyone get vaccinated for the flu, as spikes in seasonal flu cases could drive additional capacity issues at hospitals around the country. “We do have a vaccine for the flu, anyone six months or older can get a flu shot,” Rice said. “If we start to see increased hospitalizations with flu and COVID it’s going to really place an extraordinary burden on all the hospitals and health care systems across the country.” Jackson County has been placed on the Illinois Department of Public Health’s warning list.
Staff reporter Jason Flynn can be reached at jflynn@ dailyegyptian.com, or on Twitter @dejasonflynn
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Wednesday,November 11, 2020
Teens living in transitional housing adjust to COVID-19
Courtney Alexander | @__Courtney_alex23_____
Chicago’s transitional housing programs, as well as the young adults who live in them, have been adjusting to a new reality as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. People within the city of Chicago have been affected by the pandemic, and the young adults in temporary housing for the homeless, which is also known as, transitional housing, are adjusting to new restrictions with their living arrangements, as well as limited opportunities within the community. In Chicago, approximately 76,998 people are homeless, and 16,580 of those individuals are unaccompanied homeless youth, ranging in age from 14 through 24, according to the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless. “Chicago Public Schools (CPS) reported serving 16,451 homeless students during the 2018-19 school year. This was 8%, or 1,443 students, fewer than the prior school year, but total CPS enrollment also dropped. The share of homeless students enrolled in CPS remains largely the same, at 4.5% of total enrollment,” Chicago Coalition for the Homeless said on their website. Doug Mowery, the director of residential programming at Ignite in Chicago, said Ignite offers various programs for young adults facing homelessness, including those affected by the coronavirus pandemic. “We have several different programs that serve the youth. We have our main program which is called Belfort house; it’s our transitional living home for youth,” Mowery said. “This is where our young people can live for 18 months up to a year and a half, and they work with their case managers while they’re here,” Young adults in the program frequently experience boredom due to their regular hangout spots closing as a result of the pandemic. They would typically go to a restaurant or just hang out around the community. “I can mainly speak on the youth here at Belfort house. Due to COVID, they’ve been restricted with how they’ll be able to move within our house,” Mowery said. “We’re asking them to maintain in their rooms mostly, and only come out into the common spaces to eat, meet with their case managers, or participate in other programming that we have going on,” The youth have also encountered difficulties with finding employment during this pandemic, as employment opportunities have declined. “I think the increasing issue for our youth has been with employment. And those things tend to go hand in hand, you have some youth that are now experiencing homelessness now because they lost a job and they weren’t able to pay rent and
were evicted,” Mowery said. Ignite also helps the youth find additional resources like, counseling, education, and employment opportunities, including internships. Donations to Ignite are accepted from the community, with the holidays approaching, these donations provide additional support for the youth. Monetary donations, gifts for the youth, clothing and shoes would help make a difference. “We have a program called Level Up that helps place the youth into an internship for four to six weeks within the community, to gain some job skills,” Mowery said. “They offer participating classes where they can learn resume building, basic communication skills for their employers and other employment-related skills.” Ignite offers other programs that provide assistance to adults who are within the city limits of Chicago. Clustered Scattered Site Apartments, or CaSSA, and Next Gen are housing programs that assist adults ages 18 to 26. Another transitional housing organization in Chicago, La Casa Norte, provides additional resources to the youth that are experiencing homelessnes. Jose M. Muñoz, the executive director of La Casa Norte, said that due to the coronavirus pandemic, the city of Chicago had to scale back on the resources that it provided for a few months, and La Casa Norte had to scale back as well. “Organizations like La Casa Norte had to really double down on the work that we were doing. The problem was that it became very difficult for organizations that are providing shelter services and we also had to make sure that our staff was safe,” Muñoz said. Youth have been directly impacted by the pandemic, like everyone else. Online learning has been a challenging factor since the young adults in the program are faced with unstable housing, limited interactions, and fewer places to go. “I think like everyone else right now, they’re struggling with these continuous orders [...] on where they can go. They experience many of the same things that any other youth would experience, but the expectation is that on top of it, they’re dealing with housing instability which impacts everything else,” Muñoz said. It’s a difficult time for young adults in the program, they aren’t just affected by the physical fear of contracting coronavirus, they are also dealing with the psychological effects of having limited shelter options. Despite this hardship, La Casa Norte continues to serve Chicago communities by assisting the youth and families who are experiencing homelessness. The organization just
celebrated 18 years of providing emergency shelter and beds, transitional housing and permanent support of housing. Lawrence Hall is another program in Chicago that provides transitional housing to the youth and additional services like foster care, housing, educational opportunities and therapy. Kara Teeple, the chief executive officer at Lawrence Hall, said this organization has served approximately 700 young adults in 5 core programs on the North and South sides of Chicago, and they are providing assistance to young adults who are experiencing homelessness. As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, young adults in the program have been experiencing isolation due to the change in weather and the closure of businesses around Chicago, coping strategies are essential to helping them stay on track. “I think now the coping strategies are going to get more intense for young people to have to utilize as we move everything indoors,” Teeple said. “I think that everyone is worried about the mental health needs of people, and then obviously having to stay inside especially when it starts to get dark at 5 o’clock at night, it doesn’t lead [...] to how you best use your coping strategies.” Finding additional ways to keep the youth engaged can be a challenge, but it’s essential to find new ways to keep them engaged so they don’t feel as isolated during the pandemic. Right now can be challenging but there are alternatives. “So that’s again why we’re trying to get as creative as we can with what kind of engagement programming we can bring in, that still keeps everyone safe, but also gets them to actually do stuff and not feel like they’re isolated and sitting around and not having anything to do,” Teeple said. The support of people, spreading awareness and providing additional support to young adults who reside in transitional housing can make an impact on their lives, the majority of the time, we can’t distinguish who is homeless and who’s not. So shedding light on what’s happening can help young adults see light at the end of the tunnel. “Awareness is honestly one of the biggest ways to help us. Something that I say a lot is that youths that are experiencing homelessness, you would never know. They could have served you your Starbucks this morning, or they could have served you at McDonald’s this morning. You have no idea that they’re experiencing homelessness,” Mowery said. Courtney Alexander can be reached at calexander@ dailyegyptian.com or on Twitter at ___Courtney_ alex23______.
Wednesday,November 11, 2020
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Top 10 highest earners at SIUC and in the SIU System Rana Schenke | rschenke@dailyegyptian.com
Southern Illinois University
10 $alaries
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(Editor’s note: The 2020-2021 salary database includes SIUC, SIU System and SIU School of Medicine personnel salaries. SIUE personnel salaries were not included in the material provided.) Over 3,200 individuals receive salaries from SIUC, SIU School of Medicine and the SIU System office. Of these, the recipients of the 10 highest salaries receive over $3.1 million together. Using the 20202021 salary database, the following breaks down the 10 highest salaries and who receives them. According to the salary database, the highest salary is earned by Bryan Mullins, the head basketball coach for SIUC. Mullins earns a base salary of $475,000 a year as per his contract, not including bonuses. The second highest salary belongs to system president Dan Mahony, who earns $435,000 a year, $40,000 less than Mullins. The third highest salary is earned by Stephen Brent Clark, affiliated professor and researcher III at SIUC. Clark earns a salary of $343,643 per year. SIUC chancellor Austin Lane receives the fourth highest salary at $340,008 per year, or $3,600 below the next highest earner. Dale “Buck” Hales, a professor of physiology at SIU School of Medicine, is the fifth highest earner in the database, netting a salary of $287,892 a year. Meera Komarraju, provost and vice chancellor of academic affairs at SIUC, receives the sixth highest salary overall and the fourth highest salary at SIUC. Her salary is $275,000 a year. Terry Clark, dean of the SIUC College of Business, earns the seventh highest salary, at $272,700. Xiaoqing Liu, dean of SIUC’s College of Engineering, earns $258,000. Quincy Scott, professor and director of Family and Community Medicine - Carbondale, earns a salary of $255,000. The 10th highest earner is Duane Stucky, vice president for financial and administrative affairs of the SIU System. He receives a salary of $246,720. The following salary database has been compiled and obtained by Daily Egyptian Staff through the Illinois Freedom of Information Act.
1. Bryan Mullins...$475,000.08 Position: Athletics Coach (SIUC)
2. Daniel Mahony...$435,000 Position: President
3. Stephen Clark...$343,643.40 Position: Researcher III (SIUC)
4. Austin Lane...$340,000.80 Position: Chancellor (SIUC)
5. Dale Hales...$287,892.36 Position: Professor (SMC)
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6. Meera Komarraju...$275,000.04 Position: Provost & Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs (SIUC)
7. Terry Clark...$272,700
Position: College of Business Dean (SIUC)
8. Xiaoqing Liu...$258,000
Position: College of ENGINEERING Dean (SIUC)
9. Quincy Scott...$255,000.24
Position: PROFESSOR FAMILY AND COMMUNITY MED. (SIUC-SMS)
10. Duane Stucky...$246,720 Position: VICE PRESIDENT (SIUU)
SOURCE: SALARY DATABASE 2020-2021 Chloe Schobert | @chlo_scho_art
Wednesday,November 11, 2020
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Local drag queen shares their 40 year long career story
Image provided to the Daily Egyptian by Blanche DuBois. Sara Wamgler | @sara_wangler
Blanche DuBois has done it all. From participating in beauty pageants all over southern Illinois to becoming the queen of entertainment and symbol of individuality in the local drag community, DuBois has become a staple of Carbondale’s entertainment industry. DuBois, who has been a part of the drag community for 43 years, has performed in San Francisco, won state pageant titles and participated in three Pride parades. “I worked at a bar out there [in San Francisco in 2000]; my sister got the booking from the bar she worked at,” DuBois said. “Most people just wore street clothes, meanwhile I packed every beaded and feathered thing I could stuff into a suitcase when I flew out there.” DuBois said drag, for her, started over four decades ago as the result of a breakup and broken heart. “I dated this guy for a couple of months and when he broke up with me I was devastated,” DuBois said. “I went to the gay bar and met this drag queen named Ladonna Delmar who later became my drag mom.” DuBois’ mentor promised to lift her spirits and help her get over the heartache. “She said, ‘Just wait until next weekend.’ That weekend, like she had promised, was unforgettable, brought me up a canary yellow dress with feathers, and did a great big hairdo. We went out in drag, I had a ball and haven’t stopped since,” DuBois said. DuBois’ first show was at the New Yorker, a club in Carbondale, and the first song she ever performed was “I Love the Nightlife” by Alica Bridges. “That is from the disco days, drag was a lot more fun back then too,” DuBois said. “There wasn’t as much competition, everything is a competition now.” After all of her years in the drag community,
DuBois has learned a thing or two about the makings of a good queen. The makings of a good queen rely on persona; letting loose on stage takes time and consistency, DuBois said. “At first you can feel kind of standoffish or bashful, but it didn’t take long for Blanche to come out of her shell and become outrageous,” DuBois said. “Personality definitely makes a good queen, and someone who listens to advice,” DuBois said. “There are so many new ones who think they know it all. I’ve been around the block so I’ve seen it, done it, changed it and learned it.” The mentality in drag is different now from the 70s, DuBois said. “There’s always the ‘I have to do something bigger and better than that queen’ mentality now, back then it was a lot more fun in general,” DuBois said. People were more helpful back then, and costumes were much more elaborate, DuBois said. “Drag when I started out [1970] was more of a novelty, people were kind of fascinated by it,” DuBois said. “There were two sides of the story, you had people who were fascinated then groupies who didn’t approve of it.” According to DuBois, it was taboo; it was hard to find wigs, makeup and lashes. Now they’re available everywhere. “Back when Madonna’s song “Vogue” was popular, I participated at a pageant in Indiana,” DuBois said. “I had made an outrageous version of her outfit with a corset, garters, and tassels. It was a comedy version of Vogue.” After her performance, the crowd went wild, and she walked off stage thinking she had won the pageant. “When I got backstage my friend asked me if I knew If I had a costume malfunction, I had no idea that I had exposed myself,” DuBois said. “People still
“She performed at a bar like she was in church, she even had a tambourine. It was really good.” -Faim Lee Jewls Drag performer tease me about that, I guess you could say I had a Janet Jackson moment.” From the most embarrassing moment to proudest Blanche has performed in over 80 pageants and won over 50. “My proudest drag moment would be when I won Miss Illinois at large USA pageant [1990], I was so happy to win a state title,” DuBois said. Beyond drag, DuBois mentors younger LGBTQ+ youth as a volunteer at the Rainbow Cafe, a safe space for LGBTQIA+ youth in southern Illinois.They host events, fundraisers, and gatherings as well as Carbondales own pride festival. “My work with the Rainbow Cafe has been great, it’s a helpful and needed platform for the youth,” DuBois said. “When I came out, there wasn’t anything like that, so we would just hang out at a bar.” Board chair of the Rainbow Cafe Tara BellJanowick said DuBois has been helpful in fundraising. “The first time Blanche worked with us was for a pageant for the youth,” Bell-Janowick said. “She volunteered to help them get ready and not really judge but observed the pageant.” Bell-Janowick said in 2019, DuBois won the title of Southern Illinois Pride Queen. “We had a float for the pride parade last year but I also drove my convertible, we basically had a convoy,” Bell-Janowick. “Many of our youth were on the float, walking alongside were some of our volunteers and board members. I was driving my convertible with Blanche DuBois and Faim Lee Jewls.”
Bell-Janowick said the float was to represent the Rainbow Cafe as well as celebrate the Pride King and Queen. “She went with us to the St. Louis Pride Parade and the Carbondale Lights Fantastic parade,” BellJanowick said. Along with DuBois in receiving a Pride title is close friend and fellow drag performer Faim Lee Jewls, who has been watching DuBois perform for 18 years. “The first pageant I did was with Blanche. I’m not a pageant King so I don’t normally do that kind of thing,” Jewls said. “I’ve seen her in pageants, the one that comes to mind is when she was in Cape Girardeau. She performed at a bar like she was in church, she even had a tambourine. It was really good.” Jewls said he and DuBois have performed together so many times he’s lost count. “If I have a show that I book and host I put her in it and vice versa,” Jewls said. “Since we won the titles we travel a lot with one another.” Every time he’s traveled with DuBois has been memorable, the most recent of which was to St Louis, Jewls said. Aside from all of the memories and trips, Jewls said DuBois feels like family. “Mama always needs help with something, and we’re always there to help her out,” Jewel said. “We all take care of one another, taking care of Mama is what we’re all there for.” Staff reporter Sara Wangler can be reached at swangler@dailyegyptian.com or on Twitter at @ sara_Wangler.
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Wednesday,November 11, 2020
Southern Illinois activist groups hold post-election protest
Citizens of Carbondale march in support of social justice the day after the general election Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020, in Carbondale, Ill. Several local activist groups attended, including For the People, a communist organization dedicated to helping those in need within local communities through various food and clothing drives. James B Allen | @skyclopsphotojamboree George Wiebe | gwiebe@dailyegyptian.com Jamilah lewis | @jamilahlewis Following the unclear presidential election this Tuesday, southern Illinoisans gathered outside the town square pavilion in Carbondale in protest of what they felt was an unrepresentative election. The southern Illinois chapter of the Democratic Socialist of America, Carbondale Spring, Southern Illinois Unity Coalition and other activist groups organized this event around a month ago to spread awareness of democracy and the election. The event was called “Emergency Protest 4 Democracy + Liberation” and was scheduled to take place after the election regardless of the results. Around 40 people met in the parking lot outside the pavilion. Protesters who ranged from eco-activists to ardent communists, expressed concern over the non-definitive results as well as, what some felt was a lack of choice between two candidates. “We’re here because we want to say that the election that we just had or still having, does not represent the people,” Jyotsna Kapur, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and director of SIU’s honor program said. In a real democracy, there wouldn’t be this much economic inequality and people in a place of power should be able to address fundamental inequality Kapur said. Kapur said she is angry with democrats for thinking former Vice President Joe Biden is the smart choice. “If anything it shows what a sham democracy has become,” Kapur said. The crowd was a mixture of local residents and students from SIU. “I believe that one election isn’t going to fix all of our problems, it takes a lot more than just winning democratic states”, said Tomas Cortez, a senior at the SIU College of Mass Communication and Media Arts. Cortez said he feels in this election the nation is representing a good democracy with the pressure of making sure all ballots are being counted with hopes that his vote for Biden helps him win the election. “We just want to make sure there’s no coup,” said Dennis Connolly, a member of the Southern Illinois Peace Coalition As the evening went on organizers asked protesters to give speeches. Nancy Maxwell, founder, and organizer for the Southern Illinois Unity Coalition spoke about the difficulty of being Black in America, and the lack of solutions by politicians. Maxwell said as a Black person she’s always been in a pandemic. “I’ve been wearing a mask, I wear a mask when I have to smile
SIU student, Tomas Cortez, speaks in front of a crowd of Carbondale citizens attending a small rally held by various activist groups within the local community Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020, in Carbondale, Ill. “I’m here to help along with this prodemocracy protest. I believe that one election isn’t going to fix all of our problems, it takes a lot more than just winning democratic states,” Cortez said. James B Allen | @skyclopsphotojamboree and pretend to people who I know hate me for the simple fact of the color of my skin,” Maxwell said. “As we look onto the results of this election, we must remain hopeful,” said Cortez during his speech to the crowd. Capping the evening’s speeches was Beau Henson who worked as a policy organizer with the Ray Lenzi for Congress campaign. “We lost pretty bad, light to moderate democrats get destroyed, progressives get destroyed and that’s not gonna work,” said Henson. Henson went on about the lack of progressive candidates and policies in the federal government. In a final address to the crow,
Henson said “Start planning on moving to an urban center or start thinking in a new way.” Following the speeches, around a dozen of the protesters marched from the pavilion to the US General Services Administration building followed closely by Carbondale police. Staff reporter George Wiebe can be reached at gwiebe@ dailyegyptian.com Staff reporter Jamilah Lewis can be reached at jlewis@dailyegyptian. com or on Twitter @jamilahlewis.
Wednesday,November 11, 2020
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What is SARS and why are Nigerians protesting?
with all your nois News with Madison Taylor | @taylorm08
Nigerians have been protesting for weeks against the special anti robbery squad, otherwise known as SARS. Like many recent Black Lives Matter protests in the United States, the EndSARS movement has been speaking out against police brutality. SARS is a police squad put in place to focus on robbery and firearms in Nigeria. This squad has become violent towards Nigerian citizens and the Nigerian people are demanding reform. These protest are filled with thousands of young Nigerians in the streets of Lagos chanting “Enough is Enough.” One night, protestors went to Lekki toll gate plaza and security opened fire, according to a CNN article. Protesters have also been attacked by police, sprayed with tear gas and water cannons, shot at with live ammunition and brutally beaten. Simba Lugboso, a student majoring in psychology at SIU who is from Nigeria, said SARS’ job is to prevent online fraud and decentralize social movements. “That has happened a lot in Nigeria previously, no employment among adolescents and graduates,” Lugboso said. “When they see kids in their country who are trying to come up or get the best kind of technology or work for better things, they’ll
see this and think, well you don’t have any money, you must’ve robbed [someone].” Lugboso said the EndSARS movement affects her because she has family and cousins who are around the graduating age who are buying cars. “What they’re doing [is] when they see people with fancy cars and stuff like that, they believe it was stolen because they think we’re way too young to be driving or having that kind of technology or luxury. They take their stuff and they basically kill them,” Lugboso said. The EndSARS movement isn’t about wanting money but social reform, according to Lugboso. According to Dr. Leonard Gadzekpo, a professor at SIU who lived and worked in Nigeria for several years, one would need background information on how SARS originally started. “From 1965 to about 1970 would be the Nigerian civil war and by the time the civil war was over and people have been desensitized to violence. Which means many people would be pulverized and poor. Therefore violence and robbery would start developing,” Gadzekpo said. Gadzekpo said by the ‘80s, Nigeria had become wealthier but society was becoming poorer. The wealth was not trickling down to
the general population. “I had finished college in Nigeria then I had another traumatic experience. They were called youth corpers and would infiltrate Pakastanis, Ghanians and other English speaking people from around the world,” Gadzekpo said. “We were all living in the bungalows and were attacked by armed robbers, they kidnapped and killed one of the guards. The case of violent crimes and robberies were escalating.” By around 1984 ,the pandemic of violent crimes had increased and that’s when SARS was put into place, according to Gadzekpo. “That spree or that pandemic I experienced would justify why the squad was put into place. As the years progressed into the ‘90s, SARS was slowly deteriorating and turning into something else,” Gadzekpo said. SIU professor Segun Ojewuyi said the way to end this violence isn’t going to be simple. “It’s not as simple as defunding or reforming the police. But the police force itself is so poorly, poorly, funded but what happens? The police force itself is funded by the federal government that owns it but because of the corruption the funding from the top politician,” Ojewuyi said. Ojewuyi said the police are doing corrupt things since they are so poorly funded. “These guys you find on the street taking
bribes and beating people up. They are so poorly paid. About half of them on the street use the money they collect from people to buy their own uniform. And put gas into their own trucks,” Ojewuyi said. Ojewuyi said the problem needs to be decentralized and better managed and controlled. The younger generation will be the change that happens in Nigeria. “So the second level of reform that is accepted and must happen is political. Changing those who are the politicians and this must come from the young people. The set for that is going to be very difficult. You would have to create new political parties” Ojewuyi said. According to The Washington Post, the Nigerian police force announced it dissolved SARS as of Oct. 11. Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari said the police would be reformed and urged the citizens to leave the streets. Protestors did not believe this and stayed in the streets even after the Lagos curfew was placed.
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‘Dive in first class’ in southern Illinois Leah Sutton | @LeahSutton
Twenty-four years ago, Glen Faith, retired secretary of police and owner of Mermet Springs, decided to start a 40-acre scuba diving destination outside of Belknap, Ill. “My goal when I started this facility was not to be another quarry operation. Lots of quarries kind of have a guy sitting on the back of a tailgate of his truck with a can out there collecting money and chewing tobacco,” Faith said. Now, looking back on the history of Mermet Springs, Faith has added many new amenities that take his diving business to the next level and truly allows people to “Dive in First Class.” “I started my diving career on our secretary of police dive team so I learned to dive back in 1988,” Faith said. He completed his first dive training with Pete Carroll at SIU. After getting transferred to Vienna, Ill., his neighbor told him about a quarry in Massac County. After checking it out, Faith decided to become an instructor and train his own students. The quarry that now houses the diving facility was mined by Columbia Quarries from 1956 to about 1972. When Faith first opened the diving facility, they were only open on the weekends. “I figured that if we had just enough people on the weekends to pay the insurance and the bills, had a really cool place to train my own students, then life was good,” Faith said. Mermet Springs trains people to scuba dive and offer courses from open water beginning divers to courses to become an InstructorTrainer. The staff train locally and are also a training destination for dive centers who teach the courses at their facilities and then go to Mermet Springs to have open water training. Each year, they train 5,000 to 7,000 divers. “Last weekend, over a two-day period, we had more than 500 divers here,” Faith said, “We’ve grown, we have over 50 people on our staff, more than 25 instructors, we’re starting to teach at SIU.” Faith said that they also have a lot of people with disabilities who come and experience scuba diving in the quarry. “You’d be amazed how many people we have from the military, missing legs and things like that,” Faith said. “It’s amazing because in the water you’re weightless, and you know, even if they don’t have legs […] they can usually swim. It’s got to be an amazing thing to be able to move again.” Faith takes pride in always trying to improve the facility. “Safety is the most important thing, my background in law enforcement, you know, it’s about professionalism and safety,” Faith said. By installing a set of two speakers into the facility, guests hear emergency announcements above water as well as at the bottom of the quarry. Faith said that he can call people to the surface by name in case of an emergency. There is also a system of ropes and signs in the water in case someone were to get lost on days when the water isn’t as clear. The facility includes air fill stations, lights for night dives, equipment rental, five scuba air compressors on-site, many covered pavilions, restrooms, showers, changing rooms, tank tables, WiFi and a snack shack. Faith said that they also have a full-time service technician and spare parts to repair equipment. “My ideas, if I was going to open up a quarry, I really wanted it to be a scuba destination where dive centers could come, instructors could bring their students, there
John Weyers and his son, John demonstrate how to do a “giant stride,” which is common to do from boats and docks Monday, Oct. 19, 2020, at Mermet Springs. Leah Sutton | @leahsuttonphotography was professionalism, there was adequate equipment for rental, and air fills were efficient,” Faith said. “We fill probably 3-4 maybe 500 cylinders this past weekend. No one waited more than 10 minutes for an air fill.” Mermet Springs also offers seasonal events for divers. “We had underwater pumpkin carving this past weekend,” Faith said, “It was amazing some of the sculptures that came out from 20 feet [underwater]. There were 40 people just doing pumpkin carving this [past] weekend.” Faith has also added other unique objects for divers to enjoy while in the quarry. Using inflatable lift bags, he has sunk a school bus, motorcycle, fiberglass shark, underwater petting zoo, ambulance, semi-truck, train car, firetruck, 727 passenger jet airplane, and more into the quarry for people to swim around and through. Although Mermet Springs is a large, 40acre facility, many people don’t know that it’s there. “Really we live right by here, like 15 minutes away from here and it’s crazy because we never knew this was here until last weekend,”Haley Robison, a Vienna, Ill. local, said. “I’ve never really seen a place that you can go scuba diving like this before,” There are six to seven-foot-long paddlefish, catfish, bluegill, rainbow trout, bass, crappie, etc. in the quarry. Guests can bring packs of hotdogs to feed the giant fish underwater or on the dock. These fish have also attracted a national audience when Zeb Hogan filmed an episode of Monster Fish for National Geographic at Mermet Springs. Although the fish have received a lot of publicity, the gem of Mermet Springs is a different underwater attraction. On March 21, 1998, Faith submerged a Boeing 727 Jet into the depths of the quarry. The jet in itself is enough to draw attention, but the fact that Faith bought it from a Warner Bros. movie set for $1 draws much more attention. The crew had just filmed the plane “crash” for the movie U.S. Marshals featuring Wesley Snipes and Tommy Lee Jones outside of
Bay City, Ill. and were looking for a cliff to film another scene in the movie. In exchange for allowing the crew to use one of the bluffs near his quarry, Faith was granted ownership of the jet. After paying Warner Bros. $1 and signing a contract, the jet was placed on a barge in Metropolis, Ill. Faith said that he had seven days to figure out how to get the jet into the quarry before he was charged $1,000 per day to keep the jet on the barge. To be able to transport the jet, they had to cut it in half and then bolt it back together after getting it to the quarry. Using lift bags, ropes, and a custom made trailer out of an I-beam, they were able to position the jet into the quarry. Faith said that he can’t imagine his life without Landon Robison, 7, feeds a catfish a hotdog on a dock at diving and that it is a Mermet Springs Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020. “I’ve never really good way for his family to seen a place that you can go scuba diving like this before,” connect underwater for a Landon’s mom, Haley Robison said. She has been bringing couple of hours without her son, to see the fish in the quarry. “His favorite thing in having any distractions. the world is fish,” Haley Robison said. Having just learned You can see 30-40 feet up and down while to swim, Landon Robison is looking forward to being able looking at the natural to swim with the fish. “Next spring, I get to snorkel here,” Landon Robison said. Having been to Mermet Springs rock wall in the quarry. “Imagine going to the one time the previous weekend, Robison was excited to Grand Canyon and going go back and told his mom that he was sure the fish were out on one of those little hungry. Leah Sutton | @leahsuttonphotography outcroppings where you walk out and look over, jumping off or stepping off and not falling Photo Editor Leah Sutton can be reached and just being able to go over the Grand at Lsutton@dailyegyptian.com or on Twitter at Canyon gliding,” Faith said. @LeahSutton_
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Will the race change?
A breakdown of post-election concepts and their effects Danny Connolly | @DConollyTV
electors, also in 2016, tried to vote faithless but were replaced by the state. This did not change the election result.
already issued a recount of votes because of close races. Simon said recounts find ballots for both sides to an The Associated Press declared Joe Biden the winner of the election. 2020 presidential race on Nov. 7, with Pennsylvania’s 20 Mail-In Voting “Sometimes recounts find more votes, but they’re more electoral votes giving Biden the victory in that state and of President Trump has asserted mail-in voting leads to fraud. votes that reinforce the person who was ahead, stays ahead,” the entire race. Attorney General Bill Bar has allowed the Department of Simon said. “I can’t think of too many times, when a recount President Donald Trump has refused to concede the Justice to investigate voting irregularities. resulted in a changed result.” election, insisting with a Twitter post on Nov. 10 that read, According to many election experts, there is no evidence of “WE WILL WIN!” widespread election fraud for any style of voting, in-person Faith in the election But is there a way where the president can win? The Daily or mail-in, in the presidential election. President Trump has elevated claims questioning the result Egyptian looks at three different political concepts that “I think he’s raised this issue frankly just as a tactical of the elections. On Twitter, he has made over 30 tweets and pundits have been talking about: faithless electors, mail-in ploy to complicate things,” John Shaw, director of the Paul retweets, which have been flagged by the platform for false or voting and recounts and how they could impact the election. Simon Public Policy Institute, said in an interview before the misleading information about the election. election. According to a poll by Politico, 70% of Republicans do Faithless Electors Shelia Simon, an SIU law professor specializing in state not believe the election was “free and fair”, compared to 35% Technically, no one has voted on the general state laws, said she knows first hand as an election judge for the of Republicans before the election. presidential election. The electoral college votes on the 2020 election there’s many bipartisan checks in place to Tilley said the division casted on the election process has president based on the results of each state election and will prevent voter fraud. separated the country. vote on the President on Dec. 14. “Almost all of these processes have the inclusion of a “In some senses, I think the United States right now is Electors are picked by the state party to vote but can vote Democrat and a Republican in the same room in the same not really one nation; we’re two,” Tilley said. “A nation, as against their party’s wishes. place to see the same thing,” Simon said. “The whole way one famously said, is an idea, a set of binding principles. Certain states have some laws removing and replacing through, there’s protections built in, in just about every And right now, we don’t have one idea, or one set of binding electors if they choose to be faithless. A ruling upheld by the state.” principles. We have at least two big ideas and plenty of fringe Supreme Court this year in Chifalo v. Washington. President Trump voted by mail in 2016. ideas.” Viriginia Tilley, an SIU political science professor, said “I think he knows that likely the bulk of the mail-in votes Tilley attributes the national division to misinformation. while the Electoral College was designed for electors to would be likely be Democrats, who will likely support his “That’s resulted from the information being so different debate choosing the best candidate, in modern-day times, opponent,” Shaw said. that people have and their ideas about their country and the the voting is usually representative of the general vote as ideas being so different,” Tilley said. “We have to sort that citizens are more informed. Recounts out.” “Their function is purely performative,” Tilley said. “They Several states may go through recounts of ballots. come to the electoral college to report the vote, not to Like electoral voters, protocols for the recounts are decided deliberate.” by each state. Some states have automatic recounts when Staff Reporter Danny Connolly can be reached at In 2016, seven electors were faithless and voted for there is a close margin. danieljconnolly17@gmail.com or on Twitter at @ candidates other than ones they were obligated to vote. Three The Secretaries of State in Georgia and Wisconsin have DConnollyTV
Wednesday,November 11, 2020
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Intersectionality: Learn the meaning behind the increasingly popular term
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What is Intersectionality? Chloe Schobert | @chlo_scho_art
Brooke Buerck | @bbuerck25
An important election season has nearly come to a close, but debates about the nation’s biggest social, political and economic issues remain at the forefront of today’s conversations. One term and ideology that has gained attention during this year’s election cycle is ‘intersectionality,’ which addresses not only issues of public health, protecting human rights, public safety and addressing economic problems, but also how these issues overlap with one another. The term was first mentioned by Kimberlé Crenshaw, a lawyer and full-time professor at UCLA School of Law and Columbia Law School, in 1989. The idea of intersectionality begins with the concept of identity and how a person’s identities relate to how they experience things within the society they live in. Components of a person’s identity can include gender, race, sexual orientation, geographical location and level of education, among others. Alex Grabowska, alcohol and drug educator at SIU Student Health Center, said if society desires its systems to foster equity, then listening to the voices of those who are marginalized or adversely impacted can help understand how to improve them. “You have to listen to the folks that are experiencing the failings of the system in order to adequately address it in a meaningful way,” Grabowska said. “In order to do that, you have to put those conversations and the experiences of those folks at the forefront. If you’re going to invest in a system, and you believe it’s valuable that the system treats people equally, you have to listen to the folks when they say that it’s not equal.” Grabowska said intersectional conversations that address these inequalities are currently not happening in debates amongst candidates running for public offices, citing specifically the topic of fracking that was brought up in the last presidential debate on Oct. 22. According to Grabowska, asking a candidate if they are against fracking is not enough when thinking in terms of intersectionality. Intersectionality addresses different privileges and oppressions, according to Grabowksa, yet “looking at it in that way may not hold any value for different individuals, especially if an individual does not understand or does not believe that different forms of oppression exist.” “For the conversation to be intersectional, [the question about fracking] has not gone deep enough,” Grabowska said. “The question needs to then be, ‘Who does fracking affect? Who’s impacted by the effects of fracking? What are the long term effects of fracking? What are the short term effects of fracking? What are the economic benefits? Do those balance out with the short term benefits, balance out with the long term benefits?’” Cristina Castillo, coordinator of the Hispanic/Latino resource
center, said in intersectional conversations, allies shouldn’t just speak on someone else’s behalf. “I don’t want allies for the Hispanic/Latinx community; I want empowerers,” Castillo said. “I don’t want somebody to speak on my behalf anymore. I want that person who is going to be pushing me to speak on my behalf because I am supposed to be the one that knows what I need.” Castillo said having intersectionality and being willing to address issues is what’s important. “So long that we have people being devalued for who they are, I don’t think that we can [have] everybody in the same mindset to really intentionally work to better everybody else’s livelihoods,” Castillo said. Castillo also said intersectionality means understanding one’s mindset when they advocate for a particular group of people or groups of people. “I think we have to be very careful with, when we speak about women’s rights, and when we speak about LGBTQ rights, I think we have to be very careful [about] what is our mindset and where [we are] coming from,” Castillo said. “Is it coming from the perspective of [true] advocacy? Is it coming from the perspective of [true] wishing and desiring and working and acting on the greater good? Or is it an embedded sense of feeling good about yourself?” Using this mode of thinking one can examine the ways in which class, racial, and gender-based disparities can intersect with inequalities in social and political systems. “[The Latinx community is] underrepresented in AP classes, higher education, government, state positions, community councils,” Castillo said. “We are overrepresented in a lot of negative things. We are overrepresented in prison systems, dropout [rates] for high school students, with regards to the number of the population we are considering.” Representation can lead to important decisions made by governments at the local level all the way up to the national level, impacting the lives of people whom these government institutions serve. For instance, representation can impact a decision to build a new factory in a certain location. “When we think about intersectionality, that conversation is pointing to the fact that many of us have multiple parts of our identity and sometimes these parts of ourselves - obviously they interact to form our whole selves - but sometimes aspects can compound or negate the amount of advantage or disadvantage in this world,” Karen Schauwecker, SIU sustainability program coordinator, said. “If we can look at studies that show us that populations of Latinos and African-Americans have a higher rate of living in neighborhoods that have pollution, pollution issues, or they’re more likely to be the neighborhoods in which a large factory is built near, so they are bearing the brunt of contamination that
comes along with that economic progress,” Schauwecker said. According to Schauwecker, a relevant example of this phenomenon is the community of Flint, Michigan. According to a 2017 report from the Michigan Civil Rights Department website from the Michigan Civil Rights Commission, the clean water crisis in Flint resulted from systemic racism. “[The Michigan Civil Rights Commission] concluded that a complex mix of historical, structural and systemic racism combined with implicit bias led to decisions, actions, and consequences in Flint, [which] would not have been allowed to happen in primarily white communities such as Birmingham, Ann Arbor, or East Grand Rapids,” the press release read. Schauwecker said an example of a way that legislation has been able to address both environmental and social goals can be seen with the passing of the Illinois Future Energy Jobs Act. “[One] of them is to move Illinois towards acquiring more renewable energy,” Schauwecker said. “In achieving these goals, [legislators] recognized that sometimes renewable energy efforts don’t benefit the same people, that people in higher incomes are more likely to take advantage of incentive programs, for example, so again the inequity plays out in the same way it always does.” The Solar For All provision is an example of how legislation, in committing to job training programs and making solar accessible to all people regardless of income, is not exclusive, Schauwecker said. For many, these large-scale social issues can seem out of reach from everyday lived experiences. Grabowska said intersectionality can help understand the SIU community. Intersectionality theory is not universally accepted or used, however, and many have taken issue with the idea and how it approaches social issues. “To many conservatives, intersectionality means ‘because you’re a minority, you get special standards, special treatment in the eyes of some,’” an article from Vox said. According to Vox, some individuals take issue with intersectionality because it places labels of oppression on people and promotes individuals to feel like victims of their identity and of society. “If we believe in the success of SIU, we need to look at ways in which it’s not assisting or supporting folks, or folks that aren’t having the ideal experience or folks that feel like they aren’t listened to or folks that don’t feel like they have been supported or aren’t able to access the same sorts of resources,” Grabowska said. With attention turned towards SIU’s campus becoming an anti-racist campus, Grabowska said questions of the importance of addressing this issue, how the issues take form and how we move towards solving them are important to have at every level. Editor Brooke Buerck can be reached at bbuerck@dailyegyptian.com or on Twitter at @bbuerck25.
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Study Break
Last Week’s
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Wednesday,November 11, 2020
Biden’s first-day plans range from COVID to climate, guns, labor Bloomberg News Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC
WASHINGTON — Joe Biden has a lot of plans for his first day as president, and some of it can actually happen in a single day — a fair amount of which he can set in motion right away even though Democrats have so far fallen short of capturing the Senate. Biden has promised to rejoin the Paris climate agreement, reverse President Donald Trump’s rollbacks of public health and environmental rules and call allies worldwide to reassure them, all on his first day in the White House. Before that day is done, he says he will put in place a national strategy for containing the coronavirus pandemic, rejoin the World Health Organization, end the ban on immigration from several predominantly Muslim nations and expand rights for Latin American asylum seekers. Biden has also promised swift action on housing, labor, gun control, LGBTQ rights and government reform. While some of those plans can be carried out on Day One, several other moves will run into familiar obstacles in the regulatory process that could drag out completion for months. And some of the items require congressional action, which can’t happen in a day and will grow increasingly unlikely if Republicans maintain control of the Senate as appears likely. Control of the Senate hinges on a pair of run-off elections in Georgia in January. “Announcements and executive orders that don’t require acts of Congress, sending positive messages to foreign leaders and government employees, those are easy to do and he can do them on Day One,” said Bill Carrick, a Democratic consultant and longtime adviser to California Sen. Dianne Feinstein. “But the biggest thing he can do is to immediately change the tone: This is not going to be about Twitter storms or outlandish ideas, but being very focused on practical things.”
Here’s a look at Biden’s plans for his first day in office and how they may affect his presidency and the country over time: Health Care/COVID-19 The COVID-19 pandemic may intensify between now and his inauguration, so Biden will have to be ready to address a fluid situation immediately, said Ezekiel Emanuel, a former top health adviser to the Obama administration. “ A lot is going to depend on how we’re doing,” Emanuel said. “Most of us, the physicians, public-health community, fear that we’re going to have outbreaks in large numbers because of people going inside.” Biden’s early moves will be important, including his picks for who will run his administration’s coronavirus response. That might take the form of a single “czar” in charge — Biden adviser Ron Klain played that role in the Obama White House during the Ebola crisis — or a broader committee. Biden will have to make the case to a divided country that safety measures people take can set the stage for a broader recovery — for instance by urging universal use of face masks. The message is “short-term pain for long-term gain,” Emanuel said. Like others in this article, Emanuel was interviewed before the outcome was known. Climate/Environment Biden is set to immediately reenroll the U.S. in the Paris agreement, the landmark 2015 climate accord under which nearly 200 countries pledged to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Trump jettisoned the agreement with the stroke of a pen last year — issuing a notification to the United Nations of U.S. withdrawal that took effect Wednesday. It’s even easier for newly elected Biden to rejoin the pact. After notifying the United Nations of an intent to return, the U.S. would become an active member again in just 30 days. Biden could renew the earlier U.S. commitment to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 26% below 2005 levels by 2025 or immediately make good on his promise to “go much
further than that.” Most of that work would fall to federal agencies and could play out in formal rulemaking efforts over months, though Biden could issue directives kick-starting some of it his first day in office. For instance, he could direct the Environmental Protection Agency and Transportation Department to immediately begin reconsidering a Trump rule that eased fuel-economy and tailpipe greenhouse gas emissions limits for automobiles.” People just misunderstand the power of the president to really with the stroke of a pen do things,” said Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Brandon Barnes. “Really, it’s with the stroke of a pen, a nudge to an agency head you’ve appointed to go ahead and go through rulemaking toward where you want it to go.” Supreme Court Biden has said he’s “not a fan” of adding seats to the Supreme Court, something activists are urging to counter the rushed Republican confirmation of Justice Amy Coney Barrett and the resulting 6-3 conservative majority. But Biden says he would set up a bipartisan commission to consider reforms to the court system and report back to him within 180 days. On cases before the court, Biden could move to drop appeals filed by the Trump administration and scuttle two Mexican border cases the court is planning to hear. (c)2020 Bloomberg News Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC
Read the full story at dailyegyptian.com
Wednesday,November 11, 2020
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Illinois graduated
income tax amendment fails Ryan Scott | @RyanscottDE
lines. The bill passed the house on May 30 and the senate on May 31. Sixty percent of the vote was required in both houses to get the amendment on the ballot. The amendment needed 50% plus one of all the voters in the election or 60% of voters on the amendment itself to pass.
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Staff reporter Ryan Scott can be reached at rscott@dailyegyptian.com or on twitter @RyanscottDE.
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Illinois rejected the graduated income tax amendment by a significant margin. With all 56 precincts currently reporting in Jackson County, the ‘No’ vote on the amendment leads by 11%, with 12,060 votes to 9,510 votes for ‘Yes.’ Statewide, the ‘No’ vote leads 54.5% to the ‘Yes’ vote that currently holds 45.5%, according to the Associated Press as of 4:48 p.m. on Nov. 8, with 99% of precincts reporting and over five million votes in. Gov. Pritzker reacted to the results on Nov.4 and said “deep and painful cuts are coming.” The state has until Dec. 4 to certify election results. The graduated income tax amendment, if it had passed, would have allowed the state legislature to raise taxes on higher income individuals more than lower income individuals. The state currently has a flat tax rate. The amendment was passed through both chambers down straight party
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Behind the kick: Meet SIU kicker Nico Gualdoni
Ryan Scott | @RyanscottDE
With two seconds left on the clock in the fourth quarter, tied 17-17 with SEMO, starting kicker Nico Gualdoni lined up for a 27-yard field goal attempt that would secure the Salukis a victory in the War for the Wheel. Gualdoni, the 6-foot1-inch senior who wears number 99, is 16 for 20 on field goals in his time at SIU and five of seven last season. He is also 46 of 47 on extra points and has been doing kickoffs for all four seasons as well. Gualdoni said he was excited after he made the game winning kick. “I just wanted to celebrate with my teammates, cause it was a big win for the program since we haven’t beat them the past two years,” Gualdoni said. Jared Petrino, the Salukis special teams coordinator, said Gualdoni is able to get the job done every time he goes on the field. Petrino said he thinks that Gualdoni is one of the strongest players in the locker room and lifts with the linebackers and running backs. “I would put him up against any kicker in the conference, and in the country in the weight room,” Petrino said. Petrino said the most emotion he ever saw Gualdoni show was after the game winner vs SEMO. “He just pointed to the sky and you could tell he was excited, but then he really quickly shut it down,” Petrino said. Petrino said he is lucky to have the special teams unit that the Salukis have “They all just go to work, I don’t have to micro-manage them and they all put in the work,” Petrino said. Just before his game winning kick vs SEMO he was thinking that the kick was barely longer than an extra point and just wanted to kick it with good form and put it through. Petrino said he was 100% confident that Gualdoni would make the kick and was only worried about the snap and the kick blocking. “I didn’t say one word to Nico even when they called timeout, I had talked to him at the start of the drive and I just said are you ready to go win a football game and he said “yep” and that’s what you’re gonna get out of Nico,” Petrino said. The former Johnston City, Ill., high school graduate now holds a bachelor’s degree in agribusiness economics from SIU and is pursuing his Master’s degree in the same field. In Gualdoni’s redshirt freshman season he was named to the MVFC Academic Honor Roll. Gualdoni started playing football his freshman year of high school and played soccer up until that point. He attended an SIU football camp while he was in high school. “I went to a camp here and got noticed by the [previous coaching] staff, and I was talking to him. Then Coach Hill got hired and they brought in a new staff and they were still interested so I stuck with here,” Gualdoni said. Former Johnston City football head coach Dan Mings was the coach that has had the biggest impact on Gualdoni in his athletic career. “He seemed like he always knew what to say and was just a fun person to be around,” Gualdoni said. Gualdoni said he needs good time management to fit in time for football, school work and personal time. Gualdoni redshirted his freshman season so is now in his fifth year at the program and he wants to help lead the special teams unit. “I’m one of the older guys now and I always come to work and make sure all the other specialists are doing good every day and trying to have a bond with all of them,” Gualdoni said. Petrino thinks that Gualdoni is a calm player “if he misses one it’s almost the exact same response as if he made it”, Petrino said. He’s also not a vocal player but is well liked and
SIU kicker, Nico Gualdoni, kicks a field goal for the extra point attempt. Gualdoni went 2 for 2 in field goals including the game winning 27-yard field goal during the Salukis’ 20-17 win over the Redhawks on Friday, Oct. 30, 2020 at Saluki Stadium in Carbondale, Ill.
SIU Football kicker Nico Gualdoni poses in front of the Banterra Center Saturday, November 7, 2020, in Carbondale, Ill. Gualdoni celebrates his recent game winning field goal scored by him against SEMO this past weekend.“It’s just another kick, I guess. That’s how I thought about it anyways,” Gualdoni said. James B Allen | @skyclopsphotojamboree respected by his teammates. Petrino said Gualdoni works just as hard as the rest of the players in practice. “Do you want to be treated as a kicker or do you want to be treated as a football player and there’s no doubt about it Nico is a football player,” Petrino said. Sports reporter Ryan Scott can be reached at rscott@ dailyegyptian.com or on twitter @RyanscottDE.
Wednesday,November 11, 2020
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Shop Your Local Co -op Local, organic and fair trade • Where everyone can shop Wellness • Bulk • Grocery • Deli • Fresh Produce • Beer & Wine
HOLIDAY TURKEY!
Organic Turkey.............. $3.39 lb Natural Turkey............... $1.79 lb Turkeys are raised without antibiotics or hormones, 100% vegetarian diet, humanely raised, no added artificial ingredients.
$1.49 lb
2 for $6
Pacific Organic Vegetable and Mushroom Broth
Local Sweet Potatoes
SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY
$.99 lb
Local Winter Squash
Reg. 4.99 • 32 oz
November 28 The Co-op will be offering
10% Off
2 for $4
OceanSpray Cranberries 12 oz
2 for $4
Farmer’s Market Organic Puree Pumpkin, Sweet Potato, Butternut Squash
$2.99 ea
Local Fuji & Jonathan Apples 3lb bags
All local products in store, including Deli made items!
Bulk Herbs
Reg. 2.89 - 3.29 • 15 oz
For your winter remedies! Elderberries.....................$1.99 oz Wild Cherry Bark.............$2.49 oz
$3.99 ea
$3.49
Pamela’s Biscuit and Scone Mix
Woodstock Organic Veg. Blend & Cauliflower
Reg. 5.79 • 13 oz
Echinacea..........................$1.39 oz
$7.99 ea
King Arthur Organic Flour
Select varieties • Reg. 11.99 • 5 lbs
Reg. 4.19 • 16 oz
Schisandra........................$2.99 oz Mullein Leaf......................$1.69 oz
PLUS!
$1 OFF
IN STORE COUPON
$8.99 ea
Willamette Valley Pie Co. Regular and Vegan Pumpkin pie
$3.49 lb
$4.99 ea
Select varieties • Reg. 4.79 lb
Reg. 6.99 • 8oz
Golden Temple Bulk Granola (Bulk Section)
Reg. 12.99 • 8 inch
Organic Valley Mild and Sharp Raw Cheddar Cheese Sales good through Nov. 17, 2020
Neighborhood Co-op Grocery Murdale Shopping Center 1815 W. Main St. Carbondale IL (618) 529-3533
www.neighborhood.coop Phone: 618-529-3533
We accept cash, check, and...
& DEBT DAWG!
Open daily 8am - 8pm