Daily Egyptian

Daily Egyptian WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2018

DAILYEGYPTIAN.COM

56.1%

SINCE 1916

VOL. 101 ISSUE 46

DO NOT SUPPORT PLAN FOR REORGANIZATION

INDIFFERENT ABOUT PLAN FOR REORGANIZATION

RESPONDENTS OUT OF 1003 INDIVIDUALS

SUPPORT CHANCELLORS PLAN FOR REORGANIZATION

Survey results show divided support for chancellor's reorganization plan AMELIA BLAKELY | @AmeilaBlakely

Results released on Friday from an online survey showed about half of the participants do not support Chancellor Carlo Montemagno’s reorganization plan.

The non-scientific survey, sponsored by the Coordinating Committee for Change, found approximately 56 percent of the 1003 participants opposed the plan.

“I continue to believe that academic reorganization is essential to the university’s future success and presents exciting opportunities for

our faculty and future students,” Montemagno said in response to the survey.

The chancellor said he would take into consideration the findings, along with input he’s received from campus constituency groups.

The committee members hope the administration will study the report and take it seriously, said Natasha Zaretsky, a history professor and member of the committee.

The survey was designed and carried out to gauge the campus and local community’s attitudes toward the reorganization plan and process. Between Dec. 11, 2017 and Feb. 11, 2018, 1156 members

of the campus and local community took the survey.

Whether or not the survey influences the reorganization, Zaretsky said, depends on the administration.

“What we’re seeing is mounting evidence that people have serious concerns about the restructuring,” Zaretsky said. “This survey underscores that the proposal itself is very controversial and there needs to be a wider conversation about the best path moving forward.”

Please see CCC | 4

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Wednesday, February 28, 2018

Contact Us

Email: editor@dailyegyptian.com Editor-in-Chief:

Athena Chrysanthou (618) 536-3397 achrysanthou@dailyegyptian.com

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About Us

The Daily Egyptian is published by the students of Southern Illinois University Carbondale 43 weeks per year, with an average daily circulation of 11,000. Fall and spring semester editions run every Wednesday. Free copies are distributed in the Carbondale and Carterville communities. The Daily Egyptian can be found daily at www.dailyegyptian.com.

Mission Statement

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

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

Copyright Information Š 2018 Daily Egyptian. All rights reserved. All content is property of the Daily Egyptian and may not be reproduced or transmitted without consent. The Daily Egyptian is a member of the Illinois College Press Association, Associated Collegiate Press and College Media Advisers Inc. and the College Business and Advertising Managers Inc.

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

Submissions should be sent to editor@dailyegyptian.com.

Graphic credit for the front cover:

Reagan Gavin | @RGavin_DE

Wednesday, February 28, 2018

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Brian Munoz | @BrianMMunoz Joshua Bowens, former SIU Undergraduate Student Government president, protests Tuesday outside of Morris Library.

Impeached USG president begins rally for social and racial injustices on campus JEREMY BROWN | @JeremyBrown_DE

Former Undergraduate Student Government President Joshua Bowens held a rally in front of Morris Library Tuesday, speaking about social and racial injustices on campus and said he will continue to do so until Spring Break.

At the rally, Bowens directed people in attendance to write down ways they had experienced injustices on pieces of duct tape.

“Put it down take it to the building or the teacher or the facility, where you had that problem at,” Bowens said. “Leave it there, let's see if it's there tomorrow.”

Bowens said he will continue rallying every day at 12:12 p.m. in front of Morris Library for the next 11 days.

“We are going to be right here every day until this university understands that without us [students] it doesn't work,” Bowens said.

On Bowens’ piece of tape, he wrote

down “My impeachment in USG was unconstitutional.”

Bowens was impeached from his position as USG president during a USG Senate meeting on Feb. 13.

“All of the allegations of why I got impeached, had to do with One Race,” Bowens said. “Isn't that something? The company that I created for equality.”

Mary Jhay, a speaker at the rally, said that the event itself is unrelated to Bowen’s company.

“This is strictly for the student body, for students for campus,” Jhay said. “So it's for everybody. It's not just about his company.”

Bowens said while USG is a system meant to protect the students, it was the administration that chose to replace him.

“The administration has decided they were going to come in and cut my head off,” Bowens said. “[Then] put someone they wanted in control. That's a problem

because 1200 students put me in a position to protect them.”

Newly elected USG President Emily Buice said the administration was not involved with USG’s internal affairs committee’s investigation.

“This was not the administration’s decision,” Buice said. “It was a decision made by the senate through an investigation conducted by our process outlined in our senate constitution.”

Buice said the bill of impeachment included more reasons for impeachment apart from those involving Bowens company One Race. “[The bill of impeachment] states that submitting bills late or in a delayed manner caused issues for different RSOs,” Buice said. “There were issues brought up about office hours and nonattendance at those, and not attending meetings as well.”

During the rally, Bowens said he declined to comments to the media.

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CCC

CONTINUED FROM

1

In a restructuring that is as far-reaching and radical as the chancellor’s reorganization, there needs to be sufficient buy-in from the people who are affected by the proposal, Zaretsky said Out of 958 participants questioned, including, students, faculty and alumni, 56.7 percent questioned whether the chancellor is acting in the best interests of the university, according to the survey report.

Zarestky said what the survey shows, in addition to constituency bodies passing votes of no confidence, is that the sufficient buy-in for the reorganization proposal is not there.

When distributing the survey, the committee tried very hard to spread the survey as widely as possible to get a range of different views from people who support the reorganization and those who do not.

“The CCC has a Facebook page and we paid to boost the post that included the survey,” Zaretsky said. “We sent it out to thousands and thousands of people.”

The Facebook algorithm used by the committee targeted people who lived within a five- and 10-mile radius of Carbondale and who were between 18 and 68 years old.

It was designed by the campus outreach subcommittee of the committee.

“The subcommittee contacted representative organizations of SIU Carbondale employees and students and asked them to provide questions specific to the concerns of the populations they represent,” the report said.

The university's Human Subjects Committee reviewed and approved the survey’s research protocol.

The top three groups represented in the report were graduate or professional students, tenured faculty and university alumni.

Undergraduate representation low at 94 participants. Zaretsky said she was disappointed the survey didn’t reach many undergraduates.

Undergraduate Student Government President Emily Buice said the low number of undergraduate participation could be in part because of distribution methods and undergraduates’ general lack of understanding and engagement about the reorganization.

Lack of communication also factored into low undergraduate participation, Buice said.

“I don’t think it’s necessarily students didn’t want to, they just might not have been that aware of it,” Buice said. “I see a fundamental miscommunication between the administration and students.”

From those who did take the survey, responses indicated over half felt underrepresented in the reorganization planning and discussion processes, according to the survey report.

This is because students want to be communicated with on personal level and have intimate interactions with people who make decisions affecting students’ fate, Buice said.

In reflecting the committee’s survey report and student’s participation in the reorganization process, the survey showed 55.7 percent of 207 students — graduate and undergraduate — agreed that nothing they do will impact details or implementation of the chancellor’s reorganization plan.

Students can get involved and have a voice in how the university is run, Buice said. Using their voice is something undergraduates can do right now with their individual passion.

“Everyone has a voice, you just have to find the way to use it,” Buice said. “Sometimes it feels like we are being pushed off, but I think it’s time for us to stand up and say ‘this is what we want’, in

Wednesday, February 28, 2018 an organized and effective manner.”

To the question of whether students were excited about the reorganization, 68.7% disagreed.

A sense of resignation to the process of the reorganization plan is not specific to students.

Out of the 229 faculty surveyed, 57.7 percent disagreed that feedback given to the administration about the reorganization proposal had been appropriately addressed.

More than half of university employees who oppose the reorganization plan agreed that openly opposing the plan could negatively impact their work life, job security or promotion within the workplace.

Zarestky said how university employees and students feel the reorganization plan aligns with the current era society is in — one where people feel a

Page 5 sense of despair and resignation with how much of a difference they can make in the world.

“In the specific case of the reorganization, I am not sure why people feel as disempowered as they do,” Zaretsky said.

One reason may be university employees who have serious concerns and misgivings but keep their heads down and go with the chancellor’s plan in hopes that their program or academic unity will be protected in the reorganization, Zaretsky said.

“The survey showed a crisis in trust in the leadership,” Zaretsky said.

Campus editor Amelia Blakely can be reached at ablakely@dailyegyptian.com or on Twitter @AmeilaBlakely.

COORDINATING COMMITTEE FOR CHANGE SURVEY RESULTS

TOP THREE DEMOGRAPHICS OF RESPONDERS 24% SIU CARBONDALE ALUMNUS 19% GRADUATE OR PROFESSIONAL STUDENTS 13% TENURED OR TENURE TRACK FACULTY MEMBERS

REORGANIZATION PLAN TAKES INTO ACCOUNT SPECIFIC NEEDS OF PEOPLE IT IMPACTS

TRUST IN CHANCELLOR TO ACT IN BEST INTERESTS OF SIUC AND PEOPLE ASSOCIATED

9%

NEUTRAL

25% AGREE

66%

DISAGREE

57%

8%

AGREE

DISAGREE

8%

NEUTRAL

MOST COMMON THEMES FROM SURVEY

1. CHANGE NEEDED AT SIUC 2. PLAN IS HARMFUL TO SIUC 3. ELIMINATING/MOVING DEPARTMENTS IS HARMFUL TO SIUC Reagan Gavin | @RGavin_DE

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Wednesday, February 28, 2018

Carbondale church becomes the first in southern Illinois to use solar energy KITT FRESA | @kittfresa

Church of the Good Shepherd installed a solar energy system that will save the church thousands in energy costs and reduce the church’s carbon footprint.

The system is also considered not only the first of its kind in Carbondale but in all of southern Illinois, Dale Ritzel, a member of the church since 1966, said.

The newly installed system, which consists of 24 solar panels, is estimated to save the church $38,463 in total electric savings for 25 years of energy production. The system is expected to provide 108 percent of the annual electric use said Brent Ritzel, a Solar

Project Developer for the solar company StraightUp Solar said.

“It really became a time for us to go ahead and do this because financially it didn’t make sense to not do it anymore, the incentives were so great,” Kim Magwire, the Pastor at Church of the Good Shepherd said.

Thanks to a state rebate incentive for nonprofit organizations included in the Jobs Bill for Renewable Energy, the church is going to get back about 90 percent of the $23,000 they paid for the system in a year.

"We’re talking about when it’s all said and done it’ll be a couple thousand of costs to the church, maybe even less than that for a complete solar system,” Magwire said.

Jorge Sida-Valdez | @JSidaValdez From left: Dale Ritzel, Brent Ritzel and Kim Magwire, all of Carbondale, stand in front of the Church of the Good Shepherd Friday in Carbondale.

Wednesday, February 28, 2018

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Jorge Sida-Valdez | @JSidaValdez The entrance to the Church of the Good Shepherd Friday in Carbondale.

Ritzel estimates that within the next two or three years, the solar system will be paid back in full purely by the electric savings.

The financial savings aren't the only positive effects of the change to solar power Magwire said. “[Those financial savings] don’t even count what’s saved for the environment," Magwire said.

"With fossil fuels that are burned and the moral cost of it, the savings are enormous as we look at what we really need to start to think about for our Earth.”

With the switch to solar energy, the church’s carbon footprint over the next 25 years will be reduced by 207 tons of carbon dioxide. This reduction is equivalent to burning 201,705 pounds of coal or driving 414,000 auto miles.

“When we generate more electricity than what we can use ,it goes into the electric grid as a credit. When we need it we get it back as a credit so we don’t pay for it coming back,” Dale Ritzel said.

“We figure for a full year we will save actually what we have normally spent for electricity in a year's time.”

Magwire said the church has had environmental concerns for a long time and in around 1990 the church adopted a covenant to be a whole earth congregation. This means one of the church’s goals is to be environmentally conscious and friendly.

“Our church members have been interested in this concept for a long time and the positiveness of this is unbelievable,” Dale Ritzel said.

Dale Ritzel said promoting positivity come in many different forms, not just being conscious of the environment. “[The members] know it’s important in many cases, for churches to be the example instead of the exception, so we’re trying to be an example,” Dale Ritzel said.

Dale Ritzel said since the church had the system installed, he’s received calls from churches all the way to Kansas showing an interest in switching to solar power.

Members from Church Of the Good Shepard, other churches in Carbondale and other organizations in southern Illinois have been developing a new community solar program.

Community engagement in the solar program could evolve into where solar systems are put in the Carbondale area and locals in the community could buy panels and utilize the solar system for their own use Dale Ritzel said. “[Organizers from the group] had a really productive meeting with the city of Carbondale this week in terms of looking for potential land that the city would be willing to lease for us for a dollar or something so that’s a big part of it,” said Brent Ritzel, a Solar Project Developer for the solar company StraightUp Solar said.

Ritzel said this community includes other churches and organizations such as the Muslim Center.

“We have people from 100 different countries in this town, I don’t think that exists anywhere else in America. This group [solar community program] does a good job of representing that,” Brent Ritzel said.

Staff writer Kitt Fresa can be reached at kfresa@dailyegyptian.com or on Twitter @kittfresa.

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SIU is home to best online MBA program in Illinois KITT FRESA | @kittfresa

Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s online MBA program has ranked No. 24 on the inaugural Poets & Quants Online MBA Ranking list.

This ranking marks the second national recognition in only a few years since the program’s inception.

In January, the university tied for No. 54 in the country on the U.S. News and World Report Best Online MBA Programs rankings released.

According to both of these rankings, the university has the top program in Illinois.

“There’s a lot of people here who put in a lot of work on this program, so it’s very validating to hear how well we’re being recognized nationally,” Nicholas Hoffman, a career specialist in academic outreach at the College of Business said.

“But to be honest with you we don't really focus on that stuff,” John Goodale, an associate professor of management and director of MBA programs. “Rankings never come up in a meeting. What we try to do is we try to provide the best experience that we can for our students. We have a great faculty that teaches in the program, staff that tries to administer and service the students, and that’s what we focus on.”

One of the ways the program tries to provide the best experience for their students is by developing new programs

students might take an interest in every semester.

An example of this is the oMBA’s new concentration in analytics for managers. Goodale said this is an interesting and important topic for firms today.

According to a university press release, the new concentration will be offered for the first time in summer 2018 and prepares graduates for careers involving the analyzation of data.

Chief Marketing Officer at the College of Business, Christie Mitchell said the ranking is a reflection of the preparation that goes into the program to make it worthwhile and valuable to students.

“I think that it also gives us a good benchmark to where we are in comparison to other programs,” Mitchell said.

Hoffman said the students in the program are surveyed on why they come here, one of the themes they see are definitely rankings.

The program does a number of things well, Hoffman said, but at the top of that list is serving the program’s students proactively and actively responding to their needs as the MBA learns and grows.

The program can accommodate and help the students enrolled in the program is because the program has the staffing and support to do so Hoffman said.

The program is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, Goodale said. It’s 100%

online, and also the program is very flexible on when the students can take the courses.

Hoffman said he thinks the program will see a spike in enrollment and he is looking forward to the incoming students. He said he believed a lot of graduates from the program find a lot of success afterward.

An entrepreneurship class is one of the reasons graduates find success, Hoffman said.

Some students in the course exclude themselves from the entire class and work with only one or two other students because they’re building actual business plans that they will use in the real world.

“We do have a number of businesses out there that are there because they were able to go through that program and get a step by step look at how to build business plans and how to make your arguments the strongest they can be,” Hoffman said.

Most of the students enrolled in the program are working professionals.

“These are very busy professionals and most of them are in the program to advance their careers,” Mitchell said.

The program itself takes a total of 23 months to complete.

Features Editor Kitt Fresa can be reached at kfresa@dailyegyptian.com or on Twitter @kittfresa.

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Wednesday, February 28, 2018

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Poetry, research, mentoring take the stage at Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies conference JEREMY BROWN | @JeremyBrown_DE

The theme of SIU's sixth annual Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies conference is "Transitions and Transformations."

The conference begins at 8:30 a.m. and goes to 12:30 p.m. on March 2, in the Student Center Wabash and Vermillion Lounge.

Sandy Pensoneau-Conway, an associate professor in Communication Studies and member of the planning committee for WGSS, said the theme of transitions and transformations becomes more relevant with each passing day this school year.

“The theme has become more salient, given the conversations about reorganization,” Pensoneau-Conway said. “When we started planning the conference we didn't know what the campus conversation would be.”

The conference showcases faculty, community members, undergraduate students and graduate students’ scholarly research.

Lauran Schaefer, an assistant introductory course director in the Department of Communication Studies, said there are creative presentations along with more traditional scholarly research presentations.

“They might be performing poetry, or doing a short performance,” Schaefer said. “It’s not [usually] comedic, but they can be.”

Schaefer said one of the ideas she put forward was a womentoring panel.

Womentoring panel is a group of women who will sit at different tables for students to ask questions about how they got into their careers, or how to negotiate salaries.

Pensoneau-Conway said the this year’s conference was challenging to plan because no one on the planning committee was involved with previous years’ conferences.

“It really fell under the purview of the director, [but] there is no director,” Pensoneau-Conway said. “We've been flying by the seat of our pants. We wanted to make sure that whatever else happens, this conference happens.”

Dianah McGreehan, Graduate Professional Student Council’s Vice President of Administrative Affairs, said the conference is in of itself a comfortable transition for students looking to enter the conference life.

“If they're looking to go on to a graduate-level degree, they can expect these types of conferences in the future,” McGreehan said.

“This is for the undergrad that wants to get their research out there.”

Pensoneau-Conway said the conference is in the spirit of mentoring undergraduate students through the conference process.

“This is one of the friendliest conferences I've known,” Pensoneau-Conway said. “The audiences are friendly, the questions asked are really in service of supporting the students. We want to make sure that ethos of the conference stays.”

Pensoneau-Conway said the conference is very important for graduate students because it’s cost-effective for them.

“None of us have lots of extra money to spend to travel to conferences,” Pensoneau-Conway said. “This is a conference that's right here, where all they have to spend is the amount of energy to get to the conference room.”

The conference is great for anyone in attendance, Pensoneau-

Conway said, because it allows attendees to network with people that might not share the same views as one another.

“You get a chance to network with people who both have similar ideas and also very different ideas,” Pensoneau-Conway said. “[They] might understand the ideas you're talking about in very different ways. I think it's very collaborative, not just amongst the panelists.”

Schaefer said audiences that are least likely to attend the conference are the ones that should be attending it the most. “[The conference] gives out the experience that marginalized folks have,” Schaefer said. “In response to and because of people who have more privilege. It's really good space to learn what our experience is.”

Schaefer said that the conference’s theme of transitions is inherently connected to empowerment, based off of her personal experiences.

“This is my personal connection to the topic,” Schaefer said. “A lot of narratives about women is that we are expected to transform.”

Schaefer said in her time at SIU she went from being an 18-yearold socially conservative person from Texas to being a feminist who is doing all sorts of advocacy on campus and having totally different political views.

“My family certainly expected me to go to college, get a degree, get married [and] settle down,” Schaefer said. “But the women's studies department was key in me realizing that, I don't have to have a husband. I don't have to have a kid. I can do what I want.”

Staff writer Jeremy Brown can be reached at jbrown@dailyegyptian.com or on Twitter @JeremyBrown_DE.

Black Women Task Force to honor empowered women on campus CLAIR COWLEY | Daily Egyptian

Women of color are being nominated to receive recognition for their impacts on the university in an annual award ceremony called Black Girl Rock, Shades of Beauty on Feb. 28.

The ceremony will be held in the Student Center Auditorium at 5:30 p.m. by Black Women Task Force.

Three years ago, BWTF created the event to recognize not only teachers and staff but also university students.

BWTF President Mykhal Suide said former President Taylor Johnson founded the idea of celebrating black women and the group has continued it.

“If we get more people to come out and embrace black women on this campus, and say ‘hey we’re here, this is the talent we have, what jobs we hold,'” Suide said.

Black Girls Rock has two groups of

participants. The first group is for participants who auditioned to perform and would like to perform in the ceremony.

The second is for people that were nominated, which automatically earns them an award.

“We want people to know about the women on this campus. They’re not necessarily a lot of us, so we need to show love,” Suide said. “That’s why we’re doing shades of beauty. We’re trying to have as many different shades of minority [represented] there...So we can show them appreciation as well as black women.”

"University students can be exposed to empowered women who promote being strong and successful in what they do," Suide said.

BWTF Historian Kala Toliver said President of Project Love, a community project, Saivia McDaniel was nominated for being most involved in community service on campus and being a continuous leader for her organization.

McDaniel started Project Love in her first

year of high school at Cardinal Ritter College Preparatory in St. Louis.

Project Love has been on SIU’s campus for about a year and a half now.

“When I first started it, its name was love blankets. We would just distribute blankets that were hand-stitched and a small group, myself, two friends and two of my cousins would visit nursing homes and hand them out that way,” McDaniel said.

After her mother became sick and money became tight, McDaniel stopped serving her community.

But, when she came to college and saw a need at SIU for people to be more active in the community she said she felt like Project Love could be brought back.

“I think it’s important for incoming freshmen and sophomores to know that it’s never too early to get involved on campus and the community.

That’s why we’re starting to target and market to more freshmen, so that can be something they do

throughout their college career,” McDaniel said.

Jessena Fields is also nominated for being an entrepreneur that owns her own beauty service business, Sena Selections, that sells eyelashes, sunglasses and bundles of hair extensions.

“It actually feels pretty good to see that people think about me when it comes to the business aspect,” Fields said.

When one has a vision, they must stick to it Fields said.

“Not everything works the first go round.

I have fallen down so many times, but I know this is what I want and will get it. You have to spend money to make money, so don’t be afraid to invest in yourself,” Fields said.

She said a quote she lives by is, “Never let the fear of striking out, keep you from playing the game,” by Babe Ruth.

Staff writer Clair Cowley can be reached at ccowley@dailyegyptian.com.

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Wednesday, February 28, 2018

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Members of Saluki Furry Society feeling free with their furry personas JEREMY BROWN | @JeremyBrown_DE

At its last meeting on Feb. 21, the Saluki Furry Society reached the required number of signatures of interested members to become a registered student organization.

Tyler Knupp, the founder of the Saluki Furry Society and a sophomore in computer science, said he originally came up with the idea of the RSO when he was a junior in high school.

“I wanted to do it because I love the furry fandom for what it is,” Knupp said. “I wanted to contribute to the fandom by making a place where members could connect with each other and have a safe place to talk about the fandom.”

Jessica Smith, a senior studying linguistics said the furry fandom consists of a group of people with a common interest in human-like animals and characters.

Dylan Kaspar, a junior in Psychology, said the biggest misconception about furries is that it’s solely sexual. “[Other people] see it more as a fetish than a fandom,” Kaspar said.

“It's not entirely untrue because there are people who do that.”

Knupp said that the Saluki Furry Society is not about the sexual aspects of the fandom but is also a break from daily life for students. “[Saluki Furry Society is] to escape from general social anxieties,” Knupp said. “Being able to put on the persona of your character and enact that.”

Smith said the RSO is an escape from everyday life for her.

“For me, it's kind of escaping the responsibilities that come with being a human adult,” Smith said. “[To] just go out, just have fun for once. Not anyone nagging at you

Brian Munoz | @BrianMMunoz Tyler Knupp, a freshman studying computer science from Ullin, poses for a portrait as his fursona, "Quasar," Tuesday outside of the communications building. The furry fandom is a subculture interested in fictional anthropomorphic animal characters with human personalities and characteristics. Suits can cost from hundreds to thousands of dollars, Knupp said.

to do this, to do that.”

Smith said in the furry group, each person creates an animal character called a fursona. “[It’s] basically themselves as some anthropomorphic character,”

Smith said. “It's being yourself in a way that normally you can't around other people.”

Knupp said that some furries have their fursonas as humananimal hybrids, animals with

human characteristics.

They don’t have to be mammals, either; Reptile, amphibian and insect fursonas are also possible.

Some furries take it a step further is by making or buying themselves

“For me, it's kind of escaping the responsibilities that come with being a human adult. To just go out, just have fun for once. Not anyone nagging at you to do this, to do that.”

- Jessica Smith Senior

a fursuit, Knupp said.

“The fursona comes before the fursuit,” Knupp said. “It’s of an anthropomorphic character. Some animal [other than human], it could be a hybrid, it could be a mythical creature.”

A common misconception within the fandom, Knupp said, is that every furry has to have a fursuit.

“That is very untrue,” Knupp said. “A large majority of furries at any convention do not have fursuits.”

Anna Freeman, a sophomore in animation, said the making of a fursuit is creativity driven.

“It’s very art based because these are handmade,” Freeman said.

“The more detailed you get the more expensive they get. There are some that look very realistic, like actual animals with moving jaws and electronics.”

Knupp said if someone were to get a fursuit made by someone else they would usually spend $2,000. “[That’s] why I made one myself,” Knupp said. “I spent about under $300 on supplies. It took a while, but it's much cheaper than two grand.”

As far as future events go Knupp said he wants to have all decisions of the RSO made by the group instead of just within the executive board.

Currently, Saluki Furry Society doesn’t have any specific events planned, Knupp said. So far, the first idea is called a furbowl. “[It’s] a meet-up of furries at a bowling alley,” Knupp said. “Some people might come in suits. I'll wear my suit if we do end up having one.”

Staff writer Jeremy Brown can be reached at jbrown@dailyegyptian.com or on Twitter @JeremyBrown_DE.

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Wednesday, February 28, 2018

Green Fund Project to promote recreation at Campus Lake while helping ecosystem thrive

Jeff Goelz, assistant director of recreational sports and services at SIU, said many people have a love for and fond memories of Campus Lake.

He said a really active community at the lake has been missing these past few years because of the algae outbreak, and he hopes to see that change with the improved lake health and April 30 grand opening of Becker Pavilion.

“When the lake fell on hard times it was really imperative that we all come together as a university community, and a community in general in southern Illinois to bring the lake back to its glory years,” Goelz said. “Now that we’re back to a good a balance, I think everyone’s excited to get back out there and utilize that really unique feature that we have.”

ANNA SPOERRE | @annaspoerre

In the past year, Campus Lake has been transformed from a half-empty hole to what will soon be a renovated hub for outdoor recreation.

A group of students and faculty, supported by SIU’s Green Fund, are designing and building a recreational area to increase activity around the lake next to Thompson Point.

The group is also being proactive in keeping cyanobacteria levels down, thus preventing another toxic algae outbreak like the one that temporarily closed Campus Lake in 2015.

The Eco-Rec Green Fund project is an example of how SIU’s outdoor spaces can be used as learning laboratories, said Geory Kurtzhals, SIU’s sustainability coordinator.

“It is practical, real-world problem solving that will serve our students well in the future,” Kurtzhals said. “In addition, it extends the boundaries of the classroom and provides a model example of sustainability-minded problem solving accessible to the public.”

Some of the project’s main features will include at least one stationary bike to help aerate the lake’s water when peddled, linking the individual’s cardiovascular health to the lake’s health.

Current plans install the bike near Bucky Pavilion by May, said Marjorie Brooks, a zoology professor and lead on the project.

Students are also creating prototypes for at least one solar-powered fountain that would sit on a flotation device and shoot water up to ten feet in the air, she said, adding that it could also act as an obstacle course for kayakers.

The combination of bicycle and fountain, along with the creation of a nearby wetland, would help aerate and cool the lake’s water, which is important when preventing growth of

Daily Egyptian file photo.

cyanobacteria, which feeds on warm, stagnant water.

The project, budgeted at just less than $30,000, is in its first year of funding. This cost includes building material and a salary for Rachel Steiger, the graduate assistant selected to help lead the project.

Steiger, a masters student in zoology, said the most rewarding aspect of her work is seeing how much the campus and local community care about the project and the lake’s future.

Steiger is responsible not only for testing for water quality improvements in the lake throughout the implementation of the project, but also for surveying how the community and the students involved in the work value the project and the lake. Individuals from outdoor recreation, biology, zoology, engineering, industrial design, physical plant, design and Sierra Club's Shawnee Group are all assisting in the project effort.

For the past four years, Campus Lake has closed periodically as cyanobacteria levels rose. The toxic blue-green algae blooms that resulted had the potential to cause health concerns affiliated with the high levels of nutrients.

When the lake was closed, people were advised to stay away from the water, as contact with it had the potential to cause rashes.

In September 2016, contractors began draining Campus Lake into Piles Fork Creek, lowering the water level six to eight feet and exposing about 20 acres of shoreline.

This allowed workers and volunteers to help remove decomposing plant material — which cyanobacteria fed on — from the shoreline. This dead matter was also a source of the foul odors that would linger around the lake during times of higher cyanobacteria levels.

The university paid a local contractor $350,000 to remove about 46 million

pounds of the dead material. In 2015, the university also spent $63,500 on dye, smoke and camera tests to try and reveal the source of what was found to be an unusually high presence of fecal matter in the water that was believed to be contributing to the cyanobacteria growth.

The lake has since restored itself: the water level has risen and the old odor is gone.

The Center for Environmental Health and Safety monitored the water all summer and didn’t see an outbreak of toxin levels, so the water is safe for recreation now, Brooks said.

Brooks said she’s always had the mindset that people are part of the ecosystem, and this project helps promote that concept.

“When ecosystems thrive, people thrive,” Brooks said, adding that Jeff Goelz said he hopes people will soon say, “Campus Lake is my workout partner”.

Staff writer Anna Spoerre can be reached at aspoerre@dailyegyptian. com or on Twitter @annaspoerre.

“When the lake fell on hard times it was really imperative that we all come together as a university community, and a community in general in southern Illinois to bring the lake back to its glory years.”

- Jeff Goelz Assistant Director of Recreational Sports and Services

Wednesday, February 28, 2018

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University zoology student studies largest known specimen of black carp KITT FRESA | @kittfresa

The largest known specimen of black carp has been brought to university researchers who hope to unlock important information about the invasive species.

“The fish was substantially larger than anything we had seen before,” Greg Whitledge, an associate professor in the Department of Zoology.

Hudman Evans, a graduate student in the Zoology Department will study the fish further for his Master’s thesis.

Through a bounty program run through the school, commercial fishers can catch and send black carp for research to the university.

Commercial fishers sent the university a black carp on Feb. 10 that was over five feet long and weighed 115 pounds, with the average size of the species ranging between 10-15 pounds.

According to Evans, the reason why the carp grew so large is because fish in general are indeterminate growers, which means that they can grow indefinitely.

“As long as they keep eating in an environment that will allow them to grow, they can grow to an indeterminate size,” Evans said.

Evans is writing his thesis on black carp’s diet and studying if the invasive species is potentially competing with some of the native species in the area.

This specific black carp specimen will be dissected by Evans and then sent to the U.S. Geological Survey where it will be dissected more.

All of this research is in hopes to learn as much as they can about the species because they are somewhat new to the area.

“We can get quite a bit of information off of a single fish,” Whitledge said. “And then as we accumulate records like that over hundreds of fish we get a better

picture of what their current population status is.”

According to Whitledge, black carp were originally brought into the area for fish farming purposes.

“Some of them escaped and now the black carp are out in Mississippi River and they’re kind of spreading.

They’re increasing in range and they’re increasing in abundance or at least they appear to be,” Whitledge said. “Over the last five or six years is when we’ve really started to notice increasing reports of them.”

Evans said in 2015, baby black carp were discovered, which showed researchers they were reproducing in the wild.

Some of the questions researchers on black carp are looking to answer are things like how they’re expanding, what type of habitats they like, what exactly they’re eating and where they’re going. All of this is an effort to be able to control the population.

As for right now, it's too early to tell what kind of an impact black carp have on the environment but ultimately that’s what researchers are looking for.

However, Evans’s research could prove that they’re either having a negative impact or staying neutral. His research findings will be determined by whether black carp are preying upon the same prey as native species or not.

If they are, this means that they are taking away a part of the native species’ food supply.

According to Whitledge, black carp are very difficult to sample and less than five have been caught by a university or a state agency out sampling looking to catch the fish.

As black carp’s are difficult to catch, a grant from the Department of Natural Resources provides a bounty system for catching black carp.

Any commercial fisherman who catches one and brings it in to SIUC will be rewarded with $100 per fish.

Cameron Hupp | @CHupp04 Hudman Evans, a first year graduate student from Georgia, weighs another black carp Friday to help collect data on this invasive, rare species of fish.

Whitledge said in the last seven years, only around 150 black carp were turned in for research. Most of those fish were turned in from commercial fishers.

SIU’s research on invasive species is by no means limited to just black carp Hudman and Whitledge said.

Just in fisheries, researchers at the university have done projects looking into species such as bighead silver carp, zebra mussels and a few other species.

For right now studies on black carp have just begun but as long as

fishermen of all kinds continue to bring in the fish, research on the species can continue.

Features Editor Kitt Fresa can be reached at kfresa@dailyegyptian.com or on Twitter @kittfresa.

“We can get quite a bit of information off of a single fish,” Whitledge said. “And then as we accumulate records like that over hundreds of fish we get a better picture of what their current population status is.”

- Greg Whitledge associate professor

Wednesday, February 28, 2018

Page 14

Answers for Wednesday >> Complete the grid so each row, column and 3-by3 box (in bold borders) contains every digit, 1 to 9. For strategies on how to solve Sudoku, visit www. sudoku.org.uk

Wednesday, February 28, 2018

Page 15

FOR RELEASE FEBRUARY 28, 2018

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Lewis

ACROSS 1 Fitting the season 7 Innermost part 11 Gp. known for travelers’ checks?

14 Ancient markets 15 Erelong 16 Bow (out) 17 See 3-Down 18 Sullen look 19 “Well, __-di-dah!”

20 Nutmeg spice 21 NY engineering sch. near Albany 23 See 13-Down 25 Enero to enero 26 Charcuterie fare 27 Tippi of “The Birds” 28 Black bird’s call 29 Necessitate 31 Goes on and on 32 Fish often fried 33 “The Thin Man” actress 34 Zeta follower 35 Pack away 37 Ratings for family-friendly films 38 Rathskeller draft 39 __ goo gai pan 40 Wine-and-cassis drink 41 Cooped-up female 42 Break in the action 43 20 Questions category 45 Food scrap 48 More unsightly 50 Minor body-shop job 51 Lipton product 52 See 42-Down 53 Inc., in London 54 Wild guess 55 Class-conscious org.?

56 Bouncing effect 58 See 45-Down 60 “Spring forward” letters 61 À la mode 62 Confessor 63 Enzyme suffix 64 Watch word?

65 Word on a lostdog poster

2/28/18

By Paul Coulter

DOWN 1 Airport surface 2 Galápagos lizard 3 With 17-Across, where the Duma sits 4 Hebrides language 5 French narrative poem 6 Like closing financial reports 7 Legislative impasse ... and what occurs at this puzzle’s circles?

8 “Oh Yoko!” dedicatee 9 Or so 10 __ nous 11 Stand 12 Long key 13 With 23-Across, where the Hellenic Parliament sits 22 Bit of butter 24 Enter cautiously 26 Cat call 30 Platform for Siri 32 “Cookin’ With __”: rapper/chef’s web show 35 Overconfidence

Tuesday’s Puzzle Solved

©2018 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

36 Bridge entrance structure 37 ATM code 38 One-swallow drink 40 Pakistani port 41 Railroad maintenance vehicle 42 With 52-Across, where the Assembleia Nacional sits

2/28/18 2/14/2018

44 Bumped into 45 With 58-Across, where Parliament sits 46 Library patron 47 “The Canterbury Tales” inn 49 Campaign poster word 54 White flakes 57 Hawaiian Punch alternative 59 Hail, to Caesar

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Wednesday, February 28, 2018

Column: How to stop mass shootings SAM BEARD | STUDENT TRUSTEE

Anguish, disbelief, terror, fury, pain, pain, pain, numbness.

These words do not give justice to the agony many of us felt, and continue to feel, in the wake of one of the deadliest school shootings in American history.

On Feb. 14, some wicked monster shot up Stoneman Douglas High School, slaughtering 17 students and staff.

Possibly the most f**ked-up part of this is how regular of an occurrence these sorts of events have become, how “shock� doesn’t quite cover it anymore because it just keeps happening over and over and over again.

And in what has almost become typical fashion, people immediately and very publicly began searching for answers—arguing on the television, around the dinner table and in the comments section over the following questions: “What is going on?!� “Why does this keep happening?� “How do we stop this from happening?�

Two seemingly incompatible answers always emerge from the fog. And each of the two embittered camps argue viscously over whether this is a gun-control issue or mental health crisis.

Unfortunately, both of these supposed understandings of the problem fail to unearth the root of just what is responsible for these horribly devastating acts of ultraviolence.

The question we should be asking is: “What is it about our society that produces such monsters?�

And as you begin to dig deeper you realize that the answer to that question is just about everything.

This keeps happening because American culture, capitalism and the state foster and encourage ideologies of oppression, like dominance, in the minds of men.

A term for this could be “toxic masculinity.�

According to an exhaustive report by Mother Jones, since 1982 a staggering 97% of American mass shootings have been committed by men.

Excluding shootings that stem from more conventional crimes like armed robbery or gang violence, their research focuses on “indiscriminate rampages in public places resulting in four or more victims killed by the attacker.�

And of the 97 incidents since 1982, 94 of the attackers have been men.

This is absolutely not a coincidence.

American men are indoctrinated from a tender age to be controlling, violent creatures who are out-of-touch with their emotions.

Further, the patriarchy fashions a tacit (and sometimes explicitly stated) understanding that this world was built by and for men.

And men, especially white men, are told that we can have anything we desire in the world because on this fair Earth we are the rulers of our own destinies.

But as we shake-off the illusion of infinite possibilities that we took granted in our youth, we realize that it is all a lie.

We are left broken and baffled in the face of this newly felt feeling of powerlessness while being utterly unequipped to handle such an earth-shattering realization.

We are raised to be so out of touch with ourselves, other people and the surrounding world that life itself is left devoid of any real meaning.

Moreover, an economic model premised on a falsely predicated idea that human nature is fundamentally competitive has made our relationships to one another inherently antagonistic.

We were told since birth that “it’s a dog-eat-dog world out there,� that we must dominate others, take all we can and develop a callousness towards one another.

To top it all off, hyper-masculinity and heteronormative gender roles program us to bottle-up and bury any and all signs of an emotional existence before others take note.

In other words, we are raised to be isolated, alienated and aggressive creatures, a state of being that prohibits any chance at all of self-satisfaction or human flourishment.

The socially-constructed, aggressive and resentful nature of an isolated, masculine existence coupled with this brandnew, unintelligible feeling of powerlessness one faces when confronted with “the real world� for the first time leaves these severely shattered creatures in a very, very dangerous place.

It’s not a lack of mental health resources, it’s a society that manufactures mentally ill individuals.

Now, it must be said that this is by no means justification for harming, let alone murdering innocent people. But rather seeks to shed light on where the root of the problem actually lies.

To point the finger at guns, while refusing to dig deeper is not only shallow but dangerous.

Yes, the only point of a gun is to shoot things, and most things shouldn’t be shot.

Yes, high-powered assault rifles make the slaughter of human beings easy as pushing a button.

But take away the guns and we are still left with a country where the youth is miserable, anxious and hopeless. We are still left with an unjust world where none of us are free but have been incessantly lied to since birth and told that we are.

There is a power structure that directly benefits from society being set up this way. A society that is founded upon lies about ourselves and relationships, a society that makes possible the creation of human beings so broken and evil that they lash-out like this.

The ruling class will attempt to control the conversation surrounding this because they don’t want us to discover whose fault this really is.

This is their fault.

So, how do we stop mass-shootings?

We develop a culture of community care, where we are actually allowed to define our own existences, where that lust for life that we all felt in our youth is nurtured into adulthood, where we can exist in that way that we did before they told us that we have to work for a living.

Wednesday, February 28, 2018

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Wednesday, February 28, 2018

Seniors Tyler Smithpeters, Jonathan Wiley, close out Saluki careers RYAN DEMER | @RyanDemer_DE

In college basketball, analytics often weigh heavily on how many seniors are on the team when rankings are composed. It is generally accepted that teams with multiple veterans will excel in postseason play due to sheer experience.

SIU’s seniors this season are guard Tyler Smithpeters and forward Jonathan Wiley. Each player has provided a different, but equally important role for the team this season.

Wiley initially began his career at Panola College in Carthage, Texas but transferred to SIU after his sophomore season.

“Growing up, I always played guard,” Wiley said. “When I got to college I grew a couple inches, so my position changed and I became more versatile playing multiple positions.”

One big driving factor in the recruitment of Wiley was the tradition of winning held in SIU basketball.

“Coming out of the tunnel before we start the game is my favorite part about SIU Arena,” Wiley said. “The adrenaline rush and being with my teammates in a good environment, I just love it.”

Minus the knee injury Wiley suffered that was initially thought to have ended his career, his senior season has been everything he hoped for.

“Any success that we have in the future will be a direct correlation to having Jonathan Wiley on the floor,” coach Barry Hinson said. “Very few teams have a spark they’re able to add at the end of the season, and we’ve been able to do that.”

Wiley recalled winning only 13 games as a freshman at Panola and being unsatisfied with that lack of success. This season, the Salukis ended the regular season with 19 wins and missed a chance at their 20th with

Brian Munoz | @BrianMMunoz Senior guard John Gardner high fives team mates while walking on Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2018, during the Loyola Rambler's 75-68 victory against the Southern Illinois University Salukis at SIU Arena.

losses to Loyola and Evansville.

“Not a lot of Division I teams can say they won 20 games in a season,” Wiley said. “I think we’re having a pretty successful season, but we still have some games to go.”

Wiley said that his fondest memory of his SIU career came at last year's MVC Tournament. There, he experienced a large crowd of well-traveled Saluki fans

that came to support the team.

With this season’s Salukis earning the second seed in the tournament, the highest finish in over 10 years, SIU looks to make a run and earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament.

“We have a bunch of guys who can do everything,” Wiley said. “We might not be the best shooters, but we love to fight and compete.”

Wiley said whether it be stepping up in big moments or leading by example, everyone on the SIU basketball roster has a leadership mentality.

Wiley said after he graduates in May, he wants to try to coach or get his Master’s Degree in management.

Smithpeters, on the other hand, is now in his fifth season at SIU. Growing up down the road in

“Coming out of the tunnel before we start a game is my favorite part about SIU Arena. The adrenaline rush and being with my teammates in a good environment, I just love it.”

- Jonathan Wiley Senior

Harrisburg, Illinois, Smithpeters never had a doubt about being a Saluki.

“Tyler Smithpeters has meant so much to this university, our athletic program and our region,” Hinson said.

“He comes from a basketball traditionrich family.”

Smithpeters’ older brother Kyle was previously a Saluki walk-on guard for the 2005 and 2006 NCAA Tournament teams.

The fifth-year senior recalls watching each home game with his father while growing up during those seasons.

“The tradition and fan support really just clicked here,” Smithpeters said.

“The college basketball atmosphere at a sold-out SIU Arena game is a big pull for the team at home.”

Smithpeters often brings the ball down the court with a smile on his face, especially at SIU Arena. He noted that he is having fun this season and just soaking in every moment.

Similar to how Wiley described this year's team, Smithpeters noted the close bond between teammates. Everyone respects each other and treats each other like a family, he said.

“Everybody is a different personality, but this group is different than any other season,” Smithpeters said. “With all the adversity that we’ve been through, we’ve taken the mentality of next man up and it’s worked out for us."

Both Wiley and Smithpeters are no strangers to adversity, as both suffered career-threatening injuries within seasons of each other.

However, both players persevered and have been instrumental in putting SIU basketball in the strong position it is at tournament time.

Sports writer Ryan Demer can be reached at rdemer@dailyegyptian.com or on Twitter @RyanDemer_DE

Wednesday, February 28, 2018

Column: Dawg Talk with Dodd NATHAN DODD | @NathanMDodd

The seeds are set and each Missouri Valley Conference participant is making its final adjustments before the 2018 State Farm MVC Men's Basketball Tournament begins on Thursday.

With so many question marks surrounding potential upsets, one thing is certain: there will be a new tournament champion this season.

Each game of the tournament will have its own storyline and should make for an interesting finish. I do not foresee many blowouts in this year's version of Arch Madness like there have been in seasons prior.

There are really only three teams that I think have a legitimate chance to complete the full run through the tourney and claim the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament: Loyola, Southern Illinois and Illinois State.

This week I decided to play the prognosticator and make game-by-game predictions for each matchup of the MVC Tournament.

Game One: No. 8 Evansville vs. No. 9 Northern Iowa Oh how far Northern Iowas has fallen.

After tying for third in the MVC last year with Southern Illinois, the Panthers were picked to finish second this season.

Now, the Panthers find themselves stuck in the first play-in game against Evansville.

Although many of UNI's game in conference play this year were tight battles, the fact that they were unable to close out most of them makes me hesitate to pick them to pull off the tourney's first upset.

Plus, Evansville will be looking for redemption from a six-point loss at UNI of Feb. 13.

My final take is that Evansville walks away with the first win of the tournament.

Game Two: No. 7 Missouri State vs. No. 10 Valparaiso Another instance of underperformance lies in coach Paul Lusks's Missouri State squad.

Picked to run away with the MVC regularseason title, the Bears slipped and fell into Thursday's second play-in game.

After a last-place finish, Valparaiso will make its first appearance in Arch Madness and will be forced to find a way to contain MSU senior Alize Johnson.

The Bears beat up on the Crusaders this

season and won both matchups by an average of 12 points.

Deep down, I know that MSU is a better basketball club than what it has shown this season. Led by Johnson, an NBA prospect, the Bears will advance to the quarterfinal round against SIU. Game Three: No. 1 Loyola vs. No. 8 Evansville Loyola only lost three MVC games this season by a combined total of 11 points.

I think Loyola is the real deal and that coach Porter Moser has done a complete 180 with the Ramblers.

Evansville does not have much of a chance in this one. Loyola walks away easily.

Game Four: No. 4 Drake vs. No. 5 Bradley Led by Coach of the Year candidate Niko Medved, the Drake Bulldogs suddenly established themselves as a force to be reckoned with in the MVC. Picked to finish last in the preseason, the Bulldogs ended in a third-place tie and were awarded the fourth seed in the tournament.

In the regular season, Drake defeated Bradley in both matchups, a two-point and 10-point victory.

The old belief is that it is extremely difficult to defeat the same team three times in a season.

Most of the time, I don't buy into that line.

However, this time I do.

After hanging close with Drake in two matchups, the Bradley Braves should know how to attack the Bulldogs and pull off the first upset of Arch Madness.

Game Five: No. 2 Southern Illinois vs. No. 7 Missouri State That saying about beating a team three times in a season arises for the second game in a row.

The Salukis took down the Bears twice this season with a two-point victory that went down to the last shot and a one-point victory in overtime at SIU Arena.

Former MSU coach, and current SIU coach, Barry Hinson seems to always have his squad at best when facing his former employer.

Southern thrived in close contests this season but is coming off two blowout losses against Loyola and Evansville.

In both matchups against Southern this year, Johnson posted a double-double. SIU's success lies entirely in its ability to regain its composure from last week's losses and its ability to shut

down Johnson.

If the Salukis want to beat MSU a third time, they have to lock Johnson down. Another double-double from him and I do not think the Salukis will be lucky enough to win again.

Final take: Salukis win. Barely.

Game Six: No. 3 Illinois State vs. No. 6 Indiana State If I'm being completely honest, I think Illinois State is a better overall team than SIU and deserved the second seed.

Obviously, seeding is based on record and if the Redbirds and Salukis would have tied, Illinois State would have been awarded the second seed. But, in terms of overall ability, Illinois State is No. 2.

My other takeaway from Illinois State is that junior guard Keyshawn Evans has the ability to turn a game on its side with his shooting.

Combine that with the abilities of junior forwards Phil Fayne and Milik Yarbrough and the Redbirds are a force to be reckoned with.

If Illinois State gets hot early, which is extremely possible, this may be one of the few blowouts of the tournament.

Plus, the Redbirds are going to be on a mission to avenge their 30-point loss to the Sycamores from earlier this season.

I will take Illinois State to run away with this one.

Game Seven (Semi-Finals): No. 1 Loyola vs. No. 5 Bradley Once again, I feel like I don't have to say much to make a case for Loyola in this one.

As much as I like Bradley and the direction it is trending, Loyola is too much to handle.

Loyola is going to its first-ever championship game in the MVC Tournament.

Game Eight (Semi-Finals): No. 2 Southern Illinois vs. No. 3 Illinois State This may be the trickiest matchup of the entire tournament.

The two squads split the season series with extremely tight games. The Salukis topped the Redbirds by four on Jan. 13 and Illinois State responded with an eight-point overtime victory on Feb. 8.

Once again, if the Redbirds get hot, they are really tough for any opponent. In fact, maybe better than Loyola.

What makes this tricky is that I don't entirely trust the Salukis away from SIU Arena.This season, Southern went 13-3 at home, 5-8 on

Page 19

“With so many question marks surrounding potential upsets, one thing is certain: there will be a new tournament Champion this season” - Carlos Rodriguez sophomore

the road and 1-1 on neutral courts.

The two recent blowouts that SIU suffered makes me hesitant to pick them, too.

By virtue of weighing pros and cons, I have to pick Illinois State to advance to its second straight Arch Madness championship game.

Game Nine (Championship): No. 1 Loyola vs. No. 3 Illinois State The Redbirds lost both matchups to Loyola this season by a score of 68-61.

In the most recent matchup on Feb. 24, Illinois State took a late lead and looked like it was going to pull off the upset over the conference champion.

Loyola responded with clutch 3-pointers and escaped with the victory.

The two teams have seen one another, they know one another's strengths and weaknesses.

Both squads are coached by two of the best coaches in the MVC. This game should be a fast-paced instant classic that offers everything from tough defense to sharp shooting from beyond the arc.

It is really hard to me to make a final decision on this one but, for the sake of variety, I picked Illinois State to become the first three-seed to win Arch Madness since Indiana State in 2011.

It will remain to be seen if Loyola would get an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament on Selection Sunday and where Illinois State would be seeded in the dance.

Anything can happen.

Sports editor Nathan Dodd can be reached at ndodd@dailyegyptian.com or on Twitter at @NathanMDodd.

Page 20

Wednesday, February 28, 2018

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