Western Courier | October 18, 2017

Page 3: Veggie Club comes to Western

Opinions: Zurek #MeToo is just the surface of sexual harassment.

Sports: Ebelhack — Ditch the tailgate and prepare for spectacle

Wednesday, October 18, 2017 - Vol. 118 Issue 25

Council approves city fee increase

By Isaiah Herard news editor

JASMYNE TAYLOR/COURIER STAFF

City Administrator Dean Torreson proposes a consideration to authorize the solicitation of quotes for the City of Macomb's property and casualty insurance.

The Macomb City Council approved an ordinance to amend the city fees for Alcohol Licenses, Rental Registration, Cemetery Services, Building Permits, Development Site Review and Plumbing Inspections by amending sections of the City of Macomb Municipal Code in Monday’s meeting.

There are no new fees being implemented; instead, however, the Council is increasing existing fees. According to Macomb Mayor Michael Inman the rental inspection fees have remained complacent for over 20 years. The other existing fees are either on par or below peer communities.

After two weeks of discussion, the Council approved an ordinance to amend Section 17-927 of Chapter 7, Article VIII of the Historical Preservation of the Macomb Illinois Municipal Code, which deals with metal awnings.

“There’s a historic district that

was created and identified which is the downtown property,” said City Attorney Kirsten Petrie.

“There’s also an inability to have certain structures deemed historically recognized for historical preservation and we have done a few structures.”

Inman said the metal awnings portion of the ordinance is an addition to the already existing ordinance that included fabric, or cloth awnings.

“Under what we discussed tonight was the allowance of people who wanted to improve the awnings of the Historical Preservation downtown,” Inman said. “We changed the code to allow for metal awnings rather than just fabric or cloth awnings.”

An ordinance to authorize the City of Macomb to lease property to be used as a Taxi Service Office – S & G Taxi was also passed in Monday's meeting.

“S & G taxi service has been operating but they’re going to change the position as far as the depot their occupying,” Petrie said. They’re going from the

ticket booth area to a larger area.

They’re going to maintain the service they’ve been providing but they are going to change the depot.”

City Administrator Dean Torreson proposed a consideration to authorize the solicitation of quotes for the City of Macomb’s property and casualty insurance.

According to Torreson, the Illinois County Risk Management Trust will ensure the range of coverages (property, automobile, workers compensation and liability) are taken care of after the bids are approved.

“The City Council has authorized us to take quotes on our city’s insurance package and that’s a whole range of coverages,” Torreson said. “Those bids are due on November 15 and the Council will hopefully make a decision on November 20 and we will be sending the bid packet out.”

Council page 2

Rules suspended, Avila appointed

By Isaiah Herard news editor

The Student Government Association (SGA) failed to meet quorum for the third time in the 49th legislative session. Under the legislative body, SGA successfully voted to suspend their rules (9-6-0) allowing for the passage of SGA Bill of Appointment 2017-2018.010, approving Isaac Avila for the position of member to the Council on Student Activities Funds (CSAF).

“We have three senators that told me they were not going to be here because they’re either sick or studying for midterms so that’s why we don’t have quorum,” said Speaker of the Senate Patrick Quinlan.

SGA’s constitution which states ‘In order to pass any legislation in SGA two-thirds of the senators must be present’ and failure to meet quorum resulted to SGA tabling SGA Bill 2017-2018.001.

Unity Senator Natasha Kelch argued that missing quorum by one will not make

a significant difference in voting therefore the rules should be suspended to pass necessary legislation.

“Missing quorum by one will not make a big difference in the voting process,” said Kelch in her address to SGA. “That is why I vote to suspend the rules.”

According to Avila, he is well qualified for his role on the CSAF and hopes to encourage freshman to join SGA. “I’m a law enforcement major and a freshman and I want to be on the Council on Student Activities Funds because it’s not a very freshman dominant committee so I want to be that stepping stone into leading new freshman into the world of SGA,” Avila said. “I feel like I bring a lot to the table being a freshman and having four full years to expand and grow in SGA. I’m not sure how the Council on Student Activities funds work but there’s always room to grow.”

SGA

page 2

JASMYNE TAYLOR/COURIER STAFF

Speaker of the Senate Patrick Quinlan (left) and Student Government Association President Grant Reed (right) congratulate newly appointed member to the Council on Student Activities Funds Isaac Avila (bottom) .

2

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

NEWS

WesternCourier.com

JESSIE MATIAS/PRODUCTION MANAGER

Tabi Jozwick courier staff

The Office of Student Activities (OSA) and Western Illinois University’s All Volunteer Effort (WAVE) will be sponsoring the annual Make a Difference Day (MADD) on Oct. 28 with check-in starting at 9:30 a.m. in the University Union Lamoine Room.

“Make a Difference Day is nationally a day of service,” said Ricky Boche, OSA graduate assistant and WAVE adviser. “What we do here on this campus is to get as people registered as many as possible and we contact service sites throughout the community.”

SGA

from front page

Reed said improving the CSAF is important because they are the foundation from which organizations obtain their funding to conduct various events and remain financially stable.

“They are the committee on campus that is largely student-run that appropriates student fee dollars to student organizations,” Reed said.

“Most of the student organizations here on campus are able to do the things that they do because they are CSAF funded which would not happen without are students paying student fee dollars. The reason this committee has such a high level of students on it and is so important is

WC

Boche said that he asked the various sites for a few hours of volunteer work from Salvation Army, Genesis Garden and Wesley Village.

“The type of volunteer work, it depends on the site,” Boche said. “At Horn Field, they will probably be cleaning up trails or helping them kind of unpack stuff at their site.

Salvation Army, they need help unloading things, get things settled in their location. Genesis Garden, probably the same thing. Wesley Village, they keep company with the residents that live there. It’s an elderly home, so they do that as well. We also do things like campus

cleanup, West Central Illinois Art Center needs help moving things in their new renovated location, so they will be kind of doing a variety of things.”

Transportation is provided for students to go to the volunteer job sites, where they will engage in volunteer work for an hour or two before they return to Western to reflect on their experience and understand why volunteering is important. “(Volunteering) is something that I think that once we find a way to come together as a community, we can make a big impact in such a small town like Macomb,” Boche said. “I think that’s important

for people to understand that community service is more than just something has to be done, it should be done and we’re helping not only ourselves, but we’re helping our campus community and we’re helping the Macomb community as well, so if we can get more people to understand the important part of volunteerism and get more people to come out, we can make a huge impact on campus.”

Registration for Make a Difference Day is open until Oct. 22 on Purple Post. New for this year, students can register either themselves or a group of up to 10 people

because it’s students making decisions that affect students.

SGA then moved to table SGA Bill 2017-2018.001 until next week. The bill would have moved for the Provost to oversee the creation of a stand-alone Western Illinois University online writing source center that can be accessible to the public.

“There was a bill on the agenda that was requesting that the university look into ways that they can provide more academic resources readily accessible to students,” Reed said. It’s just in the beginning phase, but more work is being done to see if this something that we can feasibly do.”

The next SGA meeting will be held next Tuesday in the Capital Room of the University Union at 7 p.m.

Council

authorized the Committee of the Whole’s Power to Act at their meeting to be held on Oct. 23, to award the bid for the Pierce Street building improvements in conclusion of Monday’s meeting.

According to Torreson, the Pierce Street building improvements will allocate the implementation of fire trucks after the improvements are completed.

“Contractors will have about three weeks to put in their bids and then it’ll come back to the council. It’s a huge storage building, an old factory building on Pierce Street and with this new ambulance contract we need to store ambulances in this building but we need a bigger door to put in there.”

The next City Council meeting will be a meeting of the Committee of the Whole held on Oct. 23 at 5 p.m. in City Hall.

Mail: 1 University Circle, WIU, Macomb, IL 61455 Phone: 309-298-1876 Fax: 309-298-2309 Hours: 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays E-mail: micour@wiu.edu Member: Illinois College Press Association, National Association College Press

The Council moved to authorize the Mayor to sign the documents for the City of Macomb’s electricity supply.

Torreson said the city of Macomb will keep the same electricity supplier, American Electrical Power (AEP), however, the Council did take quotes from several companies.

“We’ve been buying from AEP since 2013 and we’ll continue to buy from them,” Torreson said. “It’s a good idea to go out for bids every once and a while to make sure we get the lowest price. The Council tonight agreed to lock us into a twoyear contract starting Dec. 1 for a lower price than what we’ve been getting.”

The Macomb City Council

STAFF MEMBERS editor-in-chief Nicholas Ebelhack NA-Ebelhack@wiu.edu news editor Isaiah Herard IA-Herard@wiu.edu assistant news editor Emily Stieren EN-Stieren@wiu.edu opinions editor Shannon Norris SA-Norris@wiu.edu

Located on the third floor of the Heating Plant Annex on the south end of campus across from Sherman Hall.

from front page

sports editor Mat McClanahan MD-McClanahanw@wiu.edu assistant sports editor Devon Greene DJ-Greene@wiu.edu edge editor Alyssa Hohman AM-Hohman@wiu.edu copy editor Joshua Defibaugh JG-Defibaugh@wiu.edu proofreader Valerie Clemens VN-Clemens@wiu.edu

proofreader Alexis Lowe AL-Lowe@wiu.edu proofreader Tacuma Venzant T-Venzant@wiu.edu photo editor Angel Strack AE-Strack@wiu.edu assistant photo editor Pedro Avila PJ-Avila@wiu.edu production manager Jessie Matias JM-Garcia@wiu.edu business manager Faith Rucker F-Rucker@wiu.edu advertising manager Patryk Mazur P-Mazur@wiu.edu adviser Will Buss WJ-Buss@wiu.edu

PUBLISHING AND CIRCULATION

The Western Courier is published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays during the regular school year, excluding holidays, finals week and semester breaks. The WC updates the website weekly during the summer. All content reflects the editorial discretion of the students operating the newspaper and must be interpreted as unofficial university communication. While every attempt is made to determine the validity of advertising contained herein, the advertising in the WC is not to be construed as endorsements of any specific products or services. The WC assumes no responsibility or liability resulting from the content of paid advertisements. Subscription price is $36 per year mailed third-class bulk rate from Macomb.

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No reproduction or reuse of material is permitted without written consent of the WC. All rights reserved. To request permission to reprint any material from this publication, please contact Nicholas Ebelhack or Will Buss at 309-298-1876.

with an organization or with their friends.

“We try to accommodate people who want specific sites, but we cannot guarantee that everyone would get the site that they want,” Boche said. “Sometimes, we’ll pull people in groups and send them off to a specific site, so it all kind of depends. We’ll do our best to accommodate people and even if they want to volunteer with a specific people, we cannot guarantee that it will be that group of people.”

Additional information about Make a Difference Day can be found at www. makeadifferenceday.com.

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CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS The WC needs your help to maintain accuracy. If you find a factual error, call the WC office at 309-298-1876 between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. weekdays. Please ask to speak to an editor to ensure the inaccurate information can be corrected as quickly as possible.

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By Emily Stieren assistant news editor

The Veggie Club, a new student organization at Western Illinois University, is about providing companionship and education to anyone interested in improving the environment through their eating choices. Peter Cole, the club’s advisor, says this new organization will allow students with similar concerns and interests to join together to share recipes, stories, and their progress.

“The purpose of the Veggie Club is to serve as an organization that brings together like minded people, people who are vegetarians, or people who are interested in veg-

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

etarianism, in order to learn more,” said Cole.

The Veggie Club invites vegetarians and vegans — experienced and inexperienced — to join the membership. The Veggie Club’s president, Selina Mannion, says the organization is intended to provide support to new vegetarians and vegans.

“We’re here to answer questions and help people discuss why it might be beneficial to be a vegetarian,” Mannion said, “We’re also here to discuss the obstacles that are involved to become a vegetarian.”

This is the first vegetarian or vegan club to be established at Western. This may be due to the increasing efforts from supporters of the lifestyle to raise awareness.

“There have always been people who have realized how devastating meat eating is to the environment. There was people talking about it, but not as much as there has been recently,” said Mannion, “There has been a lot of news articles and a lot of documentaries promoting vegetarianism, so the movement picked up a lot of momentum. I tried to start a club as an undergraduate and couldn’t get any interest, but I think now that the movement's numbers are growing that is why there is a club for the first time at Western.”

The club is open to persons of all beliefs — even meat eaters— to discuss a variety of cuisine possible on a vegetarian diet.

NEWS 3

Welcoming everyone into the organization is a way for vegetarians and vegans to communicate the concerns they have for animals and the envirnment.

“We don’t really force the lifestyle on everyone, but our club is to bring awareness to the environmental issues surrounding meat,” said Mannion.

Sometimes, living on an all meat diet is not always about violence toward animals, but about healthy living.

“Many people have chosen to become vegan or vegetarian, not because they are concerned about animal rights, but because they are ooncerned with their own health and so to live a healthier life, they explore vegetarianism,”

Cole said.

Lamart Hudson, the organization’s secretary, is actively promoting the club and the vegan and vegetarian way of life.

“Keep an open mind, because it is probably something you are not familiar with, when the information is presented, don’t take it as a challenge, look at it more as an opportunity to adapt,” said Hudson.

The new program’s mission is to show how a no meat diet is a healthy and normal lifestyle. The Veggie Club’s public event is Wednesday, Oct. 18 in the Multicultural Center, where members will provide a discussion about vegetarianism.

Students spike back against cancer

Angel Strack/photo editor

Students gather to play Big Pink Volleyball at the Student Recreation Center Tuesday night in the middle round of the annual tournament. Funds are used to support breast cancer awareness and research.

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

4 OPINIONS

WesternCourier.com

JESSIE MATIAS/PRODUCTION MANAGER

I’m sure just about everyone has heard of Harvey Weinstein, his sexual harassment and the prevalence of it in Hollywood.

But Hollywood is not the only place where sexual harassment is highly prevalent. Anyone who has been on Facebook recently will mostly likely have seen some posts that are part of the #MeToo movement.

For those who don’t know, #MeToo is a movement of people who have been sexually harassed who post about their own sexual harassment experiences online, in order to bring awareness to how commonplace it is in our society.

This is a fantastic movement. For far too long, people have had the idea that sexu-

al assaults were far and few between, that rapes only happened behind dark alleys at night, and that genital grabbing and crude gestures were merely playful behavior.

People need to realize that sexual harassment happens to an absurdly large amount of people. According to the Huffington Post, over one in three women have experienced harassment at work. Of those that did experience, only 29 percent reported it.

There are so many people who have been harassed or assaulted and don’t to come forward and tell anyone about it. It’s very easy to understand why. For instance, people have been coming forward about Bill Cosby and his sexual vio-

lence for years, but it wasn’t until very recently that these charges were actually taken seriously. The same can be said about Weinstein.

When women come forward to face their assailants, they are met with disbelief,

rapist’s status.

This doesn’t only happen to women. Actors such as Corey Feldman or Elijah Wood have been speaking out against sexual abuse for years. There is a video of Feldman in a 2013 interview with Barbara Walters,

condescension and outright hatred. Often times they are accused of destroying their assaulter’s reputation. Again and again, women are told that their health and safety are less important than their

speaking about the widespread abuse of children in Hollywood, and Walters had the audacity to tell him that he is destroying an entire industry by speaking out. Isn’t that absolutely ridiculous? Aren’t the abusers

and pedophiles the ones who are ruining the industry by raping people?

Feldman is a hero for doing his best to stop these abuses, and if it destroys an industry in the process, then that’s a good thing, because no industry is worth existing if its existence somehow necessitates systematic rape and abuse.

But somehow arguments such as Walters’ are still seen as valid.

People still need to be cautious when speaking out against their rapists for fear of being dismissed. Brock Turner was let off with a six month sentence after raping someone because somehow his future was seen as more important than other people's right to not be raped.

The #MeToo movement is great in that it helps people to realize just how many people are affected. It’s your brother, your sister, your friends and your teachers. Sexual harassment is everywhere, and it’s time to do something about it.

Letter to the Editor Dear Editor: I am writing this in response to the Letter from Wil Gradle published on Oct. 12. I am concerned by the way it presents the intentions of the University Professionals of Illinois (UPI) and how it downplays the negative effects of the administration’s contract proposal.

When reading this letter, I was very concerned with the way UPI and the proposals they suggest were being portrayed. Pay raises for faculty are important, and although financial issues do exist, that does not mean that faculty should be neglected. The administration claims that cutting faculty pay is necessary due to a lack of money, but it has shown no willingness to share that burden among its own members. Why should the faculty, who can have a much more direct impact on students, be forced to take salary cuts when the administration remains just as highly paid

as before?

As it stands now, the administration is seeking 3 percent salary cuts, 8 furlough days, and the elimination of minima lanes for faculty, along with increases in workload. All of this will leave a good portion of the faculty at a lower level of pay than others in their peer group. UPI may represent faculty, but what affects faculty also affects students and the community at large. UPI seeks changes that help the faculty, and by extension, the students.

Reducing the workload required of faculty does not necessarily mean that UPI has offered the administration ways to reduce the load on faculty without harming students. It is possible to continue to have higher course loads for faculty, but they would be required to pay overload rates. They have also suggested ways to lower course load without harming students,

such as reducing the number of sections of courses tha are offered. It is also possible to change low enrollment courses that are currently offered both semesters to only be once a year. Both of these, as well as others, prevent faculty from being stretched too thin while not significantly reducing the value provided to students. Faculty having a reduced load can even be a benefit to students, as faculty are able to provide those who need it with more individual help, since they are not split between as many classes.

The administration’s demands to faculty are unreasonable and should not be accepted. UPI and similar groups are crucial to making sure that faculty is being treated fairly. If they are not, this harms everyone, students included.

Sam Wheelhouse Sophomore

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Wednesday, October 18, 2017

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OPINIONS 5

Use a filter if you drink Macomb‘s water

WIKIPEDIA.COM

When I first came to Macomb ,I was blind to many things. I thought all Taco Bells were open 24 hours only to find out that I was wrong. I thought every store sold alcohol on Sundays.

Once again, I was wrong. I thought Chicks wouldn’t have me running to the bathroom; unfortunately, I was wrong yet again. I thought all water was about the same I was definitely very wrong.

I have never been more personally victimized than I have by the Macomb water. I know many can agree. I thought community showers in Tanner Hall were bad, but after a few weeks into my freshman year I realized I was facing a much bigger enemy.

Macomb water not only started to upset my stomach, it also did a wonderful job at drying out my hair and skin. Now, com-

ing from my hometown I was always too lazy to filter my water, so drinking out of the sink was completely normal to me. I’ve always enjoyed the taste of tap water, but as soon as I noticed Macomb’s effects on the outside of me, I quickly decided to look into it.

After some time poking around online, I found an article from the McDonough County Voice talking about Macomb’s water.

It turns out that 70 percent of Macomb’s water supply gets pumped in from Spring Lake The rest comes from underground wells. This is wonderful, but unfortunately that affect a lot of the minerals in our water.

The biggest negative factor coming from Spring Lake water is pollution.

The pollution makes it difficult to tell what kind of bad

bacteria is coming in with the water. High levels of phosphorus from erosion can also occur. These are different than the underground wells, however. The wells are pumped in from inlets in Minnesota and the excessive contact with the sandstone underground causes this water to have a much different composition.

Water with a lot of sandstone contact starts to absorb a lot of the minerals from the sandstone.

This means that this water is coming in with much higher levels of sodium, chloride and naturally occurring radiation.

Macomb Waterworks has a wonderful filtration system that purifies the water coming in from both sources before mixing them. After mixing, chlorine

is added and the pH level is checked before distributing it to the community. Thankfully, this process makes our water safe to drink, but I’m self-proclaiming the chlorine as the cause for my Sahara desert-dry skin and hair.

According to the City of Macomb website, The Macomb Waterworks distributes nearly two million gallons of water on average a day and Western Illinois University is their largest customer.

Now water is clearly a necessity to human life, and I was beyond grateful for those Tanner showers three years ago, but I’ve found a few useful strategies to improve my Macomb water situation. Go get yourself some good lotion, strong conditioner, and definitely invest in a water filter.

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

6 SPORTS

Football

from back page

But if the Leathernecks are going to go back to the tournament, they are going to need to push themselves over the 6-5 hump they settled in the last two years. Strength of schedule earned them the very last spot in 2015, but that won’t cut it tis year.

Fortunately, it seems I’m not alone in thinking Western will finish with a playoff berth at home this winter. I’ve spent countless hours researching what other “bracketologists”

MLB

from back page

The commentators and everyone in the stadium just could not believe what their eyes were seeing. Writers even chose to write about how it was such a battle and an amazing feat by Gardner to stay at the plate with a full count for so many pitches.

I really couldn’t care less. He eventually got on base, which I guess is a good thing, but there is no way that I need to be sitting there for 20 minutes watching some guy hit foul balls over and over again.

The unwritten rules of baseball are the most absurd, preposterous and asinine things I’ve ever heard of in my whole life. The one that makes me the most furious is the rule that you can’t celebrate “too long” when you hit a home run. What in the world kind of rule is that? If I’m in the major league and I nail a home run off a pitch by Clayton Kershaw, who I only know is good because he’s been forcibly shoved down my throat every time I watch SportsCenter, I can

have put together, and nearly all of them put Western in the top 8, receiving a first round bye.

Western still has a lot of winnable games left this year, and it wouldn’t shock me to see them finish 9-2, maybe even 10-1 if the team excels before halftime in Fargo this weekend.

Regardless, there’s only two more guaranteed home football games left this season, and I’ll be in the stands rooting for the Leathernecks rather than in the parking lot this season.

I hope that more people at

Western recognize how amazing our team is. It’s easy to say that Western sports are bad in general, especially if you are senior like me and have witnessed consistent early tournament exits and prolonged losing streaks across other sports.

But Leatherneck football is something special. When you see the players march past the lot to the field, go and follow them. It’s going to be a gritty finish against some strong opponents, but Western’s one of the big dogs now, and they’re ready to bite.

guarantee you that I will be losing my mind and rubbing it in his and his team’s collective face for as long as humanly possible.

I’m moonwalking to first base, doing the worm to second, hammer dancing to third and disco dancing to home before I touch the plate with my index finger like Richie from “The Benchwarmers.” What we get instead is a bat flip.

A bat flip is when a player that hits a home run throws his bat in the air in some manner. When a player does this it is seen as one of the most disrespectful, awful things you can do. It gets so bad that the next time that player gets to the plate, the pitcher will sometimes hit them with a 90 mph or faster fastball.

I don’t know about you, but that seems overboard to me.

The only way I’d attempt to hit someone with a fastball is if they came up and punched me in the face, spit on me, kicked some dirt on me while I was down and laughed in my face while they skipped away. If you want real disrespect, look in the NBA. One of

the most disrespectful things I’ve ever seen in my life was when DeAndre Jordan caught an alley-oop from Chris Paul and decided to commit first degree murder in front of the world against Brandon Knight by dunking on him so hard his soul left his body and he fell down on the floor like a fallen angel. There’s a legend going around that Brandon Knight is still lying on that court in Los Angeles to this day.

One of the things that I’ll never understand why baseball fans cheer for is a no-hitter.

Sure, I guess its impressive if a player throws however many pitches in a game and no one gets a piece of the ball but why would you cheer for the least amount of action that is physically possible in a game? The only thing that I find interesting is scoring in baseball, so when I see a score end up at 0-1 it seems like a waste of my time.

One more of those unwritten rules that is buried within baseball is that a player cannot bunt to break up a no hitter.

Why would I help you get a nohitter? If you think I wouldn’t

CLASSIFIEDS Submit a classifieds ad to Micour@wiu.edu

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go to do everything that I can possibly do to ruin your day, you’d be sorely mistaken. If I’m the last guy at the plate and you haven’t allowed a single hit all day, I’m going to swing, bunt, or whatever else I can do to stop you from getting in the record book against my team.

Baseball is the most boring of all the four major sports.

Basketball is fast paced, cool and has a strong foothold in the entertainment scene. We see our basketball stars in commercials, raps, and movies like “Space Jam” and “Airplane.”

How do you rap about a baseball player?

Football is intense and the biggest sport in America. Hockey is the least followed in the States, but it’s still more fun to watch because we get to see guys get their head punched off their bodies sometimes. Baseball is just so monotonous. I don’t want to be sitting on my couch for three hours watching some guys stand still for the majority of the time for the game to end 0-0. At times, it seems like the players in the outfield could get a complete game of

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Monopoly in before the game is over, which might be more captivating to watch than the actual game.

The only thing interesting is when players like Aaron Judge shows up and starts smacking baseballs so hard they spontaneously combust into flames, disintegrate into nothing and ceasing to exist. However, even their stars get into slumps.

Judge looked like a steaming pile of garbage against the Cleveland Indians in the last series.

Baseball is really the only sport besides golf where you see this happen. Star players can be good one season and then turn into a wet blanket by the time the next one comes around. In basketball and football, stars are consistent and dependable, but in baseball, when some of those players get a sense of adversity, their brains turn to mush and they suddenly forget how to baseball.

Baseball isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, sadly, but all I know is I will continue to avoid watching it like it is the bubonic plague.

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Sports 7

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

@WesternCourier

Women’s soccer winless on road trip

By Bradley Piros courier staff

MACOMB Ill.- It was a dreary weekend for Western Illinois University’s women’s soccer team as they lost both games while at home. Western fell 2-0 to the North Dakota State University Bison last Friday.

The Bison might have got the win, but the Leathernecks put up a good fight, outshooting the Bison 21-9, and 7-4 on goal. This was just the beginning of their unsuccessful weekend of play.

Last Sunday the Leathernecks took on the South Dakota State University Jackrabbits on their practice field due to the constant rain. It was also the final day of parent’s weekend, so the Leathernecks really wanted to perform well and get the win while at home.

They went into the game with Friday’s loss still in mind.

Western had little momentum in the opening of the game. The Jackrabbits came into Macomb on a four-game win streak beating the likes of the University of Denver and the University of Omaha, and they were looking to keep this forms going.

The Jackrabbits came out strong in the beginning moments taking a couple shots, one being blocked and the other being saved by sophomore

goalkeeper Ines Palmiero. The Jackrabbits kept the pressure going which led to an early goal in the ninth minute of the game.

It was a well-worked goal as the ball was passed in from senior forward Nicole Hatcher to junior defender Annie Williams as she took a good touch and finished it into the bottom left corner for her third goal of the season.

After the goal Western began to wake up a little bit, taking a couple of shots of their own, one being blocked and the other going high over the crossbar. However, the Jackrabbits were able to double their lead off a great counter attack. The ball was worked out wide to Williams as she crossed it in to senior midfielder Tori Poole.

Poole took it first time and headed it past Palmiero into the left corner, making it 2-0 in the 13th minute.

Things weren’t looking too good for the Leathernecks as they let the Jackrabbits have the majority of possession. The first half ended at 2-0, but the Jack Rabbits outshot Western 7-4. The second half was even more one sided, as it started off with multiple chances for the Jackrabbits including three corner kicks and a couple of saved shots. They continued with this momentum and were

able to make it 3-0 in the 63rd minute. Sophomore forward Leah Manuleua assisted on the final goal of the game as she passed it to Hatcher inside the 18-yard box. Hatcher took it first time and just tapped it passed Palmiero to take the commanding lead.

The rest of the game was a little bit of back and forth action between the two teams, but the game finally ended at 3-0, lifting the Jack Rabbits to 7-4-3 and 3-0 in league play. The Leathernecks are now 1-3 in league play. Currently NDSU is first in the league, with SDSU coming in behind them, while Western sits in seventh.

The season isn’t quite over yet though for the Leathernecks.

They have three games left, possibly three of their hardest, all away to finish up their season. They go on to play the University of South Dakota on Friday, and University of Denver Colorado this Sunday.

This is a tough weekend of travel for the Leathernecks, but they need results. USD are sixth in the league, right above Western, and UD sits at fourth. It was a difficult weekend, but the Leathernecks are looking forward to it and are ready to finish their season out strong.

Twitter: bradjp08

PEDRO AVILA/ ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR

Ines Palmiero winds up for the kick in a home game.

Volleyball drops sixth conference game

By Becca Langys courier staff

ARIEL RAMIREZ/ COURIER STAFF

Shayln Greenhaw serves the ball in a home game

FARGO ND. – The Western Illinois University Leatherneck volleyball team (6-15) took on the North Dakota State University Bisons (14-5) this past Sunday in Fargo, ND. The Leathernecks took their sixth conference loss of the season, losing to the North Dakota State University Bison in three games (19-25,19-25,14-25).

Leading the Leathernecks offensively this match, senior outside-hitter Shalyn Greenhaw racked up nine kills and one ace for the Leathernecks.

Closely following Greenhaw, junior middle-hitter Emilee Dechant earned eight kills for the Leathernecks and junior right-side hitter Shiah Sanders brought in another seven kills.

Junior setter Jaime Johnson led the team in assists, with a total of 31 throughout the course of this match.

The Leathernecks also had a strong defensive presence during their match. Shalyn Greenhaw led the team defensively at the net, earning a total of four blocks for the Leathernecks.

Sophomore libero Claire Grove also led the Leathernecks defensively, earning a total of 18 digs

throughout the course of this match. Just trailing Grove, Shiah Sanders raked up 14 digs and Freshman outside-hitter Emma Norris earned 10 total digs for the Leathernecks.

During the first game of this match, the Leathernecks started out slowly, allowing their offenders to take a 4-1 lead right off the bat. The Leathernecks did not give up the fight however, clawing their way back to being almost tied with the Bison with a score of 5-6. After this climb, the Leathernecks allowed the Bison to go on another rally, letting up four straight points and putting them at another point deficit. The Bison continued to push with their lead and never allowed the Leathernecks back into a winning position. This first game was very reliant on the offensive presence of both teams. The Leathernecks came up short at the net and therefore gave up the first game to the Bison, game score of 19-25, match score now 0-1.

Game two of this match started out strong for the Leathernecks who had a three-point rally during the very first points of the game. Western struggled to hold this lead however, and very quickly lost it to the Bison.

All hope was not lost as the

Leathernecks remained neckand-neck with NDSU, continuing to push and maintain their momentum as the match went on. North Dakota State eventually took a greater lead, sparked by a Leatherneck block error, that eventually pushed NDSU over the top and made them the winners of the second game, score being 19-25 and match score of 0-2.

The third game of this match began in a similar manner as the first game: the Bison jumping out with a strong lead over the Leathernecks. The Bison came out strong with their hits during the last game of this match, earning point after point because of countless amounts of kills. Western defense struggled to pick up the Bison’s hits during the last game of this match, only adding to the effectiveness of the Bison’s offence. The Bison went on a 5-point rally near the middle of this match that absolutely killed what was left of the Leatherneck’s momentum.

Western eventually fell to the Bison, game score of 14-25, and final match score of 0-3.

The Leathernecks will play the University of South Dakota on Friday at 7 p.m. in Western Hall.

Twitter: beccalangysxo

Western on the brink of greatness I’m part of a pretty small minority at Western Illinois University; I’m one of the few that enjoy Leatherneck football more than Leatherneck tailgating. But in my final year as a student, I just might get what I’ve wanted for the last three years.

Western could receive a home playoff game, maybe even a first-round bye, in the FCS tournament.

But I’ve been a Leatherneck football fan long enough to know that a 5-1 record and third place in the toughest football conference in the FCS isn’t enough to lean on for five more games.

A year ago today, the Leatherneck’s were in the exact same position for success they are now.

Usually, seven wins are enough to make a convincing argument for a playoff berth, especially when a team comes out of the Valley, but I don’t think anyone thought Western wasn’t going to make the playoffs after their win against the Missouri State

University Bears.

But they didn’t. And here we are again.

This year I’m more optimistic.

Every game this season, Western has shown it can compete with the best of the league.

A 33-38 loss to South Dakota doesn’t look so bad when the Coyotes keep climbing the rankings after toppling last year’s championship runner-up.

Arguably, Western’s last five games of the season are less daunting than last year. Illinois State University, Southern Illinois University and Indiana State University have underperformed this season, and if the Leatherneck’s can snag two out of three there’s no doubt they will be in for the tournament.

Win all three though, and you’re looking at a game in Macomb. Western sits on the brink of a top ten ranking, and hovers around eighth in many others.

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ANGEL STRACK / PHOTO EDITOR

Sean McGuire connecting with Jaelon Acklin in Western’s first home win against Missouri State University.

America’s pastime belongs in the past

WIKIMEDIA.COM

The new face of the MLB, Aaron Judge, takes the field in a playoff game against the Houston Astros.

Baseball, the “American pastime,” is engrained within us from a young age. I’ll go out on a limb and say that most people have played t-ball or little league. It seems inevitable that baseball would be one of the most popular sports in our lives. However, I’m here to tell you that baseball is boring, stoic, old-timey and awful.

I’ll admit from the lede that I watch as little baseball as humanly possible. Baseball to me is like seeing someone out in public that you don’t want to talk to so you immediately sprint in the opposite direction, head straight home to pack all of your belongings and then buy a plane ticket and move to Siberia so you never have to encounter them again.

I’ve only watched one full professional baseball game on television and that was game seven in last year’s World Series between the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians. The only reason I watched that game is because we’re in Il-

linois and the Cubs had one of the most ridiculously long championship droughts I had ever heard in 108 years and even then, I couldn’t help myself from getting on my PlayStation and playing NBA 2K while I watched.

Baseball is notorious for being slow and this couldn’t be a truer statement. I was watching game five of the New York Yankees and Indians series because all that was on TV were reruns of Impractical Jokers and NBA preseason basketball.

Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner took the plate in the ninth inning and my worst nightmares came to fruition. Gardner stepped up and was there for what seemed like 34 years before he was done with his turn. Gardner saw 12 pitches come his way and it was only about 20 minutes, but it was just the worst 20 minutes of my entire life.

MLB

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