Return of the New Student Welcome, page 2
Avian Apparel: More than just a business,
page 9
Showgirls return to dazzle Stokes stadium, page 15 Bulldogs survive thrilling game, page 16
Truman State University tmn.truman.edu THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2021
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STUDENT ARRESTED FOR BOMB THREAT RACHEL BECKER Editor-In-Chief
The Adair County Courthouse, where Akins’ trial will be held. The threat was made on Sept. 11 and was directed towards Centennial Hall. Photo by Rachel Becker
A Truman State University student was arrested Sept. 11 and will plead not guilty to a third-degree misdemeanor terroristic threat charge. Sara Seifert, director of the Department of Public Safety, said during the early hours of Sept. 11, around 1:30 a.m., a post was made on YikYak, an “anonymous” social media platform that is becoming increasingly popular with college students. According to court documents, the post said, “Boutta bomb the fuck outta Chall on Tuesday, don’t come to Chall.” Seifert said she received emails from Truman students concerned about the post, but no one called an officer on duty or 911 concerning the post. Because no call to emergency services or DPS was made, it wasn’t until the next morning Seifert saw the concerned emails. Seifert said she immediately attempted to contact YikYak through their legal services. She said she was able to contact them by email and phone and worked with their tech team to get the phone number of the account that made the post. YikYak was open to giving Seifert the phone number the post was made from, she said. Once she had the phone number, Seifert said she went through IT Services at Truman to attempt to track down the owner of the phone number YikYak had given her. Seifert said IT confirmed the number did belong to a Truman student and that it was Patrick Akins’. Seifert said YikYak was a wonderful partner, and they immediately answered her calls and emails. They had already noticed the threat and banned Akins from the site because of the threat, Seifert said. Seifert said the post was taken down Sept. 11. See AKINS page 6
Kirksville prepares for Family Day KENNEDY COOPER Staff Writer
Truman State University will host Family Day Oct. 2, 2021. There will be many events throughout the weekend across campus and the Kirksville community. The events will begin Friday, Oct. 1. The men’s and women’s soccer teams will both play against the University of Southern Indiana, with the men playing at noon and the women playing at 2:30. Both games will take place at the Truman Soccer Park. After the soccer games, the Statesmen Marching Band will perform on the Quad at 4:30 p.m. Visitors will be able to go to the Del and Norma Robison Planetarium at 6 p.m. for “Final Frontier Friday: Race to the Moon.” Both of these events are free. The Truman theater department will perform “Van-
ya and Sonia and Masha and Spike” by Christopher Durang. Performances will take place Friday, Oct.1, and Saturday, Oct. 2, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online and are $8 each. The performance will take place at the James G. Severns Theatre. The final event on Friday will be a performance from the jazz bands in the Baldwin Hall Auditorium. This event will take place at 7:30 p.m. and is free. Saturday, there will be the Red Barn Arts and Crafts Festival in the Square, as well as events on Truman’s campus. The Red Barn Arts and Crafts Festival will be in downtown Kirksville from 9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. Linda Treasure, Kirksville Arts Association president, estimates that there will be 75-100 vendors at the event from all over the midwest. See FAMILY DAY page 5
Students and their families attend the Red Barn festival. Red Barn will be held on Oct. 2 this year. Photo from TMN Archives
University Classes transition back incentivizes to in-person format vaccines GABE SMITH Staff Writer
ANAKIN BUSH Managing Editor
Truman State University announced an incentive program aimed to increase both the response rate and vaccination rate among campus groups. The President’s Office announced Sept. 17 through an email the updated vaccination rate as reported by an optional survey sent to the campus community. 66% of faculty and staff responded to the survey. Of the 66%, 97% are vaccinated, with 3% remaining unvaccinated. The response rate of students was lower at only 53%. Of those who responded, 93% are vaccinated, with 7% remaining unvaccinated. “While these numbers are promising, we need more people to complete the survey and get vaccinated,” the President’s Office email stated. Truman offered two surveys. The first survey consisted of two questions, asking if you were fully vaccinated. If you answered no to the first question, the survey asked if you had begun the vaccination process. See VACCINES page 3
VOLUME 113 ISSUE 3 © 2021
With the number of in-person classes on the rise, students, professors and administrators reflected on the biggest changes they underwent during the first half of the fall semester. Even though the transition to the classroom has been difficult, it also reflects a slow return to normalcy on Truman State University’s campus. This year, Truman is offering a total of 1506 sections, with 184 of those classes being administered fully online. The
12.22% of classes offered fully online does not include courses administered in a hybrid format. Janet Gooch, executive vice president for Academic Affairs and Provost, was tasked with helping the university find the best way to deliver curriculum during the pandemic. Gooch and her staff were forced to navigate the inherent uncertainty surrounding course delivery during fall 2021. “When we were making decisions about the fall, things were still very unknown,” Gooch said. “We didn’t have a vaccine when we were considering classes last year.” See CLASSES page 6
A band class wears masks while not playing their instrument. In-person classes continue to require masks. Photo by Emily Collins