The Index Vol 111 Issue 14

Baseball has its best start since 2015

UpChuckles throws it up for love,

page 7

Top 5 Kirksville Valentine’s Day excursions, page 8 Bulldogs just keep winning, page 14

page 14

Truman State University tmn.truman.edu tmn.truman.edu

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2020

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UNIVERSITY CHANGES ALCOHOL POLICY

The Board of Governors voted Saturday to change the University’s alcohol policy. The change will allow for a pilot program in which students of legal age can have alcohol in West Campus Suites and the campus apartments. Photo by Ryan Pivoney

Board of Governors change dry campus policy, allow pilot program RYAN PIVONEY Editor-in-Chief The Truman State University Board of Governors voted Saturday afternoon to change the University’s alcohol policy, which opens the door for a pilot program slated to start next semester.

The pilot program policy, which has already been submitted to University President Sue Thomas, would allow students of legal age to have alcohol in West Campus Suites, Campbell Apart-

ments and Randolph Apartments.

“I think Truman is a dry campus in name only,” Thomas said. “We’re not a dry campus, not by any stretch of the imagination. Because we’re not a dry campus it makes it hard. We do alcohol education, but we can’t do the kind of alcohol education that we would like to do or the ways we would like to do them.”

The Board of Governors voted 4-3 to change Truman’s alcohol policy, which stated that the University would be committed to a good faith effort to maintain

a drug and alcohol free campus. The policy now states that Truman will be committed to upholding the ideals of the Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act Amendments of 1986. This act only prohibits unlawful consumption of alcohol, as opposed to its existence or presence on campus.

Janna Stoskopf, vice president for student affairs, said by making that change, the Board of Governors provided Thomas the ability to grant approval for a pilot program. Stoskopf has been working

on this policy with a committee made up of representatives from Student Government, the Residence Hall Association and Young Americans for Liberty.

“That provides the flexibility for the president to grant approval, if she chooses, for a pilot program to attempt to see how a policy change might play out and the implementation concerns and those types of things,” Stoskopf said.

See BOG page 5

Hall director salaries replaced with hourly wage KIRA HINTZ Staff Writer Residence Life will replace hall director salaries with an hourly wage for a tracked 40 hour work week fol-

lowing the U.S. Department of Labor’s new salary level requirements which took effect Jan.1.

The news of the salary threshold being raised came out in September 2019. All employers were then noti-

Hall directors are supposed to track their hours on their own with the new system.

Jamie Van Boxel said hall directors understand that they can’t volunteer to work more than 40 hours but can request to work more hours. Photo by Rachel Becker

fied they had to do a salary test for the people they employed.

Residence Life Director Jamie Van Boxel said under the new Fair Labor Standard Act salaried professionals can be exempt from having to be paid overtime if they meet the minimum salary level of $35,680. Van Boxel said if they don’t make that amount of money or more, however, they are considered not exempt from having to earn overtime. This includes any time spent working over 40 hours in a seven day work week, Van Boxel said.

In terms of higher education, Van Boxel said professors, assistants and student employees are exempt from this regulation unlike hall directors and other Truman State University staff within student and academic affairs. Van Boxel said Truman decided not to raise hall director salaries to fit the FLSA’s new guidelines, so their

pay amount is still the same.

Typically, salary increase decisions are decided by the Board of Governors.

Sally Herleth, executive director of human resources, said since this was a change in federal law, it was a decision decided internally by an administrative team and approved by University President Sue Thomas. Herleth said there was general agreement about the decision and not much opposition.

Truman has to be careful with how it distributes money, Herleth said, especially with employee positions like hall director.

“The reality is that we’re dealing with budgets all the time,” Herleth said. “The University is trying to treat employees as fairly as possible within the constraints that we’re working within, including the budget.”

See HALL DIRECTORS page 3

Truman Media Network Iowa caucus coverage Iowa caucus results delayed by new procedure RYAN PIVONEY Editor-in-Chief Official results for the 2020 Iowa Democratic caucus were delayed in their release by nearly 48 hours.

In the end, Pete Buttigieg, former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, received 13 delegates with 26.2% of the vote and Sen. Bernie Sanders came in at a close second with 12 delegates and 26.1% of the vote. Sen. Elizabeth Warren got eight delegates with 18% of the vote while former Vice President Joe Biden got six delegates and 15.8% of the vote. Sen. Amy Klobuchar got one delegate and 12.3% of total votes.

Despite caucusing starting at 7 p.m. on Monday, the statewide results weren’t released until the following Wednesday. According to the Iowa Democratic Party, there were inconsistencies in the voting data and issues with the result reporting app that caused the delay.

This was also the first year the Democratic Party has utilized a paper voting system in conjunction with the caucuses.

VOLUME 111 ISSUE 14 © 2020

From the caucuses Truman Media Network reporters were able to attend, Sanders, Warren, Klobuchar, Buttigieg and Biden had some of the best results.

At Monroe Elementary School in Des Moines, Iowa, Sanders, Warren and Buttigieg were the only candidates to get above the 15% threshold and become viable. Sanders received 118 votes resulting in three delegates, Warren got 112 votes and also got three delegates and Buttigieg, who was not viable in the first round, ended with 66 votes and one delegate.

At North Polk West Elementary in Polk City, Iowa, Buttigieg, Klobuchar, Sanders and Warren walked away with delegates.

Buttigieg received 106 votes resulting in four delegates, Klobuchar got 68 votes and three delegates and Sanders and Warren each received 45 votes and two delegates.

At Drake University, also in Des Moines, Iowa, Warren, Buttigieg, Klobuchar, Biden and Sanders all received delegates. Warren got 227 votes, Buttigieg received 194, Klobuchar secured 149 votes, Biden got 138 votes and Sanders received 134 votes.

These votes went into the total statewide results.

For more caucus insights see page 5

The Index

2

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2020

Truman students get crafty

Above: Benita Zossoungbo embroiders at the Crafternoon event. The Student Activities Board held the event in the Student Union Building. Photos by Ryan Pivoney Right: SAB workers operate a button making machine. Students were welcome to make custom buttons at the event.

Left: Jenna Minor and Alex Bullock design tote bags. At the event there were craft stations for button designing, tote bags, embroidary and more.

Right: Left to right: Rachel Whitehouse, Kylie Ostermeyer, Kara De Bruin and Micah Linberger embroidering at Crafternoon. On Feb. 7 students were invited to make free crafts.

Crime Reports staff Serving the University community since 1909

DPS & KPD 2/7 Attempted suicide reported at the 400 block of East Washington St.

2/8 Vandalism reported at the 2200 block of North Baltimore St.

2/7 Amphetamine possession reported at the 2200 block of North Baltimore St.

2/8 Vandalism reported at the 300 block of East Porter St.

Editor-in-Chief: Ryan Pivoney Managing Editor: Elisabeth Shirk News Editor: Rachel Becker Features Editor: Erica Lindsay Sports Editor: Chase Potter Copy Chief: Cara Quinn Design Chief: Emmett Divendal Photographers: Caleb Bolin, Kara Mackenzie, Bidan Yang Copy Editors: Sami Harris, Natalie Wilson, Autumn Dodd-Hinds, Jessica Robinson, Maddie Lee, Mattea Buerge, Kayla Lewis Sta Writers: Siobhan Neely, Gordon McPherson, Allison Maschho, Kira Hintz, Josie Wagner, Anakin Bush

2/7 Loud party reported at the 200 block of East Porter St.

2/8 4th degree assault reported at the 2600 block of North Baltimore St.

2/7 Burglary reported at the 1200 block of East Harrison St.

2/9 Burglary reported at the 1200 block of East Harrison St.

2/7 Theft reported at the 1000 block of North Centennial Ave.

2/9 Property damage reported at the 100 block of West McPherson St.

Adviser: Don Krause

2/7 Burglary reported at the 1000 block of East Normal Ave.

2/9 Loud party reported at the 500 block of South Davis St.

2/8 Loud party reported at the 400 block of Dodson St.

2/10 Theft reported at the 300 block of Pfeifer Ave.

2/8 Theft reported at the 400 block of North Elson St.

2/10 Theft reported at the 300 block of South Baltimore St.

2/8 Property damage reported at the 1300 block of Alexander St.

2/10 Burglary reported at the 1700 block of North Centennial Ave.

2/8 Vandalism reported at the 700 block of East Washington St.

2/10 3rd degree assault reported at the 300 block of East Porter St.

2/8 Motor fuel theft reported at the 2200 block of North Baltimore St.

2/10 2nd degree rape reported at the 300 block of Pfieffer Ave.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2020

The Index

3

HALL DIRECTORS| Pay changes from salary to hourly Continued from page 1 Hall directors are supposed to track their hours on their own and they have undergone training by Residence Life to understand the impact of the FLSA. Van Boxel said hall directors understand that under the law they can’t volunteer to work more than 40 hours but can request time to work more hours. Additionally, he said work that pushes hall directors past 40 hours can be a part of departmental protocols. Each hall director also has a supervisor they can go to. Van Boxel said the assistant director or coordinator for Residence Life can assist them if they have concerns about fitting all their work into 40 hours.

Van Boxel said hall directors are also not traditional employees because they do not use timecards.

“They’re not punching in or punching out,” Van Boxel said. “In many ways, because they’re professional staff with advanced degrees, they are entrusted with the responsibility to manage their time and document the time that they work so they can say they worked 40 hours.”

For tracking, Van Boxel said hall directors will use an online time clock system to record when they work more than 40 hours weekly.

Herleth said she recommends hall directors lay out a calendar for the week with all their duties on it. Tracking everything in their week, however, might be a challenge for them, Herleth said, since they have on-call time during weekends and expectations of meetings. She said having hall directors punch in didn’t work as a system because they have different hours than other employees and aren’t always sitting at a desk.

Van Boxel said supervisors will approve their tracking, which is checked on a monthly basis. If a staff member does falsify the information they put in the time clock, Van Boxel said there would be varying consequences from a supervisor. Mistakes such as under or over reporting can happen. All a hall director needs to do in that case, Van Boxel said, is come forward and then they will be compensated for the time they worked or take vacation time to account for if they didn’t work as much.

Dave Rector, vice president for administration, finance

ResLife is changing the pay of hall directors from a salary position to an hourly one. The change comes from the U.S. Department of Labor’s new salary level requirements. Photo from TMN Archives and planning, said on a full year basis, hall directors earn $26,180 and receive free room and board, which Truman doesn’t count toward their compensation. There is, however, another way public universities can compensate hall directors and other 40 hour employees. Rector said compensatory time or “comp time” can be used by those employees to get more time off. Rector said for every eight hours of overtime worked a person gets 1 1/2 hours off. This can be helpful, Rector said, for hall directors or other employees who have a second job.

Van Boxel said housing rates also impact how much hall directors and other Residence Life staff are paid. He

The duties of hall directors have not changed because of the change in pay system. Jamie Van Boxel said that based on his research, hall directors describe the hourly status as being a job satisfier because they could better balance their work and personal life. Photo from TMN Archives

said there are no tax dollars or state funding that support Residence Life. All money generated is made from the amount of students who decide to live on campus, Van Boxel said.

Although hall director’s duties haven’t changed, Van Boxel said their work input could be different or more focused because of their time limits.

“It’s not accurate to say that a hall director who is salaried and can work as many hours as they’d like is going to do more work,” Van Boxel said. “The hall director who is limited to 40 hours realizes that when they walk out of their apartment and they enter the Residence Hall, for a seven day period they have 40 hours to do all the things they need to do. So they’re going to be efficient and engaged with their work for those 40 hours.”

Van Boxel said it’s up to hall directors to make individual decisions about whether the job and its parameters are a good fit for them. He said he has no reason to believe that a hall director being hourly might change how satisfied they are with the job.

Last year, Van Boxel wrote a dissertation where he conducted interviews with hall directors in Minnesota who were being paid hourly for 40 hours. He said his research found only 20% of hall directors preferred being exempt from overtime after one semester. Van Boxel said those hall director’s described their hourly status as being a job satisfier because they could better balance their work and personal life.

Rector said he doesn’t know if the 40 hour work week will impact people’s willingness to apply for hall director positions at Truman.

“If you look at that position nationwide then almost everyone is going to be facing the same issues,” Rector said. “So whether you’re going to be hall director here or at the University of Missouri or Minnesota State University, [the 40 hour work week] is going to be an issue. The only way around that is to either pay them the $35,000 and so forth. But the value of food, room and board is over $12,000 a year, but you can’t count that.”

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2020

[ Our View ] New alcohol policy is a good compromise Truman State University has recently changed its alcohol policy and plans to implement the changes with a pilot program to allow students of age to store and consume alcohol in West Campus Suites, Campbell Apartments and Randolph Apartments.

We, The Index Editorial Board, appreciate the effort that students and administration put into working on this policy and believe this change is a good compromise, however, we are concerned about potential complications and extra work that Residence Life would face with the changes.

Student advisers in West Campus Suites and the campus apartments might have to go through additional training because their job is no longer to simply prohibit alcohol use, but help create an environment that is safe for students who can drink alcohol.

Naturally, the responsibility of this extra training would fall to ResLife because student advisers are ResLife staff.

ResLife would also have to create more specialized policies. Unless roommates are the exact same age to the day, there will be a time when one roommate is of age and another is not. ResLife would have to be a part of figuring out how to handle those situations.

In addition to policies, the roommate selection process would likely have to be updated to include information relating to drinking preferences. It is important that students know that information about their potential roommate, because alcohol use is something that many people feel strongly about.

While this seems like a simple addition to make, it is

still added work that ResLife staff will have to attend to.

These are just a few of the potential responsibilities that ResLife would have to take on in addition to the work they already do and we, The Index Editorial Board, don’t think they should carry that burden alone. We hope that administration will also keep these potential issues in mind and help resolve them as they continue to work through the logistics of this policy change.

We recognize that these adjustments and decisions can and should take a significant amount of time, so we encourage the campus community to be patient with the University as the program settles and problems are worked out.

By Samuel Sardis

Young Americans for Liberty is more than just provacative Last year as a freshman, I joined the group Young Americans for Liberty. Since then I’ve organized countless events, and I’m used to controversy and criticism. But recently I’ve been hearing myths that YAL only exists to be provocative and “stir shit up,” much of which in response to an AR-15 giveaway we promoted on campus. After one year of involvement in the organization, I can confidently say this is a flat-out lie.

YAL’s mission is to “Make Liberty Win,” and all of our events accomplish this. Through our AR-15 giveaway and other events, we’ve recruited hundreds of signups and grown our membership. Our club then develops members into leaders who do far more than “stir shit up.”

With YAL’s Operation Win at the Door program, we get pro-liberty politicians elected. YAL trains and endorses principled state house candidates, and our members phonebank and knock on doors to bring them to victory. Often the races we win are so tight, its statistically proven that YAL students made the difference.

Results? Since 2018 YAL students have elected 56 pro-liberty state representatives. We’re on track to reach 250 wins by 2022, or 5% of all state reps in the country. These legislators will stand up to big government, be a voice for liberty and eventually run for higher office. What other student group makes that kind of impact?

Besides being provocative,’ the AR-15 event brought students to our group who are ready to elect more candidates that will defend our liberties, including our second amendment rights. So yes, YAL does “stir shit up” on campus, but we’re racking up real world wins while we’re at it.

SUBMITTED BY: Naomi Mathew, Media director for Young Americans for Liberty at Truman State University and Missouri State chair

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2020

Sanders and Warren rallies fire up their base RYAN PIVONEY Editor-in-Chief In the final days leading up to the 2020 Iowa Democratic caucuses, crowds at campaign events were becoming more energetic.

Democratic candidates are preparing for the Iowa caucuses with multiple rallies and events around the state. Iowa is the first state in the country to cast a vote in the primary and the general election.

The voting system in Iowa, however, is different from Missouri’s. Instead of a ballot primary on the Democratic side, Iowa utilizes a caucus system in which voters openly cast their votes and candidates must reach a 15% viability threshold.

Most candidates hosted events in the final days to solidify their support and win the state.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren hosted a Get Out the Caucus Rally Saturday, Feb. 1 in Iowa City. Warren was joined by Rep. Ayanna Pressley, who also serves as her campaign co-chair.

Warren talked about her experiences growing up in a working class home and her plans for a variety of policies, including criminal justice and education, before taking questions from the audience.

Questions centered around what kind of leadership she will bring to the country, why she’s running for president and what her

healthcare plan looks like.

Warren’s rally starkly contrasted Sen. Bernie Sanders’ energetic concert with alternative rock band Vampire Weekend in nearby Cedar Rapids.

Sanders’ event featured filmmaker Michael Moore, activist Cornel West, and Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Mark Pocan of Wisconsin and Pramila Jayapal of Washington, among others. The campaign reported 3,000 attendees, most of which were under 40.

Tahirah Ninvestdi, a first-time caucuser this cycle, was one of the voters waiting to hear from Sanders. She said she was likely going to support the senator from Vermont because she favored his education and minimum wage plans over other candidates and liked how consistent he has been on his policy stances.

According to Sanders’ website, he supports tuition and debt-free public colleges, universities and trade schools, as well as forgiving student loan debt for 45 million Americans. Sanders also supports increasing the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour.

Ninvestdi said Sanders’ plan mattered to her because she would be going to college soon and doesn’t want to go into debt to get an education. Although she was unable to vote, Ninvestdi said she began attending political events in 2016.

Filmmaker Michael Moore prepared the Cedar Rapids, Iowa, crowd for Sen. Bernie Sanders’ speech. Sanders’ concert with Vampire Weekend drew the biggest crowd at around 3,000 people. Photo by Ryan Pivoney

Democratic voters express similar sentiments on Trump GORDON MCPHERSON Staff Writer 2020 Iowa Democratic caucus attendees interviewed by Truman Media Network students had similar sentiments about President Donald Trump regardless of their preferred candidate.

Caucus goers wanted a moral shift away from Trump’s policies and rhetoric.

“My party left me,” Ron Hankins, a retired local energy company worker from Polk County, Iowa, said.

Hankins, a former Republican of 30

years who recently switched parties to support former Vice President Joe Biden, said that respectfulness and truthfulness were sorely missing from the current administration.

“Sure [Barack] Obama may have told some lies, whether he knew at the time or not, but it’s not like the floodgate of lies that we have now,” Hankins said.

Leah, a precinct captain for Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, also wanted a president with changed values.

As a precinct captain, Leah oversees

Sophomore Jackson Elder interviews a caucus attendee in Iowa. Attendees expressed similar views of President Donald Trump. Submitted photo

organization efforts for the Buttigieg campaign in her Iowa region.

“I think that [Buttigieg] is such a kindhearted person and he bases all of his policies and all of his talks and everything off of his morals,” Leah said.

Sophia Douglas, another caucus attendee and a previous worker for the Obama campaign, wanted a president with valuedriven policies that unify voters, rather than divide them.

Douglas said pragmatic values could bring together the moderate and progressive sides of the Democratic Party.

“Now, being pragmatic may not be a strength in the age of Trump,” Douglas said, “but I think for Democrats or Progressives, or whatever you call yourself, I think it still has to mean something.”

Nevertheless, despite the breadth of potential candidates for the Democratic nomination, nervous anticipation remains for the future of America.

“Obama was such a magical candidate,” Douglas said. “He had the looks, the charisma, the intellect. It was just different.

He was making history and he knew that.

Donald Trump is shaking people up, but we aren’t making the same kind of history.

It’s just, we woke up to Donald Trump as President and we don’t like that.”

Sophomore Macy Cecil interviews caucus attendees in Polk City, Iowa.

Iowa caucus attendees expressed desire for a change in values. Submitted photo

BOG| Board of Governors approves plan to change dry campus regulations Continued from page 1 From there, Stoskopf added, administration will examine the results of the policy change and determine where to go next.

Thomas has already approved the pilot program and she said it’s ready to go for next fall. Throughout the process, Thomas said she worked with Stoskopf and a variety of campus departments to modify and improve the policy before it was presented to the Board of Governors.

Stoskopf said she thought there were some good comments from the governors that supported the change and from those that were opposed to it. She said as the University continues its refinement of the policy, the concerns and values of the Board of Governors will be taken into consideration.

Thomas said she expected the Board of Governors vote to be split because the University has been working on ways to tackle the idea of alcohol on campus for about a year and knew members of the Board were in different places. She said this is why there was a language change to the resolution presented to the Board of Governors.

A fully thought out plan with a pilot program was brought to the Board, Thomas

said, because it can be hard to discuss subjects like an alcohol policy without questioning the specifics and logistics. She said while the Board of Governors only voted on the language change, the Truman administration wanted to be upfront about its intentions with the change in policy.

Before the change, Truman’s alcohol policy was more restrictive than federal law. By putting “unlawful” in the policy, the University more closely resembles federal law.

Naomi Mathew, Missouri State chair of YAL, said she is happy with the Board of Governors’ decision and is proud of the YAL members that helped make the change possible.

Mathew said that while she wishes there were no regulations or restrictions on alcohol consumption, she is glad the University is doing what it can to support student responsibility.

YAL wanted an end to the dry campus policy and hosted multiple events last semester in support of its change, which is why YAL was chosen to have a representative on the committee.

“The main reason our group thinks it’s important is because we are adults here and

we really don’t need a government — because Truman is a public institution — telling us how to live our lives,” Mathew said.

Additionally, Mathew said many students who completed the alcohol use survey sent out last semester indicated that they felt unsafe returning to campus after consuming alcohol because of the dry campus policy.

Mathew said the pilot program is a good idea because it allows more people the opportunity to support the change and she is confident it will work out positively.

“Realistically, I think it sounds better to the Board of Governors and it sounds better to the president to have a pilot program,” Mathew said. “So it probably was necessary to get the ball rolling on things.”

Thomas said the pilot program also provides an opportunity to measure the policy’s success in achieving the University’s goals for the program, which include whether it works for Truman’s campus and that it makes sense for students.

“We all know our students drink,” Thomas said. “For some of our students they believe that they work hard so they also party hard, and they equate partying hard with drinking hard. It’s really important to us that our stu-

dents learn how to drink responsibly. When I raised my own children I told them that they could make all kinds of mistakes, they just couldn’t make life-altering mistakes.”

Thomas explained that the University wants to support students of legal age drinking responsibly. She said the University wants to ensure even students not of legal age are safe and making responsible decisions.

Thomas said she doesn’t know of anyone on campus that promotes Truman as a dry campus and actually believes it, and there is no data to support the idea that students are coming to Truman because it is a dry campus. She said that being a wet campus provides more opportunity to educate students about alcohol and responsible drinking.

The Student Affairs Office, with the help of the Department of Public Safety, Residence Life and others, will be working out the logistics of the pilot program, Thomas explained.

She said the departments have models to follow to determine how it will work.

There is no possibility of the policy retroactively affecting students, Thomas said, so students who might have received charges in previous years are still subject to the rules of that time.

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2020

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2018

news packages in brief Campuscalendar mailroom sends personal THE GOVERNMENT IN FOCUS SERIES: “STATE OF THE CITY” 8-9 A.M. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ALLIANCE 315 S. FRANKLIN ST. The Kirksville Area Chamber of Commerce’s Governmental Affairs Committee is hosting this event where Kirksville residents can ask questions and receive updates about city departments. Coffee and donuts will be provided at 7:30 a.m. followed by the main presentation at 8 a.m.

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14 FEBRUARY

PALENTINE’S DAY 10 A.M. TO 3 P.M. STUDENT UNION BUILDING Truman students can eat cookies, drink lemonade and make Valentine’s Day cards for friends at this annual event sponsored by the Truman State University Student Government’s Purple Friday Committee.

There will also be a giveaway for two movie ticket vouchers for Downtown Cinema 8.

Theater students and faculty bring home honors from festival Left: Truman State Univer Theater students andAfaculty attended the Kennedy Center American Theater Festival in South sityCollege student worker accepts a Dakota. Students participated in numerous package to be mailed out of short workshops, intensive week long workshops, percampus mailroom.

The and formances and the competitions and both students professors walked away with a number of honors. mailroom recently started

sending personal packages for students, staff and faculty.

Left: Ain student worker City Bottom Council brief

organizes mail in the Univer sity mailroom.

Roger Marsh, Sparks Constructors Inc. undertakes facade director of campus mail ser project for downtown revitalization

A bid from Sparks Constructors Inc. was accepted on Jan. 27 for $74,970. Sparks Constructors will be has responsible forsemester renovatingthe theUniversity facades and awnings offered personal mailing sercomes of downtown buildings.

75% of the funding from the Downtown Tax Increment Finance Disvices for packages. trict. The remaining 25% is from property owners.

student Architectural Bottom historicRight: surveyAmoves forward The City Council accepted a resolution allows worker in the mailroomthat dem the city manager to work with Owen & Eastlake onstrates software used about Ltd. on the first phase ofthe a historic survey to tag packages for delivery. The two established Kirksville neighborhoods. survey is partStudents of a Historic will bePreservation able to dropGrant awarded to Kirksville through Missouri’s State TRUMAN PIANO FESTIVAL their packages off during Historic Preservation Office. Around 300busi historicFEB. 14-15 hours The in the mailroom. houses will beness surveyed. two neighborhoods OPHELIA PARRISH PERFORMANCE HALL being surveyed are the Depot District, north of Submitted photos by Tim Barcus, Campus Photographer downtown, and Old Town Neighborhood, generThe Truman State University Music Department is hosting this annual ally located east of downtown. $13,480 will be festival featuring a guest recital by Dr. Brian Hsu and a masterclass by taken from the 2020 budget and the other $33,700 Hsu and Truman piano majors. High school seniors will also compete will be taken from the grant. for scholarships at the Piano Fellowship Competition.

FEBRUARY

14 FEBRUARY

17 FEBRUARY

Faculty Senate in brief

MYTHOLOGY MONDAY 6-7 P.M. DEL AND NORMA ROBISON PLANETARIUM Students interested in astronomy and myths are encouraged to attend this weekly event. Each week focuses on a different myth. Admission is $5.

CAREER AND GRAD SCHOOL WEEK FEB. 24-28 STUDENT UNION BUILDING Career and Grad School Week aims to help students meet and connect with future employers and recruiters. Expo Bootcamp, a personal statement writing workshop and an etiquette dinner activity, will take place before the Graduate and Career and Internship Expos the second half of the week.

24 FEBRUARY

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7

UpChuckles throws it up for love or lack thereof

Campus comedy club facilitates fun, feedback A theatrical logo was displayed in the Del and Norma Robison Planetarium at Friday night’s comedy show. The ambient venue hosts several UpChuckles events each semester. Photo by Erica Lindsay ERICA LINDSAY Features, Opinions Editor Seats filled fast, time passed quickly and laughter was abundant in the Del and Norma Robison Planetarium Friday evening. UpChuckles, Truman State University’s stand-up comedy organization, held its Forever Alone Comedy Show last week.

Echoes of amusement, shock and awe eagerly bounced across the observatory.

With Valentine’s Day steadily approaching, student comedians shared romantic tales of both triumph and despair with enough humorous insight to keep attendees delightfully uncomfortable.

The location’s space constrictions, however, proved to be insufficient for the night’s sizable crowd, which was a pleasant surprise for its members.

Sophomore Max Beard brainstorms ideas with fellow UpChuckles teammates. Beard performed pop culture impressions and told stories of summer camp infatuations gone wrong at Friday’s show. Photo by Erica Lindsay

VOLUME 111

ISSUE 14

“I was very impressed that we ran out of seats,” junior Michael Tortorello, an UpChuckles veteran, commented after the show.

“We really like the planetarium, because it’s cool, right? But I don’t know if we complied with fire codes.”

Potential legal violations aside, Tortorello said that he was happy with the growing audience, noting that each successive show this school year has witnessed higher numbers. As the organization continues to build a stronger fan base, it is also in the process of increasing membership.

Fears of the club’s extinction surfaced at the end of last school year, as twelve members left and only a few remained.

With UpChuckles’ recruitment endeavors, the group now survives at around 10 members. With this influx also comes inexperience, but new members have quickly adapted to the organization’s structure.

“We just kind of dive right in,” UpChuckles President Victoria Morrow said of integration efforts via workshopping.

“You might have an idea, a concept — you might just have a story — each of us helps add on to a story. We help you find a structure. We help you find a way to deliver it.”

Joke conceptualization was described

by Tortorello as different for everyone, but usually begins with an observation of daily oddities. After members write their observations down, they take them to meetings where members sit in a circle and offer constructive criticism.

For comedians, this step is crucial in planning performances. Feedback can provide useful ideas or suggest a different direction. Morrow said the casual meeting environment facilitates a wide variety of benefits beyond collaboration, including a sense of belonging and cathartic release.

“It’s something that’s very relaxing.

Sometimes it’s very healing,” Morrow said. “When you’ve had a terrible week and maybe this is the only highlight. There have been times at college where I’ve been severely depressed or anxious, and this is my only solace sometimes. I just really love the people there. I really love being a part of it.”

Morrow joined the club her sophomore year following its back-to-school show.

She had heard about the event through her teacher and UpChuckles adviser Jay Self, and was excited by its energy.

Tortorello became a member his freshman year and has been hooked ever since. While he also enjoys the organization’s fun antics, what resonates most are its transparent ambitions.

tmn.truman.edu

UpChuckles members convene during their workshopping process at a club meeting. During this time student comedians pitch parts of their routines and consider each other’s input. Photo by Erica Lindsay “Every organization on campus seems playfully offending its eldest members. For to have a big, ‘We’re going to solve world Morrow, the event serves as an appropriate hunger,’ mission statement — except us,” cap to her time with the organization.

Tortorello said, despite soon rememberFor Tortorello, who still has a year to ing their faculty show benefitting Buddy go, events are fun ways to share the club’s Packs. hard work with fans.

The charity show is one of a few upcom“I kind of wanna maximize the amount ing events the club looks forward to host- of shows we have, because this is great,” ing in subsequent months. There, the club Tortorello said. will invite UniverBoosting crowds sity staff to tell their and camaraderie is tales of hilarity in something the orcompetition for a ganization hopes good cause. to keep expanding Last year’s lineupon in the future. up included Don While shows like Bindner, Dereck the one last week Daschke, Chad help, weekly interMohler, Chris Outactions are key to zen, Dylan Phillips, retaining memberVictoria Morrow, ship.

Jocelyn Predergast and Jared Young.

“We just basiUpChuckles president Morrow said the cally try to welclub wishes to draw come them in, try more female facto be kind,” Morulty this time around. row explained.

“We’re hoping to get more women in Tortorello reiterated those sentiments, the show, compared to last year which was looking back on the club’s improvement a lot of men,” Morrow said. “We want at over time. With higher audience turnout least five. We have two people so far, both and participation, he sees this most recent men, so we’d like more women to join.” show as the best yet.

Last on the club’s agenda is a senior “I’m excited with the direction we’re roast, a time for celebrating the year by going,” Tortorello said.

“I just really love the people there. I really love being a part of it.”

@TrumanIndex

@TrumanIndex

© 2020

8

The Index

TOP [5]

Kirksville FEMALE Valentine’s JOURNALISTS Day Excursions YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW

By Erica Lindsay By features editor Elisabeth Shirk

8 ELIZABETHCinema TIMOTHY 1 Downtown

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2020

3 ETHEL Thousand Hills PAYNE

Just outside of city limits, State Payne was well-known forThousand combiningHills her career Park is an ideal venue for romantic walks or simply in journalism with advocacy. wasthe theseasonal first hiking with friends.

If you canShe brave cold, mud and potential precipitation, you’re all African-American woman to be part of the White set for a naturally beautiful Valentine’s celebration.

House press corps, and she is often referred to as You’ll also get to skip out on the bugs this time of “The First the Black Press.” year, whichLady is anofadded bonus.

4 GWEN Walmart IFILL

With my was boyfriend an for avidwomen film fanatic, I’ve hadand my Timothy truly abeing pioneer in journalism fair share of trips to this theater. The movies can be hit-orbusiness.

She was theconversations first woman in to miss, but subsequent arecolonial sure to America be on target.

Experiencing the newest flick together perfect way become a newspaper publisher and theisfiarst woman into relax while time with that special someone — America to spending run a franchise. plus, you’ll never run out of things to talk about afterward.

know about you, but I love going AI don’t Peabody Award-winning journalist, Ifill grocery was shopping with my boo. It’s a great opportunity to the fi rst woman of African descent to host a food. get out, mingle with the locals and bond over nationally televised U.S. public aff airs program.

What’s even sweeter than a Walmart run on Valentine’s Day? Raiding candy aisles the day after.

World DICKEY CHAPELLE 2 Leisure

5 PAULINE Stay home FREDERICK

This Kirksville hotspot much to offer.

As the location of Georgette Louise Meyer,has professionally known as Dickey my first date and now one-year anniversary, I can personChapelle, photojournalist from World War IIarcade through ally attest was to itsa merits.

From bowling, to skating, the Vietnam War. She was the fi rst American female games and more, what better way to share your love than visiting a worldtoofbe leisure? correspondent killed in action.

As John Mulaney oncethe said, “Itfor is 100% easier Frederick helped pave way women in not to do things than to do them, and so much fun broadcast journalism as theKirksville first female not to do them. ” Although has moderator many for a U.S. presidential debate, among many other Valentine’s Day amenities, sometimes the best way to spend this holiday is a night in with those you career achievements. cherish. Take advantage of this responsibility-free Friday to sit back, watch TV, bake cookies or just hang out.

Student comedians spitball jokes in UpChuckles Right: Senior Jacob Highsmith laughs as club members banter during their workshopping process. Typical meetings consist of an introduction, reflection on prior jokes, and construction of future routines. Photos by Erica Lindsay Below: UpChuckles Adviser Jay Self offers insight to a student as the organization’s meeting starts up. Self is present at each workshop to provide constructive commentary.

Above: Sophomore David Shengelia receives feedback on jokes. This is common practice for incoming members to hone in their skills.

“Birds of Prey” never truly soars This movie gets 3/5 egg sandwiches GORDON MCPHERSON Staff Writer As the next plunge into R-rated superhero films, “Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn” contains two memorable performances and some hilariously brutal action sequences, but never reaches its full subversive potential.

When Harley Quinn — played by a note perfect Margot Robbie — breaks up with her abusive boo, the Joker, Quinn’s life gets turned upside-down. Without the security provided by the murderous clown, Quinn must fend for herself against local criminals, roller derby competitors and the Gotham City Police Force. After some convenient and irreverent plot devices, Roman Sionis A.K.A Black Mask — played by a gleefully sadistic Ewan McGregor — plants a target on teenaged pickpocket Cassandra Cain, played

by Ella Jay Basco. Unsurprisingly, Quinn gets involved. Chaos ensues and empowered women take down the patriarchy one nut punch at a time.

While the film is unfortunately flawed and lacking in several departments, “Birds of Prey” is unabashedly entertaining from start to finish. Cynical humor, bucketloads of gore and over the top choreog-

raphy are at the forefront, led by a darkly lovable protagonist.

“Birds of Prey” also joins the ranks of “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” and “Thor: Ragnarok” as a film that nails the comic book aesthetic. Vibrant colors burst off the screen, enhanced by the film’s surprisingly vivid cinematography and pop punk soundtrack.

Some sequences — like Quinn’s police station assault and a bizarre musical number — feel downright hallucinatory.

The vicious, nonstop fight scenes also complement the proceedings well, featuring several gasp-inducing kills that will satiate the appetite of any bloodthirsty Truman State University student.

With the help of “John Wick” director Chad Stahelski, shaky cam and extreme closeups are eschewed in favor of providing clarity and precision to nearly every encounter.

Without a doubt, however, “Birds of Prey” is carried by Robbie’s magnificently committed performance as the titular antihero. With tattoos, creative weapons, ultraviolent combat skills, fourth wall breaks and self aware one-liners galore, Robbie relishes her every scene, and director Cathy Yan knows that she’s the film’s main strength.

In fact, Robbie is so devoted to the role that the rest of “Birds of Prey” pales in comparison to her performance, particularly in the storytelling department.

Quinn’s pervasive narration — while enjoyable at first — eventually proves tiresome. Sure, I understand the novelty of having Quinn narrate the proceedings. Yes, I understand that she’s supposed to be crazy, easily distracted and idiosyncratic. No, none of that is conducive to emotionally fulfilling storytelling.

The other Birds of Prey —

“The film never leaves the nest of genre conventions, despite Robbie’s undeniable brilliance.”

Gordon McPherson, staff writer

played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jurnee Smollet-Bell and Rosie Perez — have intriguing backstories which are relegated to rushed exposition dumps by Quinn herself.

Without organically experiencing these characters’ stories and spending any meaningful time with them, “Birds of Prey” undermines their potential and its own feminist leanings.

This extends to the film’s antagonist, Black Mask. McGregor is absolutely, scarily bonkers in every scene, but the film never gives his character any real depth. This renders him an antagonist who, without McGregor, would have been forgettable.

This lack of nuance across the board makes “Birds of Prey” much less clever and intelligent than it thinks it is.

Having a female-led superhero film is always welcome, but without character development and thematic nuance, “Birds of Prey” becomes sadly traditional by its explosive conclusion.

Therefore, the film never quite leaves the nest of genre conventions, despite Robbie’s undeniable brilliance.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2020

The Index

9

Music department takes on MMEA SIOBHAN NEELY Staff Writer January is a busy time for the music department. Students start preparing for spring recitals, new ensembles begin and Wind Symphony I advertises their program to high schoolers. One constant staple of January, however, is the Missouri Music Educator Association conference at Tan-Tar-A Resort in Osage Beach, Missouri. The majority of music education majors, along with most music professors, journey down to the four-day conference to learn more about the field of music education and attend workshops and performances.

This year was different, though. Not one, but two Truman State University music ensembles performed: the clarinet choir and the faculty rock band.

The clarinet choir, under the direction of Jesse Krebs, has the opportunity to audition to perform every four years.

This year they performed four pieces, including one with a guest soloist and one written by Ron Shroyer, the grandfather of choir members Jordan and Lucas Shroyer.

“Playing it myself, that alone was very cool,” Jordan Shroyer said. “It’s a little extra special when it’s someone

in your family. Getting to perform on a statewide stage in front of so many people was also just really special.”

Joining the clarinet choir in sendoff to MMEA was the all-faculty rock band, led by music education professor Jocelyn Prendergast. The band consisted of seven music professors, and they performed three songs from The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and Panic! At The Disco, providing workshop material in between each song.

Prendergast discussed how in the traditional music education setting it is usually traditional western music, and not other genres like pop, vernacular or folk, that are put in the spotlight.

“By doing this pop band, I felt like it was putting this music in the academy, in a central place, where I think it also belongs to be,” Prendergast said.

In addition, every four years there is an all-collegiate band directed by a guest conductor. This year, several Truman students participated in the ensemble, including junior Holly Peters, who played alto clarinet.

Peters said the band had about four two-hour rehearsals each day.

“It’s a really cool experience because you get to see all these people who are doing the same thing that you’re doing, or you want to be doing,” Peters said.

Truman Students performed with the Missouri all-collegiate band. Junior Holly Peters said the band had about four two-hour rehearsals each day.

Submitted Photo After MMEA was all over, students pleased to have a special participation and faculty walked away with knowl- role this year. edge that will help them in their field.

“We got a standing ovation at the end, Each year is filled with new things, so I think it was successful,” Krebs said. but the music department at Truman was

Phillipa’s tattoo epiphany ALLISON MASCHHOFF Staff Writer My mother was anything but materialistic. Her closet held nothing but the essentials. The only jewelry she owned was her wedding band and a pair of gold stud earrings shaped like butterflies. No knickknacks, not even picture frames. Our house was the epitome of minimalistic design. Almost everything in our house was black or white.

I sigh, looking around the house as I put on my black Panama hat. My eyes stop on my reflection in the gold rimmed, full length mirror on the wall across from me.

Black velvet turtleneck. Black pants. The only thing that stands out about me today are the circular gold rims of my glasses.

I’m usually so much more colorful than this.

My mother would have never owned something as frivolous as a Panama hat.

Everyone has always asked me where my “fashion gene” comes from. “Who knows,” I always say. “Maybe one of my ancestors was the top fashionista in Madagascar.”

For a moment, I consider taking off the hat. Would she have approved? She never said anything about my clothes. She never forced her way of life on me. I instinctively glance down at my right hand, the skin still a little red around the fresh black ink. She definitely would not have approved of that.

That which was not black or white in our house was either gold or green. Gold accents like the mirror. Gold doorknobs and curtain rods. And plants, so many plants. There was not a single room in our house without at least one plant. Raindrop

peperomias, Chinese evergreens, snake plants and English ivies. Even the bathrooms had little succulents strung along the counter or hung from the ceiling.

Grandmother always used to say that the happiest homes allow the world in, allow the natural to intermingle with the manmade. My mother had taken that to heart.

I often wonder if my house will look like this one day. It seems as though my “fashion gene” came at the expense of my “green thumb gene.” I’d never managed to keep a plant alive for more than two weeks. Meanwhile, my mother had seemed to know how to care for a plant without any instruction. She always said it was in her blood, which only made me wonder more why it wasn’t in mine.

I force myself to walk out of the door and meet my father down in front of the house. He is already in the car. The white Honda Pilot feels out of place today. I can’t remember the last time I saw my father wear a suit. Perhaps on a different day, I’d make a joke out of this fact. Today, I simply sit down in the passenger seat, buckle my seat belt and silently watch the garage door shrink as he backs out of the driveway and then heads for the church.

The leaves on the trees that line the road look plastic as the car whizzes past. Mother always said that meant it was going to rain. I say a silent prayer that the sky holds off its tears until after the ceremonies are finished. Just before the amen passes my silent lips, I add a request to help me do the same.

My mother named me Phillipa because it meant lover of horses. She called me Ponygirl when I was a toddler, always telling

me to stay gold. I would never forget reading “The Outsiders” together for the first time and hearing the origin of the words I’d heard so many times before.

“They stole your saying, Mama!”

She smiled gently, somberly. “I’m afraid they actually had it first. I stole it from them.”

My eyes widened at the idea that my mother would ever steal anything. Years later, I would bring up that moment after receiving reprimands for plagiarism on an essay in fourth grade. I had urged my reader to stay gold.

When I was in middle school, my mother started calling me Butterfly. I asked her why. She said, “Both butterflies and horses fly in their own ways. I always knew you’d be a flyer. It just took me a while to realize that you were going to blossom into a butterfly.”

That was the day I decided to become a pilot.

Breaking the silence, my father shakes me back to reality. “Phillipa, do you want to see in the casket?”

“What?”

“It’s a closed casket, per your mother’s request. But before the visitation begins they will offer you and me a chance to see her one last time.”

I swallow. “Are you going to look?”

He doesn’t answer.

I study my father’s face. Deep creases had surrounded his eyes for weeks now.

His dry dark skin and his tired hazel eyes make it clear to me that he hasn’t been taking care of himself. I make a mental note to call the airline and ask for an extra week off. I need to make sure he is taken care of.

I need to make sure I don’t end up losing

him to his grief.

I can’t lose him, too. Not yet.

My tattoo catches the corner of my eye and draws my attention away from him for a while. I wonder how long it will take for me to get used to it— to not feel like something foreign is stuck to my skin. I considered gold ink but decided I wanted the subtlety of black. For a little over a week now, a small butterfly had called the space between the bottom and middle knuckles of my right index finger home. Next to it, on the side of my middle finger in small capital letters were the words “stay gold.”

I know my mother didn’t approve of tattoos. I know she thought they took away from the natural beauty of the human body and that there was a touch of immorality in the purposeful scarring of God’s creation.

But I couldn’t help it. I needed to know her death wouldn’t mean everything about her would fly away from me. I needed something to keep me grounded in this new reality where she wasn’t here.

I glance up at the grey sky as we pull into the church parking lot. I wonder if I will feel closer to her when I go back to work. I wonder if all my flying has been preparation for this moment. Maybe even though we weren’t connected by style or gardening skills, maybe we will be connected in that grand expanse that now exists between us.

“I’m not going to look in the casket,” I whisper to my father, still looking at the sky. He nods as if to say the matter is now settled. Neither of us will look.

I won’t look in the casket because I trust I’ll see her again, smiling and laughing and telling me to stay gold. And until that day, I’ll keep flying.

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The Index

10

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2020

In Perspective Narratives from the campus community

What is your major and what led you to that decision?

Ross Jones, senior “I’m a Spanish major, and I decided to major in Spanish because I knew for a long time that I wanted to do education, but I didn’t really know what content area I wanted to do. In high school I had a really good Spanish teacher, and she kind of opened up my perspective on learning languages and the importance of being able to communicate with people who are different from yourself. I think that’s really important, especially here in America. We’re such a monolingual society, and there’s such a taboo on being able to speak multiple languages. As a teacher, I want to kind of challenge that perspective and sort of inspire people to want to learn more languages and to be open to the idea of being bilingual. I also think cultures and languages are super fun and super cool.”

Hannah Pohl, senior “My major is history, but I am also currently [in the Master of Arts in Education program]. What specifically made me pick history is when I was in fifth grade and I lived in Colorado, we did this thing called Colonial Day. One of my fifth grade teachers who taught American history and the American Revolution had us dress up, learn colonial dances, figure out what would happen if you were a colonial spy or British spy and eat colonial food ... So from then, I had a really big appreciation for it. As I got older and some things had happened in my life, my history teachers were always there for me. When I was a freshman in high school, I was homeless. My AP U.S. history teacher and my AP world [history] teacher really helped me academically, personally and socially when things were really tough. It really inspired me to not only show people how they can love history and how beautiful it can be, but how it continues to grow and be built upon and how it influences so much, and also how impactful an educator can be on the student’s life outside the classroom.”

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The Index

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2020

11

TENNIS| Tennis team looks to bounce back in GLVC play after 0-3 start up against host Missouri Western State University. The Griffons were 1-2 over the weekend of play, and were coming off of a loss to Arkansas Tech earlier that morning. The Bulldogs started strong again as junior Morgan Eby had the best performance by a Bulldog in the invitational, winning six total games, though she was still unable to get Truman on the scoreboard. Sunday proved to be the best day of the weekend for the Bulldogs as they claimed 13 total games in the singles round including six from Eby, three from freshman Julia Fangman, two from junior Alex Rogers, and one from both freshmen Caprice Huitron and Shirey, but the Bulldogs were unable to use the extra rest to their advantage, eventually falling to the Griffons 6-0.

Shirey believes that while the team might have struggled to capture points, its play was more competitive than the score reflected.

“It was very tough competition but we all played very well,” Shirey said. “Pretty much all of the games went to duece and it was just a one point difference. They just kicked it on at that point and outplayed us at the end of games.”

The tennis team will be back on the court looking for its first win of the young season Feb. 23 against Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Continued from page 14 “We’re just a humongous family,” Shirey said. “We’re always there for each other and I think that really helps with our game, too, because we all trust each other. In doubles play we’re always there for each other. We always try to keep a positive mindset.”

In the first of its three matchups, the Bulldog family was pitted against Newman University. The Bulldogs were unable to secure a singles victory, giving the Jets all six points available in the singles round. After falling to a 6-0 deficit, the Bulldogs were unable to lessen the defeat by winning in the doubles matches and eventually fell to the Jets by a total score of 7-0.

The following day the Bulldogs were back in action for their second match of the weekend tournament, this time against Arkansas Tech University. The Golden Suns also lost their first match of the invitational and entered the day 0-1 overall. The ’Dogs junior Alex Rogers started the day off by winning two games against fifth year senior Michelle Khoo of Arkansas Tech, but ultimately fell 6-2, 6-0. This proved to be the best performance by Truman on Saturday as no other Bulldog was able to grab more than one win on the day. The Bulldogs eventually fell to the Golden Suns 7-0.

On the final day of the invitational the Bulldogs lined

Caprice Huitron winds up for a serve. Huitron won one game in the final match of the invitational. Photo

by Truman Athletics

Men’s basketball stretches its win streak to five games after defeating No. 13 UMSL

Above: Guard Hunter Strait fights off a Quincy University defender and gets fouled while advancing the ball. Strait leads the team in free throw percentage this season.

Right: The Bulldogs lock arms on the bench before their game begins. The Bulldogs are undefeated at home this year with a record of 10-0. Photos by Jake Wendel

Guard Brodric Thomas fights off a defender on his way to the basket. Thomas is the second leading scorer in the GLVC this season. Submitted Photo

SEASON STANDINGS MEN’S BASKETBALL

MEN’S SWIMMING

Overall

Scores

4-7

72, 80, 128, 56, 98, 112, 222, 122, 172, 68, 114

Overall

Conference

Home

Away

16-6

12-2

10-0

5-4

Overall

Scores

Overall

Conference

Home

Away

7-3

115, 179.50, 146, 121, 109, 258, 237, 126, 94, 103

16-5

12-2

8-3

5-1

Neutral 3-1

TENNIS

BASEBALL 2-1

1-2

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

WOMEN’S SWIMMING

Overall

Neutral

Conference

Home

Away

0-0

0-0

1-0

Neutral 1-1

Overall 0-3

Conference

Home

Away

0-0

0-0

0-1

Neutral 0-2

The Index

12

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2020

UPCOMING EVENTS Baseball

Men’s, women’s swimming

• At Rogers State University in Claremore, Oklahoma, at 1 p.m. • At GLVC Swimming and Diving Championship at Crawfordsville Friday, Feb. 14 Aquatic Center Wednesday, Feb. 12 through Saturday, Feb. 15 • At Rogers State University in Claremore, Oklahoma, at 3 p.m.

Softball Friday, Feb. 14 • At Rogers State University in Claremore, Oklahoma, at 1 p.m.

• At Tiffin University in Nashville, Tennessee, at noon Friday, Feb. Sunday, Feb. 16 14 • At Trevecca Nazarene in Nashville, Tennessee, at 2 p.m. Friday, Men’s basketball Feb. 14 • At Bellarmine University at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 13 • At Davenport University in Nashville, Tennessee, at 11 a.m. Sat• At University of Indianapolis at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 15 urday, Feb. 15 • At Ursuline College in Nashville, Tennessee, at 3 p.m. Saturday, Women’s basketball Feb. 15 • At Grand Valley State University in Nashville, Tennessee, at 11 • At Bellarmine University at 4:45 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 13 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 16 • At University of Indianapolis at noon Saturday, Feb. 15

WOMEN’S BALL| Women’s basketball splits at home

Forward Alex McQuinn finishes a dunk against Quincy University. McQuinn leads the team in dunks this season. Photo by Kara Mackenzie

MEN’S BALL| Men’s basketball defeats UMSL Continued from page 14 McKnight scored 14 points in the half, and Thomas was not far behind with 12 for the Bulldogs. The game ended up coming down to the wire as Truman was up by one, but the Lions had the ball with a chance to take the lead. The Bulldogs were able to get the stop they needed when Thomas grabbed his fourth steal of the game and hit a free throw to give Truman a gritty 72-70 win. Truman moved its conference record to 11-2, while the Lions record fell to 2-11.

The Bulldogs final opponent of the four game homestand was the University of Missouri-St. Louis. UMSL came into the game with a 20-3 season record, good enough to be ranked No. 13 in the country. Both teams entered with the same conference record, and the winner would walk away with sole possession of first place in the GLVC. Truman played a defensively strong first half, holding the Tritons to 30% shooting from the field and outrebounding them by 12. They were led offensively

by Thomas, who recorded a doubledouble in the half with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Truman held a 12-point lead at halftime because of its well rounded play.

UMSL started its comeback by doubling the field goal percentage it shot in the first half, hitting 60% of its field goals. The Tritons were led by guard/forward Jose Grubbs, who tallied 25 points while going five for five from 3-point

range. With 10 seconds left in the game, the score was tied at 71, and Truman had possession. Point guard Turner Scott was able to drive and get fouled with 0.5 seconds left.

“The goal was to actually go baseline then throw a hammer pass to [Thomas],” Scott said. “But they knew the play was coming … I just had to make a play and luckily I got fouled.”

Scott went to the line and made one of two free throws, clinching the 72-71 win for the Bulldogs. Truman was led once again by Thomas, who scored 27 points for the second game in a row, went 1515 from the free throw line and finished two assists shy of a triple-double. This was the Bulldogs’ fifth straight win, tying their season high.

Truman will look to defend its first place spot in conference with its next game Feb. 13 at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky.

“Bellarmine is so well coached and they play super hard, so we know we’re going to be in for a dogfight,” Scott said.

The Bulldogs might be catching Bellarmine at the right time, though, as the 12th ranked Knights lost both of their games last week to teams that Truman has already defeated. William Jewell was able to beat the Knights in overtime and Rockhurst secured a four point win against them on Saturday. Truman will enter the game with the top spot in conference, while Bellarmine is ranked third.

Continued from page 14 In the third quarter the Bulldogs gained control of the game and never looked back.

The Bulldogs’ efforts in the third were led by guard Katey Klucking, who scored eight of her 12 points in the period on 75% from the field. Klucking also finished the quarter with three rebounds and led the team in rebounds for the game with eight. Truman ended the third with an 11-point lead that they would hold for the rest of the game, eventually winning 63-58.

Jaseckas said after the game she was excited for the matchup, knowing that UMSL is a quality team and she took the shots that the defense gave her.

“The other girls were pretty big,” Jaseckas said. “I tried to pull them out to the 3-point line to give my teammates room to drive to the basket. My teammates did a great job finding me on the perimeter and hitting me with some great passes that turned into points.”

The Bulldogs are now second overall in the GLVC behind Drury and their former head coach. With just six games remaining on their schedule the Bulldogs will need to win out to claim the top spot in the conference, but Dean believes his message to his team is the same today as it was in the beginning of the season.

“Our conference, no matter if you’re No. 1, No. 12, No. 10, it doesn’t matter. Anybody can come in and beat you,” Dean said.

“We’ve done it ourselves, we’ve done it to other teams. No game is more important than the next one, and the most important game is

always the one you have coming up next.”

The Bulldogs’ next game will be Thursday, Feb. 13 against Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky. The Bulldogs will need to continue their winning ways if they hope to challenge the Drury Panthers for a chance to claim the GLVC title.

Cebter Katie Jaseckas looks to pass the ball inside. Jaseckas averaged 17.5 ppg over the teams last two games. Photo by Truman Athletics

Guard Sloane Totta drives to the basket. Totta scored her 1,000th career point in the Bulldogs’ game against Lindenwood University. Photo by Truman Athletics

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2020

The Index

13

ATHLETE o f

t h e

w e e k

Guard Brodric Thomas led the men’s basketball team to a 4-0 record over the last two weeks of conference play on his way to his fourth GLVC Player of the Week award this season. In the four-game stretch Thomas averaged a team high 23 points, 8.75 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game including a 27 point, 12 rebound and eight assist outing against the No. 13 University of Missouri-St. Louis Tritons on Saturday, Feb. 8. Thomas and the Bulldogs are now 10-0 at home and moved into first place in the GLVC with the win.

Brodric Thomas

BASEBALL| Baseball has best start since 2015 Continued from page 14 “Honestly they just came out and swung the bats,” Davis said. “I think we’re going to be pretty aggressive. When we see our pitch we’re going to hit it.

That’s our offensive philosophy. It doesn’t matter what count it is. It could be early in the count, it could be late in the count. We also did a good job being disciplined. When guys didn’t throw strikes we did a good job of getting ourselves into some pretty good hitting counts.”

The second day of the trip was not as explosive for the Bulldogs. After posting 12 runs just the day before, Truman was unable to find the same success at the plate against Washburn University. After allowing the Ichabods to jump out to a 9-0 lead by the fourth inning, the Bulldogs finally answered with a triple by outfielder Brendan Kelly that scored two runs. This proved to be the offensive highlight for the ’Dogs who went on to lose the game by a score of 13-3.

On the final day of the road trip the Bulldogs found themselves on the field with a familiar conference opponent: the Hawks of Rockhurst University.

Last season the Bulldogs were 1-2 against the Hawks, including a heartbreaking 5-4 loss. In this season’s first meeting the Bulldogs and Hawks traded blows early in the game. In the top of the first inning catcher Reid Wilson hit a hard double scoring Kelly, and giving Truman an early 1-0 lead. The lead was short-

lived as Rockhurst answered back in the bottom of the inning with an RBI single that tied up the game.

After the first inning, the Bulldogs continued to keep the pressure on the Hawks. With runners in scoring position Rockhurst made two crucial errors that allowed the ’Dogs to take a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the second. Keeping runners on base proved to be the tipping point for the Bulldogs as their next two runs came from an RBI single in the sixth inning that scored Missey and a fielder’s choice in the seventh that scored Kelly. Truman entered the seventh inning with a 5-2 lead and relief pitcher Alex Leary on the mound. After the Hawks put up one run in the seventh the Bulldogs defense held off a late ninth inning push by Rockhurst with a game sealing double play to win their second game of the season 5-4.

“Rockhurst is way better than advertised,” Davis said. “Our pitching staff did a great job of holding them down. When we needed to make pitches we had a couple of really good double plays in there that ended threats, the big one being the one that ended the game.”

This season’s team has had the best start since 2015 when the Bulldogs won the Midwest regional and advanced to the NCAA Div. II Baseball Championships. The Bulldogs will look to continue their hot start Saturday, Feb. 15, at Rogers State University.

Third baseman Steven Bradbury fields a ground ball and prepares to throw to first.

Bradbury was two for three at the plate in the team’s first game this season.

Connor McKenna strides down the mound to deliver a pitch to home plate. McKenna recorded five strikeouts in the team’s first game. Photos by Truman Athletics

Outfielder Kory Carter swings at a pitch and drives in a run. Carter has recorded one walk over the team’s three games this season, but has not yet recorded a hit.

14

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2020

BULLDOGS JUST KEEP WINNING

Truman’s bench celebrates during a home win, its fifth straight. The Bulldogs defeated No. 13 University of Missouri-St. Louis on Saturday, Feb. 8. Submitted Photo

Men’s basketball moves to No. 1 in GLVC with win against UMSL JACK WILLIE Staff Writer

Men’s basketball was able to take over first place in the GLVC after sweeping its four-game homestand over the past two weeks. To go along with their 12-2 conference record, the Bulldogs kept their undefeated record at home, having won all 10 games played at Pershing Arena this year.

The first game of the homestand pitted Truman State University against the Rockhurst University Hawks. The first matchup in Kansas City, Missouri, earlier this season ended in a three point loss for the Bulldogs, but both teams would come into the Jan. 30 game with identical season and conference records.

Truman came out playing physically, doubling the Hawks’ total rebounds in the first half, hauling in 18 total boards with four of those coming on the offensive end.

Although Truman was playing physically,

Rockhurst went the entire half without shooting a free throw while drawing just six fouls on the Bulldogs. Both teams made 10 field goals in the half, but Truman went into the break leading by five.

The Bulldogs came out of the half looking to put away the Hawks. Behind some extremely hot shooting, Truman was able to keep its lead growing. The ’Dogs seemed to knock down every open look they received in the second half, posting 60.7% from the field as they also knocked down seven of their 13 3-point attempts.

Players were also making the extra pass until they got the look they wanted. The Bulldogs finished the game with 18 assists, compared to the Hawks’ five total assists. Five different players scored in double figures on the night, led by guard Brodric Thomas’ 18 points. The Bulldogs’ well-rounded game propelled them to an impressive 81-60 win.

William Jewell College was the next opponent to visit Truman. The Cardinals

came into the game with an overall record of 8-11 and a conference record of just 3-8. Truman was on top of a very onesided first half. Jewell made three of its 12 3-point attempts in the half, while Truman made six 3-pointers on one less attempt than the Cardinals. The Bulldogs were sharing the ball just as well as they had in the previous game, and they tallied 13 assists on their 17 field goals in the half. Truman built a large cushion for itself, leading Jewell 45-28 at halftime.

The Bulldogs were able to carry over their hot shooting from the previous game, and for the third straight half they made over 60% of their field goals. For the game, Truman shot 61.8% from the field and 56.5% on 3-pointers. The ’Dogs once again dominated on the backboards, grabbing 36 rebounds compared to the Cardinals’ 20 boards. With their 21 assists on the night, the Bulldogs were one shy of tying their season high in that category. Truman won the game 92-63, setting a new season

high for total points in a game. Offensively, the Bulldogs relied heavily on the starters who ended up scoring 78 points, with each player reaching double figures. Truman improved its record to 14-6 and kept its undefeated record at Pershing this year.

The Bulldogs continued conference play when they hosted Lindenwood University. Lindenwood came to Kirksville looking to end its nine game losing streak.

Truman was able to grab the early lead in what was a sloppy first half of basketball.

Lindenwood went 0-8 from the 3-point line in the half, while Truman’s 50% field goal percentage helped it go into halftime with a nine point advantage.

Lindenwood was able to claw its way back into the game in the second half, thanks to the Lions only missing two of their nine 3-point attempts in the half. In order to secure the win, Truman relied heavily on forward Cade McKnight and Thomas.

See MEN’S BALL page 12

Women’s basketball Tennis begins spring season wins pink out game CHASE POTTER Sports Editor

CHASE POTTER Sports Editor The Truman State University women’s basketball team was back in action last week at home against Lindenwood University and the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

The Bulldogs entered the week 11-1 overall in conference play, good enough for second place in the GLVC behind the No. 1 Drury University Panthers. In the first game of the homestand the Bulldogs struggled on defense in the opening quarter of play, allowing 27 points and falling behind by 10. The Bulldogs defense quickly came alive in the second quarter allowing just seven points, however, Truman was unable to take advantage of their defensive efforts and only put up nine points in the quarter to enter halftime down 26-34.

The third quarter was owned by the Bull-

Center Katie Jaseckas wins a tip-off.

Jaseckas was the Bulldogs’ leading scorer in their last game at home.

Photo by Kara Mackenzie VOLUME 111

ISSUE 14

dogs. Guard Sloane Totta led the comeback efforts for the ’Dogs with 10 points in the period, including her 1,000th career point coming on a three to put the Bulldogs up four midway through the third. After outscoring the Lions 22-9 in the quarter, the Bulldogs entered the final period of play with a 48-43 lead.

After holding the Lions to just 16 points in the second and third quarters, the defense of the Bulldogs was unable to continue its dominance in the fourth. The ’Dogs were able to hold off the Lions until late in the game. With 3 ½ minutes to go the Lions tied the game up at 60 and would be caged no longer. Despite their strong defensive effort for most of the game, Truman allowed 12 points in the final three minutes of play, and ultimately fell to Lindenwood 72-65.

After the game head coach Theo Dean said that the team’s loss was due to his team struggling to finish down the stretch.

“I think it just comes down to execution,” Dean said. “I think we ran plays that got us good looks, the looks that we wanted, and we just didn’t hit shots. I feel like if we’re in that position again we hit those shots.”

The second game of the home stand against UMSL was Truman’s annual pink out game, in which players, coaches, fans and even officials wear pink to honor breast cancer awareness. This season’s game held a greater weight than past seasons, as one of the members of the women’s team recently lost a family member to the disease. With emotions running high, the Bulldogs took to the court looking to avenge their previous loss.

Truman’s second game of the week started off slow for both teams. After a gritty first quarter the ’Dogs found themselves down 10-9. As the game continued the Bulldogs began to settle into their offense and find their rhythm. Center Katie Jaseckas helped the Bulldogs survive the first half with a game high 13 points at the break, including hitting all three of her 3-point attempts.

See WOMEN’S BALL page 12 tmn.truman.edu

The Truman State University tennis team began its spring season on Jan. 31 at the Missouri Western Invitational where it went 0-3 against three nonconference opponents.

In the fall the tennis team split its six games 3-3 including a win over William Jewell College, another member of the GLVC. Going into the Missouri Western Invitational the team had high hopes for the second half of its season.

Freshman Kennidy Shirey, who joined the team this fall, said that this season’s team is close, and that the players’ relationships could help on the court.

See TENNIS page 11

Morgan Eby returns a serve. Eby is one of three juniors on the team.

Photo by Kara Mackenzie

Baseball wins two of three on the road CHASE POTTER Sports Editor

The Truman State University baseball team began its 2020 season over the weekend in Alva, Oklahoma.

The team started its three day trip with a matchup against Northwestern Oklahoma State University. In the team’s first true road game of the season, the Bulldog bats got hot early. The Bulldogs jumped out to a 6-0 lead over the Rangers in the third inning, but shortly after the Rangers responded with a four-run fifth inning to bring the game within two runs.

Needing to regain control of the game, the Bulldogs answered with their biggest inning of the day. Catcher Jake Schneider got the action started in the seventh inning with a single up the middle, and was @TrumanIndex

moved to third by a double down the line by infielder Landon Hamm in the very next at bat. Following the double, the Rangers pitching staff helped the ’Dogs with a walk and two wild pitches that scored both Schneider and Hamm, giving Truman a 9-4 lead. After a sacrifice fly by Reid Wilson that gave the Bulldogs a 10-4 lead, first baseman Holden Missey stepped to the plate and capped off the inning with a bomb over the left center wall to push Truman’s lead to seven runs. Although the Rangers would go on to score another three runs, the Bulldogs’ lead was never challenged and the team captured its first win of the season 12-7.

Head coach Dan Davis said he believes that his team’s aggression was the key to its early success.

See BASEBALL page 13 @TrumanIndex

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