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Last Issue of 2017! Have a great winter break! THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2017 tmn.truman.edu
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OPINIONS | Editor-in-Chief Seth Wolfmeyer bids farewell to TMN Page 3
best of
2017
BEST OF 2017 | Join us as we highlight the year
VPSA finalists come to campus Truman looks to add biochemistry major BY RAQUEL PITTY-DIAZ Staff Writer
Photo by Lawrence Hu/TMN Janna Stoskopf, a finalist for Truman State University’s vice president for student affairs position, spoke at her open forum Monday, Dec 4. One of the two finalists will be installed by Jan. 1 after interviews and open forums happen this week. BY RYAN PIVONEY Staff Writer
Two finalists have been announced in Truman State University’s search for a new vice president for student affairs, and both have come to campus to participate in open forums. The Vice President for Student Affairs Search Advisory Committee conducted the search after a search to fill the same position last semester was unsuccessful. The committee is comprised of seven members representing various groups on campus, including two student representatives. The committee began reviewing applications at the end of September, and the goal is to have a new VPSA installed by January 2018. The committee has determined two finalists — Janna Stoskopf and Sarah Swager. Elizabeth Clark, chair of VPSA Search Advisory Committee, said the two finalists will meet with several individuals and campus constituencies, as well as participate in a campus-wide open forum. Stoskopf is the assistant vice president and dean of
student life at North Dakota State University. She appeared at her open forum Monday, Dec. 4. Swager was most recently dean of student success at Central Washington University. She will appear at her open forum at 2:45 p.m. today, Thursday, Dec. 7, in the SUB Activities Room. In addition to the open forums, the two finalists will meet with University President Sue Thomas and her President’s Administrative Council, which includes Provost Janet Gooch, Academic Affairs leaders, Student Affairs professional staff and direct reports, students from various campus organizations, and the Search Advisory Committee. Applicants for the position were expected to have a doctorate degree, but a master’s degree would be sufficient with appropriate experience, according to the search committee’s website. Other qualifications are 8-10 years of experience in student services and leadership. The candidates must show a commitment to diversity and inclusion, advocate for the
holistic development of students, have experience handling student crises, and be able to develop relationships with people from all parts of the Truman community. Current VPSA Lou Ann Gilchrist said the position oversees most of students’ out-of-class experiences. This includes student support services, residence halls, the Student Recreation Center and the Student Union Building. In addition, Student Affairs oversees the Student Conduct Code and advocates for the needs of students to the president’s staff. Gilchrist said she hopes whoever is the next VPSA understands that the Truman experience is created not only in classrooms, but also through the community and atmosphere surrounding The University. “I would hope that anyone that they hire for this position would be an advocate for student learning and development, that they would have an understanding of student development theory, and that they would be aware of the needs of a traditional student population,” Gilchrist said.
Candidates for Vice President for Student Affairs Janna Stoskopf
Sarah Swager Swager most recently served Stoskopf currently serves as as the dean of student success at assistant vice president and dean Central Washington University. of student life at North Dakota She has previously held positions State University. Stoskopf as vice president for student received a Master of Science affairs and dean of students at degree studying college student both Randolph College in personnel at Western Illinois Virginia and Coker College in University and a Bachelor of South Carolina. Swager holds Science degree in mathematics a doctorate in education with from Morningside College in an emphasis in higher education Iowa. Stoskopf has completed administration from University coursework toward a doctorate of Michigan. Swager received her in education with an emphasis Master of Arts degree in higher studying institutional analysis at North Dakota education and student personnel from Bowling Green State State University. College in Ohio and her Bachelor of Arts degree in art history and studio art from Colby College in Maine.
Truman State University is working to introduce biochemistry major for incoming students as early as fall 2018. The biochemistry major has been discussed for almost a decade now and was proposed to cater to high demand from current and prospective students. The lack of a biochemistry major has led many students to double major in biology and chemistry to fill academic gaps, which often takes five years to complete.
expected to look similar, if not identical, to that of the biology major. Because of this, many classes included in the biochemistry major are already in place at Truman. At least three classes will be created exclusively for the new major, but shouldn’t cost students any additional money. “[The biochemistry major] will be supported with existing biology and chemistry faculty,” said Janet Gooch Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs. The University recently hired chemistry faculty members who have biochemistry emphases,
Photo by Brently Snead/TMN Chemistry professors Billy Miller, Brian Lamp and Barbara Kramer sit alongside biology professor Timothy Walson at a meeting of Truman State University’s Undergraduate Council in November. At the meeting, UGC approved a biochemistry major, sending the proposal to Faculty Senate for another vote. “I think a lot of [students], if given the choice between 5 years of double majoring and 4 years of doing a biochemistry major, a lot of them are going to choose a biochemistry major,” assistant chemistry professor Billy Miller said. Accommodating for the lack of a biochemistry major can be stressful for students as well as professors, who are teaching teaching a year’s worth of information in a semester. Miller said the information can be overwhelming, and the experience will be more impactful and students will learn more if it can be spread out over multiple classes with more students. Timothy Walston, interim dean of the school of Science and Mathematics, said the University would like to create a biochemistry major by using the existing resources and without adding additional funding. As a result, the first 2 years of the biochemistry major is
which made the major proposal process possible. Gooch believes adding the new major will fit the University’s mission of interdisciplinarity, as biochemistry is an opportunity to for students to understand how skills learned in biology and chemistry work together. The major, if approved, will be certified by the American Chemical Society — a nonprofit organization and the world’s largest scientific society. According to Walston, Truman chemistry graduates earn the most doctorate degrees of any American Chemical Society certified program in the country. And the University hopes future biochemistry graduates will follow the same footsteps. The major proposal has been approved by Undergraduate Council, but still needs to be approved by Faculty Senate and the Board of Governors. Faculty Senate will meet Dec. 14 to discuss the proposal.
Truman joins national JED mental health program BY DANA BARTCH Staff Writer
Truman State University will implement a four-year, campus-wide program called JED Campus to enhance mental health services during the spring semester of 2018. JED Campus partners with hundreds of universities across the nation, such as Brandeis University and New York University, to promote the importance of mental health among students. Truman has now allocated funds to pay for the program, which were raised entirely by the 2017 Homecoming Committee. Established in 2000, the Jed Foundation is a nonprofit organization aimed toward
VOLUME 109 ISSUE 14 © 2017
equipping young adults in high school and college with the skills necessary to promote mental health and prevent suicide. JED Campus is working with more than 1.5 million students across the country and has educated more than 5,000 campus professionals in suicide prevention according to their website. Brenda Higgins, Student Health Center and University Counseling Services director, said in past years the task of evaluating and addressing the emotional well-being of the students fell upon the shoulders of the health and counseling centers. The health centers — and the university as a whole — are very excited to
have JED because they have never had a similar program instituted on campus before. “The JED program involves the whole campus,” Higgins said. “We will have individuals from higher administration at the University. We will have faculty, a representative from the counseling center, the health center, students and we should have legal affairs [and] admissions. It’s a whole campus kind of thing that will have a positive impact that hopefully radiates out through the whole campus.” A comprehensive survey will be sent out to all students at the start of the spring semester, said Higgins. The “Healthy Mind Survey” is anonymous
and designed to gauge emotional and mental health levels on campus. Skilled consultants from JED will analyze the results, visit campus and make recommendations on how the University can improve its mental health care. Lou Ann Gilchrist, vice president for student affairs, said JED specialists and the University will then form a strategic plan. This plan will be gradually integrated into Truman’s approach toward mental health over the next four years, and JED will routinely follow up with the University to add additional feedback and suggestions. All this was made possible by students serving on the Homecoming Committee
who raised the money to pay for JED Campus. Adam McMichael, program adviser for campus activities, said the students on the committee chose mental health and celebration as their two themes and monetary recipients for the 2017 Homecoming. “After a lot of research and time and voting by the committee of students, they had settled on the JED Foundation,” McMichael said. “At that point, our philanthropy chairs for Homecoming really spearheaded getting in contact with the Jed Foundation and facilitating all that communication and what developed into a partnership between the University and the foundation.”
The Index
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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2017
Truman stays up ‘til dawn for St. Jude
Photos by Lawrence Hu/TMN
Top left: True Men sings for the Up ‘til Dawn fundraiser. Up ‘til Dawn is a fundraising event that supports St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and their efforts to treat and cure childhood cancer. Top right: Freshman Taylor Smith draws to stay up all night. The event includes multiple activities for students to participate in similar performances, games and food. Left: Students pose in front of a backdrop celebrating the Up ‘til Dawn event. Leading up to the event, teams and individuals raised money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Bottom right: Students gather in one of the Student Recreation Center gyms to participate in an activity. Colleges all over the country participate in this fundraiser and have raised enough money to bring the childhood cancer survival rate from 20 percent to 80 percent.
calendar Dec. 7 SAB Holiday Lights 7-8:30 p.m. Kirk Memorial
Dec. 8 Art gallery reception 6-7 p.m. Ophelia Parrish Art Gallery
The Student Activities Board is hosting a holiday light party where students can partake in festive activities. Hot drinks and holiday cookies will be provided. Performance groups will provide entertainment. The Truman Tree will also be presented so campus organizations can hang ornaments provided by SAB.
Two new art exhibitions will be showing at the university art gallery as the last exhibitions of the semester. The BA/BFA Exhibition will be in the main gallery and the exhibition “A Strong Foundation” will be in the side gallery. The art department will host a free reception afterward with refreshments.
Dec. 9 Alpha Sigma Gamma holiday market 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Ryle Main Lounge
Dec. 15 Chinese culture poster presentation 9:30-11:20 a.m. SUB 3203
The holiday market is an event where vendors gather to sell goods and raise money for victim Support Services. Alpha Gamma Sigma will provide free cookies, hot chocolate and live entertainment. Santa Claus will also be at the event.
The special topics in Chinese culture course is presenting posters they created displaying Chinese culture. Some of the posters students are presenting are “The Birth of Monkey King” and “The Mystery of Fengshui.”
CORRECTION: In last week’s issue, the front page story, “Truman Changes LSP,” incorrectly stated the Truman State University Faculty Senate voted to change the University’s Liberal Studies Program, effective fall 2018. Instead, the proposal will be put to a faculty-wide referendum which, if passed, will put the LSP changes into effect fall 2018. An updated version of the story is available at tmn.truman.edu.
staff Serving the University community since 1909 Editor-in-Chief Brently Snead Assistant Editor Johanna Burns News Editor (Text) Nicolas Telep News Editor (Multimedia) Brea Parnell Features Editor Rachel Fechter Sports Editor (Text) Rachel Steinhoff Sports Editor (Multimedia) Jeremy Jacob Copy Chief MacKenna Palazza Assistant Copy Chief Trevor Hamblin Photo Editor Bethany Travis
Design Chief Mariah Radle Distribution Manager Jessica Rose Staff Writers Jase Willhite, Ashley
Murphy, Kennedy Martin, Paul Province, Patrick Pardo, Stephanie Hulett, Brooke Bailey, Curt Wichmer, Travis Maiden, Ryan Pivoney, Dana Bartch, Gordon McPherson, Justin Newton, Aura Martin, Raquel Pitty-Diaz Sales Manager Joey Iaguessa Copy Editors Katie Puryear, Bethany Spitzmiller, Ellen Thibodeau, Allyson Lotz, Julianna Foster, Elise Hughes, Cara Quinn
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Seth Wolfmeyer: “It’s been fun”
Inside a cluttered room in Barnett Hall, a tightknit team of writers, editors and designers gather every Monday and Tuesday night to put together, piece-by-piece, a newspaper worthy of their skill and dedication. The hours always run late — sometimes well into the morning. The work is difficult and tiring, but always worth the effort. I’ve often compared my work at The Index to a drug, unhealthy and addicting. I have served as a writer, an editor and finally editor-in-chief. My sleep has often suffered and my friends have wondered where I disappear to for days at a time, but still I would wake up exhilarated at the prospect of the work needed to be done. It is difficult to describe to people who have not experienced it firsthand, but there comes a tremendous pride in tracking down sources, finding information, writing stories and putting it all together into one paper. I started this year wanting to make The Index even greater, with stories that didn’t just deserve to be picked up but demanded to be picked up, and an appearance that would make our dedication clear. Now as I near the end of my time here, I find these goals were achieved not through my will, but through the perseverance and incredible ability of the people who I have worked beside and grown closer to. This team, which worked harder than I ever had any right to ask, has consistently proven people have astounding capacity. Nick Telep and Brea Parnell reinvigorated the news section, finding and accurately covering the stories students, staff and faculty needed to know. Nick came in as a news editor after being a writer for two semesters. He took the mission to improve the news section to heart, becoming an incredible journalist which I am proud to have helped develop. Brea was always right beside him, helping bear the load of a difficult section while always finding a way to be a positive force in the newsroom. Rachel Fechter improved not only the features section’s content, but also her abilities as an editor. The opportunity to help someone with as much passion for journalism as Rachel has inspired me to work even harder and be even better. Rachel Steinhoff and Jeremy Jacob regularly impressed everyone with their sports section, covering both the scoreboards and the moving stories of athletes. Rachel was the only member from last year’s editorial staff that remained in the same position, making herself invaluable as a dependable and seasoned voice in the newsroom while always meeting deadlines. Jeremy was the first person willing to stay late or put in extra work to help with his section and others, often making it difficult to believe that this semester was his first as an editor. The quality of The Index wouldn’t be possible without the work of all other members of the team. The work of MacKenna Palazza and Trevor Hamblin leading copy desk, Bethany Travis as photo editor and Mariah Radle as design chief have not only been invaluable, but exceptional. The one person who I owe more than anyone else is my managing editor, Brently Snead. I ignorantly believed I would have the most dedication to the aspirations of what The Index could be. I was quickly proved wrong. Brently was the first person to question a bad decision, to motivate people when it was hard to continue and to volunteer for extra work. She showed wisdom and poise at every opportunity, often proving herself smarter than me. I cannot overstate the importance Brently has had for this paper, or my confidence in her as she continues as editor-in-chief. Working as editor-in-chief has been one of the most difficult experiences of my life, and I would trade it for nothing. I know I will miss the stories, the long nights and the challenges, but honestly, what I care most about leaving is my staff. It’s been fun, Seth Wolfmeyer
3
Let the magic of Santa live on BY TREVOR HAMBLIN Assistant Copy Chief
I still remember the moment I first questioned Santa Claus’ existence, partially because it came and went with no fanfare. I was watching “The Year Without a Santa Claus” with my family — partly upside-down, as I was on the floor and a squirrely 8-year-old. A thought came into my head — and I still do not know why it did — but because it had, I blurted out, “Does Santa Claus exist?” My parents were surprised, and seemed to weigh their answer carefully before finally responding. “Not really,” Mom said shifting slightly in her cozy sweats. “But don’t tell your classmates that. Some of them might still believe in him.” “And the Easter Bunny?” “Yeah,” Dad said, and the room went quiet as my 8-year-old brain tried to figure out why I had this epiphany. Every year, children learn the truth behind Santa Claus, and every year parents have to decide how and when it is appropriate for their kids to learn about Santa — if at all. I have heard of parents who refuse to lie to their children about Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the tooth fairy and other childhood figures. And I can’t help but feel like this is the wrong direction to go about the situation. Santa Claus and similar figures represent a very specific kind of childhood magic, where we’re allowed to believe the world isn’t so mundane. It’s a part of the mythos that surrounds our youth and helps bind us together across cultures and generations. There’s something important in that childhood tradition, even if that tradition is not nearly as old as we’d like to think it is. The modern interpretation of Santa Claus — with the snowy beard, bright-red suit and “bowl full of jelly” belly — was a creation of Coca-Cola ads in the 1930s. Coca-Cola was not the first to place Santa in a red suit, according to the Coca-Cola website, but they did popularize the modern image of Santa. The idea of a jolly, fat old man with a long, white beard was born out of their campaign in the 1930s. This isn’t to say Saint Nicholas wasn’t someone who really existed. He was born in what is now Turkey in the third century, in the village of Patara, according to the Saint Nicholas Center website. After his parents’ untimely death, he decided to use every bit of money he inherited toward helping widows, orphans and the poor, as well as sailors and travelers. He became known for his generosity, to the point that the Dutch contracted his name from Sint-Nicolaas to Sinterklas and turned him into a legendary figure, which has since been the blueprint for our modern Santa Claus. So Santa Claus really did exist at some point, or at least he is based on a real person. But even if we’re only talking about the modern idea of Santa, it’s not unreasonable to say Santa is more than just the man himself. He’s used more often than not as a personification of Christmas and the spirit of giving. And that’s a really sappy way of putting it, but there’s something really nice about Santa being a feeling or state of mind. We also use Santa as a way of reinforcing core values of our culture. He teaches kids about consequences of actions — nice kids get presents while naughty kids get coal. But he also teaches kids to give. Not directly, sure, but his presence as a gift-giving role model allows kids to see how people should act about giving. But the entire argument hinges on this idea that somehow, telling kids about Santa Claus and letting them believe in him is a lie. Which isn’t quite true, even at face value. A lie is told with the malicious intent to deceive, which isn’t the case for Santa. We tell kids about Santa to fuel their imaginations. It’s an inherently positive and pure thing which helps keep the world happy and magical. There are things that are happy in this world and things that are magical — though not in the literal sense. Letting kids believe in those things is not inherently deceptive, it’s just optimistic. It’s also important to realize kids often believe in things on their own. Belief in the reality of superheroes or unicorns is common without parental reinforcement, and it is often encouraged that parents play along with these notions. No one is about to say parents treating their kids’ stuffed animals like people is lying, so why is Santa on the chopping block? Kids deserve to have magic in their lives, however small. Santa encompasses a very specific and important concept in our society, one which is hard to replicate otherwise. While we can’t live with that belief forever, I don’t want to imagine a world where no one believes in Santa Claus.
[ Our View ]
Higher education needs change No one has forgotten that the end of the semester is near, and many students are cramming for tests as teachers pack our schedules with more and more assignments. When we, as students, get closer to the end of the semester, it seems as though all of a sudden, we’re drowning in work and the stress can be suffocating. We hope after all this time, our professors might assign due dates at different times than others in the same department. They have faculty meetings and chat with one another, so shouldn’t professors be aware of the other major assignment deadlines occuring in their department? More often than not, we get to the end of the semester and realize we have too many things to finish in the meager two weeks left before break, and it’s paralyzing to try think of how we can manage to complete everything amidst our other responsibilities. But what if it were easier? What would happen to students if they weren’t stressing all the time about the status of their grade point average, but instead were taught to apply what they were learning in school? With the exception of a few professors at Truman State University who teach in a more relaxed, application-based way, the large majority of our educators implement a lot of examinations and assignments in their courses. To which, who can blame them? After all, it’s the way they were taught to teach. But what if society didn’t teach educators to judge students based on a grade or some other simplified measure of intellect? What if educators assessed students on the amount of effort we contributed, how much we’ve learned and how to apply the concepts we study outside the classroom? Education systems vary across different cultures, especially in different countries, and there are many European schools, for example, that emphasize student
learning and development more than they emphasize earning a grade. We, The Index Editorial Board, think the US education system, and Truman in particular, should learn from other cultures and adopt a more helpful way of teaching that doesn’t make students endure such high levels of stress. We, The Index Editorial Board, recognize that there are professors at Truman who arrange their semesterlong calendar so multiple assignments aren’t always due in a cluster, or so assignments might not be due at the same time as other department classes’. On the other hand, we also recognize there are significantly stressful periods when a lot of professors make assignments due at the same time. Midterms, finals and the week before each, often get the best of us students, and many have been known to claim the hashtag #SurvivingNotThriving. We, The Index Editorial Board, think it would be beneficial to see ourselves and fellow students thriving all throughout the semester. We think we could look to other countries to see what they are doing well. In Finland, most university classes only expect students to attend a few lectures a week while working on one semester-long, sometimes group, project that causes students to apply the concepts learned during class. Offering students more free time during the semester allows for us not only to better manage our school work but to better manage ourselves. Think of how much time we would be able to contribute to developing better mental stability, physical ability and emotional wellbeing. It is our view that our education system shouldn’t keep overwhelming students with American pressures of getting the best grade, but we should instead focus on learning growth within students.
EDITORIAL POLICY: The Index is published Thursdays during the academic year by students at Truman State University, Kirksville, MO 63501. The production offices are located in Barnett Hall 1200. We can be reached by phone at 660-785-4449. The Index is a designated public forum, and content of The Index is the responsibility of The Index staff. The editor-in-chief consults with the staff and adviser but ultimately is responsible for all decisions. Opinions of The Index columnists are not necessarily representative of the opinions of the staff or the newspaper. Our View editorials represent the view of the Editorial Board through a two-thirds majority vote. The Editorial Board consists of the editor-in-chief, managing editor, section editors, copy chief and assistant copy chief. The Index reserves the right to edit submitted material because of space limitations, repetitive subject matter, libelous content or any other reason the editor-in-chief deems appropriate. Submitted material includes advertisements and letters to the editor. LETTER POLICY: The Index welcomes letters to the editor from the University and Kirksville community. Letters to the editor are due by noon the Sunday before publication and become property of The Index upon submission. Once submitted, the letter is subject to editing for grammar, punctuation and spelling errors. Submissions must contain a well-developed theme and cannot exceed 500 words, except at the discretion of the opinions editor and/or editor-inchief. The Index suggests that submissions be written about current events or public issues that need to be brought forth, and should offer a valid argument. Submission does not guarantee publication, especially when submissions fail to add something to the current discussion. Letters containing personal attacks, libelous attacks or inaccurate information will not be published. All letters to the editor must be typed and submitted by email to index.opinionseditor@gmail.com. Include the words “letter to the editor” in the subject line of the email. Letters which are not submitted digitally will be taken into consideration.
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The Index
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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2017
Best of 2017 | Community mourns Arts Center BY KIRA HINTZ
into town at 9 p.m. to see what was happening and if the quilts were OK. Arriving at the fire, O’Brien said she and her friend were nervous that the quilts might be lying on the street somewhere or might be ruined because they were not a priority of the firefighters trying to put out the fire. O’Brien said almost all the quilts were destroyed except for one, which was saved but has intense water damage and permanent soot stains. O’Brien said seeing the fire and the damage to the quilts was devastating. “The one quilt that was saved was one that I made from scraps that my grandma had left, and there’s no way to recreate that,” O’Brien said. “The fabrics are gone. The quilt itself is completely gone. What was saved is a burned piece of ... it’s a burnt piece of mess. The other quilt that I made was made from all brand-new fabrics, and I made that quilt based on an inspiration that I had based on a picture that my son took of a sunset. I think the hard part is when you put so much time and energy into creating something really beautiful, it’s not just a blanket you throw on a bed. It’s made with so much love and so much care and so much attention to detail, and it takes a lot of time. Hours and hours and hours of time. I probably put 160 to 180 hours just between those two quilts alone. So, they become a part of you and the stories that go along with them are a part of you.” O’Brien said all owners of the quilts were contacted and the KAA called her to identify the quilts. Some members are thinking of cutting out pieces, O’Brien said, and framing them in shadow boxes or possibly recreating their quilts. The loss of the Arts Center, O’Brien said, will be felt by all of the community. “The loss of the Arts Center is devastating to the whole community,” O’Brien said. “The arts in Kirksville is something that really gives our community a lot of character. We have a lot of different types of artists in our community that people don’t always think about outside of the painters, people that do sculpting and things like that. There are a lot of forms of art that when you think about art as a whole, there a lot of various skilled people in this community. To me, the Arts Center helps to bring them together in a place that celebrates the culture and the history and the talent that we have here. It also has helped to educate other community members and schools and anybody who has visited some of the exhibits that they’ve had, it helps educate them on the different aspects of what the art means, what it derives, what it represents from the cultures of the communities where it comes from, and it really provides a great educational piece.”
Staff Writer
This story was originally published Jan. 26, 2017. The loss of the Kirksville Arts Association building to a fire on Dec. 2 has brought both economic and personal changes that will affect the city and the community of Kirksville with the investigation of the fire closed. Assistant City Manager Ashley Young said losing the Arts Center would likely have a negative impact on The Square. Young said because people can no longer come to the Arts Center, the traffic of the downtown could decline. Young said having more people on The Square benefits the business owners downtown and that more traffic usually equals more revenue for the local downtown businesses. Although the Kirksville Arts Association is still committed to rebuilding, Young said the location of the new building has not yet been decided. Young said the new location could be in Kirksville or somewhere else, but that community and downtown business owners would be glad to have the KAA stay in The Square. Young said an event meant to take place downtown also had to be relocated because of the Art Center’s damage. Young said a Founders Day Frontier Celebration was planned to be held between City Hall and the Arts Center. “We were going to have festive lights strung between buildings and tables, and we were going to have a kind of folk style band play and have a meal that would recreate the original meal that was served to celebrate the naming of Kirksville, which included venison and different frontier fair type at the time,” Young said. “And those plans obviously will have to be changed, so we’re looking to see what we can do within city government to continue to celebrate this important anniversary for our city.” Young said to the best of his knowledge, the KAA directors have not yet made a decision about the relocation of the building. What they plan to do, Young said, is go through a deliberate strategic planning process for the building, which they had intended to do before the fire with received grant funds, but the process has now taken on a more significant purpose after the fire. Ray Jagger, who has been the Kirksville Police Department’s certified fire investigator for three years in Missouri and on the national level, has been helping the KAA identify the source of the fire. Jagger said he was contacted shortly after the first officers were on the scene. “It’s like any crime scene,” Jagger
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Submitted Photo The Kirksville Arts Center caught fire Dec. 2, 2016 causing the loss of many types of artwork as well as the displacement of different events in the community which used the Arts Center as a venue. While the cause of the fire is undetermined, it’s likely to have been an electrical problem.
said. “The first thing I’ve always done is to make a lap to see what’s burnt, what’s going on with it. And then you try to talk to all the key players that are there now, make contact with the commander because you’ve got to work together on it. [The incident commander] has gotta put out the fire, and you’ve gotta figure out what happened. So the two of you have to work together. But mostly then what I try to do is try to document what the firemen are doing because that way I can use that information to determine what was done before they got there.” The primary goal of the fire investigator, Jagger said, is to get to the scene as soon as possible, establish what’s happening, document it and then let the documentation help piece the causation of the damage together. Jagger said fire incidents are the only crime where the crime scene is tampered with before the investigation occurs. Also, Jagger said the KPD has to work well with the Fire Department to understand what damage was done to the building before the fire was put out so the KPD can prove the source of the fire in court. The source of the fire is found, Jagger said, by deciding where the area of origin is, looking within that area of origin to determine what the possible ignition sources in that area are, then eliminating what couldn’t have started the fire. Jagger said the cause of the KAA building fire is undetermined, but likely was caused by the electrical wires. “[The KPD] outlined what the area of origin was, and I said that I had found one set of possible ignition sources,” Jagger said. “What we found — I found — was some wires. When electrical wires short
out, it creates a copper melt on those wires and creates a heat on the end of it. And that’s how you know that there was a fire.” Jagger said it’s impossible to for sure say the cause of the fire was electrical despite evidence of where the fire appears to have started. “Did [the conductors] short out and create the fire, or did the fire destroy the insulation and then the insulation shorted out? Well, it’s the question of what came first.” Jagger said he and the KPD did not go into the building to further identify any other ignition sources because they used one ignition source and decided how much money it would cost to go and analyze the others. Jagger said the cost would’ve been $20,000, and because the police ruled it out as a non-suspicious fire, it didn’t make sense to spend that amount of money to eliminate all causes. Meanwhile, when Jagger was investigating the fire’s cause, people like Andrea O’Brien lost their artwork that was displayed inside the arts center because of the fire. The KAA, O’Brien, president of Hands of Friendship Quilt Guild, said she and her club were asked to help assist with the Folk Art Society Conference which was to take place in November at the Arts Center. O’Brien said the KAA had asked the Guild to provide a Trunk Show for the event, which is when quilts are brought in a container and have their significance and story explained to the audience. The exhibition displaying the quilts, O’Brien said, started the night before the fire and included about 35 quilts. O’Brien said members of her Guild texted her, and she and her friend went
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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2017
5
Worth The Treble Passionate former and current Truman students band together to form diverse musical groups. Photos by Rachel Fechter/TMN Former Truman State University students Geneva Riley and John Murry sing during a Live Sounds band practice. Both memebrs provide vocals for the jazz, hiphop and R&B fusion group.
BY JUSTIN NEWTON Staff Writer Most students are aware of the University-sponsored music on campus. Take a walk through Ophelia Parrish on any weekday, and you’ll be greeted by an always varied ,but not un-melodious, potpourri of sounds. A clarinet’s reedy voice wafts down the hall from a second story practice room. There are aural indications that someone is warming up the xylophone in the concert hall. A few streets from campus, at The Aquadome, another sort of sound is heard. The pound of a drum kit blends with the wail of a guitar and the thump of a bass. Last weekend’s KTRM Cabin Fever Fest put the spotlight on the independent band scene in Kirksville that exists parallel to the more “official” scene at Truman State University. Former student Geneva Riley is heavily involved with this scene as a member of four local bands. Her first experience with music at Truman was in the University Statesmen Marching Band. “I was with [Statesmen] for a whole year, and I was in the auxiliary percussion,” Riley said. “Played the heck out of some cymbals and some triangles. I think we had some cowbell in there as well for one song. Pretty fun.” Riley has since become a member of several bands that are not affiliated with Truman, including Live Sounds, which performed at the festival last weekend. It isn’t unusual for musicians like Riley to be part of more than one group. This happened between local bands Live Sounds and Meth Made Me an Orphan, a punk rock band. “The drummer Ben Barker and the keyboardist Will Chaney are both in my band, as well, [which is] composed of myself, another former student John Murry and another individual known as Kass,” Riley said. “We come together to make jazz fusion, hip-hop, R&B, kind of those styles.” She said getting out a message that will positively impact people is an important part of her musical endeavors. Riley said even though being so involved in music means she spends more than 20 hours per week working on it, her love for music makes the time worthwhile. Riley said life at Truman enabled her to find a balance between hobbies and
VOLUME 109
ISSUE 14
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We all enjoy doing it so much that it never feels like we’re working on the music, just like we’re playing it. - Senior Ben Barker school that leaves time to do the things that matter to her. “I have a blast with all the groups that I am in and the time that I get to spend making good music with good
”
invests a lot of time in their music, it never feels like work. “We all enjoy doing it so much that it never feels like we’re working on the music, just like we’re playing it,”
Senior Ben Barker practices with two of the six bands he drums for — Meth Made Me An Orphan and Lives Sounds. Rehersals for both of these bands usually take place at Barker’s house. people,” Riley said. “So, you know, [I] can always find time for that.” Senior Ben Barker, drummer for Live Sounds and Meth Made Me an Orphan, said although each band member
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only place that such diverse music groups can exist because of the people. Barker also praised the support of the larger Kirksville community for music. There’s always someplace to play. Junior Anthony “Kass” Channel is a criminal justice major and a vocalist in Live Sounds who also performs solo endeavors in various genres. He said as he delves deeper into music himself, he has found advantages to being an independent musician at Truman. Kass said when he first came to Truman he wasn’t focused on music, and he said at first he didn’t have the network of musical friends he has now. “I didn’t really venture out and try and linger with those types of people — people who do music,” Channel said. “So I will say in the past I would have said no, but now I think it’s a very good place, ‘cause you have a lot of talented musicians here on Truman’s campus — a lot of talent.” Channel said music is a way for him to convey a message. He hopes to offer some hope to those who might share a background like his — one that was plagued by violence. Music is a way for Channel to process and share his own story. “I kind of have a story to tell, so the grand scheme of things is to be able to get to a platform where I can really vocalize that story and have somebody who may relate to that actually feel and see that somebody that came from what they came from, and go to the limits and go to the extreme become very successful,” Channel said. His words on what music means to him echoed Riley’s. For Channel, music is an effective and personally satisfying means of getting that message across. “It’s very fulfilling,” Channel said. “I kind of forget about everything else when I’m into music, to be honest. Like, nothing else really matters.”
Barker said. Barker said the eclectic music tastes of the Truman community have been a big factor in letting him perform the music he enjoys. Barker said he thinks Truman is really the
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The Index
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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2017
“Krampus” is an entertaining but forgettable holiday thriller This movie gets a 3/5 nail-gun-wielding gingerbread men
BY GORDON MCPHERSON Staff Writer Michael Dougherty’s 2015 film “Krampus” is a reliably entertaining, yet somewhat forgettable, horror-comedy mashup for the Christmas season. The film centers around a dysfunctional family celebrating Christmas. The family’s initially warm, joyous spirits are dashed when relatives arrive, bringing uncomfortable tension with them. The botched family celebration becomes progressively worse when their young son Max is humiliated by his relatives for his belief in Santa Claus. Max’s sadness and anger spawns the demonic presence, Krampus which violently punishes the family for neglecting traditional Christmas values. “Krampus” utilizes a mixture of comedy and horror throughout the film, rarely taking itself seriously. While tonally inconsistent, the film should please viewers looking for an enjoyable, though disposable, haunted houseesque thrill ride. Any film like “Krampus” should contain characters worth caring about. However, the majority of the characters — with the exceptions of Adam Scott’s earnest Tom, Toni Collette’s motherly Sarah and Krista Stadler’s German-speaking grandmother — are either highly unlikable or boring. The film unfortunately never fully develops the characters, leaving them as hollow, familiar archetypes. These include the foul-mouthed grandmother, the
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gun-loving American relation and the brutish cousins. Rather than generating tension and emotional resonance through the family’s deadly situation, the film left viewers rooting for the Krampus itself. Fortunately, this lack of character development doesn’t severely hurt the film and comedy can be generated throughout. Characters consistently spout comedic one-liners and make unrealistic decisions that worsen their situation but make the film more enjoyable. The film’s tongue-in-cheek tone also translates into the demonic forces themselves. Dougherty opts to avoid computer-generated images as much as possible, instead using practical effects which lend the hideous monsters to more tangible appearances. The creatures take the forms of typical Christmas icons including a colossal, bloodthirsty jack-in-the-box, whose gaping mouth is lined with razor-sharp teeth or the pair of murderous gingerbread men. Surprisingly, Krampus itself only makes a few appearances throughout the film. “Krampus” had the potential to become a cult classic, but the film’s PG13 rating holds it back. Characters often speak with sanitized dialogue, which restricts the film’s comedic potential. The violence — exciting, though bloodless — also doesn’t leave much of an impact. Overall, if viewers are able to overlook the shallow characters, suspend their disbelief and never take the film seriously, “Krampus” will prove perfectly watchable, if not especially memorable.
#3
“It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown”
#4
“A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving”
Best “Peanuts” specials
By Features Editor Rachel Fechter, enthusiast of cartoons with large-headed children
#1
#2
“Snoopy, Come Home”
This movie shows what happens when everyone’s favorite sassy beagle, Snoopy, has to abandon his owner Charlie Brown and the rest of the Peanuts gang. The hour-and-a-half film allows viewers to follow Snoopy and Woodstock on their journey to visit an old friend of Snoopy’s while Charlie Brown and all his buddies realize in heart-wrenching anguish they have taken Snoopy for granted.
“A Charlie Brown Christmas”
This classic holiday tale shows Charlie Brown, who cannot seem to get in the Christmas spirit. He struggles throughout the episode to find joy in the commercialism surrounding the holiday, and he takes on the responsibility of directing the local Christmas pageant. In the end, Charlie Brown, with some guidance from his good pal Linus, is able to discover the true meaning of Christmas.
This episode follows Charlie Brown and his friends on Halloween night. Linus and Sally anxiously await the arrival of the “Great Pumpkin,” while Charlie Brown struggles through a comically pathetic Halloween candy haul, where all his friends keep getting delicious treats and he keeps receiving rocks.
This is an often overlooked, but nonetheless entertaining, episode that features a panicked Charlie Brown trying to cook a Thanksgiving feast for his friends when he has never prepared one before. The Thanksgiving feast he and Snoopy manage to throw together includes popcorn, pretzels, jelly beans and toast.
#5
“Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown”
This angst-ridden romp follows the woes of Charlie Brown and Linus on Valentine’s Day. Linus suffers heartbreak after a failed attempt to woo his teacher, resulting in him throwing chocolates off a bridge which Snoopy and Woodstock eat beneath him. Charlie Brown, on the other hand, attempts to impress his peers and get a Valentine by bringing a briefcase to school only to receive a single, sad paper heart that says, “Forget It, Kid.”
Truman community reflects on HIV and AIDS stigmas and misconceptions BY TRAVIS MAIDEN Staff Writer
HIV is not a death sentence and it’s not a “gay disease.” These misconceptions and others were ones that Spanish professor James Hammerstrand wanted to clarify. Since Dec. 1 was World AIDS Day, different people around campus gathered to provide general tips and ideas around the virus, as well as shed some light upon the negative stigmas surrounding the infection. Hammerstrand said he came out as a gay man in the 80s just when the AIDS epidemic was at its peak. He said some of his friends were negatively stigmatized by their family, friends, churches and even their doctors after contracting HIV. Hammerstrand said AIDS was widely thought of as a gay disease and many people didn’t understand how it was actually contracted or tested for. He said the testing was nerve-wracking because of how long you had to wait for the results to come back which made going in for testing seem so much worse. “HIV could take up to two or three years for it to show up and develop,” Hammerstrand said. “So there was always the experience of going in and being tested and having to wait. For a while I think [the wait] was a month or two, now it is just a question of a couple weeks. Still, when you have to wait that long, it can be nerve-wracking and painful.” Hammerstrand said having HIV should not mean those contracted must be condemned. He said many of his friends live perfectly normal lives with HIV. They take their medications and there are no apparent side effects from the medicine whatsoever. Hammerstrand thinks we must teach the effects and preventions of HIV and AIDS at an earlier level and in general health courses. The only way to destigmatize the virus is through educated discussion. Sociology professor Paul Shapiro added to the discussion and also reiterated the sentiment that HIV is not a death sentence. Many people think once you get HIV, you will eventually get AIDS and then die. He said this is completely false because there are treatments that can assist those with the virus. Shapiro became interested in the topic when he was a New York City paramedic from 1985-1995, when AIDS first started gaining recognition. He said he was part of a team in Nevada researching a health assessment of the state, which meant he was responsible for a lot of the state’s research. Shapiro talked about how wonderful it was when Magic Johnson, a famous basketball player who contracted HIV in the height of the national panic came out as having the virus because it destigmatized discussion of
HIV. He became a leading supporter of treatment and testing. However, this also brought some negative stigma because since he was still alive, it lowered the “urge” to get help. “On one hand, the destigmatization of HIV not being a death sentence is a wonderful thing,” Shapiro said. “But the flip side is, as more and more people like Magic Johnson — who has the best access to the medications — didn’t die off, the urgency kind of wanes where you say, ‘You know what, I don’t have to be as careful or try to avoid it. If I get it, I’ll just get the meds and cocktails, and I’ll live a healthy life, too.’” Johnson is currently 58 years old and is still living a healthy lifestyle with the virus. Shapiro said the best way to spread awareness is to begin talking about it in an educated and brutally honest way, starting at a young age. It is important to teach people to be safe and understand the illness so they can be safe if they are to become sexually active. In addition to misconceptions about the virus, senior Nikki Batinick, Women’s Resource Center director, said there are many misconceptions surrounding contraception as well. She said not many people realize how many different forms of contraception there are. She said contraception shouldn’t only be used for vaginal and anal sex, but should also be used for oral sex to halt the spread of sexually transmitted infections. “We need to do a better job of promoting our free STI and STD testing on campus,” Batinick said. “We need to make places like the Women’s Resource Center more publicized so students know they can come here and get free resources to put themselves in a better, healthier situation.” Batinick said HIV and AIDS are seen as horrible STIs, and society tends to place them in a different category than something like chlamydia or gonorrhea because those two are both curable while HIV and AIDS are not. In reality though, HIV and AIDS are contracted the same way as other STIs — through blood or sexual fluids. She said society needs to stop treating HIV and AIDS like a separate viruses because many are affected, and some fear looking for help because they think they’ll be singled out. Batinick said the STI stigma is unrealistic because it’s irrational to think STIs are only transmitted through hardcore drug use and sleeping with many partners, when in reality it can come from a single partner in a monogamous relationship. She said in retrospect, it is always important to be careful when it comes to sexual activity. Batinick said the American Sexual Health Association conducted a study that showed one in two sexually active persons will contract an STI by the age of 25.
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The Index
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2017
Allison Coffelt takes a trip back to Truman and down memory lane
BY AURA MARTIN Staff Writer
Not many people get the chance to return to their alma mater as a guest speaker. That’s exactly what Allison Coffelt did. Alumna Coffelt returned last week to be the keynote speaker for the English and Linguistics Senior Seminar Conference sponsored by the Department of English and Linguistics and the School of Arts and Letters. During her two talks on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1, she discussed nonfiction writing and read sections from her upcoming book, “Maps Are Lines We Draw: A Road Trip Through Haiti.” Coffelt graduated from Truman State University with a double major in English and political science. “I have really fond memories of Truman,” Coffelt said. “Great professors —
in Haiti because of its historical connection to the United States. “I was really interested in those things and then I was excited about an organization on campus that aligned with my search for people who were interested in social justice and global health,” Coffelt said. Her decade-long interest in Haiti and her involvement with GlobeMed inspired her to take the leap. In 2013, she boarded a flight to Haiti to work with Maison de Naissance, now sponsored by the Global Birthing Home Foundation. While in Haiti, she worked with Dr. Gardy Marius and traveled across the island. During her travels, Coffelt took extensive notes and recordings of everything she saw, heard and experienced. “At the time, I wasn’t really sure what shape the writing would take, if it would take any shape,” Coffelt said. “I just knew I was there and I wanted to capture things while I was there.” Coffelt decided to attend graduate school at the University of Missouri in Columbia. She knew she wanted to write about her time Haiti, the connections between Haiti and the United States, and global health. However, she wasn’t ready to admit to herself that she was interested in writing a book, because it felt like too much to do at the time. While living in Columbia, Coffelt worked at a nonprofit. Later, she left her job to go back to Haiti to collect more material. In her spare time, she did a lot reading and writing, and then she made the decision to fully commit to her creative work for two years. “It really allowed me to give myself permission to take my work seriously,” Coffelt said. “It was also a chance for me to accept that this is going to be something that I am going to commit to for a couple of years.” Coffelt spent a decade researching and then several years writing the book. She balanced asking questions with researching and writing. Coffelt relied on her experience in her master’s program to guide her in the process of turning research into a creative work. “I was able to use the process of the critical thesis to further my research and a lot of interesting work that appears came out of that mode of critical inquiry,” Coffelt said.
Photos by Lawrence Hu/TMN
Truman State University alumna Allison Coffelt addresses a room full of Truman students and faculty in the midst of English capstone presentations about her ucpoming book “Maps Are Lines We Draw: A Road Trip through Haiti.”
many of whom are still there such as Paul Parker, Jamie D’Agostino, Joe — and I made some really wonderful friends and was able to cultivate a sense of community that was special.” She took a few creative writing classes but spent most of her time in the political science department. While at Truman, she was more interested in political science because she wanted to go into politics. She thought going through political science was the best way to influence public policy. Coffelt’s time at Truman made her an interdisciplinary student. Her work in the English department and political science department meant she not only gained the research and critical analysis skills but also the writing skills she would need later on in her career. “Now I see that there are a lot of ways you can do that,” Coffelt said. “I would like to think that creative work and storytelling and creative writing are some of those ways.” Coffelt’s passion for influencing public policy would play a part in her travels and writing later on. Coffelt became interested in Haiti long before she ever stepped foot on Haitian soil. When she was 15, she read “Mountains Beyond Mountains” by Tracy Kidder and became fascinated with traveling to Haiti. Ten years later as a student at Truman, Coffelt was involved with GlobeMed. She was interested in global health and social justice — specifically the ways these worked
English students gather in SUB Georgian Room A to listen to Coffelt speak about her new book and life experiences, as well as give helpful writing tips. Coffelt was the keynote speaker for the fall English senior seminar.
BEST OF 2017 | The fly in the ointment: “Good Kids” grapples with sexual assault, ethics of social media and moral ambiguity BY RACHEL FECHTER Features Editor This story was originally published Oct. 5, 2017. With recent changes to Title IX as well as more people in society speaking out against sexual violence and asking questions about how social media plays a role in the process, the Truman State University Theatre Department put on its production of “Good Kids” last week to add to this conversation. “Good Kids” revolves around a group of high school students reacting to the video of an unconscious girl being raped which goes viral on social media. Written by Naomi Iizuka, “Good Kids” is loosely based on a 2012 rape case in Steubenville, Ohio. Director Dana Smith said she chose the play because she liked its nonlinear, artistic structure and the difficult questions it asked. Smith said while the play touched on darker themes, she thought the actors did a good job of separating the subject matter from reality and not getting too caught up in the play. Smith said the actors in the show had a dual persona on stage as both themselves and the characters they played. “By breaking the action once in a while to just have the actors be actors, I was hoping to draw attention to the fact that this is hard, and these are just actors,” Smith said. “These are kids themselves — young people — who are tasked with taking on some very uncomfortable lines and actions, and I think they needed those moments of just breaking character and remembering, ‘This is not real.’” At one point in the play, a recording is played that is meant to be the sounds of the rape video of the main character. Smith said the two male actors who had to talk in this audio were affected by the script. Smith said while some of the more emotional scenes were difficult for the actors, the cast still found ways to keep from dwelling on the brutal subject matter or from becoming their characters off stage. Smith said she personally knows of five or six sexual assaults involving Truman students during the last three years, and
Photo by Daniel Degenhardt/TMN The “Good Kids” cast performs on stage at their opening night production. One of the shows included a talk with Title IX Officer Jamie Ball, Women’s Resource Center Director Nancy Daley-Moore and Joe Hamilton, assistant director of University Counseling Services she said her limited exposure to campus lets her know sexual assault must be impacting other students as well. “I know that it’s an issue — that’s still a problem,” Smith said. “It’s an issue that people are still divided over. And I think that the play does a pretty good job of presenting the ambiguity of so much response to extreme reports, like the rape that is depicted in the show.” Smith said the Truman theatre department has always encouraged plays that ask difficult questions, and she said theater does not have to always be lighthearted and fun. Smith said she hopes the play started a dialogue after the curtains closed. “Theater is always the fly in the ointment,” Smith said. “Theater is always the prick of the conscious. It is the mosquito flying around in the dark. A lot of people don’t understand that about theater. They
think that theater is something that should make you feel good, and that is just really not the case — never has been.” A talk-back panel with Title IX Officer Jamie Ball, Women’s Resource Center Director Nancy Daley-Moore and Joe Hamilton, assistant director of University Counseling Services, happened after one performance of “Good Kids.” Smith and Ball both said the timing of the play’s opening at the same time as Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos’ announcement to amend Title IX was an interesting coincidence that might have sparked extra conversation about the topic of the play. Ball said she thought the talk-back was effective at creating a dialogue for sexual violence. She found it important that the story of “Good Kids” took place in a high school because, as a Title IX officer on a college campus, one of her biggest worries
is that younger people are not having the same conversations about sexual assault. Ball said she thought the play did a good job touching on the bystander effect, moral ambiguity and pressures of social capital when reacting to and deciding to report a case of sexual violence. “One of the things I thought [the play] explored really effectively was the experience of slut-shaming, victim blaming [and] how that plays out — but then, the counterpoint of emphasizing that the victim in the play, the Chloe character, was passed out, not awake, unconscious, which is a definitive sort of line in the sand,” Ball said. Ball said audience members would focus on how the main character was dressed, but, at the end of the day, an unconscious person cannot consent to sex. She said it doesn’t matter if you didn’t like her outfit, it was still assault. Ball said she hopes this play will spark people’s interests in learning about and initiating conversations about Title IX. “It’s important for our community to engage and not just say, ‘Oh yay, Title IX. I support Title IX,’” Ball said. “If you have questions, criticisms about any sort of policy issue, I want to hear that too. So the increased awareness from every perspective I think is something that ultimately benefits everyone.” Cast member and dramaturge — or the one who does primary research and informs the cast about the background of the play — sophomore Austin Cable said sexual assault has occurred on high school and college campuses as long as those respective places have existed, but he said now we’re starting to see a lot of them in the media because people are standing up and speaking out. Cable said he liked that “Good Kids” added to a conversation of people standing up, fighting against and talking more about sexual violence and rape culture. “I think the play doesn’t shy away from rape culture at all,” Cable said. “I mean — this is a play that primarily deals with a rape but really doesn’t shy away from how. With social media, we’re all in one big conversation nowadays — and I think it reflects that — and rape culture has become an entirely new beast because of it.”
The Index
8
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2017
Questions on The Quad What is your favorite holiday tradition?
“There’s so many. I think I’ll say ice skating because that’s something I just don’t do unless it’s the holidays and I love ice skating.”
Senior Ama Idun
“I’m not all about the hype that’s around New Year’s. And I do think that’s also because as a child, we watched the ball drop at 11:00, and then my mom put us to bed at 11:00 and told us it was midnight.”
“I don’t get to do it much now that I’m older, but when I was younger I liked going to pick a tree out for my family for Christmas … we haven’t done it in a few years now, but it used to be a big thing. The entire family used to go.”
“I don’t like Christmas carols. I’m not a singer.”
“Hot chocolate. Not a huge fan of eggnog.”
“For me, Black Friday. I just don’t like the greed that comes with it because it’s supposed to be a season of family and giving, and Black Friday and those things just take away the meaning of that and the message, and it frustrates me … and they do it on Thanksgiving now, and that makes me so mad.”
“Definitely the traditional eggnog. However, I do really enjoy peppermint hot cocoa. I recently discovered that. It’s amazing. It warms my soul. So good.”
“I think I’m obviously going to try and give up soda because that’s what I try to do every year, but I think also I want to try and do more volunteer work next year, especially since I won’t be having as many credit hours.”
“Probably to get a 4.0 [next] semester. I came close this semester, but I know I’m not gonna get it.”
“I don’t really do resolutions. Maybe it’s because I’m not an organized person. I think of things I want to do, but I never write them or anything.”
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What’s your News Year’s resolution?
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“Ever since the start of college, I have some family friends I always get together with, and we decorate sugar cookies every year, so it’s a way to kind of keep in touch because obviously we don’t see each other that often anymore, but during the holiday season we are able to get together and just be goofy and decorate cookies.”
“I think Sangria. Me and my grandparents always make Sangria around the holidays. It’s really good.”
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Senior Julie Barthel
“My family always opens one gift on Christmas Eve, and it’s always the same thing — pajamas and popcorn and a movie — and we always end up staying up until midnight on Christmas Eve. And I’m always convinced my mom does it so we don’t end up getting up as early on Christmas morning.”
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Sophomore Jordan Hawkins
“Apple cider, hands down. So good. Warm apple cider. Double points if it’s caramel apple cider.”
“Mass commercialism and consumerism. It’s kind of overwhelming. I think people mean well, but sometimes it’s just like, ‘oh my goodness there is so many plastic, we’re just passing around plastic, so much plastic to pass around.”
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Senior Randi Slaughter
What is your favorite holiday beverage and why?
What is a holiday trend you can’t stand?
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Visit www.gliks.com to find your nearest location
30 welcomes
Lúnasa and guest soloist Ashley Davis as they present
2017 - 2018 Kohlenberg Lyceum Series
“Christmas from Ireland” 7:30 p.m. • Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2017 Baldwin Auditorium Named for an ancient Celtic harvest festival, Lúnasa is known for their innovative and distinctive sound, featuring champion instrumentals and a driving rhythm section.
Tickets are $5.50 per person and will be available starting Nov. 10 at Edna Campbells in downtown Kirksville, at the Truman cashier’s window located on the first floor of McClain Hall, between 10:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. or online at lyceum.truman.edu. For more information visit lyceum.truman.edu.
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2017
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Heveroh leads in and out of the pool
Submitted by Truman Athletics Truman State University junior Sam Heveroh was one of the team’s top performers at the Northwestern University TYR Invitational Nov. 17-19. He ascended into the national rankings after the times he set in various events including the 100-meter individual medley and the 50-, 100- and 200-meter freestyles. BY KENNEDY MARTIN Staff Writer Truman State University men’s and women’s swimming teams participated in the Northwestern University TYR Invitational Nov. 17-19 to compete against Div. I teams such as Northwestern University, Michigan State University and Saint Louis University. Junior Sam Heveroh’s performance stood out on the men’s team, recording times that helped him climb the NCAA Div. II standings. Heveroh beat out the Div. I athletes to win the 100-meter individual medley with a time of 51.14 seconds, putting him in second place nationally for the event. He also won the 200-meter freestyle with a time of 137.06 seconds, which was good enough for fourth place in the nation. His time for the 50 free, 20.31 seconds, placed him 11th nationally, and he finished second in the 100 free with a time of 44.67 seconds, breaking his Truman record and leading to him being ranked 15th nationally.
Heveroh was also a part of the 400 free relay team, which took home fourth with a time of 3:01.89, currently standing at 12th in the country. Interim head coach Jerod Simek said he always thought Heveroh had the potential to be the nationallyranked swimmer he is today. Heveroh was just shy of making nationals his freshman and sophomore years, and Simek said the difference this year was Heveroh had the focus and drive to convert his weaknesses into strengths. Simek thinks Heveroh has the potential to be a repeat All-American at the end of this season. Simek said besides Heveroh being a gifted athlete, he sees him developing as a leader among the men’s team. “Sam has done a good job of bringing the team together, pulling them up and making them better,” Simek said. “He is really growing into that leadership role.” Simek said Heveroh leads by example with the consistent work ethic he puts into the pool by continuously putting up excellent times and push-
ing his teammates to be better. Simek said out of the pool, Heveroh is just as energetic and positive. He said he does a fine job including everyone and rallying everyone together, even if it’s simply playing ultimate frisbee for fun. Simek said he thinks Heveroh earns respect from his teammates, which is why they follow his lead in and out of competition. Simek said keeping a mindset of positivity and hard work is the top asset he brings to the team. Heveroh said optimism is absolutely key, and he is a firm believer that actions reflect the level of positivity. “If I can get up on the blocks and have a mindset of, ‘I’m going to win,’ or ‘I won’t let this kid beat me,’” Heveroh said. “Then I will swim and perform much better than had I gotten up there with doubt in the back of my mind.” As for practice, Heveroh said it is just as important to swim with a positive attitude to have a productive practice and not a miserable two hours of swimming. Heveroh said success doesn’t come easy. He said it can be difficult to stay
positive through daily strenuous workouts, but the opportunity to improve his technique and get better each day motivates him to love the work it takes to be a great swimmer. “My work ethic is a huge attribute to my success,” Heveroh said. “And it should be when you wake up at 5:30 [a.m.] to jump into a cold pool.” Though nationals isn’t until midMarch in Greensboro, North Carolina, Heveroh said he is anxiously waiting for his time to compete and prove what he wasn’t able to the past two years. To qualify for nationals, swimmers have to be among the top 22 in the event. Heveroh said he is in a good position to make nationals, but he wants to continue to get better each day to put up the best times he can when March comes. At nationals, the top 8 swimmers in each event receive All-American honors. Heveroh said being an AllAmerican is his dream and would be “the icing on the cake” to an already memorable season.
Wrestling | Truman wrestling team grappled with William Penn University in their first home meet
Top: After six away meets to begin the season, the Bulldogs were able compete on their home mat in Pershing Arena Nov. 30 against William Penn University. Senior Luke Komotos lost the 174-lb match against Jason Beebe leading to the Bulldogs falling behind 28-6. Bottom Left: Sophomore Jules Joseph stares down his 197-lb opponent Sheldon Rodriguez in the nextto-last match of the meet. Joseph pinned him to bring the team within 6 points. Bottom Right: Redshirt junior Dakota Schutter takes down Joe Eads to earn the Truman’s first points of the night. Despite William Penn sustaining a 1-point deduction, the Bulldog comeback fell short by 5 points losing the meet 27-22.
Photos by Kara Mackenzie/TMN
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Story of the year Photo Submitted by Truman Athletics Truman State University seniors pose with their families and coaches on Senior Day. The five seniors are forwards Billy Daniel and Connor Erikson and guards Kyle Kanaskie, Dwight Sistrunk Jr. and Cory Myers.
Seniors pave winning tradition
Men’s basketball makes first NCAA postseason appearance since 2006 behind senior leadership
BY STEPHANIE HULETT Staff Writer This story was originally published March 2, 2017.
The 2017 graduating class of Truman State University men’s basketball has seen the program turn around from when it first arrived. In 2013, the season ended with an overall record of 10-17, then improved in 2014 — its first season in the GLVC — to end with a 20-7 record. This senior class is made up of Kyle Kanaskie, Billy Daniel and redshirt seniors Dwight Sistrunk Jr., Cory Myers and Connor Erickson. Head Coach Chris Foster said the turnaround speaks for itself, but the work ethic, leadership and selflessness have been there even when they might not have been getting the results they wanted. Foster said it’s tough to hold these qualities when wins are hard to come by, but his seniors have proven persistent and believed in every step of the process. This year’s graduating class also has the rare characteristic of filling every position on the court. From point guard, to shooters, to post players, they have it all. Foster said this versatility from a skills standpoint was what the program needed to make that jump to compete with the best teams in a great league. “It’s great — it’s kind of depressing to think about all those guys leaving,” Foster said. “Really, their development during their time here, and you look at how much better they’ve all got and how much they have grown as players through their hard work — that’s why we are able to take this program to new heights.” Foster was also a new addition to this class and started as head coach for the Bulldogs in 2014. Before this, he spent one year as the assistant head coach. Senior forward Billy Daniel said the team really pushed for Foster to be promoted to head coach even though he was a younger candidate. The previous head coach, Matt Woodley, left a little late, and Daniel said
they knew the administration would have trouble finding someone to fill that role. “We felt like that year Foster knew us, he knew how we played, and that way we could hit the ground running and not have to get adjusted to a new coach,” Daniel said. “We had a ton of faith in him, and we were really pleased with how the administration decided to stick with that.” Daniel said even though the record saw major improvement with their class, there were many great teams and players before them that sparked this turnaround. He said he has seen leaders all throughout his career and said alumni forward Mike Carlson, an All-American player for the program, guard Seth Jackson and guard Andrew Vander Zwagg were great players who paved the way for the program to start a winning tradition. During his time here, Daniel said these great individual players showed the team what it takes to win, but Foster will always preach a team focus. He said Foster tells them they have one year for each team — it’s not the previous year’s team or a future year’s team — it’s your team. The program embraces this mindset and focuses on what needs to be done for each year, each game and each individual to excel to their potential while representing the Truman name. Sistrunk transferred from William Jewell College and was ineligible for a year because of the transfer process. He is relatively new to the class, only playing for a year and a half, but he chose Truman because of the connection he had with the men already here. “When I first landed at Truman, at the time, the point guard Reed Mells and I went to middle school [together] so I knew him for forever, and the [Myers] twins and I have known [each other] since sixth grade,” Sistrunk said. “We are all from the Des Moines area, so it was the perfect feel.” The ‘Dogs are currently 21-8 and headed to the GLVC tournament to face University of Southern Indiana on March 2 in Evansville, Indiana.
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2017
GLEESON | Senior uses summer ACL rehab to
make it back to the court for season tip-off Continued from page 12 Gleeson’s small goals for herself helped her get through the long process. She said the pain of not being there with the team hurt more than the physical pain. “The biggest thing I ran into is, don’t compare yourself to where you were before the injury,” Gleeson said. “Realize how far you’ve come but also where you wanna get to.” Head coach Amy Eagan said Gleeson’s quick recovery was a testament to the person she is and how hard she works. Eagan said Gleeson has always been the determined and persistent person she had to be for her recovery. Eagan said last year she was transitioning from junior college, which is a huge adjustment. Gleeson didn’t play a whole lot in the beginning while she was making the transition, but she kept working to earn a spot on the court during games. Before her injury, Gleeson was playing 15-20 minutes per game. Eagan said during the recruitment process, Gleeson showed all of the traits they look for in players. “Every coach we talked to said nothing but good things about the kid she was — her work ethic, her mentality and those kinds of things,” Eagan said. Eagan said Gleeson trusted the process and knew that if she continued to work she would get to where she wanted to be, and Eagan said that’s the same thing Gleeson has done with her injury. As for limitations, Eagan said Gleeson doesn’t have any as her injury doesn’t hold her back. Eagan said it’s hard to tell sometimes that Gleeson is coming back from an injury based on the fearlessness she exudes in practice.
Eagan also spoke about the senior leadership Gleeson offers the team. She said Gleeson is good at leading by example, and Gleeson is not afraid to speak up in practice when she thinks the team can improve in some way. When a player is injured, Eagan said she can learn so much because she becomes part of the coaching staff in a way, which offers a different perspective. “Being around the coaches more, you see things a little differently, so I think that has to do with some of it,” Eagan said. “I also think some of that leadership comes with experience and being a senior.” Sophomore forward Maddie Tharp said ACL tears are common in sports and she has heard of it happening a lot throughout her years as an athlete, but having it happen to one of her closest friends made it even more heartbreaking. Tharp said Gleeson recovered a lot during the summer, so she did not have coaches or teammates there to motivate her. Gleeson did not let this lack of support deter her as Tharp said her drive and passion was a motivator to the entire team and pushed them to work harder as well. She said Gleeson became more vocal when she got hurt and continues to be that outspoken now that she’s healthy. Tharp is not only Gleeson’s teammate but also plays the same position, so she said she understands how hard it might be to come back to playing that role. “I have seen so many girls affected by this surgery for the rest of their career,” Tharp said. “She plays with no fear and is back to her old self, flying through the air grabbing rebounds.”
Photo Submitted by Truman Athletics Gleeson looks to make a pass in a game last year. She averaged more than ten minutes per game for the Bulldogs last season before tearing her ACL in February.
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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2017
Women top rival UMSL
Photos by Kara Mackenzie/TMN Truman State University senior forward Sam Andrews positions herself in front of a University of Missouri-St. Louis ball handler Saturday. Head coach Amy Eagan said defense was a big reason the Bulldogs were victorious. BY JAMIE FOWLE Staff Writer Coaches, players and spectators look forward to exciting matchups between rivals. Players seem to compete at their best during these games. Fans’ excitement is often through the roof and a heightened sense of pressure looms over every moment. The Truman State University women’s basketball team experienced all of this when it played its first conference game Saturday against University of Missouri-St. Louis. “We match up really well with each other,” head coach Amy Eagan said. “How we play and how they play creates a natural rivalry. Many overtime games have also helped create this rivalry. I know it’s always going to be an exciting game when we play UMSL.” UMSL has some strong players — one in particular is 6-foot-3-inch center Alex Specht. Eagan said the Bulldogs’ strategy has been to double-team Specht or play her one-on-one. She said the situation would determine the team’s defensive layout for the game. The Bulldogs finished the first quarter 12-2, but the Tritons fought back and had a 34-29 lead at halftime. The Bulldogs fought to get the lead and keep it until the end of the game defeating, the Tritons 71-66. Freshman center Katie Jaseckas and senior guard Remy Davenport led the team with 16 points each. While the Bulldogs had some big runs — including a 12-point run to start the second half — the turnaround was
largely achievable because of the team’s improvement on defense. “We weren’t defending well in the first half, so we talked about how we needed to focus on that for the second half,” Eagan said. “The third and fourth quarter we really played excellent defense. That’s a big reason why we won.”
Junior forward Rachel Edmundson scored 12 points in the Bulldog win. As for the 12-point run, Eagan said this was fueled by senior forward Ashley Hartwig and Davenport, which helped the team close the game. Hartwig scored
all 6 of her points in the second half and Davenport scored 13 of her 16 points in the second half. While there was pressure to start the third quarter, senior forward Montira Mosby said the team did a good job staying calm. She said that pressure quickly turned into excitement when the team took the lead later in the quarter. Junior forward Rachel Edmundson scored half of her 12 points during the second half. She said they knew they were in for a tough battle with the Tritons based on the teams’ previous meetings. She said the players knew they were prepared and were excited for the opportunity to beat a team they lost to twice last season. “We knew we needed to stay calm to come out with a win and just play our game all four quarters,” Edmundson said. “This is a huge win for us and a great way to start off conference play.” The Bulldogs and Tritons have come together for close games since Truman joined the GLVC four years ago. Coming into this game, Truman won four of its 10 prior meetings with UMSL. Two of the losses happened in overtime. “The most exciting moments would be in my sophomore season because we played UMSL three times that year,” Mosby said. “The first time we played USML, we lost in double overtime by 1 point. The second time we played them, we won in overtime by 5. And the last time we played them was in the play-in game to get to the conference tournament, and we won by 8 points.”
Truman swimming scores sweep against Western Illinois BY BROOKE BAILEY Staff Writer Truman State University men’s and women’s swimming teams swept Div. I opponent Western Illinois University last weekend. On the men’s side, the Bulldogs edged out the competition with a 118-103 victory, taking first out of seven events including four freestyle swims. Similarly, the women also topped the podium in seven events against the Leathernecks. The women won an unprecedented five freestyle events, ending with an overall score of 123-81. Sophomore Mikayla Kempf was part of the first-place 400-meter freestyle relay team. Kempf said because this meet was not as big in terms of number of athletes and teams com-
peting, many people swam events they don’t usually swim. Despite this, Kempf said the Bulldogs were able to put together great races. Although the Bulldogs now have more than a month until their next meet, the training doesn’t stop. The Bulldogs will journey to St. Petersburg, Florida, for one week after Christmas. “We go to Florida over winter break for the training trip where we swim four hours a day and really push our bodies and limits as a final preparation for our big [conference] meet,” Kempf said. Interim head coach Jerod Simek said the training trip is always a great opportunity to swim a lot of hours in the pool in nicer weather. He said the Florida temperatures and sunshine will serve as a motivator for the Bulldogs as they amp
up training before the Feb. 7 GLVC Championships begin. “It will be business as usual with some hard training and getting that last final push in the next two weeks before school ends and then over the holiday training trip,” Simek said. “It will be hard for sure but will allow me to see where the team is at before we come back to school and start resting for conference with some people.” Simek said conference aspirations have already entered the team’s radar, but the most anticipated meet immediately after the break is senior day Jan. 13. The Bulldogs will be in the Pershing Building for the opening meet of spring semester, looking to beat the William Jewell Cardinals — who they lost to at the beginning of November.
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Thank you sports BY STEPHANIE HULETT Staff Writer
As I approach my final competitive season of college golf, I honestly cannot remember a time when I was not playing a sport. Ever since I was 5 years old, I was on some kind of sports team — soccer, basketball, softball, volleyball, flag football, golf — you name it, I probably played it. I truly don’t want to know what my life would have been like without those sports. So here’s a thank you to sports. To the teams, the players, the coaches and my family — thank you. I’ve learned so many lessons being an athlete, and I don’t know if I would have learned the same things without these sports. It is an amazing ability to be so in-tune with your mind and body. As an athlete, I have pushed my body to the point of exhaustion and kept going. I have trained my mind to stay focused for hours at a time. In golf especially, I have learned how capable our bodies can be if we train our minds. There have been tournaments where I played 36 holes, from sunrise to sunset, while the temperature did not reach above 32 degrees Fahrenheit and rained the whole time. There have been rounds where the wind was blowing at 40 mph in all different directions and rounds where it started snowing on us. I learned the only thing to get you through a round like that is your mental game. Thank you, sports, for teaching me the power I have within me. I have learned the strength you can find in your allies. Whether I was playing a team or individual sport, there were still people around me who helped me on my journey. No matter a person’s race or gender, we are all working toward the same goal in sports. Sports have a way of bringing people together, and we can accomplish so much more together than apart. I learned I cannot always do things on my own — it is more than alright to ask for help. The relationships I formed with others through sports are the most valuable parts of my life, and sports has shown me this in more ways than one. Thank you to sports for bringing me lifelong friends. I learned what it takes to be successful and success does not simply happen to anyone — lot of hard work will get you where you want to go. Although for all the highs, there have certainly been lows. I have learned to be humble in the face of defeat, and sometimes I learn so much more about myself after rounds when I lose. I must celebrate small successes, but know we cannot become complacent in our abilities — there are always more ways to improve. Thank you to sports for teaching me the importance of celebrating my successes and learning from my failures. As a woman, sports have shown me how to speak up for myself. If we are being honest, golf has traditionally been a male-dominated sport. I am constantly told, “The ladies tees are up there, young lady,” or “Are you driving the beverage cart today?” Or my favorite, “Wow, you actually have a great swing!” And I know most people mean no harm, but when you constantly hear these things — no matter which golf course you are at — it gets old real quick. After awhile it’s hard to bite your tongue and smile politely, so I found my voice and learned how to speak up. The fastest growing sector in golf is women, and as a collegiate golfer, this gives me hope for the future of women’s golf. Thank you to sports for giving me a voice. Finally, I could not have accomplished or learned all these things without my family. My mother, who drove me around St. Louis during the week to get me to all of my practices. She drove all around the Midwest during the weekends to take me to soccer tournaments. She always made sure I was provided with the support and the ability to keep working toward my goal. My father has always encouraged me to play as many sports as I wanted to. He would take me to the gym as a young kid to practice my free throws, and he has been my swing coach for golf ever since I started playing. My parents have sacrificed so much for me to play sports. Thank you to my mom and dad for always believing in me. And thank you, sports, for preparing me for the bigger game called life.
ATHLETE o f
t h e
w e e k
The conference opener last Saturday against University of Missouri-St. Louis marked the first career start for redshirt sophomore guard Brodric Thomas. He earned 25 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three steals in the 88-83 loss. Thomas shot 50 percent from the field.
Brodric Thomas
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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2017
HEVEROH | Junior swimmer Sam Heveroh ranks among the nation’s best
See full story, page 9
Gleeson triumphs ACL injury to return for senior season Coming out of surgery, Gleeson couldn’t move or walk, and she said that really bothered her. However, after the first month, she said her thought process became more positive, which was a huge confidence boost. She said her experience wasn’t nearly as bad as what she heard it would be. “I started motivating myself more, and things got easier,” Gleeson said. “If the mental aspect of things was easy, the physical aspect got easier.” Gleeson said getting back on the court was her main motivator during her recovery, and she wouldn’t have been motivated to recover as quickly as she did without playing basketball. She said she had to be playing again in six months because that’s all the time she had before team practices began for the 2017-2018 season.
“The biggest thing I ran into is, don’t compare yourself to where you were before the injury. Realize how far you’ve come but also where you wanna get to.” - Senior forward Jamie Gleeson Photo by Kara Mackenzie/TMN Senior forward Jamie Gleeson lines up to take a free throw at the ‘Dogs 2017 home opener. Gleeson wears a brace to support her injured knee BY ASHLEY MURPHY Staff Writer Many would argue that one of the worst possible scenarios an athlete could face is a serious injury. It can be debilitating, painful and even a little scary. Senior Jamie Gleeson, Truman State University women’s basketball senior forward, knows these feelings all too well. Feb. 15 seemed like just a normal day until the senior collided with a teammate, knocking knees with her during the last 5 minutes of their
scrimmage. Gleeson heard a loud pop as she went down and knew right away that sound wasn’t a good sign. After an MRI, doctors determined she had a torn ACL and meniscus and a slightly torn MCL. The months that followed comprised of surgery and then by an intense physical and mental battle with recovery. Gleeson said she was really upset about the injury at first because she knew the recovery would be so tough, and six months seemed way too long without a basketball in her hand.
By the time preseason for the women’s basketball team began, Gleeson was just returning to physical exercise. Her doctor told her to ease up on the basketball activities, and she said she was barely running. Gleeson said she started her recovery by setting small goals and focusing on little successes throughout the journey. Those achievements helped her get through the recovery process as quickly as she did. She said it all began with finishing every workout, regardless of how long it took. Once she could finish each workout, her next goal was not to complete her workouts last. She was soon finish-
ing team workouts with the upper half of her teammates. By the end of preseason, she wanted to be finishing in the top 4 or 5 because that’s where she was last year. Although she has been completely cleared to play basketball, Gleeson said it still sometimes feels like she’s in the recovery process. She said she is content with where she is now but acknowledges she has a lot more work to do. “It feels like I am [still recovering] just because of the way some people treat me — it’s more mental,” Gleeson said. “I was out for seven months not being able to do basketball, so it’s more like connecting my brain back with my knee and getting myself back to where I was.” Gleeson said she is allowed to do anything and everything, but there occasionally still are things she struggles with physically. For example, she said she still struggles in some situations on defense after watching film and when she gets beat in practice. She said it isn’t from a lack of trying but rather her leg needs to catch up with her mind. Gleeson gets sore at night, but she said that’s better than having pain during the day or during practice. Although she is still working to get back to the same level of play she was at before the injury, she said she really has no complaints being only eight months post-surgery. This season, Gleeson said she wants to just enjoy playing the game she loves with her team. She said winning conference this season would mean more with this particular group. “I love playing the game, and I want to play as much as I can,” Gleeson said. “Our team is so close, which is more than anyone can ask for. ” Looking back, Gleeson said there is a lot she learned from her injury. She said if she could give advice to someone going through a similar situation she would say you have to be your own self motivator and you can’t get down on yourself. See GLEESON, page 10
BEST OF SPORTS 2017 3. 1,000 and counting 2. All-GLVC engagement 1. See page 10 for the By Curt Wichmer Feb. 2, 2017
By Kennedy Martin Nov. 2, 2017
No. 1 story of 2017!
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