The Alestle Vol. 75 No. 24

THE

alestle

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

the student voice since 1960

Thursday, March 31, 2022 Vol. 75 No. 24

Deans hope chancellor creates more local involvement PAGE 3

Student theater production questions morality PAGE 5

Baseball prepares for season play PAGE 8

Chancellor James Minor holds a puppy brought to campus by the Metro East Humane Society in collaboration with the Honors Student Association. | Clair Sollenberger / The Alestle

| Emily Sterzinger / The Alestle

alestlelive.com

PAGE 2

NEWS IN BRIEF

BY THE NUMBERS / COVID-19 AT SIUE, SPRING 2022 New confirmed positive cases (from tests conducted by SIUE and self-reporting):

Tests conducted by SIUE:

Mar. 23 - Mar. 28: 1 student, 1 faculty/staff

Mar. 23 - Mar. 28: 1,223

Mar. 16 - Mar. 22: 6 student, 1 faculty/staff

Mar. 16 - Mar. 22: 1,346

14-Day New Positive Cases: 7 students, 2 faculty/staff

14-Day New Tests Conducted: 2,569

All prior weeks positive tests: (Jan. 4 - Mar. 29): 1,034 students, 245 faculty/staff

All prior weeks tests conducted: Jan. 4 - Mar 29: 29,077

1 student 3 faculty/staff

Mar. 23 - Mar. 28: 1 Mar. 16 - Mar. 22: 10

14-day new positive cases: 11

All prior weeks positive cases: Jan. 4 - Mar. 29: 1,831

Positivity Rate (as of Mar. 29): 0.42%

25 20 15

Percentage of isolation/quarantine space available on campus

10

(as of March 29): 100%

5 0

Total active positive cases: Positive cases identified by SIUE testing:

MADISON COUNTY DAY BY DAY:

Source: Health, Reporting, and Testing page on SIUE’s COVID-19 website, as of March 29.

MAR 21

MAR 22

MAR 23

MAR 24

MAR 25

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MAR 27

MAR 28

Less changes and longer passwords: ITS passes new e-ID password policy SANGIMA RAI reporter

Although passwords must be longer due to a new ITS policy, they don’t need to be changed as often.

The rule now states that passwords must be 14 characters long, rather than the previous rule of eight. Additionally, instead of passwords expiring after 60 days, they will now only expire annually.

Daniel Chace, director of network and system infrastructure said protection was the reason for the change.

“The primary reason for the change of the policy is to increase the security of the accounts,” Chace said.

According to Chace, more complicated passwords lengthen the password change frequency so people have to change their passwords less often.

Jeff Price, ITS Help desk manager, said he prefers the new password policy over the last one because of the one-year change adjustments.

“Personally, I prefer the new one just because I have to change my password ⅙ not as often, so for me that’s going to be a lot more convenient way to get into all of my accounts,” Price said.

The discussion to bring a new password policy had been going around since the start of 2021. However, the new password policy came into effect Monday, March 21.

“Starting that day, everybody, when they change their passwords, need to follow the new rule and will have the new expiration date,” Chace said.

Price said he was so excited for the new policy that he changed his password as soon as possible.

“I actually changed mine on Monday even though it wasn’t expired just to get on the one year trend,” Price said.

Several ITS employees said their frequent use of the SIUE website prevents them from forgetting their passwords.

But it is not out of the ordinary to forget one’s password and nearly everybody has experienced it at some point.

Another new feature was introduced by the team at ITS, in collaboration with the University Police Department. This new feature allows users to change their

Thursday, 03.31.22

Teen pleads guilty in murder of SIUE student

Jacob Godoy, 17, of St. Louis pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree murder in the shooting of junior nursing major Moneer Damra, according to the Madison County State’s Attorney’s Office.

Damra was shot on Jan. 14, 2021 while in a vehicle at the intersection of Interstate 270 and Route 157 in Edwardsville. He died on Jan. 27, 2021 due to his injuries.

Masking in classrooms left up to faculty preference Faculty members will be able to decide whether to require masks in class beginning April 4.

While masks will no longer be required as of next week, individual faculty members will decide if they want their students to continue to wear masks in their classrooms for the remainder of the semester.

Chancellor James Minor said faculty members should be reaching out to their students with their decision this week.

Masks are still required on public transportation, during COVID-19 testing, vaccinations and in medical settings.

The announcement stated that last week’s COVID-19 positivity rate was 0.08 percent, and has consistently been below 1 percent since March. At the beginning of the semester, rates were well over 20 percent, which caused the university to begin the spring semester classes in remote format.

The requirement of weekly testing for unvaccinated individuals remains in place.

03.27.22

Officer responded to a report of a battery that occurred earlier in the day in Cougar Village. Victims declined to prosecute.

03.28.22

| Chirstopher Gower / Unsplash passwords using the “forgot password” feature via texts.

“If I could pick one thing for the students to know, working at the help desk, it would be about the e-lert system and if you have signed up for e-lert, you can change your forgotten password with a text message, that is an option a lot of folk don’t know about,” Price said.

According to Price, users need to sign up for the e-lert system to be able to change their passwords via text.

Jeff Laughlin-Smith, chief information officer, said that the newer technologies like face ID recognition and finger-

prints couldn’t be used for now because they incur a lot of expenses and a high susceptibility to different errors.

According to Laughlin-Smith, biobased authentication has a lot of error tolerances, they would have to be tested and maintained, “It is not an exact science considering the amount of folks that we have here and what we are trying to accomplish, it just makes more sense to deal with the password tolerances and other things like multifactor that use a token,” Laughlin-Smith said.

For more information, visit the ITS website.

Officer responded to an active fire alarm in Cougar Village. Officer advised the alarm was activated due to cooking. No fire, no smoke, no damage.

Officer responded to a welfare check from a mother regarding her daughter. Officer made contact with subject and subject did not need assistance.

03.29.22

Officer located a male subject in Dunham Hall after hours. Officer provided a courtesy escort off campus.

Thursday, 03.31.22

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Long-term effects still unknown after Edwardsville oil spill FRANCESCA BOSTON reporter

Local wildlife and biodiversity may be impacted for a long time after a recent oil spill in Cahokia Creek near Edwardsville.

A crude oil leak from a Marathon pipeline caused about 163,800 gallons of oil to spill into Cahokia Creek on March 11. Cleanup crews have been working since the leak was reported and, according to Marathon Petroleum, approximately 8,060 cubic yards of oil-saturated soil has been removed for proper disposal.

As cleanup crews work to remove the pollutant from the area, it has become clear that the spill has impacted local wildlife. Nearly 40 animals have been impacted by the oil spill, and of them, 24 have died, according to a Marathon statement on March 25.

While local specimens can be seen and rescued or counted, the oil spill will impact the entire ecosystem because of the effects of the crude oil on soil health and the food chain, experts say.

Chris Theodorakis, an environmental science professor, said it would affect biodiversity and the functioning of the stream ecosystem.

“The oil may kill off some of the benthic organisms, the little bugs and worms in the mud. They might be affected the

most, which could affect the entire stream ecosystem,” Theodorakis said.

Theodorakis said another concern is the young animals and eggs that will be hatching soon. They remain in the shallow areas, which is where the oil may remain for a good amount of time. Theodorakis said the oil has chemicals that are phototoxic, meaning that when they are exposed to UV rays, the chemicals photosynthesize into toxic forms.

“The sunlight doesn’t penetrate very deep. [Young fish] stay near the surface and the very shallow areas where UV rays from the sun might be able to penetrate down there and activate these chemicals, these hydrocarbons from the oil,” Theodorakis said.

Zhiqing Lin, a biology and environmental sciences professor, said another organism that could be heavily impacted by the oil is the algae that grows along the rocks and is the base of the food chain for aquatic systems.

“There are some kinds of algae that can grow on rock, in a slow-flowing water system, and then those are very important in terms of the food chain,” Lin said.

“Oil [covering] those rock or plant surfaces will affect the whole food chain. We call it magnification of pollutants for the food chain.”

A local wildlife rescue, Treehouse Wildlife Center, in Dow, Illinois, has

been part of the wildlife rescue and rehabilitation, but they declined to comment.

Marathon has promised to cover all expenses associated with wildlife rescue relating to the spill.

Hannah Flath, the communications coordinator for Sierra Club Illinois, said the Illinois Attorney General’s office has filed a lawsuit against Marathon, which is meant to hold the company accountable for the oil spill. Flath said the Sierra Club is working to make sure Marathon is not only held responsible for the short term effects, but the long term damage as well.

“They are being held responsible for cleanup and corrective action in the weeks that have followed, but we do know that oil spills can cause long-term damage as well,” Flath said. “It’s often not until the sort of the immediate reaction and public outrage dies down that those long-term effects are even really revealed to the public. We want to make sure that is being accounted for as well.”

FDA clears way for millions to get additional COVID-19 boosters FIONA RUTHERFORD ROBERT LANGRETH JOSH WINGROVE Bloomberg News / TNS

WASHINGTON — U.S. regulators cleared second booster doses of COVID-19 vaccine from Moderna Inc. and the partnership of Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE for adults 50 and older, making millions more people eligible for the shots as concern grows about a potential new wave of infections.

Those who have received a first booster dose of the drugmakers’ shots at least four months earlier can now get another, the Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday. For most people, the second booster will be a fourth shot, while it will be the third for those who got initial single-shot immunizations from Johnson & Johnson.

While highly transmissible omicron has declined overall, the virus’s BA.2 strain has become dominant, leading to concerns about a resurgence and the need for additional safeguards. In many countries in Europe, cases remain at very high levels thanks to the even-more-transmissible subvariant. Booster doses are becoming an increasingly relied-upon tool in the fight against COVID especially as states and companies cut back safeguards such as masking and work from home.

“Current evidence suggests some waning of protection over time against serious outcomes from COVID-19 in older and immunocompromised individuals,” Peter Marks, who leads the FDA center that oversees vaccines, said in a statement.

“Based on an analysis of emerging data,

a second booster dose of either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine could help increase protection levels for these higher-risk individuals.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention chose not to convene a panel of outside advisers who make vaccine use recommendations, as it did with the first rounds of COVID shots. Instead, the agency gave its recommendation for the additional booster dose in a statement shortly after the FDA’s action.

“Boosters are safe, and people over the age of 50 can now get an additional booster four months after their prior dose to increase their protection further,” CDC head Rochelle Walensky said in a statement.

The agency landed on an age limit of 50 because there’s a significant enough group of people in that range who are at high risk, Marks said in a call with reporters. It would also help streamline vaccination programs, as the same age bracket is a cutoff point for immunizations against other respiratory viruses.

“We felt like we would capture the population that might most benefit from this fourth booster dose,” Marks said.

Much of the decision was based on analysis of data from Israel, which focused on the benefits of a second booster dose in those 60 years and over and people at high risk of severe outcomes of COVID-19, he said.

Meanwhile, the Biden administration is warning that funding is needed to continue fighting the virus. The U.S. lacks sufficient supplies to give everyone an additional booster dose of mRNA vaccine if regulators open up eligibility more widely, officials have said.

The FDA also authorized a second booster dose of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for certain immunocompromised people 12 and older, and Moderna’s vaccine for a similar population 18 and older. That additional shot can be administered at least four months after the receipt of a first authorized booster dose. People ages 12 and older with moderately or severely compromised immune systems were already able to get four shots, three of which counted as their primary series.

This second booster may not be the last one. The virus is expected to continue to mutate, raising the likelihood that the vaccine will eventually need to be updated to fight new strains. Both Pfizer and Moderna are working on omicron-specific boosters, as well as shots that would combine the existing vaccine with an omicron-specific formulation. Data from those trials could start to arrive in the coming weeks.

With no clear consensus on future boosters, the FDA is planning a meeting of outside advisers on April 6 to assess broad questions of when additional COVID boosters should be given and when shots should be updated to address new variants.

Boosters of mRNA COVID vaccines like those from Moderna and Pfizer gave more protection against hospitalization than the viral-vector vaccine from Johnson & Johnson during omicron’s dominance, according to a separate study published by the CDC. Even people who received JNJ’s vaccine as their initial immunization were better protected by an mRNA booster, according to the study published in CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

PAGE 3

Deans hope for continued community engagement from new chancellor DAMIAN MORRIS opinion editor

With James Minor recently assuming his duties as chancellor, several deans said they’re looking forward to his efforts in community engagement, budgetary issues and increased graduation rates.

School of Business Dean Timothy Schoenecker said he’s excited to see Minor continue the foundation set by previous chancellor, Randy Pembrook, in building external relationships with the surrounding community. Schoenecker said he appreciates the way Minor communicates, and foresees this ability greatly aiding in these efforts.

“He’s direct, he’s very thoughtful [and] he engages well with students,” Schoenecker said. “I think he’s going to engage really well with the external community. I haven’t had a chance really to see him do that yet, because I haven’t been with him in those settings, but I just really like his communication style and the way he works with people.”

He said the School of Business would like to see further increased relationships with the corporate community in the St. Louis area, particularly with corporations, large nonprofits and related organizations.

The School of Engineering wants to continue expanding their community outreach efforts, according to their Dean Cem Karacal. Karacal said their teams are always working with local municipalities and nonprofits to assist in engineering projects, and he wants to let the local high schools and communities know that technological skills are in high demand.

“We definitely would like to go to our local communities to let people know that there is a need for that skill set,” Karacal said. “And we should be encouraging prospective students to consider careers in engineering, computer science [and] construction areas.”

School of Education, Health and Human Behavior Dean Robin Hughes said there has been recent discussion about the history of SIUE’s budget, what it looks like now, and what changes need to be made. She said one of her goals is to figure out how to move more cautiously and critically to make sure her school stays financially healthy moving forward, which she said aligns with Minor’s vision and that she’s confident in his abilities in this area.

“He is a scholar of higher education, so he fits the bill of the job,” Hughes said. “He understands higher education, he understands systems, he understands structures, and if he doesn’t get it, he understands to go and find somebody who has that area of expertise.”

One of Minor’s priorities is to increase student graduation rates across the university, particularly for those in underrepresented populations. Schoenecker, Karacal and Hughes all said they are fully supportive of this objective and are looking forward to working with him on achieving this.

Hughes said she is excited about his vision and continued efforts to improve the university. “[I’m] just looking forward to continued movement in these streets,” Hughes said. “[I’m] so excited about [Minor] being here, excited about him moving forward on a road that has been traveled and continued good work. There was good work previously, and he’ll just continue that good work.”

NEXT WEEK: WHEELS & WALK FESTIVAL ON MCT TRAILS PAGE 4

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contact the editor: lifestyles@alestlelive.com 650-3527 Thursday, 03.31.22

Cougar World Games represents students around the world SANGIMA RAI reporter Cougar World Games returned to the Rec Center for the first time in two years, with tables representing Guatemala, Peru, Vietnam, Spain and India.

Joe Carrillo, club sports coordinator, said the event is a great opportunity for students to see how SIUE comes together.

“It’s a great opportunity for them to just [do] networking, create friendships and just get out of the room for a lot of the international students, or students who live on campus,” Carrillo said. “So we just feel it’s great to get them out here, show what the rec center has to offer and show them different clubs and organizations that they might not have known about and different cultures that they might not have known about.”

Valquiria Perea Gongora, recreational programming and strategic engagement graduate assistant from Arequipa, Peru, helped with the event by inviting her international friends. She said she was really excited to have an international event because she is an international student herself.

“If there’s a student that he’s trying to showcase their country, they can bring any information about their country, like their laptop or their iPad with videos or images, and then they can also bring a traditional dress,” Perea Gongora said. “For example, I know Peru, we brought some llamas, like crafts, with ties for the hair. Vietnam has

Vietnamese coffee so they can try that.

Spain has made some torrijas.”

Le Phuong Tu, a junior mass communications student from Vietnam, brought pictures of XO, a famous noodle dish, and samples of instant Vietnamese coffee.

“When I say Vietnam, there’s a lot of people that know about that country, so the reason I brought things here is I want to share some significant [things] because I’m really proud [of] my country,” Tu said.

Prince Kpae, a junior CMIS major from St. Louis and vice president of the African Student Association, set up a table to try to recruit students.

“They will not only meet people from the same country, [but] meet other students from different countries, because in Africa there’s a total of 54 countries and because we have students, most of them either from Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Congo, South Africa, Kenya,” Kpae said.

“So we want to invite these students to feel comfortable, to feel at home, and this organization is a second home besides the country they came from.”

Raffi Mikaelian, an SIUE alumnus who lives in Carmen, Illinois but was born in Guatemala, set up a table with a friend that brought chess sets to catch peoples’ attention. Mikaelian said he came because the rec center was his favorite place to be when he was a student.

“We have the flute, we have a handmade bag, some jars … then I bought this neat little book, so just some artisan things,” Mikaelian said. “When I go back,

it’s a country [that’s] spring all year, green, beautiful. I like to educate people on these parts.”

Alejandro Prieto Carbonell, an English language major from Spain, brought a poster of places to go in Spain, things to eat and facts about soccer.

“I was asked if I wanted to do it and I think there’s always a good occasion to present your country, your customs, what do you do, what do you like, get other people to know your country,” Prieto Carbonell said. “I think that specifically here in America, for most of the people … they think that most of the Spanish

countries are in South America instead of in Europe, and I can see why, but still we need representation.”

Sarah Ibershimi, a fifth year general medicine student from Tirana, Albania, said she met up with a lot of international students from class at the event.

“We were talking about food because there were lots of potatoes and we were with our German friend and in Germany, potatoes are very common. She was saying she misses her home food and we saw potatoes from Spain, [and] we have another friend from Spain, so we were connecting,” Ibershimi said.

SIUE students participated in a wide variety of games from around the world that were available at this event. | Clair Sollenberger / The Alestle

Looking back at original female faculty highlights struggle in academia FRANCESCA BOSTON reporter As long as SIUE has existed, female faculty have taught and worked here.

From the seven original faculty members who taught in 1957, to the female faculty who make up 60 percent of the SIUE workforce, women have helped shape SIUE’s history.

Stephen Kerber, the university archivist and unique collection librarian, has outlined and researched the seven original faculty members.

Kerber said that these women were not only well qualified for the job, but believes they would have found the opportunity to teach at a brand new university a wonderful challenge.

“I think these women were attracted by the opportunity of participating in starting a brand new university. And I think they probably found that a very exciting opportunity and challenge. Each of these stayed around for a number of years,” Kerber said.

According to Kerber’s research, of the seven original female faculty members, only one was promoted to a full professor. Mary Margaret Brady was a business education professor and was later named the chairperson of the secretarial program in 1964. She taught at SIUE until 1970 when she retired and moved to California.

Kerber’s research showed that three women were promoted to assistant professor. Evelyn T. Buddemeyer was a member of the art department, Florence A. Fan-

ning was a math professor until 1974 and Gladys Roberta Steinman was part of the English department, and who had taught at two colleges prior to coming to SIUE. The other women included Clare Blanche Jarard, who was part of the social studies department but passed away in 1963, just before the start of the school year. Babette Marks was the first woman to teach a physical education program and manage the women’s intramural program at SIUE, while also teaching dance classes at the university. Mary Belle Smith was part of the speech department and established a student drama club. She directed the first theater performance at SIUE, ‘The Silver Cord.’

While women have taught at SIUE for 65 years, they faced many challenges throughout the years. Julie Zimmermann, an anthropology professor and department chair, said she has been teaching at SIUE for 22 years and started when her children were very young. She said she was very intentional about separating her personal and professional life, in order to make sure she was taken seriously.

“I wanted my students and colleagues to see me as a faculty member, I did not want them to see me as a mom,” Zimmermann said.

She said as a new professor she was designing and teaching new courses, which meant that she would leave each week with a huge pile of papers to grade. She said she remembers feeling overwhelmed trying to juggle being a parent and a professor. “ I remember thinking between trying

to take care of my kids and do this job, ‘This job was made for like, some 1950s model of a guy who has a wife at home, taking care of everything, taking care of the kids making the dinner, cleaning the house, doing all that stuff,’ but I had to do all that and do my job,” Zimmermann said.

Laurel Puchner, a professor of educational psychology in the department of educational leadership, spoke about the challenges she has faced working at SIUE for the past 23 years.

Puchner said one of the most frustrating part is the microaggressions that build up over time, whether it be someone taking credit for an idea a woman came up with, or students basing evaluation off of presentation rather than performance.

“Students will talk about [female] fac-

ulty appearance in ways that they don’t do for men. I had a student once say, ‘Needs to brush her hair and be more professional,’” Puchner said.

Zimmermann and Puchner both acknowledge their privilege as white women and said that women of color often face harsher criticism.

Puchner said that while things are not perfect, they have improved greatly just in the time that she has been teaching at SIUE and speaks highly of the women who came before her, including the original seven female faculty members.

“I think that they were pioneers and they laid the groundwork, but there’s still more. Things are getting better over time, but there’s just more work to be done,” Puchner said.

Thursday, 03.31.22

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Taboo topics brought to life by student production FRANCESCA BOSTON reporter

Ross sets up equipment to interview Martin about his recent success, but instead learns about Martin’s affair. | Francesca Boston / The Alestle

Student-produced show,“The Goat, or Who is Sylvia,” forces the audience to address their own moral compass and capacity.

The show follows a small family and their fallout after it is revealed that Martin, the father, is having an affair with a goat named Sylvia.

The show, which features many taboo topics, took the cast by surprise when they first read it. Senior Sadie Harvey, a theater performance major from Knoxville, Tennessee, is the assistant director and stage manager for the show. She said that the first time she read it she was confused about why anyone would want to perform it– but as she read the first few pages, she began to understand the context hidden behind the overwhelming narrative of the show.

“I read the first couple pages and there was just a twisted kind of sense of humor, a really smart sense of humor,” Harvey said. “It takes you for a whirlwind of emotions, and you’re just upset by ev-

In the final scene of the show, where Ross (left), Martin (center) and Billy, played by Ethan Sproat, stand in shock after the revelation of Stevie’s actions. | Francesca Boston / The Alestle

erything that you’re experiencing.

Then for some reason at the end, you have this moment of ‘How did we get here?’”

The full-length theater performance features a small cast of only four actors. Martin, the main character, is played by sophomore Edwin Navarrete, a theater performance major from Houston, Texas. Stevie, Martin’s wife, is played by sophomore Emily Beach, a theater performance major from Louisville, Kentucky, and Martin’s son, Billy, is played by senior Ethan Sproat, a theater performance major from Lebanon, Missouri.

The final character, Ross, is not a member of the family, but a friend of Martin’s, who ultimately reveals Martin’s secret to Stevie, is played by freshman Alex Pham, a theater performance and English major from Houston, Texas.

Navarrete said since the cast is so small they not only got to know each other personally, but it allowed for the world-building within the show to be so much richer.

“You build these little tiny worlds inside of the play. It’s easier to build that reality. There are so many fun little idiosyncrasies,” Navarrete said.

Junior Garron Orozco, a theater performance major from Houston, Texas, is the director of

the show. He said he believes the purpose of the show is to provide a window of exploration into a person’s own morality and moral tolerances. The show, which has seating on both sides of the stage, is meant to allow the audience to not only watch the show but the faces of the other audience members, according to Orozco.

“You’re having to sit there and watch that with 89 other people.

Some might get up, some might feel physically nauseous. But when you’re able to be like, ‘They’re really happy right now but I feel physically sick,’” Orozco said.

Orozco said the show’s hidden meaning is not so much meant to be gleaned from the show itself, but from the conversation that will happen after. He said he doesn’t want to make the audience leave with negative emotion, but that he hopes the show helps the audience determine their moral capacity.

“I did choose the show partially because I feel like it is a level of fear that we don’t get to see often in very realistic arguments, but also the absurdism with the giant topics and the absolute grossness of everything,” Orozco said.

“The Goat, or Who is Sylvia” will be playing April 6-10 in the Metcalf Theater. For more information visit the SIUE theater page.

Martin (right) can’t focus due to the weight of his secret during his interview with Ross (left) and is so overwhelmed that he quickly blurts it out. | Francesca Boston / The Alestle

NEXT WEEK: DISREGARDING THE SOUTH ONLY CAUSES MORE HARM

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Financial courses should be taught in every high school

THE ALESTLE STAFF editorial board

High school students are unprepared for the real world without financial literacy education.

Nearly all high school students can tell you about their lessons on the stages of photosynthesis or on the mitochondria’s role as the powerhouse of the cell, but not everyone will be able to talk about balancing a checkbook or how to build good credit.

We believe this is because many high school students have never been taught these skills during their time in school.

Financial literacy should be taught in every high school.

Balancing a checkbook, budgeting, long-term financial planning, building credit and effective money management are all important skills needed in adult life that many schools neglect to teach their youth.

Fewer than half of the states

in the U.S. require high school students to take a financial course to graduate and exactly half require a course in economics. High school is the most ideal place for students to learn financial literacy.

Not everyone has the right resources made available to them and a quick phone call to mom or dad isn’t always an option either. As many parents have also not been taught financial literacy in high school, they may lack the knowledge to teach their children these skills.

The lack of financial courses in high school results in many individuals entering adulthood not knowing how to perform these basic financial tasks.

The number of individuals with financial literacy skills has gotten even lower since the Great Recession. A swift course in financial literacy between dissecting dead frogs and counting the many wives of King Henry the

Eighth could save someone from making mistakes that cost them a great deal later on.

Without being properly taught financial literacy skills, people are more prone to having bad credit, poor money management skills and interest that they are unable to pay off.

This results in being prevented from making bigger purchases, like a house or a car, in the future. In extreme cases, not knowing how to pay taxes can result in time spent in prison.

Some like to argue that high schoolers don’t have brains that are developed enough to understand financial literacy, but I would point them to the millions of teenagers that already have to do these things because of the environment they live in.

Sure, things like the quadratic equation or long division can be important. However, we should be holding financial literacy to the same importance.

The phrase, “You’re not going to have a calculator with you everyday,” became irrelevant the day smartphones were invented.

Now that we carry around everything we need to calculate the radius of a circle at a moment’s notice, we should be able to focus more on teaching finances in schools.

If we could spend the same amount of time in school learning how to balance chemical equations as we do to balance a checkbook, we would be in a much better position in preparedness for our adult lives.

No matter where students end up after their high school graduation, they will inevitably need to know how to make smart financial decisions in order to better their futures.

More high schools need to implement financial courses into their curriculum to ensure their students are set up for success post graduation.

The usual issue is slamming the weight down too hard or grunting loudly when doing so, but sometimes this is necessary.

According to an article written for Men’s Health, grunting or yelling has been shown to increase overall strength and performance and is a sign of true effort during an exercise.

If you’re truly putting in effort, noise is going to be the last thing on your mind.

A common response to this kind of weight slamming is that if you can’t handle controlling the weight in all portions, you shouldn’t be lifting it, and this is only correct in circumstances where there could be risk of injury. If you control how you’re dropping, you’ll minimize risk to yourself, and unfortunately, this creates noise.

According to an article by Men’s Health, there are benefits to be gained from dropping your deadlift such as being able to protect your back if you’re becoming fatigued, but dropping should

only happen when doing it in a controlled manner.

Aside from safety, sometimes dropping the weight has a mental aspect. According to that same Men’s Health article, dropping your deadlift can help how you feel about yourself in the gym.

Dropping from the top of a lift is bound to create lots of noise and has the potential to be out of control, so in terms of justified noise, this has no place.

One thing I myself have found personally is that people who are truly at a gym to improve themselves don’t look down on others for how they exercise as long as it’s safe and not excessive.

The gym is supposed to be a place of encouragement, and as the Men’s Health article above stated, the gym is not a library, noise is part of the experience.

Another common reason for complaints about this comes from ‘gymtimidation’ or fear of working out and feeling judged.

This specific mindset is encour-

aged by gyms like Planet Fitness with their ‘Lunk Alarm,’ which is a loud siren that goes off in the gym when there’s loud noise or weight dropping.

It’s normal to have some fear of being judged whether you’re used to the gym or not, but letting how others work out affect your mindset is counterproductive to the entire reason for wanting to go to the gym, focusing on yourself. The people who are making a bit more noise than others are there to improve themselves too.

I personally have never been asked to deadlift or lift quieter, but I see too often videos on social media and YouTube of people debating whether loud noise is okay or people insulting lifters who do tend to lift a bit louder, often because they’re lifting heavy weights.

Those that judge or ridicule the act of dropping a weight need to worry about themselves before trying to focus on people who have put in a lot of effort to get to where they are.

Noise in the gym is unavoidable, get over yourselves BRANDON WELLS sports editor

Editor’s note: This is a companion piece to a previous personal opinion, “Basic decency extends to gym policy, too.”

Getting upset or judging people for the noise they make when putting in real effort at the gym is rude.

We’ve all seen videos circulating around the internet showing gym patrons making loud noise or dropping their weights at the gym. We’ve also seen videos of people being ridiculed or even attacked for it.

The problem with this is that noise is just a part of exercise, and the specific exercise often ridiculed for this is the deadlift.

Being the heaviest and one of the most functional exercises the human body is able to do, it’s no secret that it takes a lot of effort and raw power to increase numbers. Increasing numbers, however, often also increases the noise created.

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SIUE STANDINGS Softball

OVERALL OVC

SIUE Murray State UT Martin Belmont Tennessee Tech Southeast Missouri Austin Peay Eastern Illinois Morehead State Tennessee State

10-19 24-8 18-11 17-7 20-9 14-13 15-17 17-16 2-20 11-20

Baseball

OVERALL OVC

SIUE Belmont Austin Peay Southeast Missouri Tennessee Tech UT Martin Morehead State Eastern Illinois Murray State

10-11 16-9 8-18 18-5 15-8 7-15 10-14 16-4 14-8

Women’s Tennis OVERALL OVC

Murray State Belmont Austin Peay SIUE UT Martin Eastern Illinois Southeast Missouri Tennessee State

7-6 8-4 3-5 13-2 2-11 2-14 10-4 0-5

All stats are from the OVC

UPCOMING Track and Field at Southeast Missouri All day, April 1-2 Junior outfielder Braedyn Brewer of Overland Park, Kansas, slams the ball in this February 22 game shortly before the game was suspended due to weather related issues. | Clair Sollenberger / The Alestle

What you may have missed from baseball last week BRANDON WELLS sports editor Throughout the past week, the Cougars have trouble keeping up with the competition, losing three games consecutively in the past week, but still, they persevere.

The first game against Evansville on March 23 was cancelled, so the week started off with the Cougars playing a three game series.

The Cougars played their first game of a series against Southeast Missouri on March 25, resulting in a 2-1 loss. This game was the OVC opener for SIUE and SEMO. During the game, Sophomore first baseman Brennan Orf of Wildwood, Missouri, was the only SIUE player to score a run.

The second game of last

week on March 26 also resulted in a 2-1 loss, with SEMO taking their second win in this series of games.

Sophomore infielder Josh Ohl of Edwardsville was the only SIUE player who scored a run against SEMO, getting two hits in the game.

The third and final game of the three game series against SEMO also resulted in a loss, but not without a fight from the Cougars.

The March 27 game came as a 5-2 loss, but two players in particular shined in this game.

With one hit and one run, sophomore outfielder Avery Owusu-Asiedu of Waukesha, Wisconsin performed well along with his teammate, junior infielder Brett Pierson of Carrollton, Missouri having the same score.

Baseball at SIUE vs. UT Martin 5 p.m., April 1 Softball at SIUE vs. Tennessee State 12 p.m. and 2 p.m., April 2 Baseball at SIUE vs. UT Martin 1 p.m., April 2 Softball at SIUE vs. Tennessee State 12 p.m., April 3

Sophomore outfielder Avery Owusu-Asiedu of Waukesha, Wisconsin, in a game against Oakland that resulted in an 8-4 win for the Cougars, runs for his next base. | Jihun Han / The Alestle