The Alestle, Vol. 76 No. 3

THE

alestle

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

the student voice since 1960

Administration addresses antitrans stickers, Mensi project vandalism

Sword fighting brought to campus PAGE 5

Cougars triumph over Lindenwood in 2-0 shutout PAGE 8

PAGE 2

Thursday, September 8, 2022 Vol. 76 No. 3

Biden announces student loan forgiveness up to $20,000 BRANDON WELLS sports editor

Among last week’s events, one stood out for college students — student loan forgiveness.

President Biden announced recently the White House’s Student Debt Relief Plan. In this plan, the Department of Education would be forgiving up to $20,000 in student loan debt from federal loans.

The eligibility for this forgiveness is dependent solely on you or your parents’ income.

Ken Moffett, chair of the Department of Political Science, said this loan forgiveness is based on amounts less than $150,000 for individual income or less than $250,000 combined for families.

When meeting these requirements, Moffett also said forgiveness amounts can vary from $10,000 for non-Pell Grant recipients with federally backed loans and $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients.

Those who borrowed using a federal Parent PLUS loan are also eligible for forgiveness given they meet the income requirements.

Moffett said that those who consolidated their Federal Family Education Loans into federally backed programs are eligible as well.

According to an article from CNN, some current students are eligible, and this eligibility is based in a similar way to FAFSA, meaning it will be based on your income if you file individually, or your parental income if you are filed as a dependent.

Moffett also said support for this action is partially based on its ability to give many students a more balanced student

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loan debt level.

“On average, non-white borrowers for undergraduate student loan debt have higher levels of student loan debt than white borrowers,” Moffett said. “So, accordingly, this is also framed by advocates of this proposal as a way of advancing equity.”

On top of the forgiveness, Biden also extended the pause for debt repayment to end on Dec. 31, 2022 and announced a new income-based repayment plan for loans.

The plan would introduce a more affordable way for borrowers to repay their debt by basing monthly payments off of your discretionary income — allowing lower payments, and for some, no payments.

Emily Blackston, a junior psychology major from Springfield, Illinois, said she saw the forgiveness coming for some time, but pictured a larger amount.

“I thought it was gonna be more than $20,000, and $20,000 seems to me like [it’s] about the maximum forgiveness,” Blackston said.

Blackston said she is eligible for this forgiveness, but is dissatisfied due to having to still take on the full price of getting a master’s degree for psychology. She said despite this, she is still hopeful she can find employment that will pay for her doctorate.

“Grad school is definitely super expensive. The whole idea is it’s supposed to be a payoff, so you’re going to be in debt after, but ideally you’re going to have a job

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that will allow you to climb out of that hole,” Blackston said. “As far as a degree beyond [a master’s] goes, I think I might be able to get that covered. It depends on where I get into.”

With future forgiveness possibly far off, Blackston said she is unsure whether she has faith that more will be done or whether it can be done.

The forgiveness itself only covers federally backed loans, meaning not all students will have their loans forgiven, even if they’ve graduated.

Koren Frideres, a Spring 2022 graduate majoring in English from Coal City, Illinois, said since her loans are all private, those loans are still fully on her.

“I was complacent to it because I kind of knew that my loan was probably not going to be touched. I have a private loan with Sallie Mae,” Frideres said.

Despite it not directly affecting her loans, Frideres said she sees a lot of pushback regarding the move to forgive loans due to uncertainty of where the money is

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coming from.

“The money has to get paid back somehow, and I can’t perceive that going well if they tried to [implement] a tax or something like that,” Frideres said.

With that being said, the topic of how the loans will actually be paid back is heavily debated. According to an article from CNBC, the topic of burdening taxpayers is a fair argument to be made, with estimates of a $2,500 burden per taxpayer.

While this doesn’t directly mean that taxpayers will immediately see that cost, there will eventually be some sort of cost to make up for the size of the student loan forgiveness.

On the other hand, some states are able to tax the loan forgiveness at the state level. According to an article from PBS, states such as Mississippi, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Arkansas and North Carolina will tax the loan forgiveness due to state laws regarding loan forgiveness.

Moffett said this taxing is primarily due to the differences between state laws and tax codes, with some having the same or similar laws and some having different ones.

“Each state writes its own tax code…

Different states write their tax codes in very different ways,” Moffett said. “For example, the state of Connecticut taxes people who are employed by Connecticut companies but are working remotely elsewhere unless they can show that it’s being done for other than the convenience of the employer. This is known as the convenience of the employer rule.”

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Thursday, 09.08.22

University to install machines in men’s rooms after vandalism ELIZABETH DONALD copy editor

SIUE will install dispensers for menstrual projects in some restrooms after another wave of vandalism against the Mensi Project bags hanging in all restrooms on campus.

The Mensi Project began in 2018 after the university removed machines dispensing menstrual products from most restrooms on campus, leaving them available only on a firstfloor restroom in each building.

In response, English professor Christy Ferguson began leaving small quantities of menstrual supplies in restrooms with a little sign that read “period emergencies are emergencies,” and by the end of the first day she had a flurry of emails.

So Ferguson launched the Mensi Project, hand-sewing the colorful cloth bags now found in every restroom on campus.

It was designed as a community project, where people might leave extra supplies in the bags for someone else who had need of them.

“The goal was to get people talking about periods and to have access to the products they need,” Ferguson said. “We’ve been shamed about our periods our whole lives. It became this source of shame, of fear, ‘somebody might know,’ to the point where you couldn’t really ask questions.”

Ferguson hoped the Mensi Project would help destigmatize menstruation, and foster awareness particularly among people who do not menstruate and might react with discomfort at a basic bodily function. “ “The reality is that it is painful, it can be sporadic and you

can’t track it, and the products themselves can be expensive,” she said. “These are things we need in order to remain healthy and safe; it is a bodily function we cannot control. Having access to those things in public spaces – for some people it’s indescribable how helpful it is.”

In 2021, the Illinois state legislature passed a law requiring that menstruation products must be available in all public restrooms, including men’s rooms, as transgender men also have the possibility of menstruating.

Facilities Management began supplying products to the Mensi Project, so Ferguson no longer had to rely on donations to keep the bags full.

But the Mensi Project bags became a target for vandalism once they started appearing in men’s rooms last year. Mensi bags were thrown in the trash or in urinals, defaced or otherwise damaged with the products destroyed. Anti-trans stickers were found on walls in the bathrooms and elsewhere on campus.

Ferguson said she tried switching to discreet baskets instead of the colorful cloth bags, and added explanatory signs with QR codes leading to information about the state law requiring the products’ availability and the SIUE Student Conduct Code. Facilities Management tried zip-tying the bags to make it harder for them to be removed or damaged.

“Still they were regularly thrown away,” Ferguson said.

Two weeks into the fall semester, there have already been incidents of vandalism against the bags in men’s rooms and at least one report made to the Bias Incident Report Team.

Nick Niemerg, co-chairman of Safe Zone and co-founder of

The Mensi Project began operating in 2018 with dispensers like this one. However, soon Facillities Management will aid in installing machines to help instead. | Jihun Han / The Alestle

the Queer Faculty and Staff Association, said incidents of anti-trans stickers and vandalism started the first week of school and have cropped up in the library, main academic buildings and the MUC. “At the end of the day, people need to use a restroom where they feel the most comfortable; it’s really not anyone else’s business where people go to the bathroom,” Niemerg said.

The university issued a campus-wide statement last week condemning the anti-trans stickers and vandalism against the Mensi Project bags. Jessica Harris, vice chancellor for anti-racism, diversity, equity and inclusion, called them “transphobic and anti-gender inclusive messages that create an unwelcoming environment” for trans and non-binary students and employees.

“These actions are not acceptable and conflict with our institutional values and commit-

ment to inclusive excellence,” read Harris’ statement. “SIUE supports trans and non-binary people and affirms that they have a place in our university community. We value all individuals who step foot on our campus and hold firm in our support of our LGBTQIA+ community members.”

Facilities Management director Craig Holan is ordering 10 dispenser machines to install in some restrooms, with the possibility for more.

“We decided to start by putting in machines where we’ve had problems,” Holan said. “There’s a difference between an impulse and actively trying to tear a machine off the wall, so we’ll be watching it carefully.”

The dispensers cost approximately $300 to $400 each, and require maintenance as well as supply. The supplies will still be free, but Holan said they are working to find machines that dispense one item at a time with

a timer, to keep vandals from emptying the machines.

Ferguson and Niemerg both complimented Facilities Management on being proactive and going after vandalism as soon as it is reported. Holan said their goal is to remove any reported stickers or vandalism within an hour of receiving the report.

Bias incident reports can be submitted electronically on the SIUE website.

Safe Zone is a faculty-staff-student group whose sole purpose is to provide education on LGBTQ+ issues, on and off campus. It maintains a comprehensive list of Safe Zone allies who have gone through training and can provide help and answer questions for LGBTQ+ people on campus. Find out more at siue.edu/lgbtqia.

For people who would like to help the Mensi Project, contact Ferguson or check out its website through Women’s Studies.

Chicago becomes latest stop for migrants bused from Texas by Gov. Abbott. Mayor Lightfoot spokesman says new arrivals are welcome ROSEMARY SOBOL SHANZEH AHMAD GREGORY PRATT LAURA RODRIGUEZ PRESA Chicago Tribune / TNS

CHICAGO — Approximately 60 migrants coming from Texas were dropped off at Chicago’s Union Station on Wednesday night, officials said.

Ryan Johnson, a representative for Mayor Lori Lightfoot, confirmed the information.

“Today, the City of Chicago received confirmation that approximately 60 migrants were traveling to Chicago by way of Texas,” Johnson said in a tweet. “Chicago is a welcoming city and as such has collaborated across various departments and agencies to ensure we greeted them with dignity and respect. We understand that many are fleeing violent, traumatic, or otherwise unstable environments.”

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced the arrival of the “first group” of migrants bused to Chicago in a separate statement Wednesday night.

Abbott’s statement said that in addition to Washington, D.C., and New York City, Chicago will now be a dropoff location for the busing strategy as part of his response to President Joe Biden’s policies he says are overwhelming Texas’ border communities.

“We will respond with essential

services while these individuals navigate the next steps of their journey and our community partners have been working diligently to provide a safety net,” Johnson said.

“As a city, we are doing everything we can to ensure these immigrants and their families can receive shelter, food, and most importantly protection. This is not new; Chicago welcomes hundreds of migrants every year to our city and provides much-needed assistance,” Johnson said.

“Unfortunately, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is without any shame or humanity,” Johnson said. “But ever since he put these racist practices of expulsion in place, we have been working with our community partners to ready the city to receive these individuals. We know that racism, discrimination, and human cruelty have played a pivotal role in how immigrants are received within our borders, and we are still working to recover from the previous presidential administration, which encouraged this behavior. This is such an important moment for Chicago as a city has been a sanctuary for thousands of newcomers. We are welcoming them and we will not turn our backs on those who need our help the most.”

Abbott’s statement said that “President Biden’s inaction at our southern border continues putting the lives of Texans — and Americans — at risk and is overwhelming our communities.”

As of 9 p.m. along the Canal Street side of the station, a group of about 15 people, some of whom were from Venezuela, who had apparently missed a bus were standing and speaking to each other and to a Chicago Tribune reporter. Most were men, but there was one woman with a baby.

A Chicago police officer who stood nearby told the Tribune they were all migrants and earlier, there was a much larger group who had boarded a bus and already left Union Station.

Lightfoot has been an outspoken advocate for immigrants’ rights since becoming mayor in 2019 and has not been shy about defending Chicago on the national stage. She clashed with former President Donald Trump, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Illinois Republican candidate for governor Darren Bailey.

Months after being elected, Lightfoot crashed a news conference held by the Chicago ICE director, where she appeared with a group of immigration activists and called criticism of the city’s sanctuary ordinance “nonsense.”

The mayor later pushed a revision to Chicago’s Welcoming City ordinance that prohibited police from cooperating with federal immigration authorities to deport immigrants living in the country without legal permission who have criminal backgrounds. She has also gone on walking tours in Chicago neighborhoods with large immigrant populations where she

09.01.22

A checkbook was found in the Cougar Lake apartments.

A wallet and keys were found together in in Parking Lot A. A wallet was found in the MUC.

09.02.22

A wallet and a seperate set of keys were found on the ESTL Campus.

An Apple watch was found in the Cougar Village apartments.

A debit card was found in the Cougar Lake apartments.

09.03.22

An officer assisted Edwardsville Police Department with a house that was egged.

09.05.22

An officer responded to an active fire alarm in the Cougar Lake apartments. The alarm had been activated by cooking. There was light smoke, no fire and no damage. The carbon monoxide alarm had also been activated. Edwardsville Fire Department checked the building and found no carbon monoxide.

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Thursday, 09.08.22

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Retired SIUE professor curates community art exhibit NICOLE BOYD opinion editor

The Edwardsville Art Center hosts “Still Life: Painters and Objects,” curated by Jane Barrow, an SIUE painting professor of 24 years.

Barrow, of St. Louis, said she came up with the idea of a still life exhibit while she was still teaching because it is standard subject matter that gets boring for most students as they progress.

“Still life is also a subject matter that lots of people who aren’t in the arts, they think of fruit, wine, bowls, and meanwhile for the last 10 years on Facebook, I’ve been following some people who are really incredible still life painters. I was just so anxious to share these painters that were just so damn good,” Barrow said.

Barrow said her goal was to choose pieces from many artists she had never met but whose pages she followed, which created extra work due to artists shipping their work from nine different states. She said her choices prioritized craftsmanship and love of paint. She said she followed perceptual painters in particular because they use color purposefully and create work in between a photograph and perception.

“The thing that that person is interested in is not rock and bone for the texture of rock and bone, but this feeling of light just creating through, and that absolutely feels more like my memory of light coming through a window and the feeling like a lightbulb is on something,” Barrow said. “It looks like that, of course, but it’s not the main focus.”

The second piece from the right was created by Samantha Slone, a second-year MFA student at Washington University. She took inspiration from the Australia bush fire. | Damian Morris / The Alestle

When it came to organizing the display, Barrow said she was purposeful in mixing and matching for aesthetic purposes, but she occasionally had dramatic ideas as well. For example, she placed a painting of the American flag between two cynical political pieces.

“I chose this [flag] because it’s a welcoming symbol, but at the same time [to the left] this is a Twitter [logo] of [Trump’s head] and this is sort of a fall from grace. And [to the right] this is a piece that’s cynical, it’s not political, necessarily, but it’s about

“We Built This City,’ by Jason Bly, an SIUE alumnus, critiques capitalism using only paint to create realistic textures. from the Australia bush fire. | Damian Morris / The Alestle

mediation and how everything is mediated,” Barrow said. “Even if you go to a park, you know, it’s like you’re seeing nature, but you’re seeing [it] according to certain roads and stuff.”

Sara Drescher, from Fredericksburg, Texas, created the “Reclaiming the Casserole” series.

She said still life is a chance to present ordinary objects in different ways – and to her, vintage dishware is a symbol of strong women in her life. She said she wanted to make tiny bowl billboards to communicate in a gently subversive way.

“I’m horrified by how many things we attribute to the 1950s housewife that’s still hanging around today, and so I think these become very poignant that way because they evoke that nostalgia and those things from the past that we still need to address,” Drescher said.

One of Drescher’s pieces features the casserole dish’s iconic floral print in the shape of a uterus, which she said speaks to women still being seen as objects or even incubators.

“By putting reproductive organs on a casserole dish that is very much associated with domestic roles, it’s sort of tongue in cheek and sassy at the same time.

But it’s also sad because that’s an object, it’s a container,” Drescher said. “We’re objectified and we are containers for life and creativity and intelligence and power and all of these things, but it seems like it’s just boiled down to, can we reproduce?”

Samantha Slone, a second-year MFA student at Washington University, had two pieces

featured in the exhibit, both of which focused on environmentalism. She said she views environmentalism through the lens of consumerism and how our globalized economy contributes to ways of life that cause environmental catastrophe, as well as what it means to be Filipino American within the rhetoric of intersectional environmentalism.

“We are the primary beneficiaries of the industrial revolution, and so we bear the most responsibility to enact action against climate change. Yet we have all of these systems in place … that keep us from feeling the brunt of those issues as they’re occurring within our world,” Slone said. “They seem very far away, and in those two paintings in particular, that was something I was thinking about a lot, this ivory tower feeling that I get, that I’m witnessing all of these things happening around me and yet for some reason not feeling the weight of them.”

Slone said in her bush fire piece, the background is an image from the Australian bushfires, and the use of a still life references the Dutch Golden Age being the heart of the genre coming to the Western world.

“That period was the first time that art in that region became a commodity, became accessible to this new middle class.

I think of it as just the still life in general as this access between all of those consumerism and production and surplus ideas that I think about,” Slone said.

“Still Life: Painters and Objects” will be displayed at the Edwardsville Art Center until Sept. 9.

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contact the editor: lifestyles@alestlelive.com 650-3527 Thursday, 09.08.22

Gradute student’s climate change-inspired sculpture receives prestigious national award

global warming or climate change, it’s very devastating to hear, but when I saw that image for the first time, I just kind of A third-year SIUE art student has laughed at myself because of the absurdity won a national sculpture award out of that kind of scene,” Smith said. of 270 nominees.

Smith said the image got Evan Smith, third year art him thinking about privilege in graduate student from Charlessociety and the benefit to live ton, West Virginia, was one of in places where people aren’t 13 recipients out of 270 nomaffected as those who have less. inees to win the Outstanding “I use my sculpture skills Student Achievement in Conto create a sort of pedestal temporary Sculpture Award for using 3D printing and other his art piece, Guise. building techniques,” Smith Smith said his passion said. “Then, I use projection for art began with tradition- Photo courtsey of to create this sort of uncanEvan Smith al drawing and painting. He ny video piece that combines said as he became familiar with with sculpture.” newer technologies like 3D printing, he Smith said he likes to immerse the started sculpting. viewer in the works that he makes and “I got really excited and very nerd- it’s exciting when they’re able to interact ed-out about that kind of stuff and that’s with his art. really what brought me into a sort of a 3D Duhigg said many art students learn world,” Smith said. to talk, think and be self-critical of their Art and Design professor Thad work. He said Smith shows these skills in Duhigg said the International Sculpture his own work.

Center puts out a call to universities every “I think there’s a lot of information year to nominate up to three students. He and a lot of rich ideas in Evan’s work and said he has had Smith in multiple classes I think that came through to the judgand thought his sculpture, Guise, was wor- es,” Duhigg said. “I think that was a thy of the Outstanding Student Achieve- huge part of it.” ment in Contemporary Sculpture Award.

Smith is the third SIUE student in “He’s really involved and he’s very a row to earn the Outstanding Student much about taking risks and chanc- Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture es,” Duhigg said. “He’s very deserving Award, following Abbi Ruppert in 2020 of the award.” and Allena Marie Brazier in 2021.

Smith said he was inspired to create “It’s just a super kind of fun moment Guise after finding an image online of and it really is a big moment for the sculpa neighborhood that had recently been ture program because this is the third year flooded, with only a single swimming pool in a row that we’ve gotten it,” Smith said. untouched by the disaster.

“It’s a really cool moment for me, but also “I think, when we hear a lot about a cool moment for Thad, who’s worked

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really hard with the students and the other students that have received it as well.”

Duhigg said he is pleased to have students win the award for three years in a row, especially since SIUE is a smaller school compared to other universities in the competition.

Duhigg said what makes Guise stand out the most is its thoughtprovoking topic.

“It’s beautiful to look at, but it’s very eye opening in the sense of the topic that he’s talking about,” Duhigg said. “It’s a really powerful piece.”

Smith said he found out he won

while visiting Wonderspaces, an interactive art museum in Philadelphia. He said in the middle of the exhibit, he received the email informing him that he would be one of the 13 recipients of the Outstanding Student Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award.

“It’s just kind of like pinching myself and I’m super thankful to the department, obviously, but also to the jurors,” Smith said. “They were able to see the work and, you know, make that decision.”

For more information on Evan Smith’s artworks, visit his website, evanandstacy.studio.

Evan Smith used 3D printing to create ‘Guise’ portraying the issues of climate change and privilege in society by showing a swimming pool left untouched to a natural disaster. | Evan Smith

Thursday, 09.08.22

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Swords clash on Dunham lawn in medieval combat club practice DYLAN HEMBROUGH reporter

Secretary of the club Ryan McMahon (Dox) poses in his fighting stance. | Clair Sollenberger / The Alestle

Foam swords collided on the Dunham lawn as the medieval combat club conducted a public practice on Wednesday, Aug. 31, open to anyone interested.

Zac Gillespie, president of the club, first brought the sport of Belegarth to SIUE after attending the St. Louis Renaissance fair.

Gillespie, who fights under the name “Roam,” said that Belegarth is a combat-oriented organization with chapters known as “realms” all over the world.

“It is a worldwide sport,” Gillespie said. “They actually have events over in Germany, France, Belgium …

I believe there’s a couple in Mexico as well.”

Ava Ploeckelman, vice president of the club, said that the realm at SIUE formed very recently, originally over the social media site Reddit.

“Zac put out something on Reddit … and [we] answered the call. We worked together to start this club last semester,” Ploeckelman said.

Ploeckelman, who fights under the name “Andromache,” said that a public practice could help the club bolster its numbers and get people involved.

“We really wanted a place where we could put swords into the hands of as many people as possible, because it’s re-

ally an addicting kind of sport,” Ploeckelman said. “We want diversity, and we want a lot of people to join us and come have fun with us.”

The fencing club, a separate organization from the medieval combat club, was represented in part by Logan Richter. Richter, vice president of the fencing club, said that sword fighting was not only a fun activity, but one which helped them out socially as well.

“It was a great place for me to meet a lot of people who are interested in the same things I’m interested in,” Richter said. “I found that it really helped improve my self-confidence.”

Duke Orr, who fights under the name “Thor,” is the instructor for the club. Orr said that he has traveled as far as Spain to fight, and that one of the most fascinating facets of the sport is how everyone has a different personal style.

“It got me connected with some of the best friends I’ve ever had in my life,” Orr said.

Orr said that he has always been interested in the medieval life, and that for him, Belegarth is a way of getting back to our roots as a species.

“I liked the simplicity,” Orr said. “How we came from absolutely nothing, and now we have a computer in our pockets … the sheer magnitude of that has always fascinated me.”

David Wickman, president of the fencing club, has been involved in sword fighting for 13 years and said he wanted to see what the other sword fighting club was up to.

“We love to meet other clubs and do stuff with them,” Wickman said.

Wickman and Richter both said after the practice that they would be interested in hosting a joint event between the two clubs.

“This is a really fun club,” Richter said. “It’s really interesting to see how [Belegarth and fencing] compare, what you can carry over and what you can’t … it’s a lot of similar people at our club.”

Orr said he emphasizes everyone’s ability to learn something new, and refers to fighters as “cadets” because no one ever stops learning.

“You can’t learn enough,” Orr said. “There’s always something new coming out.”

Gillespie said that he hopes to spread word of the club across campus, and that the public practice attracted the attention he was hoping for.

“If you’re looking to blow off some steam and unleash your inner nerd, anybody and everybody is welcome to join us,” Gillespie said.

For more information on the medieval combat club, visit its website.

Ryan McMahon, Dox (left), fighting Theron Orr, Thor (right), a consultant for the club, while the president/treasuer of the club, Zachariah Gillespie, Roam (center) watches on. | Clair Sollenberger / The Alestle

NEXT WEEK: MOVIES MISREPRESENT MENTAL ILLNESS

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The “manosphere” fosters hatred in next generation of men THE ALESTLE STAFF editorial board

With the creation of online communities over the years, some have had a positive impact in the lives of those that partake in them. However, there are some communities that do more harm than good to its inhabitants, such as the “manosphere”.

The “manosphere” is a collection of online groups that follow a shared toxic set of ideals about men’s interactions with the world around them, especially those involving women.

The development of these communities has been gradual over the course of a few years, but has recently blown up into the public consciousness due to popular figures within the community receiving attention and violent/non-violent attacks.

While there have always been similar cases of misogyny, there has not always been a manosphere. It was formed

because of the Internet’s ability to connect and discuss with anyone across the world at any second. With this ability, individual cases of misogyny became collective cases.

The best-known of these groups are incels, who believe that, at no fault of their own, they cannot find a sexual partner. Incels became infamous due to a number of attacks that aligned with their ideology. An example of this was the Toronto van attack of 2018, where the perpetrator declared himself an incel and murdered 10 people.

Another example is the cult of personality developing around figures such as Andrew Tate. Tate is currently one of the most influential within the manosphere.

Tate was one of the most googled figures in the world at one point.

Though currently banned on most platforms, Tate still remains relevant through discussion. While we at the Alestle would have preferred not discussing him, Tucker Carlson of Fox

News interviewed Tate on Aug. 25. Tate’s contribution to the public’s knowledge of the manosphere cannot be ignored, either, as his ideas encapsulate all that the manosphere believes in.

Tate embodies the ideal man within the manosphere: a rich, athletic man that sees women as disposable and subservient to him. Tate specifically believes that men own their female partners, that a woman can’t be smarter than him, and that victims of sexual assault bear some responsibility.

This conception is common within the manosphere, as it focuses on men being hyper-individuals that don’t conform to society’s norms. Despite believing this, they rigidly align themselves with the “traditional” gender norm for men.

The issues caused by the manosphere could be generational. Isolation is a big issue among men in the modern day, and directly correlates to the formation and propagation of

the manosphere. The book “The Emergence and Development of the Manosphere” by Lisa Sugiura delves deep into the manosphere’s formation. Within isolation, men try to find an outlet for developing into adults; the manosphere community eventually finds them and then digs deep into them by introducing the true solution to their problem — working on themselves — and then supplementing that solution with the easiest escape: hatred.

Solving the manosphere problem is not simple. It comes with understanding your own faults, working to fix them and not pushing the blame onto women or any other group. We at The Alestle encourage anyone that finds themselves identifying with the manosphere to take a step back. Try to see things from the perspective of constant improvement and empathy for others, and soon you’ll realize that the manosphere has lied to you, and that you can be a better person without being hateful.

Furries should be making school mascot costumes EMILY STERZINGER editor-in-chief

No matter what you think of furries, they generally know how to make visually appealing designs of cartoon animals. Many mascot costumes, including our very own Eddie the Cougar, look uncanny and oddly proportioned.

Furries could very well be the solution to this issue.

For those who may not know, a furry is a person who is a fan of anthropomorphic animals, often participating in online communities related to the hobby. Many who can afford it dress in custom costumes called “fursuits,” usually designed after their animal persona, also known as a “fursona”. The term “fursuiter” refers both to those who don these costumes and those who

build the costumes themselves.

This community faces a lot of derision online, but the majority are harmless, average people; one was even involved in the development of one of the COVID-19 vaccines. I’m not a furry — but I’ve had several close friends who are, and there’s nothing inherently wrong with the subculture.

Mascot costumes usually cost roughly $6,500, according to Olympus Mascots, even as much as $10,000 or more for a more complex one. Custom fursuits, in contrast, are usually $4,500 on the high end according to Dogpatch Press, a furry news site.

Sure, some have sold for more, but the point is, the average price of a mascot costume from a standard costume production company is $2,000 more than the high end of an independent fursuit

maker’s creation.

I hate to talk badly about Eddie the Cougar, but the costume that they bring out for games and other events is flat out creepy, and hardly even resembles a cougar.

With lanky limbs and an oddly proportioned torso, not only does it look weird, but it looks like there wasn’t enough effort put in.

Fursuits, in contrast, tend to provide a more appealing and much less uncanny design, whether by being more stylized or closer in appearance to the animal the suit is modeling. Low-effort fursuits may exist, but the community largely has ways to filter them out, so as long as you look at the examples of a fursuit creator’s work, you’re not likely to get duped into something ugly.

This isn’t even just a theory at this point. There are cases

of actual fursuiters revamping school mascot costumes, such as the.stomper on TikTok, who was tasked to remake his high school’s mascot costume and made it look much better than before.

Even more so than a visual or price point appeal, a great part of commissioning fursuiters for mascot costumes is the fact that you’re supporting an independent artist. Everyone talks up supporting small businesses/artists — but now, it’s time to put your money where your mouth is.

Between the price, the visual aspect, the support of independent artists and the preexisting real life application, this is clearly the ideal way to go about commissioning mascot costumes in the future.

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Thursday, 09.08.22

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sports

NEXT WEEK: GETTING TO KNOW YOUR ESPORTS TEAM AND WHY THEY GAME

alestlelive.com

Thursday, 09.08.22

Men’s Soccer secures 2-0 victory against Lindenwood University JANA HAMADE copy editor For the first time in game history, the Cougars faced off against Lindenwood University.

Despite being a first time opponent, the Lions fell to the Gougar’s claws.

The first minute of the game started off with a strong offensive play by SIUE, with a saved shot by junior forward Jacob Bilyeu from Oakville, Missouri.

The period followed with 7 fouls against Lindenwood and 8 against SIUE, between the team’s first goal scored by sophomore midfielder Pau Palacin from Alizira, Spain, at 29:28.

Head coach Cale Wassermann said he was very happy with the team’s overall performance.

“I thought we started strong, and we bounced back from a tough weekend last weekend, scored first, got a clean sheet,” Wassermann said.

Wassermann said a number of standout players contributed to SIUE’s win.

“Andres Delascio’s first start of 2022 and slid into midfield and it was phenomenal, Aaron Crabtree’s our right-back and

has been excellent the last couple games,” Wassermann said. “I was happy to see Pau and Andres score, lastly Eric Bauche, who has only made his second career start but had a shoutout tonight.”

With three minutes left in the first period, Andres Delascio from Milton, Ontario, scored SIUE’s second goal of the match at 42:29.

Fourteen more fouls were called against SIUE during the second period as well as 8 against Lindenwood, and 3 yellow cards in total. SIUE had 12 shots in total with 8 on goal, while Lindenwood had 7 shots with 3 on goal.

Wasserman said he would like the team to manage their moments better in the future.

“I think we followed a few times unnecessarily, and there were a few counterattacks that we had that I think we could have either gotten more territory or got the chance to turn it over more a little bit, but overall, I would give us a passing grade,” Wassermann said.

The Cougars play their next game against Western Illinois University at 4:30 p.m. today in Macomb, Illinois.

Follow the live stats on the SIUE athletics website.

Senior midfielder, Jack Edwards from St. Louis, Missouri, lines up to strike the ball switching the field. | Clair Sollenberger/ The Alestle

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