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alton — east st. louis — edwardsville
vol. LXIX no. XIV
Professor to be Protesters turn out for second presidential debate on Nov. 8 ballot
MIRANDA LINTZENICH Alestle Reporter
When most people think of the upcoming election on Nov. 8, they generally think of the presidential candidates. However, it will also be a date to vote for local politicians. Math Instructor Katie Stuart is Katie Stuart the democratic candidate for state representative of District 112 running against Republican Incumbent Dwight Kay. On Wednesday, Oct. 5, Stuart participated in an open forum hosted by the SIUE chapter of State Universities Annuitants Association. The State Universities Annuitants Association is an advocacy organization that focuses on preserving pension and healthcare benefits for employees, according to their organization. The SUAA was responsible for actually putting together the event, according to Stuart. Stuart addressed the questions SUAA had laid out from the annuitants regarding the state budget and other state level problems. According to Stuart, her part was to be able to answer those questions. Stuart said she has never run for a political position before. “When you see the problems in the State of Illinois, they go far beyond what I can tackle in the classroom,” Stuart said. According to Stuart, gaining the position would give her the ability to help fix the problems the state is currently handling, like the budget. “I understand the importance for the community and university at large,” Stuart said. “I’ll support the university system.” Unlike Stuart’s candidacy, this particular event did not directly pertain to students per se, but the quality of the university’s faculty and staff does, according to John Jennetten, president of the SIUE chapter of the SUAA. “Having secure pensions and providing affordable healthcare are some of the factors that are important to both faculty and staff and leads to the retention of better employees,” Jennetten said. “SUAA wanted the opportunity to hear from each of the candidates,” Stuart said. “They had questions that pertained to their members.” Kay will be attending the next SUAA open forum Tuesday, Oct. 18, according to Jennetten. The moderator for the open fourm will be Leo Welch, a faculty member at Southwestern Illinois College. Members of the SUAA include mostly retirees, but also current employees, according to Jennetten. “This was a sponsored SUAA action. Our goal was to provide information to our current members. We have about 500 in our local chapter,” Jennetten said. “We wanted to focus on issues related to pensions and healthcare benefits for the employees.” “The biggest difference is that both participants will be there,” Jennetten said. “Attendees will get to hear from both candidates. Also, the first event only had about a dozen people, so we are looking for a better turnout.” The Candidates Forum will begin at 5 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 18, upstairs in the MUC, at Fixins’ Restaurant. SIUE retirees, current employees, their spouses and their survivors are all invited, according to the chapter’s website.
Members of ‘BRICK X BRICK’ stand in solidarity before the second presidential debate Sunday, Oct. 9, outside of Washington University in St. Louis. ‘BRICK x BRICK’ is an effort to build the 2016 women’s vote against Donald Trump and misogyny. | Brian Muñoz / Alestle
Questions linger after BLM conference KIAH EARL Alestle Reporter The Black Lives Matter conference last week left a lot of people underwhelmed with SIUE’s institutional effort regarding race relations around campus. Some said the conference did not meet their needs, while others felt the conference was another step in the right direction for SIUE and minority relations. “We will continue to have the Black Lives Matter conferences every October to keep the conversations ongoing,” Associate Chancellor for Institutional Diversity and Inclusion Venessa Brown said. “Beginning in January, we will also hold the ‘We Are One Summit: Strategies and Solutions,’ which will allow us to take the issues discussed in the October discussion and find solutions.” The Office of Diversity and Inclusion will be hosting the summit Wednesday, Jan. 18, which will give those that were in attendance at the Black Lives Matter conference, as well as anyone interested, an opportunity to work handson with other members of the SIUE community to create a plan for diversity and inclusion both collectively and individually moving forward. This summit is intended to provide a positive space for
students, faculty and staff to begin to be proactive about diversity and inclusion on campus. Brown said this summit will follow the Black Lives Matter conferences annually in January and allow for a place where campus community members can feel safe and productive while tackling otherwise difficult topics. “The summit will allow us to make the issues brought up in the conference relatable to our SIUE community,” Brown said. “We are one, that’s everybody, not just some people, but an all-inclusive conversation.” Brown recognizes there were some issues at the conference and plans to keep those in mind for the next October conference session in 2017. “I recognize that some people took the opportunity to ask questions, and some were left unanswered,” Brown said. “In the future, we will have more control over the open forum discussions by limiting the amount of responses per question.” Senior exercise science major Ta’Nia Jordan, of Glendale Heights, said she plans on attending the summit, and she hopes that students and staff come with an open mind and ready to work. “I think that a lot of people get so caught up in talking about not doing anything,
and that position becomes comfortable,” Jordan said. “It’s easy to complain about nothing happening, especially when the programming isn’t available. Now that it’s readily available, those of us who want to see change need to be there ready to work, ready to help and ready to be that impact.” Jordan said she looks forward to attending the summit in January. “Its really cool to know that administration is giving students the opportunity to be a part of the changes occurring on campus,” Jordan said. “It makes me feel like the university cares when students are allowed into the planning process. Nobody experiences the university like the student does, so it’s really amazing to have our perspective genuinely valued.” Senior political science major Reggie Hamilton, of Chicago, said he hopes the summit is productive, and not just for show. “I think that the conference itself was a start, but I keep asking myself, is the summit really going to be productive?” Hamilton said. “I feel like we all might go and share ideas, but whether or not our ideas are valued and actually used is the next question.” Many students agree with Hamilton. The lack of trust be-
tween administration and students is a divide that plagues the ability to be productive in more areas than just diversity and inclusion. The We Are One Summit: Strategies and Solutions in January will be a registration-based event, like the Black Lives Matter conference. Brown said she encourages anyone who has any positive ideas for the ways in which the university should promote diversity and inclusion around campus to attend the event so their voices can be heard. Brown said she understands different people around campus might feel underrepresented and she believes speaking up and being a leader at events like this can be the beginning of a movement for any underrepresented population on campus. “When we say black lives matter, we have to recognize that we’re talking about everybody.” Brown said. “The things happening to black people is a result of the historical culture within our country, and that includes everyone.” For more information, contact Venessa Brown at vbrown@siue.edu. Contact KIAH EARL Call 650-3527 Tweet @kearl_alestle Email kearl@alestlelive.com
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