The Alestle Vol. 71 No. 27

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DENTAL STUDENTS PREPARE FOR BOARD EXAMS

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TRACK AND FIELD TAKES THREE OVC TOURNAMENT TITLES

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Wage increase may affect student workers, university TREVOR OLIVER lifestyles editor

Students spark concern with campus Wi-Fi connections

Pembrook to help supervisors recruit new students and workers.

“So one of the questions was, ‘if we raise everybody from $8.25 to $9.25, are we going to try to keep those differentials?’ and we decided that they made sense,” Pembrook said. “It gives supervisors a chance to try to recruit students, so for example in IT, which is one of those differential areas, we’re going to try to maintain that in 2019-20.”

Fee and tuition recommendations have already been made to the Board of Trustees, so new costs for next year won’t fall on students according to Pembrook.

“Since this is happening late in the process as it relates to funds for 2019-20 [and] we already made our fee recommendations [and] tuition recommendations to the board [of trustees] … we’re going to try to cover this centrally in 2019-20, i.e. the additional costs, we’re not going to pass that on to the units in the coming year,” Pembrook said.

Pe m b r o o k said he is looking to form a committee to help investigate the future implications and difficulties of the wage increase.

“But we’re going to form a fiscally responsible while also makcommittee of faculty, staff, and ing sure we comply to the regulastudents and try to talk through tion.” the long-term implications of all see WAGES on page 2 of that and try to make sure we’re r ve e ea tl W les nn e A oA Th |J /

Just over a week ago, Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker signed to approve a new minimum wage of $15 per hour in Illinois.

The change will raise wages slowly by raising the minimum wage in January of each year until 2025.

Chancellor Randy Pembrook noted the largest impact will be toward student workers.

“We did an initial analysis of the minimum wage adjustment over time, and the largest impact for us at SIUE is on student workers because almost all of our fulltime employees are above where the minimum wage threshold is going to end up as it’s phased implemented — so the largest part of the conversation on our campus is around student workers,” Pembrook said.

Starting next year, the minimum wage will be raised an extra dollar per hour.

“The first phase is going to take the minimum wage for all individuals, including student workers, from $8.25 [per hour] to $9.25, but this first phase is almost exclusively focused on students because those were the students on our campus that were making $8.25,” Pembrook said.

Student workers working over 500 hours a year or having supervisory roles also grants them extra pay, and this will still be active after the wage increase, according to Pembrook.

“The second thing, in looking at this and trying to implement it, is that we had certain things built into our salary structure, particularly for student workers, so that if students worked a certain amount of time, like 500 or more hours; if they had any type of supervisory role, they would make more than minimum wage,” Pembrook said.

Keeping the wage increase for supervisory role is important to

vol. LXXX no. XXVII

JUSTIN NUNN reporter

Students on campus have filed complaints about dropped or spotty Wi-Fi and their phones connecting to the wrong server.

Junior psychology major Essence Reed said her phone has issues connecting to the student Wi-Fi server, eduroam.

“Sometimes it’ll just hook up to the Welcome to SIUE [Wi-Fi] and not [eduroam],” Reed said.

Welcome to SIUE is the WiFi server for those on campus who are not students or faculty. Eduroam is the Wi-Fi server students can log on to using their e-ID and password.

Senior pre-dental major Tasmeem Chowdhury said her Wi-Fi strength depends on what building she’s in.

“In [the Morris University Center] it’s fine, but there are some specific lecture halls where it doesn’t connect to my laptop,” Chowdhury said.

Chowdhury, who lives in Cougar Village, said she experienced a lot of issues with Wi-Fi last semester.

“My phone wouldn’t get connected, and even if it did, it would connect and disconnect,” Chowdhury said.

Information Technology Services’ Network and Systems Infrastructure Director Dan Chace said he has not been made aware of any specific issues, but Wi-Fi disconnection can be caused by several things.

“It can be caused by interference in the area, and that can come from anything,” Chace said.

According to Chace, interference can also be caused by microwaves or hot spots.

Hot spots are small, mobile

access points that students and faculty may purchase to hook up to individually. With so many students on campus, potential for hotspot interference is high.

Due to the interference caused by hotspots, ITS discourages use of hotspots on campus.

Students are also not allowed to have their own routers or use Wi-Fi enabled printers in campus housing.

Individual device configuration could also cause connection problems, according to Chace.

Different phone and tablet brands have different network configuration settings.

Chace says while the ITS Help Desk is constantly giving assistance to students with connection issues, they are not dealing with any specific network challenges.

Information Technology Services is constantly updating servers to accommodate network usage, according to Chace.

“We’re always replacing access points with newer models,” Chace said. “Right now, we are replacing the access points in the MUC.” Chace said Information Technology Services works daily to provide assistance to students experiencing connection problems, and encourages students to contact the Help Desk with any issues.

The ITS Help Desk is located in the Morris University Center and a full office in the lower level of Lovejoy Library.

The library office’s normal hours are 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. from Monday - Friday.

Part of the recent fee increase approved by the SIU Board of Trustees was devoted to the needs of ITS.

Britton and Ryan withdrawn from Board of Trustees, two of potentially five changes

MADISON LAMMERT reporter

Tom Britton and Marsha Ryan will no longer serve on the SIU Board of Trustees after Gov. J. B. Pritzker withdrew their temporary appointments on Feb. 19.

According to the board’s charter, the governor may appoint seven members to the board, which does not include the two student trustees.

No more than four of Pritzker’s appointments can be from his political party, the Democratic Party.

Britton and Ryan were nominated by former governor Bruce Rauner — Britton approximately 10 months ago and Ryan approximately two years ago.

Neither were formally confirmed by the Illinois State Senate.

This gave Pritzker the ability to

withdraw their appointments.

Neither Britton nor Ryan directly received word from Pritzker’s office of their withdrawals from the board.

Ryan is not sure if she will obtain any official notice.

“I don’t know to expect any official documentation,” Ryan said. “I saw online the documents that the Daily Egyptian has posted, so as far as I know, that’s the notice that we’ll be given.”

Pritzker has yet to announce replacements for Ryan and Britton, and he has the authority to make more changes.

Three board members, Vice Chair Shirley Portwood, Joel Sambursky and Randal Thomas are at the end of their six-year terms.

Britton said the board needs stable leadership, which will not be provided if Pritzker removes and replaces more board members.

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“I think it’s a time where we need stable leadership and if we change several trustees, that will not provide stable leadership,” Britton said. “The system needs that more than anything else.”

During their time on the board, Britton and Ryan have experienced talk of splitting the universities, the resignation of former president Randy Dunn and the death of SIU Carbondale chancellor Carlo Montemagno.

Britton said getting through these challenges were some of the biggest accomplishments during the 10 months he served.

“I think [the biggest accomplishments were] probably working our way through the resignation of the president and the death of the SIU Carbondale chancellor,” Britton said. “We did both of those things and did them particularly well. Leadership is a

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big issue for SIU.” Gilbert said he appreciates Britton and Ryan’s advocacy for both campuses.

“They were excellent board members in the sense of their contributions of their time and then their participation in board meetings,” Gilbert said. “They wanted to promote the system for both campuses: Edwardsville and Carbondale. They had to make some tough choices when there were efforts to dissolve the system; they were system-oriented people.”

While both trustees served, AGB Consultants were hired to advise SIU’s use of state funding.

According to Ryan, another branch of the company was also brought in to help the board govern efficiently. Ryan said she expects the board to continue working with them.

“On behalf of the system, the

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board needs to work as a dedicated whole to improve the system and all of its component parts,” Ryan said. “That is the work of the board, that’s what the board is intended to do — to govern the system and to make certain that the pieces fit together quite nicely in a well-governed whole. That is what I hope for, and it is what I expect. We had laid the groundwork for that, and my assumption is that the new board will walk to move that work ahead.”

The Alestle will provide updates as more information becomes available.

For more information on other recent SIU BOT affairs, visit The Alestle website.

MADISON LAMMERT

650-3527 @madison_alestle mlammert@alestlelive.com

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ACCESS to renovate testing space for students DARIAN STEVENSON reporter

To better accommodate for the testing needs of over 700 students, the office for Accessible Campus Community and Equitable Student Support will create more space with the help of facilities management this summer.

Located on the second floor of the Student Success Center, ACCESS assists students with a variety of diagnoses during their academic careers. The office provides resources for students to utilize to increase skills in learning, time management and test-taking.

The Board of Trustees announced the approval of $525,000 to work on the ACCESS office on Feb. 14.

Project manager for the ACCESS renovation Michael Grandy said the office is a tight space for the people working and utilizing the space.

“Right now [ACCESS] has both their testing stations and their offices in one suite,” Grandy said.

The seminar room located next to the ACCESS office will be renovated into office space.

“What they are going to do is expand the seminar room next door and move the offices into the seminar space so that they

can expand the testing stations [in the ACCESS office],” Grandy said. “So, they are really going to double the size of what they have now.”

According to Grandy, the project will begin after graduation in May and is expected to be finished by Aug. 1.

Director of ACCESS Dominic Dorsey said the office space has become too small for the number of students ACCESS serves.

“We have essentially outgrown the space, and the number of students that we are serving is rapidly increasing,” Dorsey said.

“So, rather than looking across campus for space that we can borrow and hoping that they are available, we need to make sure that we have ample space.”

Dorsey said more space is needed for future growth. “[We need space] that is not only going to be available to serve the students that we are already serving, but to have capacity to serve the students we will serve in the future,” Dorsey said.

“We want to make sure it isn’t just compliant but accessible in terms of more than enough space for individuals who have mobility challenges.”

According to Dorsey, last semester ACCESS served up to 615 students, and this semester

an additional 120 students began utilizing ACCESS’s accommodations.

“That’s probably one of our most significant increases that we’ve had the past couple of years,” Dorsey said. “Again it’s one of those situations where, especially when it comes to testing, that we only have 14 testing spaces and we always wind up having to look for additional space.”

ACCESS test specialist Calandra Mitchell said the renovations are necessary.

“I think [the renovations are] a good idea and well-needed,” Mitchell said “I’m in charge of retrieving and delivering student exams and the [renovations] would be good for a bigger space, more room and less outside noise,” Mitchell said.

By expanding, better accessibility for staff and students will be utilized.

Dorsey said individualized spaces will better help students with a need for private testing. “[Having a space] for students who need a test read out loud to them or an individual who may have a diagnosis like Tourette syndrome where they may need to read out loud to process it that won’t be disruptive to other students who need the benefit of a reduced-distraction environment is going to be

imperative,” Dorsey said.

The office also plans to extend space for other opportunities as well.

“We are also looking to expand space, so we have room for things like interpreters to do services where they are working with students who are hard of hearing on campus,” Dorsey said.

“I’m looking at expanding and bringing in a social worker that can work out of the office and work with students and space for graduate assistants.”

ACCESS has a vision that students should not come to campus merely to attend, but to graduate.

Dorsey said ACCESS is about preparing students for the future.

“One of the things we really want to do in ACCESS is not just help students to get by, so to speak, or to navigate college at the beginning of their experience; we really want to help prepare [students] for life after college,” Dorsey said.

ACCESS is open Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. For more information students can visit https://www.siue. edu/access/.

planned throughout the event.

This included an art auction featuring pieces created by the miracle kids. Raffles for gift cards to local restaurants and shops were also drawn.

A member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity also led efforts to raise their total, letting an individual egg him for every $50 they donated.

According to Event Operations Chair and junior applied communication studies major Bethany Throgmorton, of Marion, Illinois, the Dance Marathon team had raised more money than their least successful year in 2013 due to all the fundraising they had done prior to the actual event.

Throgmorton said the organization had a very successful Child Health Day in October of 2018, resulting in donations and multiple participant registrations.

Child Health Day is a national holiday to support Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.

“We were tabling in the [Stratton Quadrangle] by the Cougar Statue and had a lot of fun things going on. We were pieing

people in the face for donations, and I know that was really successful. A lot of people stopped by and talked to us and got to learn more. We had a lot of registrations go on that day as well,” Throgmorton said. “That was our ‘push’ day that we were really happy about.”

Along with dancing the night away, the event featured special theme hours, inflatables and a DJ as well as food from popular vendors such as Peel Wood Fired Pizza, Dairy Queen and Qdoba.

SIUE’s juggling club, acapella groups and Eddie the Cougar also made appearances.

Former student and volunteer Donnie Bland, of Belleville, Illinois, said his love for the organization and what it stands for is what keeps him coming back each year.

“I love what the organization stands for,” Bland said. “I love that it can take off the financial burden that a lot of parents have to deal with when they have a really ill child, because for most of these children, it goes beyond just being sick. It’s a lifelong ailment

that needs constant attention, and anything we can do to help alleviate that financial burden is just amazing.”

According to Scobbie, the money raised by the organization not only goes to practical items such as beds, but they also go to fun events and services that make the children’s experiences better within the hospital.

“I know the medical technology and like the beds and stuff are important, but I think it’s so cool that our money goes toward fun things to make the kids feel like kids,” Scobbie said.

Dance Marathon is a 12-hour event that spans from noon to midnight in the Meridian Ballroom. Anyone interested in getting involved in next year’s event is encouraged to contact the organization’s adviser Sara Laux at slaux@siue.edu, visit the Kimmel Student Involvement Center or follow Dance Marathon on social media.

Dance Marathon raises $40,000 FTK BRIDGET CHRISTNER managing editor

A grand total of $40,154.19 raised at this year’s annual Dance Marathon event will provide NICU beds, fun activities and more for the St. Louis Children’s Hospital as well as SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital.

While the total falls short of the organization’s goal of $55,000, an effort to surpass last year’s $50,000, members said they feel anything but discouraged due to all their hard work and effort.

“Before yesterday [the day before the event] started, we hadn’t even hit $30,000 yet, so we weren’t even expecting to hit $30,000, and for us to hit $40,000 at the end was just — I think we were all shocked and amazed we could do it,” Director of Special Events and Moral Captain senior speech pathology major Hannah Scobbie, of Jacksonville, Illinois, said.

Scobbie credits a majority of the total to the fundraising

DARIAN STEVENSON 650-3527 @dstevenson_alestle dstevenson@alestlelive.com

BRIDGET CHRISTNER 650-3527 @bchrist_alestle bchristner@alestlelive.com

Minimum wage increase bill passed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker WAGES | COVER

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The committee will be used to help understand how to manage things. Pembrook said student workers are important, so he wants to find an answer on how not to reduce positions.

“Obviously, if there are higher costs then you have to figure out how to manage that, so that’s why I want to get the committee together and look at the long term to see what makes sense. If the positions are important — which they are, in terms of the ongoing

business of the university — and I think they’re important because they help students manage the cost of an education and to help keep loans down.

Pembrook doesn’t see any reductions on the staff side happening because it may not impact many positions,” Pembrook said.

“Then, it would be to everyone’s advantage to try to figure out an answer to how to address that and not reduce positions. On the staff side, I don’t see us doing any reductions as a function of this, largely because as I said,

it really doesn’t affect many positions,” Pembrook said.

Sophomore social work major Ally Smith from Decatur, Illinois, works at Starbucks on campus and is worried about how this may impact workers in the future.

“I think it impacts everybody because raising minimum wage raises cost of living, so that may make people have to get more work to maintain their current living standards now,” Smith said.

Sophomore secondary En-

glish education major Ashley Richey from Granite City is worried that it may make things too expensive.

“I think it’s going to be negative because it’s going to raise the prices of everything. In order to increase minimum wage, you have to increase the prices of things. For my boss to pay me $15, we’d have to raise the price of tanning,” Richey said.

TREVOR OLIVER 650-3527 @toliver_alestle toliver@alestlelive.com

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Dean of CAS serves up one-on-one time with students DARIAN STEVENSON reporter

Starting this semester, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Greg Budzban decided to connect better with students by playing pingpong in the Student Recreation Center.

Ping the Dean allows students to have conversations with Budzban about their ideas involving the campus and to network with other students in a relaxed setting.

Budzban said he wanted to give students an opportunity to interact with him since he doesn’t get much time to do so in his position.

“One of the problems, when you become a dean of a college, is that you actually move away from the classroom, you don’t interact with students quite as much,” Budzban said. “There is something about going to the dean’s office that students find intimidating, I think.”

Playing pingpong opens up an opportunity for students to speak with Budzban outside of his office about ideas they may have concerning SIUE. “What I was trying to do was find a way for me to meet students in an informal setting where they could come by and talk, but also have ideas that they share and play some pingpong and have some fun,” Budzban said.

Pingpong is an unconventional way to meet with students, and Interim Dean of the School of Education, Health and Human Behavior Paul Rose believes, as a dean, this is a good way to connect with students.

“SIUE is a student-centered educational community,” Rose said. “This innovative initiative from the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences reflects that value we have in keeping the focus on students and listening carefully to their concerns.”

Rose said in a dean’s position, effort has to be put into having one-on-one time with students.

“We can’t be responsive to student needs and concerns unless we are regularly hearing from them,” Rose said. “So, it’s very important for university administration to be making time to hear what a lot of different students have to say, so you can get a sense of not only what a few students are thinking.”

Budzban said the turnout of students has been really good, and he is happy to hear the ideas students have brought along.

“There has been a whole array of ideas from students and a lot of them are asking, ‘how I can do this? I have this great idea; how can you help me get this accom-

plished?’” Budzban said. “I have been able to connect them with the right people and then sort of taken some of those actions on myself, so it’s worked out well.”

On Feb. 14 Budzban canceled Ping the Dean for Valentines day because it was his 40th Anniversary with his wife.

He stated in an email, “There are certain lessons that you will learn over the course of your life. Let me help by imparting some wisdom,” Budzban said. “In the course of our busy lives, we must learn to stop and celebrate our blessings with people we love.”

Rachel Westendorf, a senior biology student from Teutopolis, Illinois, said she thinks Budzban’s activity could be beneficial for College of Arts and Sciences students. “[Budzban] is socializing with people that actually go to the school, and the school is for the students first and foremost, and nobody has more opinions than the people who pay to go there,” Westendorf said.

Westendorf said she would like to attend a Ping the Dean to discuss the importance of general education classes.

“I feel like [SIUE] should rethink the course load,” Westendorf said. “I think we should do more trade-school style than university style because I feel like general education in post-secondary schooling is unnecessary and trade schools teach you what you are actually going to use without taking classes you’ve already taken in high school.”

According to Budzban, a new idea from a student has been a computer programming badge for students who want

to have something for employers to see on their resumes without being a computer science major or minor.

Other ideas include starting Survivor: SIUE, a series like the successful University of Maryland version; an interactive sculpture representing diversity that would be a part of the Fall 2019 Diversity Day celebration; and CPR training on campus for students.

Budzban said the purpose of being a dean is to help faculty, staff and students have successful careers at SIUE. “It’s less about doing your own research and more about helping the faculty and staff in the college create their vision, and in this particular case it is about me facilitating students’ ideas,” Budzban said.

“What you want [as a dean] is to see the folks in your college to succeed in their vision for their careers, academic careers and their teaching and research careers.”

Budzban hopes to accomplish forming a better relationship with the students using his new initiative.

“The first thing I want to accomplish is making sure students know that I’m available for them to talk to and interact with,” Budzban said. “The second is I want to be able to facilitate helping them get their ideas in place. I want them to bring their ideas to me so I can help them create those things.”

Ping the Dean is every Thursday from 4 - 5 p.m. in the lobby of the Student Fitness Center.

DARIAN STEVENSON 650-3527 @dstevenson_alestle dstevenson@alestlelive.com

02.20.19 A detective advised additional charges of burglary to motor vehicle and unlawful storage of weapons were obtained against Dylan M. Owens.

02.21.19 An officer responded to a call regarding a patron advising his shoes were stolen from the Student Fitness Center.

02.22.19 An officer responded to a report of multiple items being stolen from Lovejoy Library.

Brant A. Takmajian was arrested on a felony warrant for nonconsentual dissemination of private sexual images.

The subject was fingerprinted, photographed, processed and released after posting $2,500 bond.

02.23.19 An officer responded to Woodland Hall lot reference a welfare check on a subject in a vehicle. The officer advised the subject was sleeping and did not need police assistance. The officer conducted a probable cause search, and a city ordinace was issued to Mekai Z. Henderson for possession of drug paraphernalia.

02.24.19 An officer and the Edwardsville Fire Department responded to a smell of gas reported in 402 Cougar Village.

The fire department was unable to locate the source. Ameren and Housing were notified.

02.25.19 An officer responded to a report of an argument between suitemates over cleaning issues in Bluff Hall.

Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Greg Budzban plays a round of ping pong with a student. Budzban uses this activity to network, listen to concerns and gain student ideas.

| Photo courtesy of Emily Dustman

An officer responded to a report of the suspicious odor of cannabis in 526 Cougar Village. The officer advised they were unable to locate the source.

University Museum confirms no date in sight for return of the ‘Plumbob’ ALEAH GLODICH reporter

The “Plumbob,” the beloved sculpture that hung in the Goshen Lounge for 50 years, is still in the beginning stages of its restoration after being in storage for more than two years.

The “Plumbob” was originally handpicked by the architect designing the university, Gyo Obata with the help of campus architect Jack Randall and trustee member Arnold Maremont to hang on display in the Morris University Center, where it resided until it needed to be restored. The piece was taken down in August 2016, both for its own restoration and for the university to complete ceiling restorations.

The piece was created by Japanese artist Yasuhide Kobashi and was originally on display in the Carnegie Museum of Art before being hand-picked by Obata for SIUE. Currently, the sculpture is kept in The University Museum, awaiting restoration.

Executive Curator at The University

Museum Erin Vigneau-Dimick said the “Plumbob” is a structure about art and the space it takes up. It consists of 480 wooden dowels that are strung together with fishing line, then suspended from the ceiling from a 4-by-15-feet wooden box.

Vigneau-Dimick oversaw the removal and storage of the “Plumbob” back in 2016.

“It was imperative that we take it down,” Vigneau-Dimick said.

According to Vigneau-Dimick, the “Plumbob” will be restored before it is put display again. Its original fishing-line strings will be replaced with more durable material. It also needs a stronger cabling system to keep the sculpture suspended in the air.

“There has to be a restoration of it, which is a cost,” Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Jeffrey Waple said.

According to Vigneau-Dimick, it will cost more than $10,000 to restore the piece. Although the university is open to donations, it is still a large amount of money.

Although the university was able to complete its initial restoration of the MUC, additional projects are also in the works.

According to Waple, the university held off on the rest of the renovations to ward off increases in student fees.

There’s also a question of where the “Plumbob” will go. According to Waple, there is a possibility that the sculpture could go in a performing arts center. Although there are no plans at the moment for an arts center, administrators are talking about possibly planning one in the near future.

“If it is to go back up, I think it belongs in the Performing Arts Center and not the MUC,” Waple said.

Possible locations include the Goshen or in one of the academic buildings that have art on display, such as the Engineering Building, because the ceilings are high enough to suspend the “Plumbob.”

Having a piece of artwork suspended from the ceiling of one of the busiest buildings on campus poses a threat to

student events that take place in the Goshen. According to Waple, one event that “Plumbob” would hinder would be the inflatable rock climbing wall. So, having it somewhere else where it is out of the way, but still can be appreciated, is ideal.

For some students, “Plumbob” means nothing; however, other students care deeply about the piece of artwork and are eager to get it back.

“I think that the sculpture should still be put up somewhere on campus because it is a historical piece, but I do understand not wanting to have something hanging in the Goshen. If they choose not to put it back up, I’d like to see some other pieces of art go in the Goshen because it is bare, and art is important to have around the campus, but I respect their decision if they decide against it,” junior psychology major Katie Albert, of Waterloo, Illinois, said.

ALEAH GLODICH 650-3527 @aleah_alestle aglodich@alestlelive.com

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contact the editor: lifestyles@alestlelive.com 650-3527 thursday, 02.28.19

School of Dental Medicine students provide free screenings for exit board exams MADISON LAMMERT reporter

In order to find patients for their exit board exams, fourthyear SIU School of Dental Medicine students recently provided free screenings for community members.

According to the Dental School fourth-year class president Kelsie Hinkl of Granite City, Illinois, the students used x-rays as well as an extra-oral examination to determine if community members were eligible for the clinical licensing examination.

“What we’ve been offering to the public is for them to come in for a dental screening,” Hinkl said. “What we do is take x-rays of their teeth, we do an intra-oral and extra-oral examination, go through their health and see if they could sit as a patient for the board exam.”

When doing the screenings, dental students kept in mind specific criteria necessary for the boards.

According to Alexis Polczynski, SIU School of Dental Medicine student body president and third-year student, of Okawville, Illinois, the board exam consists of Class II and Class III fillings, which are cavities between the front and posterior teeth, as well as scaling and root planing, a type of deep cleaning.

Hinkl said if a student examiner believes a person they screened meets the requirements for the boards, the student notified Interim Clinical Dean Kathy Shafer, who will then assign patients to the students.

Hinkl said she expects to be notified of her patients within two weeks and plans to contact them prior to the date of the board exam.

“We want to be in contact with our patients so that way we can give them a good heads-up of how the day runs, meet with them a couple of times if possible and just make sure that they’re going to feel very comfortable and well-taken care of for the day of the board exam,” Hinkl said.

As the requirements for the exam are specific, not all who attended the free screenings were eligible for the boards. However, if the students recognized another dental concern, Polczynski said the students could

Fourth year dental medicine student Nicholas Sampalis, of Orland Park, Illinois, cleans a patient’s teeth at the free screenings event Monday afternoon.

Jakob Ruffner / The Alestle

recommend seeking treatment.

“We can recommend that they see their dentist or they can become a full-time patient at the school, but they can’t be used for the actual board exam,” Polczynski said.

The free screenings also promoted awareness of the SIU School of Medicine clinics, according to Hinkl.

While there are three clinic locations, Alton, East St. Louis and Edwardsville, the free screenings took place at the Alton clinic.

Hinkl said the East St. Louis and Edwardsville locations are reserved for special circumstances and patients must contact Alton before visiting these locations. The doctorate program requires all third-year and fourthyear students to gain experience working at the clinics. “[The free screening days] also bring awareness to what we do at the dental school, in our clinic and what services we can provide in the future,” Hinkl said. “People don’t always

know about our dental clinic, so I do think it’s a good opportunity to let patients know that we do provide comprehensive care year round on a daily basis, not

boards.

“Even though they’ve been doing all these procedures for a long time in the clinic and on their patients, it’s still a

“It’s been fulfilling to see patients coming in with a poor oral health state and then [in] working with us over the course of a few months or years they get to a point where they’re in a stable place and their teeth are in a good position Kelsi Hinkl

Dental School fourth-year class president

just a couple times a year.”

Shafer said she believes experience acquired at the free screenings and at the clinics will help students be less anxious come April 1 and 2, the dates that year-four students take their

nerve-wracking procedure for them, so they appreciate the opportunity to find patients for the boards,” Shafer said.

The clinics also benefit their patients by accepting Medicaid insurance, something Polczynski

said is a rarity in the area, and providing affordable care for those without insurance.

“We take Medicaid insurance, which most dental offices don’t, so we have a lot of patients who are on Medicaid,” Polczynski said. “If they don’t have insurance in the first place, we reduce fees because it’s the students that are providing the treatment, so treatment usually takes longer in general.”

For Polczynski, gaining experience is only part of the equation when working in the Alton clinic — she said it is also personally rewarding.

“It’s been fulfilling to see patients coming in with a poor oral health state and then in working with us over the course of a few months or years they get to a point where they’re in a stable place and their teeth are in a good position,” Polczynski said.

MADISON LAMMERT 650-3527 @madison_alestle mlammert@alestlelive.com

thursday, 02.28.19

page 5

alestlelive.com

Where to be at the ‘e’: The luck of the Cougars

Friday, MARCH 1 Art Hives: 1 p.m. Fuller Dome wednesday, MARCH 6- Thursday, march 7 Career Fair: 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Meridian Ballroom friday, MARCH 8 Orchestra Concert: 7:30 p.m. Dunham Hall Women Studies Book Club: 10 a.m. Peck Hall 3407 Student Government Tunnel of Opression: 8 a.m.

MUC

saturday MARCH 2- Sunday, march 3 Baseball vs UIC: Saturday, 12 p.m., Game 2 at 3:30 p.m.

Sunday, 1 p.m. Simmons Baseball Complex monday, MARCH 4 Biological Sciences Seminar - Dr. Keith Hengen: 3 p.m. Science East 3126 monday MARCH 11 - monday, march 17 SPRING BREAK! monday march 17

monday, MARCH 18 Just 4 Laughs: 7 - 9 p.m. Meridian Ballroom Greek Week Through Friday, March 22 wednesday, MARCH 20 Canoe Battleship: 7:30 - 10:30 p.m. VC Indoor Pool friday, MARCH 22 Implicit Bias and Institutional Change: Who Am I at SIUE?: 8 - 11 a.m. MUC Conference Center thursday, March 28 12th Annual Cougar World Games: 6 - 8 p.m.

Student Fitness Center

Baseball vs. Southeast Missouri, 1 p.m.

Simmons Baseball Complex tuesday, MARCH 19 Baseball vs. SIU Carbondale at Carbondale, 4 p.m.

Paris to Pittsburgh Film Screening: 5 p.m. Science East 1136 saturday, MARCH 23 Cougar Kids Satuday: 12 - 2 p.m. MUC Mississippi, Illinois Room friday, MARCH 29 Der Schauspieldirektor: 7:30 - 10:30 p.m.

Dunham Hall.

Late Night in the MUC: 8 - 11:30 p.m. Meridian Ballroom

READ ABOUT WHY DINING SERVICES NEEDS MORE OPTIONS NEXT WEEK page 6

opinion alestlelive.com

share your thoughts: opinion@alestlelive.com 650-3527 thursday, 02.28.19

What I wish you knew

Your opinions deserve more than 140 characters.

Write a letter to the editor. opinion@alestlelive.com

alestle view

| Graphic by JoAnn Weaver / The Alestle

A higher minimum wage could mean loss of media THE ALESTLE STAFF EDITORIAL BOARD

What seems great for most may be detrimental to others — small media publications are struggling as it is.

Around the country, talk of higher wages and cost-of-living is heavily debated. With the recent passing of a bill for higher wages in Illinois, controversy has sparked.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker recently signed a bill raising the minimum wage to $15 by 2025. The wage will go up one dollar each year until then.

Right now, Illinois’ minimum wage for those 18 and older is set at $8.25 per hour, and $4.95 for those who work for tips. At SIUE, policy states students can work up to 28 hours per week, but at The Alestle, our budget doesn’t even allow students to work these amounts.

Arizona, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, Washington and now Illinois will be phasing in

increases on wages, putting them at $12 to $15 per hour, according to National Employment Law Project.

In theory, this is great. Higher wages mean more money for consumers. At $8.25, it is difficult for anyone to live on that, especially college students going to school full-time.

This is both good and bad for The Alestle. It’s great for future student employees like us because they will be making more money.

The other side of the issue is that The Alestle is on a tight budget.

As a small media organization, we receive most of our funding from student fees, and some comes from advertising in our paper, on our racks and online.

With the higher wage increase, we may have to cut staff.

This is the reality we face that may hurt the integrity of what we do here. Student journalism a critical learning experience that should be a priority.

We haven’t yet crunched the numbers, but we do know if we

are struggling now, the Alestle will probably be struggling more so by 2025.

As it stands, the increase could affect full-time employees, who are still working with the university on benefits and pay.

Some student workers might make more than those in entry-level positions. Will the university take this into account and adjust salaries?

Also, the university started depending on student workers rather than hiring full-time employees. What will happen if the university has to cut down student worker positions in departments that rely heavily on them?

In “Minimum wage increase could have impact on students in the university,” Chancellor Randy Pembrook said student-worker positions are important and it is important to figure out how to not reduce any student worker positions.

“We did an initial analysis of the minimum wage adjustment over time, and the largest impact for us at SIUE is on student work-

ers because almost all of our fulltime employees are above where the minimum wage threshold is going to end up as it’s phased implemented — so the largest part of the conversation on our campus is around student workers,” Pembrook said.

We want the increase to work, and we want workers to be able to live comfortably. We want the single mom to be able to take care of her child, and we want the student working two jobs to have a home to come back to every day.

Big financial bills like this are more than that. They affect everyone differently. It will be great for most people, but we hope people will try to do the research and take the impact on others into account.

We can fight this by taking action. If we buy local papers and support those in the community, they won’t be hurting as much financially. We should do it because we recognize the raise’s impact and want to help out those affected by the change.

slaves to begin with.

The historical figures mentioned in what was essentially a White House press release were self-made millionaire Annie Turnbo Malone, educator Mary McLeod Bethune, Booker T. Washington, singer Aretha Franklin and baseball player Jackie Robinson. For them, there was no mention of being descendants from “farms,” but instead descendants of slaves or in more northern parts of the country not focused on agriculture.

President Trump uplifted Aretha Franklin, a trailblazer whose voice transcended the music genre, but attacked Spike Lee for his award speech at the Oscars this past Sunday. Trump tweeted about how Lee did a “racist hit” on him when he, “has done more for African-Americans (criminal justice reform- lowest unemployment numbers in history- tax cuts, etc.) than almost any other pres!” Past presidents signing the

Emancipation Proclamation, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 don’t compare to what President Trump has done, clearly.

Lee never mentioned the president in his acceptance speech.

In his speech, the five-time Oscar nominee and first-time Oscar winner said this country was built upon the backs of slaves and that voters should “do the right thing” by making the right moral decision for the next president elected into office.

President Trump applauded the courage Jackie Robinson had when faced with racial inequality in baseball but called football players who kneeled during the national anthem to protest police brutality “sons of bitches” and “disgraceful,” according to NBC News.

Falsifying any part of African -American heritage is a disservice to generations growing up in America. It defeats the purpose

of having Black History Month.

Aside from this fake news, no one should forget the history President Trump brought with him to his presidency.

President Trump just instituted a new measure for “Opportunity Zones,” to aid in building up destitute African-American communities.

However, according to the New York Times, in 1973 President Trump denied allegations of racial bias while receiving complaints from civil rights groups about prospective African- American tenants claiming their applications were turned away because they were black America is in dire need of a leader who will lead. This country has had enough of systemic racism, white supremacy and a self-absorbed bigot who said, “look at my African American over here,” like a black person is still three-fifths a person or property during the era of slavery.

President Trump failed to properly acknowledge Black History Month JOANN WEAVER graphics manager

Black History Month is meant to be a time to honestly reflect on the past, celebrate excellence and look forward to a progressive future; however, President Trump didn’t get the memo.

On Jan. 31, President Trump signed the Presidential Proclamation of African-American History Month with all its flaws and glory.

The first two paragraphs of the proclamation are fine but then there is the first sentence of the third paragraph.

It talks about how African -Americans moved from “farms” in the rural south to northern and midwestern areas of the country for industrial opportunities in the twentieth century. To call former plantations where African-Americans had to sign contracts with owners to sharecrop for little to no money “farms” is like saying African Americans were never

“I wish that people knew that I am from Saudi Arabia. The news is wrong about us. I want people to know that I have reached my goal — I study abroad now; it’s been my goal since I was a kid,”

freshman English major Murad Aljohani, of Medina, Saudi Arabia

“I’m a pretty cool person and not a lot bothers me.

The biggest difference [as a transfer student] is not being with family. I can’t just walk down the street and go home. Some people don’t get that a lot of other kids really miss home,” junior accounting major Breann Walton, of Peoria, Illinois

“I wish that more people immediately knew that I came from a really, really small town. I guess I wish that everybody knew immediately where everybody else came from as a way to connect with people,” sophomore computer management and information systems major Brady Robison, of Easton, Illinois

sports

contact the editor: sports@alestlelive.com 650-3527 thursday, 02.28.19

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GET A SPRING SPORTS UPDATE NEXT WEEK AT ALESTLELIVE.COM

Quidditch hosts first-ever tournament JAKOB RUFFNER multimedia editor

SIUE’s Quidditch team lost to Maryville University but secured a win over Iowa State at Saturday’s tournament despite some foul weather and trial-and-error.

Between torrential downpours and a constant drizzle, SIUE kept their inaugural Quidditch Cougar Warmup afloat at the campus’s Outdoor Recreation Sports Complex.

Because of the miscommunication about team status while planning the tournament, SIUE readied up for their first match of Saturday — an exhibition match, where SIUE competed unofficially.

Regardless, the Cougars took home a 120-60 lead over Iowa State before a break in their schedule, with Iowa’s seeker stealing the Snitch, to add 30 points to the final score, ending the match. In real-world Quidditch, the Snitch is a tennis ball inside a sock fastened to a pair of the runner’s yellow shorts with Velcro.

SIUE came back to their second game right as the day’s shoddy weather was giving its all. It started pouring rain as the referee called “brooms up!” to start the match. If that sounds like a downer to anyone, the team says it might’ve actually lifted their spirits.

“We were looking at the forecast weeks before and we

knew that there were thunderstorms. We were stressed out that it wouldn’t happen and it would just get rained out. I feel like whenever it started pouring down rain, it kind of got our team super excited and pumped for the game. It was pretty exciting,” Quidditch president and chaser Danielle Slusher said.

For their second match, SIUE was matched up against Maryville University, a team that has risen quickly in their surrounding league, according to captain and junior keeper Andrew Hofferkamp.

“This is their first year as a club. We’ve played them a lot and this is the first time that they’ve beat us. It’s a sign to us that we need to step our game up. It’s a good sign for the area that we play in because I think that they’re going to be a good team later on,” Hofferkamp said.

Their game against Maryville was close and brutal, with the score reaching 90-80 — SIUE in the lead — after the first 20 minutes of play. In a quick shift, Maryville caught the Snitch for 30 points, ending the game at 90-110.

The team had been planning the event for months, but underestimated the challenge that hosting such a big event could bring.

“It was really difficult. Most of us had never even tried to put on an event this large before.

There was a lot of trial-and-error; we had a couple of teams

Junior beater Megan Gates, left, attacks a Maryville University chaser with a Bludger. A player hit with a Bludger by an opposing team’s beater must immediately remove themselves from play by dismounting their broom and dropping any ball they’re holding. They cannot return to play until they tag their team’s hoops and remount their broom. | Jakob Ruffner / The Alestle

drop out last-minute so we had to rework the schedules. We’ve gone through four schedules, but there’s a lot we’ve learned from doing this,” Hofferkamp said.

The tournament, in the end, was successful and was never fully rained out. However, as this was their first time hosting a tourna-

Slattery takes three first-place golf titles DARIAN STEVENSON reporter

With several team and personal accomplishments, golfer Kyle Slattery is a player to remember.

Slattery, a senior business administration student from Rockford, Illinois, has taken first overall in three tournaments in 2018, has been named Ohio Valley Conference golfer of the week three times, started the spring season second in the OVC with a 70.4 stroke average, and has scored 12 career rounds in the 60s, tying for the most in school history in the 2018-19 season.

At 21 years old, Slattery has been playing golf for 16 years and finds his favorite aspect is the difficulty the game presents.

“The challenge [is what I like most],” Slattery said. “There is always something to get better at and it’s really hard to completely master the game.”

Slattery said he came to SIUE because of the coaching staff — Head Coach Derrick Brown and the past assistant coach, Mitchell Homb.

“My coach being the coach he is was what really got me here,” Slattery said. “I liked the way [Brown] treated me, and I like the way he conducts qualifying and how he picks players to go to each tournament — that was really important for me.”

Brown said Slattery has good sportsmanship.

“One of the best assets [Slattery] has is his mind. He doesn’t get rattled, and he’s been like that since he was a freshman,” Brown said. “He has been ingrained with a great sense of the game [and] sportsmanship, and I think that’s one of the things that makes him really good.”

A regular week for Slattery involves a 7 a.m. workout Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, structured practice from 12-2 p.m. Monday - Fri-

page 7

day and class on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

As a busy student-athlete, Slattery enjoys spending time with his friends during his free time.

“If I’m not studying, I like to hang out with my friends,” Slattery said. “We’ve got eight guys on the team this year and all eight of us are really close, so that makes [playing together] a lot of fun as well.”

Will Starkey, a senior business management student from Adelaide, Australia, said Slattery is a good teammate. “[Slattery] is one of my teammates, one of my good friends and just an overall good guy to be around, and we’ve got a really good team chemistry,” Starkey said. “It’s really good to see him get rewarded for the effort he has been putting in over the last few years.”

Along with this season’s accomplishments, Slattery was named to the 2017-18 All-Ohio Valley Conference Team and scored an average of 72.83 — which ranks third all-time for a single season at SIUE. Slattery finished the year with third-best scoring average in OVC and shot career lows of 68 three different times at Air Force Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational, Derek Dolenc Invitational and Loyola Intercollegiate in the 2017-18 season. “[Slattery] is going to end his career probably having the most rounds played in SIUE golf history, so he has a lot of experience and this year he has really found a way to shoot low scores and win tournaments,” Brown said. “It’s not common to win three tournaments in one year, let alone one semester, so I’m proud of him.”

Brown said he will miss Slattery’s leadership on the team next year, and Slattery is looking forward to finishing out his last season “I’m just looking forward to getting out, playing on good greens and I’m looking forward to see what we can do,” Slattery said.

ment, the Quidditch club saw some road bumps as they planned the event — like going from eight scheduled teams to six teams, according to club sports graduate assistant and keeper Joe Carrillo.

“For the most part, we let the clubs handle most of their planning, but I helped out with reserving a space for them and planning the original schedules they had.

They had some hiccups with some teams dropping out last-minute so it was a lot of reschedul-

ing the day of,” Carrillo said.

Due to lightning delays and earlier logistical errors, some of the tournament’s scheduled games went unplayed. Even so, the University of Missouri won all three of their matches, beating out Southern Illinois University, Maryville University and Illinois State University.

After a fourth-place Midwest Regional Conference finish in November, Quidditch Club will compete at US Quidditch Cup 12.

First-year graduate student and chaser Daniel Lange, right, wraps up and tackles a Maryville University chaser to prevent him from advancing the Quaffle to score a goal. | Jakob Ruffner / The Alestle

thursday, 02.28.19

alestlelive.com

page 8

Three track and field athletes bring home gold Barnes, Byrd, Poston become OVC indoor champions MADISON LAMMERT reporter

The Cougars returned home from the Ohio Valley Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships with three gold medals along with other high marks.

OVC Freshman of the Year Ethan Poston’s high jump of 6 feet 11 inches secured him first place. This is third all-time for SIUE in the men’s high jump.

Poston said recent news of him being named Freshman of the Year boosted his confidence.

“While we were traveling, my coach told me that I got Freshman of the Year,” Poston said. “So coming into the meet I was already happy and excited to perform and so then going into the high jump competition, I wasn’t super nervous because I already had Freshman of the Year under my belt.”

Once again, senior Nichyria Byrd returned to Edwardsville with an OVC long jump championship win with a jump of 5.92 meters. This was not only a personal record but also second-best

all-time for the Cougars.

This season the jumpers underwent a coaching change, which Byrd said made the feat even more special. Assistant coach Doug McDannald joined the coaching staff in Fall 2018.

“I’ve been struggling because we had a coaching change, and so for me to PR at the conference, basically the peak of where I needed to PR, it was overwhelming and I was really excited,” Byrd said.

Sophomore DeVonte Tincher jumped 6.85 meters, placing second in the men’s long jump.

On Thursday, senior Brittney Gibbs placed second in the women’s triple jump with a distance of 12.25 meters and junior Logan Webb’s 13.59-meter jump took fifth for the men.

Among the throwers, redshirt junior John Barnes threw a 19.67-meter throw, taking home his second OVC men’s weight throw title.

Junior Austin Lynch took fifth in the event with his 18.29-meter throw.

Barnes secured his We d n e s d a y win with his sixth and final throw.

While he said he knew he could take home the

gold, he focused on his teammates’ feedback of stepping forward instead of backward to achieve the win.

“I knew I had it in me to beat [the competition]. It was just a matter of if I would or not,” Barnes said. “I tried t o f o cus o n what m y teammates were telling me that I needed to fix, so I did that enough to where I could secure the win and reach my potential.”

The Cougars also boasted high performances in distance events.

On Wednesday, senior Matt O’Connor qualified for the 800-meter final with a time of 1:54.62. O’Connor’s time of 1:54.18 placed him second in the final on Thursday.

O’Connor said a slight moment of hesitation cost him the win and he learned from it.

“I would say that the lesson would be not to hesitate at all and to just be completely in the moment,” O’Connor said. “You have to have complete confidence in your ability and know that you can do it.”

Barnes said he thinks the high perforJohn Barnes mances of this | Photo Courtesy of year’s OVC inSIUE` Athletics door champion-

ships will create more confidence for the team going into the next indoor season.

“I think it gives people more confidence. [It shows] that we are competitive in our events, that we can compete and succeed,” Barnes said. “It’s just a good confidence boost all-around to see your teammates do well. It pushes you to do better and lifts morale.”

Sophomore Joseph Stone ran a time of 1:57.40 in the 800-meter final, placing seventh.

Junior Aly Goff ’s time of 5:05.0 took seventh in the women’s mile.

Sophomore Kassidy Dexheimer finished the mile with a PR of 5:11.57, running the eighth-best time in Cougar history.

In the men’s mile, junior Landon Skelly placed eighth with his 4:17.63 time. This is the eighth-best time in Cougar history.

With a time of 7.16, Tincher placed seventh in the 60-meter.

The Eastern Kentucky Colonels placed first overall for the men with 128 points, while Tennessee Tech placed first on the women’s side with 119 points.

SIUE men placed fifth out of six teams with 65 points, ahead of the University of Tennessee at Martin, while the women placed fourth out of eight with 39 points.

The Cougars kick off their outdoor season March 22 - 23 at the Bill Cornell Spring Classic in Carbondale, Illinois.