2024.03.27

Sports editor Zaria Flippin talks about being a woman in media and how Eastern athletes have treated her. Page 7

2023 graduate enters national league draft after ending Eastern career as Walter Camp All-American recipient.

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SMALL BUSINESS

Nola’s: more than a wellness store

By Alexis Moore-Jones Feature Reporter | @DEN_News

Nola’s Naturals is more than a wellness store; it is a place of transformation and healing.

Store owner Nola Klepzig-Hagan tries to give holistic wellness services and products tailored to support individuals’ well-being. The store’s history, evolution, services and significance in the community reflect its owner’s commitment to holistic wellness and growth.

Before the store was Nola’s Naturals, it was called Natural Food and Nutrition, originally owned by her parents Dave and Carol Klepzig. Natural Food and Nutrition was created to help Nola Klepzig-Hagan’s brother Brian Klepzig, who has a doctorate in holistic business.

Brian Klepzig owns Klepzig Natural Healing Clinic located at 35 Circle Drive Charleston. There he practices nutrition, acupuncture and chiropractic services.

Because the materials Brian Klepzig prescribed for his patients were very hard to get in the city of Charleston, his parents decided to open Natural Food and Nutrition to make it easier for patients to find supplements, teas and other items prescribed, as well as providing a resource for the city that wasn’t here prior.

Having retired from their previous jobs, Dave and Carol Klepzig used their retirement money to open the wellness store by the post office in North Park Plaza in 1999. Due to their growing success, the couple was able to move their store closer to town in 2002, making its final home 422 Madison Ave.

BY ALEXIS MOORE-JONES

|

Nola Klepzig-Hagan, owner of Nola’s Naturals store on Madison Avenue, stocks the shelves.

At 29 years old, Nola Klepzig-Hagan suffered from a severe autoimmune disease. Her condition negatively affected her so much that there was a time when she could not walk up the stairs of her home or keep up with her house.

the laundry, the cooking and the cleaning and to help care for our two children because I could not do it.”

you anymore, then give us a call. But otherwise, there’s nothing we can do for you,’” Klepzig-Hagan said.

“I was so sick that my husband at the time, we lived in a two-story home, he would carry me downstairs in the morning and carry me back stairs at night.” Klepzig-Hagan said. “We had to hire someone to help with

Eventually, her brother noticed something was not right with her condition and told her to seek medical help.

“What they told me was, they gave me some pain pills and looked at me and said, ‘When your kidneys fail or these don’t help

Having gotten nothing from the doctors but a prescription and countdown to kidney failure, Klepzig-Hagan turned to her brother to seek holistic help.

Hundreds of fish dead at Lake Charleston

By T.J. Seputis Reporter | @DEN_News

One thing has been lurking when hiking around Lake Charleston over the past month: the stagnant smell of dead fish.

The odor comes from the heaps of dead fish that decomposed on the shores and lifelessly float in the water around the lake.

According to Eastern fisheries and aquatic sciences assistant professor Eden L. Effert-Fanta, the dead fish were killed by the sudden temperature drop that occurred during February.

Effert-Fanta said the majority of the fish that perished were gizzard shad. Being that central Illinois is in the northern stretch of their geographic range, a sudden drop in temperature can be lethal for gizzard shad.

Some of the dead fish will be eaten by animals and others will sink to the bottom of the lake and decompose, recycling their nutrients back into the lake, Effert-Fanta said.

The fish killed at Lake Charleston will not have any major effect on the food chain, as it was a relatively small number of fish that died, she said.

Effert-Fanta took her advanced limnology class to the lake in early February so that

her students could investigate the cause of the fish kill. Besides a sudden temperature drop, low oxygen levels in the water can also lead to a fish kill.

“When there’s an extended period of time that ice covers the whole lake, especially if there is snow on the ice, it decreases the amount of light that enters the water, and so algae or aquatic plants in the lake can’t produce oxygen,” she said.

Effert-Fanta and her students determined that low oxygen did not cause of the fish kill.

“When we went out there, the oxygen levels were quite high, and so we’re pretty confident that that is not what happened,” she said.

Ryan Skowronski, a graduate student at Eastern’s center for fisheries and aquatic sciences, was one of the students that went to the lake to investigate.

The students started with a hypothesis that the fish kill was caused by a temperature change. The students went onto the lake in a boat and utilized a measuring device to check the water temperature and dissolved oxygen levels.

“When we went out there, we collected all the data, and from all the data we [determined] that [our] hypothesis was correct,” Skowronski said.

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Several gizzard shad piled up on the shore of Lake Charleston after a temperature drop in early February.

zard shad from sudden winter temperature changes is not uncommon.

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Ryan Skowronski, a graduate student at Eastern’s center for fisheries and aquatic sciences, was one of the students that went to the lake to investigate.

The students started with a hypothesis that the fish kill was caused by a temperature change.

The students went onto the lake in a boat and utilized a measuring device to check the water temperature and dissolved oxygen levels.

“When we went out there, we collected all the data, and from all the data we [determined] that [our] hypothesis was correct,” Skowronski said.

District Fisheries Biologist for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources Jim Garavaglia said that the death of the giz-

“[Gizzard shad] are just more prone to having mortality events during the winter, particularly when temperatures change drastically,” he said.

The amount of dead gizzard shad seen around Lake Charleston is a relatively small number when compared with how many are still alive, Garavaglia said.

Gizzard shad are also resilient to population loss. They produce a lot of eggs, which allows the species to survive even if there are mortality events among their population.

“They are able to sustain either medium to high levels of mortality without it having long impacts on the population because they are able to reproduce so much,” Garavaglia said.

According to Garavaglia, there is no indication that the fish kill was caused by pollution of the water, mainly because there was only one species of fish that was significantly affected.

When it comes to fish kills that result from pollution or lack of oxygen, there are usually pretty wide array of not only fish but even other animals that die, he said.

Garavaglia said that it would be very rare for authorities to choose to clean up a fish kill such as the one at Lake Charleston. The fish will disappear as nature runs its course.

“Nature does a pretty good job of recycling those nutrients relatively quickly,” he said.

T.J. Seputis can be reached at 5812812 or at tjseputis@eiu.edu.

FRONT PAGE COVER BY ROB LE CATES

BY T.J. SEPUTIS | THE DAILY EASTERN NEWS

Celebrating WHAM at Eastern

Three female educators tell their stories

By Alexis Moore-Jones & Jacob Hamm Feature Reporter & Reporter | @DEN_News

To honor the achievements made by women in American history, the month of March is designated Women’s History Month.

Here at Eastern, there have been hundreds if not thousands of women who have left their mark on the school whether it be students, staff or community members.

Groniger Arena is home to one female employee who is an asset to the campus.

Cynthia Almon, the assistant athletic director for academic services, began her professional career at Eastern 29 years ago.

She knew she wanted to work with college students while getting her master’s degree in a college personnel program.

Almon understands the unique struggles of being an athlete and a student at the same time.

In high school, she ran cross country and track and was on the swim team.

To Almon, women’s history month is important.

“Being a woman and being a leader, we should recognize women as leaders and support them,” Almon said.

She described how it was challenging when she first entered the field, working with mostly male coaches at the time. However, she overcame these challenges.

“It was hard, but through time I gained the respect by working hard and having a good work ethic and making sure I was communicating and following up,” Almon said.

She said she enjoys working with male and female coaches equally.

When she is not working, Almon likes

to spend her free time practicing her skills playing the drums.

She picked up the hobby during the pandemic, being taught by her fiancé.

She and her fiancé mostly play for fun but do occasionally put out drum covers of songs.

“During some stressful times in the last four years, I’ll just go to my drum room and play, and the stress goes away,” Almon said.

She plans to retire at the end of the semester.

Across campus in Buzzard Hall is where WEIU News Director Kelly Goodwin has been able to use the skills she learned from her mentor to better her career and the generations of students she mentors.

Goodwin’s career at WEIU began with a road trip after high school.

Her friend asked if she wanted to tag along to view a college.

“Lo and behold, we were traveling to Eastern Illinois University in Charleston,” said Goodwin.

It was there she met her news director and mentor Susan Kaufman and got a firsthand look at the world of radio and tv.

Goodwin spent all four years of college at WEIU working on and off camera mastering her craft.

But it was with the help of her mentor that she became who she is today.

“She made me a better person, and she made me appreciate journalism a lot more, getting facts right, what good stories to tell and pressing me to go out of my comfort zone.”

Goodwin was excelling in broadcast journalism, but by senior year she wasn’t sure if it was the right path for her.

Unsure of what to do, she turned to her mentor who told her she had to stay passionate and stick with it.

After a tight game of tug of war between her and Kaufman, Goodwin gave in. With Kaufman’s help, Goodwin landed her first job out of college working for a newsroom in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Working her way up from “glorified secretary,” as she described it, to news director, Goodwin made a name for herself and stayed for 10 years.

Eventually, she found herself back in the place where it all began, Eastern Illinois University, not as a student but as a news director and mentor like Kaufman herself.

Goodwin may not be out on the scene talking to people and telling stories like she used to, but she gets to mentor the youth who do, which means just as much to her.

She credits her teachings and philosophy to Kaufman.

“I credit her for a lot of the things that I practice and preach and do today,” Goodwin said. “She’s always in the back of my mind like well, this is what Sue would do, or this is how she would handle it.”

Driven by her passion for teaching, author and associate professor of teacher education Alexis Jones made history with her latest book and her ability to shape the minds of students and teachers alike.

Jones spent 12 years as an elementary school teacher before doing grant work and working with district administration, then deciding to return to school.

After receiving her doctorate degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Jones was ready to get back into the classroom and start teaching. She landed her dream job teaching at Eastern.

“Eastern started as a normal school, like as a teaching school preparing teachers. That was sort of its history,” she said. “I really think that that sort of has stayed at the heart of what Eastern does and what Eastern values, and

I love that.”

Teaching students between K-12 and higher education has taught Jones the importance of human relations among students and teachers.

With this mindset, Jones wrote her book titled “Teaching is a Human Interaction: How Thoughtful Educators Respond, are Responsive, and Take Responsibility.”

“If you’re going to be a responsive and responsible teacher, you really want to think about how you interact with students, young or old, in a really caring and kind way,” Jones said. “And so, you need to think about your relationship with them.”

During quarantine, Jones was left with time to read about the issues of care, responsivity and relational ethics in teaching.

Many of the books she read on the topic gave the impression that if teachers did five or six specific steps, they would be the best teacher ever, but Jones does not believe that it is that simple.

“We’re human beings, and as human beings, we have moods and backgrounds and beliefs and biases and all of those things,” Jones said. “So, I wanted to try to focus in on what this meant for, not just teachers who were in K-12 classrooms but also those of us who are trying to prepare teachers for those classrooms.”

She believes women’s history month is important because it places the contributions women have made to society on a pedestal to keep from being overlooked.

“While I would hope someday we can work women’s history seamlessly into our school curricula and conversations, this month is a wonderful reminder of powerful people who fought and still fight for gender equity,” she said.

Alexis Moore-Jones and Jacob Hamm can be reached at 581-2812.

“He did an allergy profile and found that I believe it was I was allergic to 87% of all foods that they tested, whether it was mildly or highly allergic to them, so I went on a strict diet for two years,” Klepzig-Hagan said.

Having gotten the allergy test results, she was placed in a tough position because she couldn’t eat most of the foods sold in stores.

“I couldn’t eat regular eggs, but they (her parents) were able to get me duck eggs, goat’s milk and goat cheese.” she said. “Those things were not regularly available here, so they did a lot.”

Klepzig-Hagan was placed on an extremely strict four-day rotational diet for two years. At the time, she stayed in Taylorville but tried to drive out to Charleston every week to get the materials she needed from the store to better her health.

The results of this diet were that her illness went into remission, and her health began to improve. It increased so much that she was given the go-ahead by doctors to try for another child if she chose to do so.

Although her health improved, it never stayed that way. Over time, her health would fluctuate from good to bad to worse regardless of what she did.

It was not until she began researching trauma and the role it plays on the body, both internally and externally, that she was able to take complete charge of her health.

Nola Klepzig-Hagan had suffered traumatic events throughout her life, and those instances followed her everywhere she went. The negative energy took a mental, physical and emotional toll.

She decided to leave her old life behind and return to Charleston to start anew. With family, a support system and a wellness store on her side, she

had nowhere to go but up.

After 10 years of working at the store, Dave and Carol Klepzig decided to retire for good and pass the store along to an interested buyer around the summer of 2009.

It was then that Klepzig-Hagan moved back to the area, but she came back too late and missed the opportunity to buy the store for herself.

With the hopes of one day owning the store, she kept her eye out for 10 years.

In 2019, Klepzig-Hagan bought the establishment and became the new owner of her family business.

During those 10 years she spent waiting to buy the store, she began her healing journey, which led her down the path of numerology, feng shui and, most importantly for her, Reiki healing.

According to Reiki.org, “Reiki is a

Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation that also promotes healing. It is administered by ‘laying on hands’ and is based on the idea that an unseen ‘life force energy’ flows through us and is what causes us to be alive. If one’s ‘life force energy’ is low, then we are more likely to get sick or feel stress, and if it is high, we are more capable of being happy and healthy.”

Having found these practices on her journey of self-discovery and acceptance, she began to see improvement both inside and out.

“To heal from trauma, you know, there’s a bit of an emotional journey to go through, but there are certain changes that you must make to be able to sustain the healing that comes with it. And so, Reiki supports those changes,” she said.

Since buying the store in 2019, Klepzig-Hagan has been able to make the store her own for almost five years now. Her newest addition to the store will be a mural painted by an Eastern alumni.

With the help of her youngest daughter working in the store and her eldest daughter working on the marketing side of the business, Klepzig-Hagan can run the store in a way she believes will keep it afloat in this economy while also giving her the space to practice what she wants.

In a small room in the back of the store, Klepzig-Hagan performs Reiki services on those who seek her help. She offers 30- to 45-minute sessions for $36 and an hour to an hour and a half sessions for $63.

Her goal is to train her youngest daughter to the point where she can run the front of the store, allowing Klepzig-Hagan to do what she loves and help others in the back.

“I’m just really looking forward to working with people individually you know, through that modality, getting to know more about them and then helping them to help themselves change to fix their lives for the better,” she said.

Klepzig-Hagan said the store needs more products, renovations and charges, which makes it a work in progress, but the same can be said about its owner, Nola Klepzig-Hagan. Only time and patience will bring about the true transformation of Klepzig-Hagan and her store.

Those looking to shop at Nola’s Naturals can visit the store during operation hours or shop online using the Nola’s Naturals website. Those interested in reiki services can give Nola Klepzig-Hagan a call at 345-1130.

Alexis Moore-Jones can be reached at 581-2812 or at admoorejones@eiu. edu

BY ALEXIS MOORE-JONES | THE DAILY EASTERN NEWS

Merchandise at the Nola’s Naturals store on Madison Avenue in Charleston.

COLUMN

Eastern needs to deregulate bulletin board policies

By Jason Farias Columnist

Frankly, Eastern flyer areas are underwhelming, and our bulletin board policy is to blame.

Community bulletin boards are a vibrant feature of college life, plastering the social landscape in all manner of announcements, notices and student designs. Bulletin boards on residential college campuses are decentralized nodes of student communication.

These boards are the social and cultural mosaics showcasing all that a melting pot life a college campus has to offer.

It’s Yik Yak but in real life. Only now imagine that everything you posted on Yik Yak had to be approved by the administration.

Unless you are already involved in

COLUMN

a registered student organization, you may not be aware that EIU’s bulletin boards act more as a restricted privilege than as the public commons.

For the most part, only RSOs and administrative offices can post on campus bulletin boards.

RSOs must have their event approved by their adviser and then campus scheduling, which can take days, a week or in very rare cases, they may never get back to you at all before your event comes around.

However, here’s the kicker: each and every individual flier must be stamped by hand. The infamous stamp policy is arduous, overly bureaucratic and, in general, a massive waste of time.

You might feel like such procedures are common sense and best practice until you’re the one having to go through it all.

Just wait until you hear that the stamp policy has not always been around, and that other universities don’t monitor student communications to such a high degree.

Roughly fifteen years ago, The News

wrote in an editorial, “Until the fall 2009 semester, virtually anyone could post items on said boards without permission.”

The controversial introduction of Policy No. 138.1 essentially prohibited all postings of any materials on campus with few exceptions.

Student backlash from 2009-2010 is well documented on The News’ website.

Debates exploded over bulletin board clutter, free and open exchange of ideas and First Amendment constitutional law; many disregarded the new policy entirely and continued posting freely following its implementation.

The editorial went on further to write, “perhaps the most frustrating aspect of the policy is that the university is effectively controlling a large, visible aspect of communication among students and student groups.” Fifteen years later, the sentiment remains the same.

Take a trip up to University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and you will see postings everywhere: “Looking for a

roommate?” “Band looking for a guitar player.” “Lost Cat.”

You will see infographics advocating for social justice, promos for local musical events and student art.

In a meeting with RSO leaders from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, my peers couldn’t believe how many hoops I had to jump through just to get a flyer up.

Perhaps, it is time we reconsider bloated bulletin policies and get in line with some better practices. Many universities utilize “general campus bulletins” that promote community and popular communication.

Moreover, by relaxing some of these intrusive policies we can more effectively protect student freedom of expression and right to assembly all while having the added benefit of improving campus culture.

But please, more than anything, let us make the dreaded stamp policy a thing of the past.

Jason Farias can be reached at 581-2812 or at jsfarias@eiu.edu.

Embrace Mudita and Ubuntu

woman, and my feelings got hurt.”

By Dan Hahn Columnist

In a talk I attended some years ago, novelist Dave Eggers referred to the comments section on YouTube as a playground for the insane.

Jaded as I am about people’s conduct in the comments section, a tribute Jon Stewart gave on The Daily Show for his recently deceased dog, Dipper, stands out as a prime example of the wonderful humanity that can be expressed through online comments.

We don’t always need to demonstrate sympathy for bad news alone.

Mudita is a word from Sanskrit means the sympathetic joy for others’ good fortune.

The western equivalent of this is perhaps “The Golden Rule,” or more simply, treat others how you would like to be treated.

A collective sense of Mudita was badly needed when a minor internet controversy went viral after Julia Roberts shared a picture of her and her niece and internet trolls lashed out, insulting the celebrity’s looks. MSN.com reported that Roberts “admitted to not being prepared for the level of negativity online these days” and said “I’m a 50-year-old

We are in an era where the most benign topics become a battlefield for cynics and the aggrieved.

However, not long ago I was looking at the comments for a New York Times article about a shipwreck that mysteriously washed up on the shores of Maine. Some random commenter recommended the National Geographic’s show “Drain The Oceans,” and I have since enjoyed many episodes.

Obviously, internet comments can be a mixed bag. Comments can be useful when we remember there is an audience that is oftentimes genuinely interested in learning something new.

While researching the topic of civility in online comments, I found many guidelines for how brands should engage with their customers’ comments on social media. This is also known as “comment management”.

However, I found only one article for how people should treat each other, and that article could not be accessed without disabling my ad-blocker.

So, all is well with shipwrecks and people’s pets, but reading comments on any divisive issue will reveal that the same rules apply to combat as they do for debating touchy subjects. But, even in war there are rules.

Internet culture has embraced a cycle of provocation and retribution; trolling and reacting; dunking, mocking and eviscerating our opposition.

As an opinion writer, I have mixed

feeling about this. On one hand, I am a firm believer that opinions are alive only when they are free to do battle.

However, I also feel that opinions are choices and are therefore dynamic and changing. The most interesting thing about a person’s opinions is how they defend and rationalize them to themselves and to others in good-faith discussions.

Moreover, people who are willing to share their opinions need to be open to conflicting opinions and nuance yet must be willing to have a good faith debate without attacking those whose opinions do not match perfectly.

Ad-hominem arguments are attacks at the speaker and not the substance of an argument. Obviously, it is wise to refrain from hurling insults towards those we wish to persuade.

In other words, let the opinions do the talking; leave the individual out of it.

Yet, all too often we see vitriol in the comments rewarded when social media algorithms boost outrage.This is where the African philosophy of Ubuntu comes in.

Ubuntu was popularized in western culture by Nobel Prize winning Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Ubuntu emphasizes the interconnectedness and shared humanity of all people.

It embodies the belief that one’s well-being and identity are intertwined with the well-being and identity of others.

This philosophy seems divorced from

the outdated us-vs-them mentality of our public discourse around divisive issues. More than ever, we need to remember Ubuntu when engaging in particularly divisive discussions.

I do not trust platforms to regulate bad behavior. Yes, they typically monitor posts for nudity, hate speech and threats. But bullying, mockery and meanness are not behaviors these platforms do well at deterring, nor is it beneficial to their business model to do so.

Vulnerability like Jon Stewart and Julia Roberts demonstrated should be universally celebrated. These are cases where sympathy or Mudita should be natural reactions.

Divisive discourse is trickier, but I think we all acknowledge that Ubuntu, or a universal connectedness of everyone, should be everyone’s philosophy before posting on social media. Indeed, in a perfect world, online platforms would encourage these philosophies. I am not saying everyone needs to agree on everything. I am arguing that we all need to be nicer to each other, especially over benign issues that need not turn us against each other. It is easy to remain civil with the right language and mindset.

Practice Ubuntu and Mudita when the opportunity presents itself. The internet and our collective humanity will be better for it.

Dan Hahn can be reached at 5812812 or dhahn@eiu.edu.

Green Day’s ‘Saviors’ is a new classic

By Jacob Hamm Reporter

Spanning a career of nearly thirty years, the punk rock band Green Day released their 14th studio album “Saviors” back in January.

The 46 minute long album is a mix of their classic sound with lyrics about the modern-day world.

The opening track “The American Dream Is Killing Me” sets the tone for the album.

The song covers a variety of topics such as gentrification, the rise of artificial intelligence and addiction.

The song is a clear rebuke of today’s political climate, both in terms of policy and rhetoric.

Further along in the album is the song “Goodnight Adeline.”

Green Day has remained consistent of being critical of American institutions, from during the Clinton years, to George W. Bush to Biden’s administration today.

- Jacob Hamm

COLUMN

The track is dedicated the struggles of alcohol addiction and corresponding mental health issues.

The lyrics, “Some days are holidays. Some days you call your mother. Some days you’re sober. But you’re still waking up with a hangover,” deeply resonated with me as a listener.

This track and “Coma City” are my personal favorites from this album.

“Coma City” is song number seven out of fifteen on the album.

This track tackles the dynamics of inner-city America, such as gun violence, addiction and issues regarding policing.

The song also takes shots at billionaires for ignoring problems on Earth while having the desire to perfect space travel for ordinary citizens.

The song “Strange Days Are Here to Stay” is another track that is a commentary about our modern-day society.

This song tackles how our government fails to live up to basic needs of people, how society has become more hateful and how mental health issues run rampant in our society.

The next song, “Living in the ‘20s,” is the shortest song on the album at two minutes and seven seconds.

That being said, the song still packs a punch when it comes to lyrics.

The song serves as a time capsule of the 2020s, with lyrics discussing mass shootings, fentanyl addiction and society groupthink.

Overall, I rate this album a 10 out of 10.

The musical composition and lyrical content is done in classic Green Day fashion.

The album is consistent with their sound and image but with a modern take on current events.

As an avid fan of the band who grew up listening to them, it takes me back to my childhood and teenage years.

I will go out on a limb and say this al-

bum perfectly embodies what punk rock is supposed to be about. Punk rock criticizes society and their thoughts, cultural issues and those who are in charge of our government.

This album will be one of the band’s classics, right up there with “Dookie” and “American Idiot.”

Jacob Hamm can be reached at 581-2812 or at jmhamm@eiu.edu.

Green Day has remained consistent of being critical of American institutions, from during the Clinton years, to George W. Bush to Biden’s administration today.

‘The Revenant:’ the man vs. the world

By Drew Coffey Columnist

All I can say is that my bed felt a lot warmer after watching this film.

The 2015 film “The Revenant” is directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu and stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Will Poulter and Domhnall Gleeson.

It tells the miraculous story of Hugh Glass who after suffering almost life-ending injuries during a vicious bear attack, is left for dead by his men in 1823.

After this incident and one of his crewmen killing his son, Glass embarks on a mission of revenge, travelling through the winter-stricken wilderness.

I would be a lying man if I said I could survive the same events DiCaprio’s character goes through in this movie. The cold alone would make me call it quits, to be honest.

I think that goes to show how amazingly the environment in the film is portrayed and how it also acts as a character in the story. Whenever Glass is lying in the snow wincing in pain, the audience feels every bit of that.

This participatory element of the film is also credited to the incredibly dynamic cinematography and camera work throughout.

For example, when Glass is being pursued by a native tribe, the camera is spinning around the landscape of the scene, making you feel engrossed in the tension and environment.

The locations they filmed for this film, which consisted of multiple locations in Canada, showcase the empty yet weirdly calming beauty of nature.

The acting in this film is absolutely

mesmerizing from top to bottom.

Now would I say this is DiCaprio’s best performance? No.

However, what I can say is that the sheer work and determination that was presented in his acting well earned the Oscar he received for this role.

A notable moment is when his son is killed by Tom Hardy’s character, John Fitzgerald. The heartbreak and rage on his face accompanied by his debilitating injuries is an absolute masterclass.

Hardy himself delivers a great performance as a hateful man who won’t listen to anyone who opposes him.

When the two finally meet again at the end of the film, we are treated to a cinematic but painfully realistic battle. People’s ears are bitten off, fingers are cut and there is plenty of blood to go around.

In terms of pacing, I think the build up to this fight scene seems a little rushed, especially with the fact that Glass is still recovering from traumatic injuries.

We are never specifically told how long it has been since he found his way back to camp, which makes the fight seem forced after an hour and a half of slowly watching Glass travel the wilderness.

Now to play devil’s advocate, I can see how the film may be more focused on Glass coming to terms with his mortality. However, the film’s final confrontation just seemed a tad quick for me.

Overall, “The Revenant” is an awe-inspiring, visually magnifying film that makes the audience feel involved with the undesirable conditions throughout. With great performances, cinematography and a mortally poignant theme, the film stands as a modern-day classic in my eyes.

My overall rating: 4.5/5

Drew Coffey can be reached at 5812812 or at akcoffey@eiu.edu.

ED VILL | CREATIVE COMMONS

Billie Joe Armstrong sings while playing his guitar at a concert in Venezuela in 2010.

Female athletes are just as capable as male

By Chloe Proffitt Sports Reporter

My whole life I have done sports.

Sports have the power to inspire and change, especially when it comes to women.

There are so many women in sports, whether it’s in the media or on the field, court or track. However, it hasn’t always been this way.

Women still face discrimination. So many claim women don’t know what they’re talking about or that women’s sports just aren’t that interesting, but that is so far from the truth.

I do cross country and track at Eastern, but along with that, I work here at The News as a sports reporter. Despite being an athlete myself, my knowledge and skill are still doubted.

We have been conditioned as women

to not voice our opinions and stay quiet, especially in sports.

Because sports is a man’s thing, right? That’s so far from the truth.

Women deserve a voice, and we can enjoy sports just as much as any man.

When it comes to running, I am a Division I athlete. When people find out, almost without fail the next words out of their mouth are, “I bet I could beat you in a race.”

A joking comment, yes, but one that never fails to get annoying.

Sadly, I so often hear that women’s running is not as interesting as men, which in my opinion is far from the truth. Sure, the men may be faster but the women work just as hard and face additional obstacles on top of that.

Women are not genetically close to being the same as a male, and we often get the short end of the stick.

Being a female is hard enough as it is, and the performances women can whip out and demonstrate are gutsy and inspiring.

There is so much adversity women in sports face. On top of the everyday

struggle of our sport, many women deal with their bodies torturing them for a week once a month.

Now add in body image and the disgusting comments we receive, like, “You will get slow once you get hips.”

Our bodies are so often picked apart as if we are objects for others to judge, but what about our performances? The performances we still put out despite our builds or what others think?

I often hear that women aren’t built like runners or are not feminine enough.

Why not, “Wow, she looks so strong,” or, “Her body is capable of so much.”

The truth is it takes a lot to be an athlete: time spent in the weight room, a healthy diet, you name it.

Women can rarely fit into those unachievable standards, and to be quite frank, we shouldn’t have to.

Strong is beautiful. It feels good to be fit.

It’s one of my favorite feelings, and it can happen at any size.

There is a sense of pride about being a female athlete.

We are doing something not even

some of our grandparents were capable of doing.

As a runner, someone who sticks out to me is Kathrine Switzer, who made history in 1967 by becoming the first woman to run the Boston Marathon with an official race number.

She did so despite the efforts of the race director to remove her from the course after finding out she was a woman. To think that was only 57 years ago is crazy to me.

Women deserve a space in sports just as much as men.

We are capable and strong.

There is still so much improvement to be made for women in sports, as it’s still a constant battle.

To see so many strong and deserving women constantly pushing the boundaries inspires me and helps light the flame in me to keep going.

Women are far from weak or fragile. If anything we are courageous, confident, strong and just as capable as any man.

Chloe Proffitt can be reached at 581-2812 or at cgproffitt@eiu.edu.

Women in media are still women in sports

By Zaria Flippin Sports Editor

I’ve known for a while that working in the sports field is something I’ve wanted to do. Ever since I made the decision to pursue my dream, I’ve truly never looked back.

Being a part of The News for a full year has helped me express my creativity through sports.

If you told 10-year-old Zaria that there was a way for me to still be part of sports without playing the sport, I would’ve thought someone was lying to me.

This job has taught me a lot of things, but I think the main thing I have learned was how to be okay with taking

risks and expressing my creativity.

I always knew being a content creator was something that has always interested me, and I wanted to try something that the sports staff for The News hasn’t done a lot of: multimedia.

I think the biggest risk I’ve taken that has paid off were the Instagram Reels.

It has shown a side of the athletes that not everybody gets to see, and that was my main goal: to showcase and highlight on how athletes are still humans.

Being a woman in sports is one of the most rewarding things in my life.

I love making connections with athletes and coaches, and I love traveling and creating content in any shape and form.

Now, I would be lying if I said that being a woman in sports is always the best thing ever.

Of course, I love my job, but it would be wrong to say that there are no challenges in this field.

When I first started out, the assumption was, “Oh, you only want to do this to be around men all the time.”

Um, no. That’s definitely not the reason why I chose this job.

I think every woman in sports has also been asked the question of, “Can you name five players?”

Yes. What makes people think I can’t?

The biggest aspect of being a woman in sports that I dread is people, including athletes and coaches, not taking me seriously.

The video that always plays back in my mind is Cam Newton’s press conference with the Carolina Panthers and Jourdan Rodrigue, a Charlotte Observer reporter, when he said it’s “funny to hear a female talk about routes.”

In my opinion, I think it’s Rodrigue’s job, and if it’s really that comical, then I think we need to work on his sense of humor.

Personally, there has not been a time when an athlete at Eastern has not tak-

Panthers of the Week

The male Panther of the Week is going to Cameron Slabbert from the tennis team.

The fifth year from Somerset West, South Africa, won both his matches against the Lindenwood Lions Saturday afternoon.

Slabbert and his doubles partner, junior Zach White, won their event 6-3 against Lions’ Nathan Matsuguma and Bernardo Henriques.

Slabbert went on to win his singles match against Henriques (6-3, 6-2) later in the day.

With Slabbert’s wins, the Panthers beat the Lions 5-2.

en me seriously.

There are times when I’ll get questions about why I chose this path, and I give my honest answer, but there hasn’t been a time that any Eastern athlete nor coach thought less of me and questioned my knowledge.

I know that journalists are not the first thing people think of when women in sports are brought up, but journalists shouldn’t be forgotten as they should be a part of the conversation.

Not getting the recognition for all of the blood, sweat and tears I put into my job is disheartening in a way.

I wouldn’t change anything in my life right now.

I’m living out my dreams, meeting people who have the same goals and drive as me and putting my best foot forward in every article and video I write.

Zaria Flippin can be reached at 5812812 or zhflippin@eiu.edu.

The female Panther of the Week is going to

from the tennis team.

The sophomore from Brisbane, Australia, won all four matches she had to start the outdoor tennis season on Friday and Saturday afternoon.

On Friday, Booth and her doubles partner, senior Addison Brown, won a 6-1 match against Western Illinois Leathernecks’ Paige Grice and Lara Diniz de Souza.

The next day, Booth and Brown continued their doubles win streak against the Lions. Booth and Brown won 6-1.

CAMERON SLABBERT

Jemma Booth

JEMMA BOOTH

EIU All-American prepares for NFL Draft

By Zaria Flippin Sports Editor | zhflippin@eiu.edu

At a young age, the main goal for most kids who play football is to play professionally in the National Football League.

Eastern’s former defensive back Russell Dandy started playing football when he was 6 years old. As he’s training to turn his dreams of playing in the NFL into a reality, he never thought he would get to where he is now.

“There’s no shot 6-year-old me would believe this,” Dandy said.

Dandy graduated from Eastern in May 2023, but because he had an extra year of eligibility, he decided to attend a few classes in the fall semester to play one final season with the Panthers.

During his final season of college football, Dandy started all 11 games. He ended the season with 34 total tackles, 18 pass breakups, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and one interception.

On top of those statistics, Dandy was also named part of the 2023 First Team All-Big South/Ohio Valley Conference as well as being named a 2023 Walter Camp All-American.

Dandy, a Georgia native, trains back in his home state, and he has been training with his trainer of 10 years, Manny Rodriguez, since the 2023 season came to an end.

“At first, training was an all-day thing,” Dandy said.

Before his first NFL pro day, Dandy had a routine he would follow while he was training. Dandy’s day would start at 8 a.m. getting ready for his 10:30 a.m. workout.

Every day, Dandy would stop by Smoothie King to fuel up before his workout.

When Dandy first got to the gym, he stretched and warmed up before his trainer told him what they’d be working on that day.

“My workouts aren’t straight hitting weights,” Dandy said. “It’s really what my trainer thinks I need. We’ll get into the workout, and then after the workout do some type of stretching again.”

After his workout, Dandy stoped at Playa Bowls, a restaurant that serves açaí bowls and pitaya bowls.

“I’ll probably get back to the house at about 3 or 4,” Dandy said.

When Dandy got back home, he’d take a shower before driving to Life Time Fitness to use the amenities the gym offers.

“I’ll get in the sauna, steam room, and I’ll get in the pool and hot tub,” Dandy said. “It recovers my body and gets me ready for the next day. For the stuff that I need, [Life Time Fitness] is well worth it.”

Dandy would normally leave Life Time Fitness around 8 p.m. and arrive home around 8:30 p.m. to eat and relax before he went to bed. He would repeat the same routine until his first NFL pro day at Northwestern University on March 6.

During this pro day, multiple recruiters from different NFL teams watched all of the players perform different events throughout the day.

Dandy did five events at the pro day at Northwestern: the 40-yard dash (4.48 seconds), the 3-cone drill (6.87 seconds), the 5-10-5 shuttle (4.19 seconds), the vertical

jump (39 inches) and the broad jump (10 feet, 7 inches).

“For me, my performance was more average,” Dandy said. “I had pretty good numbers across the board, but I expect better for myself.”

Compared to the other defensive backs and cornerbacks at the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine, Dandy recorded a 40-yard dash time that would have him tied as the 17th best time compared to the 42 other cornerbacks at the 2024 combine.

Dandy attended another pro day at Georgia Southern University so he could record a faster time in the 40-yard dash.

“That’s really all I want to do,” Dandy said. “I want to run a 4.3 [second time] so I can get my draft stock up a little bit. My numbers aren’t bad, but I expect more of myself because I know I can do better. If I run a 4.3, I have a good chance to get drafted.”

Along with the 40-yard dash, Dandy wanted to repeat the vertical event and the broad jump event. Dandy’s goal is to record a distance of 40 inches on the vertical jump and a distance of 11 feet for the broad jump.

Dandy had his second NFL pro day at Georgia Southern University on Monday, March 25. Dandy received his unofficial results in the vertical jump (39.5 inches), the broad jump (11 feet) and the 40-yard dash (4.44 seconds).

Because Dandy had two pro days, he is currently maintaining his training and

stamina instead of following the same routine he had before his Northwestern pro day.

“It’s the same workouts as before, but I come home around 3, and then I’m just kicking it for the rest of the day,” Dandy said.

Dandy also wants to keep his mind on football as much as he can without stressing about the idea of playing professionally.

To take his mind off of training and football, Dandy will hang out with his family and friends all over the state of Georgia.

“I’m staying with my auntie right now, so it’s my auntie, my cousin and my uncle. So, I’ll chill with them sometime during the week or the weekends,” Dandy said. “I’ll go visit my friend in Athens, [Georgia], and I have a sister that stays in Atlanta, so I’ll go visit her. I just try to do different things and chill with different people to not think about football.”

Ever since he left Charleston to train back in Georgia, Dandy still keeps in touch with some of his teammates including fifth year defensive back Mark Aitken.

“Me and Russ talk about his training from time to time,” Aitken said. “I know it’s hard on him, but he knows it’ll be worth it. Russ is one of the most dedicated and hard workers I know. He gave up a lot and changed a lot to get what he wanted.”

As Dandy trained for his second pro day, he reflected on how far he came from when he first started playing football to where he is now. Over time, Dandy struggled with

his confidence, as he didn’t fully gain confidence in himself until 2019.

“My self-confidence wasn’t really there until I got out of [junior college] and started working real hard in football,” Dandy said.

“Then, I got up to Eastern to see I can compete and excel in the league, so that’s when I realized I was somebody and that I could make money off of this.”

Dandy continues to look up to people who come from the same state as him, one being Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety Richard LeCounte III. The two played football together at Liberty County High School before LeCounte went to play college football for the University of Georgia Bulldogs.

“It’s kind of turned into a smaller world when it comes to the sports thing,” Dandy said. “It’s possible, but it’s a small percentage for a reason because not everyone is willing to put up the investment. You have to put up mental and physical investment along with monetary investment.”

Aitken has ample faith in Dandy and his abilities to make it into the NFL as a draft prospect or a free agent.

“Russ has left a big mark on [Eastern’s] program,” Aitken said. “He gave the program a great look, represented the program great everywhere and he gave guys after him confidence to follow his path. Russ has a great chance of making the NFL. He will make it.”

Zaria Flippin can be reached at 5812812 or zhflippin@eiu.edu.

FILE PHOTO | THE DAILY EASTERN NEWS

EIU graduate Russell Dandy began training for the NFL draft after his final season at EIU in 2023.