The Daily Egyptian - November 8, 2023

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Coyote Ugly: Controversial finish plagues Saluki comeback effort

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2023

Off to the races: Salukis leave Kentucky State in the dust

Brandyn Wilcoxen @brandynwilcoxen

Brandyn Wilcoxen @BrandynWilcoxen

Wide receiver D’Ante’ Cox made a catch with just 19 seconds left on the clock in a goal-to-go situation for his Salukis. Although he appeared at first to have landed in the end zone, the ruling on the field was an incomplete pass on what was Southern’s best chance to tie the game.

“We got that. They robbed us,” safety Ubayd Steed said. “We got that. I feel like we got that.”

Saluki football fell to 6-3 on the year after a 14-7 loss to the South Dakota Coyotes (7-2, 5-1) at home on Saturday.

The loss is SIU’s third in five games, dropping to 3-3 in conference play.

Cox’s non-catch was ruled on the field to be an incomplete pass. A replay review spanned roughly three minutes, only to result in the call standing; not being confirmed or overturned. Typically, this

Saluki men’s basketball opened its 202324 campaign on Monday night with an emphatic 88-57 win against the Kentucky State Thorobreds at Banterra Center.

Returning starters Xavier Johnson (20 points) and Clarence Rupert (13 points, 11 rebounds) anchored the team, while incoming transfers Jovan Stulic (14 points) and R.J. McGee (6 rebounds) shined in their Saluki debuts. Scottie Ebube (12 points, 6 rebounds) and AJ Ferguson (6 points, 7 rebounds) showcased their talents in expanded roles from last season.

The Salukis will host Queens University of Charlotte on Friday, Nov. 10 at 7 p.m., and Chicago State on Thursday, Nov. 16 at 7 p.m.

For full story please go to dailyegyptian.com

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VOL. 107, ISSUE 12

Sports editor Brandyn Wilcoxen can be reached on Twitter at @BrandynWilcoxen

Xavier Johnson (10) dribbles the ball behind his back as he is guarded by Brandon Hill (3) of Kentucky State in the season home opener Nov. 6 2023 at Banterra Center in Carbondale, Illinois. Lylee Gibbs | @lyleegibbsphoto

Depression rates up in Illinois: Where you can turn for help Carly Gist | cgist@dailyegyptian.com

Day Starr-Fleming | dstarrfleming@dailyegyptian.com

Mental health is a prevalent issue worldwide, but a recent study shows that depression rates in Illinois are on the rise.

“According to the second edition of Best & Worst States for Millennials, a study that examines depression diagnosis rates among millennials in all 50 states, [those] in Illinois have increased depression rates by 19% this year compared to 2022, making the state the number six place where this generation’s mental health have worsened,” Abigail Da Costa, PR Executive of Scholaroo, wrote in an email.

Illinois ranked No. 12 in Quality of Life and No. 22 overall among best states to live in for Millennials.

However, WalletHub ranked

Illinois fifth in the latter category the previous year.

In fact, U.S. News and World Reporter Elliott Davis Jr. wrote in a May 2022 article, “They [millennials] see the lowest rates of depression in Hawaii and Illinois.”

So why is mental health worsening in Illinois? Morgan Gant, a psychiatric nurse practitioner, said limited access to resources has played a part.

“I think one reason is access to services, especially in rural Illinois.

I mean, even in urban [areas], it’s still pretty bad,” she said.

Gant has worked for Integrated Health of Southern Illinois for 13 years now. The health care center has two locations, one in Carterville and one in Harrisburg, and offers numerous services; including family

medicine, physical therapy, massage therapy, mental health and more.

“I have definitely seen, not just over the course of this past year, but over the past 13 years, patients coming to me in a much worse state than they were 13 years ago,” she said.

Gant said the cost of living and low availability of jobs make services less affordable. However, most people have limited to no knowledge about resources offered to begin with. A small, nonscientific survey conducted by the Daily Egyptian found that 46.5% of participants are not aware of services in southern Illinois and 23.3% are only slightly aware.

“I think a lot of people in this area don’t know where to go for services,

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Page 2 | News

Wednesday, November 8, 2023

Wild Things Art Show Photos by Enan Chediak | @echediak@dailyegyptian.com

Jackie McFadden visits the Wild Things Art Show Nov. 3, 2023 at Morris Library in Carbondale, Illinois. “Very eclectic and fascinating exhibit featuring very talented local women artists,” McFadden said.

Jan Treece (left) and Rachel Young (right) look at a sculpture.

Jackie McFadden reads an excerpt on an art piece.

Isabella Molina looks at the art displayed in the Wild Things Art Show in the Rotunda.

Rachel Young observes art at the Wild Things Art Show.

News | Page 3

Wednesday, November 8, 2023

SIU system president talks enrollment

Ryan Griieser rgrieser @dailyegyptian.com

Southern Illinois University System President Dan Mahony gave a presentation on college enrollment trends and strategies on Friday at SIU’s Carbondale campus.

While Mahony noted that nothing he was presenting was new information, meaning that it had been previously published in some other SIU material, he stressed the need for a “common understanding of where we’ve been, where we’re at and where we’re heading.”

“Enrollment is critical to our future,” Mahony said. “We must grow enrollment, and it is more challenging than it has ever been.”

One of the main reasons that enrollment is important to a university is because of the money that it brings in. The money that is made helps to fund salaries, improve and construct campus facilities, and to continually improve the curriculum.

Mahony began his presentation by talking about how enrollment used to be at colleges, citing a 25% increase in enrollment from 1998 to 2011. While enrollment increased, Mahony pointed out that state appropriations, or funding from the state for public universities, began to drop around 2000.

“We went down about 25% in state appropriations from 2002 to 2019,” Mahony said. “If you do a present value analysis… it’s about 50%. We lost about half of our state appropriation over that 17 year period.”

Mahony went on to note that it wasn’t unusual to lose that much in appropriations based on national trends. Capital funding, which essentially provides funding for construction projects, also decreased significantly.

The decrease in capital funding has been a large part of why there have been very few buildings or renovations done within the SIU system. The money that does exist is going towards maintaining current buildings, which continue to be expensive.

Mahony explained that when these buildings were constructed, there wasn’t much money put into a deferred maintenance account because lawmakers and schools trusted that they would continue getting the same amount from the state for facility improvements.

When capital funding decreased, it left campuses with many old buildings that needed to be maintained. Though they could afford to maintain the buildings, it meant that there wasn’t much money left to construct new ones.

Mahony said, “What this means is that tuition revenue becomes much more critical because of state appropriations going down. So what we start to see is tuition increases combined with enrollment growth.”

The increase was dramatic; according to Mahony, from 20052011, the average increase in tuition was 10% yearly.

The demand for college was high.

Institutions, because they didn’t

SIU System President Dan Mahony points out reasons for enrollment trends at a conference Nov. 3, 2023 at Morris Library in Carbondale, Illinois.

Caroline Kendall | @carolinekendallart

have state appropriations, weren’t afraid to increase their prices because they knew students would keep coming.

2011 marked a year of changes: there were fewer students coming out of high school, and the graduates that were coming out weren’t as likely to go to college.

Mahony mentioned this was the time period when there was a big separation between the enrollment at flagship universities, including Clemson and the University of South Carolina, and schools such as SIU. The flagship universities adapted their enrollment goals in order to increase and to get the money to continue their improvements, while smaller schools like SIU essentially stagnated because they had the same enrollment.

From 2010 to 2019, enrollment at SIU schools suffered. At Edwardsville, enrollment dropped 14%, while Carbondale plummeted 43%.

Statewide, enrollment dropped 34%. This drop left structural deficits in most budgets.

“We are not designed to cut budgets quickly. Most of our costs are in personnel… and that deferred maintenance just gets a

whole lot worse,” Mahony said.

SIU also drastically reduced tuition increases. From 2016 to 2022, tuition increased less than 2% annually, including during the budget impasse for fiscal years 2016 and 2017.

Mahony then presented a list of strategies that would help enrollment continue to increase in the Southern Illinois University System. Included on the list were improving retention, improving the transition from community college to SIU, making the best use of financial aid dollars, recognizing the changing demographics in recruitment and growing programs for populations that are not being adequately served.

Mahony said he and several other administrators visited Georgia State, which has a similar student population, to talk about retention.

“They said, ‘when you’re trying to increase retention, you’re always going to get this response. Nothing is going to work until we do x,’” Mahony said. “They said, ‘do something. Do the thing that you can do most quickly, have success with that, and then build to the next one.’”

Mahony discussed how financial

aid dollars are able to be better distributed, including mentioning a tuition break for lower-income families.

The Saluki Commitment states that, among other requirements, students whose families make less than $103,000 per year are able to come to SIU free of tuition and mandatory fees.

The demographics of the students that are receiving these financial aid dollars is also changing, and Mahony said realizing this change is important for universities. The majority of students under 18 are not White anymore, and this is showing up in the students that are coming to universities.

“Overall, White enrollment was down about 1%; in contrast, Black, Latinx and Asian enrollment was all up, somewhere between 2% and 4%,” Mahony said.

There are also increases in enrollment among populations like adults who either didn’t go to college, left, or need to come back.

These students may be coming back to receive new degrees, certificates or credentials.

“Graduate certificate programs were up 5.6%, and undergraduate certificate programs were up 9.9% this year. So much more growth

in those than in traditional degree programs,” Mahony said.

Some of these adults may be taking classes online, which is something that the Southern Illinois University System is focusing on to help make itself more competitive.

“The last couple years, as a system, we’ve been working on the SIU System online, which is a collaboration between the Edwardsville and Carbondale campuses to create programs that will be available to students online, but you can take classes from any of the schools within the system,” Mahony said.

Mahony closed his presentation by reiterating that none of these ideas were new; they were all included in previous strategic plans that various SIU employees had a hand in. He also said he thought it was important to “communicate as openly as possible about what we’re doing, why we’re doing it, so people can understand what is going on across the system. And frankly, we need widespread commitment across the system.”

Staff reporter Ryan Grieser can be reached at rgrieser@dailyegyptian.com.

Page 4 | News

Wednesday, November 8, 2023

Justice Holevoet hits a bulls-eye while using the catapult station Nov, 4. 2023 at The Great Southern Illinois Pumpkin Smash in Carbondale, Illinois.

The Great Southern Illinois Pumpkin Smash Photos by Dominique Martinez-Powell @dmartinez_powell.photography

Pumpkins were smashed at the SIU Farms Service Center on Saturday, Nov 4.

Families were encouraged to come out to dispose of their fall decorations in a fun way that’s also environmentally friendly.

Erin Ashley helps her daughter Amelia Ashley smash their Halloween pumpkin in the rage room.

Erin Ashley (far right) watches as her daughter Amelia Ashley learns how to use an Atlatl.

Brenden Gallegly starts to throw an atlatl at some pumpkins.

Sports | Page 5

Wednesday, November 8, 2023

High dives and high expectations: A midseason check-in with SIU swim and dive Ryan Grieser rgrieser@dailyegyptian.com

Heading into the midpoint of their season, the SIU swimming and diving teams are right where they want to be.

Head coach Geoff Hanson said the season is going “really well” so far.

Although the men’s team has been off to a bit of a slow start, falling short in each of its dual meets, Hanson is very optimistic heading into the rest of the season.

“We learned a lot in the early season…about what kind of team we are, about what we can be. I feel like we’re in a much better place now…” he said.

The women’s team has been able to hit the ground running, winning both dual meets they’ve competed in as well as putting up a strong showing at Northwestern on Oct. 21. Two women, junior backstroker and butterflyer Celia Pulido and sophomore breaststroker Olivia Herron, have already put down B standard times that would qualify them for NCAA Nationals.

Sophomore diver Farida Moussa has also qualified for zones, which is a qualifying meet for the NCAA diving championship.

“The women started strong right out of the gate,” Hanson said. “You’ve got a lot of lifetime bests out of our women already… I think we’re where we want it to be at this point.”

Junior freestyler Apryl Paquette sees things similarly, and is excited for the swimming ahead.

“The women’s team has just been really really strong coming out of the first half of the season. I’m really looking forward to watching everyone swim in the midseason; you’re going to see a lot of season bests and personal bests.

Hanson, who is in his fifth year as head coach at SIU, has seen the team

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means the video evidence was not strong enough to firmly rule one way or the other.

“I feel like I had possession,” Cox said.

“The ball fell right back into my chest, and I just held onto it at that point.”

While there was no official explanation for the call, it was likely based on Cox potentially not having full control when he landed on the maroon turf; only fully controlling it once he had rolled out of bounds on the Saluki sideline.

“They didn’t say anything, really,” Cox said. “...It was a close one, but, a game of inches, so you can’t put it in the ref’s hands at that point I guess.”

Replays shown inside the stadium were captured by the camera team responsible for the television broadcast of the game, and are not used in the official review.

The angles shown on the video screen convinced both most in attendance that Cox had made the catch.

“He [Cox] was in,” head coach Nick Hill said. “I think they [the officials] saw it… We can’t see the angles they have. They can only use the four angles that they get.”

Hassan Selim propels through the water as he swims the men’s 200m butterfly Oct. 6, 2023 at Dr. Edward Shea Natatorium in Carbondale, Illinois. Lylee Gibbs | @lyleegibbsphoto

become what he envisioned when he arrived.

“We’ve grown a lot in terms of depth in certain events that we weren’t really deep in,” Hanson said. “I think this year we’ve got great relays for both the men and the women.”

This season also marks the first year that the team is made up entirely of recruits from Hanson and his staff.

“That makes a big difference in terms of the buy in and the culture of what they came here expecting.

Just different ideas, different goals, different team goals,” Hanson said.

Sophomore Selim Hassan, who swims butterfly and freestyle, has noticed a different mindset as a part of the team.

“Last year, we were not as ambitious as we are this year. We were not as driven, not as goal oriented. You would walk our pool deck this year

and you see that everyone wants to be there,” Hassan said. “It’s been exciting to see that.”

Hanson had two long-term goals that he brought to SIU the day he was hired: win the conference meets for both men and women, and to have both the men’s and women’s teams represented at nationals. Based on the results so far this season, there is a good chance for representation at nationals this season.

Pulido and Herron are leading the charge for the women’s team as individuals, while divers Oliver Metz and Moussa are on track for the nationals qualifying meet. Alex Santiago and Donat Czuvarsky are contributing heavily to relays that have a chance to qualify. According to Hanson, if the men’s relay squads qualified, they would be the first SIU relays at nationals since 1991.

The conference titles may be more

difficult to achieve, but Paquette thinks that there is a path to the Salukis bringing home the hardware.

“I definitely think it’s a possibility for us, but we’re going to have to put in the work from midseason to February. We have to dig really deep and come together, and everyone’s gotta swim as fast as possible for us to win that meet,” Paquette said.

Hassan has a similar mindset, saying winning a title is “gonna take consistency.”

He said, “Swimming is one of the longest seasons… and it’s easy to have a good week, or good two weeks or three weeks, but how easy is it to have an entire season of just dedication?

The champions every year are the ones that stay consistent throughout the year.”

The men’s team will have a little extra motivation to win a conference title too; they’ll be swimming in front

That play came on a 2nd-and-goal situation, meaning the Salukis still had two more shots at the end zone following the review. But the lengthy delay and associated momentum swing made the offense’s job more difficult when it came to those final snaps, having broken up the rhythm they established in the last two drives.

“Frustrating when they pause the game to review because they’ve seen something to overturn it, and then three times they stop the game, and then they just upheld what they reviewed,” Hill said. “Most of the time, those get overturned, because somebody had saw something to say it looks like we should overturn this.”

Quarterback Nic Baker overthrew his third-down pass, and on fourth down, the Coyotes batted his attempt up in the air and came away with an interception to seal their victory.

Both teams had been evenly matched for most of the afternoon. The Salukis outgained the Coyotes 332-196, but trailed ever since South Dakota broke into the end zone in the waning minutes of the first quarter.

“We’re playing winning defense,” Hill said. “Right now, we’re just not putting

enough points on the board for a variety of reasons.”

The score remained 7-0 for more than 40 minutes of game time, before the Coyotes followed it up with another punch-in to push their lead to two possessions with just 6:44 left in the game.

However, the Saluki offense, which had struggled to that point, rallied to cut the lead in half, capped off with a Baker touchdown pass to Aidan Quinn in a drive that went 84 yards in just three and a half minutes.

The defense stood strong with a crucial three-and-out to give the Salukis one last chance for a game-tying drive. Despite marching 51 yards on a two-minute drill, the Cox non-catch halted the team’s momentum en route to a game-sealing turnover.

Southern did not force a turnover on Saturday, marking the first time all season that it could not give the offense a short field. The team only started past its own 30-yard-line twice, and never started in enemy territory. Combined with the continued struggles on offense, it made a tough hill to climb for the Salukis.

“That’s a major game-changer that we need,” Steed said. “And we always do that

too. We at least get one, a fumble recovery or something. That was a major key.”

Baker took seven sacks during the game, and was forced to throw the ball away under pressure several times as well.

His 16-for-35 completion rate marks the third-worst of his career as the starting quarterback.

“I think they [the Coyotes] were last in our conference as far as tackles for a loss,” Hill said. “They definitely jumped up today as far as sacks and things go.”

That production is very similar to the Salukis’ Oct. 7 loss against Youngstown State, where Baker also took seven sacks and completed just 12 of his 27 pass attempts. The biggest difference was that the defense kept the team in Saturday’s game until the very end, unlike their 31-3 blowout loss to the Penguins.

The Saluki offense has been the biggest issue in the team’s conference schedule.

It has scored just 20 points combined in the team’s three losses, compared to 123 points scored in its three Valley victories.

Saturday’s game served as the 13th annual Blackout Cancer Game, raising money for the Coach Kill Cancer Fund.

As part of the event, fans could bid to have their name on the back of a Saluki

of their home crowd.

“We’re going to be racing in front of our friends and our families, and supporters of SIU. That’s how you know it’s going to be electric,” Hassan said.

Hanson thinks that the upcoming A3 Performance Invitational, which will be hosted at the SIU Rec Center on Nov. 9-11, will be a good indicator of where the team is heading into the stretch run of the season. “[The meet] is kind of the midseason check in for where we are really, how do we adjust training for certain individuals or groups, for the whole team if need be. It’s a time to step back and make adjustments as we look at the second half,” Hanson said.

The A3 Performance Invitational will also offer the team a chance to show off some improvements made to the Edward J. Shea Natatorium. In addition to several new banners being hung in the spectator area, a new video board replaced the old analog scoreboard and record signs that were previously in place.

Of the renovations, Hanson said, “It’s a huge upgrade for the facility.

We’ve done some cosmetic things that kind of brought this into the 21st century of Saluki athletic facilities.

We’re excited about it.”

Spectators are welcome to come check out the improvements and also attend the A3 Invitational, which will run all day on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

“We’d love to have people in the stands next week. It’s our big home invitational,” Hanson said.

“Having Saluki fans in the stands is always great.”

Sports reporter Ryan Grieser can be reached at rgrieser@dailyegyptian.com. jersey during the game.

At halftime, it was announced that $24,000 had been raised for the fund.

After the game, players handed off their game-worn jerseys to their respective donors.During Hill’s Monday morning press conference, he mentioned the character-building moment of his players returning to the field even after a heartbreaking loss.

“It’s hard to get yourself back and know that there’s someone waiting for you out on the field that doesn’t expect you to be down, but they expect you to have a smile and take a picture and greet them,” Hill said. “It really just teaches a lot about life for your team.”

Southern will hit the road next week, facing perennial title contenders North Dakota State (6-3, 3-3) in a matchup with major playoff implications. Both teams entered Saturday on the edge of the top 10 in the FCS, but both suffered ranked losses; SIU losing to No. 9/12 South Dakota, and NDSU losing to No. 1 South Dakota State.

Sports editor Brandyn Wilcoxen can be reached at bwilcoxen@dailyegyptian.com or on Twitter at @BrandynWilcoxen.

Page 6 |

Wednesday, November 8, 2023

Salukis

Blackout Cancer

Jamir Conn (29) jumps into the air to make a catch in pregame warmups as the Salukis face the Coyotes.

Kayleb Wagner hands off his game-worn jersey to young fan Hank moments after the end of the annual Blackout Cancer game Nov. 4, 2023 at Saluki Stadium in Carbondale, Illinois.

Photos by Lylee Gibbs @lyleegibbsphoto

Miles Wash (37) kneels in the endzone in prayer moments before the Salukis annual Blackout Cancer game.

Nathan Torney (99) drops the ball to punt.

| Page 7

Wednesday, November 8, 2023

Dune Smith (8) leads the Salukis onto the field carrying an SIU flag.

Quarterback Nic Baker (8) hands off the ball to running back Justin Strong (6) in the first drive of the game.

Layout by Lane Frost | lfrost@dailyegyptian.com

Page 8 | News

HEALTH

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or depending on their insurance, the wait for services can be incredibly high,” Gant said. “If you need services, and don’t know where to get them, or can’t access them, or say you’re in a crisis right now, and you want services, and it’s gonna be three months before you can see someone…by that point people just kind of fall out of [trying]. They don’t even bother. They’re like, ‘What’s the point?’”

Millennials are defined as anyone born between 1981 and 1996, which puts the youngest among the generation at age 27.

Despite Scholaroo’s data, young adults still appear to be the age group most impacted by mental health issues, or at least the age group most likely to report these issues. The Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey found that one-third of adults struggle with anxiety and depression. Of that one-third, 50% of reported anxiety and depression symptoms were documented in young adults ages 18-24.

In the Daily Egyptian poll, 81.4% of participants said they also struggle with anxiety or depression.

Participants were asked why they believe young adults are more likely to struggle with their mental health. Several mentioned generational trauma and transitioning into adulthood.

“Older generations put stress on younger generations to be better than they were, which creates a cycle of pressure,” sophomore Penny Bordewick said.

Freshman Roman Chambers wrote, “I think it’s because they’re expecting to fill a role as an adult, but they don’t fully know what to expect or what to do to fill that role, especially since it’s the first time in their life that they’re having full freedom

Wednesday, November 8, 2023 over their actions.”

Gant said that pressures from social media may also play a part.

“I think a lot of it is just stress and demands and the constant access that we have to technology and how that impacts our brains,” she said. “...I think [it is] the same with college students. People have access to us constantly…we don’t ever have downtime, fully.”

On a more positive note, Gant noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has made mental health resources more accessible.

“It [the pandemic] has really changed mental health for the better as far as services because of the availability of telehealth,” she said. “That was not a thing my practice offered. I had never even considered offering telehealth prior to the pandemic, but I was forced to do it because that was the only option. And now I can’t imagine life without it. It has increased my ability to serve so many more patients. And patients prior to the pandemic would have to take off work or miss classes…to come in for services. Now, we can simply just connect on video and they can be wherever.”

To improve mental health in Illinois, Gant suggests having more preventative care: “Letting people know where the services are available and how to get them and improving early detection, [such as] screenings.”

She said one of the biggest ways to help someone who is struggling with their mental health is to normalize accessing care.

“See if they’re willing to talk to someone, and maybe help them get connected with services, or at least help them get connected with something on campus,” she said. “At most primary care facilities, if you can get in to see a general practitioner, they can always refer you [elsewhere]. Sometimes it’s just getting that step, like encouraging them

or going with them, even saying, ‘Hey, I’ll go with you to the Student Health Center if you want to talk to someone, or I’ll go with you to campus mental health, or I’ll run with you to this appointment.’”

SIU’s campus offers several mental health services.

The mission of Counseling and Psychology Services (CAPS), as stated by its website, is to “provide mental health-related services to facilitate students’ adjustment to college and their personal and psychological growth in becoming high-functioning and socially responsible adults.” Students can schedule an appointment by calling 618-453-5371.

They can also meet the CAPS Counselor on Duty by visiting the office on the second floor of the Student Health Center Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Higher Education Resources and Opportunities for Salukis in Need (HEROES) is also a program located in the Student Health Center. HEROES provides support, guidance and advocacy to students struggling with financial challenges, including housing/food insecurity and access to healthcare, transportation, childcare, clothing, personal care items and school necessities. To learn more about the program or request assistance, visit its website.

If you or someone you know is struggling, you can send in a referral to Saluki Cares.

Its website states that it is an “early alert initiative” and “a University-wide program of care and support for students in distress.”

The program also offers the Saluki Cares Emergency Fund. Students impacted by a financial emergency or catastrophic event can apply via its online application form.

Southern Illinois Healthcare and Centerstone also offer behavioral health services off-campus.

As for Integrated Health, Gant mentioned

that it has three, and soon-to-be four, psychiatric nurse practitioners, who do medication management, diagnosis and treatment. They also work with patients who want dietary/nutritional help rather than prescription medication.

“You do not have to have a referral from a family physician or anything like that.

You can do self-referral, just by calling the office and saying you want to self-refer,” she said. “When someone comes in and sees one of us, we do a full assessment; look at the symptoms and history, talk about what meds they may have tried in the past…anything like that.”

Integrated Health also offers talk therapy.

“We have therapists that specialize in cognitive behavioral therapy, traumainformed care, trauma processing and reprocessing therapy,” she said. “We [also] have therapists who have specialties in LGBTQ populations.”

Neurofeedback is a service that Integrated Health only recently started offering. Gant said it “helps people learn to better read their body signals” and helps “train their body to respond to stress differently.”

“Neurofeedback is basically kind of a way to retrain your brain, and it helps with a lot of different things,” she said. “It’s good for just general stress and anxiety management, focus and attention. Some people use it for a kind of performance enhancement with sports to help with focus in that area.”

To make an appointment you can call or text the main line, 618-985-4344 for Carterville and 618-252-5555 for Harrisburg. For more information on mental health or other services, visit Integrated’s website.

Staff reporter Carly Gist can be reached at cgist@dailyegyptian.com

News | Page 9

Wednesday, November 8, 2023

Dealing with the dead: A day in the life of a mortuary science student

Jasmine Thompson jasminethompson@dailyegyptian.com

The clock strikes 6:30 a.m. on a chilly November morning, jolting Ashleigh Hammon out of her sleep. She rubs her eyes, stretches her arms and slowly gets out of bed, feeling the cold floor beneath her feet. As she shivers in the cold, Hammon realizes that it’s time to get ready for the day ahead.

“I shower and then I make coffee.

And then if I have time, I’ll sit and I’ll watch an episode of ‘The Golden Girls’ or even watch a little Halloween movie,” Hammon said.

Hammon is an SIU student who is majoring in mortuary science. She dreams of being a funeral director.

“When my great-grandma passed away in 2020, it was the first time I had lost anybody close to me. It hit hard. I can’t lie,” Hammon said.

Hammon said she didn’t really get to see her great-grandmother before she died because of the COVID pandemic. But Hammon said the funeral home was super nice and they made her great-grandmother look good.

“She looked like she was sleeping, and I was honestly kind of like, ‘Oh my gosh.

She doesn’t even look like she passed away,’” Hammon said.

She said this experience had a profound and lasting impact on her life, influencing not only her personal beliefs and values, but also her career aspirations. As a result, she has been inspired to dedicate her life to a career in mortuary science.

“I started really getting interested in it and I wanted to do what these people are doing and to help people like how they had helped me and my family at the funeral home when my great-grandmother passed away,” Hammon said.

Hammon job shadowed at a funeral home.

“We picked up a body from the morgue.

We brought them back and I watched the whole embalming process, which was a lot,” she said. “But it kind of reassured me that I can handle this. This is what I want to do because I saw the impact that I really had on the family.”

Hammon begins her morning routine by attending her first class, Microbiology, which starts at 9 a.m.

“I have that class with Dr. Broomfield and he’s a character,” Hammon said.

“He’s had a lot of experience in the funeral industry so that class is basically just talking about different bacteria and pathogens that we can or are going to encounter, possibly in the prep room, and how to protect ourselves from that so we don’t get anything from the bodies.”

Broomfield seems to have an endless supply of fascinating stories about his work experience, according to Hammon.

It’s always a treat to hear what he shares, including what she believes to be his craziest story.

“We talked about how much bacteria grows when it’s hot and how bodies die in the summertime and they’re in the house for a few days. It stinks,” Hammon said.

“Well, there was a case, a person who died in his home, and it was hot and literally

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like his face was, like, really disfigured and stuff. And he apparently drank heavily up until that point when he died that it was something with the ethanol and the alcohol and the heat causing him to explode.”

“Broomfield was the one that did the pickup for that, and he said that the police were throwing up because of what happened. Yeah, I would think I would throw up too. But yeah, we talked about a lot of interesting things in that class for sure,” Hammon said.

Hammon has also witnessed a cremation, a rare opportunity which left her and fellow students in awe.

“It was cool because the crematory that’s near our classes just got put in last year. They’ve cremated around 50 bodies,” Hammon said. “That also made me a little nervous. I was like ‘OK, I’m going to see if I can actually handle this.’ I’ve never seen anything like that before, but it’s actually really cool to watch. I can’t even lie. There’s a little peephole in the door so you can monitor and make sure that the body is doing OK. So, it was cool to look at.”

She also shared a fun fact that she learned from the class.

“The Greeks were the first people to ever do cremation, which I thought was cool because cremation really used to be looked down upon, you know, especially like Catholic people,” Hammon said.

At 10 a.m., Hammon walks into the Selection Room, which, like most of her classes, is in the Applied Sciences and Arts Building. It is a meticulously designed space meant to mock what that environment is like in a real funeral home.

The room is spacious and has ample lighting that highlights every intricate detail of the caskets on display.

“Normally, when you have a family member that passed away you get to go in there and pick out things that you need for the funeral,” Hammon said. “We have the mock one, so we can practice making arrangements with our professors.”

The selection room has many caskets, with all of them laid out, some in full size.

The faux customers can take a closer look and appreciate the level of craftsmanship that goes into each casket’s construction.

“There’s a bunch of different types of caskets in there, not like full caskets but just like the ends, so you can get an idea of what the outside and inside looks like, but we also have urns in there and we have a small coffin from the Victorian era. I don’t know how they got this thing, but it is nicelooking and old,” Hammon said.

By 11 a.m., she’s already geared up for her next class - Mortuary Relegations – and ready to dive into the fascinating world of deathcare.

“Regulations are rules that are put in place to make sure the deceased are protected and that we’re protected in the workplace when we’re interacting with bloodborne pathogens,” she said. “We’ve talked about the Anatomical Gift Act, which is the body donation program that goes to medical schools so they can use them as cadavers to teach the medical students and it also teaches us how we use bodies.”

The students work with bodies that are donated, not to the medical school, but to the mortuary programs specifically.

“Those are the ones that we work on in the embalming lab or during cremation, which I haven’t gotten to yet unfortunately.

That’s for my junior year,” Hammon said.

At 2 pm, she attends her final class of the day: Orientation to Funeral Services, located in the Agriculture Building.

“In that class, we talked about the history of reaching people all around the world and how they first dealt with doing funerals at the beginning of time, and how people have memorialized their dead,” Hammon said.

She said she learned that elephants could display deep emotions and empathy for their dead.

“This is one of the first things to talk about in our class, that elephants can recognize elephant bones as their own [herd’s] and they will mourn those bones when they see them, and it’s really interesting because, you know, like other bones from other animals or humans or whatever they see, they don’t care. But they saw their own bones and recognized that an elephant had died,” Hammon said.

As her day of classes comes to an end, her fraternity work begins. Hammon is part of Sigma Phi Sigma, a business mortuary science fraternity that specializes in community service and cleaning up cemeteries. Recently, members had an event called the Death Café where everyday people can come by and talk about death in a safe place.

“Whether you have questions about the reading process or just how funerals work in general, you can ask, and we just want to sit down and answer questions and have an open space to talk,” Hammon said.

After all the day’s duties, Hammon then listens to music to wind down and relaxes for the next day ahead.

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Page 10 | Sports

Wednesday, November 8, 2023

Confidence and communication on defense anchors Saluki football Howard Woodard | hwoodard@dailyegyptian.com

Antonio James was promoted to defensive coordinator the day before training camp after a sudden resignation from D.J. Vokolek. But head coach Nick Hill was adamant in his belief that James would fit seamlessly in the role.

In Hill’s eyes, James has been great leading the defense and is deserving of some hardware come season’s end.

“I think we have a championship caliber defense,” Hill said. “…I think coach James needs just a ton of credit along with the rest of the staff…I know they give an assistant of the year out but he’s well deserving of that.”

James’ impact is felt throughout the locker room, and it is a collective agreement that he has brought the team closer. Senior defensive tackle Kam Bowdry, who is in his third season with SIU, echoed that sentiment.

“He found a way to bring us together,” Bowdry said. “When I was here, our team was together but like since he’s been the DC [defensive coordinator], we like just hanging out outside of football, watching film together. We truly enjoy being around each other since he’s been our DC…he’s just brought our chemistry up.”

James gives players the chance to be themselves with the confidence he instills in them.

Cornerback D.J. Johnson said, “We love how he coaches and he’s a player’s coach and he understands us and allows us to play free. So we love coach James and his mentality too that he brings to the defense.”

James and his coaching staff agreed that they wanted to do something different from previous units on their side of the ball.

“I had a lot of trust within the players,” James said. “I knew that they were a hard-working group, great young men. I’ve been around them for a year now, so I built relationships with them and the coaches that we work with…

They just trusted the system and came in and started working.”

Although SIU players were familiar with James, who spent 2022 as the defensive line coach, it wasn’t perfect to begin with. But as the season has progressed, so has their cohesive play.

“We started off a little shaky because new coach, new schemes,” safety P.J. Jules said. “But just overall grew together and bonded with each other, allowing us to play faster and together.”

The task of getting players to commit to an entirely new game plan is not an easy one.

“Everybody’s got good schemes and things, it’s about getting your players to buy into it and play extremely hard, play with great technique and fundamentals, and fly around and that’s what our guys have done.” Hill said.

Collectively, the defense has only allowed 16.3 points per game up to this point. That ranks the Salukis third in the Missouri Valley Football Conference.

They are also third in the conference in sacks (29) and interceptions (nine).

Their run defense has been the true

story, as the Dawgs have only allowed 83.3 yards per game on the ground.

They are first in the MVFC in that category and third in the entire Football Championship Subdivision which includes 133 schools from across the nation.

Stopping the run paves the way for shutting down an offense entirely. A struggle to move the ball on the ground forces an offense to be one-dimensional which allows the opposition to put more pressure on them.

“We understand that stopping the run gives us the opportunities to get after the quarterback more, have the interceptions, the sacks, all the statistics that players are wanting to gain,” James said. “But if you let a team run the ball on you, they don’t have to come out of running the ball and now you’re going to be fighting your whole game.

It is common to hear defenses wanting to move around the field quickly and impose on the other team physically.

But there must be constant focus by all eleven guys on the defense in order to accomplish it. This includes locking in emotionally and being confident in the scheme and in your teammates on the field.

“Everything we do, it’s about emotional content. It’s about how are you approaching this rep, the mind state that you have when approaching each thing that we’re doing,” James said.

“And that’s really been the big thing we focused on, you know, is our technique, our state of mind and what we expect from ourselves, our own standard.”

This expectation isn’t continuously drilled into the players by coaches; the team just has to want it. Players have to hold themselves accountable when that standard isn’t met, but if they buy into the scheme and stay aware of their assignment, they can play freely and quickly.

“When they don’t meet their own standard, they do a great job of calling themselves out at it,” James said. “Now a big thing on playing fast is making sure everybody knows what their job is.”

James has told his defense to play at full speed, which is fun for Bowdry who has seen his game improve over time.

“Just going 100 miles per hour man, just leaving it all on the field…even if we make a mistake, just going fast…can’t be wrong when you going full speed,” Bowdry said. “When I first got here, I kind of just was playing football just to be here and…I’m just more locked in.

Bowdry is one of the guys who stands out up front, with 25 tackles, four tackles for loss, two sacks and a forced fumble on the year. Defensive ends Devin Cowan and Tim Varga have also been forces, racking up four and 3.5 sacks, respectively. Linebacker Zach Burrola has brought the quarterback down three times while also accumulating seven tackles for loss.

The defense has also been great with a shortened field behind them. When opponents do manage to get to the red zone against the Salukis, they haven’t had much success in capitalizing. SIU is tied for third in the MVFC, allowing just an

PJ Jules (4) yells in celebration moments after he takes down Murray State on defense Oct. 14, 2023 at Roy Stewart Stadium in Murray, Kentucky. Lylee Gibbs | @lyleegibbsphoto

80% success rate while being tied for the league-best in touchdowns allowed (nine) and interceptions (three) when defending inside the 20.

The linebackers and the defensive line must be connected in order to not allow big plays on the ground and to protect those situations when the offense is closer to the end zone. These front seven in the box on the defense help set the tone for the game by having a confident demeanor achieved through practice and repetition.

“Us having an understanding of linebacker and D-line relationship in the box,” James said. “Our linebackers do a great job of fitting off some of our stuff, where we cut our D-line free and then there’s times we cut our linebackers free, and the D-lines have to hold their gaps.”

This mindset that James mentioned is best described by Johnson as ‘going by Death Row’.

“Just having the mindset of just being gritty, man. Every inch matters…it’s just getting to the ball and playing for your brothers too,” Johnson said. “So we all love each other so we all play for one another and want to do our best at doing our job to help our team.”

Johnson is tied for the team lead in pass breakups and also has picked two passes off. His fellow corner on the other side, Mark Davis Jr., leads the Salukis with three interceptions. Johnson believes his game has improved based on the hours he has put in the film room and improving his technique.

Together, their game tape speaks volumes of how James wants the team to play and is visible to the head coach.

“I feel like we have two of, probably, the most physical corners I’ve seen on film this season,” Hill said. “I would take them every day.”

Jules is another dynamic player in the secondary. Even though he is listed as a safety, his fingerprints are all over the stat sheet. Fellow safeties Ubayd Steed, Iverson Brown and Desman Hearns are

also big contributors on the backend for the Saluki defense, but Jules leads the team in multiple categories.

He is first by far in tackles (80) and tackles for loss (10), and is tied for the team lead in pass breakups (eight) and quarterback hits (three).

Jules can move into the nickel as a coverage corner, rush the passer and even help stop the run. His versatility can’t be overstated, but he has a simple definition for what he does on the gridiron.

“I’m really just a football player, just overall, a good football player,” Jules said.

Hill said, “I think [he] is as good as anybody at the position that he plays.”

Even though he is the head coach, Hill also serves as the offensive play caller. It eases his job to know he has a defense that can shut down the opposing team, as his calls from the sideline can adjust based on the defense’s execution.

“There’s times that you’ll call [offense] a little bit differently. It just depends on how you feel like your offense is performing…” Hill said.

The offense has averaged 25.3 points a game which places them in seventh in the Valley. Knowing the elite defense they have, the offense wants to improve each time out so the team can play complete football consistently on both sides of the ball.

“The exciting part is we’ve got opportunity to get better. And we’ve got games and opportunities to do that and we’re capable of doing that and that’s what we’ll continue to work to do,” Hill said.

Over the past few weeks, the Salukis have limited highly-ranked teams to some of their lowest-production games of the year. In October, they kept the No. 1 South Dakota State Jackrabbits to just 17 points and 308 yards, both season-lows for the reigning FCS National Champions.

Then, two weeks later, Southern held the No. 9 South Dakota Coyotes to just 14 points and fewer than 200 yards offensively. The only opponents to best those marks against the Coyotes were

the aforementioned Jackrabbits, and the Missouri Tigers, who are one of the top FBS teams this year.

However, the Salukis were on the losing end of both games. Along with offensive struggles, the team has not generated as many turnovers as it had in prior weeks, with just one combined in their two most recent losses. That will be a point of emphasis as the postseason approaches.

“You know, we kind of tapered off on our takeaways last couple of weeks, we need to get those back up high, try to get three or more in a game, pressure on the quarterback,” James said. “I mean, I think we can get better in every statistical category at this point still.”

Communication is another vital, vastly improved concept for SIU that is significant in stopping an offense.

“It’s high. Every motion, every play… we talk out there, help each other out when we’re on the field,” Jules said.

They’re playing for each other and continue this communication even in a boisterous Saluki Stadium.

“Even when we got a packed crowd, man, it’s like even from the sideline, you can hear us talking, yelling, giving out calls,” Bowdry said. “When we make a play, we’re all happy for each other just yelling and jumping around. We’re just loud out there. We just love to talk to each other and communicate.”

It has helped lead to their success so far and growing together as teammates and brothers between the white lines.

“We’re a real close-knit group. So we’re always talking and communicating the whole game and it can be just small things. And sometimes just looking at your brother and understanding what can come,” Johnson said. “I love that we’re a close group and we all feel comfortable with each other so it’s easier for us to communicate and talk at all times.”

Sports reporter Howard Woodard can be reached at hwoodard@dailyegyptian.com.

News | Page 11

Wednesday, November 8, 2023

The increasingly dire situation for southern Illinois animals Mo Collar | @m0.alexander

We’ve all seen it. The rise in prices. The increasing demand for affordable housing and food. The market value of most items going up. The more we struggle to make ends meet, the more we can’t afford to keep things dear to us. Our furry, scaley or feathery best friends are taking this hit hard and so many of us just can’t afford to keep them safe anymore.

Shelters and rescues have been filled to the brim with the influx of animals previously owned by a pet parent that no longer has the money to keep them safe and healthy. Many of these shelters have had to resort to euthanasia to make room for healthier and more adoptable animals that don’t cost as much to house.

Over the past couple of months, more and more pets have been found dumped outside veterinary clinics, animal rescues, shelters and even Petco because people simply can’t afford to take care of their pet or don’t know where else to go when they find a stray. Similarly, people have been abandoning their pets after they move out without informing anyone

about the situation.

Just over the summer, a younger pitbull mix dog was abandoned at a Schilling Apartments complex after the owner moved a few blocks away from University Hall. This dog was left caged outside on one of the hottest days of the year for around eight hours before a resident took control of the situation. Fortunately, the dog was able to find a home that day, but not all animals get that lucky.

Across town, one such dog named Leroy had been found in an abandoned home after some new owners moved in.

“He had been left in the home for a little over a week with no food or water and was pretty much on death’s doorstep… It was pretty touch and go for a while. He had a feeding tube in and his blood work values were pretty bad,” said Ali Rippin, co-owner of Save Them All Animal Rescue.

Fortunately, through Save Them All Rescue, or STAAR for short, Leroy was able to get back on his feet and recover enough to live a healthy life again.

“The feeding tube was the last kind of ‘let’s hope and pray’ because his body had

A young cat was dumped at the shelter at the beginning of the month now lives in the clinic Nov. 1, 2023 at Striegel Animal Hospital in Carbondale, Ill. Mo Collar | @m0.alexander

gotten so used to not having any food and shutting down, but now he’s full of attitude and lives at my house permanently doing fantastic,” Rippin said.

shelters don’t have the medical knowledge or available equipment and medicine to take on cases with animals that have some sort of medical issue. Due to this fact,

For assistance to adopt, foster or surrender a pet

Oftentimes, owners want the absolute best for their pets, but some pets end up developing major health issues that they can’t afford to fix and so they are surrendered to the clinic or a nearby rescue.

Lizzy Olmsted, the other co-owner of STAAR, described a situation involving a kitten named King that was diagnosed with feline infectious peritonitis.

“That one was also very touch and go, he had a chest tube in for a couple of weeks because his lungs just kept filling up with fluid,” Olmsted said. “Lots of injections and medications, lots of holding him all the way through the night and just praying he would make it to the next morning, and now he is the most rambunctious little stinker I’ve ever met.”

Animals such as these are what keep STAAR motivated to keep going even though not all the stories have such happy endings. Whether it’s an animal surrender, a dumping, an abandonment issue, or simply helping reduce the numbers of animals in packed shelters, this veterinarianowned rescue has stepped up to the daunting task of helping these animals in need.

Most volunteerrun rescues and

many of the animals in poor health aren’t able to receive the proper treatment they need and end up lost to time.

“Our big thing is that we’re veterinary technicians, so we are able to take on more of the critical cases… we’re in a position sometimes where, unfortunately, on our night shifts people can’t afford certain things or don’t care about certain things that are treatable, just too costly, and we can give them a chance to do well and go on to find forever homes,” Rippin said.

Around 75 to 80 animals have been saved

thanks to STAAR since July 6 of this year, 10 of which were dumped. Contrary to popular belief, the rescuers operate out of their own homes as a foster system, not through Striegel Animal Hospital as many have come to believe. This means that close to 100 animals have almost exclusively been under STAAR’s medical care out of the comfort of their own homes.

Thousands of animals such as these are dealt similar fates in southern Illinois, and millions more across the country thanks to the cost of living continuing to rise without the increase in pay to compensate for the economic crisis this country is facing. Our pets are suffering as much as we are in this trying time, but thanks to rescue services such as Save Them All Animal Rescue, some of these animals get a second chance.

Staff reporter and photographer Mo Collar can be reached at mcollar@dailyegyptian.com or on Instagram @m0.alexander.

Savannah, a pitbull dumped on the doorstep one early morning, is hugged by STAAR founding member Ali Rippin.

Page 12 | News

Wednesday, November 8, 2023

26

Feeling The Heat Photos by Enan Chediak | @echediak@dailyegyptian.com

Gwen Kelling (left) and Cibyl Johnson (right) prepare for an iron pour at the School of Art and Design’s annual Iron Pour Nov. 4 at Foundry Complex in Carbondale, Illinois.

John Reddington helps pour iron into a sand cast at the annual Iron Pour.

Molten iron fills a sand cast at the annual Iron Pour.

Layout by Peyton Cook | @_peytoncook_

John Reddington (left), Laura Mullen (middle), and Gwen Kelling (right) help prepare for an iron pour.