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Miss Southern Illinois Diverse origins of dedicates time, influence country music reveal to animal shelters layers of history
SIUE Hockey Club appoints new coach with NHL experience
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Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Wednesday, July 10, 2024 Vol. 77 No. 32
THE student voice since 1960
SIUE Housing announces free laundry for on-campus residents MICHAL KATE CASTLEMAN online editor On June 26, SIUE Housing announced in an email that laundry would be free for all on-campus residents starting this fall. “Starting this fall, washing and drying laundry is included with living on campus,” the email said. “Residents no longer have to pay to wash or dry your laundry while living on campus.” Previously, wash and dry cycles were $1.25 per cycle. This amounted to $2.50 for each load of laundry. Students could pay for their laundry using quarters or Cougar Bucks. Cougar Bucks are transferred to students through the GET app, coming directly from the student’s bank account. Transferring and saving funds for laundry can be stressful for students, especially since the cost of housing varies depending on where students decide to live on campus. The email said, “Our goal is for this change to keep living on campus both stress-free and convenient.” SIUE has recently required incoming freshmen to live on campus for their first year of college, so free laundry will ultimately be helpful to students adjusting to living on campus. Laundry facilities are found on the main level of each residence hall. Cougar Village has multiple laundry rooms for residents — one on the 500 side in the Commons Building, and two on the 400 side in Buildings 405 and 429. According to University Housing’s website, laundry rooms are open 24/7 for all residents. Their website also states that laundry soap is available for students to purchase.
BRANDI SPANN opinion editor SIUE has been hosting its first-ever Children’s Defense Fund Freedom School for 50 local middle school students. The six-week experience is a summer literacy camp that supports traditionally under-resourced communities and encourages students to learn to love reading. The experience is currently in its fifth week. Scholars have gone on field trips, participated in family nights, come up with organizations and businesses to tackle community issues, learned songs and chants and engaged in conversations about social justice and history. “We talk about a lot of things that happened in our past. St. Louis has a lot of Black history,” eighth grade scholar Mykenzie McCollier said. “[Especially] modern day problems … things [that] could be a problem if people aren’t understanding each other.” She said that learning about real life situations makes scholars better people and gives her and her peers a broader perspective on the world. Harambee — a Kiswahili word meaning “let’s pull together” — is a daily morning activity hour spent singing and reading to energize scholars. Site Coordinator Courtney Walker asked scholars to think of a positive word to put into an
“I am…” phrase and carry it with them throughout the day. “I said ‘corny,’ because I think it’s funny,” McCollier said. “I like seeing people’s reactions. My friends are always like, ‘Oh my gosh, stop.’ I like to be corny.” Fifth grade scholar Kelsey Malone said his phrase was “I am kind.” His favorite part of Freedom School is Harambee, because he likes learning the chants. “Hold up, wait a minute, let me put some freedom in it! Hoo-ha, I love my Freedom School!” Malone said. Before lunch, scholars participate in a 15-minute segment of the daily schedule called “Drop Everything and Read.” Malone and McCollier both said that they enjoyed reading “Twins” by Varian Johnson — a graphic novel about friendships and sibling relationships. Tandra Taylor is the interim director of SIUE’s Institute for Community Justice and Racial Equity and the executive director for the inaugural Freedom School. She started the Freedom School at SIUE this sum-
mer, and the university plans to continue the program and expand it in future years. Taylor said that the integrative reading curriculum the Children’s Defense Fund provides is divided up by culturally appropriate grade levels. They engage scholars by promoting curiosity about the cover art of the books, intentionally pausing during the reading to ask scholars questions or breaking up readings with STEM and visual arts activities. “They’re not just sitting around reading books everyday without breaking to think, to process, to analyze, to reflect on how something resonates with them, or how they can take whatever tools or social and emotional strategies from what’s happening in the book [and] apply that in their own lives,” Taylor said. Last summer, Taylor worked as the site coordinator for a Freedom School in North County, St. Louis. “I noticed that the community structures and struggles in North County were very similar to some of our communities in the Metro East, but we didn’t have a Freedom School program in this part of the state to help intervene into some of
those struggles that communities face,” Taylor said. “The first week, the scholars were not as engaged as we’d like them to be. They were looking at us almost like, ‘Oh my goodness, they’re so excited. Why are they thinking so loud? Why are they so happy?’ But now, they have joined in and started to lead some of the components of Harambee without being asked,” Taylor said. “I see the model working.” Junior Joaquin Alexander is a servant leader intern at the Freedom School — a see SCHOOL on page 5