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DAILYEGYPTIAN.COM
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2026
SEX & LOVE EDITION
PAP SMEAR LEADS TO SHOCK | Page 7
VOL. 109, ISSUE 21
SNEAK PEEK: LOVE AT THE GLOVE | Page 8
HISTORY IN RISKS OF CHATBOT HARRISBURG | Page 11 RELATIONSHIPS | Page 8
2 SIU alumni met in physics class. 47 years later, they had chemistry
Grand Tower plant’s future
Data center weighed as development option KRISTIN BORCHERS kborchers@dailyegyptian.com
Marcia Allen, left, and Charlie McCann, right, sit for a portrait in Browne Auditorium Feb. 6, 2026, in Carbondale, Illinois, in nearly the same place they sat the day they met in 1965. Lylee Gibbs | @lyleegibbsphoto LYLEE GIBBS lgibbs@dailyegyptian.com
SIU alumni Charlie McCann and Marcia Allen met in Browne Auditorium, a large lecture hall in the center of the SIU campus, on their first day of physics class in 1965. It took them 47 years to learn they had undeniable chemistry.
The school year began mid-September in 1965, and on the second day of classes, McCann and Allen, both 18 at the time, walked into their physics class in Browne Auditorium in Parkinson Laboratory. Out of 250 people in the auditorium, the two were seated next to each other, and by the end of that first class, Allen introduced herself.
After their hour-and-a-half-long lectures each week, they would stick around and talk with each other. Allen finished the course with an A, and she said she remembers many red marks across McCann’s graded papers. The pair didn’t see each other too often after the semester ended, being in ALUMNI | 5
The Grand Tower Energy Center — a southern Illinois power plant that shut down nearly five years ago — sits vacant on land that is 10 feet below the Mississippi River floodplain, making it susceptible to flood damage. The site’s low elevation creates hurdles for any potential development projects in the future — like a data center, which the site’s owner says is likely to replace the shuttered power plant. The Jackson/Union County Port Authority Board met on Feb. 2 and discussed the evolution of the Grand Tower power plant in a call with a representative from the company that owns the energy center. The board did not yet take any formal action, but discussed the possibility of a data center coming to Grand Tower. The Grand Tower power plant originally was coal-fired, and later switched to natural gas. In February of 2021, the energy GRAND TOWER | 4
COLUMN Need Valentine’s Day plans? Five local businesses The birds, the bees and everything can help you celebrate they forgot to tell us in sex ed CARLY GIST cgist@dailyegyptian.com
Flowers and movies and treats, oh my! In case you haven’t strolled through the seasonal aisle at a supermarket lately, love is in the air … and so is a ticking time bomb. Valentine’s Day is just three days away, but don’t be alarmed — in Carbondale, there’s places that can help. Whether you’re on the hunt for a gift for that special someone, searching for last-minute activities with your friends or planning a self-care night, here are five small ways to celebrate while supporting five small businesses.
Buy flowers at Quick Magic Gardens In ancient times, way before Joe bought Kathleen daises in “You’ve Got Mail,” roses were associated with Aphrodite and Venus, the Greek and Roman goddesses of love and beauty. Today, Valentine’s Day is the largest holiday for florists, like Mary Keller and Jessica Shippel at Quick Magic Gardens, a shop located in the Grand Avenue mall on the southeast side of Carbondale. “They keep coming,” Shippel, who serves as Keller’s assistant florist, said of holiday orders. “They’re not stopping and they seem to be, rather BUSINESSES | 10
MARIAH FLETCHER mfletcher@dailyegyptian.com
Mariah Fletcher by Yasmin Martinez-Powell
Sometime in 2017 in a classroom at Galatia Junior High — after third period art class and before square pizza paired with milk for lunch — yours truly was 13 and watching a teacher put a condom on a banana. Suddenly, everyone forgot how to make eye contact and classmates giggled in the back about anatomy vocabulary. I remember being confused as to why as a woman, I needed to learn how to put on a condom. I am sure there are situations where that could be helpful, but it seemed like a straightforward concept. I also remember wondering why I learned so much about anatomy that was not
my own. I feel as if we spent most of our time in sex ed talking about the male anatomy, like female anatomy was too awkward, too complicated or too taboo to speak about. When women’s bodies were mentioned, we did the basics. We were told that we would have our periods — which would mean we could get pregnant, that our breasts would grow — which means we have to check for breast cancer, and that we should never touch alcohol, drugs or attend parties because that means we would be easier to sexually assault. Also: we should never have sex. SEX ED | 5