Thursday, December 19

Campus News

The Big Mysteries of Financial Aid
Campus News, Local News, News, Opinion

The Big Mysteries of Financial Aid

By Landon Cole, Contributing Writer Like many college students, I fall into a category that can make the financial aid process difficult. The Federal Student Aid office grossly overestimates my family’s contribution to my education when, in reality, I paid out-of-pocket for my associate’s degree from a community college, and I’m relying on loans to pay for my bachelor’s degree. The EFC (estimated family contribution) is calculated using parents’ combined household income to estimate a student’s eligibility for federal direct subsidized and unsubsidized student loans. These EFCs are often tied up in mortgages and car payments and are not accurate estimates of parents’ ability or willingness to pay for their child’s education. In my case, because the Department of Education estimates that my...
When Eating Becomes a Struggle
Advice, Campus News, Opinion

When Eating Becomes a Struggle

By Alec Deyong, Contributing Writer Love it or hate it, Ames dining hall is ground zero for a great deal of the complaints that students lob at McKendree University. Between the variety, the quality, the staff, and the hours, it is hard for a small campus to make everyone happy. For some, however, it goes beyond mere inconvenience. Whether it be by choice or by way of genetic lottery, there are students among us that have varying dietary restrictions—from vegetarians to students with severe allergies. These restrictions can make everyday life for students much more complicated. Taking into account all the factors that stress out the average college student, the last thing anyone wants to add to the concoction is a lack of fuel. One person who is anxious to face this reality is senior Mad...
How Students are Sabotaging One Another at McKendree
Campus News, Opinion

How Students are Sabotaging One Another at McKendree

By Loren Terveer, Contributing Writer You are laying in bed after a long day of classes and activities. Your eyes slowly shut and your mind wanders. You begin to drift into sleep as the warm blankets cocoon you in comfort. Just as your breathing falls into a sleepy rhythmic beat you hear it. SLAM! Your neighbor comes home and slams their front door. THUMP! THUMP! The students who live upstairs begin to move their furniture into a new feng shui. CLICK! The light claws at your eyelids as your roommate comes into the room and switches on the overhead lamps. The distractions pile up, flooding your ears, and the mere idea of sleep eludes you. You are officially awake for the night. For many McKendree students, this situation is too familiar. One of the biggest frustrations in regards to liv...
Campus Connectivity Crisis: Students Take on the McKendree Wi-Fi
Campus News, Local News, News, Opinion

Campus Connectivity Crisis: Students Take on the McKendree Wi-Fi

By Madeline Cade, Contributing Writer In 2016, McKendree gave up cable in order to enhance our Wi-Fi connectivity. Fast forward to 2019 and we have more Wi-Fi problems than before the fix. There seem to be daily complications when completing or turning in online assignments. Ironically, even as I sat writing this piece, there were three times over the course of a few days where I had to stop due to little to no connectivity. I was genuinely interested in hearing what other students had to say about the McKendree Wi-Fi crisis. I first took to my Instagram to get input directly from students. I set up polls on my story to see what the Bearcats thought about the Wi-Fi. I started my survey by asking if they had ever had a problem with the Wi-Fi. I had 293 McKendree students answer this one.  ...
Coffee with a Splash of Stress
Campus News

Coffee with a Splash of Stress

By Magdalena Knapp, Editor Personally, I believe that one of the most beautiful words the Greeks have given us is “agape.” Agape stands for a kind of love that seeks nothing in return. You love someone or something, simply because you love it. It think it is beautiful. Something like agape is hard to find, but last week at McKendree University students could find it at the Agape Latte. The Agape Latte is a very popular event at McKendree University. The idea is for students to come together, enjoy a cup of coffee or other beverage of their choice and a sweet piece of cheesecake. The speaker this semester was a highly valued member of McKendree University, Mr. Scott Neill, teacher for health and wellness. I was lucky enough to have him as a teacher, so I knew that this Agape Latte presenta...
200 Miles to Galesburg
Campus Events, Campus News, News

200 Miles to Galesburg

By Rebecca Chicosky, Contributing Writer Images have been provided by Dr. Guy Boysen Featured Image: Lori Tretter (left), Rebecca Chicosky, Raina Isaacs, Bryce Bambic, Sara Kalkenova, Nadia Studnicka, Sydnie Markowski, and Elia Burbridge pose after giving their presentations. “You know, I wasn’t nervous until I walked in the building. Then, it just hit me.” I heard this statement come from my research partner, Raina Isaacs, as soon as we stepped into Alumni Hall at Knox College. On April 20th, we and two other groups traveled to the Illinois-Iowa (ILLOWA) Undergraduate Psychology Empirical Research Conference to present studies that we had poured our blood, sweat and tears into over the course of the semester. We traveled for nearly three hours, packing ourselves like sardines in Raina’...
It’s (Not) All in Your Head: McK Students Seek Mental Health Treatment
Advice, Campus Events, Campus News

It’s (Not) All in Your Head: McK Students Seek Mental Health Treatment

By Caylin Dean, Contributing Writer Depression, anxiety, addiction: just a few of the disorders that many colleges’ students battle in a constant tug-of-war. Academic responsibilities and expectations placed upon us, coupled with separation from home, participation in athletics, relationships and upholding a job can lead us nearly to insanity- that’s when it is important to have someone to turn to. With nearly 2,500 students, the mere four person staff is simply not enough to meet the demands of the ever-overwhelmed college population. An article by the National Institute of Health says that almost 12 percent of college students suffer from some form of anxiety, and seven to nine percent of students experience depression, which, if not properly addressed, can lead to suicide. In fact, a su...
I just want clean clothes: A West Issue
Campus News

I just want clean clothes: A West Issue

By Daniel Kimmer, Contributing Writer When wanting to do laundry at Mckendree West Clubhouse, it almost feels like you have to go at just the right time to catch an open washer or dryer. There are 8 washing units: 7 top load washers, 1 front load washer, and 8 drying units inside the laundry room. Each load of laundry costing $1.25 makes it a total of $2.50 per full cycle of laundry. There seems to be a hot time to do laundry throughout the day and that time is between 4pm-10pm. Almost every time I have attempted to complete laundry in that time frame, it’s difficult to get an open washer. All the washer and dryer units seem to always be in use during those hours of the day. A couple big issues with doing laundry at Mckendree West Clubhouse are the reliability of the units working properl...
No Pain, No Gain: Most Common Sports Injuries on Campus
Campus News, Entertainment, Sports

No Pain, No Gain: Most Common Sports Injuries on Campus

By Madeline Cade, Contributing WriterWhile McKendree University has many great academic programs, we are mostly well-known for our participation in NCAA Division II athletics. Between the 33 teams on campus we hold many GLVC Conference titles and a few National Championships. These trophies do come at a slight cost: the physical and mental well-being of the athletes. Mental wellness aside, athletes are injured a lot of the time. Professor Gabriel Shapiro says, “It sometimes looks like Vietnam around here." You take one look out at campus and you will see walking boots, casts and slings scattered around. It is interesting to do research and find the most common injuries among different sports teams at McKendree. I look at my track and field teammates and see injuries all the time. Since be...
McKendree Hosts a Day of Excellence
Campus Events, Campus News

McKendree Hosts a Day of Excellence

By Victoria Sananikone, Assistant Editor  On Thursday, April 25, 2019, McKendree University will be hosting their sixth annual Academic Excellence Day at the Lebanon, IL campus. The event will honor students and their achievements within the classroom. Students will present their creative and scholarly work to the McKendree community. Student work includes presentations, research posters, and performances that they completed for a class that semester. The McKendree speech team will usually take up a slot of time to perform their speeches. These programs can be viewed at the Holman Library, Ames Dining Hall, and the Piper Academic Center. “I really enjoy this celebration; it is an opportunity to showcase what my students have been working on over the past year. It is one thing to work h...