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Kae Edgcomb, Contributing Writer Featured image from Yelp In addition to being one of the greatest puns of all time, Shameless Grounds is a unique coffee shop. Calling them a coffee shop, however, does them no justice. Their claim to fame is being outside the “box” in nearly every way. It does not matter what box you try to categorize them into; they will find a way to defy it and in the best ways possible. They have some of the best coffee in St. Louis, but they also have a liquor license to serve you local beer and hand-crafted cocktails! Do not forget to check out their bakery items. There is the beloved gooey butter cake and other sweet treats. Maybe you want to have a full meal with your coffee. Not a problem! Order one of their vegan options or a delicious sandwich, which will also ...

Katherine Gemmingen, Head Copyeditor Images from Katherine Gemmingen In 2017, when I started at McKendree University, the PWR program had two full-time professors; now, there is just one part-time professor. Each year that I’ve attended McKendree has seen the program’s staff dwindle as the program fades away. To this I say, RIP PWR. For those of you who have never heard of PWR or perhaps have heard of it but are unaware of what it means, PWR stands for Professional Writing and Rhetoric, which is one of the programs offered here at McKendree as both a major and a minor. According to McKendree’s 2017/2018 Undergraduate Catalog, “the mission of this program is to develop students as rhetorical thinkers and effective professional writers in print and digital environments.” Listed under the ...

The following article represents the author's opinion about a specific topic. Freedom of speech is part of the First Amendment of the US Constitution and therefore every writer has the right to share his or her opinion. Feel free to email your editors about any issues with the article or leave your comment here. Isabella Strimling, Contributing Writer Pictures from Google What are we on, day nine trillion now? It sure feels like it—I mean, it’s been an excruciatingly long time for being locked away from normal life. In fact, it honestly feels like I’m stuck inside in a single, inexorable day of h-e-double-hockey-sticks, almost like those movies "Groundhog Day" or "Happy Death Day." Life in quarantine has become the same day, over and over again and it’s getting quite boring. My days have ...

Mikayla Walton, Contributing Writer Pictures: google.com COVID-19 is a word you can clearly see anywhere now; it is everywhere. It has people afraid, annoyed, worried, and paranoid. There are people making their own cloth masks, and others buying toilet paper and hand sanitizer off the shelves as if it were Black Friday. People tend to think only of themselves in a crisis, but there are people we forget to ask ourselves about. The essential employees. The essential employees have had a wrench tossed into their well-oiled machine. I, for one, wanted to know exactly what those still going to work are doing to protect themselves in these times, namely, what the companies are doing to protect their employees. I reached out to a few people, but I had only a few willing to discuss it. One of t...

Isabella Strimling, Contributing Writer Pictures from Google I was mid-Zoom session the other day, in an intensified discussion about the ethics behind political decision-making in public policy. But, in between my professor and classmates’ mini soap box moments, I swore I heard the faint sound of childhood nostalgia come floating through my bedroom door. A, B, C, D, E, F, G… I’m sorry Dr. Z, but unmitigated curiosity dragged me up and forced me out the door to see what in the heck was going on, and why in the world someone was blaring the ABCs like we were headbanging at a rave. Down the hall from me, my mother was taking part in a little Zoom session of her own. Our entire den had been turned into her literal preschool classroom—I seriously could not tell the difference, real from imp...

Camryn Scully, Contributing WriterMarch 20, 2020 was the day I left McKendree University. I had to take three connecting flights back home to Prince George, B.C, Canada. The airports and flights were emptier than usual, with a total travel time of 16 hours.  It was extremely stressful when I arrived at the Vancouver International Airport in Canada and went through customs. Two customs officers pulled me aside and grilled me with many questions. They wanted to know where I was coming from, where I was going, and if I was sick. They also informed me I needed to self-quarantine when I got home for 14 days. My parents had informed me not to cough and to say that I didn’t have a fever or any symptoms going through, the reason being that I could get taken on the spot into quarantine. This i...

Luis Alvear, Contributing Writer Featured image from Luis Alvear of his near-empty flight home Coronavirus is something crazy that none of us expected. I think that we need to take care now that we know the bad consequences that it has. It is also having a lot of economic impact for the world and I think that governments are not reacting well. I left campus on the 21st of March. The situation in Spain was so bad and it was so difficult to book a flight. I remember waking up the day before to see messages from my mom saying, “Pack everything, you have a flight tomorrow at 11 a.m." I was so surprised and I asked her to wait so she could let me organize myself and talk to my coach but she told me that the prices of the flight were rising up to $7,000 and that she got that flight for free be...

Meredith Geyer, Contributing Writer Featured image from Meredith Geyer St. Louis has become a hub for young chefs and entrepreneurs to create the newest tastes and trends in the restaurant industry. However, among these hip venues and flavors, St. Louis still has a number of pioneer restaurants that have seen the city through a number of generations. Crown Candy Kitchen, one of St. Louis’ most well-known original eating establishments and oldest soda fountain, was opened in 1913 by Harry Karandzieff and Pete Jugaloff. The Karandzieff family, which has owned Crown Candy for three generations, has maintained the original décor, and has made a big name for the small establishment. Along with its BLT being featured on the Travel Channel as Adam Richman’s Best Sandwich in America, C...

Victoria Sananikone, Editor Gifs and pictures from Google Welcome to the fourth installment of Vic’s Tuesday Tunes! As a lover of music, I thoroughly enjoy sharing my tunes with others who share my obsession or those who are simply looking for new music to listen to. Please enjoy the music listed below that I have been listening to frequently within the past month. "The Perks of Being A Wallflower" is a cinematic gem, one that tugs at your heart and opens your eyes to real struggles that humans face on the daily. Don’t worry, this isn’t a movie review, but the other week, Netflix placed this film amongst its ranks, and as a coming-of-age film fanatic, I immediately watched it for the second time. Remember that scene where Charlie, Sam, and Patrick are driving and “the tunnel song” comes...

Mikayla Walton, Contributing Writer Pictures from Mikayla Walton Being a college student is rough. Being a parent is rough. But, juggling college course work and being a parent? It’s a walk in the park. Jurassic Park. For those that don’t know me, I am Mikayla Walton, and I am an English Literature and Writing major with a Creative Writing (and possibly Journalism) minor. I am also a mother to an autistic three-year-old boy named Jensen, and yes I am married. That may sound like a lot to take on, and yeah it is. There has not been a day where I haven’t seen another of my peers chugging coffee as if their lives depended on it so they could finish that last page of a paper they desperately need to finish. Hellish right? Well, try being that college student and then having a toddler shove th...