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By Dylan Powell, Head Sports Writer Photos from Zariah Valentine The McKendree Powerlifting team participated in the first matchup of the season on October 16 in St. Louis at the USA Powerlifting Series Finals, but under an unprecedented circumstance: they were without a coach. In late September of this year, Coach Guillermo Blanco departed from McKendree. “The current situation with the coaching is that we don’t have a coach or even adult supervision to make sure we are fine,” says Zariah Valentine, a freshman. “It affects my season a lot because I won’t have anyone in my corner to calm me down or be my motivation during a meet. It’s going to be hard to do literally everything by myself at a meet.” Despite the departure, former Coach Blanco still checks in with the team, lea...

By Dylan Powell, Head Sports Writer Photos from McKendree University and act.edu On McKendree’s campus, there are so many clubs, activities, and organizations that are considered Registered Student Organizations (RSOs), that many members of the student body forget that we have Greek Life on campus! Students often overlook emails and bulletin boards in the buildings on campus, not realizing when Greek life events are going on and what they entail. Here at McKendree, we have the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life, the governing body led by director Calvin Wertman. Under his direction is the Inter-Greek Council, a student-led organization who overlooks our five Greek groups on campus. The five groups consist of two fraternities, Alpha Delta Gamma (ADG) and Phi Beta Sigma (Sigmas...

By Marisa Ortega, Editor Photo from Marisa Ortega On October 12th, I had the honor of attending a presentation by Joe Koppeis, along with other students, about how he got to be where he is today. Joe Koppeis is an entrepreneur from Columbia, Illinois and is a current McKendree University Board of Trustee member. He is the owner and president of Admiral Parkway, Inc. along with developing, owning and operating several office buildings, shopping centers and supermarkets. He also owns Ace Hardware franchises, Domino’s Pizza franchises, and Holiday Inn & Express Hotel & Suites across Southern Illinois. Mr. Koppeis is a very successful man, but that isn’t to say he hasn’t had challenges in life and even hit rock bottom.  At the young age of 13, he started working in the g...

By Chloe Gamber, Head Academic Writer Photos from mosaictreecounseling.com and world.edu Everyone gets burnt out from schoolwork, no matter who they are. Constantly worrying about a grade or just forcing yourself out of bed can be a struggle everyone has felt. The transition of semesters is also a hassle because we have to create a whole new routine again. Managing your involvement in organizations, sports, or a job are major stressors on their own, let alone a full workload from classes each week. Some will be ending their half-semester courses this week, which are very difficult courses to manage. I, personally, have struggled with eight-week courses because there is such a heavy workload in such a small amount of time. Regardless of the length, it is impossible to really get the ...

By Abigail Kishimoto, Head Culture Co-Writer Photos from Phoebe McCutcheon, Head Photographer & Designer These past two years have brought a lot of change around McKendree, one significant change being the disbanding of the Marching Bearcat Band and the creation of the Spirit Band. The Spirit Band was introduced this year in place of the marching band for multiple reasons, but the main reason is that the Spirit Band is aiming to be a band that supports the entire school—more like a pep band. Currently, you can find the Spirit Band at football games, and hopefully in the near future you will be able to see them at other events around the school!  I had a chance to talk to Zach Langa, a senior alto sax player, and Bre Sampo, a junior color guard member, about their experie...

By Lauren Wilk, Editor Photos from Lauren Wilk and amazon.com The summer of 2016 is popularly deemed as the closest we have been to world peace. It was a time of unity, exercise and the outdoors - Pokémon GO made its debut to mobile devices and for the first time, the world saw public spaces full of people of all ages, interacting and bonding over Pokémon.  Wikipedia says that Pokémon GO is a mobile game released in July 2016 that was developed and published by Niantic in collaboration with Nintendo and The Pokémon Company for iOS and Android devices. It is free to play, but features in-app purchases and advertising that allow it to profit. The app uses the player’s GPS and augmented reality (AR) to simulate Pokémon appearing in real-world locations. The AR settings can be t...

By Haley Rey, Editor in Chief Photos from McKendree University McKendree’s Swim and Dive Team, established in 2016, practices between 18 and 20 hours a week. There are two-hour swim practices each week day afternoon and on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday mornings, and one-hour weights sessions on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.  The team practices in the McKendree MetroRecPlex (aside from weights sessions), which was built in 2017. In case you’ve never been in a college competition pool, it is 25 yards long, and the RecPlex’s pool has 10 lanes. At the bottom of each lane is a black line that spans the length of the pool. Swimmers stare at this black line—or at the ceiling, during backstroke—for 16 hours a week. A few years ago, a friend asked me what I thought about for tw...

By Haley Rey, Editor in Chief Photos from Phoebe McCutcheon, Craig Tompkins, Rose Marinucci, and Emily Olague As most on-campus residents may know, McKendree’s Resident Life staff has three new Resident Directors at McKendree this year: Emily Olague, Rose Marinucci, and Charles (Craig) Tompkins. You may have even seen their faces on the TV screens in Ames, but are you aware of how much they do for our campus life? I had the opportunity to sit down with all three staff members, who work in the three traditional dorm halls on campus: Walton, Barnett, and Baker. I know more about the job now, but I remember that as a freshman and sophomore, I had no idea what the specifics were when it came to my RD.  I asked them all several questions, beginning with how they found their wa...

By Chloe Gamber, Head Academic Writer Photos from pressbooks.senecacollege.ca, clipartstation.com, and shutterstock.com I had the chance to discuss the topics of communication and ethics with Professor Damon Chaffin. Professor Chaffin has “35 years of management experience with Fortune 500 companies and ventures,” along with private consulting with other business owners. Professor Chaffin discussed how communication today is essential in the work environment. Communication skills are needed in order to develop other soft skills for a career. Many may have higher knowledge and technical skills but without communication, they may be underestimated. Proper language etiquette allows us to show a hiring manager that we are ready for a career that involves self-growth. No matter the caree...

By Abigail Kishimoto, Head Culture Co-Writer Photos from McKendree University, and stock.adobe.com Communication is at the center of every relationship you have had, whether it be the relationship you have with a significant other, with friends, in athletics, or even in the classroom. I would argue that communication is the most important aspect of relationships, especially when in college. College is a time when most are experiencing independence for the first time, and with that comes a lot of new experiences when it comes to relationships.  When you come to McKendree, you are introduced to a new student body from which you will choose friends and romantic partners. You may also be a part of a new sports team where you build relationships with teammates and coaches. Additi...