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By Mikayla Walton, Head Copyeditor Photos from Google ASMR, also known as Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response, is a phenomenon that has caught on over the last few years with a more significant increase in the last year. ASMR is described as a tingling sensation that begins at the scalp and moves down the neck and upper spine. Audiences experience this response through auditory stimuli, while others do not feel the tingling sensation at all but rather experience a deep euphoria that makes them relaxed and tired. The stimuli to these responses can be found on YouTube with many different types of videos. There are videos that include massage, eating, sand cutting, soap cutting, rain, soft music, etc. The popular forms of ASMR videos often include people whispering into microphones...

By Haley Rey, Associate Editor Photos from: stantonssheetmusic.wordpress.com, pinterest.com, and mackeymitchell.com This weekend, McKendree’s music and theatre departments will present the musical comedy First Date. This show is just under two months in the making, showcasing the talent of several Bearcats. It’s about two single people meeting for a blind date set up by their friends and family. The two are haunted by both past and current anxieties, which are playfully shown in musical numbers performed by the other patrons in the restaurant.  Onstage, you will find JD Lindley, Elizabeth Coady, Bradley Eston, Jade Heuer, Samantha Elling, Lilia De Oliveira Palaez, Elizabeth Birkner, Amanda Morgan, and Kelly Damann. In the band you will find Jessica Anderson, Jason Weaver, Guy Can...

By Harmon Marien, contributing writer Photos from National Geographic Darkness at its purest form is in my opinion the most underrated, underappreciated natural phenomenon on planet earth. Pure darkness reveals the real night sky, which is littered with other objects in our solar system. It is an astonishing sight and one that is not seen by many anymore. The over and immature usage of artificial light has resulted in light pollution that litters most of the globe. It creates a visual barrier between us and our galaxy while limiting and damaging our world at the same time. Light pollution affects our health, takes away our ability to experience our solar system, and ruins our ecosystems. Light pollution is the “inappropriate or excessive use of artificial light” ("Light Pollution...

By Dr. Jenny Mueller's Literary Editing class Photo by McKendree Montage Did you know McKendree has its own undergraduate literary magazine? Montage was started on this campus more than 25 years ago. It began on paper, featuring only creative writing, but now features student visual artwork as well and can be found on the web. Montage has been a feature of the Academic Excellence Celebration since it began and is one of its most popular presentations. You can publish your own creative work in the Montage, too, if you send it to the editors for review by March 22. The magazine is published every spring around AEC day and editors are currently requesting submissions of student creative writing and art. This year, Montage will record student writers reading their work and post it t...

By Victoria Sananikone, Editor In Chief Photos from Victoria Sananikone, Rappler, Chicago Tribune, The Economist Let’s talk about what happened in Georgia on the night of March 16. On Tuesday night, eight people were shot and killed by a white man named Robert Aaron Long. He targeted three spas that were located in Woodstock and Atlanta: Young’s Asian Massage, Gold Massage Spa, and Aroma Therapy Spa. Six of the eight victims that were killed were Asian and only one of them was male. Their names were Delaina Ashley Yuan, Paul Andre Michels, Xiaojie Yan, Julie Park, Park Hyeon Jeong, and two other names that have not yet been released. Woojin Kang, 27, a priest, cries at the makeshift memorial outside Gold Spa near Acworth, Ga., on Thursday, March 18, 2021, one of three massage b...

By Isabella Strimling, contributing writer Photos from Isabella Strimling Out of nowhere, my alarm began to blare, cutting through the sleepy serenity of my early-afternoon nap. My hair was a matted mess of dried chlorine, and my body still ached from the morning’s 6 a.m. lift and the ensuing two-hour pool practice. As I reluctantly slid out from beneath the comfort of my blankets and touched my feet to the cold, hard floor of my run-down dorm room, prevailing exhaustion gripped my brain, tearing through my muscles, and reminded me aggressively of how badly I wanted to call off my shift. Still groggy and craving another 45 minutes of rest, I splashed my face with some cold water and cracked open a Bang as I repeated the same ol’ words in my head to inspire me out of the door: “You n...

By Isabelle Jodoin, contributing writer Photo from Unsplash Isabelle Jodoin was one of three top essays chosen in the freshman writing essay contest held this fall. Essays were submitted by English 111 instructors and were judged by the students in the ENG 340 Fall Editing class, who chose the top three. The contest was sponsored by the Humanities division. Congratulations, Isabelle! It is said that the eyes are the windows to the soul. If this is the case, then what becomes of the windows themselves? I believe that without windows, we would be blind to the world, in no need of eyes at all. Windows have the ability to frame our vision, bordering the memories and scenes that we behold. There’s a window like this in my kitchen that looks out onto my backyard. As the kitchen is t...

By Hannah White Photo from Unsplash Hannah White's essay won first prize in the freshman writing essay contest held this fall. Essays were submitted by English 111 instructors and were judged by the students in the ENG 340 Fall Editing class, who chose the top three. Hannah was originally assigned to write an essay based on the "Letter of Recommendation" series in the New York Times. Congratulations, Hannah! Maybe it was the way the light peered through the leaves. The way the golden tendrils made some of the leaves an impossible shade of green, and left others to grow in shade and shadow. How the breeze would stir each leaf individually, and it would pick up my hair as well, pulling it to softly mingle in the branches. I adored the way the light would fall across the pages of a ...

By Ebrima Nije, contributing writer Photos from Google WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD With the pandemic having kept most people inside for much of the day, many of us have turned to streaming and binge-watching Netflix and Hulu. If you like crime and drama shows, then your next binge may be here. Snowfall, created by John Singleton, broadcasts on FX network and also streams on Hulu. Set in the 1980s in South Central, Los Angeles, and focused on the rise of a young kingpin, the show intersects the drug trade with politics and culture to create an exceptional watch for the viewer. Simply saying Snowfall is just a show about dealing drugs would be a severe understatement. The show follows a 20-year-old black male who dropped out of college due to a mistake made by the financial aid ...

By Victoria Sananikone, Editor In Chief Photo from Physical Living There will always be that coach who belittles their athlete(s). Athletes have been called every name under the sun along with nasty phrases barked at them in an attempt to dictate their submission. "You’re a slacker.” “That piece of sh*t over there…” “Idiot.” “You suck.” “You’ll never be good enough.” Even if these insults inspire a deeper work ethic or cure a mental block, they hurt to some degree. However, there is one word that stings worse than a slap across the face, a word that seems insignificant, but holds the greatest amount of disrespect in its letters: ‘quitter.’ In the realm of athletics, the word ‘quitter’ is always dripping with malice; one will say “they’re a quitter” or “she quit” as if they’re dr...