Eastern News
Tuesday
“Tell th e t r u t h a n d d o n ’ t b e a fr a i d . ”
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SEPTEMBER 4, 2012 V O LU M E 9 7 | N o. 1 1
EASTERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY CHARLESTON, ILL. D A I LY E A S T E R N N E W S . C O M T WIT TER.COM/DEN_NE WS
International student has high hopes for career
Panthers suffer first loss since 2010
Page 3
Page 8
American pride
DANNY DAMIANI | THE DAILY EASTERN NE WS
A football field sized flag is draped over O'Brien Field Thursday before Eastern's game against Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. It took more than 100 people to hold up the flag during the national anthem.
OBSERVATORY OPEN HOUSE
SAFE T Y
Students urged to be cautious with property by campus, city police CPD Lieutenant discusses thieves on, off campus By Robyn Dexter In-depth Editor
TIM DETERS | THE DAILY EASTERN NE WS
Leon Mire, a senior biology major, motions to the reflecting mirror of the Eastern Observatory's 16-inch telescope Friday. The Observatory hosts an Open House 8 p.m. on the last Friday of each month.
Clouds obscure blue moon Remnants of Isaac block view of rare astronomical event By Tim Deters Features Editor
As the little girl gripped the silver box in her hand, pressing a row of black knobs, the dome above her sprung to life. Her blonde hair whipping back and forth, Hannah Berne, 7 of Charleston, glanced up and down between the controls in her hand and the dome of the Eastern Observatory above as its eye slit peeled back, the loud whir of a motor filling the tiny space under the dome. With a final metallic clank, the eye slit came to rest in silence, revealing a cloudy, starless sky. Despite the cloudy sky, glowing orange from the city lights, Berne continued to crane her neck and
peer into the darkness, hoping for a break in the clouds. Berne was attending the first Observatory Open House of the Fall 2012 semester. The Observatory Open House takes place 8 p.m. on the last Friday of ever y month during the school year and is coordinated between both the Astronomy and Physics clubs. The Eastern Observatory is operated by the physics department and is located southwest of Campus Pond down a long gravel road. The location for the observatory was originally chosen because it is one of the darkest spots on campus, in the middle of a field away from houses and campus buildings that would cast out light and obscure observations. Perched atop a small grey corrugated steel building is a white dome, which houses a 16-inch telescope. Hannah Tanguary, president of the Astronomy Club, said the observatory can be used for many
different student projects, as well as to satisfy students’ curiosity. Computer software can even be used to control the movements of the telescope to track specific objects and gather data. A s Be r n e c l i m b e d d ow n t h e wooden stairs from the dome, she passed a wall of photographs pinned to a corkboard and began to ask questions about the photographs. The photographs were taken using the observatory’s telescope. The images of planets, stars and galaxies painted the wall a brilliant array of orange, blue and purple. Stevie Momaly, vice president of the Physics Club, pointed to the photographs, answering the many questions that Berne asked, one after another after another. “I hope she never stops asking questions,” Momaly said, grinning as Berne continued to explore the observatory. MOON, page 5
With breaks like this past Labor Day break, local police departments such as the Charleston Police Department and the University Police Department aim to keep students’ property as safe as possible while they are away. Lieutenant Brad Oyer of the Charleston Police Department said there are various different types of property theft that occur in Charleston as well as on campus. “We ask that everyone please lock their houses and vehicles,” he said. “Every community has property thefts and Charleston is no exception.” Oyer said people break into vehicles usually not to steal the vehicle itself, but to steal the property inside of it. “Strangely enough, we find that more and more women leave their purses inside their cars and leave it unlocked,” he said. Another aspect of property theft that Eastern directly might not deal with but may affect the surrounding communities is the opening of hunting season. “Many hunters in east-central Illinois leave firearms in their vehicles during hunting season and people break in and steal those,” he said. Hosting parties can be another open invitation to property thieves, Oyer said. “If you have a whole house full of people and you don’t necessarily know who they are, they could
be checking it out to see what they want to come back and steal,” he said. Charleston Police Department deals with the most property theft right after long weekends or breaks like Thanksgiving and Christmas. “We take property theft very seriously, especially when students are gone,” Oyer said. “Lock your things up, or better yet, take your most valuable possessions home with you.” Items of importance, including laptops, game systems and games, are among some of the things Charleston residents report stolen most frequently, Oyer said. “ We h a d a l o t o f b u r g l a r i e s where people come in and steal nothing but a big stack of Xbox 360 games,” he said. “These can easily be taken to a pawn shop and pawned for a few bucks apiece.” Oyer said change jars are another possession he has repeatedly seen stolen. “Burglars know that in student housing, if students are going to be gone for an extended period of time, they can do a burglary that may not even be noticed for a week or two,” he said. Oyer said property theft has remained relatively consistent over the years in Charleston, but breaks from classes are when reports of burglaries are at a peak. “Students will roll back into town and the residential burglary reports will start rolling in as well,” he said. “By all means, don’t make it easy for the burglars.”
Robyn Dexter can be reached at 581-2812 or redexter@eiu.edu.