Eastern News
Wednesday
“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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OC TOBER 10, 2012 V O LU M E 9 7 | N o. 3 6
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
Sidewalk sale sees decrease
Streid continues to make impact
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HOMECOMING
Making a splash
Offices ‘pump up’ blue pride By Al Warpinski Staff Reporter
Blue banners, streamers and blue Panther paw prints have become ammunition for departments across campus, as each office vies to bring in the second Deck the Halls Trophy. Deck the Halls is a week-long event during Homecoming Week for different offices all across campus to puts up as much blue as possible in an effort to “Pump up the Blue” and raise school spirit. And all of the offices were doing just that. In the University Housing and Dining Services office, streamers hung from the ceiling like stalactites in a cave and dozens of Eastern Panthers adorned the walls. Even the employees wore blue in an effort to blend in with walls. The office’s setup took more than a week as they decided to put up decorations gradually. The Office of Student Life went with a more subtle approach. Instead of “bluing” out the entire office, they neatly placed more than 100 blue Panther paw prints around the room. They ranged from 6 inches to 3 feet in diameter. The windows were treated with blue curtains and the office was touched off with blue Christmas lights. Despite the amount of decorations in the Office of Student Life, the set-up time did not take too long, according to office manager Marcia Shambaugh. “It only took us about a day to get most of it up,” Schambaugh said. “We reused the blue paws from last year, so it was just a matter taping them up.” Jamie Herget, a senior biology major, is a student worker for University Housing and Dining Services and said she aided the “blueformation.” “We helped design it, and mainly the students put it up, but everyone here helped out,” Herget said. Although Deck the Halls is a fun and friendly Homecoming competition, one could tell the amount of pride everyone took in not just the office, but the entire school, various office workers said. “We decorate this office; we do it for the students,” Shambaugh said. “We want the students to be like 'Hey, this place looks like fun.'” Herget said many alumni and students from both Eastern and other universities come to share the Homecoming experience and share in the unifying experience. “(Many) people come to visit during Homecoming week, alumni and families, and students from other schools come, too,” Herget said. “Homecoming is about bringing everyone together.” Al Warpinski can be reached at 581-2812 or apwarpinski@eiu.edu.
DOMINIC BAIMA | THE DAILY EASTERN NE WS
John Miller, a senior sociology major, poses with Tyler McGill, an Olympic gold medalist in the 4x100 medley relay from the 2012 London Olympics, Tuesday in the Buzzard Hall auditorium. The gold medal is made of silver and is encased in 6 millimeters of gold. McGill spoke with Eastern athletes about achieving their goals, before the meet-and-greet. Full story, page 8
FACULT Y SENATE
Enrollment concerns continue By Stephanie Markham Staff Reporter
The Faculty Senate reviewed Eastern’s concerns with declining student enrollment Tuesday. Blair Lord, the provost and vice president for academic affairs, said Eastern is currently down 69 freshmen and 121 transfer students, a 6.8-percent decrease from last year. Though declining enrollment is a nationwide trend, Lord said Illinois has specific problems, like increased cost of living, declining state funding, rising tuition costs and decreased money for needbased aid that contribute even further to the problem. He said Eastern is “leading the pack in decline” compared to other Illinois public institutions. Lord also said Eastern has been taking measures to fix this problem, like seeking advice from the NoelLevitz consulting firm and organizing an “enrollment works” group to implement the advice. Since seeking the advice, Lord said Eastern has made an effort to reorganize the infrastructure in the admissions office, employing more “middle management” to help families figure out financial aid. Along with talking about why Eastern has low enrollment this year, other members of the administration also spoke about what they are doing to aid in the turn-
JACOB SALMICH | THE DAILY EASTERN NE WS
Patrick Early, assistant vice president for communications, shows members of the faculty senate a newsletter that is directly aimed toward the students of Charleston and Mattoon high schools. Early emphasized the importance of such marketing plans to raise Eastern’s enrollment.
around process. Mary Herrington-Perry, the assistant vice president for academic affairs, said she has been working on the new “strategic enrollment plan.” She told the members of the Faculty Senate data has been collected to determine how to distribute financial aid wisely, and a strategic enrollment website for students is currently being composed.
Patrick Early, the assistant vice president for communications, marketing and brand strategies, spoke about the importance of advertising. “We need to make sure we have enthusiastic faculty to close the deal with prospective students,” he said. He said the new MyEIU, a web portal used to connect prospective new students to campus, has significantly increased the number of
students interested in Eastern, and tracking codes on the website will be part of a marketing analysis. Along with technology and research, the office of admissions has also changed its strategy to recruit new students. Brenda Major, the director from the office of admissions, talked about her direct involvement in recruiting high school students. ENROLLMENT, page 5