WRIGHT WINS
DISEASE DISCUSSION
LEARNING THE ROPES
The Eastern women’s basketball team lost another game and dropped to 0-2 in the season
Biological sciences professor Britto Nathan will give a talk on biochemistry and Alzheimer’s in the Booth Library on Wednesday
Lois Alexis has been named the Eastern women’s tennis coach after two years at Jackson State
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D aily E astern N ews
THE
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“TELL THE TRUTH AND DON’T BE AFRAID” Wednesday, November 15, 2017 C E L E BRATI NG A CE NT UR Y OF COVE RA GE E S T . 1 915
VOL. 102 | NO. 62 W W W . D A I L Y E A S TE R N N E W S . C O M
Professors to release new book
Faculty Senate hears updates on marketing, Douglas
By AJ Fournier Campus Reporter | @DEN_News
By Brooke Schwartz Administration Reporter | @brookesch_wartz Eastern President David Glassman updated the Faculty Senate on recent marketing campaigns, calling them the “most aggressive” ones the university has ever seen, and said he met with student groups regarding the name change discussion surrounding Douglas Hall at Tuesday’s meeting. Josh Norman, the associate vice president for enrollment management, began a marketing campaign with the help of the president and marketing firm The Thorburn Group a couple of weeks ago. This campaign consists of advertising with social media ads on music streaming sites Pandora and Spotify, as well as placing upcoming ads in movie theaters and the addition of 107 billboards across Illinois. “This is the largest marketing initiative effort that, as far as I can tell, EIU has ever embarked on,” Glassman said. The ads are shown only to specific ZIP codes throughout the state and are aimed at targeting potential interested students. Before, the university was using less-tailored marketing practices. “It’s more than vitalization,” he said. “It’s the aura of this place extending itself out to tell others our story, something that we’ve been brutally slow to do over the decades.” The president also discussed his retrieval of the senate’s recommendations a couple weeks back regarding the possibility of a naming committee to potentially change the name of Douglas Hall. The senate recommended the committee be restaffed and the university have another, bigger discussion about the naming of campus buildings and increasing diversity and inclusion programs on campus. Since receiving the proposal, Glassman said he has been speaking with student organizations on campus that highlight diversity, like the Latin American Student Organization. The conversations focused on the renaming of Douglas Hall and about improving diversity at Eastern. “I have not determined whether I will move to the naming committee or not at this time,” Glassman said. “I am still collecting this data, seeing what direction I want to go, but I’ll tell you that these discussions have been some of the most fruitful discussions I’ve had.” There are also still open discussions about Eastern’s sports programs and about whether some should be cut. The Board of Trustees needs a decision from Glassman by the end of the semester. Currently, there is not a plan of action to be presented during Friday’s Board of Trustees meeting. Glassman said the decision will take more time than he originally thought. “I think everybody understands the complexity....as you drill down, as everybody drills down, we understand that it is a complex question,” he said. “We have to look at what’s best for the short term (and) what’s best for the long term.” Brooke Schwartz can be reached at 581-2821 or at bsschwartz@eiu.edu.
JORDAN BOYER | THE DAILY EASTERN NE WS
Cedric D. Hicks (left) and Rock Williams (right) perform at “Breakin’ Backwards,” performed by the Soul Street Dance Company in the Theatre at the Doudna Fine Arts Center Tuesday night.
Dance company brings ‘Soul’ to Doudna Theatre By Jordan Boyer Photo Editor | @DEN_News Soul Street Dance Company brought hip-hop dance culture to Eastern during their show, “Breakin’ Backward” Tuesday night in The Theatre of the Doudna Fine Arts Center. They performed many dances involving a variety of different musical styles, such as comedic interpretive dance, breakdancing and hip-hop dance. Soul Street Dance Company also performed with many different musical styles from the 20th century like swing jazz, hip-hop, pop music and rock n’ roll. “I thought it was good, but I think like any professional, I feel like I can always do better. I feel like that any show I do,” said Javier Garcia, cofounder and director of Soul Street Dance Company. Garcia said Soul Street Dance Company works with United States embassies around the world. “I get to tour not just the United States, but I get to tour the whole entire world with my friends,” Garcia said. He said touring gives the group the chance to spread their message of unity. “I thought it was really great. I think it’s great to have something revolving hip-hop culture come to the campus,” said A.J. Lingad, a sophomore theatre arts major. “I don’t think a lot of people are really familiar with it.” The group performed hip-hop dance with music that is not considered to be traditionally in the hip-
JORDAN BOYER | THE DAILY EASTERN NE WS
Soul Street Dance Company performs at “Breakin’ Backwards” in the Doudna Fine Arts Center Tuesday night.
JORDAN BOYER | THE DAILY EASTERN NE WS
Rock Williams jumps over Javier Garcia at “Breakin’ Backwards,” performed by the Soul Street Dance Company at the Theatre in the Doudna Fine Arts Center Tuesday night. Both Williams and Garcia are the co-founders of the group.
hop style. “It’s definitely cool to see because, you know, you would normally think hip-hop dance style would go hip-hop music, but to see it with different styles of music is really cool,” Lingad said. Jeremy Bekkouche, a criminal justice major, also enjoyed the performance. “It’s pretty cool. I like the classical music they are playing, but they add a little hip to it,” Bekkouche said. The group danced to many different songs, including “Thriller” by Michael Jackson, “Jailhouse Rock” by Elvis Presley and “My Girl” by The Temptations. The finale of the show was a breakdance from all the performers. Garcia addressed the crowd after the show and thanked everyone for coming to support them. He also talked about the hurricane in Houston, Texas, where the dancers are from. Garcia said it was beautiful to see people from around the United States help out during that time. “Put music in your soul,” Garcia said to the crowd. Soul Street Dance Company will perform again at 7:30 p.m Wednesday in the Theatre of the Doudna Fine Arts Center.. Jordan Boyer can be reached at 581-2812 or jtboyer@ eiu.edu.
A new book, written by a retired and current Eastern professor, will show how movies depict the environment and how it is presented in both fictional films and real life. “Ecocinema in the City” was written by English professor Robin Murray and former Eastern philosophy professor Joseph Heumann. The book is set to be released at the end of the month. Murray said the book talks about how different movies based on the environment reveal and critique visions of urban environmentalism. “The book emphasizes the increasingly transformative power of nature in urban settings, explored in both documentaries and fictional films,” Murray said. This is the sixth book Murray and Heumann have worked on together. Murray said with this book, both writers wanted to take a more positive view on nature. “‘Ecocinema and the City’ seeks to move beyond most films, urban/rural and nature/culture oppositions by revealing nature in the urban places where we live,” Murray said. Murray said with the previous books Murray and Heumann have written, a variety of films had been used to show environmental disasters. With this book, films such as “Dark City” and “Dark Days,” will be used to show a positive approach to environmental adaptions within cities. “This book seeks to add to urban ecology cinema scholarship by exploring four sections arranged to highlight the increasing importance nature performs in the city,” Murray said. Murray said the book could be used in sociology classes, film classes and environmental studies classes. She and Heumann have been working on the book for three years. “We have been researching each chapter by both watching films and reading criticisms about them and researching the environmental history and environmental studies behind each of the topics we explore,” Murray said. Murray said some of the different topics explored in the book are sewers and subways, global slumps, urban dog fighting, zoos, bird watching, gardens and parks, urban farming and more. Murray plans to release more books with Heumann in the future focusing on the same environmental subjects. “Right now, we are thinking about where we want to go from here. We finished an article on Arctic documentaries and a review of ‘Mother!’” Murray said. “We are currently considering what our next book’s focus will be.” Heumann and Murray have been researching together for 15 years and plan on continuing to work in the field. “Robin and I are currently discussing our next project,” Heumann said. “We have nothing concrete to mention yet, except it will be about environmental issues and using films as an interpretive lens.” Heumann said he is happy the book is being published and he hopes people working in the field find it interesting and educational. AJ Fournier can be reached at 581-2812 or ajfournier@eiu.edu.