KICKING OFF
JUST BE A QUEEN
The women’s soccer team prepares for last home game until Halloween. They will face Eastern Kentucky Friday.
EIU Pride prepares for the annual Diva Drag Show at the end of October to raise money for SACIS.
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Thursday, October 15, 2015 “TELL THE TRUTH AND DON’T BE AFRAID” C E L E BRATI NG A CE NTUR Y OF COV E RA GE 19 15- 201 5
VOL. 100 | NO. 39 W W W . D A I L Y E A S TE R N N E W S . C O M
Safety concerns raised over recent crimes Mackenzie Freund City Editor | @mgfreund_news
Recent robberies and assaults on campus have sparked a safety concern among students and families. Dan Nadler, the vice president for student affairs, said he has heard concerns from students. “I’ve received some emails and I’ve talked directly to students and tried to reassure them that
we’re working very hard with the Charleston Police Department,” Nadler said. Nadler said they are working closely to find the people who are responsible for the recent crimes and bring them to justice. Eastern was recently ranked the No. 2 safest college town in the country, according to The SafeWise Report. “That speaks volumes in terms of how hard people have worked to get to that point,” Nadler said. “That doesn’t mean we can rest either.”
Woman injured in attempted robbery
Nadler said the ranking does not mean the people who have helped Charleston get the rating can stop, but people need to keep working so the rank can be maintained. Nadler said campus safety is one of the more important issues for a college campus. “This is unusual for us,” Nadler said. “We are not a campus that experiences very much crime, and certainly crime within a short period of time.
Students are being encouraged to call the police departments with any information they may have or if they feel something is not right. “If you feel something suspicious or sense that, go ahead and call it in,” Nadler said. “We would rather have a respond to a false call than to have something bad happen.” Mackenzie Freund can be reached at 581-2812 or at mgfreund@eiu.edu.
Free Flu Shots
Staff Report | @DEN_News A woman was transported to Sarah Bush Health Care Center with non-life threatening injuries after she was struck during an attempted robbery in the 1700th block of 11th Street Tuesday night. In a press release issued by the Charleston Police Department, the victim, whose name has not been released, returned home to find a male in her driveway. The suspect reportedly is a 5-foot-10-inch white male with a slender build and 5 o’clock shadow who was wearing a red shirt and backwards-facing dark hat. The confronting male attempted to rob her of her purse, but was unsuccessful, according to the press release. Anyone with information is asked to contact CPD at 217-345-8404 or message them through their Facebook page. Information can also be left by calling the Coles County Crime Stoppers at 866-345-8488. The staff of The Daily Eastern News can be reached at 581-2812 or dennewsdesk@gmail.com.
LIZ DOWELL | THE DAILY EASTERN NE WS
Rose Sliwa, a junior communication studies major, gets her flu shot administered for free in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union. “I’m forced to get my flue shot,” Sliwa said. “My mom makes me.”
Federal Perkins loans end Senate approves bylaws By Cassie Buchman Administration Editor | @cjbuchman The Federal Perkins Loan program, which was the oldest federal student loan program, ended on Sept. 30. The Perkins Loan was a low interest federal loan for students with exceptional financial need. This academic year, about 250 students received the loan. In 2014-2015 about 350 students did. Amanda Starwalt, the interim senior associate director of financial aid, said her office did not know until the end of September whether or not the Perkins Loan Program was going to end. “There was nothing really we could do; we just had to wait and see what happened,” Starwalt said. Some students are still eligible for the loan as they are part of a grandfather provision that allows schools to make loans to certain students for up to five additional years. Students who had the loan before or during the 2014-2015 year will probably be able to get the loan again next year unless it was their first time having it.
“It still depends on what funding we have, as it depends on what the institution has to award,” Starwalt said. Starwalt said this was the government’s way of slowly getting rid of the program. “Every year we’re going to have more students graduate and every year that are going to be fewer students who are eligible,” Starwalt said. “Eventually as students graduate the program is going to go away altogether.” Students who change their majors need to be careful when dealing with the Perkins Loan. “It depends on how far they change their major,” Stalwart said. Students get a code associated with their major and if the major is identical to the first four digits of the code of the new major, they can still get it. “If you’re in education and you change from math and science, you’re probably okay,” Stalwart said. “If you make a big jump from education to say, kinesiology, you’re probably going to lose it.” PERKINS LOAN, page 6
By Analicia Haynes Staff Reporter | @DEN_News The Student Senate approved two registered student organizations as well three new student justices to the student Supreme Court Wednesday night. The Andrews Hall council and the southern poverty law council were approved as RSOs in Wednesday’s consent agenda. Leah Kolakowski, president for the Andrews Hall council, said the hall council puts on events for students to help keep them active on campus.The hall council plans events for stress relief week to help students get through finals and also hands out study bucks to students in the hall who are caught studying in the open. The study buck acts as a raffle ticket and students have the opportunity to turn in the study buck and enter for a chance to win an Andrews mug. “Being in an RSO really benefits the students. It creates a sense of community especially in the residence halls,” Kolakowski said. The Student Senate also approved the EIU
Chapter of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Rodney Fidel-Ndubisi, president for the EIU Chapter of the Southern Poverty Law Center said the center does a lot for minority groups and civil rights groups. Fidel-Ndubisi said one of the things the chapter will be doing this semester is a movie screening on Nov. 4 at hunting grounds and it will be documentary on sexual assault on campus. “The chapter’s initiative is to promote culture acceptance and justice on campus,” FidelNdubisi said. The Student Senate also approved three student Supreme Court justices. Ashley Renkor, senior psychology major, Jeremy Lynch, junior political science major, and Lucia Castro, Junior Philosophy major were approved as new justices Wednesday. “I wanted to be able to give back to the student body,” Lynch said. Maralea Negron, speaker of the senate, authored the bill introducing the bylaw change to amend the current attendance bylaw.
SENATE, page 6