CRUCIAL MATCHUP
The Eastern football team will host Eastern Kentucky 1 p.m. Saturday at O’Brien Field.
KEEPING WARM
Eastern students give back to the community with handmade blankets. PAGE 3
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Friday, November 20, 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
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Broken windows in University Court hint at theft Staff Report | @DEN_News Police were called to University Court Thursday evening after receiving a call of rocks being thrown around the outside of the Giffin building. Adam Due, chief public safety officer of Eastern’s University Police Department, said there is criminal damage from rocks being thrown. “I don’t know if it was random from rocks being thrown, if they were fighting out here, or if it was targeted at a specific place,” Due said. Due said a robbery was reported as part of the encounter, and that a weapon was implied but not seen. Due also said the police are not calling it an armed robbery, but they are also not saying it is just a robbery. Mariya Muhr, a sophomore family and consumer sciences major, said she came back from her class in the Physical Science building and saw the police cars outside of her building. “That was my old apartment that was getting searched,” Muhr said. “That was a relief that I had moved out and scary at the same time.” Due said there is no suspect description to put out at the time that does not describe anything more than race and age; he said the police department will try and get a description out when they can. Due also said that no arrests were made after the police were called. The staff of The News can be reached at 581-2812 or dennewsdesk@gmail.com.
CAA approves new history, rural studies courses By Cassie Buchman Administration Editor | @cjbuchman The Council on Academic Affairs approved new history and rural studies classes at their meeting Thursday. The new classes are HIS 4922 Doing Media History, HIS 3160 Ancient Iran, RUR 3960 A, B, D, E: Special Topics in Rural Studies, and RUR 4400A B, D, E: Independent Study in Rural Studies. Anita Shelton, history department chair, said last year the history department did a survey of their majors and asked faculty to list courses they might like to offer. Students were sent a list and were asked how likely they were to take the class. HIS 4922 was one of the most popular classes. Lee Patterson, a history professor, said HIS 3160 is about the Ancient Persian world. “It supplements courses I already offer,” Patterson said. “It also provides some additional study of Iran for people who are interested in Iran and who have already had courses in Iran and early Iran.” Patterson said that with this course, students would be able to study Iran from the beginning to modern times. “It’s going to add to our curriculum in a couple of significant ways,” Patterson said.
CAA, page 6
MACKENZIE FREUND | THE DAILY EASTERN NE WS
Damage to the window on the second floor of the Giffin Building in University Court was reported Thursday evening. University Police, Charleston Police, and the Coles County Sheriff’s Departments all responded to the call.
Different housing, dining Storm may hours, options for break bring snow Friday night By Mackenzie Freund City Editor | @mgfreund_news
Break housing has been a tradition at Eastern for a long period of time, though break housing was recently increased to four residence halls instead of three. Mark Hudson, director of housing and dining, said Lincoln, Stevenson and Douglas were the halls that would be open during breaks, but for the last three or four years, Thomas has also been part of the break housing. “We’ve now added Thomas because we have an increased number of international students, so we needed additional space,” Hudson said. Hudson said the baseball team also stays in Thomas. They sometimes need to stay on campus during breaks. “We just decided to give ourselves a little more capacity, so we added a fourth building,” Hudson said. Students who stay on campus need to sign up and pay the $80 break housing fee, unless they do not live in one of the halls that offer break housing. Hudson said if students that do not live in the halls with break housing need to stay, they need to talk to Matt Boyer, who coordinated conference housing. “(Boyer) determines if we have the space to put you in an open room, if we happen to have an open room in those buildings,” Hudson said. Hudson said people who move into the break housing do not move into an already-occupied space. Along with the break housing arrangements, Hudson said there will be no food available on campus during Thanksgiving break. “There’s just not enough bodies to warrant the expense of having a fired-up dining center,” Hud-
son said. The cores on the outside doors get changed to a vacation core when it is time for students to go on vacation. According to Hudson, this means that students will not be allowed into the building unless they signed up for break housing and received the key. Residence staffing for breaks is done differently than the rest of the semester. Hudson said that usually one staff member, whether a resident assistant or a graduate assistant, will stay in one of the four buildings so that there is a staff member there to handle anything that may happen. “If the fire alarm goes off, there is someone there to respond,” Hudson said. “There is a duty structure in place that is not necessarily an RA or a grad from that building, but it’s somebody who is willing to work.” Staff members who sign up to work during breaks get paid extra because they are staying on campus. Hudson said there is a possible chance that the residence halls will open early if the football team wins their game this weekend. According to Hudson, there is the possibility of Eastern hosting the playoff game that would occur the Saturday after Thanksgiving. “If we do get a playoff game, then we will open the buildings early on Saturday so people can come back and go to the game if they want,” Hudson said. “The unfortunate thing is that we won’t find out until Sunday, so we will put it out on social media and say ‘if you want to come back for the game, you can.’” Mackenzie Freund can be reached at 581-2812 or at mgfreund@eiu.edu.
By Jason Howell Online Editor | @thejasonhowell The National Weather Service in Lincoln has issued a special weather statement advising of the possibility of rain Friday evening changing into snow. It would be the area’s first winter storm of the season. The statement, issued for 26 Central Illinois counties including Coles, notes the significant uncertainty of accumulated snowfall because of variations of ground and pavement temperatures. The statement notes that higher amounts will be near and north of Interstate 74. Two to four inches could be possible in these areas by the time the snow ends Saturday. The NWS also listed Nov. 15-21 as Winter Weather Preparedness Week. The NWS gives tips on traveling during periods of winter weather, such as having a winter survival kit consisting of a blanket or sleeping bag, knife, non-perishable food, and a NOAA weather radio, among other items. Eastern Climatologist Cameron Craig advises that drivers allow substantial room for the car in front of them, to make sure windshield wipers are in working condition and to make sure the wiper fluid reservoir is full. The NWS also advises persons to be prepared for rapidly changing road conditions, particularly on overpasses, as they freeze more quickly than other road surfaces. Jason Howell can be reached at 581-2812 or jlhowell3@eiu.edu.