HIGH TIDE
SO CLOSE
Several swimmers stand out with season-best times at the recent House of Champions meet.
The Eastern men’s basketball team lost 87-83 in overtime to the Bradley Braves Tuesday in Lantz Arena.
PAGE 8
D aily E astern N ews
THE
PAGE 7
Wednesday, November 30, 2016 “TELL THE TRUTH AND DON’T BE AFRAID” C E L E BRATI NG A CE NTUR Y OF COV E RA GE E S T . 1 915
VOL. 101 | NO. 67 W W W . D A I L YE A S TE R N N E W S . C O M
A thousand words
Workgroup replies to departmental criticism By Cassie Buchman News Editor | @cjbuchman
VIC TOR GOMEZ | THE DAILY EASTERN NE WS
Kadija Robinson-Stallings, the class instructor and an Eastern alumna, helps Isis Sims, a senior athletic training major, paint her fallthemed path during the “Artfully Autumn” event Tuesday in the University Ballroom of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.
Sophomores step up to organize ‘Holiday Hustle,’ goal to raise $3,500 By Kalyn Hayslett Editor-in-Chief | @DEN_news Four sophomore students sharing the same passion for giving back to the community organized the fifth annual Holiday Hustle 5K run/ walk Saturday. Sophomores Samantha Boomgarden, Audrey Rex, Brianne Ed and Katie Ervin met as incoming freshmen through the Presidential Scholars Scholarship program, which involves a mandatory class they took last fall. During the class, students have to complete a service project, which is how the Holiday Hustle started, as it benefits One Stop Community Christmas in Mattoon. One Stop Community Christmas helps seven counties gather and disburse supplies for families in need during the holiday season. “What they do is take donations like toys, presents, socks, underwear and food even. And what the parents do is, they will come through and, based on how many kids they are shopping for, they essentially get to shop and pick out the presents that have been donated,” Ervin said. The goal for this year is to raise $3,500 to donate to the service organization. Last year, the group of students who originated the race graduated, so the sophomores took over this year. “We’re kind of like the next generation of Presidential Scholars that’s taking it over,” Ervin said. The original students who began the race passed a baton in the form of a flash drive to the new 5K organizers, with a guideline of tasks that need to be completed by specific deadlines.
After turning in their preliminary draft recommendations for the vitalization project, Workgroup No. 7, looking at academic programs, discussed the responses and feedback they received from academic departments. After seeing some of the responses, workgroup chair Cindy Rich said some of the departments were supportive, while others approached the recommendations in a defensive way. What surprised Rich about the defensive responses is she does not see the first two recommendations the workgroup needs to make as negative, as these focus on what programs should be continued with increased resources and what efficiencies or changes could be made to enhance a program’s marketability or enrollment. “The first (recommendation) is for additional funding, the second one is for in their own house coming up with plans,” she said. “The third is in their own house, but with support from the university and other people (asking) how can we make this work?” The third recommendation is how programs or services can create a plan to improve their viability and efficiency. Though the fourth recommendation calls for the workgroup to suggest programs for outsourcing or deletion, Rich said they added in an option for consolidation. “The programs don’t need to be deleted completely — maybe they can join in with another department that would help with what’s going on there,” she said. In their responses, Rich said people defended their department’s enrollment, staffing and programs. Workgroup, page 5
Entire Task Force meets Wednesday FILE PHOTO | THE DAILY EASTERN NE WS
Runners and walkers start the Holiday Hustle race in 2015. This year’s race will begin at 9 a.m. Saturday in front of Old Main. The cost to participate is $25 per person or $23 if participating in a group of six members.
Even though the new group has already finished the class and the volunteer project is no longer required for them, the sophomores wanted to continue raising funds for One Stop Community Christmas. “The service aspect of the race is what drew me to participate,” Ed said. Ervin was born and raised in Mattoon and said she wants to do all she can for her hometown. “This is my home 24/7, this is where I live, and this is where I’ve grown up besides where I go to school,” she said. “Helping my home
community is really awesome and also to carry on the Presidential Scholar legacy.” Check-in for the race will begin at 8 a.m., and the race will officially start at 9 a.m. in the front of Old Main. The race is open to the public. The cost of registration is $25 per person and $23 per person for members in a group of six. People can go to the EIU Holiday Hustle website to register before the race or wait to register the day of the race.
Holiday, page 5
Staff Report | @DEN_News A meeting for the entire vitalization project Task Force will be 4 p.m. today in Coleman Auditorium. On the agenda for the Task Force meeting is an update on workgroup activities and initial reviews and feedback, guidance and procedures for final recommendations and an update on the procedures that will follow the submission of the final recommendations. The Task Force consists of the vice presidents, a president’s liaison subcommittee, and nine workgroups tasked with making recommendations for programs and services on campus. These workgroups submitted their preliminary drafts of these recommendations on Tuesday, Nov. 1. Task Force, page 5