THE CUP IS HALF FULL
PANTHERS PLAY AT HOME
Although the men’s tennis team lost 7-0 in its first home game, the team took away positive aspects.
The Men’s baseball team is back at Eastern preparing to play Robert MorrisChicago .
PAGE 8
PAGE 8
THE
D aily E astern N ews
“TELL THE TRUTH AND DON’T BE AFRAID” Tuesday, March 28 , 2017 C E L E BRATI NG A CE NTUR Y OF COV E RA GE E S T . 1 915
VOL. 101 | NO. 124 W W W . D A I L YE A S TE R N N E W S . C O M
Airband, Greek Sing to change locations By Rebecca Cash Contributing Writer | @DEN_News
OLIVIA SWENSON-HULZ | THE DAILY EASTERN NE WS
Chelsea Picken, an English grad student, and Doris Nordin watch as Marissa Damore, a junior family and consumer sciences major signs a letter to Donald Trump, asking him to consider the importance of climate change awareness. “A lot of people don’t think climate change is a big issue but there’s lots of evidence that it’s destroying the planet. Donald Trump needs to be aware that his actions are affecting the planet,” said Damore.
RSO offers education, seeks signatures on climate change By Leon Mire Associate News Editor | @DEN_News Members of Students for Peace and Justice set up a table in the Library Quad Monday to educate students on climate change and gather signatures for a petition to President Donald Trump. The petition calls for Trump to honor the Paris Agreement, which sets international standards for greenhouse gas emissions; to support the Green Climate Fund, which helps poorer countries adjust to the effects of climate change and to implement the Clean Power Plan, which encourages states to transition to wind and solar power. “I am Climate Change” was the first activity for the group’s Global Justice Week. Members of the organization will be in the Library Quad again Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. to sell fair trade crafts benefiting poor communities around the world. Doris Nordin, adviser of Students for Peace and Justice and a campus minister at the Newman Catholic Center, said people have many misconceptions about climate change. The most common is that climate change is
out of humanity’s control. “ Pe o p l e s e e m t o t h i n k t h e climate does what it wants,” she said. “But we are the direct cause of it.” Another misconception, Nordin said, is that cold weather and snowfall during the winter are evidence against climate change. “Yes, it still snows,” she said. “ Bu t we h a ve h a d re c o rd h o t years, and every year has gotten considerably warmer.” Nordin said people in Illinois are usually shielded from the effects of climate change, so they are not as concerned with it. “We don’t see the consequences h e r e , s o w e t h i n k i t ’s n o t happening,” she said. Graduate student Chelsea Picken, a member of Students for Peace and Justice, said climate change fits in with the week’s theme of global justice. “ We d o n’t t h i n k a s m u c h about how climate change affects people. We usually think about how it affects animals and the environment,” she said. She said people living in poorer nations are hit hardest by climate change, as their governments do not have the financial means to help their citizens deal with
drought or rising sea levels. Students at Eastern can take many different steps to minimize their impact on climate change, Picken said. These steps include recycling and trying not to drive cars u n n e c e s s a r i l y. T h e y c a n a l s o support eco-friendly companies and ask other companies to back off on fuel emissions, Picken said. Picken stressed political action, such as sending letters and calling local representatives, when dealing with climate change. She said this petition was sent to Trump rather than local representatives because it would be too much of a hassle to send out letters to each student’s local representative back home. Picken pointed out that U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin already suppor t efforts to reverse climate change, so the group thought the petition should be directed to the president instead. Kaila Alvarado, a sophomore communication disorders and sciences major, said she signed the petition because not enough people are aware of climate change. “And not enough people help
them become aware,” she added. Alvarado said she had not previously taken political action for climate change, but she thinks it is important to do so, even though it may not affect people directly. “We have to pay attention to (climate change) because it affects the next generation,” she said. Marissa Damore, a junior family and consumer sciences major, said she signed the petition because climate change affects the whole Earth. “There’s a lot of evidence that it’s destroying the planet,” she said. Although climate change often gets a lot of attention, Damore s a i d a l l e n v i ro n m e n t a l i s s u e s are important because they are interconnected. Damore said she believes Trump’s presidency has not been good for the environment. She cited the fact that some of Trump’s advisers do not believe climate change is man-made. “His actions affect our Earth,” she said. Leon Mire can be reached at 581-2812 or lkmire@eiu.edu.
Both Greek Sing and Airband have been moved to McAfee Gym this year so the competitions will not conflict with the Spring Concert. All three events are scheduled for the same weekend. While Greek Sing and Airband are usually in Lantz Arena, it is now the location for the Spring Concert. Airband is set for 7 p.m. Friday a n d Gre e k Si n g i s s c h e d u l e d for 1 p.m. Sunday. The Spring Concert, featuring Kesha, will take place 8 p.m. Saturday, with doors opening at 7 p.m. Alli Dart and Delaney Workman, both senior members of Kappa Delta sorority, said moving locations has not affected their practices physically, but more so mentally as they have never per formed on McAfee’s stage before. Halee Barker, a sophomore member of Delta Delta Delta sorority, said she is anxious to perform on the new stage, but happy that a new, earlier dress rehearsal has been implemented this time around. She said this would relieve some fears performers may have. Emily Adair, chair of Greek Sing and Airband, said guests and performers would still have the same experience, even with a different location. “ The general layout is still the same as well as the program itself,” she said. Adair said she understands there may be some concerns over moving, but that there will be plenty of room for all fraternities, sororities and audience members who want to see the show. Being in McAfee Gym will give all people better seating so they can see all the performances, she said. Adair said she has made sure all chapters are fully informed and prepared for their performances. “I try my best to make sure they know due dates and rehearsal times so that everything can run smoothly the day of,” she said. Approximately 2,300 people are expected to attend both competitions.
Rebecca Cash can be reached at 581-2812 or rfcash@eiu.edu.