CLOSE CALLS
SCHOOL SURVIVAL
Women’s soccer too two losses over the weekend to Western Illinois and Northern Iowa.
Alpha Phi Alpha will host a forum Thursday to help students acclimate to campus life and classes. PAGE 3
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D aily E astern N ews
Monday, August 31, 2015
“TELL THE TRUTH AND DON’T BE AFRAID ”
C E L E BRATI NG A CE NTUR Y OF COV E RA GE
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VOL. 100 | NO. 7 W W W . D A I L YE A S TE R N N E W S. C O M
Moore Brothers Band kicks off Doudna season By Luis Martinez Entertainment Editor| @DEN_News The show started with a light haze as three young musicians stepped into the limelight. The Moore Brothers Band is a trio of young musicians from North Carolina who came to perform for the Charleston community Saturday in the Theatre in the Doudna Fine Arts Center. The trio consists of Daniel Perry, 21, Jacob Moore, 17, and Isaac Moore, 13. The Moores met Perry at the International Bluegrass Music Association in 2010. Since then, the three have performed at hundreds of shows. Pattie Moore, the mother of Jacob and Isaac, was also at the concert. “ The performance was good,” Pattie Moore said. “The boys did some new material, which was good, and I thought they did a good job” The band performed in front of a crowd of about 70 people. “It’s been a lot of fun. We’ve really enjoyed coming up to the more Northwest area,” Jacob Moore said. “It’s been a lot of great people and the campus atmosphere and the facilities were wonderful. This was one of the nicest stages and theatres we’ve seen in a long time.” Daniel Perry, the oldest of the trio, said everyone in Doudna really helped them out a lot during the performance. “The crew and everybody that’s helped us out and has been facilitating us since we’ve been here has just been incredible,” Perry said. “The Doudna Center, the acoustics and the way they can really hone in our sound was just incredible. Overall, I think it’s a ten out of ten being out here.” In between songs, the band interacted with audience members by telling a few jokes to get them excited for the next act. Carole Everett, a Charleston resident, said she really enjoyed herself at the show. “I was very impressed. I was amazed at how young they were and how well they could play,” Everett said. “Many comments here were how can you keep your fingers from get-
JOSH SAX TON | THE DAILY EASTERN NE WS
The Moore Brothers Band performs their original work “Mountain Song” during their concert in the Doudna Fine Arts Center Saturday night.
ting sore from playing all that much time. It was very impressive to see young people so dedicated to do such a good job.” Dwight Vaught, the assistant dean of the college of arts and humanities, walked on stage before the band to say how he heard the band perform on TV, and now 18 months later, they were performing at Eastern. “I think it went great. They’re the kind of performers that we wanted to connect with not only the university, but also the community and the younger people,” Vaught said. “I think it was a great opening.” Some of the songs the band performed Saturday night included their own songs like
“Osmosis,” “He’ll Walk With You” and “The Diffusion.” The trio even performed classic songs like the Blue Brother’s “Sweet Home Chicago” and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Good Luck, Bad Luck,” with their own spin. “I think it was a really good audience. The longer the show went I think they were really getting into it, and we were too,” Jacob Moore said. “I think they really enjoyed it, and we had a lot of fun playing for them.” Perry said they were surprised at the turnout given this was there first time performing in Illinois. “We were really surprised, I mean, be-
ing from North Carolina. I thought it was a great turnout,” Perry said. “I would have been surprised to see 50 people there for us.” The trio closed out their Doudna performance with a cover of Steppenwolf ’s “Magic Carpet Ride,” and received a standing ovation from everyone in attendance. “I know that Doudna, they had fliers all over the place,” Perry said. “They’ve done a great job getting us out there.” Luis Martinez can be reached at 581-2812 or lpmartinez@eiu.edu.
Employees voice fears, opinions following layoffs By Cassie Buchman Administration Editor | @cjbuchman Even with all her other responsibilities at Eastern, Patricia Sparks, an office support specialist for Andrews and Thomas Halls, was still able make meaningful connections with many students. Sparks, like many other faculty and staff members at Eastern, was told she was being laid off in August. Sparks said the best part of her job was interacting with the students. “I really enjoyed the kids,” she said. “They are like my own children. I’m like a second mom to them. Some have been here since they were freshmen. Now they’re seniors.” The fact that the students loved Sparks so dearly made leaving that much more difficult for her. “That’s going to be the hard part, missing the kids,” she said. As an office support specialist, Sparks did key and money audits, handled desk equipment, games, and questions from freshmen and other students. Sparks said she was told that Sept. 18
would be her last day. This was not something she expected at first. “I anticipated being moved, I did not anticipate being shut out and having nowhere to go on campus after 25 years,” she said. Because she has worked on campus for so long, Sparks thought she would have “ b u m p i n g r i g h t s ,” m e a n i n g s h e c o u l d choose to move to a different position on campus. However, bumping rights are based on an employee’s seniority in the position they are currently working at, and Sparks has worked many during her time at Eastern. “I got an upgrade on my job a couple of years ago, so I knew I was not real high on the seniority list,” she said. “But I have been the staff clerk, the chief clerk, the cashier.” Because of the years and the many jobs she has worked for Eastern, Sparks thought she would still have a place. “I figured between holding several positions, I’d be able to be bumped somewhere. I do feel like there had to be something wrong,” she said. Anne Youakim, an office support specialist in Taylor and Lawson Halls, who was laid off
around the same time, said she did not think it was fair.
“We’ve given all these years to the university, and we’re just left hanging. We’re done.” -Patricia Sparks, office support specialist “If you take a promotion to better yourself, and you end up fired, that’s not fair,” she said. Sparks said she knew of other individuals on campus who were just as shocked as she was, including another colleague who has also been at Eastern for more than 20 years. “We’ve given all these years to the university, and we’re just left hanging. We’re done.” she said. Despite her shock, Sparks feels no anger toward the university itself.
“I won’t say I’m angry, I was just floored and shocked,” she said. After being laid off, Sparks had the difficult task of telling her family members that she was no longer working at Eastern. She said they knew her job would change, but they did not know to what extent. “They were expecting me to tell them something,” Sparks said. “They were not expecting me to say Sept. 18 is my last day.” The question of how she will now afford insurance, which was formerly provided by the university, now lingers in Sparks’ mind. “The cost to pick up insurance is quite high,” she said. “ There’s no way in the world to get enough in unemployment to pay the $1,000 a month.” Sparks is also thankful for some of the measures the university has taken to help out those who have been laid off. The university provided information on unemployment, career services and ways to find new jobs. Sparks was also given a clearance sheet, which she will use when returning items back to the university.
LAYOFFS, page 6