Eastern News
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“Tell th e t r u t h a n d d o n ’ t b e a fr a i d . ”
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SEPTEMBER 17, 2012 V O LU M E 9 7 | N o. 2 0
EASTERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY CHARLESTON, ILL. D A I LY E A S T E R N N E W S . C O M T WIT TER.COM/DEN_NE WS
Local families receive food assistance
Panthers ousted in double OT
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Page 8 DOUDNA FINE ARTS CENTER
CONCERT
Construction continues, glass film considered By Robyn Dexter In-depth Editor
MIR ANDA PLOSS | THE DAILY EASTERN NE W
Gaelic Storm performs in the Dvorak Concert Hall Sunday. Gaelic Storm performed in replace of Claddagh, who could not appear due to production delays.
Gaelic Storm hits Eastern By Samantha McDaniel Daily Editor
Audience members sang, yelled, danced and rode the donkey during the Gaelic Storm concert Sunday. Gaelic Storm had a crowd-interactive performance where they invited members onto the stage, encouraged them to participate in the music and even had half the audience members pull out their cell phones for part of a song. Steve Twigger, the guitarist for Gaelic Storm, put on a contest during their song “Whiskey and Light,” where they had half the audience yell “I’ll bring the whiskey” and “I’ll bring the light.” The audience that yelled “I’ll
bring the light” brought out anything that made light and held them up during their portion of the song. The other members of Gaelic Storm are Patrick Murphy, lead vocals; Ryan Lacey, drums; Pete Purvis, pipes; and Jeesie Burns, violin. Twigger said it is important for audience members to be involved in the show. “I think it is unique and makes every night different,” Twigger said. “I think it does involve people more and people feel a more personal connection.” Another of Gaelic Storm’s songs, “Darcy’s Donkey,” had audience members mimicking riding a donkey. During this song, Murphy
brought up audience member, Andrew Methven, a history professor, who was particularly enthusiastic during the song. Methven said he never expected to be brought up on stage. “I didn’t really think he was pointing at me,” Methven said. “He told me to do it and then he asked me what I was doing.” Methven said his stage appearance probably would not go over well with his daughter. “My daughter is going to be mortified,” Methven said. “She always tells me ‘don’t embarrass me’ and what do you think I did tonight?” Gaelic Storm introduced most of their songs with a comic story behind their songs.
Most of their songs are based on real experiences from their tours. “Back when we used to be a pub band, we would play the same songs every weekend,” Twigger said. “The only thing that really changed was what happened that week so we would tell funny stories about what was going on,” Twigger said. They also brought up 7-yearold Jake Reeley during their encore song, “What's the Rumpus?” to hit the cymbal. Murphy queued Reeley to hit the cymbal and helped him run and hit it. “I was really nervous,” Reeley said. “It was really, really, really fun.” STORM, page 5
CUPB
State still owes Eastern $11.7 million By Amy Wywialowski Assistant Daily Editor
Illinois currently owes Eastern $11.7 million in appropriated funds, the vice president for business affairs said Friday. William Weber, the vice president for business affairs, informed the Council on University Planning and Budget that the state has made progress in paying the $48 million from Fiscal Year 2012—an improvement over past years. “At the end of Fiscal Year 2011, they owed us over $20 million,” Weber said. “At some point
between these payments and the budget cuts they are making, it will all meet.” The council also elected a new chairperson and executive committee for the 2012-2013 academic year. Steve Rich, the director of alumni services, was elected to the position of chairman after running unopposed. “I’m looking forward to working with this great group and advising the Eastern President Bill Perry in any way we can,” Rich said. After his election, Rich ran the meeting.
The council’s subcommittee for a universal meeting time on campus gave the council members an update on how they have designed a survey concerning the issue. Before it can be distributed, the survey has to be approved by Perry. Perry said he would go over the survey within the next week so it can be distributed. Jenny Sipes, of the Student Affairs Office and subcommittee member, said the council was charged with investigating this idea after the Committee to Study Shared Governance sug-
gested it to Perry last year. In discussions with various colleagues, Rich said he noticed different opinions for what the universal meeting time could be used. He said some told him the time would just be for university governing councils, whereas others said it would include subcommittee-meeting times. “It is really as clear as mud what people think at this point,” Rich said. Amy Wywialowski can be reached at 581-2812 or alwywialowski@eiu.edu
Faulty glass is to blame for the ongoing construction in the Doudna Fine Arts Center for more than a year now, the university architect said. Rex Hilligoss, the university architect, said he was there from the start to the finish of the building. Doudna, which was built over the course of seven years because the government froze spending on it, was a complicated one to construct, Hilligoss said. “A year ago, we had some glass failure on the theater wall,” he said. “Through a series of investigations and reports, we’re trying to figure out how to best solve the problem.” Hilligoss said the Facilities, Planning and Management Office is currently looking at options to permanently fix the glass, but have not come up with any good solutions just yet. “The construction that went on in the theater was protection to the general public, that, should another piece of glass fail, they would be protected against that,” he said. Hilligoss described how the glass on that particular section of the theater wall is tempered glass and can sometimes have a defect. “There’s a small particle (in the glass) that expands and causes the glass to spontaneously break,” Hilligoss said. Dave Crockett, the associate director of maintenance and operations, said the defect is a part of the manufacturing process. “It’s not in all of the glass, but it’s something that does occasionally occur,” Crockett said. Hilligoss said there is a way to remove almost all of the impurities in the tempered-glass manufacturing process, but some defects do occur, like it did in Doudna. “We’ve had four pieces in that space fail,” Hilligoss said. Crockett explained that tempered glass breaks in a way that is safer to people because it breaks into chunks instead of shards. “On the other hand, when you have glass that’s mounted up 80 feet in the air, that’s a lot of glass that will crash to the floor,” Crockett said. Crockett said the space where the glass failed is known as the glass canyon and consists of white frosty glass and black glass. The closing of this area causes people trying to get from the main concourse to the theater to walk outside and go around. Hilligoss said the area has been kept closed and under construction to protect the general public, should another piece of glass fall. “We haven’t had (a piece of glass) break in over a year, but it’s just precautionary,” Hilligoss said. Crockett said they are looking into different options to both protect people in the building as well as maintain the original glass that the architects favored. “What we’re looking at doing is putting a type of film on that glass on both sides so if one would break, it wouldn’t come down,” Crockett said. Crockett said he and Hilligoss are planning meetings with providers of the film to see what options and pricing will work best for the structure. Hilligoss said he hopes to have everything set up so the film could be installed in Summer 2013 when there are no students and the building can be opened. “We’re trying to get some final answers so we know how to proceed,” Hilligoss said. Robyn Dexter can be reached at 581-2812 or redexter@eiu.edu.