Eastern News
Thursday
“Tell th e t r u t h a n d d o n ’ t b e a fr a i d . ”
T
H
E
D
A
I
L
Y
Writer’s Ink looking for members
OC TOBER 13, 2011 V O LU M E 9 6 | N o. 1 3 2
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/DENNE WS
Eastern takes to the road Page 8
Page 3 C AMPUS
CIT Y
Perry ‘escapes,’ meets students Fire dept. to deliver free pizza By Nike Ogunbodede Campus Editor
Ready with business cards, stickers and a half-empty Diet Dr. Pepper, President Bill Perry escaped from his office on the first floor of Old Main and talked with students on Tuesday. Perry, who ate pizza with Eastern students on Wednesday, left Old Main to go to the Taylor Hall lobby to sit in a casual setting while talking with students about life at Eastern. Perry said he likes to keep his office open, but only a few students come to visit him so having these events allows him to get a feel of what is going on around campus. “I’ve been able to sit and have extended conversations with several students,” Perry said. “I like to find out where students are from, what they are studying, and what they want to do with their lives—it has been a lot of fun.” This was an opportunity for students to get to know him and vice versa, Perry said. Sarah Liddell, a senior English major, is a resident assistant in Taylor. “He is awesome as usual,” Liddell said. “He was really interested in what we had to say and he cared about who we were.” Perry, who discussed poetry with Liddell, said he is working on a haiku that currently only has a title, “Known Fruit.” Katie Bidstrup, a junior communication studies major, came to see Perry to discuss an idea for a club she wants to start on campus. So many people are just lost and if Eastern had a motivational club where students could go to talk with each other about anything
By Jaime Lopez Staff Reporter
NIKE OGUNBODEDE | THE DAILY EASTERN NE WS
President Bill Perry shakes hands with Ashley Baumhardt, a freshman psychology major, in Taylor Hall during Wednesday’s “Escape from Old Main” event. Perry plans to make it an annual event.
that matters to them, Bidstrup said. “I’m a firm believer that we could change the world now, but everybody is just on their own agenda,” Bidstrup said. Perry said the Wall Street demonstrations are changing the world, but they do not only have to start in big cities like New York, Chicago or Boston. “It’s very related to us, but it’s so far away,” she said. “People (say) if we were there, we would do something, but it just seems so far away.” A college campus is a great place to make a statement, he said. “You could do it here,” Perry said. “There are a lot of things that need change and I think we can
Other “Escape from Old Main” meetings
Oct. 19
1 to 4 p.m. Food Court
Nov. 2
1 to 4 p.m. Carman Hall Lobby
Oct. 27
10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Stevenson Lobby
Nov. 15
1 to 4 p.m. Union Bridge Lounge
change them if we help each other.” Perry said “Escape from Old Main” has a different atmosphere than “Pizza with the Pres” or “Charleston Chew” because it is more about one-on-one time. “This gives a little more of an opportunity to meet individually with students at ‘Pizza with the Pres’ or ‘Charleston Chew’ it de-
pends with the size of the group,” Perry said. Perry met with more than 30 students during the “Escape from Old Main” event. “It seemed to me to be fairly logical that if I wanted to meet more students that I ought to get out where the students live,” Perry said. PERRY, page 5
In an effort to raise awareness of fire prevention week, members of the Charleston Fire Department will be delivering Domino’s Pizza to customers before checking for working smoke detectors. Fire prevention week concludes Saturday, but the firefighters will be delivering pizza from Friday to Sunday. Fire Chief Pat Goodwin said the fire department wants to reward people who have working smoke alarms while also helping those who do not. “If smoke alarms are working, the pizza will be free of charge,” Goodwin said. “Faulty alarms that do not work well will receive a free battery replacement; however, those customers will still pay for their pizza.” Matthew Dyer, the assistant manager of Domino’s Pizza, said the experience of having customers’ pizzas delivered by a big, red fire truck is not something he would have thought of before. When the firefighters drop off a pizza, they will enter the costumer’s home and ask to check their smoke alarms, Goodwin said. According to the Smoke Detector Act, places of residence have to have at least one smoke detector; this includes rented facilities as well. People should be aware that the law requires it. Smoke detectors are beneficial and save lives, Goodwin said. Smoke detectors are the first line of defense a household has, Goodwin said. “Saving one life is worth every bit,” Dyer said. Jaime Lopez can be reached at 581-4432 or jlopez@eiu.edu. For an in-depth version of this story, visit:
dailyeasternnews.com
STUDENT GOVERNMENT
Electronic billboards remain hot topic for students By Kathryn Richter Staff Reporter
Electronic billboards were once again a topic of discussion at Wednesday’s Student Senate meeting. The topic was discussed among senators and one audience member. Nico Canaday, a senior English major and the president of EIU Pride, came to the first meeting marked as the first stop for the “Senate on the Road” program in Pemberton Hall’s Great Room. During the meeting the resolution about the electronic billboards that was recently passed by the Senate was discussed. “I felt they made too hasty of a decision,” Canaday said about the resolution. Canaday said he felt the student government had not reached enough students to ask their opinion on the possible electronic billboards. “I run one of the largest organizations on campus and nobody came to us,” Canaday said. Canaday, who is also a resident assistant in Thomas Hall, also argued that there were no Student Senate members who approached Thomas Hall or the Residence Hall Association to get student feedback for the electronic billboards. Student Senate Speaker Zach Samples, a history major, said he felt the response from
students on the electronic billboard survey reflected the wishes of students, who were in favor of them. Samples said the majority of people he has talked to personally are in favor of the electronic billboards. “I’m personally not in favor of them,” Canaday said about the amount of corporate advertising to be displayed on the billboards. “I think they compromise the integrity of the school. To me Eastern is a refuge of the corporate world.” Tommy Nierman, co-author of the resolution in favor of the electronic billboards and a senior business major, said he appreciated the fact that Canaday came out to the meeting on Wednesday. “Hopefully people will want to step up more,” Nierman said. Other topics of discussion during the student government meeting included the successful conclusion of the voter registration drive. Jarrod Scherele, the student executive vice president, said, “In my opinion, (it was a) big success.” Scherele, along with other Student Senate volunteers, registered 254 voters. He said the voter registration drive lasted three days with about 15 hours of work. Kathryn Richter can be reached at 581-2812 or kjrichter@eiu.edu.
SHEA L A Z ANSKY L THE DAILY EASTERN NE WS
Student senate members hear the reactions of students to the proposed billboards on Wednesday evening in Pemberton Hall. The student senate met in Pemberton as the first stop on their “Senate on the Road” event.