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APRIL 18, 2012 V O LU M E 9 6 | N o. 1 4 0
EASTERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY CHARLESTON, ILL. DENNE WS.COM T WIT TER.COM/DENNE WS
Fair Trade events to provide worker equality
Panthers set for matchup with Illini
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LECTURE
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Compromise is the essence of democracy.” –Jim Edgar, former Illinois governor and Eastern alumnus
Neal’s death caused by superheated gas By Samantha Bilharz Managing Editor
FROM CHARLESTON TO SPRINGFIELD
Burnham Neal, 89, a philanthropist and longtime supporter of Eastern, died on April 12 when a fire erupted and spread through his Mattoon home. According to autopsy results and Coles County Corner Ed Schniers, Neal’s cause of death was the inhalation of superheated gas. “Breathing in the gas that the fire puts off is superheated,” Schniers said. “When that goes into your lung passage, it leads to your demise.” Schniers said the cause of death may change when the official toxicology report is concluded in six to eight weeks. Schniers also said Neal’s age made it more difficult for him to survive the fire. Neal, a resident of Mattoon, died at the scene of the fire at 8:18 a.m. Schniers said Neal was on the porch during the time of the house fire. Fire Chief Pat Goodwin of the Charleston Fire Department said the cause of the fire was a clothes dryer. “Something in the clothes dryer, a piece or part of lint, started the fire, but it originated from the clothes dryer,” Goodwin said. Goodwin said the fire spread from a clothes dryer to the attic, triggering the thermostat to turn on the attic fan, which then spread the fire through the whole house. Neal’s caregiver was also in the
Former Gov. tells personal stories
FACULT Y SENATE
KIMBERLY FOSTER | THE DAILY EASTERN NE WS
Former Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar, an Eastern alumnus, speaks to an audience member Tuesday prior to his presentation “Unobstructed Views: Lessons Learned from Charleston to Springfield” in the Doudna Lecture Hall.
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BY ELIZABETH EDWARDS | NEWS EDITOR
ormer Gov. Jim Edgar told students that perseverance, a little luck and preparation helped him serve 30 years as a politician during a lecture on Tuesday.
Edgar, an Eastern alumnus, reminisced about his personal stories of living in Charleston and his work as a politician and the lessons he learned along the way. Growing up in Charleston, Edgar said he had the best of both words, with the small town feel of Charleston paired with Eastern, which brought him a lot of diverse ideas and concepts. Attributing his political success to his Eastern experience, Edgar said he is the only governor in Illinois history to attend a state-public institution—which was Eastern. At 28, Edgar said he remembered running against a fellow Republican for the state representative of the district within Coles County. He said he was convinced he was going to win because he had worked in Springfield and knew the inner workings of government. Unfortunately, Edgar said he lost the election because the Republicans backed his opponent instead of him. Edgar said he ran during the
worst time for a conservative— right after the Watergate Scandal in 1974, when Republicans did not want to seem divided. Edgar encouraged students that they must have perseverance and not take “the ball and bat home.” “I learned more from losing than winning,” he said. “I never wanted to lose again.” Instead of taking his ball and bat home, Edgar said he continued his career in politics and went to work as the precinct treasurer. After spending time as treasurer, Edgar said he ran for state representative again and won, because of the work he did as treasurer. Edgar also credited the connections he was able to make along the way. When he left office to work as Jim Thompson’s aide, Edgar said many people thought it was not a smart decision, but they were wrong. Thompson would later nominate Edgar for secretary of state. “You got to have some luck, but you have to be willing to take advantage,” Edgar said.
Check out the video from the lecture at: dailyeasternnews.com
Edgar encouraged students that luck will help, but they must recognize and take advantage of those opportunities. Edgar also told a story about when he was in his lab school in the eighth grade in Charleston where he was running for vice president for student council and he was convinced he would win the election. The speeches took place in the area that Buzzard Hall is now located. During speeches for the election in the auditorium, a fellow student running for vice president, Harvey Baker, gave an excellent speech in which he told the girls he would advocate sock hops after every game. Sock hops were dances in the ’50s where students would take their shoes off in the gymnasium to protect the floor.
EDGAR, page 5
FILE PHOTO | THE DAILY EASTERN NE WS
Burnham Neal, local philanthropist and businessman, died April 12 in a fire at his residence in Mattoon. Neal donated $2 million to build the Neal Welcome Center, which is named after him.
house at the time of the fire and was transported to the hospital and later released, Goodwin said. Neal was a big supporter of Eastern and Lake Land College. Eastern’s Neal Welcome Center is named after him because of the $2 million he donated to build the center. In 1997, Neal and his wife Nancy were recognized for their longtime services at Eastern when the Philanthropy Awards were named after them. Neal also received an honorary Doctorate of Public Service in 2003 from Eastern. NEAL, page 5
Senate addresses recruitment, retention By Rachel Rodgers Administration Editor
Eastern has geared its recruitment efforts toward more higher profile students who are more likely to have a greater retention rate, the provost said Tuesday. Blair Lord, the provost and vice president for academic affairs, said part of the university’s new recruitment strategy is to provide more student incentives such as the $1,500 Commitment to Excellence Scholarship, which is a renewable merit scholarship for incoming students. So far, the university has offered the merit scholarship to 1,823 students, and 148 have accepted it. Mary Harrington-Perry, the assistant vice president for academic affairs, and Amy Edwards, the assistant director of the Planning and Institutional Research Office, presented information they gathered concerning admissions, recruitment and retention during the Faculty Senate meeting Tuesday. “Student yield is much higher with the more money we give students, not surprisingly,” Harrington-Perry said. “We were less vigilant in awarding aid
to students in the 21 and above ACT area, but we have corrected that with the merit scholarship.” About 3,600 incoming students have been admitted for the fall, and the majority of them are from Chicago, Naperville and Charleston, Edwards said. They admitted about 25 percent of Charleston High School’s graduating seniors, she said In Fall 2011, the university received 7,076 incoming freshman, which was about 430 fewer than Fall 2010. Harrington-Perry said they plan to double their efforts of recruiting transfer students to make up for the shortfall in incoming freshmen. More than 90 percent of Eastern’s total enrollment consists of students from Illinois and about 2 or 3 percent come from a different state, Edwards said. “Two years ago, we began offering instate tuition to out-of-state students, but schools in Illinois tend to follow the high-tuition and high-aid model,” Lord said. “For example, state rates for universities in Indiana could beat our instate tuition.” SENATE, page 5