Baines and Mache named head coaches Zachary Bishop editor-in-chief
The EC Athletics Department replaced the head coaches of the Men’s Golf and Women’s Tennis teams with hardly a week left until the school year begins, Aug. 11 and 12 press releases state. John Baines, who is currently the head coach of the men’s basketball team, will replace Jim Kurotsuchi as the head men’s golf coach for the 2014-2015 season while Anne Mache will succeed Anthony McPherson as head women’s tennis coach. The Athletics Department did not reveal the reason for Kurotsuchi’s departure, but explained that McPherson will continue as
the women's tennis team’s assistant coach and administrator while also remaining the head men’s tennis coach. Baines previously served as the head women’s golf coach at EC and an assistant coach for the University of St. Francis' team, both while working as an assistant men's basketball coach at EC. Mache brings 8 years of experience as a coach for the Glenbard South High School’s girls tennis program and is currently a senior tennis professional at the Wheaton Sports Center. New Head Men’s Football Coach Ron Planz also announced five new editions to the men’s football coaching staff.
EC drops health insurance requirement Chrissy Croft
news editor Students previously covered by the Gallagher Koster Student Health and Special Risk health care plan lost coverage as of July 31, and students will not be required to have any health insurance during the 2014-15 school year, according to an announcement posted on the EC portal. Previously, all enrolled students needed to show proof of health care in order to waive the EC provided Gallagher Koster plan, but according to Jim Cunningham, EC’s Vice President for Finance and Administration, national health care reform has spurred a change. “The reason was simply because of the Affordable Care Act,” said Cunningham via email. “Students now have the opportunity to purchase insurance through the State exchanges which eliminated the need for us to offer insurance to students through a third party.” Rachael Minnick, an EC ju-
nior previously covered under the Gallagher Koster plan, spoke via email with The Leader about how this change affects her personally. “Seeing as I’m no longer insured through the school I have to find insurance elsewhere,” she said. “And that’s difficult being an out of state student with little to no income throughout the school year.” When asked if she will be joining a parent’s insurance, as Cunningham suggested, Minnick pointed to financial limitations. “That’s something that my mom and I discussed,” she said. “However, the insurance she gets through her employer is too expensive and she cannot afford to add me on. So that’s not something we can afford to do right now in a single parent household.” See HEALTH INSURANCE on page 4
1871 Challenge raises $218,860 for scholarships
Internet photo The Office of Development and Alumni Relations relied on social media to promote the 1871 Challenge.
Zachary Bishop editor-in-chief
The Office of Development and Alumni Relations raised $218, 860 for student scholarships this past summer by running the 1871 Challenge, a social-media giving campaign. The challenge, named for the year of the college’s founded, called for the EC community, alumni and locals included, to donate 1,871 gifts of any amount between June 16 and June 30. A group of “generous” donors promised to give an additional $50,000 if they met the goal. While realizing the objective was a bit lofty, the office wanted to set the bar high to inspire the community to take donating more seriously, Annual Fund and Alumni Relations Officer Jake Meding explained. “It was a huge reach and a huge goal,” he said. “[But] we really wanted to push for it.” To make the project as cost efficient as possible, the office decided to conduct the challenge exclusively over social media and email, which made it the first giving campaign of its kind in EC’s history. “We wanted to reach out to the younger alumni who use social media everyday,” Meding said. While the office plays a big role in helping the college stay
on solid financial ground, Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations Joseph Emmick revealed the budget crisis was not the main reason for carrying out the challenge. “The biggest incentive [to hold the challenge] was to do something… very different and very new for Elmhurst,” he said. “It was a risk.” For those two weeks in June, the EC Alumni Association Facebook page blew up with 48 posts, which ranged from one-line reminders to commemorative pictures of donors and even a video of Victor E. Bluejay dancing to the “Bird is the Word” song from “Family Guy.” They also extended their presence to Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. “We really wanted to have fun and be creative with the challenge,” said Director of Annual Giving Christina Hamilton, who led the effort from start to finish. “Victor is a great marketing and advertising tool.” She went on to explain the office got such a great response from donors by using EC’s mascot for pictures that they named one of their smaller giving day challenges after him. The “Victor E. Bluejay Giving Day” (June 25) turned out to be incredibly successful, a post on the Alumni Association Facebook page claimed, as it brought
in 174 gifts totaling $8,225 and unlocking $20,000 from the “generous” donors. “It was huge the amount of response we got that day,” said Meding who donned Victor’s costume for the occasion. By the end of two-week challenge, the EC community contributed 1002 gifts to scholarship support, 481 of which came from alumni. Although coming 869 donations short of the original goal, Hamilton believes the 1871 Challenge was successful because it did an excellent job of invigorating the college’s donor base. “You felt a positive vibe on campus [during the challenge],” Hamilton said. “It was exciting to see everyone come together help raise money for students.” 155 faculty and staff members contributed, which surprised Emmick. “Given the tense campus environment this last year, I would not have anticipated that,” he said. Ultimately, he believes the challenge succeeded because of the money it raised for scholarships. “When we do a campaign like this, we want to help students,” Emmick said.
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August 14, 2014
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opinions
ecleader.org
l Editorial l
Journalism could pave way to EC's future
Photo by Ellen Curtin First Amendment Day brought Frank LoMonte of the Student Press Law Center to campus. Having more of such events could make EC an axis for major forums on journalism, which could attract more students.
After spending countless hours slaving over letter keys, engulfing dangerously high amounts of caffine, and staying in the Frick Center for an ungodly amount of hours, you’re reading the newspaper that bridges the gap between EC’s administration and students. Congratulations, welcome to the The Leader. The success of The Leader gives EC the opportunity to find a niche for itself in a student marketplace that hasn’t always been kind to it. With its financial woes, the importance of finding a new way to appeal to potential students is crucial. The practice of reporting remains a cornerstone of education, literature, and the political process. It teaches you to write more concisely, research more efficiently, and most importantly it forces you to try and make coherent sense of the world around you. Instead of being a small school that few people know exist, EC could become a destination for aspiring journalists. Any refocus in branding will take time and resources, but the success and the notoriety of The Leader – which has won several awards from the Illinois College Press Association in the past seven years alone – would quicken that process. Important steps such as creating a journalism major and providing resources for broadcast journalism will eventually be necessary, but there are smaller steps we can take to begin the process and even test
the waters. EC could start by putting The Leader, and perhaps other student media organizations, in the space vacated by the bookstore or an even larger space. The space would not only provide opportunities to improve this newspaper, but would be a symbol to all current and potential students. It would represent The Leader’s, and by extension journalism’s, newfound importance on campus and students. Students would not only know and admire The Leader, but clamor for the chance to participate in its production. The college could also allocate funds towards planning more forums on the importance of journalism in our ever-changing world, such as the “Journalism in the 21st Century” program it held in 2010 in partnership with the Pullitzer Center and the First Amendment Day it held last fall, to continue to make EC an axis for these kinds of discussions. If significant media organizations like the Pullizter Center continue to partner with us, EC will soon attract students interested in seriously studying journalism Taking this step could help EC fill a role that many other smaller colleges, like itself, do not and with the administration looking for a new way to market and identify itself, why ignore the solution staring them in the face?
ecleader.org
State of Flux
opinions
August 14, 2014
Resistance
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Ideals before economics Pride has lost sight of history
Andy PRignano
opinions editor We live in a world that is constantly bombarding college students with pragmatism and low expectations. Job availability and security are your biggest concerns when deciding a major. In High School we are constantly tested to show what job market our skills are most suited to, and told the importance of choosing a major with a high “return on investment.” For me, all signs pointed to Engineering. When we plan for the future ideals tend to get lost in the shuffle. It makes sense. Kindness won’t keep the lights on and integrity sure as hell won’t make that next car payment, but is the pursuit of objects and elec-
tricity what we want our lives to amount to. After college, a few months into my dreams of success and financial security a friend of my cousin’s was killed. We were by no means close, but I had gotten to know him and considered him a friend. His death sent me into a tailspin. Engineering was something that I have always thought was important. It was a job I could be proud of sure, but it was done for economic reasons. I found myself constantly ditching classes. I couldn’t stop thinking about what my life meant. Not in a cosmic or religious sense, but to what purpose I made the decisions that I had made. I had been tricked into thinking my values didn’t matter. College was about sensible planning and building a comfortable future. All other considerations play second fiddle to the allknowing benevolent market. I spent the next five years dicking around trying to figure out what I wanted. I realized that I knew what I cared about, and who I wanted to be. I knew whatever I was 60 years
on, whether it be manic street preacher, hippie professor, cynical journalist, or old homeless dude hanging out by the library, nothing would please me more than to be able to say I learned and taught all I could at the expense of anyone who would listen. We worry more about the stability a job will bring, than the pride we will take in it. Pride doesn’t come from being able to afford expensive cars and gadgets. It comes from knowing that you stand for something. When you choose a major, or go in search of a job, remember that the things you hold most precious, the things that make up the very core of your being, are more important than buying a new phone every Your values demand recognition, and ignoring them now not only denies you an exciting and enthralling career, but also a happy and fulfilling life. I’m not telling you to spend five years of soul searching at a community college. I’m telling you to think about who you are and who you want to be. Then choose a major that moves you closer to that person.
Deal with it
I don’t owe you anything
Katie Matthews
staff writer For better or for worse, entering college is a fresh start for everyone. Whether your high school legacy was a big fish in a small pond, or a small fish in a big pond, your first days on a college campus render you with the same blank slate that all freshman have. This fresh start is a beautiful opportunity to explore your values, participate in activities you’ve always wanted to try, and take steps towards learning and growing as a person. Join some clubs on campus. Take classes that challenge you
and make you think about your own personal beliefs. Hang out with the types of people you’d normally stay away from. The best part about your “fresh” status is that you are under no obligation to be the same person you were in high school. But here’s the bad news: You have to work your way up from the bottom, again. These nuggets of wisdom aren’t to scare you, they’re to let you know what you’re going to face in your first year of college. Here’s a doozy: Students in college don’t care about what you did in high school. I want you to be emotionally prepared for the notion that nobody owes you anything. Consider this your first piece of tough love. As first year students, you have zero college experience. The only part of high school that carries over is maybe an AP credits or two. At first, people aren’t going to trust you. The upperclassman that you’re partnered with for a class project is going to worry if
you know how to do research on databases. The president of your favorite club is going to wonder if you REALLY know how to get posters circulated around campus. It sucks. Believe me, everyone in their second year and older knows how much it sucks. But that’s the risk of a new beginning. High school and college are two different planes, anyway. Volunteer for committees, parts of projects that no one wants to do, and pick up tasks on the job that are undesirable. No one wants to hear about how qualified for a position you are, they want to see it. Please do not expect to waltz into a club and become the President right away. Just to be clear, I’m not asking the class of 2018 to sulk in corners and think you can’t achieve your hopes and dreams. I just want you all to keep in mind that you’re going to have to work for them. Deal with it.
Chrissy Croft
news editor As a queer in America, I am expected to love LGBTQ Pride. I should have spent half my summer gearing up for the big weekend, decking out in rainbow gear and saving money for memorabilia, instead of skipping the festivities altogether. Truth be told, even after attending Pride four consecutive summers, I am left searching for something to be proud of. There are aspects that make Pride events very important, particularly when it comes to visibility and solidarity. It is a beautiful opportunity to have queers gather in a way that is unhindered and safe, all while having a great time. But I have an issue with the image portrayed by typical Pride events.
"Truth be told, even after attending Pride four consecutive summers, I am left searching for something to be proud of." For an entire weekend, queer is synonymous with wearing assless chaps and drinking rainbow vodka. We aren’t trying to film a porno, we are trying to spark a revolution. I also question why major corporations like Pepsi, Frito Lay, Allstate, and Jewel were involved in the Chicago parade this year. Sure, some of these, like Pepsi, have great reputations as LGBTQ friendly employers. But Pride is not a job fair, nor is it a commercial. Alcohol, sex, drugs, and consumerism are not the essence of the queer movement, and they never have been. Pride began as a one year anniversary celebration of the 1969 Stonewall Riots, under the name of “Gay Liberation Day."
The title itself connotes so much more than simple pride, but rather an intentional movement towards freedom and equality. The origin of Pride is vital to the understanding of where we should be today, particularly in the age of technology. We have access to the countless tragedies being shared in other countries, where the mere mention of homosexual behavior ends in prison or death. We have statistical data at our fingertips confirming that LGBTQ youth are more likely to face homelessness, alcoholism, and suicidal ideation than their straight peers. We see prejudice against queers on social media, online gaming, and in our daily interactions. Yet we step up to our soapbox each summer ill prepared to combat these evils.
"The origin of Pride is vital to the understanding of where we should be today, particularly in the age of technology." You might be thinking “but where is the fun in that? I love rainbow vodka.” And I sympathize with you, I honestly do. Dancing and blowing bubbles are on my top ten list of favorite things to do. But I sympathize much more with the queers who can’t make it to Pride this year, because they became a statistic instead. I am not calling for a boycott of Pride. I am not asking for you to pledge to stay sober and fully clothed next year. I won’t even ask for corporations to stop pretending rainbow colored food dye will get us closer to actual equality. But I will encourage everyone to take a step back. Whether you’re queer or an ally, I hope you can allow the magnitude of LGBTQ history to soak in. I hope that you can fully appreciate the beauty of freedoms, particularly the freedom to assemble, and reflect on how you will exercise that right. And, if I’m being honest, I hope your decision is one of action instead of complacency. Because I envision a future summer, not too far off, when we can say we are proud for working towards a social justice victorynot a hangover.
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NEWS
August 14, 2014
ecleader.org
Health Insurance from front page The Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as “Obamacare,” was initially signed into law on March 23, 2010. But recent changes in national health care are reflective of the June 28, 2012 Supreme Court decision to uphold the law. EC is just now making changes due to the five year roll-out of the law.
“Students now have the opportunity to purchase insurance through the State exchanges which eliminated the need for us to offer insurance to students through a third party.” Jim Cunningham According to the US Department of Health and Human Services website, the only portion of the law slated for 2015 is a provision for “Paying physicians based on value not volume,” meaning all other aspects of the law will be enforced by the end of this year. This includes the changes Cunningham mentioned, which
allows most children to stay on their parent’s plan until they are 26 years old, as opposed to the previous age of 19. In 2010, The Wall Street Journal reported that some colleges, particularly small colleges, were expected to drop their student health care or offer care at a higher premium, due to the Affordable Care Act banning lowbenefit care options. Angil Tate, EC junior, is an outof-state student that previously used the student plan to account for her time in Illinois, but appreciates the changes made by the Affordable Care Act. “As an out of state student with a disabled parent, I relied on the student health insurance because my Georgia Medicaid plan only works while I’m at home,” said Tate in an email. “I think it’s great that I can be on my parents’ until 26 and it does make perfect sense why it has been cancelled.” The Leader looked into similar institutions, and found that some are keeping their health care plan. Augustana, a small private college located just 2.5 hours West of Elmhurst in Rockford, is still offering health care through Gallagher Koster for the 2014-15
Palestinian man clears rubble from Israeli air strike
Andy PRignano opinions editor
WHO declares Ebola an international emergency On Friday the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a public health emergency for the outbreak of Ebola in Africa. With over 1,000 people dead, this is the worst outbreak of the illness Africa has ever seen. Margaret F. C. Chan, director of the WHO, clarified that there were no recommendations of international trade or travel bans,
but that the countries where the disease is spreading should take larger precautions on all international travel. The outbreak is thought to have started in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, but quickly spread to Nigeria. Officials credit the spread of the illness to the areas distrust of medical officials and local burial rituals, which puts the family and friends of the deceased into close contact with the body. This particular Ebola outbreak has a mortality rate of roughly 60%. The experimental drug
Internet photo Even though the Supreme Court upheld “ObamaCare” on June 28, 2012 (when this photo was taken), EC just updated their student healthcare policy this past summer.
school year. Wheaton College, a small private Christian college located just 20 minutes from Elmhurst, is keeping the plan as well. However, a search of the Gallagher Koster website reveals that EC is not alone. Greenville College, another Illinois Christian College located five hours south of Elmhurst, has discontinued their student health plan.
Internet Photo
ZMapp showed some promise when administered to two Americans who contracted the illness. While they seemed to make a full recovery, both Americans recently showed signs of infection. Fighting continues in Gaza Israel and Palestine agreed to a new three-day ceasefire in Egypt this past Sunday, Aug. 10. This came shortly after Five Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza after a previous three day ceasefire expired.
Loyola University in Louisiana has discontinued theirs as well. On their website, Gallagher Koster advises students to look into joining their parent’s plan, getting coverage through the state marketplace where they have permanent residence, or purchasing a plan outside of the state marketplace. The announcement included a notice that students are eligible to purchase new insurance out-
side of the open enrollment period due to the cancellation. Unfortunately, Tate does not feel she got adequate time to plan for a new insurance plan. “My parents are VERY budget conscious and though we live a comfortable lifestyle, we still make sure everything is budgeted and accounted for in the books,” she said. “So, finding new insurance was definitely not placed in the yearly budget.”
Hamas, the group that has been firing rockets and mortars into Israel, has stated that it is currently studying the proposal to see if Israel will respect the agreement. At this time it is not known if Hamas will follow it. While all this was happening, Israeli soldiers shot and killed a 12 year old boy in a Palestinian refugee camp. In the past Hamas has demanded that the seven year Israeli blockade be lifted if any long term agreement between to the two nations will be respected. Since the conflict began, more than 1,900 Palestinians have died and close to 10,000 Palestinians have been wounded.
United States have ruled in favor of marriage equality. The case that overturned DOMA, United States v. Windsor, is cited in most of those decisions. Marriage equality is now in effect in 19 states and Washington D.C., and each state ban is currently being challenged.
Appeals court in Cincinnati to hear marriage equality cases from 4 states The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals is scheduled on Wednesday to hear marriage equality cases from Michigan, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Ohio. In each state federal judges ruled in favor of same sex couples demanding marriage rights. Since the Supreme Court overturned the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) on June 26, 2013, multiple courts throughout the
Unarmed black teen killed by police in St. Louis This past Saturday night an unarmed black 18 year-old, Michael Brown, was shot and killed by a police officer in a suburb of St. Louis. Police say he was wrestling for an officer’s weapon. The shooting has sparked protests in the suburb with hundreds of people gathering at the scene to honor the victim and express their outrage at the police. NCAA officials have called for the FBI to investigate the shooting. The killing of Trayvon Martin they feel shine a light on how important it is to fully investigate instances of police brutality, especially when race seems to be a contributing factor. Michael Brown was a few weeks away from starting college.