Daily Egyptian MONDAY, JANUARY 25, 2016
VOL.100 ISSUE 36
SINCE 1916
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Student charged with felony drug possession BILL LUKITSCH | @Bill_LukitschDE
An SIUC student has been charged with felony possession of narcotics with intent to deliver, according to Carbondale Police. Roosevelt Gaston, 20, of the 700 block of South Illinois Avenue in Carbondale, was stopped by a CPD officer at about 11:37 p.m. Wednesday for a vehicle equipment violation, police said. Officers found Gaston to be in possession of suspected marijuana upon further investigation. Gaston was subsequently arrested for possession of marijuana with intent to deliver and incarcerated at Jackson County Jail, police said. Court records show Gaston faces Class 2 and Class 3 felony charges for possession of at least 500 grams – or 17.6 ounces – of marijuana, which carry maximum sentences of seven and five years imprisonment, respectively. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for 9:00 a.m. Feb. 18 at Jackson County Courthouse. Gaston is currently enrolled at the university as a sophomore studying early childhood education, said university spokesperson Rae Goldsmith. Bill Lukitsch can be contacted at blukitsch@ dailyegyptian.com or (618) 536-3329.
Yenitza Melgoza | @YenitzaM_DE Adalynn Wille, age 5, enjoys looking through a book while visiting her grandpa on Saturday at his apartment in Carbondale. Wille attends one of four Head Start Centers and receives new books through SIU Head Start’s “Book in Every Home” campaign. The campaign’s intent is to collect enough new books for all the children who attend the centers.
‘Book in Every Home’ campaign aids in children’s reading development SHANNON ALLEN | @ShannonAllen_DE
Roosevelt Gaston
Children enrolled in Carbondale’s Head Start program receive 10 free books each year through the “Book in Every Home” campaign, and one Carbondale child is benefiting from it greatly. Amber Wille, mother to Adalynn Wille and substitute teacher at Head Start, said the campaign has aided Adalynn’s learning abilities. “Last year, Adalynn brought home nine free books because of this campaign,” Amber Wille said. “I have a few friends in the program who don’t even buy books anymore because they get
so many for free.” Head Start, a national program with an SIU location, “provides comprehensive early childhood education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement services to low-income children and their families,” according to its website. The program, which serves 3-year-old to 5-five-year-old children, has locations throughout Jackson and Williamson Counties and operates at SIU with funding from a federal grant. Amber talked about the lack of resources for
underprivileged children, who are targeted by the program. “Some children don’t always have access to books unless they’re donated or they visit the library,” Wille said. “But how children learn depends on the time and effort the parents put into it.” Books for the program are donated from various places, including the university and Carbondale Public Library, Amber said. Please see BOOK | 2
SIU isn’t new to the debate game ANNA SPOERRE | @AnnaSpoerre
A small room in the Communications Building was filled with energy Thursday, as five teammates sat around a table clicking keyboards, scribbling notes and exchanging yellow legal paper like a welloiled machine. Director of Debate Todd Graham sat across from two debaters and two graduate assistants, giving suggestions and occasionally cracking jokes as his team prepared for its first practice debate of the semester since returning from the World University Debating Championships in Greece. Teams such as Harvard and Duke fell victim to SIU’s superior discussion ability during the World Universities Debating Championship, held in Greece from Dec. 27 through Jan. 4. SIU’s debate team has existed since at least 1937, said Nathan Stucky, department chair of communication studies, and the team has had waves of success and failure. Graham, who has been the coach since 2000, said he choose to coach at SIU despite other offers because the team had a rich history. “I knew how proud the institution used
Aja Garman | @AjaGarman_DE Bobby Swetz, a freshman from Flossmoor studying economics, and Arielle Stephenson, a junior from Torrance, Calif. studying business economics, attend a Saluki Debate Team practice Thursday in the Communications Building.
to be of its debate team and the success it used to have, and I wanted to recreate that,” said Graham, who has won five national championships at SIU. When he came to Carbondale,
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Graham said the debate team had almost disappeared because of numerous interim coaches and low funding. So he began to rebuild it. But, the road wasn’t easy. Graham, who previously oversaw the
debate program at Northwestern State University from 1990 to 1997, said his first team was made up of two walk-on debaters. As head coach, he did not go to a single competition that year, but instead worked with university administrators to build funding and traveled the country recruiting, leading to a team of eight members the following year. Graham said after a few years the team was competitive at nationals. In 2015, for the eighth consecutive year, the team made it to the final four. “Nobody wins this much,” Graham said as he sat in his office, pointing to a bookshelf with a dozen first place trophies from 2015 on it — too many to fit in the building’s trophy case. Graham said he attributes some of the team’s success to luck, but also to its focus on recruiting and practice methods. He said he travels across the nation, checking out high school debates and deciding which individuals would fit his vision of the team. Even while prepping for nationals in March, Graham was making calls to potential recruits for next season. Please see DEBATE | 3