Daily Egyptian WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 2016
DAILYEGYPTIAN.COM
SIU, Carbondale officials to attend community forum on local violence
VOL. 100 ISSUE 80
SINCE 1916
Kicking it at taekwondo
BILL LUKITSCH | @Bill_LukitschDE
Leaders of the city and university will meet Thursday at a community forum to discuss ways to address the recent surge of violence throughout Carbondale. Interim Chancellor William Bradley Colwell, Carbondale Mayor Mike Henry, City Manager Gary Williams and Carbondale Police Chief Jeff Grubbs have agreed to attend the forum, which is scheduled to begin 6 p.m. Thursday in the Carbondale Civic Center at 200 S. Illinois Ave. The entire city council has also been invited to attend along with other representatives from SIU. Sandy Litecky, a local activist who helped organize the event, said this will give town residents an opportunity to voice concerns with community officials. “We’ve had shootings and muggings in the community and we really need to step up and try to do some positive things to make this a safe community for everyone,” she said. Litecky, a resident of the city since 2002, lives two blocks from where Carbondale musician Tim Beaty was shot and killed while helping two SIU student-athletes in his home in the early hours of March 27. She noted the tragedy occurred in a highly populated residential area near a number of churches. “It’s the heart of our community,” she said. Everyone who wants to speak will have three minutes to do so, Litecky said, and organizers hope to see a large number of SIUC students attend. “We really need students to be there,” she said. Bill Lukitsch can be reached at blukitsch@dailyegyptian.com or 618-536-3329.
Morgan Timms | @Morgan_Timms Eight-year-old Jerry Moreno, of Carbondale, practices an offensive move during a taekwondo class Tuesday at Black’s Martial Arts Academy in Carbondale. Moreno has been learning at the academy for one month under the instruction of taekwondo grandmaster Michael Jessup, of Carterville. “I don’t get paid to be here,” Jessup said. “I do this because I love teaching an art that I’ve grown up with and that has given me so many things in life. … Inside our school, we are like a family. We work through martial arts, we sweat, we moan and groan together, we get our bumps and bruises together, but when we fall down I know I got two other people right next to me that are gonna pick me right back up.”
SIU students are feeling the stress, Daily Egyptian poll finds BREY MONG-DELANE @Breymong_DE
Thirty percent of SIU students say they are extremely stressed, according to poll conducted by the Daily Egyptian. The poll collected 1,095 student responses on how stressed students are on an average school day. When asked what the main cause of their stress is, 85 percent of responders reported school being the No. 1 cause. Fifteen percent of responders reported family, relationships and work as other causes. “The university sets standards that are impossible to reach without forgoing some aspect of personal health, whether that be sleep, mental health, immunity to disease or anything else,” one responder wrote on the anonymous
poll conducted by SurveyMonkey. “When so much weight is coming down, something has to give. It can’t be school, so it’s the individual.” Dawn Null, a registered dietitian and wellness coordinator at the Wellness and Health Promotion Services, said a survey by the National College Health Assessment suggested 30 percent of SIU students experience stress that negatively affects their education. “Consequently, we wrote a grant and were awarded the funds to design the Healthy Saluki Dawg Lounge,” she said. The lounge, located in the Student Health Center, includes stress reducers such as a massage chair, yoga mats, a sandbox and tips and techniques to help cut stress. “If not managed, stress can be
debilitating and can negatively affect students mentally as well as physically,” Null said. “That being said, everyone experiences stress. It’s a matter of learning what works for you in managing it.” When asked how well students were managing their stress, 7 percent of respondents said they were not stressed at all, 54 percent reported handling their stress decently or somewhat well while 39 percent reported they could be better at handling it. “I try to keep things in perspective. I know that it is only temporary. I will be done with school soon,” another student said. “I’m also not the most organized person so when school starts getting really stressful I try to stay as organized as possible so as to not add any extra stress.” Although SIU has provided the
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Reagan Gavin | Daily Egyptian
Dawg Lounge and counseling services for students who want to manage stress, only 16 percent of the respondents reported actually using on-campus services to help manage their stress. More information about services to
help reduce stress can be found at shc. siu.edu or 618-453-3311. Brey Mong-Delane can be reached at bdelane@dailyegyptian.com or 618-536-3325.
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