Daily Egyptian DAILYEGYPTIAN.COM
THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2015
SINCE 1916
VOL. 99 ISSUE 51
Excitement, frustration surrounds Springfest sam beard | @SamBeard_DE
a bbie i yun | Daily Egyptian People with costumes and puppets march down North Glenview drive Wednesday during the second All Species Puppet Parade in Carbondale. The Beloved Puppetista organizes the parade, with support from Carbondale Arts Community. They focus on raising awareness on the necessary coexistence of species. Lisa Barnes, a Beloved Puppetista and a local artist, said one goal of All Species Puppet Parade is to show the kids the relevance to having a sustainable earth.
Puppet parade celebrates Earth Day evan Jones | @EvanJones_DE Hundreds of children and volunteers gathered at the Carbondale Life Community Center to start the second annual Earth Day “all-species puppet parade.” They marched down Sunset Drive to the rhythmic pounding of drums, banjos and guitars, toward Turley Park. Parade-goers were greeted by Candy Davis and After Barb Wire, music groups that performed in the pavilion during the event. The parade was co-organized by the Carbondale Park District and the “beloved puppetistas” with support from Carbondale Community Arts and the Illinois Arts Council. The puppetistas are SIU students and
faculty, as well as community members, that help organize and create the puppets the children carried during the parade. There were about 150 participants, said Cade Bursell, who helped organized the event. Working with Attucks Community Services, an after school program located on the northeast side of Carbondale, the puppets represented different animals found across the world. “There are workshops that led up to the parade. Some were open to the community, others worked with youth organizations after school,” said Bursell, a professor of cinema and photography. “It combines environmental education with art making.”
An impersonator of John Muir, who is known as the father of America’s national parks, spoke to the children about his life’s work. “One of the goals was to engage children about the local animals,” said Lisa Barnes, a puppetista. “All of the puppets I made were made out of recycled materials. I spent less than $10 on each of my puppets.” Other partners for the event included Dayemi Community Center, Carbondale Public Library, Imagining Geographies, the Civic Soul Registered Student Organization and the Fish and Wildlife Service at Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge.
Four packs of breath mints, one slab of brie cheese and a bag of Sour Patch Kids — these, along with $42,500, are what it took to snag an up-andcoming rapper for Friday’s Springfest in Shryock Auditorium. Jahron Brathwaite, who goes by the stage name PARTYNEXTDOOR, is set to go on at 7:30 p.m. and will perform for a minimum of 50 minutes, according to his contract with the university, which was obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. He was chosen to perform by the Student Programming Council’s concert committee, which aims to bring artists that students and the public will enjoy, Concert Director Breanne Bozzetti said. Singer August Alsina was the committee’s first choice, but the university and Alsina’s managers could not come to an agreement, said Bozzetti, a junior from Orland Park studying radio and television. Some students on campus are excited for the show, while others have never heard of PARTYNEXTDOOR. A few students said they are baffled he is being paid more than $40,000, the source of which is student fees. Jasmine Easter, a junior from Chicago studying psychology, said she is upset the university is paying the artist so much money. “That’s more than my tuition. That’s more than my mom makes in a year. That’s a lot of money,” Easter said. “So this is what student fees go to? That wasn’t explained to me.” Easter said the mandatory nature of some student fees does not make sense. “I don’t like concerts... but I’m paying for this man to be here — I’m blown,” she said. While live music events are not for everybody, some students on campus are excited for Friday’s show. Please see PARTYNEXTDOOR | 3
Michio Kaku takes Salukis to the future austin miller | @AMiller_DE Students and community members had their minds blown with the possibilities of the future Wednesday night. SIU President Randy Dunn welcomed Michio Kaku, a renowned theoretical physicist at the City College of New York and best-selling author, to the university. Dunn said Kaku’s celebrity status by appearing on shows such as “Nightline” and “Good Morning America” and in documentaries was a factor for filling the ballrooms of the Student Center. The auditorium’s additional 300 seats were used for students to watch a video stream, but many were packed like sardines in standing room only. “We believe that bringing these thought leaders to our campus is critical to what it means in being a university,” Dunn said. “By doing this, we’re enhancing the academic experience for students and further engaging the community in the academic and intellectual life of our great community.” Kaku is a co-founder of string theory, the basis for the creation of everything in the universe, but also predicts the future based on science and interviews. His latest book “The Future of the
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Mind” explores new technology, consciousness and human advancement. “Ninety nine percent of what people think about the future comes from cartoons — it comes from the movies,” Kaku said. “How much of it comes from scientists? Zero.” He said people come up to him all the time asking for flying cars because they saw them on “The Jetsons.” Too many people see that as the future, as opposed to concepts with practical applications. While flying cars are a possibility, the real future of society comes from increased digitalization. He said wealth is tied to technological innovations, starting with steam-powered tools. After that, electricity was the next innovation and then high-powered technology, such as lasers and GPS. Kaku predicts molecular science will be the fourth great wave of innovation. According to Moore’s Law, developed by Intel co-founder Gordon Moore, computing power doubles every two years. This sounds great because cell phones today have more computing power than what NASA used to send men to the Moon in 1969. Please see KAKU | 2
Michio Kaku, well-known physicist and co-founder of the String Theory, speaks at a press conference Wednesday in the Student Services Building. One of the topics he explored is human consciousness one day being able to be uploaded to a computer. Kaku said the advancement in technology will ultimately aid people into a more progressive way of life. “I would also suspect that people who suffer from discrimination may be able to record memories and share them with people who do not experience discrimination,” Kaku said. Being able to have a person’s memories on a database could also mean being able to take away painful memories that limit a person from moving forward in their life. “Some people think that traumatic memories are good for you,” Kaku said, “I personally don’t want people to suffer needlessly, especially when they’ve already learned the lesson.” H oliday W agner @HolidayWagnerDE
Sabah U. Randhawa, provost at Oregon State University, will speak during his chancellor open forum at 8:45 a.m. Monday in Guyon Auditorium.