DAILY EGYPTIAN Simon poll shows community concerns
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Student makes history
SETH RICHARDSON Daily Egyptian Nearly 600 people responded to the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute in one of the largest community surveys it has conducted in recent years. The Jackson/Williamson County Survey was released Wednesday. The Survey Research Office of the Center for State Policy & Leadership at the University of Illinois-Springfield conducted the survey in conjunction with staff from the Paul Simon Institute. Questions covered included community views of education, government and civic participation, the economy and public safety. One-quarter of residents said they were concerned with litter, while more than one-third said they were concerned with water quality. More than two-thirds of respondents in both Jackson and Williamson counties gave positive feedback as far as the area being a place to live and raise children, while over half said the area is a good place to retire. However, over half of respondents in both counties had negative evaluations as far as being a place to work. “That’s something we see continuously throughout the survey,” Director of the Survey Research Office Ashley Kirzinger said. “In the economy section, the education section and the social well-being section. People are concerned about the economy of the region.” The survey also asked if business and personal financial conditions were better one year ago. Kirzinger said people thought their individual finances were getting better, but the same could not be said for local business. It also found crime and education were among the highest priorities for people in the counties. Jackson County also had a high number of people who wanted more museums in the area. Kirzinger said she hopes local leaders will use the poll when forming policy. “The saddest thing in the world for someone who does surveys for a living is to run the survey and then have the data sit in a file that no one ever looks at,” she said. “We take a lot of pride in the questions. The question development is done strategically and on purpose, and so we want to make sure local leaders are using the data.” She said one example of policy makers taking a similar poll serious is one she previously helped conduct in Sangamon County. The poll found many people had high levels of food insecurity, which led to a community foundation filing for grants for community gardens. The data is available for anyone else who might find it useful, she said. Please see POLL · 4
CHRIS ZOELLER · DAILY EGYPTIAN
Kwamane D. Liddell will be the first black male to graduate from the nursing program within the SIU system, May 10 during spring commencement. The program receives hundreds of applications, yet only accepts 40 students per year. Liddell said he will pursue a law degree to help him understand what takes place within America’s healthcare system. KIA SMITH Daily Egyptian A woman in an all-white uniform is usually what comes to mind with the word “nurse”. But one student is redefining what it means to be a nurse in the 21st century. Kwamane D. Liddell, a senior from Bellwood, will be the first black male to graduate from SIU’s College of Nursing on May 10. “I was actually a biology major before I transferred from McKendree University,” he said. “Before that, I worked at Loyola University Medical Center in the health system. I saw that the hospital setting wasn’t for me at all, and noticed the difference between doctor and nurse patient care.”
Liddell said he prefers the direct care of nursing, versus the hands-off approach of physicians. The nursing program receives hundreds of applicants each year, yet only accepts 40 students. “I received a letter in the spring of 2011 saying that I was rejected from the program,” he said. “When I left McKendree, I didn’t have a lot of classes that transferred over. Then one week later after my rejection, I received another letter saying that I was accepted because they had made a mistake with my transfer credits.” Liddell said the preparation for the nursing program was rigorous. “The minimum GPA for the nursing program is a 2.7, however I had a 3.6 upon entrance,” he said. “I packed in a tremendous number of
science classes all at once, and remained focused because I knew I wanted to get in the program my first year here.” The U.S. Census reports the proportion of male nurses has more than tripled since 1970; from 2.6 percent to about ten percent — or 333,000 of the nation’s nurses are men. “[Being the only black male] in the nursing program was certainly a difficult adjustment,” he said. “I was certainly in a place where I didn’t know how to communicate with my peers, and they didn’t know how to communicate with me.” Liddell said many patients were simply surprised to see a black male taking care of them in a nursing program. Please see NURSING · 2
University waits on smoke-free policy LUKE NOZICKA Daily Egyptian Contrary to the March announcement, the university will not be smoke free as soon as expected. The SIU Board of Trustees decided at its April 17 meeting the university will postpone the policy until legislatures pass a law banning smoking and the use of tobacco products at all state universities. President Glenn Poshard said he was instructed by the board to inform Chancellor Rita Cheng and SIU-Edwardsville Chancellor Julie FurstBowe that the university will wait until the state creates a policy. Cheng said the original smoke-free policy was to begin early this summer. She said Senate Bill 2202, the bill the board is waiting on for
approval, might be more restrictive than the originally proposed policy. “One of the recommendations that is coming out of our group was to have designated areas in parking lots for smokers and the law in Springfield would be a completely smoke-free campus,” Cheng said. Poshard said the bill will create a Smoke-Free Campus Act, which would become effective and would ban smoking on all campuses July 1, 2014 if passed and signed by Gov. Pat Quinn. The bill would prohibit smoking on state-supported institutions of higher education. Poshard said the House added language requiring universities to provide a map of its smoke-free locations. The bill defines smoking as carrying, burning, inhaling or exhaling any kind of lighted pipe, cigar, cigarette, hookah, weed or herbs. It also
includes products containing nicotine. However, products approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration may be used. Poshard said he spoke to John Charles, SIU’s executive director for governmental and public affairs, minutes before the board meeting. Charles said “It’s a given” the bill will pass unanimously by large margins, Poshard said. However, Poshard does not know when the bill will pass. Cheng said the university has been talking about the ban for several years and thought of the smoke-free policy before legislatures. She said the university does not want to spend money on signs or educational material that would not be concise with the law. She said she agrees with the board’s decision to wait on an actual law. Please see SMOKE · 4