Western Illinois Magazine Issue 11 — Fall 2014 by Western Illinois Magazine

W Western Illinois Magazine

The Staff

Editor-in-Chief Carlos Williamson Managing Editor Isom Jacobs Art Director Jacqueline Covey Photographer Mary Friday Staff Writers: Ryan Brushaber, Erika Davis, Sarah Despain, Sandra Sepaniak and Ajia Harris

In Macomb, everyone knows him as “Boomer.” He’s the town favorite for bar conversations.

Western Illinois Magazine: students engage in happenings of rural Illinois.

7 8 12 13 Contact Info: A Western Illinois Publication 1 University Circle Macomb, IL 61455 309-298-1876 ext. 7 Westernillinoismagazine@yahoo.com

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Clinton Boomer by Ryan Brushaber & photos by Mary Friday

first had the pleasure of meeting Clinton Boomer about a year ago at The Cafe, shortly before I was to do stand up at its biweekly open mike night. I was in need of a cameraman as well as someone who’d be capable of giving me honest feedback on my performance. Through a friend of his, Boomer was introduced to me and enthusiastically fulfilled the roles I was looking for that night. He struck me as a very distinct individual, physically sharing a close resemblance to a younger Richard Dreyfus, who played the role of the marine biologist in the movie “Jaws.” Boomer was also one of the most friendly, intelligent and humorous people I had ever met. Little did I know, at the time, that there was much more to Boomer than I initially expected. Aside from being a good cameraman and a reliable critic, I found out that he was also a good bartender, professional writer and well-known by a large portion of the Macomb community. In order to gain a better perspective on Boomer as a person, I interviewed him a few weeks ago at The Ritz, as well as a couple of his closest friends, which include Sam Berry, a local tattoo artist at Tattoo Blue & Body Piercing, and Kate Polka, a pre-nursing major at Western Illinois University, who’s also Clinton’s girlfriend. Western Illinois Magazine: What do you do exactly? Boomer: I am a professional writer. I’ve been a game designer. I’m a novelist. I’ve been writing professionally since 2008, and I’m a full-time bartender. I work here in The Ritz at the square, and I’ve been tending bars since 2005.

WIM: Why do you do what you do? Why bartend and write? Boomer: That’s a really good question, man. I love bartending. I’ve been doing it for years and years and years. I worked at the movie theater here in town from the

summer of ‘99 to the summer of 2009. First show I’ve ever worked there was “Star Wars: Episode I,” and the last one I’ve ever worked there was the new “Star Trek.” Not “Into Darkness” but the 2009 “Trek,” and yeah I love doing it. I worked as a janitor there. I’ve had a bunch of other jobs over the years. I worked at a bookstore at Copperfield & Co Booksellers. I’ve worked at a little place, Monet’s Gardens. I’ve worked at a factory. Hell, I’ve actually worked at Subway for like two weeks before I realized I didn’t like it very much. But yeah, I love tending bars. It’s a great gig. And I’m good

at it. I like doing it. It pays the bills. And yeah, I sling drinks, and in addition to that, I write. Write write write write write. That’s obviously the dream. WIM: When did you find out that you love to write? Boomer: What’s funny is that I’ve been writing since before the time of my own recollection. My mother, god love her heart, when I was very young, she pretended she had to learn how to type faster. She didn’t, she’s a very very faster typer, but what she’d do to me was say, “C-J-, Clinton John,” that’s my name, but she called me, “So, C-J-, c’mon here. Tell me a story, and I’ll write it down.” And so she has these epic, strange, bizarre tales of five-yearold me telling stories about fire monsters and ice monsters throwing kids into garbage cans and just the strangest s--- you’ve ever heard. And yeah I love writing. I’ve been doing it forever and ever and ever. I went to school for it at Culver-Stockton College, as well as here at Western Illinois University. And in 2008, I started writing professionally. I got paid for the first time. It was a game design for a company called Paizo. They used to publish Dragon magazine and Dungeon magazine, and yeah, they hired me on to do the pathfinder chronicles campaign setting. It was a wonderful time. I remember the first time I got a check for 1,800 bucks for writing about vampires and elves, and I went, “This is pretty good; I’ll do this for a living.” WIM: What hobbies do you have? Boomer: Eric Mona, who is the publisher of Paizo publishing, which is one of the first companies to ever hire me, to pay me, for my writing has an interesting statement, which is, “If you don’t have time to play a game, you don’t have time to design a game.” And Steven King says much the same thing, “If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the write, and you certainly don’t have the tools to write.” So, at the end of the day, a lot of my hobbies are playing games and reading. I’m a firm believer that unless you want to write for television, as

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Q & A

inside the friendly Macomb bartender

a writer, there’s no real reason to watch television. So I don’t watch a lot of TV, but I do enjoy my Netflix. My lady friend and I, my special lady, she and I have date night whereby I’m catching up with “American Horror Story,” which she just loves. And she’s catching up with “Firefly,” which I just love, and the two of us have kind of fallen in love with each other’s fiction and yeah, far be it from me to say I didn’t sit down and just bingewatch “BoJack Horseman,” “Bora,” “Hemlock Grove” or “Arrested Development.” I love these things, I love comedy and what’s neat about my job, especially at a bar is, you know, my work. I spend my work time doing a lot of what people do for their free time. I hang out at a bar and chat with people. For my free time, I enjoy film. I have a screenplay that I’m working on right now. I have been working on it for a couple of months. Yeah, I write write write and then read read read. WIM: After talking to Boomer, I made to the local tattoo parlor, Tattoo Blue & Body Piercing, where I sat down interviewed one of Boomer’s friends. WIM: How long have you known Boomer? Berry: A little over 10 years. I met him when I was a freshman at Western actually. We were in a theater showcase class together. He was one of the first people I met when I came to college. WIM: How would you describe him as a person? Berry: Boomer is one of my best friends. He’s a dude at the end of the day I’m pretty sure, like, if I needed just about anything, I can ask him and he could provide that. He’s one of the most charming people I’ve ever met. Like, he has the ability to talk anybody. That’s a hard thing, like, if you’ve tried to do that, it’s just hard to do. He does it really well. WIM: What do you think of him as a writer?

Berry: I really enjoy Boomer’s writing style. For the most part, it’s for adults, but it’s a lot of fun to read at the same time. I’ve read “The Hole behind Midnight” I think two or three times. I got to read drafts of it as he was writing it, which was a lot of fun actually, just to watch it come together. WIM: Any particular stories you’d like to share of Boomer? Berry: It could be anything. We were at that diner I was telling you about, and we figured out, because we would go every Wednesday, we were there once, and this huge group would come after we’ve been there for two or three hours, and they would just take up like the whole back area of this restaurant. And it took us a couple weeks to figure out, Boomer is actually the one to figure out that they were LARPers (live action role-playing gamers). When we were able to figure out what they were playing and Boomer was like, “I really want to go back there, and I just wanna scream, ‘All hail the sword of Kane!’” ‘Cause that was some like specific thing to that LARP. We were like, “Pff, do it!” So he just walked up with them and went, “All hail the sword of Kane!” And one dude turns around and just goes, “No!” Boomer goes, “Eh, alright.” There’s also… every year outside of Peoria there’s a Renaissance Fair, the Jubilee Renaissance Fair, and Boomer’s been going to it way longer than I have. And I don’t think he goes anymore, but a few years ago he would go every year, and he would have a friend who is actually a well-established ceramics artist, and he would set up a vending booth, and he made like pottery, like really beautiful mugs, and bowls, and plates and stuff like that. He would sell the stuff the whole weekend then he would take everyone out to Olive Garden. So, Boomer and another friend of ours, they were like, “We need to sell something; we should figure out something that we could sell.”

But the problem is neither of us knows how to make anything, so what they did was they got this really like nice paper, and they printed up what they called Ritz of Indulgence, and Boomer dressed up as a priest, and our friend dressed up as like his hobbled man-servant. And these Ritz of Indulgence were you could pay anywhere from $1 up to like $20, depending on how bad the sin was that you were planning to commit, and it was like a Ritz that could give you forgiveness from the church. So they printed up like 5,000 of these things, or something, just this giant ridiculous stack of them, and they took those with them every year, and every single year they made more money selling those little bulls--- Ritz than our friend who put in like these hours and months of his life into these little cups and things because Boomer did the sales pitch, and his friend would run around doing the whole like, “Oh yeah, you should totally do it!” He talked a guy one time into buying one, and he was like, “What’s the sin?” The guy was like, “Pff, I don’t know.” Clinton said, “How about dirty deeds done dirt cheap?” the guy was like, “Sure.” So he wrote out a Ritz of Indulgence for dirty deeds done dirt cheap and sold it to the guy for like $5. WIM: Is there anything else you’d like to mention about Boomer that you think would look good in a biography? Berry: He’s written at least one novel. I think he’s working on another one. He has designed games professionally for several years now, and at the end of the day, he’s one of the best people I know. WIM: Sometime after I interviewed Berry, I got the chance to speak with Polka. WIM: When did you first meet Clinton? Polka: I think we met in March at the coffee shop, and we talked a little bit, and we have mutual friends and decided to hang out, and we ended up going on a road

trip to Galesburg (Illinois). He told me about his writing and books the first time I met him, and he gave me a free copy of his book, which was awesome, and yeah, we ended up going on more road trips. WIM: So what do you think of his writing? How do you like his book? Polka: Oh, I just hate everything Clinton has ever written ever. Just kidding. No, I really enjoyed his book. I would say that it’s for a specific taste. I like Stephen King and um… I don’t know. I like game of thrones. I like things like that, so I was not easily offended. I think it’s very intricate as far as the storyline goes, but I really like the characters. One of my favorite things in books is character development, and I’ve been very disappointed with character development in some of the books that I’ve read, and I was not even close to being disappointed with his book ‘cause there was so much character development in it. And it just has some fun, little twists inside of it. WIM: How would you describe him as a person? Polka: I’d describe him as

wholly selfless in a way, not like he doesn’t think of himself ever, but he has a very good grasp on respect for other people. He respects people that he doesn’t necessarily know, and I really appreciate that. Always tips, he always tips, and I love that. I dated guys who didn’t tip at all or tipped poorly. I would say that he’s very passionate about his work, and I appreciate that. But I respect that he’s always getting new ideas, and he’s always picking up new projects, and he isn’t a writer in a sense that he doesn’t want to do anything but write. He’s a writer because he loves writing, and he wants to work hard for it. I think that some people pick it up, thinking it’ll be easy. He doesn’t let it be easy, and I like that. I would say that he’s hardworking and friendly, obviously. I don’t think I need to explain that one. He tries to think the best of people, and I like that. I think that’s a rare quality to find in somebody. I like that he treats people as equals. He’s smart. He’s very intelligent. He’s one of the smartest people

I know, but he doesn’t rub it in your face. And I think that that’s nice. He has a lot of opinions that I would agree with, but he respects other people’s opinions, which is something that I wish that I always did. He could listen to someone he totally disagrees with and hear their point, not necessarily agreeing with their point, but respecting that they have it. I think that it comes from, not humility, there’s no need for him to prove that he’s right. I think he shares his opinions, and if people disagree with him, he’s all right with that. WIM: Do you have any stories that might reflect his personality? Polka: A certain friend of mine got really intoxicated at The Ritz. Clinton was not bartending that night. He was just out, hanging out with friends, talking. I was just hanging out with my friend. So this friend got super intoxicated. I’m talking like 15 shots, like an insane amount for this little person. And we’re like staring at her, and at a certain point, she stopped talking to me. She started talking to some men, and she’s just

being friendly, not doing anything weird. But these two guys over by Clinton, they’re like hitting on her, and they’re not drunk. So they’re being creepy, and I don’t like this ‘cause she’s really drunk, even though she holds her liquor really really well. She looks like she’s sober even though she’s totally off the wall drunk. So I’m like, “I know you’re plastered right now, and no one else knows.” I tell Clinton we need to walk this b--- home. She needs help. So he’s like, “Yeah, let’s walk her home. Let’s do it.” So Clinton and I are trying to walk her home, and he trusts her. He’s a trusting person, and he’s like, “She’s fine, she says she’s not drunk. We have to trust her.” So, we’re walking her on the sidewalk by the road and he’s like, “Uh, she’s a little close to the side of the road.” We’re both noticing, so he says to her, “Let’s go this way.” Clinton helps and he’s helping her walk, and the whole time we are walking she’s going, “Really, I’m mad at you. I don’t want you to walk me home. I’m actually really offended that you’re walking me home right now.” Clinton’s just like, “Oh, no no no, we’re not walking you home for

you, we’re walking you home for us. In fact, we’re not even walking you home, we’re just going to walk the same direction as you are. If you decide to go that direction, we decided to go that direction to.” He’s just very excellent at deflecting things in a positive way. He makes things positive. WIM: I briefly spoke with a few other people who knew Boomer, and like the friends of his I interviewed, their opinions of him were mostly in a positive light. It seems that anyone who’s been fortunate enough to cross paths with him share a similar perspective. To those of you who doubt the credibility of this article, I encourage you to get to know Boomer. He currently resides in Macomb where he works as a bartender at The Ritz. He’s also working on his latest novel, “Soapscum Unlimited: Welcome to Bad-Burn City.” His first book, “The Hole behind Midnight,” can be found on Amazon.com. Although Boomer is unsure of what the future holds for him, he and Polka are looking forward to the birth of their son. May they have the best of luck.

Journey to the top...

by Erika Davis & photos by Nicholas Stewart

any people know of the famed Hilton Chicago at 720 S. Michigan Ave in downtown Chicago. But what most people don’t know is that the historic building wasn’t always a Hilton property. The majestic 25-story brick structure, built in 1927, actually traces its roots back to the rural Western Illinois community of Colchester — today it has a population of about 1,500 — and a man named James William “JW” Stevens. Stevens was born in Colchester in 1853, son of Socrates Stevens, a school teacher and prominent local merchant. In the 1870s, Stevens joined his brother, Edward, to open a successful mercantile store. In 1886, Stevens relocated to Chicago and founded the Illinois Life Insurance Company with his oldest son, Raymond. The company was very lucrative; it eventually grew to include approximately 80,000 policyholders. In 1908, Stevens decided to enter the hotel business and built the LaSalle Hotel, which he turned over to his younger son, Ernest, to operate. The latter was an exemplary manager, and the hotel, one of the city’s largest, was very profitable. “But the Stevenses dreamed of more,” wrote journalist Charles Lane in a 2007 Chicago magazine article about the family. “They believed that Chicago, the booming hub of the Midwest, needed a state-of-the-art destination for travelers and conventioneers. It needed the biggest hotel in the world.” To pay for the hotel’s $27 million cost, Stevens sold bonds, including $3 million to his own insurance company and another $350,000 to family members. Construction began on March 16, 1926, and the project was completed a little more than a year later. With 3,000 rooms, the Stevens Hotel was not only the city’s largest hotel, but also one of its most elegant. It sat on a prime location in the heart of the city’s downtown, overlooking Grant Park and Lake Michigan. Inside, it boasted a ballroom, where, two days after it opened, the Motion Picture Association

Ball was held. The hotel was remarkable in which it contained nearly everything that a person could ever need. It had convention centers, restaurants, shops, a hospital, a pharmacy, a library, a miniature golf course on the roof, a bowling alley, a movie theater, a barbershop and a special room for pets. And it also had an ice cream parlor. Among the first guests to stay in the hotel were the Vice President of the U.S., Charles G. Dawes and the President of Cuba, Gerardo Machado. But all was not rosy with the Stevens Hotel. Despite being nearly fully booked during its first year, the hotel still lost $1 million in 1928 and half that much the following year. Additionally, the nation’s economy started to go into a funk, meaning the public wasn’t traveling as much or going to conventions. To keep the hotel afloat, Stevens loaned more than $500, 000 of his personal funds to the hotel and authorized Illinois Life Insurance to loan additional hundreds of thousands of dollars to the hotel, all backed by the hotel’s assets, which largely existed only on paper. The start of the Great Depression in 1929 signaled the beginning of the end for the Stevens Hotel. Finally, in 1932 it all came crumbling down. Stevens filed for bankruptcy protection, and the company records revealed that Illinois Life Insurance had sunk more than $13 million into the Stevens and La Salle hotel properties. James and his two sons, Raymond and Ernest, were indicted for embezzlement for allegedly shifting resources improperly from the insurance company to the hotel. Ernest was convicted but the Illinois Supreme Court reversed the decision a year later. Faced with financial ruin, Raymond committed suicide, while James suffered a debilitating stroke in 1933 and died three years later. Not surprisingly, the insurance company went out of business. An interesting postscript: Ernest was the father of future Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, who grew up in and around the hotel. Following the Stevenses exit from the hotel, it passed through several different

A Colchester family’s rise and ruin

owners. During World War II, the U.S. Army purchased it for $6 million to use as a barrack and as classrooms. In 1944, the federal government sold it for $4.9 million to a businessman who, a year later, sold it to famed hotelier Conrad Hilton. The latter renamed the property the Conrad Hilton in 1951. In the 1960s, Hilton added a three-story convention center to the property. In 1984, the Hilton Corporation invested $185 million to completely renovate the old hotel, including enlarging its rooms (the hotel’s original 3,000 rooms were consolidated into 1,544 bigger rooms). The face-lift, however, did retain the grand two-story entrance flanked by two staircases — which still manage to impress after all these years. Along with a new floor plan, the hotel received a new name: the Chicago Hilton and Towers. In 1998, the name was shortened to simply the Hilton Chicago. Today, while most people don’t know the hotel’s tragic backstory, they do appreciate its elegant architecture and recognize that it’s one of the city’s historical landmarks. For example, Tierra Riley, an event planner from St. Louis and a frequent guest, said, “The hotel looks brand new to me. It is the only hotel that I will stay at in Chicago. Its artwork amazes me every time that I go. I just love it.” Patrick Burton, a Western Illinois University student, just visited the hotel for the first time this past summer. “I visited the hotel while taking a tour of Chicago,” he said. “I must say it is impressive. I cannot believe that the building was originally built in 1927. It holds so much legacy and has so much history.” The hotel may be currently known as the Hilton Chicago, but to many it will always be remembered by its original name — the Stevens Hotel — the grand palace built by a family from the small town of Colchester who had big dreams.

interviewed by Erika Davis

Dennis Hetzel is the executive director of the Ohio Newspaper Association. He previously served as Kentucky general manager for Enquirer Media in Cincinnati. He’s a longtime professional journalist, and his success with writing led him to write his ﬁrst novel, “Killing the Curse,” published earlier this year. Although he has always loved writing, he said being editor-in-chief of Western Illinois University’s student newspaper, the Western Courier in 1972, inspired him. He recently spoke with Western Illinois Magazine’s Erika Davis to share more about his journey of writing his book. Western Illinois Magazine:

When did you ﬁrst notice your love for writing? Dennis Hetzel: In high school, I liked to write. I was a pretty bad athlete, but I liked sports. I went to a local weekly paper, and I got a job writing a weekly column about my high school sports team, and I received 30 cents for each column. I was pretty lucky because my football team was good my senior year. I wanted to be a high school teacher, but I couldn’t ﬁnd a job and took a job as a sports columnist instead. As much as I loved sports, I wanted to be a daily news writer and teacher, so I moved to Galesburg and did some teaching, some college teaching. WIM: What did you do as a child to prepare for your career? DH: I was in advanced English and journalism courses

DENNIS

a Q&A with successful Western Illinois University graduate, Executive Director Dennis Hetzel

in high school. Writing was something that came pretty easy rather than chemistry. I enjoyed it. Everybody has had some level of success that points to an English teacher, and I still remember mine teaching. He was a very inspirational teacher and pointed people in certain directions. WIM: I read that you went to Western and wrote at the Courier. What was one of the most memorable articles that you wrote and why? DH: While I was there, it was an intense time for Courier. I learned about management. We had a hole on the sports page one night, and we made up a fake WIU pinball team called the Steelballers. We wrote about them winning and even made T-shirts for them. That was really fun.

Photos given by Dennis Hetzel

KILLING THECURSE

WIM: What are some things

you learned from writing at the Courier that you still carry with you today? DH: Accomplishing publishing a newspaper with limited resources and we were on our own because the university had taken everything. We had to be a team and make sure that we got the work done. WIM: In 2011, you were named executive director of ONA? Can you explain what qualifications you had that led to that position? DH: I had a career in newspaper. I ran a paper for 13 years. I was political junky and sports writer. I was in charge of a northern Kentucky market, which was very demanding. I was a lobbyist. I knew how to get answers. My lobbying work goes towards my

political degree. At first, I was like an editor on the bleacher watching the game, and now I’m able to get off the bleacher and work with people. DH: Your success with executive roles is outstanding. Are there some things that you have yet to do that you want to accomplish? DH: Writing a sequel to “Killing the Curse,” more writing, teaching, guitar playing and nonprofit stuff. WIM: Your book, “Killing the Curse,” received many great reviews. Where did the name come from? DH: Well if you are from Chicago, then you know the Cubs are cursed. So the story is to kill the curse. This book is a sports and thriller blender. The book was online, and now we have physical books

coming this month. WIM: When you first came up with the idea of the book, what were your primary intentions for it? DH: My friend (Rick Robinson) helped me write the book. Rick and I talked about this fictional story of the Cubs, and he pitched the idea to his publisher. She liked it. People liked the book. I got good reviews for it. I just wanted people to like it. WIM: What was the worst part about writing the book? DH: The most difficult thing was that I never had to write anything this long. Writing was fun, but structuring was difficult. Trying to form the order and expose characters was difficult. WIM: How many hours roughly would you say you

spent writing it? DH: It took roughly about three to four year time period. Rewriting the book was fun, but peer writing was tough. It was hard. WIM: From reading the book, I am assuming you’re a Cub fan. Are you really a Cub fan? DH: Yes, I don’t hate them. My dad was a Cub fan so I grew up watching them. WIM: Are you going to continue to write fiction part time, or will you become a full-time writer? DH: It would be interesting to do when I retire. That’ll be great, but we will see. WIM: With all of your successes in life, are you planning to share them in an autobiography? DH: I don’t know. I haven’t given it much thought. I’m not

sure I have that much of an interesting story. I’ll have to think about it more. WIM: What advice would you offer to people who are currently trying to achieve their goals? DH: Make the most out of your college experience, and take advantage of everything. You never know what could happen. If someone would have told me at age 21 that I’d be doing this I’d be like “whoa!” They say people will change jobs an average six, seven or eight times in their career. Therefore, you have to build as many skills as you can. Write, learn html, and build communication skills. Choose one idea of what you want to do, and work for it. Be focused, and make experiences. 9

FINDING BIGFOOT photos and story by Isom Jacobs

Bigfoot is probably as far from my mind as starting a new Myspace account. It’s hard to imagine how people rarely think about animals during the day unless one is seen. The possibility of a newly discovered large animal can be fascinating because, whether we want to admit it or not, we see the U.S. as a tame landscape. Naturally, it sounds very illogical that a 6-foot primate or bipedal mammal could live in the heart of the U.S. with very few reported sightings. Bigfoot expert Stan Courtney believes fear of ridicule is the main cause for the few reported sightings. The legend, however, creeps near our home with multiple reports of Bigfoot in McDonough County with the last incident in March 2013. Courtney recorded over 80 sounds that are considered to be an unknown animal. Assuming his research is genuine, this says the animals making these sounds are insufficiently studied by scientists, or there are undiscovered species in the backyard of the U.S. This could also mean some spe-

cies are well-adapted at avoiding contact with people. After all, humans caused several animal species to go threatened, endangered or extinct; the smart ones learn to stay away or co-exist in our shadows. “Bigfoot(s) are an intelligent, generally shy animals,” Courtney said. “If you happen to have a sighting, enjoy the moment because you have been fortunate to see something that most people can only dream about.” The perception of Bigfoot being big would suggest that this animal needs a wide range and needs to eat a lot more food than smaller ani-

mals. Knowing Bigfoot’s diet is a big step in understanding its potential existence. “ We know more about diet than any other single aspect of Bigfoot,” Courtney said. “They have been observed eating al-

most a huge range of vegetable matter as well as fish and game animals.” Bigfoot eating a variety of vegetables could mean a real feast of corn and soybeans right before harvest times. I see a lot of corn and soybean fields in McDonough County, the pest on crops show nature will take advantage of a plentiful food source. Crop fields could reduce the need for an animal to travel, and I like to think of Bigfoot not needing to travel much. This animal might store food for hard times in the winter. It is more likely the case if Bigfoot is

actually a primate because primates are usually social and intelligent. Conceptually, there is enough food in McDonough County to support Bigfoot or a large animal; all one needs to do is stay out of sight. Being a biology major, and I know this may be considered pseudoscience to some of my peers, I think this should be taken seriously. Things may seem strange even made up when describing something vague because of lack of sightings or understanding. On the other hand, if I could make a crazy prediction of the animal that most resembles Bigfoot, then I would say it’s a sloth. Being a biology student, I don’t think it’s a primate. My perception may be unique, but I wondered what others ... mate, part human or something else? “(The same) typical of other parts of the country, basically an upright walking humanoid,” Courtney said. I still think it may be another animal because there is little evidence of the genus homo

Bio student chases the myth genus homo (hominid) branching out and becoming very large. However, there is an animal that lived in North America long ago that was very large, the giant ground sloth. This seems shocking that the word sloth comes to mind as that small slow moving animal from South America. However, there was a time when the giant sloth rivaled the mammoth in size. These sloths are much smaller than their ancestors millions of years ago, but it’s possible that there are more living ancestors in a variety of sizes before the genera (plural for genus, meaning taxonomic rank above species and below family) bottled necked. It is pretty farfetched, but Bigfoot existing is also farfetched. Bigfoot is most likely a living ancestor of previously assumed extinct genera, so who knows what kind of animal it could be. The next problem we face is the amount of concrete evidence that emerges as a hoax. I could imagine how famous a person would become if they found and confirmed Bigfoot. The problem I have is how massive these creatures are conceptually, yet they are so elusive. Controversial footage like

Todd Standing’s video of a figure far off into the distance seems too well designed. In the video, the figure was standing then kneeling straight down. I think that was done to rule out a bear because how human the movements were. The figure was so massive that it seemed inhuman in respects to its broad shoulders. In the video, this Bigfoot was on a hill far away while being recorded. Even in daylight the figure was still out of focus, fuzzy and the camera was shaky. The height could be misjudged as something taller than that of an average human. Add a costume and it’s possible to get some believers and publicity. That being said, it would be difficult to say what is genuine and what is not. It is safe to say that each case is looked at critically or else experts would start to lose credibility. In fact, there are anonymous reports of suspected animals on the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization’s (BFRO) website. “When we got ready to go around the last bend to where we had parked, I took a look back and saw something squatting on a point next to a dead blackened tree which stood around three to four

feet tall,” said the witness of report 40995 of BFRO. “The top of it came to right around the top of the dead tree, and it was fairly wide. The only thing I could misidentify it as was a black bear, and they haven't been seen in our area for well over 50 to 100 years.” This happened near Colchester, Illinois at Argyle State Park. Courtney did a follow up investigation and spoke with the witness. The animal was approximately 100 feet from the witness with 4-footwide shoulders. Shoulders like that are crazy. That’s like wearing shoulder pads the length of a small child with a body to match. That happened at 4 p.m. the same time I decided to take a trip to Argyle State Park. The first thing I noticed when I came to Argyle Park was how large it seemed compared to the map on my GPS. I wanted to see what kind of massive animal could live there without being seen by campers. I saw a decent sized lake that could help support a large predator, and I also found the wetlands. I did notice many steep hills. Some almost resembled cliff faces. If Bigfoot had a 4-footwide body, how could something that large navigate a terrain like that? I would think

it would be less advantageous for an upright animal unless its food source is high in a tree. I’d imagine a light-footed animal if it is a primate, but possibly heavy feet for another animal. It first sounded like a bad legend, but even with lies, there is usually some truth. I’m still not sold on Bigfoot yet, but I cannot dismiss it as if I can fully predict the natural world. As a professor once told me, the ecosystem is infinitely complex.

Danny Daniels the man behind

food preserves friendships by Carlos Williamson

the muscle

by Carlos Williamson and photos by Isom Jacobs

Danny Daniels’ robust physique is not typical for a sophomore in college, but neither is his workout regimen. I saw him running on campus and climbing trees without a T-shirt and wondered what he was doing. It’s easy to tell that some students at Western Illinois University are athletes just by looking at them. But few people know that Daniels is on Western’s track team. Instead, students refer to the pre-law enforcement & justice administration major as the muscular, shirtless runner. Like most people, however, Daniels is well-rounded. “(Running) has been a passion of mine for five years now,” Daniels said. “In high school, the soccer team and cross country team mainly did track, (but) we had no winter events. And we would go run three to six miles every other day, no shirt just shorts no matter the temperature.” I trained with Daniels, in chilly fall weather, to see how

tough it was. I wasn’t brave enough to exercise without a shirt, though. During our run, I realized it was a mistake. After a quarter mile, I was winded. “Hey Carlos, how are you?” Daniels asked during the run. “You know around this time, I’m usually halfway done with my workout.” Struggling to keep up with Daniels, all I could think about was how fit the Oregon, Ill. native was. Every stride he took was purposeful. And the muscles in his arms and back gleamed from sweat. I’m not the only person who noticed the 20-year-old’s herculean build. “People have said, ‘you have phenomenal abs,’ or ‘get at that,’” Daniels said. “There are people that stop and Snapchat me or Yik Yak me.” Although Daniels admires the attention he receives on campus, his ambitions keep him focused. “My ultimate goal is probably

to be the best that I can,” he said. “I want to make the school record here for javelin, which I think is 72 or 73 (meters). And as of right now, it looks like I’m on track. “I really want to be able to make it to the Olympics, which is a minimum of 80 meters to get on the practice team.” While Daniels is in spectacular shape, he still wants to improve his athleticism, he added. “Including track, I probably (work out) five hours a day,” he said. “We have about an hour and a half of lifting in the morning, two hours of practice and then I go run on my own time or lift. I try to get five days a week, but then it conflicts with homework.” Daniels said his favorite exercises are climbing trees and handstands to strengthen his core. “My inspiration is to do a handstand on a pull-up bar,” he said. I knew he was unique when I saw him. But conversing and training with him genuinely showed me who he was.

Through unhealthy eating habits, well-seasoned steak was imperaI’ve developed a healthy relationtive of course, provolone cheese, ship -- with my friend that is. The tomato, mayonnaise, grilled onion same provolone cheese that smothand lettuce in no particular order. ers and meshes all the contents of After considering all of the factors, a Philly cheesesteak together also we concluded that BABA’s Famous binds our friendship. Steak and Lemonade, a Chicago Although I don’t see my best based restaurant, was the best friend, Kortne Porter, nearly as option. much as I would like The price was relatively cheap, to, our addiction Over and the portion of to arteryfood we received the past few years, clogging surmounted Kortne and I searched for the foods is my original best Philly cheesesteaks Chicago one of expectathe few tions. had to offer. Contrary to its name, comThe we believe it’s possible to find the monalities Philly, best cheesesteaks in the we share however, nowadays. was greasy Windy Over the past few instead of juicy, years, Kortne and I searched and I wasn’t too for the best Philly cheesesteaks excited about the crinkle cut fries Chicago had to offer. Contrary to either. On the other hand, whether its name, we believe it’s possible to we enjoy or detest the food we eat find the best cheesesteaks in the together, it still gives us an opportuWindy City. nity to bond. In addition, Kortne, 25, has lived in Despite the forgettable experiChicago almost his entire life and ence at BABA’s, we moved on and is convinced that the best foods tried Penn Station, a restaurant that regardless of origin can be found specializes in making hoagies. there. Usually, we begin our quest After the first disappointment, by talking about what we’re in the we had finally found the restaumood to eat. rant that met all of our gluttonous After Kortne beautifully described necessities. The strips of steak were the Philly he devoured, we took ac- perfectly seasoned; the ingredients tion. We compared several restauwere fresh and high in quality; the rants in the Chicago metropolitan cheese melted exquisitely over area. We considered the location, every topping, and it was made to price, quantity and quality of our order. mouthwatering sandwich. Satisfied, Kortne and I decided to We also discussed what comprised indulge in a new endeavor: baby an authentic Philly: thinly sliced, back ribs.

Courtesy photo

photos and story by Sarah Despain

Iowa brews again

In 2010, the Iowa Legislature removed a ban, which prohibited the tasting or selling of spirits from distilleries located around the state. The ban was lifted in hopes of bringing in more tourists to Iowa and the surrounding areas. The same year, brothers, Ryan and Garrett Burchett, decided to quit their day jobs and start making craft spirits for a living, and so began the Mississippi River Distilling Company. The distillery, located in the small town of Le Claire, Iowa, a sister city to the Quad City area, overlooks the scenic Mississippi River. Since opening its doors four years ago, the company has been a popular tourist attraction, bringing in over 50,000 visitors each year. In addition to the large number of visitors, the distillery is continuing to see a growth in spirit sales since its opening. It currently distributes its spirits to over 20 states in the U.S., as well as three countries: Australia, Germany and New Zealand. “All of our grain comes from within 25 miles of the distillery,” co-owner Ryan said. “We do everything by hand here, no shortcuts, and I think that people have a tremendous appreciation for that. “Our bourbon and whiskey (Cody Road), as well as our vodka (River Pilot) are the most popular of our products to be distributed throughout the world.” The distillery also makes craft artisan spirits and gin and offers customers seasonal and limited edition spirits. During the summer, customers can enjoy peach liquor, as well as strawberry flavored vodka. The distillery also makes coffee liquor and cream liquor as part of its limited edition specials. “Our seasonal and limited edition spirits allows for a renewed interest in the distillery and also gives people something to look forward to,” Ryan said. “They are also a huge hit.” Friends, family and volunteers help with the bottling of the spirits made at the distillery. All of the hand-bottled spirits have a unique batch note on the bottom of every bottle. Each batch notes where the grain has come from, the day the spirit was made and the names of those who bottled it. From the moment the Burchett brother’s knew

they were going to open the distillery, they also knew that they wanted to give customers a firsthand look at what they were doing. “From the very beginning, we decided to do these tours on a regular basis, basically as a marketing investment” Ryan said. “I think that a huge part of our success is just that we have been accessible to anyone who wants to come learn and see what we are doing, and that’s what this whole thing is about.” A truly unique experience is what customers will get during the tour of the distillery. Tours are free to the public from10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and open seven days a week. All ages are welcome to attend the tour, but patrons must be 21 to taste samples of the spirits. They can also purchase spirits, glassware and apparel at the retail store. With the large number of tourists visiting the distillery and the town of La Claire, The Mississippi River Distilling Company will be expanding its doors starting in 2015. The expansion will include a new warehouse area, patio, plaza and tasting room. “We are also excited to welcome a craft brewery to the La Claire area,” Ryan said. “The brewery will be connected to the distillery.” With a local winery, craft distillery and craft brewery all within blocks of one another, more tourists will be attracted to the La Claire area.

Small town confusion Who’s the hero? by Jacqueline Covey

1900’s blue-collared work emanated the small town American lifestyle, each day ending with a cold one. Enter Prohibition, January 1920. Temperance movements rallied to awake the nation and ratify the 18th amendment. In the small mining town, Colchester, Illinois, alcohol blended the culture. They worked hard, and they drank harder. “Mining and boozing, go together,” said John Hallwas, author of “The Bootlegger.” “How would you like to work at a job where you’re working on your back or on your side, trying to get coal to come down so you can put it in a low cart and take it out, but if too much comes out, like a whole ton, then you’re dead. So you gotta do that all day long.”

The twenties began with societal purification, banning the manufacture, sale and distribution of alcohol. It roared with the defiance of that law. Bootleggers became the dark heroes of the era. “So you have a town that has a sense of virtue and goodness and commitment, well here comes Prohibition,” Hallwas said. “People said, ‘This is too much, to have the government tell me what I can drink for dinner? This is silly.’ Or they had personal family members involved, they weren’t going to obey the law. So you start corrupting the conscience of people. “The law was never effective, not even for five minutes.” Then, every guy had a nickname, and his was Kelly. Colchester needed a boozing-hero; the town had a demand and

Henry “Kelly” Wagle devoted himself to its

not look the other way would mean that you

body knew it wasn’t.” Prior to the end-all law,

fulfillment. People then were faced with an issue: turn in a friend to compensate the law or turn a drunken eye. “You have all these bootleggers all over the place selling booze, and you got a public that is basically looking the other way because to

would have to turn the police on to people that you knew in your small town and you’re not going to do that,” Hallwas said. “Your son your brother your father your uncle or something. And so it wasn’t working probihiton wasn’t working, every-

states had the option to enforce sobriety townby-town (the local option law). With such a variety in town personality, state maps looked like checkerboards, Hallwas said, where the different counties allow the sale of alcohol. “In the rural areas,

“It was never effective, not even for 5 minutes.”

Courtesy photos 14 -15

where the churches have a big impact you can stamp out liquor, but all a guy has to do is drive up to the next place buy it bring it back and sell it illegally, and that’s what they did,” Hallwas said. “The local option law simply, in a way, trained Illinoisans to be bootleggers. “Moreover, many people resented the fact that temperance crusaders, as they were called, or the Anti-saloon league in the early twentieth century, they felt that this was pushing laws a little too far, telling me what I can drink and not drink,” Hallwas said. Despite the 20s insurgents, who became more violent in their wits, temperance movements

had been circulating the country well before the civil war. Organizations, such as the Anti-Saloon League, feverishly had set prohibition campaigns to end the era of drunkards and scofflaws. “So, they were fighting the battle already, before the civil war, women especially because the men would get drunk they’d go to the saloons downtown,” Hallwas said. In a patriarchal society, women had enough. They wanted their husbands, their head-of-households, to act with respect. Men who drank did not

reflect the ‘American dream’ lifestyle, they acted

more like criminals then revolu-

The townof Bishop Hill by Sandra Sepaniak and phots by Hank Moreno

tionaries. “They’d get liquored up sometimes, they’d fight or they’d come home and slap the wife around or whatever else,” Hallwas said. Various groups of people, denominated, organized, etc., joined the rally against alcohol. It had been a part of American society for decades. It featured in celebrations, despairs, reunions, etc. It was everywhere and most everybody used it. “That was the situation in which Kelly Wagle strived,” Hallwas said. “He was Colchester’s hero.” Even though Kelly was famous around Colchester, he was still a

criminal. However, the town believed in him. “We admire them (bootleggers) because they are assertive, they put it all on the line,” Hallwas said. “They’re individualistic; they strive, they stand up for themselves. These are basically good things, except they are doing it for a highly selfish purpose that often leads to bloodshed.” Kelly represented what was happening all around America. Townspeople didn’t know whether to condemn bootleggers or condemn the nation. And what started off as a demand for legitimacy in the states, resulted in conformed justice against the 18th amendment.

“Where else can you be with the doors open and when every one’s on vacation?” Kathy Johnson said.

ABDCAB Sometimes, even the quaintest of places can have sketchy or humble beginnings written into their histories, while others become their own versions of Jonestown. For Bishop Hill, a town with just 128 residents in the middle of miles of cornfields and wind farms in Henry County, the former is the case. Though the city is known as a popular spot for weekend trips from around the region, there was a time when it was perceived as a quasicommunist utopian town. When the colony of Bishop Hill was first established in 1846, it was intended as a refuge for Swedish immigrants escaping corruption and government handling of the Lutheran church. The leader of the colony at the

Unfortunately, things weren’t meant to last for Jansson. After fellow Swedish immigrant John Root expressed desires to leave the colony with Jansson’s cousin, whom Root had married, Jansson and the other colonists refused to let the disillusioned Root leave. Because of this, in 1850 while the two men were dealing with unrelated matters at the Henry County Courthouse, Root shot and killed Jansson. Most intriguing of all, however, is the rumor shared by today’s residents who claim Jansson was not buried for a week. According to Bishop Hill Colony Store clerk Pat Hyer, this is because he had declared himself a prophet, and the townspeople had thought he would rise from the dead as Jesus did in the Bible. History marched on and the colony fell on hard times after 15 years of idyllic life on the prairie, primarily due to economic troubles, but also because the broomcorn crop had burned one year and the Civil War started. After that, the land was sold to individual families and Bishop Hill began to bear

time, Eric Jansson, had hoped to settle the town with the hopes of being able to follow his own radical ideologies without fear of persecution. According to records from the colony’s museum, many of Jansson’s followers died of disease on the way to Illinois, and those who survived spent the winter in dugouts on the banks of the South Edwards River. Soon after that, however, the colony quickly got up and running. By 1849 the colony had become a worker’s paradise, complete with 700 acres of crops, a flour mill, two sawmills and a thriving industry for broomcorn and beer. The land belonged to everyone in the town, and likewise everyone was expected to work. However, there was a

closer resemblance to all of the other towns around it. Today, Bishop Hill still serves primarily as a functioning colony and an attraction for tourists from around the region. A substantial amount of employees for the shops and restaurants in town commute from the nearby town of Galva and work alongside those who already live there. Today, many of the original buildings still stand, including the three-story church where Jansson and his followers worshiped, along with the Colony’s general store. Inside the latter, guests can smell gourmet coffee and see Dala horses being painted, all while a selection of candies made both in Bishop Hill and in Sweden are on display. The refrigerator full of creamed salmon and pickled herring in the back of the store adds to the authentic Swedish vibe. “It’s great working here,” Mariah Smith, a Galva resident who works at P.L. Johnson’s restaurant said. “The people are really sweet and the food here is great.”

religious aspect that kept many of the colonists in place. “If they were true believers, he said they would be able to speak English,” Sue Schultz, a resident who works at the colony’s museum said of Jansson. Seeing as the majority of his followers spoke Swedish, she added that his prediction didn’t come to pass. However, as many of the locals do today, the colonists loved what they had on some of the best farmland on Earth and considered it to be more plentiful than anything they had had back in Sweden. “The land is covered with grass everywhere,” Olof Black wrote in a letter now housed in Bishop Hill’s museum among other artifacts. “There is no moss, nor any stony soil, only wonderful black soil.”

Smith’s comment seems to ring true just by listening to the chatter inside P.L. Johnson’s. In addition to serving Swedish-style food including steaming cabbage rolls and meatballs covered in thick, salty gravy with lingonberries filling every empty space, they make pies that are so hot and still crumbling so that they have to be served in a bowl. The restaurant is also good place to listen to members of the kitchen staff discuss everything from politics to what their dogs have been doing. Additionally, there are shops around town where craftsmen weave baskets and make soft, brightly-colored rugs out of scrap fabric. One of these weavers is Bishop Hill resident Kathy Johnson, who sits at a traditional loom and makes patriotic rugs when she isn’t teaching. “I work part time, a couple of afternoons here and there and a weekend,” Johnson said. “I’ve always thought it looked interesting, and I’ve been doing this for eight years, going on nine.”

The craft shop where Johnson works is inside a converted barn with a concrete floor. Handicrafts from both the colony and other parts of the world are displayed and sold all over the interior, all while she and her coworkers work. She also said that she can make a four-foot rug in about three hours and that it wasn’t particularly hard to learn. Regardless, tourists who come to Bishop Hill enjoy watching her and the others work. “We want this building to be a craft building,” Johnson said. “I do the rugs, and we have two guys who make brooms. I’ve worked here since 1986, and I love it.” In particular, Johnson said that she loves the atmosphere of the town, especially with how quiet and peaceful it is. She also said that the higher gas prices mean that people from around the region were more likely to come, as opposed to visiting further-flung places out of state. “Where else can you be with the doors open and when everyone’s on vacation?” Johnson said.

Student seeks sanctuary Macomb offers religious options

by Ajia Harris and photos by Mary Friday

In the small town of Macomb, Illinois, home to Western

Illinois University, some students may get involved in organizations or party. However, other students come to Western also looking for a place to worship, but aren’t sure where. In Macomb, Christian denominations are plentiful. For example, there are Roman Catholics, Protestants who are known as Apostolicism (Pentecostal), Church of God in Christ and Full Gospel, Methodists, Episcopalians, Baptists and the Assemblies. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormonism) is a part of the Christian belief but is not a part of the Protestant movement. Some people, on the other hand, practice the

Christian faith, who are open to people of any Christian denomination. This is known as non-denominationalism, meaning any church that is independent and not a part of a larger denomination. This is similar to one of the churches in Macomb called The Crossing Church, which originally began in Quincy, Illinois in March 1974. It now has nine locations across the Western areas of Illinois, Keokuk, Iowa and Hannibal, Missouri. According to CNN’s website, most Christians believe the teachings of Jesus Christ and that one God created the heaven, earth and the universe. Christians also believe that Jesus is the son of God and that he died for humanity’s sins. Jesus was cruciﬁed on the cross and rose again

on the third day, which is the reason for Easter, properly known as Resurrection Day. In general, Christianity is one of the oldest religions. However, many races and ethnicities worship Jesus differently. * * * When I first came to Macomb, I knew I was not going to find a church that I would enjoy worshipping and fellowshipping with others, mainly because there are not many Christian denominations similar to my church back home. Besides the students on campus, there is not much diversity in Macomb, and I was not sure that I’d be accepted as an African-American woman. It is true that as Christians we are supposed to be kind to one another regardless of race, but looking

back at history, many people used Christianity to justify slavery in the U.S. In addition, I did not want to go to any church but mine. My church in Chicago is called Greater Way Ministries. It is a small, storefront-family church, and the congregation is mostly African-American, but we welcome everyone. It is a Christian church that teaches under the Full Gospel doctrine, believing in the Father (Jesus/God), the Son and the Holy Ghost, which also means the spirit of the Lord, speaking in tongues and believing that God is a healer. My church also believes that Jesus will return, due to him rising on the third day before he was crucified, and be-

ing baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. My church is also lively. We sing, dance, praise and worship and listen to the word of the Gospel-the Bible that is. However, when I transferred to Western as a sophomore, I still did not know where to fellowship. Since I was involved in Heritage Ensemble, a singing group aﬃliated with the Gwendolyn Brooks Cultural Center on campus,I attended the Christian Fellowship Campus Ministries (CFCM). CFCM is a non-denominational fellowship organization formed by predominantly African American students. Going to church services at CFCM was good while

it lasted, but I still missed my home church. I did not attend CFCM during my junior year, and I haven’t attended many services my senior year either. The reason why is because I now work at The Western Courier as a proofreader which I enjoy. I plan to, however, visit CFCM before I graduate in May. Although Christianity is a notable religion, other places of worship in Macomb include the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Islamic Center of Macomb and the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. The Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses is considered a Christian church; however, Jehovah’s Witnesses’ beliefs are different from most Protestant Christians. According to JW.org, this religion believes “the Bible teaches that Jesus is the Son of God, not a part of the Trinity,” while most Christian church believe that God is the trinity, meaning one diving being. Jehovah’s Witnesses also do not believe that humans souls are immortal, that God tortures people in hell or that people who take the lead in religious activities should have 18 a title.They believe that

Jesus should not be worshipped, only God due to the scripture of John 14:28 stating, “The Father is greater than I am.” However, this faith does believe in the Bible teachings. Another place of worship is the Islamic Center of Macomb. According to the Islamic Center of Macomb’s website, it was built at a cost of $450,000,including the cost of land and furnishings. Most of the funds were raised by Muslims in Macomb and across America. The president of this religious organization is Dr. Mohammad A. Siddiqi, who is also the Journalism Program Director at Western. According to BBC, the religion of Islam began in Arabia by the Prophet Muhammad. Those who follow Islam are known as Muslims and believe in Allah, which is Arabic for God. However, they believe that Jesus, Moses and Abraham are prophets of God. Muslims also believe in one God and that Allah sent prophets to mankind to teach them how to live according to his law. The religion Islam is believed to have been discovered over 1,400 years ago in Mecca, Arabia. They holy book of

Islam in the Quran which contains many references of other book such as, the Book of Abraham, the Taurat(Torah), the Zabur (David)and the Injeel (Gospel). Muslims also practice the Five Pillars of Islam, which are the declaration of faith, praying five times a day, giving money to charity, fasting and a pilgrimage to Mecca. If Christianity or Islam are too overwhelming, the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship may be a good fit for some students at Western.

Unitarian Universalist Fellowship is a religion that is pretty much free of religion. According to the Unitarian Universalist Association, Unitarian Universalists do not not believe in one faith. They believe that everyone should be accepted in their fellowship regardless of what religion or non-religion that is practice. They also follow seven principles. The first principle is the inherent worth and

dignity of every person. The second principle is justice, equity and compassion in human relations. The third principle includes acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in congregations. The fourth principle is accepting a free and responsible search for truth and meaning. The fifth principle discusses the right of conscience and the use of the democratic process with the congregations and society. The sixth principle explains that the goal of the world in the community is peace, liberty and justice for all. The seventh and final principle states that everyone within this religion should have respect for the interdependent web of all existence. Unitarian Universalists also have principles for kids to follow. In addition to this, some Unitarian Universalists believe in God, and some do not. They do not read from the Bible, but they include other texts such as the Dhammapada and Tao Te-Ching to find inspiration. *** It is obvious that one may not think of Macomb as a town filled with many diverse

religions, but they exist. Regardless of what anyone else chooses as a place of worship, Macomb seems to have a wide, fascinating range of religions. However, I think I am just going to visit CFCM when I get a chance and continue to worship at my church back home. For more information about places of worship in Macomb, go to the Center for International Studies at Western or www.wiu.edu/international_studies/. In the small town of Macomb, Illinois, home to Western Illinois University, some students may get involved in organizations or party. However, other students come to Western also looking for a place to worship, but aren’t sure where. In Macomb, Christian denominations are plentiful. For example, there are Roman Catholics, Protestants who are known as Apostolicism (Pentecostal, Church of God in Christ and Full Gospel, Methodists, Episcopalians, Baptists and the Assemblies. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormonism) is a part of the Christian belief but is not a part of the

Protestant movement. Some people, on the other hand, practice the Christian faith,who are open to people of any Christian denomination. This is known as non-denominationalism, meaning any church that is independent and not apart of a larger denomination. This is similar to one of the churches in Macomb called The Crossing Church, which originally began its church organization in Quincy, Illinois in March 1974. It now has nine locations across the Western areas of Illinois, Keokuk, Iowa and Hannibal, Missouri. According to CNN’s website, most Christians believe the teachings of Jesus Christ and that one God created the heaven, earth and the universe. Christians also believe that Jesus is the son of God and that he died for humanity’s sins. Jesus was crucified on the cross and rose again on the third day, which is the reason for Easter, properly known as Resurrection Day. In general, Christianity is one of the oldest religions. However, many races and ethnicities worship Jesus differently. When I first came to Macomb, I knew I was not going to find a church that I would enjoy worshipping and fellowshipping with others, mainly because there are not many Christian denominations similar to my church back home. Besides the students on campus, there is not much diversity in Macomb, and I was not sure what sure would accept me as an African American woman. It is true that as Christians we are supposed to be kind to one another regardless of race, but looking back at history; many people used Christianity to justify slavery in the U.S. In additions, I did not want to go to any church but mine. My church in Chicago is called Greater Way Ministries. It is a small, storefront-family church, and most of the congregation are African American,

but we welcome everyone. It is a Christian church that teaches under the Full Gospel doctrine, believing in the Father (Jesus(God), the Son and the Holy Ghost, which also means the spirit of the Lord, speaking in tongues and believing that God is a healer. My church also believes that Jesus will return, due to him rising on the third day before he was crucified, and being baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. My church is also lively. We sing, dance, praise and worship and listen to the word of the Gospel-the Bible that is. However, when I transferred to Western as a sophomore, I still did not know where to fellowship. Since I was involved in Heritage Ensemble, a singing group affiliated with the Gwendolyn Brooks Cultural Center on campus,I attended the Christian Fellowship Campus Ministries (CFCM). CFCM is a non-denominational fellowship organization formed by predominantly African American students. Going to church services at CFCM was good while it lasted, but I still missed my home church. I did not attend CFCM during my junior year, and I haven’t attended many services my senior year either. The reason why is because I now work at The Western Courier as a proofreader which I enjoy. I plan to, however, visit CFCM before I graduate in May. Although Christianity is a notable religion, other places of worship in Macomb include the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Islamic Center of Macomb and the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. The Kingdom Hall of Je-

hovah’s Witnesses is considered a Christian church; however, Jehovah’s Witnesses’ beliefs are different from most Protestant Christians. According to JW.org, this religion believes “the Bible teaches that Jesus is the Son of God, not a part of the Trinity,” while most Christian church believe that God is the trinity, meaning one diving being. Jehovah’s Witnesses also do not believe that humans souls are immortal,

that God tortures people in hell or that people who take the lead in religious activities should have a title. They believe that Jesus should not be worshipped, only God due to the scripture of John 14:28 stating, “The Father is greater than I am.” However, this faith does believe in the Bible teachings. Another place of worship is the Islamic Center of Macomb. According to the Islamic Center of Macomb’s website, it was built at a cost of $450,000,including the cost of land and furnishings.

Most of the funds were raised by Muslims in Macomb and across America. The president of this religious organization is Dr. Mohammad A. Siddiqi, who is also the Journalism Program Director at Western. According to BBC, the religion of Islam began in Arabia by the Prophet Muhammad. Those who follow Islam are known as Muslims and believe in Allah, which is Arabic for God. However, they believe that Jesus, Moses and Abraham are prophets of God. Muslims also believe in one God and that Allah sent prophets to mankind to teach them how to live according to his law. The religion Islam is believed to have been discovered over 1,400 years ago in Mecca, Arabia. They holy book of Islam in the Quran which contains many references of other book such as, the Book of Abraham, the Taurat(Torah), the Zabur (David)and the Injeel (Gospel). Muslims also practice the Five Pillars of Islam, which are the declaration of faith, praying five times a day, giving money to charity, fasting and a pilgrimage to Mecca. If Christianity or Islam are too overwhelming, the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship may be a good fit for some students at Western. Unitarian Universalist Fellowship is a religion that is pretty much free of religion. According to the Unitarian Universalist Association, Unitarian Universalists do not not believe in one faith. They believe that everyone should be accepted in their fellowship regardless of

what religion or non-religion that is practice. They also follow seven principles. The first principle is the inherent worth and dignity of every person. The second principle is justice, equity and compassion in human relations. The third principle includes acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in congregations. The fourth principle is accepting a free and responsible search for truth and meaning. The fifth principle discusses the right of conscience and the use of the democratic process with the congregations and society. The sixth principle explains that the goal of the world in the community is peace, liberty and justice for all. The seventh and final principle states that everyone within this religion should have respect for the interdependent web of all existence. Unitarian Universalists also have principles for kids to follow. In addition to this, some Unitarian Universalists believe in God, and some do not. They do not read from the Bible, but they include other texts such as the Dhammapada and Tao TeChing to find inspiration. *** It is obvious that one may not think of Macomb as a town filled with many diverse religions, but they exist. Regardless of what anyone else chooses as a place of worship, Macomb seems to have a wide, fascinating range of religions. However, I think I am just going to visit CFCM when I get a chance and continue to worship at my church back home. For more information about places of worship in Macomb, go to the Center for International Studies at Western or www.wiu.edu/international_studies/.