SIGNIFICANT SUCCESS
EMPLOYEE OF EASTERN Entrepreneurship Week begins Monday with a presentation by an Eastern marketing student who has started her own business.
The Eastern football team improved to 5-1 in the OVC after beating Murray State 48-26 Saturday at O’Brien Field.
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THE
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Monday, Nov. 10, 2014
“TELL THE TRUTH AND DON’T BE AFRAID”
VOL. 99 | NO. 54
Racism issues debated at coffee hour Board By Roberto Hodge Multicultural Editor |@BertoHodge
Sitting outside of her Charleston home, Danielle Braiding hears racially tinged comments about AfricanAmericans on Eastern’s campus and how they are the reason enrollment has dropped. “(Hearing) white person, after white person speak that the reason EIU’s numbers have gone down is because of you beautiful black people, that really upsets me,” Braiding said. “Because those white people are stupid and ignorant and I have had
enough of the hate.” The Community Coffee Hour, hosted by the Interdisciplinary Center for Global Diversity, was a public forum open for students and residents from the Charleston community to talk about their concerns regarding diversity Friday evening at Jackson Avenue Coffee Shop. Braiding’s remark was a response to the Charleston Mayor Larry Rennels, who said he firmly believed a majority of the city is not racist. He said some smaller groups are perceived to be racist, which then evolves into the entire city being racist.
Participants of the coffee hour reacted with passion stating the city was racist and those who inhabit Charleston need to acknowledge its own racism and biases. “You have to be honest and say that the town is racist,” said Mikale KelleyRoss, a senior Africana Studies major. President Bill Perry attempted to calm the situation when he explained that while he was at Texas A&M University, he spoke to a man who told him everyone is either a racist or a reforming racist, which he said is an extremist point of view. “Before we label anyone, in any-
Step to ‘true Omega spirit’
way, we need to stop, take a deep breath and step back,” Perry said. “I think what we need to do is confront what we have here and work on improving it.” Sociology professor Vernon Woodley said labeling people does not help because it shuts others out. “We don’t start the conversation by throwing labels—we need to do more of community relation and transparency,” Woodley said. “The moment you throw the label out people are going to back off and they won’t want to hear anything else.” RACISM, page 5
TURN TO PAGE 3 TO READ ABOUT THE NATIONAL PAN-HELLENIC COUNCIL’S ANNUAL STEP SHOW SATURDAY AND FIND OUT THE WINNERS.
JORDAN GAY | THE DAILY EASTERN NE WS
Members of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity begin to do their step routine during the National Pan-Hellenic Council’s step show on Saturday in McAfee Gym.
Former governor to encourage involvement By Stephanie Markham News Editor | @stephm202 Former Illinois governor and ’68 Eastern graduate Jim Edgar will talk about how his educational experiences led him to a career in politics at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Buzzard Hall Auditorium. Edgar, a moderate Republican, was the 38th governor of Illinois, serving from 1991 to 1999 and retiring after his second term. He was also in the Illinois House of Representatives from 1976 to 1979 and served as Secretary of State from 1981 to 1991. While at Eastern, Edgar earned a bachelor’s degree in history with a minor in political science and was elected student body president his senior year. Richard Wandling, the chair of the
political science department, said Edgar would focus on his trajectory into public service starting from his early days getting involved in student politics. “The purpose is to help educate the current generation of students of what is available if you are civically engaged,” Wandling said. He said Edgar has an effective message of why people should get involved on both the state and national level. “People get discouraged when they see divisive party politics, but it is nonetheless a noble endeavor and it’s important not to just look away,” Wandling said. Edgar left his position as governor with a 60 percent public approval rating, the highest in Illinois’ history. “Even if you disagreed with his positions, you could agree he had a fundamental commitment to the public in-
SUBMIT TED PHOTO
Former Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar and his wife, Brenda.
terest,” Wandling said. Wandling said Edgar continues to be
an excellent role model for students because of his ongoing public service; he currently is a distinguished fellow at the Institute of Government and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois UrbanaChampaign. Edgar’s lecture, which is free and open to the public, is part of the Edgar Speaker Series that Edgar established in 2007 with his wife Brenda in order to address current issues in state government and their historical implications. Edgar met and married his wife while at Eastern. She eventually completed her bachelor’s degree in general studies in ’98 and established the Brenda Edgar Scholarship for Women for returning adult female parents. Stephanie Markham can be reached at 581-2812 or samarkham@eiu.edu.
approves retirement changes By Bob Galuski Editor-in-Chief | @BobGaluski An amended version of Eastern’s voluntary tax-deferred retirement plan passed through the Board of Trustees Friday, including several changes to the program. The IRS issued a set of changes to the plan, last amended in 1999, which included Roth contributions. Paul McCann, the interim vice president for business affairs, said the plan was generally expanded to include the Roth contributions and eliminating the catch-up contributions. The Roth (after-tax) contributions were not available originally when the plan was last amended. Now that they are, the board approved the amendment with its use. Another change is in the form of eliminating the ability to make catch-up contributions within the plan. Employees, however, will still have the ability through the State of Illinois’s 457 Plan to make catchup contributions. “We have provided for those catch-up options through the 457,” McCann said. McCann said at the present time there was only one employee using the catch-up contributions and even after the proposed change, the employee can make catch-up contributions to the State’s 457 plan. McCann added that the option will still be available to the employees through the 457. “We don’t believe there is any current harm coming to our employees,” he said. Because of the complexities built into the plan under the new regulations, the board was also asked to consider the hiring of a third party to administer the plan. The board approved ADMIN Partners, in association with a custodial paying agent, Mid Atlantic Trust Company. ADMIN Partners will be sent the monies that the university collects from payroll checks and transmit it to the investment firms selected by the participants. There is no change at the current time in the underlying investment firms. The full document detailing the changes in the plan can be found at dailyeasternnews.com. The board also approved the naming of university property. The family and consumer sciences and Klehm Hall Student Lounge is now named the Esther Brothers Elmore ’40, Klehm Student Lounge. The student lounge is named in honor of Jane Elmore, who received her bachelor’s degree in family and consumer sciences in 1972. Elmore worked as a social worker and in 1975 was appointed the executive director for Berwyn Cicero Council on Aging until 1977 when she became the legislative liaison for the Illinois Department on aging. The name of the student lounge comes from Elmore’s mother, who was also a family and consumer sciences graduate in 1940. The board will reconvene Jan. 23, 2015. Bob Galuski can be reached at 581-2812 or deneic@gmail.com.