TENNIS IS TRIUMPHANT
DARWIN DAYS
The Eastern women’s tennis team defeated Illinois State University 6-1 on Saturday improving to 2-1 on the season.
A visiting professor discussed the importance of “Life in the Sahara” during annual Darwin Days.
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Dai ly Eastern News
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Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2015
Faculty senate to discuss budget By Luis Martinez Administration Editor|@DEN_News Faculty senate will hear from members of the Intercollegiate Athletics Board to discuss recent budget overspending at 2 p.m. Tuesday in the conference room of Booth Library. This past year, the IAB overspent their allotted budget by $1 million. The board’s overspending as well as the conduction of their budget has been discussed between many faculty senate members. In earlier meetings, members of the senate questioned the department use of the budget. In one of those earlier meetings, Jim Davis discussed the recent spending issues to other board members. Additionally, the IAB is allowed to select and vote on its board members, unlike the other boards on campus. Grant Sterling, chair of faculty senate, said the board will hear from Dan Nadler, vice president for student affairs and Tom Michael the athletic director, . “The main feature will be a discussion with Vice President Nadler and Athletic Director Michael,” Sterling said. “One focus of the discussion will be explaining the justification for allowing IA to overspend its budget last year by $1 million, but other questions may be asked.” Sterling said that Jon Blitz from the chemistry department may be giving a presentation about how much intercollegiate athletics costs the university. The Senate will also discuss starting a campaign to create more scholarships for Eastern Students. These new scholarships, tentatively called Eastern Community Commitment to Excellence Scholarships, will give recipients $2,000 per year and would be renewable. These scholarships would be similar to the current Eastern Challenge to Excellence Awards, which are awarded to students with a minimum GPA of 3.0 and an ACT score of 21. The senate will also look at the Distinguished Faculty Award process. According to a report sent to the senate members, the nominations paper need to included a nominating letter, cover sheet and up to three letters of support from colleagues, administrators, staff and current and former students. Nominations will be due by 4 p.m. Wednesday Jan. 25. Luis Martinez can be reached at 581-2812 or lpmartinez@eiu.edu.
VOL. 99 | NO. 94
“TELL THE TRUTH AND DON’T BE AFRAID”
Sororities hash out VH1’s ‘Sorority Sisters’ By Roberto Hodge Multicultural Editor |@BertoHodge Audience members were left speechless when shown a clip from VH1’s TV series “Sorority Sisters,” which many – including the seven women on the panel – felt was an embarrassment to their organization at Monday’s forum. Hosted by Zeta Phi Beta sorority, “Real Sorority Sisters Discuss: ‘Sorority Sisters,’ was a forum discussion about the controversial show that aired on VH1. “Sorority Sisters” was a VH1 reality TV series that featured postcollegiate women who were members of the four historically black female Greek organizations: Alpha Kappa Alpha, Delta Sigma Theta, Zeta Phi Beta and Sigma Gamma Rho. Because of the controversy and backlash from some of the Greek national headquarters of these sororities, as well as community outcry from black Greeks, the show was canceled and many of the members on the series were expelled or suspended from their organizations. Many of the women on the panel did not watch all 10 episodes of the show; most watched only the first episode, lost interest or completely boycotted the show. Yolanda Williams, a gateway adviser and member of Zeta Phi Beta sorority said the show misrepresented the group. “That’s not what our organizations are about and that’s not who we are,” Williams said. The panel debated similarities between the show and other series’ such as “Real Housewives of Atlanta” and “Love and HipHop.” Some felt there was no difference between “Sorority Sisters” and those shows in regards to how
CHYNNA MILLER| THE DAILY EASTERN NE WS
Brittany Fisher, a senior political science major, discusses her stance on the misrepresentation of her greek organization on the VH1 show ‘Sorority Sisters’ during the Real Sorority Sisters Discuss forum Monday in the auditorium of Lumpkin Hall.
they acted, but the main concern was the women’s proud announcement of their Greek affiliation, which audience members said left a bad taste in their mouths. “If they showed our real life, it would have only lasted one episode,” Williams said. Brittany Fisher, the president of Delta Sigma Theta, said that was the biggest difference between that show and “Love and HipHop” because they were representing organizations, which had the potential to have those who are non-Greek look at Greeks as something undesirable. Fisher said everything on TV is for entertainment, but how the
girls acted showed the overall organization in a bad light. She said because she is a Delta, she is no longer just “Brittany,” she is “Brittany, the Delta.” Wi l l i a m s , w h o w a s i n s p i re d with how the national headquarters got the show off the air, said because they made it happen, they could do more as an organization having a larger voice in the nation. “We made that happen, we can change the world,” Williams said. One student in the audience, Kendall Jackson, a senior family consumer science major, said he didn’t support the women on “Sorority Sisters” because of how they
represented the organization, but he did support the show. Jackson said the women on the show appeared as a representation of their Greek organization, rather than the individuals they were before joining the group. Mona Davenport, the director of minority affairs and a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority, said “Greekdom” is not for everyone and there are some within each of the organizations on a national level that may not have the best individual personalities.
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Eastern reaffirmed for accreditation By Luis Martinez Administration Editor|@DEN_News Late last week, Eastern received word from the North Central Association that the school has been reaffirmed for accreditation for a 10-year period. A team of evaluators came to Eastern to properly evaluate the university in its mission, integrity, teaching and learning. To do this, the evaluation team looked at quality, resources, support, evaluation and improvement. The evaluation team put together a report of their findings, which often-times complimented Eastern, noting how the school fully met each of the reports’ criteria. According to the report, Eastern’s mission statement was found to be clear and well-articulated. It was reported that of the 1,431 students completing the self-study survey, 77.4% indicated some or a lot of collaboration with faculty on research or creative activities conducted outside of class.
The report also said that 86 percent of students indicated that Eastern’s activities reflect the school’s commitment to diversity and two-thirds of the faculty reportedly mentors undergraduate research outside the classroom. The evaluation team suggests Eastern develop a formal mission review cycle with input from the constituent groups on campus. According to the report, the school’s mission statement met the evaluation requirements, demonstrating its commitment to the welfare of the public. “Without a doubt, the institution’s mission is clear and articulated publicly in multiple places and guides its operations at every level of the institution,” the report said. It reported individual faculty, staff, students, trustees, and administrators could not only articulate the mission, but were also able to give concrete, specific examples of how their particular areas made the mission come alive in their day-to-day actions. The university was then evaluated
based upon its integrity, defined by ethical and responsible conduct. One of the components the evaluation team looked at in its report was how Eastern presents itself to the students and the public with its programs, faculty and staff. “Students appear to have an understanding of institutional processes and requirements as confirmed by institutional surveys and team conversation.” The report said. “Orientation programs are provided for new and transfer students by New Students Programs and include the typical orientation, advisement, and registration processes, as well as a transition program (Prowl) designed to provide a foundation for personal and academic success.” Throughout the rest of the components, the evaluation team felt Eastern successfully met each of the requirements. “Eastern demonstrates a firm commitment to integrity and ethics in policies and actions,” the report said. “This commitment is widely supported by students,
staff, and faculty by their understanding of institutional policies and sense of dedication to the institution.” Criterion three of the report focused on the quality, resources, and support of teaching and learning. One of the components that the report looked at was how Eastern has both a faculty and staff involvement within high-quality programs and other student services. “EIU has sufficient numbers of faculty members to carry out academic related activities, both inside and outside classrooms,” the report said. The evaluation team did express one concern, in terms of smaller class sizes. To retain sustainability, Eastern will have to continue current creative efforts in order to maintain current class sizes. Otherwise, the evaluation team reported Eastern successfully met all the components of criterion three.
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