PIECES OF HISTORY
A local family-owned antique shop was once a print shop and garage. Now it provides a large variety of items.
PLAYERS CRAMPED
Eastern’s baseball team has been forced to practice inside because of inclement weather. Several baseball games have also been canceled.
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Dai ly Eastern News WWW.DAILYEASTERNNEWS.COM
THE
“TELL THE TRUTH AND DON’T BE AFRAID”
VOL. 97 | ISSUE 124
Tuesday, March 26, 2013 C ampus | weather
At least 70 faculty absent from class
Panthers fall at Assembly Hall
Check out Page 8 for the complete rundown of the Panthers’ 62-54 defeat against the Illini Monday.
By Chacour Koop Special Projects Reporter At least 70 faculty members were absent from work Monday after Eastern decided to hold classes despite a snowstorm that hit central Illinois Sunday night. A spring snowstorm dumped about 8 inches of snow on the Charleston area, causing most area school districts to close Monday. The number of absent faculty may be higher than 70 because both the political science department and the school of business representatives would not comment on the absences. Additionally, calls to the Africana studies and the sociology department offices were not answered. No department reported any weather-related vehicle accidents. “I’m surprised they didn’t cancel classes,” said Deborah Woodley, the school of technology chair. “The roads were pretty bad.” She said she knew of a high school student’s family who made the trip down to Eastern from Chicago for an admissions program on Monday. One family left their home at 1 a.m. and took six hours to make the trip, going about 20 miles per hour on Interstate 57, Woodley said. “I kept thinking, ‘Why did you come?’” Woodley said. Cameron Craig, a geographer and climatologist at Eastern, said the 30-year average snowfall for winter, running November to April, is about 19 inches. After the storm Sunday and Monday, the total snowfall this season is about 14 inches — about 5 inches below average. Craig said the snow was a heavier, wet snow that allowed for more accumulation as temperatures fell into the night. “This was a pretty significant storm because it had a lot of precipitation associated with it,” Craig said. “It’s a beneficial snowfall because that helps us guard against drought.” Numerous departments reported absent faculty living about an hour away in Champaign or Terre Haute, Ind., who tried to make the commute but turned around to go home. Some departments reported absent faculty from the Charleston and Mattoon area as well. Annette Diehl, an office support specialist for recreation administration, drives a Jeep and lives about seven miles from Charleston. She made it into work on Monday, and she said the roads were not too bad, adding that workers in her township clean the roads well. “I wasn’t in four-wheel drive until (Illinois Route) 16, which was kind of bad,” Diehl said. Peter Andrews, mathematics and computer science chair, said some of his fellow faculty members had very few students in class, which leaves professors with a choice. He said they must decide whether or not to cover as much material when many students are absent. Not all the faculty were as sympathetic to students missing class. FACULTY, page 5
Dominic Baima | The Daily Eastern Ne ws
Illini Adrienne GodBold, a senior guard, fights to steal the ball from Eastern’s Sydney Mitchell, a senior forward, during the second round of the Women’s National Invitational Tournament in Assembly Hall at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Monday. The Panthers lost the game 62-54, eliminating them from the WNIT. The Panthers finish their season 20-12 overall.
For the complete photo gallery of the game, go to:
dailyeasternnews.com
c ampus | weather
Lord explains Eastern’s decision not to cancel classes Monday By Nike Ogunbodede Staff Reporter
As large flakes fell rapidly from the sky, many students kept their eyes on Eastern’s website, Facebook and Twitter waiting for news of canceled classes. The message they received instead said classes would take place as planned. Blair Lord, the provost and vice president for academic affairs, was the administrator who made the decision, which received more than 100 responses on Facebook and Twitter. Lord was jarred awake at 4 a.m. Monday — like most nights during poor weather conditions — by a phone call from the University Police Department watch commander for the night shift to relay the progress of the snow and the grounds crew. From there, Lord called Dan Nadler, the vice president for student affairs, to discuss whether or not classes should be canceled. Ultimately, both Nadler and Lord decided that classes should proceed as scheduled. “If a snowstorm like yesterday were to hit at 3 a.m. this morning rather than 3 p.m. yesterday afternoon and the watch commander called me at four and said it is snowing cats and dogs and the grounds people are losing ground as they are trying to clear the parking lot and sidewalks, then it might have been a different decision,” Lord said. Lord said the closings of local academic buildings made sense because Lake Land College and Parkland campuses are made up of commuters.
Jacob Salmich | The Daily Eastern Ne ws
Jessica Lu, 8, of Charleston, Vivian Lu, Megan Kidwell and Melissa Lu, students of Charleston High School, all prepare to sled down a hill near the south end of the athletic fields Monday.
“Eastern has something on the order of 85 percent of its undergraduates students resident either on campus or adjacent to campus,” Lord said. “Their travel difficulties are greatly lessened.” Eastern also does not factor snow days into its calendar, like other universities. “So if we cancel or lose a day, it’s just lost,” Lord said. Lord said any decision he makes will be unpopular with someone, but if the decision is made with the students in mind, then he is OK with criticism.
Taking country roads back from Martinsville, Wyatt Gard drove up to Charleston Sunday in the eye of the snowstorm. The usual 30-minute drive ended up doubling as Gard drove on the unclear roads. “It was a total white out,” Gard said. “I couldn’t see. In fact, a couple of times I wasn’t sure exactly where I was at.” Stefani Atkinson lives in Mattoon and said it was inconvenient and dangerous for her to have to drive to campus. CANCEL, page 5