STAT ATTACK
DANCE, DANCE
Check out this week of sports by the numbers, including stats from football, volleyball and soccer. Page 7
The Latin American Student Association teamed up with the Ballroom Dance Society to teach students to dance. Page 2
Dai ly Eastern News
THE
WWW.DAILYEASTERNNEWS.COM
Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2013
VOL. 98 | ISSUE 33
“TELL THE TRUTH AND DON’T BE AFRAID”
CAMPUS | CRIME
NATIONAL | BUDGET
Officials advise students to be aware of possessions
Government shutdown affects students
By Bob Galuski News Editor, @DE N_News
By Rachel Rodgers Special Projects Reporter @rj_rodgers
Between Sept. 23 and Tuesday, multiple thefts from on-campus sites, mostly restricted to oncampus residences, have been reported. Some of the residence areas that have been reported to have thefts include University Apartments, Andrews Hall and Douglas Hall. Each of these incidents are under investigation. Other on-campus locations that have reported thefts include the Doudna Fine Arts Center and the South Quad. Cr i m e Pre ve n t i o n Of f i c e r Dave Closson of the University Police Department said one of the biggest ways to stop theft is by simply locking the door. “Locking your doors is definitely number one, even if you are just going down the hall for a moment,” he said. He also added it is a good idea to not loan out keys to the residence halls and make sure students only let people into the building or their room if they know them. Theft can also be prevented by not letting a large group of people into rooms, or students should make sure they know who
In the heat of the government shutdown that occurred Tuesday, the Veterans Services Office in Thomas Hall was left close to empty. Normally, three students would occupy the office alongside the coordinator to assist military students in transitioning from military to civilian life, but none of the students could go to work Tuesday. The students were hired through federal work-study funds from the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, which the shutdown affected, said retired Lt. Col. Stephen Knotts, the coordinator of Veterans and Military Personnel Student Services. Derrick Jackson, a junior communication studies major who works in the Veteran Services Office, said he was disappointed the government shutdown prevents him from working. “I’m just a college student, and money is scarce,” Jackson said. “It is definitely unwelcoming that the government would do this to their employees.” Tuesday marked the first day of the federal fiscal year, and without the approval of the national budget, federal agencies did not have spending authority. This caused the government to shut down and kept more than 800,000 government employees from going to work. Normally, when the government has not completed its budget by Oct. 1, the U.S. Congress approves a continuing resolution extending the deadline to approve spending appropriations, said Richard Wandling, a political science professor and chairman of the political science department. However, President Barack Obama, the democratically driven U.S. Senate and the republican ruled U.S. House of Representatives are battling over the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which greatly contributed to the shutdown, he added. “I understand the reasoning behind the shutdown, but it is frustrating that the government is not able to make a decision,” Jackson said. “I ask that the government be loyal to their employees like I was loyal to them during my deployment.” Jackson was deployed to Afghanistan in 2007. Knotts said he had about half a dozen military students call him Tuesday with concerns on how they would be affected by the government shutdown, especially with resources from the V.A. “The largest concern military students are worried about is financial aid, but these educational benefits from the V.A. are not affected for the month of October,” he said, adding that this includes the GI Bill and the V.A. healthcare system.
Police offer tips for theft prevention
Photo Illustr ation by K atie Smith | The Daily Eastern Ne ws
Common items stolen from residences include money, identification, video games and electronics. Crime Prevention Officer Dave Closson said an inventory sheet can help keep track of valuable items especially when leaving for a long weekend or break.
is coming over. Lt. Brad Oyer of the Charleston Police Department said there are ways to stop theft from happening that extend past simply making sure the door is locked. “Take a few minutes before you leave, make sure you check your windows and door to see if they’re locked,” he said. Oyer said smaller items people might not think about are also at risk for theft, and he suggests making sure each of those items are accounted for before and after students leave. “Things like a jar of change,
games, game platforms – make sure they’re hidden,” he said. Closson added anything from cash laying around to identification to bigger assets like video games can be targeted for theft. When classes are out for an extended period of time, such as a break, burglaries are more common, Oyer said. “They know where large groups of students are, and when (students) leave, they like to go shopping,” he said. Although there is extra patrol around those areas during breaks and extended weekends, Oyer
said to still double-check the rooms before leaving. Closson said one way to make sure students know exactly what they have at all times is to keep an inventory sheet. “In the back of the housing manual, there is a property inventory form,” he said. “They can also be picked up at UPD.” Closson said things to list on the inventory sheet should include the make, the model, the serial number, the color, the size and what its value is.
THEFT, page 5
State | PROGRAM
Degree to teach non-traditional education Employment opportunites may increase with approval of program By Robert Downen Administration Editor @Den_News Pending state approval, an experimental new degree program would make Eastern a statewide leader in non-traditional education, a university official said. The new degree, Adult and Community Education, would teach students how to work in adult learning settings, as well as equip them with skills for nonprofit organizations and other non-traditional learning environments.
Stephen Lucas, chairman of the Secondary Education and Foundations department, said the new program, should it pass, would differentiate the university’s approach to adult and nonschool education from that of any other university in the state, as well as most in the nation. Lucas said the program, which does not actually serve as a pathway to receiving teacher certification, was adopted partly as a way of attracting new students to the university. He and other faculty members began examining untapped student demographics in February 2011 as a response to Eastern’s steadily declining enrollment rates. Based on statistics from similar programs in Ohio, Lucas said the
department has projected a minimum of 25 students to enroll in the first semester, which he said he hopes will be next fall. Additionally, he said the Illinois Occupational Employment Projections indicate 4,644 annual job openings in fields related to adult education settings, a number he believes is indicative of the vast employment opportunities that might come with the degree. “There are a number of ways that training in non-school education settings can be applied professionally,” Lucas said. “Whether in adult finance, adult literacy programs or other things, a lot of the necessary skills—lesson plans, designing curriculum—are similar.” By providing an education degree not contingent on teacher
certification, Lucas said the university is opening itself to a huge variety of non-traditional students at the undergraduate level. He said because the new program would be taught by a wide range of faculty from different departments, the university would also enable students to specialize in non-traditional fields. He noted the employment opportunities that would arise from coupling an adult education degree with fields like gerontology, which studies old age. “ T h e e l d e r l y a re t h e b i g gest targets for financial scams,” he said. “So having the skills to teach something like financial education or awareness to them would be hugely beneficial.” DEGREE, page 5
SHUTDOWN, page 5