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OC TOBER 22, 2012 V O LU M E 9 7 | N o. 4 4
EASTERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY CHARLESTON, ILL. D A I LY E A S T E R N N E W S . C O M T WIT TER.COM/DEN_NE WS
City theater performs ‘The Hallelujah Girls’
Panthers sweep weekend series
Page 3
Page 8 ZUMBATHON
EDUC ATION
Center gives help to new educators By Robyn Dexter In-depth Editor
JACOB SALMICH | THE DAILY EASTERN NE WS
Attendees of the Zumbathon Party in Pink dance along to an instructor in front of them at the Student Recreation Center on Saturday.
Eastern exercises for breast cancer awareness Students participate in Zumbathon to raise money for cure By Bob Galuski Staff Reporter
Adorned in all pink workout clothes, including bright pink spandex, Levi Farren danced and exercised during the “Zumbathon Party in Pink” Saturday, in an effort to raise money for breast cancer awareness. Farren, a senior psychology major, said this was only his second time doing Zumba, and he was there because his friends had told him about it. “It’s fantastic. I’m terrible at it, but you just need to dance, listen to the music and move with the rhythm,” Farren said. Farren was one student out of nearly 100 who showed up for the second “Zumbathon Party in Pink” fundraiser. For three hours, students filled the Student Recreation Center of Lantz Arena doing Zumba exercises to support breast cancer awareness. Partnered with the Susan G. Komen foundation, the Zumbathon was in support of breast cancer treatments, education and
screenings. The price of admission was $2 in advance and $4 at the door, with 75 percent of all proceeds going toward the Susan G. Komen foundation. A donation box was also set up for everyone participating to contribute, if they wanted to. The Zumbathon lasted from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., with constant dancing and exercise filling the REC. Many of the students said they were participating because of a family member or friend they knew who were affected by breast cancer. Megan Boyle, a freshman elementary education major, said she was doing the Zumbathon because of her grandmother. “I like Zumba a lot, and I figured it was a great way to help out,” she said. “My grandma had breast cancer, so I know what it’s like for somebody’s family to go through that.” For some students, even though they had been involved in Zumba classes, this was their first Zumbathon. Jessica Clement, a senior communication disorders and sciences major, and Emily Dupuis, a senior family and consumer sciences major, initially led those during the Zumbathon. Clement said this was her second time leading the marathon.
“I’m terrible at it, but you just need to dance, listen to the music, and move with the rhythm.” Levi Farren, senior psychology major
“I love doing this; it’s for a great cause,” Clement said. Clement also said there was a decrease in the numbers between the first Zumbathon last spring and the one on Saturday. Despite the drop in attendance, Dupuis said she figured there were at least 100 people dancing and exercising. “I think both of them were successful, and I mean we have close to 100 people right now, so it’s pretty great,” Dupuis said. Many of the participating students said they had been involved in Zumba through classes in the REC. ZUMBA, page 5
PAR ANORMAL
Haunted Illinois places to be discussed Paranormal researcher, author to present local haunting spots By Samantha McDaniel Daily Editor
A paranormal researcher will create a road map to some of the most haunted places in Illinois on Monday. Chad Lewis will be presenting some of his discoveries and adventures at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Grand Ballroom of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union. Lewis is a paranormal researcher who has written many books about the most haunted places in different states including Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa. Lewis said his presentation will be dominantly visual with pictures of the places and things they have captured during their investigation. “I’m going to give people the background story, the folklore, the eye witness accounts, the equipment we use on our investigations
“When you go to these places, hopefully something happens—maybe it will, maybe it will not—but I’m certainly going to have an adventure.” Chad Lewis, paranormal researcher
and really just share the scariest hauntings from the state,” Lewis said. Lewis said he got his start in paranormal research because he grew up in an Unidentified Flying Object capital. “I was really interested in why people believe in UFOs, and then I started studying psychology at the university, and I really got interested in ghost and crop circles, Big Foot and mysterious creatures,” Lewis said. “It really went from there.” Lewis said his favorite spot in Illinois was Death Curve in Cambridge, Ill. “It is a place for years where people were seeing
this woman carrying an axe, walking the lonely road,” Lewis said. “No one really know why she was out there, but the legend is that if you drive out to see her, you’ll drive off the road and die.” He said when he started researching this place, he found out about a woman who killed her six children with an axe. “It happens quite a bit where I get stories about the legend or these places, and sometimes the real history is not quite the same as the legend, but many times you get the cases, like the case at Death Curve, where it is based on a real case,” Lewis said. PARANORMAL, page 5
As the rules and regulations surrounding becoming a teacher change, Eastern has provided students with the Center for Teacher Education Assessment and Certification Testing Support. Aaron Chun, a graduate assistant in the center, said this is the first semester the center has had an actual office. The center, in Buzzard Hall Room 2303, provides resources for students who are working on their teacher certification requirements. “We can help students deal with all the logistical aspects of the test,” he said. “The main thing we’re pushing are our workshops.” Chun said there are two paid workshop facilitators who moderate practice tests and are available after the practice test for any questions and to offer advice. “We like to send our students to the workshops first because we know that (the facilitators) are great and have helped a lot of people,” he said. Another resource available to students through the center is software, including My Foundations Lab, which helps students track their progress on reading, language arts and math. “It’s so helpful because it has a pretest for every section, and it helps mold your studying experience so you study exactly what you need to and don’t study too much of what you already know,” Chun said. The center can help students in all phases of studying to take their Basic Skills Test, now known as the Test of Academic Proficiency, or TAP. Since the requirements to get a teacher certification have changed to include an ACT score of 22 instead of taking the TAP, the center has had to include resources for both tests now. “All of this is in light of the test getting a little bit harder throughout the years,” he said. “We want people to succeed and be educators, but it’s definitely not a cakewalk like people might’ve previously thought.” Chun said the feedback has been good for the center. “Seeing people come in that are so happy that they’ve passed makes me feel great,” Chun said. “The responses have been trickling in, and so far, they’ve all been good.” He said he hopes more students come to the center as the year goes on because there are many resources they can offer students to help them get through the test and figure out what they need to do personally to get certified. “We offer a lot here, but it’s all customized to where the student is at in the test process,” Chun said. Olivia Dziedzinskyj, a senior education major, said the center was helpful for her while she was studying. “I used it specifically for the reading section of the test because that’s what I was having the most trouble with,” she said. “I went three times a week when I was trying to pass the Basic Skills Test.” Dziedzinskyj said going to the center regularly did help her improve her score. The main goal of the center is for students to pass and get their certification, Chun said. “We want them to pass and become educators,” he said. “This test is important, and it’s the thing many juniors and seniors need to go be able to do the thing they love the most.” Robyn Dexter can be reached at 581-2812 or redexter@eiu.edu.