Eastern News
Thursday
“Tell th e t r u t h a n d d o n ’ t b e a fr a i d . ”
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NOVEMBER 1, 2012 V O LU M E 9 7 | N o. 5 2
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
Douglas Hart open during winter
Germann finishes season on high note
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DOUDNA FINE ARTS CENTER
Behind the Scenes
OLD MAIN
Vault locks down diplomas in office 540 diplomas left in office By Tim Deters Features Editor
PHOTOS BY AMANDA WILKINSON | THE DAILY EASTERN NE WS
Kate Henry, a graduate assistant for the music department, plays flute during the Eastern Symphony Orchestra practice in the Large Rehearsal Hall at the Doudna Fine Arts Center on Wednesday.
Student gets best of both worlds By Amanda Wilkinson Staff Reporter
Kate Henry can be heard but not seen around the Doudna Fine Arts Center. Henry, a graduate assistant for the music department, dresses in all black to blend in backstage but can stand out in a crowd during music performances. Henry said for her work, she works for both Doudna and the music department to organize and coordinate performances. “The biggest thing that I do is liaison work between Doudna and the music department—bring them together and organizing, those types of things,” Henry said. Henry said her main job is making sure everything gets done and runs smoothly before and during the performances. This can mean doing everything from helping with the music crew
backstage to cleaning gum off the stage floor with a key. Henry said shoes usually slow her down when working. “I usually have to walk around barefoot to go as fast as possible to get things done, but I like running around barefoot.” Henry said. On top of being in charge of scheduling performances and getting the backstage crew ready, Henry also plays the flute. “Sometimes I’ll be working at an event and performing at an event,” Henry said. “It’s busy, and it’s a lot of fun.” Henry said the balance between working 20 or more hours a week and performing is organization. “It takes a lot of organization—getting everything ready beforehand so that I can go into my performance zone then walk out on stage,” Henry said.
In the depths of Old Main, past the frosted glass of the registrar’s office door, sits a vault holding the result of students’ hard work. Entering the registrar’s office, one of the first thing students will see is a heavy metal vault located in a narrow hall within the office. The vault secures the diplomas of hundreds of Eastern graduates. Behind the rough, beige metal of the vault’s door and a baseball-sized spinner are about 540 diplomas of graduates, Registrar Sue Harvey said in an email. Harvey explained that the diplomas have ended up in the vault for a number of reasons, but most are being held for non-payment of tuition. “The majority of diplomas that are being held are a result of various holds on a graduate’s record,” she said. A smaller number of diplomas that are not being held for payment reasons are being stored in the vault
because they were returned after being mailed to graduates. “Other diplomas have been returned to our office because the address, which the graduate provided us, is no longer valid,” Harvey said. On the shelves of the vault, among stacks of obsolete Eastern course catalogs and stores of office supplies, sits the thick files of diplomas. Sitting within a dimly lit hallway between the rooms of the registrar’s office, the vault is passed by numerous employees daily yet remains locked tight. The vault is a dark and long-term home for most of the diplomas, Harvey said. The registrar’s office does not dispose of any of the diplomas and holds on to them indefinitely in hopes past graduates will take action to retrieve the result of their hard work, she said. The only way students can have their diplomas released from the vault is to pay their tuition in full or call the registrar’s office to update their address and request it be resent. Harvey said most students are successful in retrieving their diplomas. DEGREES, page 5
BRIEF
News switches service Staff Report
Henry takes out music stands to set up the Receital Hall in the Doudna Fine Arts Center Wednesday. Scenes, page 5
Starting today, The Daily Eastern News has changed from being a member of The Associated Press to a subscriber to McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. “We, like newspapers across the country, have been feeling financial pressures,” Managing Editor Ashley Holstrom said. “Breaking with the AP was a difficult decision, but we could not afford to continue our membership.” In another cost-saving move, the News will today begin running the
Los Angeles Times crossword puzzle rather than The New York Times puzzle. Like The New York Times, the LA Times puzzle increases in difficulty as the week progresses. MCT, as McClatchy-Tribune is known, also provides national and state wire content, giving the News access to coverage of issues that affect Eastern’s campus. “We’re striving to provide the best coverage we can,” Editorin-Chief Elizabeth Edwards said. “With the wire service, we hope to be a source of more than just campus news to our readers.”
ADVOC AC Y
Hunger Challenge to bring awareness to community By Robyn Dexter In-depth Editor
A community-wide movement to spread awareness about hunger will begin Thursday and continue throughout the month. Rachel Fisher, director of student community service, said the EIU Hunger Challenge program provides education opportunities to help students understand what poverty really means. Fisher said many students know of poverty, but do not fully understand it. “Poverty can directly impact not only ourselves but also our friends in our community,” Fisher said.
The first EIU Hunger Challenge activity is “Fight Hunger at Sonic,” which takes place at the Mattoon Sonic from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. When participating in “Fight Hunger at Sonic,” students can order food at Sonic that will be delivered by volunteers. All tips made to the workers will be donated to the local food pantry. Other events coming up include the “Paper Plate Advocacy” from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Nov. 5 in the Bridge Lounge of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union. “All you have to do is take two minutes to write a note on a plate, and
every plate counts for $1 donation,” Fisher said. “We can get $500 just by sharing what’s on our minds.” Fisher said the food collection goal for the month has been increased from 3,000 to 5,000 canned-food goods. Michael Gillespie, an assistant sociology professor who is working with Fisher to ensure the success of the Hunger Challenge, said the challenge takes place during November because society tends to view November as a month of feasting. “It’s important to remember that while we have this abundance around us, there’s a lot of people who don’t have that,” he said.
Gillespie will be leading a discussion and film viewing on the film “Food Stamped” at 7 p.m. on Nov. 6. “It’ll be a documentary about one person and her partner’s journey in living on a food stamp budget,” he said. “It’ll be sort of a kickoff for the rest of the month.” He said students should be interested in this topic because it is an issue that affects them. “There is a large population of students and community members that do not know where their next meal is coming from,” he said. Fisher said the EIU Hunger Challenge can make a big difference in the
Charleston community. “The Hunger Challenge has really allowed us to start evaluating what our goals are,” Fisher said. “We need to know what we can do to help our neighbors.” One of the goals Fisher said she has for the community is to not accept the conditions of hunger and poverty. “Everything is open for change, and we have to challenge ourselves to change it,” she said. “Our goal as volunteers is to challenge unacceptable limitations.” Robyn Dexter can be reached at 581-2812 or redexter@eiu.edu.