TOP CAT PROGRESSIVE PIZZA Women’s soccer player Meagan Radloff scored two With red-shirt sophomore Garet Christianson goals on her 21st birthday during the Panther’s game against Tennessee Tech.
on the men’s soccer lineup, the team has scored nine goals in three games.
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Dai ly Eastern News
THE
WWW.DAILYEASTERNNEWS.COM
Thursday, Oct. 3, 2013
“TELL THE TRUTH AND DON’T BE AFRAID”
c ampus | Transportation
VOL. 98 | ISSUE 34
administr ation | descriptive
Noel-Levitz to conclude consulting period Buses Eastern’s student enrollment full for 15000 fall break By Jack Cruikshank Staff Reporter @DEN_News
By Samantha McDaniel Associate New Editor @DEN_News The two buses rented by the university to take students home over fall break have been completely filled. Susie Ray, an administrative clerk in the Ticket Office in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union, said both buses were filled and not enough students are on the waiting list to get another bus. The university works with Monticello Bus Service, Inc. to provide transportation for students to Chicago and its surrounding suburbs. Ray said they reserved two buses for the fall break based off of last year’s number of students who used the transportation, and will have three for Thanksgiving break. Tickets go on sale roughly two weeks before the bus is scheduled to leave, she said. “We try to accommodate everybody and let them know when tickets go on sale,” Ray said. “It is up to them if they really want to go home to try and get here in time to purchase a ticket.” Ray said if there are enough students on a waiting list to fill another bus, they can get one provided if the company has a bus available. If there are not enough students, however, the university will not usually get another bus. For students who are unable to get a ticket for the buses through the university, Ray said the Ticket Office provides some other alternatives for getting home. She said they tell students about the Amtrak and Greyhound bus service in Mattoon, and about the Dial-a-Ride program that will transport them to those stations. Brittany Welsch, a sophomore psychology major, said she is planning on using the buses during break to get home, and said she does not like that there are so few buses available. “There’s no way to get home if there isn’t another bus,” Welsch said. “I live three hours away, so I would have no way of getting home if I didn’t take the bus.” She said if the bus was full she would consider taking the Greyhound or the Amtrak, but would rather not. “I would probably just stick it out and go home on other breaks,” Welsch said. She said the university should consider getting more buses. “If everyone here decides to go home, three wouldn’t even be enough,” she said. Golene Thrush, a freshman early childhood education major, said she would be upset if she tried to get a bus ticket and there were none available. “It would be kind of stressful because I wouldn’t have a way home,” Thrush said. “My parents would have to find a way to come get me or I’d have to find a different way.” Molly Kearns and Bridgette Hearn, both junior sociology majors, have ridden the bus from Eastern before. Kearns said she does not like riding the bus because the drivers had to ask the riders directions for different areas of the ride.
BUSES, page 5
The university will minimize its relationship with an outside consulting firm due to the fall’s disappointing enrollment trends, a university official said. In November 2011, the Board of Trustees approved hiring the enrollment management-consulting firm Noel-Levitz to help reverse the trend of declining enrollment at Eastern. Now, after almost two years, the population is still declining and the time with Noel-Levitz is coming to an end. Blair Lord, the provost and vice president for academic affairs, said the consulting contract with the firm was originally set to expire on June 30, 2013, but because of setbacks, the contract will officially end around November. Eastern, however, will still retain some additional services such as a proprietary system that helps determine which admitted students have a high tendency to choose Eastern. “(The proprietary system that Noel-Levitz will still handle) is a fairly elaborate model to develop in house,” Lord said. “We were going to try to develop it over this past year, but we are not ready to do without Noel-Levitz’s assistance at this time. Hopefully we will get there soon.” The current total enrollment of 10,417 (8,347 of which are undergraduate students) is approximately 1,000 students less than what Lord said he would like it to be consistently. “The ultimate goal is to stem the declines that we have faced in enrollment and ultimately to reverse the trends of enrollment,” he said. “We want to stem that decline for a number of years so ultimately the numbers will start going back up again.”
Peak in 2006: Optimal: 11,500-11,800 12,349
12000
Current: 10,417
9000
6000
3000
0 Numbers supplied by Blair Lord, vice president for student affairs Gr aphic by Seth Schroeder | The Daily Eastern Ne ws Lord said that an optimum enrollment for Eastern is between 11,500 to 11,800 students, including off-campus students. At its enrollment peak in the fall of 2006, Eastern instructed 12,349 students. While the decline in enrollment has been a problem in the last few years Eastern experienced a six
percent decline in students this year, Lord was quick to point out that in other areas, such as retention, Eastern is doing well. “Eastern’s retention rate compared to state norms is very good,” Lord said. “We retain students at a much higher rate than other similar universities.” Mary Herrington-Perry, the as-
sistant vice-president for academic affairs, is currently undertaking the application of Noel-Levitz’s ideas to Eastern’s recruitment system, including a strategic enrollment planning process that created a steering committee under her leadership.
ENROLLMENT, page 5
entertainment | mainstage
Talent show cut short, wins over crowd By Marcus Curtis Entertainment Editor @DEN_News The short “Showtime at the Apollo” themed talent show hosted by the University Board Mainstage committee resulted in a victory by two strong-voiced students. Shelaina Reid and Quavonna Hayes, both junior family and consumer sciences majors, won the acceptance of the crowd, and $125, with their cover performance of Jazmine Sullivan’s song “Need U Bad.” The theme of the UB Mainstage talent show was very similar to popular amateur talent show in Harlem, N.Y. “Showtime at The Apollo”.
Performers that stepped on stage got a chance to present their entire talent, however performers who did not get the approval of the audience would be escorted off stage by a loud siren and a man in a costume with a broom or a cane. The format of the Mainstage talent show was very similar to the
faction with the performance. The process would proceed with the sounding of an alarm and the appearance of the person known as “The Sandman.” “The Sandman” jumped on stage wearing a rainbow colored clown wig and yielding a broom. He swept at the performers
"The win was unexpected. I’m happy, excited." Shelaina Reid, Talent show winner original amateur night known in Harlem. There were various amounts of students who did not meet the expectations of the crowd. Audience members yelled “Boo” and waved their hands to show their dissatis-
feet, signaling the contestants to remove themselves off the stage while the crowd continued to yell “Boo.” At the end of the talent show, David Groves, coordinator for UB Mainstage and senior manage-
ment major, stepped on the stage behind all the contestants that survived the critical crowd. Groves held his hand above each contestant’s head while the crowd responded with screams and hand clapping to acknowledge their favorite act. The crowd’s reaction to Hayes and Reid’s singing performance resulted in them taking home the $125 prize. Reid said she did not expect to win the talent show, but said she is very happy that she did. “The win was unexpected,” she said. “I’m happy, excited. Everybody did good.” Hayes agreed with her singing mate.
SHOW, page 5