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Chancellor considers combining graduation ceremonies
Beat the heat
LAUREN LEONE Daily Egyptian Chancellor Rita Cheng said the university’s 10 separate graduation ceremonies held in the spring 2012 semester might be combined into fewer ceremonies with greater attendance numbers. Planning is still in the early stages, Cheng said. “I’m looking at saving some administration costs and will be forming a task force this summer to look at our graduation practices and traditions and see if there are ways to improve them,â€? she said. “We’re looking at how other institutions do and it may be that we just take ten down to five or six ... or instead of having three (ceremonies) a year, we have two.â€? Cheng said she and members of the task force would research different models used at other universities and find out which one works best for the institution. Fall commencements performed in December have already been combined into one ceremony. There have been two in previous years. But Cheng said she hasn’t made any decisions yet and is seeking input from the task force, which consists of faculty and staff. “I’m just going to ask the questions and then let the task force look at best practices and what we can aspire to be as a major research university,â€? she said. A total of 21,000 people attend the spring commencements, which are divided by college into ten separate ceremonies, said Matt Shackleton, assistant director for event services. Shackleton said the university must take into account the number of guests per graduate. Roughly 2,000 to 3,000 students graduate per spring semester, and they average six guests each. In May 2011, 3,230 students were presented with degrees during the spring commencement. “That’s the equation that plays into this more than anything else ‌ because you have to find a venue where you can hold that number of guests per graduation,â€? he said. But Cheng said she is considering reducing ten ceremonies to five or six rather than combining them all into one because there are some restraints with the number of people who could attend one commencement. She said it is too early to discuss the pros and cons of combining the ceremonies. “We’re not done yet,â€? she said. “It’s premature to talk about what the pros and cons are until we find out more about how we can really have something special that has an institutional impact on students as well as keeping the more intimate relationship that people have with their school and college.â€? The university spends less than $40,000 on all ten commencement ceremonies, but Shackleton said that number isn’t extremely accurate. The annual budget for ceremonies is $150,000, which is funded by the $25 graduation fee paid by students when they apply for graduation, he said. Please see COMMENCEMENT | 4
STEVE MATZKER | DAILY EGYPTIAN
Garrett Williams, 6, of Manlius, plays in the water at Attucks Park in Carbondale Monday. With a high of 99 degrees and a heat index of 111, conditions are dangerous. The National Weather Service in Paducah,
Ky., issued a heat warning until 9 p.m. Tuesday. The Weather Service advises any outdoor activities be performed in the morning or evening, drink plenty of water and wear light, loose fitting clothes.
Building codes stand on shaky ground ELI MILEUR Daily Egyptian Given the lack of a standard building code, James Conder says an earthquake comparable to the New Madrid Earthquakes of 1811-12 would cause considerable damage in the region. Buildings such as Parkinson Hall would probably collapse in such an event, said Conder, assistant professor of geology. Current building codes take into consideration three variables — magnitude, distance and soil types — when there are actually dozens, said Qiang Cheng, assistant professor of computer science. He and Jale Tezcan, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, were recently awarded a National Science Foundation grant of $260,000 for research in seismic data analysis with the goal of improving building designs. Cheng said buildings in Carbondale are built according to seismic data from places such as California. He said he hopes his and Tezcan's research will allow for more region-specific building codes. Conder said geological conditions such as bedrock and soil vary greatly between California and southern Illinois, and the deep soil and stiff bedrock of this region actually make it much more conducive to seismic wave transmission and amplification. Carbondale is situated between two seismic zones, the New Madrid and the lesser known Wabash. The region was rocked by a series of large earthquakes in the New Madrid zone roughly 200 years ago. Conder said the earthquakes
SOURCE: USCOURTS.GOV created Reelfoot Lake in Tennessee and completely destroyed the towns of New Madrid and Little Prairie, Mo. Conder said the quakes were probably around magnitude 7 on the Richter scale. The Richter scale is a way to measure the magnitude of earthquakes based on the amplitude of its waves. It is a base10 logarithmic scale — which means a 2.0 rated earthquake is 10 times more powerful than a 1.0 and a 3.0 is 100 times more powerful than a 1.0. Though New Madrid is the more famous of the two seismic zones in the
JUSTIN SKARIN | DAILY EGYPTIAN
region, the Wabash zone should be given more attention, Conder said. “My inclination is that the Wabash is probably a more significant risk than New Madrid,� he said. “If people want to look at where the large earthquakes are happening, they’re happening in the Wabash.� He said steel structures tend to handle earthquakes better than ones made from brick, though he’s not sure if the chances of another large earthquake justify a large investment in steel structures in southern Illinois. Please see EARTHQUAKE | 4