DAILY EGYPTIAN Braving the cold
Outlook becomes SIU mail system LUKE NOZICKA Daily Egyptian After years of having an array of different email services used throughout campus, the university has chosen one provider. Chancellor Rita Cheng said the change in emailing systems is more efficient, will save the university money and is a step in a more technologically friendly SIU. Student and faculty email systems have been migrating to Microsoft Outlook from Gmail since Dec. 18. Previously not all students and faculty were using the same mailing systems, Cheng said. “To put it in context, we had 35 different email systems that were being used on campus,” she said. Several problems arose because of the numerous systems being unable to integrate, Cheng said. She said one of the larger problems was while sending out mass emails, some recipients would not receive the information. “There were a lot of challenges with calendars and address lists, and the Google solution was also not meeting our needs in terms of our regulatory compliance,” she said. “It wasn’t secure enough.” The decision to migrate all SIU employees was made based on several factors, one being cost, Cheng said. It is cheaper to have one system, because campus technicians can then upgrade everybody at the same time. “With 35 systems we had individuals all across campus that were spending their time supporting email,” Cheng said. “Now we can have them spend time supporting the other things we need to do as far as supporting Banner, D2L, our research computing and other things.” Assistant Provost and Chief Information Officer David Crain said along with the cost factor, the new system is going to work more efficiently with the university tablets. “We’re doing the tablet project, Mobile Dawg, for freshman and Office 365 integrates better with the Windows operating system,” he said. Because of this the next version of Mobile Dawg will integrate with Office 365. Along with the programs efficiency through the tablets, Microsoft solution is more secure than previous options, he said. “(Google’s) terms and conditions say they will give your information to any local government that requests it, like subpoenas it,” Crain said. “But a number of their data centers are in China, really meaning the Chinese government or any government where any Google center is could get our email. Where Microsoft agrees to keep all of our emails at least in the continental US.” While the migration is happening for all students now, new freshman and transfers were set up with Outlook at the beginning of the fall semester. The change will also include a transition to Lync, a video conferencing and instant message system, Crain said. Please see OUTLOOK | 2
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LEWIS MARIEN | DAILY EGYPTIAN
Jessica Pease, of Carbondale, sleds downhill Tuesday with her son James, 2, near Quigley Hall. Pease brought her three children out to play in the snow since she did not want them inside while it was sunny. “They were going to be running around in our backyard before we brought them out here,” Pease said. According to the National Weather Service, Carbondale received three inches of snow in the last several days. Today is expected to be mostly cloudy with a high of 33 degrees.
Student-run small business beginning to pay off JAKE SAUNDERS SETH RICHARDSON Daily Egyptian Beginning a business while in college is a challenging experience, but for one university student, the struggle is worth it. Sidney Rehg, a December 2013 graduate from Belleville, is an example of what the reward can be through long-standing dedication and perpetual determination: your own business. Rehg officially launched Piranha, a public relations and branding firm, in May. He worked throughout the spring 2013 semester to bring his business venture to fruition. “When I started Piranha, I understood that Carbondale, along with the region surrounding it, lacked a strong public relations presence,” he said. “With my background in digital content creation and public relations, I knew there was a great opportunity in the market.” The company was formed through the Dunn-Richmond Economic Development Center’s Small Business Incubator. Rehg provides a variety of public relations services to clients in the area including content development, email campaigns, newsletters, media and press kits, event planning, and website development. Piranha focuses its public relations
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hen I started Piranha, I understood that Carbondale, along with the region surrounding it, lacked a strong public relations presence. — Sidney Rehg SIU Alumni
endeavors on a digital scale in the St. Louis and southern Illinois region. Rehg said operating in this area requires strong networking. Jasmine Breeland, a junior from Wheeling studying speech communications and account executive at Piranha, said Rehg’s love of public relations and background is what drove him to start the company. “His brother started his own business at 18 and his father has a digital ad agency in the St. Louis area,” she said. “Sidney was further inspired to start his business after seeing his father and Daymond John, founder of FUBU, speak at Southern Illinois University Carbondale within a few weeks of each other.” Denise McClearey, a senior lecturer in speech communication who taught Rehg, said his background will be an invaluable asset to his ongoing success. “I think Sid is going to be really great in this role,” she said. “He was born to do it. His father has a very successful business and I think Sid learned a lot watching his dad.”
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Rehg worked with only one other employee when he started. As the company has grown, he hired another four. “The business picked up clients rather fast and I aspire to grow the business to manage client accounts and transition away from project-based contracting,” said Rehg. Two of his larger clients are Blue Stingray Digital Ad Agency in St. Louis and Bow Tie Cigar Company in Belleville. John Pearson, a professor of management, said there are several challenges any small business owner faces when starting, but they may be harder for a student. “The two reasons that startups fail is undercapitalization—which means not enough money—and poor management,” he said. “If you’re a student starting a business, you may not have any business background at all.” Pearson said capital can also be hard to come by for students because investors may think they do not have the ability to be successful. Please see BUSINESS | 4
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