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Daily Egyptian TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2015 VOLUME 99 ISSUE 14
Civil suit delayed in Young case Branda Mitchell
@BrandaM_DE | Daily Egyptian
A hearing in the wrongful death suit filed by Larry Young against his daughter’s former boyfriend Richard Minton has been delayed until Feb. 24 because of the judge’s connection to the case. Molly Young, Larry Young’s daughter, was found dead in the
apartment of Minton—who was a dispatcher at the Carbondale Police Department—the morning of March 24, 2012. Judge Christy Solverson, who was assigned to the civil case, had signed a search warrant the day Molly Young’s body was found. “[Solverson] is recusing herself because she did sign the original search warrant and could be a
potential witness in the wrong doing on the part of the officials,” Larry Young said. “There is going to be a motion to assign a new judge.” A press conference regarding Molly Young and Pravin Varughese, an SIU student found dead Feb. 18, 2014, is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Friday at the Veteran of Foreign Wars office in Murphysboro. Please see YOUNG · 2
Memorializing Maya Angelou NAACP
executive to visit SIU Tyler Davis
@TDavis_DE | Daily Egyptian
P eter r ogalla • D aily e gyPtian Anna Jackson, a lecturer in the English department, dances to a song made from the poem “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou on Monday night at the Student Center. Jackson organized the event to celebrate and remember the life and works of Angelou, and incorporated poetry readings, songs and an excerpt from Angelou’s book “Letter to My Daughter.” Jackson kept the crowd engaged by giving out Maya Angelou T-shirts to whoever could answer questions relating to the poet. She also performed the poem “Caged Bird,” from Angelou’s book “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” which was the first nonfiction best-seller written by an African American woman. Jackson ended the night by playing the song “Still I Rise” twice, encouraging everyone in the audience to get up and dance with her while the song replayed.
At the age of 21, John Gaskin III became an executive member on the national board for the NAACP. Nearly a year after the record-setting event, Gaskin will speak at SIU. The event, “Ferguson and Beyond: Not Just a Moment But a Movement,” will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday in the Student Center Auditorium. It will be hosted by the College of Business, Office of Minority Affairs, the SIU chapter of the NAACP and the Registered Student Organization Blacks Interested in Business. Gaskin—who provided commentary on the events following the August shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teen—will speak to students about ways to become active in the Carbondale community, said Michael Haywood, director of the office of minority affairs. “He’ll tell them they need be serious, focused and realize that they are not the leaders of tomorrow but the leaders of today,” Haywood said. He said Gaskin will also talk to young children as well as adults. “John will be talking to some second graders and third graders, encouraging them to be their best in academics and to set goals,” Haywood said. Please see NAACP · 2
Disability-friendly dog park in the works Jessica Brown
@BrownJessicaJ | Daily Egyptian
SIU architecture students and Supporting Independence through Teamwork Service Dogs are joining forces to create a dog park accessible to those with disabilities. The national organization trains and provides service dogs for people with disabilities and chronic medical diagnoses, while the student group, Freedom by Design, brings ideas to life in order to assist those with accessibility needs. The group typically consists of 10 to 15 members, all of who study interior design or architecture. Katelyn Walker, director of the group, said the organization was tasked with finding and completing a design project at the beginning of the fall semester. “I started looking at people I had met before on campus and I contacted SIT Service Dogs,” said Walker, a senior from Manteno studying architecture. SIT’s owner and founder Lex Dietz, an SIU psychology alumna from Bloomington, initially wanted to add a ramp to the back of SIT’s training center in Ava.
But the students told Dietz they could make a dog park behind the training center, to which she happily agreed. “We’ve never done a therapy dog park,” she said. “I’m pretty sure there’s nothing like that in our area.” The 150-by-100 foot area will offer safe and easily accessible amenities such as padded walkways and ramps. “When you’re a seizure patient and you go out in public, you can fall and hurt yourself badly,” Dietz said. “Cement is your worst enemy. Freedom by Design is creating softer areas in the park to avoid bashing of the lips, nose, mouth and teeth, as well as preventing further brain injury.” Walker said Freedom by Design will waive labor costs for the project. SIT and Freedom by Design will gather money and materials through fundraising. While hopeful to raise $3,000, SIT has raised $335 through a GoFundMe page, which it created Jan. 23. Walker said her group will use as many recycled materials as possible
and avoid sharp corners during construction. “The current design has a lot of organic shapes,” she said. “It’s better for wheelchairs and better for dogs. Sharp corners aren’t the easiest to walk around or turn around.” Nicole Dethrow, a junior from Chester studying biomedical science, said the park will benefit to those who use a wheelchair. Dethrow is afflicted with muscular dystrophy, a disease that wears down muscles over time. She will receive her service dog, Declan, from SIT within the next couple of months. “Riding around in grass and stuff is difficult,” Dethrow said. “Making things bigger and less steep will make navigation easier.” Declan is trained to open doors by pressing accessible buttons, carry things for Dethrow and pick items up for her if she drops them. “He’s also learning how to give the cashier money and take the change,” she said. While Dethrow is SIT’s only client at SIU, the company caters to those with various disabilities
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nationwide, ranging from 5 to 65 years of age. The group also tries to minimize costs for clients. Training mobility assistance dogs, medical alert dogs and seizure response dogs for clients does not come cheap, Dietz said. “It costs about $25,000 to raise a service dog from start to
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finish,” Dietz said. “We ask the clients to fundraise less than 45 percent of that.” The remaining money is raised through offering services to the community for a fee, such as canine therapy, educational and training programs, Dietz said. Please see PARK · 2