Daily Egyptian

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Daily Egyptian TUESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2014 VOLUME 98 ISSUE 88

Local women create ALS gathering

RSO promotes women’s wellness Marissa Novel Daily Egyptian

If you are a Saluki woman looking for the secrets to success, seek no further. The Women Excelling in Leadership and Learning Registered Student Organization will hold its first workshop of the semester at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Student Center Delta Room. The theme, “Success for the College Woman”, will include presentations by women in leadership positions at the university. While more than 90 percent of

secretarial positions have been held by women, a majority of faculty and administrative positions, including executive and managerial, have been held by men for the past 13 years, according to the university factbook. Melinda Yeomans, faculty advisor for the WELL RSO, said the mission of the organization is to help women become independent, well-rounded leaders. “We want the best particularly for women on this campus in terms of knowing who they are and knowing what they deserve,” Yeomans said. “And just

knowing that their potential is unlimited and their value is priceless.” Megan Peterson, a junior from Normal studying psychology and physiology, president of the RSO, said the Women’s Resource Center helped her make friends after having trouble her first two years at the university. “Having other people that are in the same situation as me really helped to bring me out as a person and want to step up,” she said. “The most important part is gaining allies with other women.”

Austin Miller Daily Egyptian

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis has gained notoriety with the recent viral trend, the “ALS Ice Bucket Challenge”, and two local women have created a group for families dealing with the disease. Deb Geiger, of Murphysboro, and Nikki Morgan, of Herrin, started an ALS social gathering in June for the southern Illinois community to provide support for group members. The group also shares stories with one another about the ailment. “When a disease like ALS happens, you don’t really know what it is,” said Geiger, whose sister-in-law, Rebecca Clifford, was diagnosed with the illness in 2009. “You feel so alone, so we wanted to bring people together.” The group consists of 17 members including people with ALS, their families and community members who have lost relatives to the sickness. Members come from different parts of southern Illinois, such as Sesser, Pittsburg, Herrin and Du Quoin. “We wanted to be able to share things that can help make people’s lives a little bit easier,” Morgan said. She said she took part in the challenge in honor of her father-in-law, Don Morgan, who was diagnosed with ALS in August 2013. The ALS Association defines the disorder as a “progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord.” The deterioration of neurons leads to muscle atrophy and paralysis, then death, according to the association. Its website states ALS, commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease, affects 30,000 people in the United States. Please see ALS · 02

J amie e ader d aily e gyptian Melinda Yeoman, coordinator for the Women’s Resource Center, laughs with members of the new Registered Student Organization, Women Excelling in Leadership and Learning, Tuesday at the Center for Inclusive Excellence at the Student Center. Yeoman is the faculty advisor for the RSO and has worked with students to help launch WELL this semester including vice president Savannah McCord, a senior from St. Louis studying business and psychology. “There are a lot of resources on campus for women to socially connect,” McCord said. “But there are not a lot of avenues for women to connect on a deeper level.”

Andrea Baldwin, a graduate assistant for the resource center, said the RSO will also present an open discussion panel about the popular Netflix series “Orange Is The New Black” in October. She said the panel will focus on analyzing the female centric issues in the show, and was inspired by “OITNB” actress and LGBTQ advocate Laverne Cox’s lecture at SIU-Edwardsville on Oct. 22.

“One of the great things that I think OITNB does is it brings up lots of issues for women in terms of gender, sexuality, aging and disability all in a confined space,” she said. Baldwin said she is working on acquiring a charter bus for students to attend the event. She said students interested in attending should contact the Center for Inclusive Excellence once promotion begins.

WELL Wednesdays will continue once a week at the same time and place until Thanksgiving break. Future themes will range from resume writing, sexual health and financial advice. A free yoga class will precede each workshop at 4:30 p.m. Marissa Novel can be reached at mnovel@dailyegyptian.com

Campaigns for student trustee re-election begin The SIU Board of Trustees student trustee re-election takes place Sept. 3 and 4 on Desire2Learn. Election results will be announced at the Student Center’s Illinois Room immediately after voting closes at 5 p.m. Adrian Miller won the original election in April against opponent Kane Hudson, a then-freshman from Peoria studying engineering. Re-elections are being held because of a reported internal error with the original voting. A debate between candidates will be held at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Student Services Building in Room 150. The elected candidate will take his seat for the first time at the board’s Sept. 10 and 11 meetings in Edwardsville. Brent Meske

Marissa Novel

Jayson Holland

Adrian Miller, a senior from Carbondale studying political science, returns to the ballot seeking re-election for the student trustee seat on the SIU Board of Trustees. Miller has served on the Illinois Board of Higher Education and president of the Undergraduate Student A driAn m iller Government. “I’ve taken my passion to serve to everything I’ve been involved in,” Miller said. “I believe that I have the experience to advocate and see that results get done. I truly care about students’ concerns.” If elected, Miller said he would focus on working with USG, Graduate and Professional Student Council to urge the administration to change the hours a student can work in a week from 20 to 25.

Jim Tobin, a senior from Farmer City studying agriculture systems and political science, is running for the student trustee seat on the SIU Board of Trustees. “It’s a great time to be a Saluki and it’s a great time to have an active voice on campus,” he said. Tobin said attending SIU J im t obin was not his original plan. After serving as an officer for the Future Farmer’s of America his senior year of high school, the university awarded him the Chancellor’s Scholarship. Tobin said he is excited to work with the new administration. “I think there’s big changes on the rise and I’d love to be a part of it,” he said. “I’ve got the background, the experience and the outside perspective to help make the decisions that are best for students.”

Christopher Wheetley, a senior from Murphysboro studying political science and paralegal studies is running for the open student trustee seat on the SIU Board of Trustees. Wheetley said in an email that he is running because he believes his experience, knowledge and commitment to his peers make him a prime C hristopher W heetley candidate. He said he wants to provide his peers with more choices for the board. “Two years ago, I watched as the position for president of the Undergraduate Student Government was filled by default because there was only one candidate,” Wheetley said. “Similarly, the Spring 2014 election for Student Trustee seemed to lack a competitive field of candidates to effectively give the student body enough choices.”

Please see MILLER · 02

Please see TOBIN · 02

Please see WHEETLEY · 02

Daily Egyptian

Daily Egyptian

Daily Egyptian


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