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Daily Egyptian
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2014 VOLUME 98 ISSUE 104
Saluki plant breeders develop better soybeans
Students initiate assault task force Luke Nozicka Daily Egyptian
With the recent arrests of six SIU students for sexual assaults Sept. 12 through 14 in two separate incidents, student leaders are launching a new task force to address attacks on and off campus. Cameron Shulak, president of the Undergraduate Student Government, said the “It’s On Us” task force, a White
House initiative launched by President Barack Obama on Friday, is a nationwide campaign designed to find solutions for issues regarding sexual assaults. The task force acknowledges everyone can contribute to stopping violence. “I don’t know what the task force will specifically come up with, obviously that’s the reason for the creation of it,” Shulak said. “[The task force] is going to start by coming to the table talking about the issues
that are currently affecting students on campus, but then will quickly move from there to develop those solutions that we could possibly implement.” Matt Ryg, president of the Graduate and Professional Student Council, said nearly one in five undergraduate women experience some form of sexual assault, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Please see TASK FORCE · 3
Police respond to dispute
Brent Meske Daily Egyptian
The university’s latest soybean research project has provided information for further research and triggered a twin program at a university in Greece. Stella Kantartzi heads the soybean research and is a graduate of Aristotle University in Thessaloniki, Greece. She said the university is looking into developing an identical program that will help accelerate the breeding process. Kantartzi, an associate professor in the department of plant, soil and agricultural systems, said in an email the program was started last year with a seminar she organized, along with discussions during summer 2013. The Saluki soybean varieties adapt well to the Midwest environment and offer competitive yield and disease resistance. The plants are resistant to sudden death syndrome, soybean cyst nematodes, frogeye leaf spot and stem canker Kantartzi said. These diseases cause a significant loss of yield and are common diseases throughout the United States. Soybean development takes around seven years, but Kantartzi said that certain factors can reduce that time to five years. “New selection designs, highly thought out technology and shuttle breeding can reduce the time to five years,” she said. Shuttle breeding involves a breeder using winter nurseries in warmer climates to advance their material before shuttling it back to SIU. Although research has led to a better Saluki soybean, Kantartzi said the plant isn’t perfect. “These varieties are not super plants, but they are significantly better than the ones SIU released before,” she said. “We always try to create genotypes with as many good traits as possible.” Kantartzi did not use genetically modified materials in her research. A plant can become genetically modified when its DNA is transformed with genetic engineering methods. To combat this, Kantartzi said the university only uses conventional, or non-genetically modified material. “Genetically modified plants are not part of our research,” she said. “My program uses only conventional lines. The advantage is that the varieties that are produced can be either used as conventional lines or can be transformed genetically.” A line is a soybean that has specific traits that differentiate it from other soybeans. Other research opportunities have stemmed from the Saluki soybean research. Please see SOYBEAN · 3
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D aily e gyptiaN
USG introduces Saluki 411 Marissa Novel Daily Egyptian
The Undergraduate Student Government proposed several new initiatives, voted on 14 Registered Student Organizations funding requests and appointed six senators at its meeting Tuesday. President Cameron Shulak said USG is working on a web portal for student services, town hall meetings and programming for speaking events. Shulak said the new web portal, Saluki 411, is going to help students locate resources across campus. He said it is still in early development and its goal is to be established by the end of the fall semester. “All of it is going to be USG designed and run,” Shulak said. “As the process goes on, the only time the university will be involved will be for technological developments.” The student government allocated $1,500 from student funding for Adam Ritz, a frequent speaker to professional
and collegiate athletic teams, to visit the university and discuss topics such as sexual assault, alcohol, drugs and violence on Oct. 27. Shulak said the event would hopefully change collegiate cultural habits in response to recent violent incidents on campus. He said the total cost of the event would be $45,000. The first town hall meeting, designed to connect students, USG senators and administrators, will be held at 5 p.m., Oct. 28 in Student Center Ballroom B. More than 14 members of administration have been invited, such as interim Provost Susan Ford, Director of Housing Jon Shaffer and Director of Student Health Services Ted Grace. RSOs requested more than $26,000 for events occurring Jan 1., through March 15. The senate allocated about $17,000, resulting in a surplus of more than $5,000, Treasurer Nick Roberts said. Three new RSOs were approved at the meeting: the Fiat Club, Students Today
Leaders Forever and Real Talk. Fiat Club is dedicated to Latino cultural awareness and wants to form a fraternity in the future. Students Today Leaders Forever is a national nonprofit organization that tours U.S. cities while providing community service. Real Talk discusses male and female dominance in professional spaces and gender and race across cultures. Chief of Staff Shantel Franklin said USG still has 12 available seats. “The seats are constantly changing,” she said. “We have 30 senators who are on board but some will be transitioning out. It will continue to vary until we have a solid senate seating.” The next USG meeting will be 6 p.m. Oct. 7 at in the Student Health Center Auditorium. Marissa Novel can be reached at mnovel@dailyegyptian.com, on Twitter @marissanovelDE or at 536-3311 ext. 268.