Photo by Bret Farrell / Staff Photographer
’BIRDS ADVANCE IN FCS QUARTERFINALS
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SPORTS 8
ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSIT Y’S NEWS SOURCE SINCE 1888
MONDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2015
Vol. 128 / No. 31
Experts predict mild winter The weather outside may not be so frightful this winter according to recent reports BRENT BADER News Reporter
This season plays hosts to the weather event El Niño, which in the past has heated portions of the Pacific Ocean and caused alternate weather patterns. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, this has many different consequences across the globe including an unusually warm winter here in the Midwest. For many students this a relief compared to the usually chilling temperatures and at times excessive snowfall we experience here. “I hate the winter,” Elizabeth Yacono, junior marketing major, said. “With the snow it’s always a pain with your car and cleaning off your car at 8 a.m. is just not fun.” El Niño won’t make for a completely snow-free winter, as cold snaps can still occur, but it is expected to cause less snowfall and fewer freezing days if previous El Niño years are held as examples. Some Illinois State University students look forward to taking advantage of the warmer weather to take more time outdoors than they usually would be able to.
Meteorologists predict El Niño will cause an unusually warm winter for the Midwest. “I love going outside and I rarely like to be inside and sometimes it’s just depressing when you get blizzards and you just sit there,” Lesly Alvarez, freshman international business major, said. “On top of that I feel it gets dangerous outside.” Warmer temperatures could lead to less accidents on the streets due to less ice on the roads.
Certain activities such as ice skating or sledding may become more difficult this winter, but that does not seem to bother most students. “I do go outside and play in the snow and it is fun and I do actually go ice skating a lot and I like that, but I just don’t like being in the winter,” Tatiana Picon-Paez, freshman international business major, said.
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Warmer weather interests Picon, as she is still adjusting to the climate change after spending a majority of her life in warmer climates such as Venezuela. Some students, however, have grown accustomed to the cold and are not as accepting of warmer weather this winter. see WINTER page 5
Normal seeks student input AUDREY ANFIELD News Reporter
In an effort to gather Illinois State University students’ input for the next strategic plan, the Town of Normal is surveying ISU students through the PlanIt Normal Community Survey. Recently celebrating Normal’s 150 year anniversary, the community is looking for ways to adapt to the new century and new realities. The plan helps guide the physical, social and economic development aspects of Normal for the future. In only a few years, Normal’s community revitalized Uptown Normal and made changes in institutions, commerce and expectations. So far, there have been about 1,600 responses. The town hopes to acquire at least 2,000 responses total. All students at ISU are encouraged to participate. According to the PlanIt Normal website, the town encourages community members to “describe how you see the Normal of the next twenty years.” The survey encourages survey takers to explain what they want to preserve in Normal, reveal any favorite things about Normal or even tell a favorite story about being in Normal. Normal hopes to gain a better understanding of the present and develop a path toward Normal’s future.
Heartland offers workshops for auto workers BRENT BADER News Reporter
As one door closes, another one opens, and Heartland Community College is dedicated to helping the displaced workers of the Mitsubishi plant find that newly opened door by offering free career readiness workshops. “HCC is honored to be offering these workshops,” Kelli Hill, vice president of continuing education and advancement at Heartland, said. “We not only want to fulfill our mission as a comprehensive community college, but we want to help many whom we personally know as family, friends and neighbors.” These workshops cover material that will help displaced workers re-enter the evolved job market by teaching them how to job hunt and update their technological and interview skills. The entire schedule of upcoming workshops can be found on the HCC website . These classes are updated as needed and repeated depending on the enrollment numbers. Each workshop fills a two hour time slot; the first
hour is for the usual class, and the second hour is reserved for participants to ask individual questions or find specific assistance from instructors. The classes are a customized training program through the Continuing Education department at HCC, which exists to respond to a broad range of community learning needs. “Through Continuing Education, HCC has the business processes and experienced staff to coordinate course content and materials, find high quality instructors and facilities, and register participants,” Hill said. It also has numerous instructors through its Adult Education program with specific expertise in addressing the needs of adult learners. Heartland is also working with Career Link, the region’s Workforce Innovations and Opportunity Administrator for the Department of Labor funding. “Due to the large number of affected Mitsubishi employees, we enlisted the assistance of both Heartland Community College and Illinois Central College, through a Request for Proposal Process, to provide workshops in a
HCC is offering job workshops for the displaced Mitsubishi plant workers. timely manner,” Dena Werth, assistant director of the McLean branch of Career Link, said. Career Link works with community regarding job search readiness skills on a daily basis, and all of its services are free because it is
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federally funded through the Department of Labor Workforce Innovation and Opportunities Act.
see HEARTLAND page 5