Colin Merdian

Carolyn Kingcade

JRNL 310 – 001, 002

December 2, 2009

Pets in college: Is it really worth it?

One thing a good sized college campus gives you is the opportunity to have access to a wide range of different kind of people. People with jobs, people of different race, nationality, people with cars and people with pets.

 Now, as everyone knows, there are absolutely no pets allowed in the dorms, so most of these cases come from off campus living, although you must not ever rule out a location when it comes to animal ownership. Some will do whatever it takes to house their beloved animals.

            So first, where are the best places to have a pet down here at school? Well the dorms are universally known to be very strict of their no pet policies. However, there seems to be a few that have found ways around this. We all know how rebellious young freshman are, so it was very interesting to see how one of the freshman that’s pledging a local fraternity was able to sneak a snake in his dorm and have it undetected, so far, for the whole semester. “Well, fortunately for me I reside at Thompson Point, where you don’t have to scan in and there aren’t any R.A.s watching you, like at The Towers or University Hall. Also, I live in a three person room, which is significantly larger then most of the other rooms, so it’s much easier to keep things a little more hidden.” So if you’re a freshman living in the dorms your chances of obtaining and maintaining a pet are slim, that is of course if you have the unfortunate roll of the dice putting you in The Towers. Thompson Point on the other hand, although still not allowed, is the better location if you really need to live with an animal.

            Next I decided to interview two of my roommates, both who own dogs.

Me: So what made you guys want a pet down at school?

Tony: I’ll be graduating in a year, and whenever I leave I’d like to have something to keep me company when I’m gone. I thought it would be best to get him now while I’m still in school so I can raise him a little bit before I’m off on my own

Bob: I just really enjoy a dog’s company

Me: Why a dog?

Tony: Because cute dogs attract the ladies. A dog is a good icebreaker

Bob: I hate cats and dogs are loyal and obedient.

Me: What are some of the differences with having a dog at school as opposed to at home?

Tony: At home my parents can help me with him, at school the responsibility is all on me

Bob: My dog gets really excited when there’s more people around like at parties. At home he’s calmer and gets more exercise because we have a bigger yard and another dog for him to play with

Me: What’s the best part about having a pet at school?

Tony:  Something to play with.

Bob: The company of anything, whether it be an animal or a person, it’s always important to me.

            It seemed, after talking with a few other people that had pets with them at school, that even with the thousands of people in their age groups, many students still felt the need for a little animalistic companionship.

            The most popular pet, through my own personal research, was dogs by far. It seemed like every other house in the neighborhood had at least a dog or two in their home. The next most sought after pets were hamsters, snakes and cats.

            What was pretty much taken from this study, after looking into this subject a little deeper, is that it’s pretty risky to own an animal down here at SIU. The dorms do not allow them and there’s only a few certain one’s that give you enough leeway to possibly sneak one in there. Also many of the rental agencies in town do not allow animals either, especially dogs. Home Rentals is the agency that rents out my houses around campus than anyone and they have threatened my roommates a few times now to get rid of their dogs after seeing them in our yard. The largest rental company in Carbondale doesn’t allow pets in their houses, the college doesn’t allow them in their dorms yet students continue to bring them on board. When asked about the chance of getting into serious trouble over keeping a pet in their home, Richard James, a sophomore from Arlington Heights studying exercise science replied, “People have been evicted, that I know of, so I don’t know. I keep my dog under wraps pretty good, so I think ill be fine.” It may not be worth the risk for someone like me or you, but it seems like there are many others down here that just can’t seem to live without their beloved pets.

…

 “I practice 4 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year – unless I am unbelievably sick, then there’s an exscuse of course..” 

“It’s probably the greatest feeling ever..”

Interview and Photos By: Jennifer Diane Gonzalez

Email: jazzybassoon27@yahoo.com, jgonzo27@siu.edu

…

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Chong Suk standing before her class during high school

This is the story of my mother, Chong Suk McDaniels, of why she came to live in America. She talks about the difficulties she faced, and what she thinks now of leaving her country and family behind. (Click the title to hear the interview)

By Randy Richardson

A Denunciation of Commercialism

Happy holidays, a time for spending time with family and friends. Gathering around the tree exchanging gifts and good will and sipping egg nog, well–it is supposed to be. Seriously though, this is the time of year to be stressed out and and scream–or commit murder, whichever is more therapeutic. But why:

• waiting in line to buy the biggest newest video game or console out of Japan–these things come out around Christmas for a reason
• after waiting (see above) the fighting to get the biggest newest video game out of Japan
• racking the brain to buy the perfect gift for an ungrateful child who will always complain about what they received no matter how expensive it was.

“I just thank God I am old enough to drive and can leave when I can’t take it anymore.”

For some reason, family gatherings always result in some member of the family making a fool of him or herself and resulting in the meal being ruined–for some reason this melt down is both fascinating and horrifying.

It is like watching a train wreck really, the eyes cannot be averted no matter how horrifying the scene, says Leslie Potter. “It always comes down to some stupid kid whining about having to wait to open presents–then the kid cannot stay out of the way while everyone else is opening presents.

Or if it’s not the little brats fault it’s some adult making a fool out of themselves,” says Potter, “I just thank God I am old enough to drive and can leave when I can’t take it anymore.”

Paranoid and freaked out, from Christ to Santa…

Marcus Etherton says “I don’t know how many of you may know this, but Christmas is supposed to be the celebration of the birth of half the worlds savior. It seems lately though Christmas is the worship of the green god–the dollar–and it’s jolly red avatar Santa Claus.”

Christianity usurped the month of December for their celebration because it was a pagan holiday and when Christianity, or rather Catholicism took over, the holiday had to go, Etherton explains.

“Hopefully someone will hear my words,” Etherton continues, “and wake up from a jolly induced stupidity and stop wasting money on ungrateful children–it’s just spoiling them, and instead come together as a family and be thankful for what you have and remember…”

“Christmas is not about a fat man in a red over coat that sneaks into your house at night and leaves gifts.”

Ladies and Gentleman--the worlds new God.

Aspects of World of Warcraft

Thousands For New Auditorium

On Oct. 15, 2009, the Southern Illinois Dance Company made a decision to take matters into their own hands and attempt to develop a plan in order to renovate Furr Auditorium.

Furr Auditorium, part of Pulliam Hall, was built in the 1950s.  It consists of  theater-style seats, a stage, and poor quality lights.   Over the years, updates on the auditorium have been rare.  A projector with Internet access and speakers have been added; however, that is the only addition to Furr since the early 90s.

Donna Wilson has been the adviser for the Southern Illinois Dance Company for 23 years.  The dance company performs a big show each semester and is involved with many different other fundraisers and activities.

Each show brings in about 300 people from the southern Illinois area.  After each show, the company holds tryouts again for the following semester.

In order for a renovation to be possible, the company will have to have at least $25,000 to do minor adjustments.  The lights are very unsafe and no one will ever know if they will fail in the middle of one of the shows.  The walls in the auditorium are peeling, making the theater look extremely trashy.

The dance company has asked for money from the University Student Government board but the request failed .  The company needs a huge amount of money in order for their auditorium to look somewhat decent. The final goal is $100,000.

The group membes say they are so motivated to get their auditorium complete, even if it means working hard and putting together many fundraisers.

“Dance is so important to us,” said President of SIDC, Laura Durbin.

“Everyday we have stressful today,

but at night is where we get our

minds off everything and just dance,” she said.

The auditorium is something that needs to get fixed, they say, and even if they aren’t still at school when it gets fixed, they hope future members of the company will benefit from it.

Their most recent show in December sold out both nights.  Hopefully SIDC is alot closer towards their goal of renovating there theater.

-C.Enea

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS DANCE COMPANY

Undergraduate Student Government President Priciliano Fabian speaks to the USG senators about the OrgSync program during the USG meeting Sept. 15 at the Health Center auditorium. OrgSync would allow Registered Student Organizations to have a homepage, track members and raise awareness for events.

Emergency meeting brings few senators

Undergraduate Student Government had to scramble Sept. 15 to distribute funds to Registered Student Organizations.

Following the cancellation of a meeting for a Monetary Award Program grant rally, an email was sent out on short notice Sept. 14 for an emergency meeting.

Many senators did not receive the message, as the required number to make up the two-thirds majority to approve funding did not show up.

Needing five additional seats filled to meet the requirement, current and former senators were called and other students were asked to sit in for missing members.

Priciliano Fabian, president of USG, said he was relieved when the required number finally made it to the meeting.

“The most important thing is that everyone was able to be funded,” Fabian said. “Without USG, many of these groups would be in trouble.”

Fabian said it was vital to pass the bills, because many of the RSOs could not wait longer to receive the funding.

Those who filled the five seats were as follows:

• Three current senators were able to make it to the meeting after being called
• One student filled a seat
• Former senator Marcus King took the fifth seat

King said he was more than happy to help USG when they were in need.

“I’ll always have a lot of love for these guys,” King said. “They did so much for me, I was just happy that I could help them out.”

King, who sat on the Senate last year, said it brought back fond memories from when he was a senator.

USG has $3,090 to distribute for the remainder of the semester after giving almost $1,300 to the following organizations:

• All Campus Praise
• The Automotive Technology Organization
• The American Institute of Architecture

Miranda Brunner, a junior from Oreana studying architecture and member of the American Institute of Architecture, said she was scared when there weren’t enough senators to approve funding.

Brunner said the institute has almost half of its 96 members signed up to go to a weekend conference that consists of lectures and workshops to enhance students’ architectural skills, and they needed almost $360 to help with hotel costs.

“The only other options we had were to either do a fundraiser or pay for it ourselves,” Brunner said. “That would have really hurt us.”

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Parker Kligerman climbs out of his car after winning the Southern Illinois 100 at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds dirt track Monday. Kligerman, 19 years old, charged through the pack from a starting position of last place all the way to the front to win the race, his second ever start on a dirt track. James Durbin ~ Daily Egyptian

Parker Kligerman is living his childhood dream.

Kligerman, of Westport, Conn., is a development driver for Penske Motorsports and one of the top drivers in the ARCA RE/MAX Series at only 19 years old. The motorsports series races cars similar in appearance to those seen in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Many of the current ARCA RE/MAX Series cars were used in past NASCAR competition.

Kilgerman hopes to make it to NASCAR competition one day, just as fellow Penske Motorsport drivers Kurt Busch and Sam Hornish Jr. have done. Kligerman had a chance to show his NASCAR potential in the Southern Illinois 100 at the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds Monday.

After scraping hitting the wall in qualifying at the one-mile dirt track Monday, Kligerman was forced to start the race in last place. Despite the setback, he made his way to the front of the pack by lap 55 and went on to win the event.
“This is only my second time on a dirt track and it wasn’t as grippy at all,” said Kligerman, regarding his qualifying accident.

Kligerman dedicated his win to the team who hastily repaired the car.
“These guys are awesome,” he said. “They did a great job fixing the car in record time.”
The rookie talent in the ARCA RE/MAX series is not limited to Kligerman. Another fan favorite at the event was Justin Lofton, 23, of Westmorland, Calif. Lofton, also inexperienced when it comes to dirt tracks, made heavy contact with the outside retaining wall during qualifying, wrecking the car. Lofton’s crew was forced to make last-minute preparations to his backup road-course car.
“I’ve never raced it this year,” said Lofton regarding the backup car. “We changed the swaybars, springs, front A-arm and rear gear.”
Lofton started at the back of the pack with Kligerman, but managed to keep his nose clean throughout the race, salvaging a sixth-place finish and keeping his season points lead locked down. Kligerman’s win closed the gap between him and Lofton to only 35 points.

James Durbin ~ Daily Egyptian

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