Study abroad program presentation scheduled

Faculty members in the department of Geology and Geography will hold a presentation Thursday to inform students about study abroad opportunities available through the department to Ireland, the Galapagos Islands, Andes Mountains and tropical rain forests of Ecuador.

The presentation will take place at 7 p.m. Thursday in Room 3040 of the Physical Science Building. The programs are scheduled to take place from May 7 through May 25.

Additional information is available at www.eiu.edu/~edabroad.

RHA considers donating to Haiti Connection

The Residence Hall Association will discuss donating up to $20 to the Haiti Connection for the Sixth Annual 5K Run/Walk for Non-Violence at its meeting Thursday.

Also on the agenda is discussion of RHA’s Committee on Publicity and Involvement and the Illinois Residence Hall Association summer business meeting to take place at Eastern in early summer.

Since the Committee on Publicity and Involvement was instituted two weeks ago, a few people have joined the committee, but RHA President Kevin Leverence said he is seeking more volunteers and feedback.

One of the purposes of starting the committee was to get Greek Court more involved in the RHA, and several representatives of Greek Court have joined that committee, Leverence said.

The RHA meets at 5 p.m. at Carman Hall.

Members of the RHA have been working throughout the semester on a bid for the IRHA summer business meeting. Eastern has won the bid, and will begin working on logistics of the conference, which will draw 25 to 40 people, depending on how many schools attend, Leverence said.

The summer business meeting will work on planning the next IRHA conference, set for February 2003 to take place at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, as well as state level legislation for the organization, Leverence said.

– Jessica Danielewicz,

Student Government editor

Apportionment Board will receive UB budget

The University Board, campus recreation and dramatic performances departments will present their proposed budgets to the Apportionment Board Thursday.

Budget presentations began last week with the Student Senate and the AB.

The AB meets at 7 p.m. in the Arcola/Tuscola Room of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.

Following the presentations, the AB will go over all budget proposals and make necessary cuts, AB Chair Jen Fanthorpe said Tuesday. Those cuts will be given to the boards March 7, and the boards will then revise their budgets and present them March 21.

Revised budgets will go to the senate for voting March 27, Fanthorpe said.

After the senate votes on the budgets, they need to be approved by Shirley Stewart, interim vice president for student affairs, interim President Lou Hencken and then the Board of Trustees.

The AB determines the budgets of the five boards, which are funded through student activity fees.

– Jessica Danielewicz,

Student Government editor

Concert fee proposal on senate committee docket

University Board representatives will present the concert fee proposal to the Student Senate Tuition and Fee Review Committee at 6 p.m. Thursday in the Greenup Room in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.

A presentation will be given by Caleb Judy, UB vice chair, and Bud Wierenga, UB concert coordinator. Judy and Wierenga will present what the fee will cover, how the fee is beneficial to students and how the fee will be used.

The fee has to be presented to the committee because it is the standard approval process for all new fees, Judy said. In order for the $5-a-semester fee to become reality next fall, the proposal must be approved by the Tuition and Fee Review Committee, the Student Senate, interim President Lou Hencken and acting vice president for student affairs Shirley Stewart and the Board of Trustees.

The student body recently passed a referendum for the proposed fee, the first step in the fee approval process. The University Board has said the funds derived from the fee will be used to support concerts on Eastern’s campus.

– Bianca Sisson, Staff writer

Subcommittee to discuss noise problems

The still unnamed subcommittee of the External Relations Committee to deal with house party noise will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday in the City Council chambers.

Discussion will center on choosing a name for the committee and drafting a plan of action to come to a conclusion on how to deal with noise problems, External Relations Chair Marty Ruhaak said Wednesday.

After a few indoor meetings, the committee will conduct field tests to determine acceptable decibel levels. The subcommittee will collect feedback on if that should be the plan of action and how it will be conducted, Ruhaak said.

About 14 committee members will vote, but students and community members are encouraged to come out and voice their concerns on the issue, Ruhaak said.

Seven or eight of those members are from the Neighbors for a Peaceful Neighborhood group, and seven are Student Senate members. In addition there will be some non-senate, off-campus members.

– Jessica Danielewicz,

Student Government editor

Study abroad program presentation scheduled

One of the country’s foremost media educators will present four lectures on campus Thursday.

Presentations on Media Literacy and Social Issues will be held in the Grand Ballroom of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union at 9:30 a.m., 11 a.m., 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Peter Debenedittis, of the New Mexico Media Literacy Project, will speak on the media’s impact about such issues as body image, eating disorders, relationship issues and lifelong debt.

“We decided as a group that if we were to bring one speaker to campus, (Debenedittis) would be the one,” Eric Davidson, assistant director for Health Education and Promotion, said Wednesday. “We felt that he was not preachy, but very entertaining.”

Dr. D, as many people call him, will be showing television commercials and print ads while teaching the audience not to give in to the appeals of ads so much as to change a person’s outlook of themselves.

– Scott Monahan, Staff writer