Information Beans: Celebrate Halloween With the Dinosaurs

Amidst the dinosaurs and inflatable slides, Halloween will come a night early for kids at the Vine Community Church.

The church’s lead pastor, Sándor Paull, said the church will use all 36,000 square feet to host a Jurassic-themed Halloween for kids, which will take place from 6 to 9 pm on Friday.

“The plan that we have is to create the dinosaur exhibit—the Smithsonian,” Jennifer Quinn said, the church’s children’s director. “So hopefully to make this place look like a dinosaur has definitely been here.”

Paull said the church is holding the event the night before Halloween so parents can take their kids out for the normal trick-or-treating.

Mike Berardi, an associate pastor overseeing the event, said the event’s controlled environment will be comforting for parents.

“Me being a parent of two kids, I know there seems to be a lot of high school kids that go out and go trick-or-treating,” Berardi said. “So it’s more of a safe alternative for kids.”

Paull said this is the ninth year for the event. Berardi said there were about 500 kids in attendance last year, which he expects to double this year. He said the church sent about 4,000 invitations, including invitations to all local grade schools.

Berardi said as the event gains popularity, the need for volunteers grows. Quinn said there are about 500 volunteers setting up throughout the week and around 150 volunteers for the event itself.

“The church has grown but the event has also grown along with it,” Berardi said. “This is by far the most people that have helped out.”

Paull said the various activities featured at the event include inflatable slides, games, a scavenger hunt, a dunk tank, a bonfire and hay rides.

Quinn said the church started working on ideas in July and has spent a month building sets. Quinn said she was especially excited for a Jurassic-themed inflatable playpen that is 30 feet long, 30 feet wide and 16 feet high.

Berardi said he went to Universal Studios in Florida to research and gather ideas for the event.

“Every kid I’ve ever met loves dinosaurs,” Berardi said. “Because it is a kid’s event and kids like dinosaurs, then we’re just going to have fun with that.”

Quinn said one of the church’s ideas was to build its own dinosaur, which will be about 20 feet long and 12 feet high. To create it, she said they put together a three-dimensional dinosaur jigsaw puzzle, blew up all the individual pieces, cut them out of foam board and put them back together.

Paull said the church even tried to make their own dry ice because smoke machines set off the fire alarms.

“When I heard we’re creating our own machines to make dry ice…I mean, these guys get crazy,” Paull said.

“We love it,” Quinn said. “We love getting different senses and sounds and just making it really memorable for the kids.”

Quinn said the budget for the event was between $3,000 and $4,000. She said about $1,400 was spent on candy and volunteers will bring more.

“We’ve given so much candy away historically that we’ve had to provide discreet ways for parents to give candy back,” Paull said. “So we have redeposit zones for them to dump half of it on their way out.”

Berardi said the event is a great chance for parents to meet new people while their kids play.

“It’s probably assumed that because we’re a church we don’t support the underlying spiritual origination of Halloween,” Berardi said. “So rather than ignore the holiday, I think it’s more important for us to be able use it to develop relationships and friendships.”

Information Beans: Halloween Revived on The Strip

Although the strip is shut down on Halloween, Booby’s will be alive and full of music.

Booby’s will host a Halloween concert this Saturday comprised of popular local bands, including The Black Fortys, Himalayas and Nighty Night. Bat Rider, a band from the United Kingdom, will also be in attendance.

Josh Doyle of Himalayas said the Halloween show at Booby’s last year was such a success that they had to do it again.

“It’s a special show,” he said. “Booby’s is probably going to be the place to be on Halloween.”

Lacy Morris, Booby’s manager, said the venue is not shut down on Halloween because it is both a restaurant and a bar.

Doyle said last year’s show consisted of The Black Fortys and Himalayas, but this year features Nighty Night because of their recent splash onto the Carbondale music scene. David Allen of Nighty Night said the band’s first show was around Thanksgiving in 2008.

The fourth band, Bat Rider, presents a unique addition to the show as a foreign band. Allen said Bat Rider was booked for The Swamp, a local basement venue, but decided to join the Halloween show at Booby’s.

“Somebody talked to Josh (of The Black Fortys) about maybe getting them in on this show because they’re from, you know, a ways away,” Allen said.

David Brown of The Black Fortys said the band should be received well because Carbondale is open to new music.

“People are way less pretentious here than in other places. I think that in a lot of places people…pretend to not be interested,” he said. “They hide their emotions a lot and that doesn’t happen at all in Carbondale. It’s very down to Earth and people are excited to see music and excited to see bands from out of town that they’ve never seen before.”

Allen also said Carbondale music lovers are very receptive of outside bands.

“In Carbondale, a lot of the time, word of mouth just travels that there’s a band from out of town playing,” Allen said. “So people line up at the show to check it out.”

Doyle said members of the three local bands are friends with each other and find common ground through playing music.

“Everybody’s friendly in this area and we hang out a lot. Most of it revolved around music,” he said. “We all love music, talk about music all the time and write our own music and I think that’s really important.”

Brown said the three bands are made up of people who grew up in Southern Illinois, which is why they are such a tight-knit group.

“It doesn’t seem like we’re transient people. You know, when we say, ‘Oh I’m going home this weekend,’ it means, ‘I’m going over to that street,’” he said. “There’s no danger in any of these bands being in town for four years and then taking off.”

Mary Stamper of Nighty Night said her band has been on tour in the past year, but nothing beats playing for the local crowd

“I love playing in Carbondale. Our tour was great, but the show before we left and the show when we got back. It was so exciting to be back in Carbondale because it is very familiar and personal,” she said. “Even though everyone there has seen you 15 or 16 times, they’re still really excited and proud of you.”

Information Beans: Any Student Can Build a Hovercraft

Do not worry if there is a strange machine floating across Thompson Lake, it is probably a hovercraft.

David Allabastro said Hoverclub has made hovercrafts at SIU for 14 years. Allabastro, staff advisor for the club, oversees the construction of hovercrafts.

Allabastro started the club with Gary Butson, a professor in Civil Engineering, as a recruiting tool for high school students. Since they have competed in national competitions and turned the club into a registered student organization.

Butson said the beginning stages were difficult and the club had to learn from its mistakes. He said he taught the basics to newcomers and challenged the experienced eningeering students.

“We wanted them to build a hovercraft that met certain requirements and would qualify us for entry-level racing in the Hoverclub of America,” he said.

According to Allabastro, competitions feature various categories, such as piloting, design and technical innovation. He said SIU has won technical innovation two years in a row and took third place last year at nationals.

“A hovercraft competition is pretty much like an auto competition in the 1920s,” he said. “We will compete with anybody that has a machine. We will see people from pretty much all over the country and in some cases all over the globe.”

SIU participates in the entry-level category of competitions, Allabastro said, which limits them to a 15 horsepower motor. He said their machines can get up to 35 miles an hour on water and 25 miles an hour on land, but some machines at competitions can reach up to 110 miles an hour.

Because the machines are hard to operate, Allabastro said it is difficult keeping pilots.

“A hovercraft flies like a motorcycle on ice. Just because you point it in any given direction doesn’t mean it’s going to go there,” he said. “It takes skill and seat time, just like an airplane, to be able to pilot it properly.”

Allabastro said Hoverclub has been a great recruiting tool. He said they visit high schools, grade schools and community colleges.

“In some cases we’ll go into a grade school,” he said. “We’ll just go in and say, ‘we’re from SIU, isn’t that neat?’ And everyone goes out and watches the hovercrafts.”

David Williams, another staff advisor for Hoverclub, said the hovercraft draws a lot of interest from high school students.

“What’s common to everybody is it goes fast and it makes a lot of noise, and kids like that,” he said. “I’m not sure what the hovercraft’s mystery is, but everybody loves it.”

Allabastro said he believes the club has recruited between 2,000 and 3,000 students to SIU over its tenure.

“The idea of the hovercraft is just getting people interested, in not necessarily the college of engineering but to get people interested in engineering period,” he said.

Mandara Savage, chairman of the SIU Department of Technology, said the club is important for engineering students to get hands-on experience.

“Students actually get down and they cut the metal, they cut the wood, they glue the wood, you know they do all of those things related to building a hovercraft,” he said. “For them it’s a very worthwhile effort because they can see the actual vehicles from beginning to end.”

Williams said the club gives hands-on experience that will help students in the job market.

“If you come to a university and just get a four-year degree, you’ve cut yourself short of the experiences you could’ve had,” he said. “The type of experience you get when you work with something like this, you can’t put a dollar value on it.”

A’capella and Hip-Hop Mix for College Musical

Brandon Williams is ready to premiere a play he has been working on since his sophomore year at SIU.

“The Yard” will run at 8 p.m. on Oct. 18 and 19 at the McLeod Theatre, according to Williams, an SIU graduate from Peoria who studied journalism.

Williams said he had one act done when he graduated and finished the other two over the summer.

“I was sitting around at home and I’m like, ‘well, you know, I’m not doing anything else so why not finish the play and put it on at SIU,’” he said.

Williams said he held auditions during the first week of school. He said around 60 students showed up and he chose around 15 performers.

One of the performers he chose was Cortez Johnson, a junior from Chicago studying theater. Johnson said he has known Williams for years and helped him write the ending.

“With the cast there’s a lot of energy and a lot of potential,” Johnson said. “They came ready to work.”

Williams said the inspiration for mixing a’capella into the play stemmed from his experience with spoken word, where poetry is spoken rather than sung.

“Instead of being confined to a beat like rap is, spoken word is more…like performance poetry,” Williams said. “I called it an a’capella hip-hop musical because we’re rapping but there are no beats to it. It’s more spoken word. It’s interactive.”

Another performer in the play, Lester Hill, a senior from Chicago studying journalism, said Williams made tapes of how he wanted the dialogue to be spoken.

“It was kind of easy to hear yourself while you do it,” Hill said.

Johnson said Williams has his own genre because the play’s dialogue is not rap or singing.

“I call it poetic form because the literature is very rhythmic,” Johnson said.

Williams said the play goes from dialogue to a’capella, which is similar to musicals in how they transition from dialogue to singing. Williams said the performers trade off rhymes when they converse, which will be new to audience members but easy to follow.

“I haven’t seen any spoken word type plays or productions, so I really wanted this to be in its own rank.”

Williams said the play’s tagline, “College: mixing teenage adolescence with adult responsibility,” stemmed from a conversation with a friend.

“He was like, ‘Why does so much crazy things happen at college, like kids doing this stuff or drugs or whatever,’” Williams said.

Williams said the core of the play shows things not promoted through the university but all students’ experience, such as financial trouble, discrepancies with professors, parties, relationships and drug education.

Johnson said it was easy to connect to the play because he is living the college experience. He said he plays Steve Williams in the play, who gives the backdrops of school.

“I show what goes on with finances, what goes on behind the chair of the professor in the classroom and also things students deal with, such issues as boyfriends and girlfriends and social orientation,” Johnson said.

Williams said he wants the play to relate to students and their experience at college.

“I want them to take everything as exactly what they see…because what’s in there is educational information,” he said. “It’s ‘edutainment’ at its finest, education and entertainment.”

Tickets can be purchased at Campus Cuts Barbershop, located at 825 S Illinois Ave.

Information Beans: Kickball Charity Event Helps Fight Disease

Kicking balls and taking names is on the agenda this weekend for participants in Kickballapalooza.

The tournament will take place Saturday at Attucks Park, according to co-director Annie Karayiannis, an SIUC alumnus with a bachelors in industrial design.

Co-director Ron Perry, a West Frankfort native, played in kickball leagues with Annie, which is where they came up with the idea for the event.

“We just had so much fun playing in St. Louis that we had to bring it to the Carbondale area,” he said.

Karayiannis said all proceeds will go to the Cure Tay-Sachs Foundation.

“We decided to put out a tournament to see if people are interested,” she said. “We want to give back to the community and do something for a charity.”

Tim Rochman, a board member of the foundation, said he knows Perry through kickball leagues in St. Louis and was approached about participating in the charity event.

“It’s was nice that everybody came together to help out with it,” Rochman said.

Rochman said his four-year-old daughter Elise has the Tay-sachs disease. He said the disease is a rare and fatal neurological disorder and his daughter has it because she is missing an important enzyme.

James Rochman, Tim’s brother, is part of Blue Sky Vineyards’ team in the event. He said he is always happy to help the fight against Tay-sachs.

“Anytime there’s a fundraiser for (the foundation) we try to show up and support it,” he said. “That’s one of the main reasons I got a team together.”

Karayiannis said other charities have contacted her about hosting benefits. She said she plans to make the event annual and host a different charity each year. She said she also hopes to start a kickball league in the spring.

Perry said the event has drawn many sponsors and support, most notably from Pinch Penny Pub and the Heartland Pediatric Clinic.

Jimmy Karayiannis, manager of Pinch Penny Pub and Copper Dragon Brewing Company, said both bars will have teams in the tournament.

“It just sounds fun and different and out-of-the-normal of regular everyday co-ed softball,” he said. “We’re glad to be part of it.”

Perry said the tournament will start at 9 a.m. and end around 6 p.m. He said there are twelve teams and are split into three pools. He said the top teams from each pool will advance to a single-elimination round. The winning team will receive a trophy, he said.

James Rochman said he has 18 members on his team with ages ranging from 17 to 43. He expects the event to be competitive but fun as well.

“I know there’s going to be two or three teams taking it a little more seriously than probably the rest of the teams,” he said.

Annie Karayiannis said she has been to many kickball tournaments in St. Louis and it is very competitive. She said the atmosphere in Carbondale should be less aggressive.

“I think it will be a good time overall, just playing kickball, having fun and hanging out with friends,” she said.

For more information about the spring kickball league, visit www.sikickball.com.

Infomation Beans: Brad Cole and Carbondale

Mayor Brad Cole said a shortfall in a special city sales tax forr Saluki Way could ultimately cost Southern Illinois University money.

Saluki Way has a budget of $83 million. Students will make up $41.5 million, while $20 million will come from a sales tax increase placed on the citizens of Carbondale.

The sales tax money will be funneled into Saluki Way over the next 20 years. At the end of each fiscal year, SIU is given the first $1 million of the sales tax collection.

But what if the sales tax fails to bring in $1 million dollars in a given year?

“If it comes in at $900,000, that’s all they get. They have to make up the difference,” Cole said.

When the sales tax increase was implemented, it was projected to bring in $1.2 million per year. A bad economy has changed that projection to under $1million..

Cole pushed for the sales tax increase and it was enacted in January of 2008. At the time, Cole claimed public safety was the drive behind the increase, but he also saw the potential for the university to benefit.

“It’s a total package in our opinion,” Cole said. Although there are no estimations on how Saluki Way will help Carbondale’s economy, he expects the renovations to SIU Arena and construction of a new football stadium to attract tourism and pump money into the city. He believes that if SIU suffers, Carbondale would too, and he is willing to help.

The bad economic situation in Illinois has also affected the city’s budget and the number of jobs available in Carbondale.

Carbondale’s fiscal year lasts from May 1 to April 30, and the city is currently deciding on the annual budget. The current fiscal year’s budget is $42 million, and Cole is predicting a zero-growth budget for the next one.

Because the city does not plan to spend any more money than last year, many projects and renovations people are expecting may not happen. But Cole said he has made preparations for the upcoming fiscal year, hoping to avert a bad economic situation for the city of Carbondale.

Cole said that unknown factors may affect the economy and cost-saving efforts must be made beforehand. To do this, he said the city plans to trim back on some projects, which would mean eliminating the staffing needs for those projects.

Normally Carbondale would receive funding through the state for these projects, but the current economic situation presents a problem. Illinois has made many cutbacks and is delaying payments to Carbondale, forcing Cole to adjust and find ways to provide funds.

“We have to make budget decisions because we have to pay for it somehow,” Cole said.

Cole has made it his policy to operate without a property tax, so most funding comes from the above-average sales tax. But, by eliminating the property tax, Cole’s intention is to save the citizens money, hoping that they will spend more on businesses and stimulate the economy.

Another pressing situation is job cutbacks. Although Carbondale faces a 1.6 percent lower unemployment rate than the average in Illinois, jobs are still being lost.

There will be positions available through the city, such as neighborhood inspectors. But only half a dozen positions are currently available and will not significantly affect the unemployment rate.

“The average citizen will not receive an impact from this,” Cole said.

But Cole hopes that his preparations and cutbacks will ultimately lead Carbondale down the right path. He has

confidence that Carbondale will remain financially soundl and keep the city’s strengths intact.

Information Beans: "Glory Box" Focuses on Gay Rights

An internationally renowned performance artist will make his way to SIUC tonight to present his solo performance “Glory Box.”

Tim Miller will perform in the Marion Kleinau Theatre at 8 p.m. According to Miller, “Glory Box” is the most emotionally intense and funniest piece he has ever made.

“’Glory Box’ is a funny, sexy, and charged exploration of my journeys through the challenge of love, gay marriage, and the struggle for immigration rights for gay people and their partners,” Miller said in an e-mail.

Miller said the play reflects his real-life struggles with his Australian partner Alistair McCartney. Craig Gingrich-Philbrook, a professor in the Department of Speech Communication, said McCartney cannot become a United States citizen because of same-sex marriage laws.

“Their relationship has this sort of extra burden of dealing with these questions of immigration that a heterosexual couple wouldn’t face,” Gingrich-Philbrook said.

In addition to performing, Miller said he is also conducting a workshop with 16 students to prepare for their performance “Body Maps: Stories From Our Lives”, which will be performed on Saturday, Oct. 10 at 8 p.m. Gingrich-Philbrook said the performance is a collection of autobiographical stories about the students.

Shauna MacDonald, a student in the performance, said there are five workshops this week. She said the workshops last three hours and are very intense.

“It’s the type of experience where you know you’re there for three hours, but while you’re in it, it doesn’t feel like three hours,” MacDonald said.

MacDonald said the students are excited to work with Miller because he has been doing it for years and makes a life of it.

“It’s the chance of a lifetime in some ways,” MacDonald said.

Meagan Oestry, a senior majoring in speech communications, said Miller is fun to work with because he brings out the best in his students.

“It’s been an amazing experience,” Oestry said. “He’s brilliant and deeply caring.”

Gingrich-Philbrook said Miller conducts workshops across the country to share the value of solo performance to students. Miller said he was invited to the university by Gingrich-Philbrook and is having an amazing time.

“I ask the group to look under their big rocks and find the hot and wet places of their stories,” Miller said in an e-mail. “I ask them to own their fierce living and bring that forward into performance.”

MacDonald said Miller’s appearance reflects well on the speech communication department’s connections with outside artists.

Gingrich-Philbrook said the department is able to attract artists because of the Fine Arts Activity Fee, which funds these kinds of events.

“It provides the students the opportunity to see people of all kinds in the arts,” Gingrich-Philbrook said.

Gingrich-Philbrook said the workshops represent a great opportunity for the students to grow as performers.

“It provides confidence and a sense that they really can do it, that our experience matters, and the art we make out of our experience matters,” Gingrich-Philbrook said.

Both performances will take place in the Marion Kleinau Theatre, located on the second floor of the Communications Building. Tickets are free, but must be reserved in advance in by calling 618-453-5618.

Information Beans: Steven Brown and Michael Madigan

Before being hired as press secretary for the Speaker of the Illinois House, he worked in a Southern Illinois University cafeteria.

“I learned a lot about gourmet food and fine dining,” Steve Brown said with a smile as he talked to a small classroom of SIU journalism students in the communications building. Brown discussed his various relationships with important Illinois political figures, including House Speaker Michael Madigan.

While working at the Illinois Capitol has been good to Brown, it has also made his home life a bit more strenuous. He travels from Washington, near Peoria, to Springfield several times a week. But being away from home makes him appreciate the time with his family even more.

Brown has an interesting family to say the least: he has been married twice and is in the 15^th year of his second marriage, has a son who is majoring in social justice and is in a hip-hop band, and has two more sons who play baseball and the drums.

“(Drums) are not a good thing to have when you have a home office,” Brown said jokingly.

But before ever having a family or engaging in politics, Brown developed an interest in journalism as a high school student in northern St. Louis. While he bragged that he was within shouting distance of Busch Stadium, Brown also hinted that there was very little future for him as a journalist if he stuck around.

So Brown got a modest scholarship and attended Southern Illinois University, at a time when the Daily Egyptians was being recognized for many awards. This meant Brown would have to start at the bottom and work his way up.

“Is there something I can help with?” Brown would ask whenever he sneaked away from dealing with the layout of the newspaper and into the newsroom. Eventually, Brown got his way and became a full-time reporter.

Brown loved the opportunities that journalism offered him and had a passion for the business. “I thought it was a profession where you could make a difference,” Brown said.

After getting his major in journalism and spending six months serving in the National Guard, Brown claimed there weren’t many opportunities available at any major newspapers. He began to form relationships with various political writers and started many important friendships that would help jump-start his career.

Brown got his big break when he was asked to join the administration of newly elected Chicago Mayor Byrne, the first female to head the city. It was Brown’s first look inside the operations of politics, and it gave him some notoriety in Illinois politics. It also allowed him to strike a friendship with Mike Madigan, who was working his way through the leadership of the House.

Brown needed a job after working for Byrne, and eventually Madigan hired Brown. It was originally supposed to be a three-month arrangement.

“We are now celebrating the 23^rd anniversary of that arrangement,” Brown said as he expressed his admiration for his boss. “I think Madigan is one of the best things to come into Illinois politics in a long, long time.

It is apparent that Brown enjoys working at the Capitol, and he says he will always have a passion for journalism, which he feels is the best source of news.

Brown provided further encouragement for the students on hand when he said, “I didn’t have any

math skills, which is part of the reason I got into journalism.”

Information Beans: Xuhong Shang Gives SIUC Internation Presence

After solo exhibitions in Switzerland, Japan, and Spain, an SIUC professor’s showing in China has caught the eye of NY Arts Magazine.

Xuhong Shang, a professor in painting for the School of Art and Design at SIUC, presented his project “Momentary” at the Stir Gallery in Shanghai, China from July 25 to August 30. NY Arts Magazine reviewed his work in the April/May 2009 issue.

In the article, Shang said, “My paintings in the ‘Momentary’ series seek to achieve depth and primitive simplicity, which must be able to portray hard-to-catch scenes as if they leap up before the eyes and imply meaning between the tones.”

According to Shang, “Momentary” displays various landscape paintings and photos of airports, challenging the viewer’s distinction between illusion and reality.

Shang believes the article will give SIUC some international exposure. However, it is not the first time Shang has been reviewed by a major publication. According to Shang, he has been reviewed by Asian Art News, World Journal, and Sculpture magazine.

Shang said his latest project, “A Paradise Up in the Air,” was reviewed by Glen Brown , an art history professor at Kansas State University. The project began at the Muskegon Museum of Art in Muskegon, Michigan on September 24, according to museum director Judith Hayner.

“I went to Muskegon and people say ‘Oh, you’re from SIUC.’ So there are certainly a lot of young students that notice you’re from SIUC,” Shang said. “It is always a great opportunity to talk about our program. This is why we always attract a lot of students for our student programs.”

Jerry Monteith, head of graduate studies in the School of Art and Design, says Shang’s international reputation will attract students to SIUC.

“It’s always good for faculty members to have exposure,” Monteith said. “It really reflects not only on his own work, but also reflects on the stature of the School of Art and Design and the university by an extension.”

Ed Shay, a retired professor in painting, drawing, and printmaking for SIUC, said he also recognizes the importance of exhibiting internationally.

“I’ve been here for over thirty years and I’ve always thought of us of having a very strong international presence,” Shay said. “This is reflected by our student body as well as our faculty and he represents the best parts of fine arts in the School of Art and Design.”

Shang says it is important to be aggressive when exhibiting internationally, a philosophy he also uses for teaching.

“I always try to install some kind of professional discipline to my students,” Shang said. “I will continue to be a very high demanding teacher. I will continue to be that way because I see my students going out and having success.”

Shay said he appreciates Shang as a teacher as well as an artist.

“This is a guy who has proven to be a very strong teacher and a wonderful artist,” Shay said.

Shang said he finds teaching to be a very spiritual job, which brings him a lot of joy.

“I think teaching is very much like creating art,” Shang said. “Maybe someday you’ll pass away, but someone can take your legacy and continue, so your spirit is very much forever.”

Information Beans: Should Editorials Be Signed?

There are many misconceptions about newspapers and the unsigned editorial is no exception. When some people think of editorials, they think of opinion columns written by one person. Unsigned or anonymous opinion columns are unreliable and carry as much weight as your average blogger. These columns should be signed, but this is not the issue. Unfortunately, people confuse an opinion column with an editorial opinion, which is a collection of editors’ views. Should an editorial representing a collection of opinions be signed by one person?

Many people believe editorials reflect one person’s opinion. This is untrue for most, if not all, newspapers. The age-old theory is the publisher controls the editorial page. Lee Enterprises has a daily circulation of over 1.5 million newspapers across the country. As the publisher, does Lee Enterprises control the opinion of all these newspapers? It would be easy to expose the company if all its newspapers shared one opinion. The theory is just too far-fetched. While it is reasonable to believe publishers inform its newspapers of its opinion, it would not determine the editorial opinion for every newspaper.

Another argument against unsigned editorials is they misrepresent the newspaper in two ways: first of all, how can one opinion represent the newspaper if the reporters are excluded? And second, not every editor has to agree on something, just the majority. To answer the first question, the editorial page is designed for the editors. They are usually the most seasoned reporters and are involved in every story that goes into the newspaper. While their opinions are not more valuable than the reporters’, a line has to be drawn somewhere. Do you have to include the advertising department as well? How could a reasonable debate be held with this many people?

To address the second point, it is illogical to believe every editor can agree on one opinion. The New York Times has 17 editors and can comfortably hold discussions in a single room and challenge one another. In the end, if 9 agree and 8 disagree, should the editorial represent all of them? It should because a newspaper has to draw the line. If a 9 to 8 decision does not count, than should any majority? It is also foolish to believe all 17 editors can agree on one opinion, so using the majority opinion seems the most sensible.

Another viewpoint is an editorial has to be written by one person, so does it reflect the overall opinion? The reason for the editorial meetings is to gather all sides and take notes. When it comes time to write the editorial, the writer is well-informed and can morph many opinions into one article. It may even represent the dissenting views to strengthen the majority opinion and challenge it.

Beans Wit Attitude: The Death Penalty Must End

Cameron Todd Willingham’s three daughters were killed as his house burned down in 1991, two days before Christmas.

Willingham escaped the fire, but was charged for the murder of his daughters. During trial, he was offered life imprisonment in exchange for pleading guilty. He turned it down, insisting on his innocence until he was executed on February 17, 2004.

Five years later, the Chicago Tribune released a report from Craig Beyler of the Texas Forensic Science Commission. He stated investigators did not examine the case properly and the state fire marshal had “limited understanding” of fire science.

It seems Willingham was innocent. How many innocent “criminals” are executed each year?

Proponents of capital punishment have an “eye for an eye” mentality that needs to stop. This mentality does not work when innocent people are executed.

According to the Death Penalty Information Center, there have been 139 exonerations in 26 states since 1973, including 20 in Illinois. There were 12 exonerations in 2003 and 9 in 2009, showing the recent irresponsibility of our court system.

Capital punishment is also unfair to different races. While 44 percent of death row inmates are white, 42 percent are black, despite only making up 12 percent of the nation’s population.

A study by the University of North Carolina showed defendants whose victims were white were 3.5 times more likely to receive the death penalty. Another study by the Santa Clara Law Review concluded those who killed whites were three times more likely to be sentenced to death than those who killed blacks and four times more likely than those who killed Latinos.

The most troubling statistic? While 15 whites have been executed for murdering blacks, 242 blacks have been executed for murdering whites.

Another misleading argument favoring capital punishment is it deters crime. Statistics show this is false.

Michael Radelet, a sociology professor at the University of Colorado, conducted a survey of the former and present presidents of the country's top academic criminological societies and 88 percent rejected the death penalty acts as a murder deterrent.

The 2008 FBI Uniform Crime Report showed the South had the highest murder rate and accounted for over 80 percent of executions. The Northeast accounts for less than one percent of all executions and had the lowest murder rate.

Former Governor George Ryan’s moratorium was Illinois’ first step to abolishing capital punishment. Since the moratorium in 2000, the murder rate in Illinois has dropped from 10 deaths per 100,000 people to 6.1 in 2008. If the death penalty deters crime, why has the moratorium lowered the murder rate?

A majority of the public supports capital punishment, but that number is declining. Between 1994 and 1999, before the moratorium, the Chicago Tribune reported Illinois public support of the death penalty had dropped thirteen points.

In 2002, a Zogby poll showed 68 percent of Illinois residents favored the moratorium while 26 percent opposed it. In the same year, a Roper Starch Worldwide study found 75 percent of Illinois residents were concerned that innocent people had been executed.

National support for capital punishment is also dropping. A 2008 Gallup poll showed 64 percent of Americans support the death penalty, down from 80 percent in 1994.

These statistics indicate a population that is gradually rejecting the death penalty. We believe the Illinois government should follow and set an example for all states by abolishing the death penalty.

The only way to prevent people like Cameron Todd Willingham from being executed is to eliminate the source. Capital punishment must end.

Beans Wit Attitude: Scholarships

As the recession continues to beat Illinois to the ground, college costs continue to rise. According to a report by CBS, more than 150,000 Illinois college students rely on the MAP Grant and it may not be offered to students for their second semester in 2009, forcing some students to drop out.

And as financial aid decreases in Illinois, tuition costs continue to increase. According to the Midwestern Higher Education Compact, tuition at public universities has gone up every year since 2002. Between 2002 and 2008, average tuition costs have gone from $4,606 to $8,335, an 81 percent increase. During a recession, how are students and parents supposed to cope?

The high college dropout rate helps explain shortages in the workplace. Illinois faces an extreme shortage of teachers, according to the Illinois State Board of Education. There is a need for special education teachers, especially in learning behavior specializing and speech and language impairment. Also, there is a shortage in regular education, especially bilingual education, mathematics, physical education, reading and science. In particular, Chicago has a shortage of standard elementary instructors.

Healthcare is also being hammered in the workplace. The Nursing Institute at the University of Illinois issued a study that showed the ratio of potential caregivers to the people most likely to need care, the elderly population, will decrease by 40 percent between 2010 and 2030. The Illinois Center for Nursing projected Illinois would face a shortage of 21,000 nurses by 2020.

Keeping students in college and filling these positions in the workplace requires two things: need-based and merit-based scholarships. But how does Illinois balance the two?

We believe helping the financially needy is the first and most important step. While merit-based scholarships are great for filling positions for teachers and physicians, we recognize students must get through college first. This requires more financial assistance for students and less money for merit-based scholarships.

We propose 75 percent of scholarships awarded in Illinois should be need-based, while 25 percent should be merit-based or for other reasons not based on financial need. We do not support raising taxes, but instead we support filtering Illinois’ money differently.

If these changes are to take place, we realize the standards for college students must go up as well. Entering freshmen at universities must have a high school diploma or a GED. To receive his or her scholarship, the recipient must be enrolled for at least 12 hours at a university. A student would be required to achieve his or her degree within six years.

Also, to encourage students to make full use of their financial aid, we propose students must maintain a 2.5 GPA, up from the current 2.0 GPA requirement. If a student drops below the GPA requirement for a semester or does not meet the minimum hour requirement, the student will be required to reimburse the money to Illinois.

We believe merit-based scholarships can still be awarded to fill positions in the workplace. In order to hire more teachers, we support keeping the Golden Apple Scholars Program, the Illinois Future Teachers Corp Program, and the Minority Teachers of Illinois Scholarship Program. In order to fill health positions, we support the Nursing Education Scholarship Program and the Medical Student Scholarship Program. We also believe in rewarding veterans and support the Illinois Veterans Grant.

We understand Illinois taxpayers do not want taxes to raise, so we believe a change must take place within the system. This means taking the money Illinois has and distributing it differently, as proposed by our plan.

Beans Wit Attitude: Physical Education

The Illinois State Board of Education requires physical education for all state schools. Many elementary schools offer recess and high schools have more intense activities and health classes. But there are always ways to get out of P.E. class. And it is starting to show.

According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 64 percent of U.S. citizens are overweight, and the prevalence of obesity among children has more than doubled in the last two decades. For the elementary school population, ages six to 11, the rate increased from 6.5 percent to 17 percent. For middle and high school adolescents, aged 12 to 19, the rate went from 5 percent to 17.6 percent.

In Illinois these numbers are worse. According to the Illinois Association of Park Districts, obesity has tripled in Illinois since 1980. Over 25 percent of children aged 12 to 16 are overweight, while 18 percent of children aged 6 to 10 are overweight.

From a distance, physical education s requirements are a great idea. After a closer look, it is showing its flaws.

Illinois is the only state to require physical education for all grade levels. While we acknowledge our appreciation for setting this standard, the statistics show it is not working. However, instead of removing the curriculum, we believe it should be revamped.

Some high schools offer waivers to students to get out of P.E. class. Regardless, students should be required to partake in another health-related activity, whether it be exercise or a nutrition class. The state should set standards for how much time is dedicated to physical education, but leave establishing the curriculum based on the schools’ resources and financial limits.

The state should also oversee each school remains in compliance with these standards, which will require money. While the economy is currently down, the health of our children cannot be ignored. There are currently no penalties for not complying with physical education requirements, so we believe the state must become more strict. The state should issue required testing for students, similar to math, reading, and science testing. Each district should have their inspector to administer these requirements and chaperon each school.

Controlling the obesity problem must also occur in the lunchrooms. The state should regulate the lunch menus and establish a nutritional standard of what students can eat. This means more fruits and vegetables and less junk food. Their portions should be managed as well.

We also recognize obesity is a personal problem. We are reaching out to parents to support this proposition by doing their parts in managing their children’s health habits. With the combination of school, parents and government, Illinois can help set a standard for all schools in controlling the obesity epidemic.

Beans Wit Attitude: Marijuana Legalization

On September 23, California issued short-term IOUs to their workforce. Since, California has raised $8.8 billion from individual investors who bought the loans and are looking to gain interest. California has resorted to losing money in the long run in order to bounce back now. Is there something California can do to stop the bleeding?

Assemblyman Tom Ammiano believes proposed bill AB390 can, also known as The Marijuana Control, Regulation, and Education Act. According to the bill, taxing marijuana could raise $1 billion annually. In addition, the marijuana business would create jobs and have benefits of $12 to $18 billion a year. Maybe it is time Illinois followed down a similar path.

With a debt of $42 billion in May, Illinois needs to take action. The money raised from taxing legalized marijuana could not only save us from the recession, but benefit in the long term as well. If California can receive up to $18 billion, how much could Illinois raise?

The numbers will actually be higher than you think. Legalizing marijuana will also eliminate the war on drugs, which cost the federal government $19 billion in 2003, according to the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Why so much?

First, the cost of hiring law enforcement to patrol drug traffickers is high. But, more importantly, prisons are the big issue. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigations, over 1.3 million have been arrested this year in the war on drugs, or one every 17 seconds. 25 percent of those arrested are incarcerated. It costs about $450,000 to put a single dealer in jail, according to the Schaffer Library of Drug Policy. That means over $146 billion has been spent on imprisoning drug offenders this year alone.

According to the Department of Justice, more than 50 percent of prisoners are drug offenders, a number which increased 80 percent between 1985 and 1995. Also, 18 percent of those imprisoned committed their crimes to obtain drug money. The average sentence for violent crimes is 63 months, while it is 75.6 months for drug offenses.

So what have we learned? Eliminating the war on drugs would reduce costs of patrolling drug traffickers and more violent crimes would be investigated. It also reduces the amount of prisoners, thus saving the money to put them through jail.

The money saved from prisons and the money raised through legalizing marijuana could go towards public education. According to the National Association of State Budget Officers, spending on prisons rose 30 percent between 1987 and 1998, while spending on education only rose 18.2 percent. A report by ABCNEWS.com showed state prison budgets were growing twice as fast as spending on public universities. It is time we put less focus on correcting criminals and more focus on preventing criminals through education.

We propose Illinois follows guidelines similar to alcohol. A citizen must be 21-years-old to legally possess, sell, and manufacture marijuana. In order to manufacture or sell the product, the seller must be licensed. As with alcohol and cigarettes, the marijuana packaging must include warnings of possible health hazards and potency of the product. Penalties would be issued for driving under the influence or selling marijuana to minors. Only for medicinal purposes is a minor allowed to utilize marijuana, likely through THC pills, which will be at the doctor’s discretion.

The biggest gain from legalizing marijuana will be the revenue. With the new law, the government will be allowed to tax the wholesale and retail sales of marijuana. Also, Illinois would impose higher taxes for products with higher potencies.

Information Beans: A Spark of Hope for Newspapers

In a market where online journalism grows every day, newspapers across the country are downsizing staff, using fewer pages, and revamping their design. Many see this as the beginning stages of extinction for printed news. Why should someone buy the tangible newspaper when they could read it online for free? As an editor, these are things Gary Metro has to consider every day when putting out his newspaper, which stretches across 12 counties that are critical for business. Metro’s paper is unusual, because he has managed to maintain a steady circulation during his tenure as editor. How has his newspaper done this while others continue to die out?

It’s all about change. The news market has changed in the last 30 years, which means newspapers have changed too. One thing that is more important is advertising. Making space for advertising is crucial for business, especially in today’s poor economy. Not only are there advertisements in their newspaper, but on their website as well, where they collect revenue for the number of page views their stories get. The stories themselves have changed as well, where there is more emphasis on government and big business. People do not want to just read numbers and figures anymore, but want them broken down and explained. An editor always has to look for new ways to present this information and can’t just do it anymore with a photo and a few lines of text. To make the information morer accessible to the readers, newspapers have now implemented various images into their stories: maps, graphs, more photos, and illustrated drawings. It’s all about attracting eyeballs to the page and keeping the reader interested. Metro’s newspaper has done something unique to maintain circulation, which is turning his newspaper into an “information company.” This means he puts out not only the newspaper, but also a magazine, a business journal, and even calendars.

And the one thing that a newspaper must have is a website. Today’s news crowd has a thirst for online journalism thatt must be quenched. A website allows the newspaper to supply unlimited amounts of information and content. If a reader wanted to find a story from a year ago, he or she could search and find it in the website’s source directories. Readers can even comment on the stories and read what other people have to say. A website also allows the paper to provide round-the-clock news. Metro claims his website will have a breaking news story at least once every hour, which means the site is always changing. Keeping up on competing newspapers’ websites also allows an editor to see his competition and find out what their edition could look like the next day. So if a reader has access to unlimited news and gets it all for free, is it only a matter of time until online journalism destroys the printed newspaper?

Newspapers are still the big horse for now and online journalism is the little horse. But the little horse is learning and growing every day, and nobody knows how big it will be in a few years, Metro said. There are some that believe newspapers should begin to charge for their online product. The counter-argument is t people have gotten used to the idea of free news and it would kill site traffic. Metro believes his website, if separated from the print productt and staffed independently, could potentially be its own business, but doesn’t know if that will ever happen. He maintains that while there will be fewer newspapers in time, the demand for news will always be there. Metro believes every new generation brings more curiosity. And whether it’s with newspapers or websites, he will be there doing his part.