Red Cross see blood shortage; blood drive at Morris Library

The American Red Cross faces critical blood shortages as donations remain low, Laurie Nehring said.

“Blood inventory is low,” said Nehring, communications manager of the American Red Cross. “Turnouts are so low that we haven’t added any more (donation) schedules.”

Morris Library will host a Red Cross blood drive today from from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m to help alleviate the national blood shortage. Trained specialists will set up booths where…

Sunset Fun

[caption id="attachment_45963" align="aligncenter" width="585" caption="Kathryn Ross, a recent SIU law graduate from Mundelein, twirls a technicolored hula hoop during the July 21 Sunset Concert at Turley Park. Ross, along with the rest of those in attendance, braved the extreme heat and humidity to enjoy The Black Lillies, an americana-bluegrass band from Knoxville, Tenn. The final Sunset Concert of the summer will take place Thursday at 7 p.m., with a...

Fools for Rowan to go crazy at Shryock

Fools for Rowan will close this summer’s Sunset Concert Series Thursday on the Shryock steps with a blast of their high-charged Nashville rock and roll.

The band released its debut album, “Twisted. Tied Up. Tangled,” in 2010. It’s a collection of loud, catchy rock songs driven by singer Erin Mullins’ powerful vocals and Rachel Brandsness’…

Marion Carnegie Library hosts end of summer party

[caption id="attachment_45961" align="aligncenter" width="585" caption="Abram, 9, and Reiyana Deschene, 14, of Makanda, decorate masks Wednesday during the Kids End of Summer Party at Marion Carnegie Library. The party was to celebrate the end of the summer reading program and was themed around the children’s book “Skippyjon Jones." The kids broke open a piñata, ate cake and read stories among other activities. Approximately 165 kids and adults attended the party....

Collinsville bans baggy pants

Post offices in jeopardy

The United States Postal Service announced Tuesday that it is considering closing 3,643 of its 32,000…

Congress should stop flirting with disaster

With as little as a week remaining until the federal government runs out of money to cover all its bills, it’s time for Republicans and Democrats to scale down their partisan ambitions and get a deal done to raise the debt ceiling. But the House GOP, which picked this fight, doesn’t seem willing to end it. Instead, Speaker John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, wants Congress to manufacture another potential crisis…

Universities should be promoted as universities, not corporations

Dear Editor:

With an article in the Southern July 17 revelaing athletic spending is on the rise, it appears that SIUC has become a university where the tail wags the dog!

Too many alumni (and administrators and board members) have a distorted view of the university’s purpose. In recent years, universities seem to have become diploma mills, run like corporations with attention only to “bottom lines,” with watered-down grading standards, students…

CUT_SportsFeat_SM

Aaron Johnson, 6, of Carbondale, competes Wednesday in a basketball relay game at Attucks Park.  Yesterday was the last day of a six-week camp hosted by Murphysboro resident Larry Geer. Geer said although he initiated the camp to promote his business, several selfless volunteers, including his wife, started helping as more children attended.  The camp had sports stations including kickball, basketball, tennis, and golf, with the equipment being donated…

SIUC, Miners promotion benefits charity

Since the Southern Illinois Miners came to Marion in 2007, they’ve always had a camaraderie with SIUC.

“We’ve always had season tickets to SIU’s basketball games. A few of them have season tickets here,” said Erik Haag, executive vice president of the Southern Illinois Miners. “We got to talking, one conversation led to another, and we decided we should combine the two largest sports entities in the southern Illinois region.”

The…

Collective bargaining agreed upon, Lindsey will play

For former Saluki star Korey Lindsey, the last few months haven’t been the NFL dream he’s had since he was a kid in Baton Rouge.

“I’m anxious and excited, but I’m trying to be patient and not worry too much about it,” Lindsey said. “I know it’ll all work out in the end.”

With the announcement Monday that the owners and the NFL Players Association agreed to a new collective bargaining…

Happy Meals go healthy

Success and positive feedback have influenced the Short Enterprises owners of nine McDonald’s restaurants in the region to pursue healthier Happy Meals. McDonald’s plans to…

Semester Away Program provides real world opportunity

Brad Evetts is enrolling in the SIU School of Law’s new program hoping to gain some actual experience in the workplace.

Evetts, a third-year law student, and one other student will work within the School of Law’s Health Law and Policy Semester Away Program in Springfield at the start of the fall 2011 semester.

“This isn’t something all law students, in general, have the opportunity to do,” Evetts said. “By our…

Don’t turn your back to the water

[caption id="attachment_45784" align="aligncenter" width="585" caption="Kathryn Davenport, 21, of Carbondale, keeps an eye on a small group of people swimming Tuesday at Cedar Lake. This is Davenport's third summer as a lifeguard at the lake. “I prefer doing this job at a lakefront rather than a public pool,” Davenport said. According to the Weather Channel, the heat index Tuesday was 101 degrees, and the average temperature for the next five...

The way to the Lord passes through SIUC

[caption id="attachment_45780" align="aligncenter" width="585" caption="Ashley Runyan, from Marshfield, Mo., studies her Bible Tuesday before lunch at the Student Center. Runyan is part of a youth group from Marshfield’s Son-Rise Christian Church, participating in the second week of Christ in Youth held on campus. The sign, which reads “I know the way” is carried around by adult sponsors and also contains biblical references intended to advise the youth group in...

Rugby continues to evolve, goes Olympic

[caption id="attachment_45783" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Dan Lowery, a senior from Lemont studying civil engineering, attempts to catch the rugby ball Saturday during an SIUC tournament at the intramural play fields. The tournament was the team's second annual "Sevens Blackout," which differs from other tournaments in that it is held at night, played with only seven players instead of 15 and shortened into seven-minute halves instead of two 40-minute ones. -...

Franklin drafted, joins former teammate in Cincinnati

It’s amazing how different one’s life can look in a 24-hour span.

One day former Saluki linebacker Stephen Franklin was sitting by his phone, hoping for a call from his agent and the next he was on a plane bound for Cincinnati to join former teammate Korey Lindsey for workout camps in the Bengals organization.

“The first night I was … with a lot of my friends, and they were getting…

Salukis add skill, depth with newest recruits

The Saluki women’s tennis team signed three international players and one walk-on from Illinois to complete its roster for the 2011-2012 season.

Twin sisters Ariadna and Gisela Cairo Baza from Barcelona, Spain, will join Natasha Tomishima, from Campo Grande, Brazil, and Siera Hastler from Morton. Adding to the top returning players, coach Audra Nothwehr said they will add depth to the team and create a more challenging atmosphere as it…

Wu-Tang keep it real

It’s always refreshing to listen to rappers whose overriding purpose is not commercial success.

Wu-Tang’s new compilation album, “Legendary Weapons,” is not going to be a huge seller. None of the tracks are going to be turned into hit ringtones. I don’t see clan member Ghostface Killah hosting an episode of “Saturday Night Live.”

But the album’s pretty good.

This isn’t to suggest the Wu-Tang guys are starving on the streets. Between…

Are pot critics full of hot air?

As the article “Future of medical marijuana hazy” pointed out, there are two sides to this issue.

First of all, many of the arguments against marijuana were scientifically unfounded. In fact, the Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society published an article in 2003 by the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine that showed no correlation between marijuana use and memory impairment….