Summer of Construction Comes to Carbondale Campus

6/11/2012 Carbondale,Il.

Plant and Service Operations will have its hands full this summer, as it takes on 20 new projects across campus.

“This is the busiest summer that I ever remember and I’ve been (at plant service operations) for 14 years on campus and around campus for 25 years,” said Phil Gatton, director of Plant and Services Operations.

The total cost of all projects is estimated to cost about $120 million with the cost of the new Student Services building at $36.6 million and the Transportation Education building at $62.8 million.

Gatton said the department will work to complete the two buildings and various maintenence related projects in buildings and the grounds. Gatton said all projects are still in initial construction phases, although some are further along than others.

He said the Transportation Building and grounds projects are to be completed before fall 2012, whereas the Student Services Building’s date is unknown.

The Transportation Education Center, which will be a 200,000 square foot facility, is being created to enhance the learning experience for students in Automotive or Aviation programs. Current facilities in Carterville are behind in comparison to other colleges, however Gatton said the new center will fix that.

“I’m not doing it justice when I say 200,000 square feet … it’s such an upgrade of facilities compared to what’s being used in Carterville right now,” Gatton said.“The technology that’s in the building and the equipment that’s going to be available to the students is going to make it one of the nicest facilities in the country.”

The Student Services Building will be a student-oriented center dedicated to incoming and current students, as well as parents and alumni. Gatton said the objective is to ease students by simplifying the registration process.

The other 18 projects consist of repairs to existing buildings, which will help alleviate current safety issues or problems, and various changes on campus grounds. Examples include fixing the roof on the Mass Communication and Media Arts Building and demolishing the path near Lawson.

Mass Communication and Media Arts Dean Gary Kolb said the repairs to the Mass Communication building’s roof are needed because it has had various leaks during the past few years. Kolb said at one point, the roof leaked over the broadcast master control area. The job is scheduled to be completed Aug. 1.

“We won’t have to worry about ceiling tiles falling down on people, or mold issues that might take place, it’s a huge improvement for us and it’s something that we absolutely, desperately needed,” Kolb said.

Jerry Frisby, a worker from Southern Illinois Glass, said the Life Science II building’s entrance needed repaired because the doors won’t lock at night and water drips down into classrooms.

“Maintenance hated these doors because they were constantly working on them and there wasn’t really any way to repair them,” Frisby said.

Gatton said the money for the projects will come from three different sources.

The first source of funds are Capital projects funded by the state and overseen by the Illinois Capital Development Board, an agency hired by the state to manage the construction of prisons, mental health hospitals, state parks and college and university classroom buildings.

SIUC’s biggest project, the Transportation Education building, will be overseen by these Capital projects.

Another source comes from the $210 Facility Maintenance Fee paid by students each semester. A recent amendment seeks to raise the fee by an additional $7.00, according to a Board of Trustees meeting May 10.

Projects funded by the student fee include the replacement of Lawson and Quigley Hall’s roofs and the primary electrical upgrades the school will see. The Quigley Hall job is set for completion at the end of June.

The last form of funds come from University Department dollars, which includes grants, money from the city or any extra dollars the school has to put into construction. These funds are the most common and come on a yearly basis.

The university also has many projects for the future.

Some plans include renovations to the Mass Communication building, the construction of an Alumni Center and renovations to both the Agricultural and Botany greenhouses on campus.

This story was first shown on the Daily Egyptian website.

Wineries in the Southern Illinois Area

6/20/2012



Many vineyards on the Shawnee Hills wine trail are working this summer to improve their vineyards in order to set themselves apart from the competition.
Von Jakobs in Pomona is adding a secondary ballroom to their location in the fall so they can host additional weddings in their already busy schedule. Blue Sky Vineyards in Makanda will add another room as well which will act as a place for weddings and musical events. Alto Vineyards in Alto Pass is adding a new 5000-square-foot tasting room in order to increase business.
There are 12 wineries on the trail and 32 in southern Illinois. Julie Harvey, marketing director of Alto Vineyards, said the wine trail has consistently grown since its arrival in 1995, directly affecting the tourism in the industry. From only five wineries in 1988 to more than 100 in 2012, the Illinois wine industry creates a direct economic impact of more than $253 million annually, according to the Illinois State Fair website.
Alto Vineyards, the longest running winery in the area that has been open for more than 25 years has used vinifera grapes, a grape grown in Europe, southwest Asia and southern Germany, but originally thought unable to be successfully grown in Illinois, in the past few months in order to set themselves apart from the others.
The tasting room will also be built to accommodate a rising number of customers and a need for an area where customers can relax indoors.
The facility is anticipated to be complete by October.
Harvey said Alto Vineyards is also in the middle of a transitional period because Union county is adjusting their license so they will be allowed to sell six forms of alcohol and other ales at Alto Vineyards.
Marty McMorrow, former mayor of Alto Pass and current president of the Alto Pass business association, said when he was mayor, there was an effort to allow more types of alcohol to be sold in the community, but it was not passed because of the conservative nature of the town.
Marty said now the community is more inclined to allow the sale of different forms of alcohol because the residents of Alto Pass can see how the winery has brought in more tourism and created tax revenues for the community.
“I mean, a small town like Alto Pass has a hard time just keeping their head above water in this day and age …  so (the new license) is a pretty big deal,” McMorrow said.
Alto Pass is not the only vineyard trying to bring fresh ideas to the table.
Von Jakob winery is looking into the possibility of a lookout tower and cabins for the future on top of the additional ballroom they are building.
Nick Bruner, general manager for Von Jakob, said the business moved to a new location in 2005 where they began to offer a wedding venue.
He said this summer the winery is practically booked solid with the amount of wedding requests it has gotten.
The vineyard also hosts many bands and is the only winery to have an in house brewery.
Another big name in the southern Illinois wine industry is Blue Sky Vineyards.
Jim Ewers, president of Shawnee Hills and co-owner of Blue Sky, said with so many other wineries in the area hosting weddings and more popping up every day, it puts pressure on them to compete with all of the other businesses out there.
“We were growing exponentially at first, I mean we were growing way faster than we ever anticipated, but with the opening of other wineries and when the economy turned south, sales start to flatten out, but we’re still very much holding our own,” Ewers said.
Although competition can be tough between wineries, there are still smaller vineyards that have made a name for themselves.
Hogg Hollow winery is an example of a small, family owned operation.
While Hogg Hollow doesn’t host live music they have hosted weddings on the vineyard, which is run year round right off of their farm since 2005.
Steve Hogg, owner of Hogg Hollow vineyards in Golconda, said he does most of the work on the farm, from growing the grapes all the way up to bottling the finished product.
He believes Hogg Hollow offers a more family friendly atmosphere customers won’t get from just any winery.
“We have a lot of people who come from Chicago, St. Louis and Paducah that just want to enjoy the Shawnee forest a little bit and take part in horseback riding and boating,” Hogg said.
Similarly, Hickory Ridge winery in Pomona prides itself on being fun for the whole family.
“I have no problem with other people doing wedding and rock n’ roll and Elvis contests and all that kind of stuff  but it’s just not for me. This place is just about the wine and the scenery,” said Ron Presswood, owner of Hickory Ridge vineyards.
Despite the lack of activities, Presswood said Hickory Ridge has seen a 15 percent increase in business each year since the business opened in 2007, without the help of any advertising.
While wineries are still a fairly young business in Illinois, they show some promise to bring in revenues to their towns, promote tourism and add extra flavor to the southern Illinois area.
Walker’s Bluff winery in Carterville will host Sheryl Crow as a musical guest Friday while Von Jakob will host the Roxie Randall band Saturday.
This article was first shown in the daily Egyptian newspaper.

That's My Boy Review

Throughout the 90’s Adam Sandler proved himself a worthy comedian and comedy writer alike with such works as Happy Gilmore, Billy Madison and Big Daddy.

However, at some point down the road it seemed he lost something. Sandler slowly started to write, produce and star in worse movies such as Grown Ups, Bucky Larson (which he helped write)and his most recent atrocity, Jack and Jill.

"That’s My Boy" made a better attempt at bringing back some of the humor that made us love Sandler, but couldn’t quite go the distance in redeeming his past mistakes.

The movie starts in 1984 with 12 year old Donny Berger (Justin Weaver) having intimate relations with his 22 year old teacher Ms. McGarricle (Eva Amurri). This awkward montage of student-teacher debauchery set an uncomfortable tone for the rest of the movie that seemed to linger in the air.

When the relationship is disturbingly revealed in a school assembly Ms. McGarricle is found to be pregnant and sentenced to 30 years in prison; Donny then is sentenced by the judge to care for his son, Han Solo Berger (Andy Samberg), when he turns 18.

The rest of the movie focuses on Donny working on his tarnished relationship with his son and finding a way to pay off a $43,000 IRS bill.

“That’s My Boy”, while simple as it is on the surface, showed potential to bring Sandler back to his glory days, but instead filled itself with over-the-top raunchiness that left a sour taste in the mouth of its audience, such as an unnecessary addition of incest in the plot and two completely inappropriate strip club scenes.

This obscenity did lend itself to some of the funniest parts of the movie, but ultimately made the experience upsetting and tasteless, relying on cheap, unforgettable laughs.

While the film did display some interesting social commentary on celebrity life and the American school system it easily took a back seat to the non-stop sex jokes that clouded the film's direction.

Samberg made a decent attempt at his role but it wasn’t enough to take away from the disappointment that is That’s My Boy.

Whatever happened to the Sandler movies that had viewers cracking up the whole way through?

Whatever happened to the warm, sentimental moments that left the audience with a sense of finality?

One thing’s for sure: you’re not going to find the answers to those questions here.

The only thing this movie has to offer is a few quick chuckles and a sloppy attempt at the comedy Adam Sandler used to do right.

“That’s My Boy” gets 3 stars out of 5.

Austin Flynn can be reached at aflynn@dailyegyptian.com or 536-3311 ext. 259
This article was first published on the Daily Egyptian website.