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For the second year in a row, Western Illinois University will be competing in RecycleMania. This is a ten-week event that compares how much recyclable material is collected from universities and colleges across the country. Western is trying to improve upon last year's efforts and go into this year's competition with enthusiasm and competitiveness. To check up on Western's progress in this year's event and how it ties in with the university theme of environmental sustainability, follow this video link.

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RecycleMania is back in action at Western Illinois University. This event is an annual recycling competition between universities and colleges across the country. This year will be Western's second attempt at the competition. Western's Environmental Sustainability Committee is doing as much as possible to publicize RecycleMania. Committee chair Charles Darnell says there's only so much they can do to get the information to the public. Darnell continues explaining that after so much publicity, the rest of the effort must come from the university community's participation in actual recycling. Waste Management is a big supporter of this RecycleMania effort, and is helping make things much easier for participants. With new recycling bins located on and off-campus, there is much better access to recycling. To find out more information on how to get involved in the RecycleMania effort, visit Western's website.

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Western Illinois University is participating in RecycleMania once again. The University started participating in this event last year, and did quite well for its first time. Western participates in three of the four categories for this event. Assistant Vice President of Student Services John Biernbaum says the most important aspect of this event is participation. He believes the actual participation in recycling is what makes the biggest impact on our environment. This event runs from January 27th to April fifth and participation by the university community is encouraged. For more information on how to get involved in RecycleMania here at Western, visit the University’s website.

WIU Softball Player of the Week

Senior softball player Samantha Valentine has been named the Summit League Player of the Week. Valentine went 12-for-17 on the week and batted a seven-oh-six hitting percentage. The senior first baseman produced a homerun and ten runs-batted-in during last week’s play. Valentine leads the Westerwinds in conference batting with 14 hits, two homeruns, and 14 R-B-I’s. She also has a 1-thousand fielding percentage with 56 Summit League putouts. Valentine and her team continues conference play at I-U-P-U-I tonight (Tuesday) and tomorrow (Wednesday).

*Clipart courtesy of http://www.freefever.com/

WIU Annual Tech Fest

Western Illinois University will hold its ninth annual Tech Fest this Wednesday April 23rd. The event is sponsored by the College of Education and Human Services as well as Citizens National Bank of Macomb. Tech Fest gives the University’s departments and community organizations a chance to show their latest developments in technology. C-O-E-H-S Dean Bonnie Smith-Skripps says this event is a great way to show how technology connects the University with the community. Tech Fest will start at eleven Wednesday morning and will be held in the Horrabin Hall gymnasium.

*Clipart courtesy of www.appleinsider.com

Leathernecks back to .500

The Western Illinois University baseball team made its way back to the five-hundred mark yesterday. The Leathernecks swept past I-P-F-W in the two-game series finale. Head coach Stan Hyman credits the starting pitching for much of the success the team has had lately. Senior Mark Dibernardo pitched the complete first game and got the win with a three-hit shut out. Junior Eric Eden pitched seven innings of game two for the win. The entire pitching staff allowed only three runs in the last three games. The Leathernecks’ next matchup will be this Friday night at Oral Roberts.

*Clipart courtesy of http://www.allposters.com/

Slow Elevators at Higgins

The elevators are being worked on in Higgins Hall. A sign posted by the elevators on either side of the lobby is letting students know about the work being done. The elevators will be undergoing construction for the remainder of the week and may cause more waiting time for riders.

Resident Assistant Brendan Royalty explained one of the problems with the elevators. He said they have been stopping at floors when they weren't supposed to and that some of the buttons wouldn't work. Royalty also said that the elevators should be back to normal by the end of the week and that the workers are doing everything they can to keep the elevators running at normal speed.

Happy Valentine's Day

Like it or not, Valentine's Day is right around the corner. For those who have put off buying gifts there is still time to do so. One option that Macomb has to offer for last-minute shoppers is Kirlin's Hallmark. This store is located downtown on the square and has many options for this much-anticipated holiday.

Employees of Kirlin's Hallmark agree that this is one of the busiest times of the year for them. The store is packed with customers making last-minute purchases. The store offers many different options of gifts, from various chocolates to stuffed animals to gift sets. Let's not forget the extensive collection of Valentine's Day cards that are available. Kirlin's Hallmark is a one-stop-shop that provides the perfect gift for anyone on your Valentine's Day list.

**clipart courtesy of clipartspace.com

SGA Finally Comes to a Decision about Student Fee Increases

The Student Government Association finally reached a decision about increases in student fees at last night's meeting. The journey to that decision was a long, hard one for all in attendance. The debate about student-athletes receiving a bigger increase in funds lasted over two hours alone. This drawn-out argument led to the expansion of the meeting for an extra hour, making the whole thing last a total of three.

There was an extraordinary amount of people in attendance at last night's meeting, most of them being student-athletes. Many different points were brought up by the SGA members, which led to many different questions and opinions from the entire crowd. The mediator tried keeping things as professional as possible but still wasn't able to control the whole crowd the entire time.

The SGA itself had split opinions on the issue of whether or not the athletics department should receive the 26.4% funds increase that they had been promised. Some members believed that funds should be spread more evenly among all students at Western Illinois. Others felt that the athletics department deserved the increase in funds in order to safely allow all of their teams to continue to travel and compete with the new members of the conference.

SGA member Kyle Davis said "athletics are the front porch of the university." He continued to explain that the sports teams are what gets most of the media attention for the schools, and that they need the appropriate funds to continue doing so. Many other people thought his comment was absurd. Students representing the Black Student Association were wondering where academics stood in this picture. Both sides of the argument had valid points, but in the end the athletic department increase fund stood as first proposed.

Go West Plans to Allow More Peak Capacity

The Go West bus system has plans in the making to accomodate better capacity during peak hours. With so many recent changes in the weather the number of riders varies from day to day. One thing Go West can count on is an increase of riders on days where the weather is less than fair. Since there have been many days like this recently, the bus system feels a need for a change.

Go West set a new record for riders per week two weeks ago with almost sixty-one thousand passengers. With an increase like this, the company decided to do something to increase their numbers even more during peaks. Go West director Jude Kiah said there are two parts to their upcoming plans.

One thing the bus system is planning on doing is adding what they call "extras". This means that during peak hours they will have an extra bus on the route for about thirty minutes. This plan would allow the buses to be less packed without having an extra bus run the route for the whole day.

Another part of the new plan is being looked at for next year. Go West is looking into audits to increase the total service next year, with more buses running on most routes. The most popular bus routes are one, two, and three, which ride around campus. There is also a need for an increase of buses on the other routes which is what Go West will be focusing on.

Even though the buses get packed during these winter months, Go West is doing everything they can to keep their system running efficiently. Without this bus system many students might have a hard time getting around. So before any complaints are made about Go West, it is important to realize that they are making efforts to increase capacity on their routes.

Emergency Alert Test Scheduled for Tomorrow

Western Illinois University will be testing their new emergency alert system tomorrow at nine-fifty A.M. This system will alert students and faculty of emergency situations, such as severe weather or safety threats. Members of Western Illinois can choose to be alerted in many different ways. The system can send alerts via email, home phones, or text messaging. Everyone is advised to sign up for this system and can do so through Western's home page.

Senior elementary education major Amy Sauerwein thinks this system is a great idea. She said "Universities should have thought of this idea a long time ago. Maybe now we can prevent terrible things from happening, such as the tragedy at Virginia Tech last year."

Weather Gets Wacky at Western

The recent weather in Macomb has had many people fooled. The past couple days of warmth made many look ahead to spring with hope that it may have already arrived. Students walked around campus in light jackets or sweatshirts, while others even braved a pair of shorts. Many were unprepared for the weather that will be coming very soon.

The Quad Cities National Weather Service has now issued a winter weather advisory until nine A.M. Wednesday. Threats of a blizzard warning have been cancelled but threats of severe winter weather remain in effect. Temperatures will continue to drop throughout the day with windchills of almost twenty below this evening.

Warm weather has been put on the back burner for now. Temperatures are expected to remain in the thirties at least until early next week. As junior kinesiology major Lindsay Muehlbauer put it, "I can't wait until the weather stops changing and actually stays warm for good."

**Clipart courtesy of www.istockphoto.com

Cold Weather Causes Crowded Buses

With the temperatures falling lower and lower, making it to class becomes even harder for many students. Some people still walk from class to class while others drive. But the biggest trend many students seem to follow is taking a trip on the Go West Transit.

Anyone who has been on one of these buses in the last two weeks can tell you how important it is to get to the bus stop extra early. Most buses get packed to maximum capacity at each stop. This causes the ride to take a little longer than usual and can also leave some people waiting for the next bus to come.

With a limited number of buses running throughout the day, the Go West Transit is only useful to students who actually have time to wait for one. There have been many students who get to the bus stop a little too late and find themselves late for class. Many people will offer advice on how to catch a bus, and they all recommend leaving five to ten minutes earlier than usual.

The Go West Transit is a great way to get around campus, but when it gets cold outside, it can get very crowded.

Mixed Feelings About New Garbage System

The new trash removal system recently implemented by Waste Management has been causing some mixed feelings around the city of Macomb. With the new system, each household received one trash can along with one recycling bin. There were different sizes of trash cans community members could choose from, but the citizens of Macomb could not choose to receive more than one.

Some members of the community find this new system of trash removal to be a great way to help the environment. With each house given only one container for both trash and recycling, it may push people toward wasting less recyclable materials and going through garbage much slower. Waste Management made it clear that any extra trash would come with a monetary fine. Avoiding paying fines may very well be another motivation to waste less materials and conserve space in dump zones.

While some people see these new trash bins as a great idea, others see them as more of a hassle. Especially within the Western Illinois campus, there have already been many complaints about the new system. Limiting trash output can sometimes be hard to do when living in a house with multiple people. As one off-campus student put it, "It was hard cleaning up after parties before, but now that we have to limit our trash to fit into one bin, it's going to be ridiculous." That is a concern that many students living off campus are going to have to deal with, and many of them aren't too happy about it.

The real outcome of this new trash removal system seems to be purely based on opinion. Only time will tell how well this system will work for the entire community of Macomb.