The Daily Egyptian is published by the students of SIU at Carbondale. Except during vacations and exam weeks, The Daily Egyptian is published Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters and TWThF during the summer semester."

Saluki Family Weekend set for October 29-31

This year's Saluki Family Weekend falls on a weekend associated with a notorious history, Halloween. Haunted by the demons of riots past, the most recent in 2000, Halloween in Carbondale often marks stepped-up police patrols and the closing of bars on the strip.

Yet, Public Safety Director Todd Sigler hopes that this year, with the scheduling of family related events and the home football game, the careless disregard for public property and personal safety of four years ago does not return.

"I'm hoping people will focus on the fact that it is family weekend," Sigler said. "There is a home football game and hopefully people will have fun safely."

Don Castle, assistant director of Student Center University Programming, said it was important to create opportunities for students and their families to enjoy activities and benefits SIUC has to offer.

"The more students can show their families how they feel about SIU, the better they will feel about being a student here and that should held lead to the student's success," Castle said.

The annual Saluki Family Weekend will take place Friday through Saturday. The weekend will be filled with events that highlight the University and the city of Carbondale. The weekend coincides with Halloween. During Halloween weekend in 2000, more than 100 arrests were made in connection to riots on the Strip.

Castle said SIUC wants to provide an opportunity for students and their families to reconnect with each other.

"It's a chance for students and their families to be together and enjoy the weekend and different things there are to do at SIU," Castle said.

A few highlights of the weekend include the hypnosis show featuring Rich Aimes, the SIUC football game against Western Illinois University and the annual Inter- Greek Council Greek Sing.

The Saluki Family Association is holding a contest for one SIUC family to be named "Family of the Weekend" and will receive a prize package of event tickets and SIUC clothing.

"There's a lot of students and families that enjoy Family Weekend so much that they make it an annual event," Castle said. "Once they get exposed to it when they're a new student, they keep coming back."

Castle advises families to look for lodging in advance through the Carbondale Convention and Tourism Bureau.

"It's always been a scramble to find hotel rooms," he said. "People stay as far away as Mt. Vernon, Cape Girardeau and Paducah."

Castle said the University is aware that some of the guests who attend the family weekend are the younger siblings of students who are considering college options. He said he believes this is a good time for them to see what SIUC has to offer. Having fun and enjoying the company of family is the most important thing for people to remember, Castle said.

"The one thing we encourage about Family Weekend is don't feel like you have to do it all," he said. "Pick and choose the events you want to go to and when you want to see them."

Castle said he would like students to plan ahead to make the weekend go more smoothly for their families.

"I enjoy Family Weekend because I get to see students and their families connect," he said. "I hope people just take advantage of the opportunities and have fun."

Visit www.siucstudentcenter.org or call University Programming at 618/453-2721 for more information.

 

 

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