Carbondale, Illinois or surrounding area? (Murphysboro, Ohio: 2010, schools, live)

[deeptrance]

Originally Posted by sunshine girl

Sorry to be such a talker today, I'm just glad to be back online.......

I'm glad you're back online as well! Between you and ratbert, C'dale has the world's greatest Chamber of Commerce!

Much thanks to both of you, although I'm a bit worried about ratbert's apparent interest in my relationship with llamas..... I would like to enter a plea of "plausible deniability", Your Honor.

[ratbert]

Glad you're back. I was getting a little tired of listening to myself type.

And DT's incessant llama chatter!! Well!

(murphy is cheaper than cdale because it's farther away, and still a stepchild)

We prefer the term "bedroom community", thank you very much.

Go Red Devil's!

[Chloe07]

Would anyone care to comment about this blog:

http://cdalebiz.blogspot.com/

regarding all that is going on at SIU? Are any of the commenters here at SIU or are they all involved elsewhere in the community? From what I've been able to gather, you have an incredibly beautiful community there but appear to have some very unhappy people at the university. I'd love to hear more...

[deeptrance]

Originally Posted by Chloe07

From what I've been able to gather, you have an incredibly beautiful community there but appear to have some very unhappy people at the university.

Be careful when reading any forum or blog. People can become very passionately motivated to write about something that is just their personal experience and has little basis in general reality.

For example, my doctors have all told me NOT to read Web chat forums about drugs that I'm prescribed because the only people who post tend to be people who had a negative reaction or they have some kind of ax to grind.

I cannot comment on the specific blog you asked about, of course, but I'm just making a general observation that you should take everything with a grain of salt and get as many opinions as possible. Which is exactly what you're trying to do, so good for you!

[sunshine girl]

On the contrary, SIU is a great school. Has a pretty campus and many, many quality programs and degrees. From my viewpoint, the only thing that can be construed as negative actually stems from the success of SIU. It's kind of a local thing. Best I can tell, through my husband and his cronies, it all started back in those groovy 60's. Those gosh durn hippies and all. Those outoftowners with their long hair, their liberal ideas, and overall free thinking, came to go to school, and doggonit, they stayed!!! During the vietnam war days, there were actually demonstrations, and some scattered minor fights between demonstrators and war supporters. It took many years of settlement (mostly in the Makanda area just south of Cdale) for things to even out between the newcomers and the forevers. To this day, my husband's generation (70 y/o+) call folks "hippies". Or, as he so quaintly puts it "those s...ofab.....ing hippies". But, overall, time has taken care of things and there is not so much of that anymore. So anyway, I really don't think anyone is trying to say that the university is a bad place, really. It's just this carryover from another time. Also the famous Halloween street parties of days gone by kind of gave the school a bad name for awhile. But all that's in the past, but some folks are kind of set in their ways and beliefs. SIU just looms big on the carbondale scene because it's such a big employer in the area. I went there, my daughter graduated from there some years ago, and I would not hesitate to encourage anyone to come to Cdale and/or SIU. But you'll have to learn what a saluki is!!! Go dawgs!!!!!

[Chloe07]

Thanks for keeping things in perspective...y'all are great! I'll have my own opinion soon enough!

[ratbert]

Hi Chloe! Here's my two cents as a newbie to the community. First off, note that the author moved back here from Bellevue, Washington to live (not a bad town as I recall). Like the community, SIU has such potential but the word isn't getting out beyond those who happen upon it. I think this guy, like a few others I know, sees a community he loves that is losing jobs and is lashing out. Or perhaps it's just his style.

I have a number of friends who work at (or retired from) the University, plus I work with organizational change so I like to follow these things. From what I have pieced together, there has been a decline in employee morale and enrollment over recent years. As far as I can tell, the problem is that there is a strategic vision that has not been communicated well and many people don't understand it (not uncommon in any organization).

Some months ago, the University appointed a new president, Glen Poshard, who is from Southern Illinois and has been described to me as someone who is "larger than life" in these parts, also someone who really cares about the area and SIU (his alma mater.) He appears have the vision, charisma and political clout to get the job done, but he is stepping on some toes. The Chancellor (who it turned out borrowed the strategic plan from his last gig at Texas A&M) was immediately bumped down to faculty level and I hear his house is up for sale.

Most people I know seem to be very excited about the change, including some that were in the frustrated category. Another one of Poshard's first actions was to become the moving force behind the effort to expand broadband in the area. Part of the reason he is so well liked is that he and his wife are well known for their support of the arts and charitable causes. "Founded in 1999 by former U.S. Rep. Glenn Poshard, the Poshard Foundation assists agencies and child advocacy centers throughout Southern Illinois that deal with child abuse. Over the past five years, the Poshard Foundation has provided more than $1.1 million for underprivileged children."

I knew when I posted the links to the blogs, this guy was on the list. You should hear all points of view and this is the type of community where people express them. Quite honestly, I couldn't think of anyone I knew personally who would say anything bad about the community or the university.

But as you say, you will soon see for yourself and I hope you will let us know what you think. It does look like we've arranged some nice weather for you.

BTW, Sunshine Girl, thought you might enjoy knowing there still is a peace protest every Saturday morning on the square, right next to the monthly Lions Pancake Breakfast in the pavilion.

DT, wise words, as always.

BTW, I was going to post something today...we have just had our third siting of a bald eagle on our property. How cool is that?

[ratbert]

Also, please note that our "ranter" is an engineer. Now, I've been married to an engineer for nearly 25 years, plus I've worked with hundreds more during that same period, so I speak with authority when I say "That an engineer's idea of being 'helpful' is telling you what you're doing wrong."

[ratbert]

Having been a city mouse for over 20 years, sometimes I find delight in some of the littlest things here. Thought I'd share a few from the past couple of weeks:

1. They had cookies at every window at the Murdale Post Office for the Christmas rush. Does your post office have cookies?

2. A woman who just moved to Murphysboro to retire saw two men picking up branches in the street the other day, so she asked them if they would also be willing to haul away some branches in her back yard. They said they would. She thanked them afterwards and asked who they worked for. So the mayor and the alderman introduced themselves. A few days later she brought them both homemade peanut brittle.

3. The other day there were nine red cardinals in my little cherry tree. It looked like a living Christmas tree with red lights blinking.

4. Yesterday Santa Clause at the Carbondale mall was wearing rose-colored "John Lennon" glasses. I suspect the long hair was real.

5. Our old neighbors from Houston love it here, so they offered to drive 14 hours to care for our cats while we took the train to Chicago for a few days.

Wishing you a Happy Holiday from Murphysboro! Whatever one(s) you celebrate.

[sunshine girl]

Ratbert, you keep letting folks know what it's really like in the area, and they will come in flocks! Seriously, I love it that someone's spreading the cheer for an area that is not even thought of by some for quality of life and/or retirement. All the beauty of all the lakes of the area, the good schools, the low crime, low cost of living. I have tried to steer some folks to the area, but they just look at me like I'm lying about it. Then they go off to the Carolina's and pay more for equal beauty, IMO. The only downside is the lack of lots of job opportunities, but I guess it's really no different than lots of other places across the country. Other than the Chicago transplants here and there, retirees from other states really have not found this area yet. Maybe that's a good thing though. The folks in the FL forum are hightailing it to the hills of TN, GA, NC, SC, and now KY. Maybe in time the shift will come to Little Egypt. The helpful folks you described are all over So. Ill, and it is no surprise to hear you relay what you and your friends encountered. It's really nice to have folks speak positively about an area, if you look on some of the other state forums it is not always so friendly.
Peace to all....and happy holidays