Southern Illinois University Carbondale

Southern Illinois University Carbondale has a world of politics that is often hidden from most students especially new students, and this comes not only from the fact that the university has historically had close to sixteen labor unions but also from the fact that besides the prison system and hospital system the university is the only major source of income for the entire southern portion of the state. Not only are some buildings like Faner Hall designed to confuse students and thus prevent a large scale uprising as was part of its design during the time of college protests, but also the university community still has a strong political system in place to prevent students from getting to much power. From my understanding every year the university gets a huge dose of freshmen, the next year about half come back as sophomores, half the sophomores come back for their junior year, and lastly about half the juniors manage to graduate after their senior year.

The Carbondale community has been considered to be one of the very best communities to live in among all the communities in the entire United States as a result of the natural appearance, feeling of community held by the people, and interwoven lifestyle people have with nature, but Carbondale has more homeless people and panhandlers than any other community that I have ever been in. In the basement of the Student Center and in the first floor many homeless people would gather, sleep, and sometimes steel things from each other when I attended. Overall, the homeless population is often not a danger to society, but it is an indication that the local economy has much need for improvement.

University Housing has incredible meals offered to students living on campus, and the food offered is very delicious with incredible variety (several times the variety of a traditional all-you-can-eat restaurant). Many students thus would not see any appeal in eating at a local restaurant. Overall, the best appeal of the university is found not in the food but often in the living such as is the case in the on-campus housing at Thompson Point that is located across from Thompson Woods and beside one of the largest lakes in the world that is manmade.

During the time that liquor was made illegal in the United States, the southern Illinois region had a thriving liquor industry and today it has about sixteen vineyards just a few miles south of the university. During the war protests, some female college students walked through the Carbondale main street (called The Strip) naked. Lastly, the shops on the Carbondale main street (the Strip) have had their windows broken so many times yearly that they cannot get insurance to cover the windows anymore.

The best appeal of Southern Illinois University is that it has tremendous Christian involvement as several mega churches exist in Carbondale as well as other churches that together have about as much floor space as what the university has. When I attended Southern Illinois University Carbondale, I studied under a bishop on Sundays all day and I studied under a Messianic Jewish leader on Saturdays all day and then I attended philosophy classes during the week while writing my class papers on Christian subjects and content. Not only have I obtained two degrees from Southern Illinois University, but also I managed to make strong connections with other Christian students as we would study the bible all throughout the night and into the morning (eventually I formed one of the largest theological news groups in the world Jesus on the Web). Unfortunately, when I went to get a job after completing my education at Southern Illinois University, I found that employers see serious Christians as a threat to productivity, and as a result I now have a part-time job that makes $5 an hour less than I made when I was in college even though I have been out of college now for three years. Overall, I see much value in my experience at Southern Illinois University as I obtained a tremendous education as even my IQ score raised from 109 prior to attending to 140 after having attended, but having a good education can actually lower the potential of getting a good job and this fact is especially true for Southern Illinois University Carbondale.