Today marks the halfway point of Latin American Student Organization week.

The celebration began Monday and will continue through Friday.

The third week of September was specifically chosen for a variety of reasons.

The week coincides with the first full week of Latin American Heritage Month, which goes from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15.

In addition, five Latin American countries are celebrating their independence days this week as well: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. Mexico declared its independence from Spain from on Sept. 16, 1810, and Chile declared its independence from Spain on Sept. 18, 1810.

LASO is celebrating the week by hosting events including a variety show, an ice cream social, a video game night and a salsa and meringue dance night.

LASO is a student group that aims to be culturally diverse among Eastern’s student population and provide an opportunity for non-Latino members of the Charleston community to learn more about Latino and Hispanic culture.

Heather Zike, LASO’s new faculty adviser, said LASO’s goal this semester is to organize a group of people on campus to get to know each other and who want to learn a little about Latin American culture.

LASO membership is open to students of any ethnicity, even if they are not Latino or a minority.

LASO President Jennifer Feliciano said the group is recovering from a loss in membership from the spring and hopes to increase student participation this semester.

“Last year we had a few people quitting and not following through with their plans, but this year we’re picking it back up,” Feliciano said. “We want students to participate more this year.”

Feliciano, a junior family consumer sciences major, said she hopes to find active and interested students to participate in the vacant executive board positions of vice president, secretary and treasurer.

Feliciano hopes openings like the vice president position will not be intimidating for prospective students.

“It is a great leadership experience,” she said.

She said the position would be an opportunity to gain experience working with different people and making the organization better than it was the previous year.

Zike said she is looking forward to getting more students together during this week.

Tanya Guzman, an art graduate student, serves as LASO’s graduate adviser this year.

“There are so few Latino students on campus, and unity is an important thing on campus,” Feliciano said. “We need to help students feel welcome on campus, especially students new to EIU.”

Zike said any students interested in LASO should contact her in the Student Life Office. Student Life is located on the third floor of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.

LASO meetings are 6 p.m. every Wednesday in the Martinsville Room in the Union and are open to all.

Students who are interested in LASO can also contact the Student Activities Center at 581-5522.

Fact box

TODAY: A video game at 7 p.m. in the Andrews Hall lobby.

THURSDAY: Meringue / Salsa Night, where students can learn how to dance Salsa, from 7 to 8 p.m. in the Student Recreation Center’s Aerobics Room.

FRIDAY: LASO meeting at 5 p.m. in the Thomas Hall Basement.

For Hispanic Heritage Month, the movie “Angel Rodriguez” will be shown from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Coleman Hall Auditorium.

SATURDAY: A Pot Luck event 1 to 5 p.m. at the LASO office, which shares space within the African American Cultural House. The Cultural House is across Lincoln Avenue from Old Main.