The Writing Center will be open during the initial four week summer session that started Wednesday. It has not been open during that time in past years but will now remain open until its usual closing date on July 16.

In previous years, the Writing Center did not open until the eight-week summer sessions started June 11.

“We realized more writing-intensive courses are offered during the four-week more so than the eight-week,” said English professor Daiva Markelis.

The center will be open for the same total amount of hours, but will be spread over a longer period of time, Markelis said.

The extension of the center’s hours will especially benefit incoming freshmen who will take writing-intensive courses during the four-week session.

The Writing Center will be funded by a combination of student fees and outside funding this summer.

Markelis expects more students to schedule appointments now that it will be open earlier in the summer. Free coffee, computer use and printers are available to students, she added.

Graduate students from the English department manage the Writing Center. Mario Podeschi and Arwen Tyler will be operating it this summer.

Podeschi said any student can stop in or call to schedule an appointment at any stage of the writing process. The appointments usually run an hour long.

“(I can) help people brainstorm topic ideas, help them produce rough drafts, final drafts,” he said. “(English as a second language) students come in for help with grammar.”

If a student comes in for help, Podeschi said he starts by spending the first few minutes reading the paper. When he is finished, he helps the student create goals for improvement.

Although Podeschi has always been interested in writing and reading, he can sympathize with the trouble some students may have.

“My junior year of high school, I got a C in English,” he said. “The problem was that I couldn’t always organize my thoughts in a way that was appropriate for an essay.”

English professor David Radavich is not teaching this summer but said he thinks it’s a good idea for the Writing Center to be open longer because it will be convenient for students.

“The Writing Center can offer intensive one-on-one assistance that

supplements work done for class,” Radavich said. “Students can visit regularly over time

to work on problems with spelling, punctuation, sentence patterns (and) organization.”

Sam Sottosanto can be reached at 581-7942 or at slsottosanto@eiu.edu.

English graduate student Mario Podeschi is a student tutor at the wringting center located in Coleman Hall. Podeschi said, “[The Writing Center] is not nearly as frantic as the end of spring and fall semesters.” (Robbie Wroblewski/ The Daily Eastern News)

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