DN MONDAY, FEB. 10, 2014
THE DAILY NEWS
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BSU at the Games students unwittingly join Russian protest at Amsterdam airport SEE PAGE 6
BALLSTATEDAILY.COM
Pay raise may mean fewer jobs in Muncie President promised $10.10 wage, local businesses question impact ALAN HOVORKA CHIEF REPORTER | afhovorka@bsu.edu
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President Barack Obama’s call for a raise in minimum wage has left one Ball State professor doubtful and local businesses in varying degrees of concern. During Obama’s annual state of the union address on Jan. 28 he asked Congress to “give America a raise” by increasing minimum wage. He promised to raise it to Minimum Wage $10.10 for federal workers Indiana’s minimum wage has by executive increased drimatically within the last order, which four decades. Currently, minimum wage is $7.25. President Barack he will follow Obama plans to increase the value to by pressur$10.10 in 2014. ing congress In dollars to pass a bill that would inObama’s minimum wage crease wages 12 for non-fed2014: $10.10 eral workers 10 over the next three years. 8 Michael Hicks, director of Cen6 ter for Business and Economic Research, said 4 chances are slim that the 2 legislation will pass and if it 0 does, it is a political, not an economic SOURCE: dol.gov DN GRAPHIC KATIE MILLER decision. “The probability of [a minimum wage bill] actually happening is one in a billion,” Hicks said. Jacob Layton, a student facility monitor for the Ball State Recreation and Wellness Center, verbalized many peoples’ fears when he said raising the minimum wage is a temporary solution. “In raising the minimum wage, people will have more money to spend or save,” Layton said. “But because people will get paid more, the prices for everything will increase.” However, Hicks said if minimum wage were increased, it would cause little impact on the price of consumer products. “Consumers would see a trivial change in products, while it may cause people to lose or not be able to find new jobs because of the value of minimum wage,” he said. One sector that could see a drastic change is the food service industry. “Quality of service will decline and those workers will have to be more productive,” Hicks said. “You don’t just go from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour without being able to do more.“ At Grandma Betty’s Ice Cream Shop, owner Jeannie Lee Lake said businesses are supposed to be able to pay workers a rational wage and that the current minimum wage is too low. Lake Lee’s business employs few people as it is, most of them being students. “It would affect the number of paid employees we have. I hope it wouldn’t [but] obviously [$10.10] is a significant amount,” she said.
See WAGE, page 3
NFL
HOPEFULS Wenning, Fakes prepare for scouting combine, pro day
A
MATT McKINNEY CHIEF REPORTER | @Matt_D_McKinney
fter four years of training at Ball State, Keith Wenning is in Indianapolis training once again, this time for a chance at the NFL. He and former Ball State tight end Zane Fakes are at St. Vincent Sports Performance in a six-week NFL Combine Training program to prepare them for the pre-draft process.
Wenning will participate in the NFL scouting combine from Feb. 22-25, along with wide receiver Willie Snead and defensive end Jonathan Newsome. “I’m just going to go and do what I do,” Wenning said. “Hopefully, I catch someone’s eye.” Fakes, who did not receive an invite to the combine, will be participating in Ball State’s Pro Day along with other players leaving Ball State. Fakes is seeing the positives in not getting invited to the combine.
DN FILE PHOTO BREANNA DAUGHERTY
Zane Fakes and Keith Wenning do stretches after their workout on Feb. 1 at the St. Vincent Sports Performance Center in Indianapolis, IN. The program Fakes and Wenning are in helps them train for the NFL Combine.
“It’s not necessarily a bad thing,” Fakes said. “Pro day will be more relaxed and less stressful for me. I think that will help me perform better.” Some of the alumni of the St. Vincent Sports Performance program are: former Indianapolis Colts tight end Dallas Clark, Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Jacoby Jones and Sacramento Kings forward Carl Landry.
See FOOTBALL, page 4
A DAY IN THE LIFE KEITH WENNING
Wake up, eat breakfast 7 a.m.
“DA YA THINK I’M SEXY?” BY ROD STEWART PEAKS AT NUMBER 1TODAY IN 1979.
12:30 p.m.
Work with speed training and positional drills at the SportZone with former Northern Illinois quarterback Jordan Lynch and a quarterback coach 8:30 a.m.
General drills with other athletes 10:30 a.m.
Quarterback drills against air with receivers and tight ends. Work on drops and combine route combinations 11:30 a.m.
Recovery and treatment of any nagging injuries
Lunch
1:30 p.m.
Prepare for afternoon workout 2 p.m.
Afternoon workouts 4 p.m.
Recovery and treatment 5 p.m.
Watch film of speed training and technique 5:30 p.m.
Return to hotel, eat dinner 7 p.m.
Meet with position coaches, work on coverages and defenses
University ceases use of coal for steam Geothermal system will be used instead to make heat, steam AJAYI STAFF REPORTER | KANYINSOLA kiajayi@bsu.edu Ball State’s coal-fired steam plant, a stern brick fixture on campus for 90 years, will shut down next month as the university’s groundbreaking geothermal system takes over. The new system, which includes a vast network of pipes that take advantage of the earth’s constant underground temperature across campus, will cut the school’s carbon
footprint in half, said Jim Lowe, director of engineering and construction operations. “There will be a $2-milliona-year saving because it is so efficient,” Lowe said. With the coal plant’s aging equipment in need of an update, the university had to decide between getting a new coal system, using natural gas or depending solely on geothermal energy. A new coal system would need new equipment to limit emissions, which would have cost an additional $20 to $25 million. Natural gas would become more expensive to maintain over time, Lowe said.
THE PULSE OF BALL STATE
THE PULSE OF BALL STATE
DN PHOTO ROSS MAY
Smoke billows from the coal plant on Ball State’s campus Feb. 2. Ball State is eliminating the use of coal and switching to exclusively geothermal energy.
See COAL, page 3
THE PULSE OF BALL STATE
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