WORK IN PROGRESS
STAT ATTACK
Construction on the new Honors College is estimated to be completed Summer 2013. Read more about its progress.
Read the latest statistics on the Eastern’s men and women’s basketball teams.
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Dai ly Eastern News WWW.DAILYEASTERNNEWS.COM
THE
“TELL THE TRUTH AND DON’T BE AFRAID”
VOL. 97 | ISSUE 100
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
C ampus | financial aid
C ampus
MAP Grant reduction to continue
Forum to discuss retention
By Stephanie Markham Administration Editor The 5 percent reduction in MAP grant awards affecting students for the past two years will continue to fiscal year 2014. The Illinois Student Assistance Commission approved a 5 percent reduction factor in anticipation that funding would be lower than $317 million in FY13, according to its Jan. 24 meeting minutes. The commission set the maximum award for FY14 at $4,720. Jerry Donna, the director of financial aid, said the award was higher in FY10, and when that amount was suddenly reduced by 2.5 percent, Eastern spent about $300,000 to cover the difference. Since then, the award has been 5 percent below what it was in 2010. The commission’s agenda states the reduction factor is intended to decrease the likelihood of an earlier suspense date, or the date students applying for FAFSA are waitlisted because there is no more money available. Over the years, the suspense date has been set earlier. Last year the date was set in March then extended to April, while back in 2002 it was in October. In FY13, MAP grants covered about 37 percent of tuition costs at public universities, while in FY02 they covered 100 percent.
Paul McCann, the university treasurer, said the reduction factor might not help depending on how much would be available in the financial aid budget. “If that money goes down, then I don’t know whether a reduction of 5 percent per each grant really helps because you don’t have near as much money to distribute,” he said. “I would say that without knowing where the money is going to go, making those kinds of decisions are rather premature.” McCann said MAP funds had been increasing since President Barack Obama made higher education one of his priorities. “With the stimulus money he increased the amount of federal award money available,” he said. “That trickled down and came down to the state, and they put more money into MAP moneys at the state level.” He said there is less money available now at the state and federal level than in 2009 because there is less stimulus money. McCann said the commission functions as an agency that reports to the Illinois Board of Higher Education, who would then propose a budget for FY14 to the governor. Stephanie Markham can be reached at 581-2812 or samarkham@eiu.edu.
Percentage of paid Illinois Map Grants 2001: 70.5 2002: 66.9
By Stephanie Markham Administration Editor
2003: 61.6 2004: 59.5 2005: 62.5 2006: 62.2 2007: 62.1 2008: 60.8 2009: 55.6 2010: 45.0 2011: 41.9 2012: 42.8 2013: 37.8 Gr aph by Tim Deters | The Daily Eastern Ne ws
Eastern | religion
Campus reacts to pope’s resignation By Seth Schroeder Associate News Editor After seeing news of Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation on Facebook, music graduate student Betsy Danner said the wording of the news was vague and she thought he had died. “I thought, ‘Ah! We are losing our Papa,’” she said. When she realized he was only resigning, she said she was relieved. Benedict announced Monday that Feb. 28 would be the last day of his papacy, saying he lacked the physical and mental strength to continue the work required. Danner said since he is old and has a difficult job, she understands why the pope would choose to resign. “It’s good of him to know his limits,” she said. Jennifer Vogt, a junior special education major, said she was shocked when she heard of the pontiff ’s resignation. She said she was not disappointed, just that the news was unexpected. Like Vogt, Jon Dastych, a senior elementary education major, said he was surprised when he heard the news. “He’s a pretty important guy,” Dastych said. “Not just to my religion, but around the world.” Dastych said as the leader of his religion, the pope helps guide the members
MC T
Pope Benedict XVI announced Monday that he will be resigning from the papacy on Feb. 28 due to his age and health.
of the Roman Catholic Church in both belief and law. Danner said the pope is not a ruler, as many people think, but acts more as a shepherd or servant to the members of the Catholic Church. She said the pope is bishop of Rome and members the Catholic Church believe what he says is infallible. Danner said this does not mean that he is never wrong, but that God and the Holy
Spirit inspire what he says. After his resignation, Danner said she thinks Benedict will lead a quiet life. “I think he’ll write a lot because that’s what he likes to do,” She said. “And of course he’ll pray, so he will essentially be living the life of a monk.” Dastych said he will be following the selection process for the new pope very closely. “I would hope that a new pope tries
to hold on to traditional values,” he said. “While still understanding the 21st century.” Danner said she hopes not much changes with the next pope. “I would like a pope just like the last two,” she said. “They were awesome. I loved them.” Seth Schroeder can be reached at 581-2812 scschroeder@eiu.edu.
Eastern’s freshman to sophomore retention rate is 79 percent, which is about 10 percent higher than other traditionally selective universities. The Committee on Retention Efforts will be discussing retention and graduation rates during its spring forum at 2 p.m. Tuesday in the Grand Ballroom of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union. Kimberlie Moock, the director of new student programs and co-chair of CORE, said retention is an increasingly complex issue as the student population changes. “We’ve seen a shift in our incoming class profile in the last couple of years, and so to see shifts occur changes what kind of strategies the university has to support students,” she said. She said the retention rate has remained steady, which is positive considering the national average has decreased. According to the CORE report from 2011, President Bill Perry set the goal of an 85 percent retention rate by 2013. Moock said reaching that percentage would require analyzing how multiple factors conjunctively contribute to retention. “Our retention and graduation rates are far above the national average,” she said. “To get to the 85 percent the president would like us to be at, we’re going to have to find finer-grained attributes that show us where we can help support the most students.” CORE data also compares Eastern’s retention and graduation rates to other universities. Moock said the comparisons help students make decisions on where to enroll, and they show the government which universities are meeting expectations. “It’s important to know what is happening across the nation in regards to all sorts of data,” she said. “One of the biggest reasons to know where we are compared to other institutions is so we can articulate how well we’re doing to students who are looking.” Moock said the committee also analyzes data taken from the National Survey of Student Engagement and an alumni survey. “NSSE tells us patterns in which students are taking our support and reasons why they’re successful, and the alumni survey is reconfirming with students in a more qualitative way why students are doing the way they are,” she said. Karla Sanders, the director of the center for academic support and achievement and co-chair of CORE, said the committee has held a forum every other year since 2006. RETENTION, page 7