WIN IT >> B3
Grand Valley Lanthorn
Grand Valley’s student run newspaper
www.lanthorn.com
GVSU FOOTBALL
Vol. 45 issue 3: Monday, August 30, 2010
FRESHMEN INVASION
HOME OPENER PREVIEW
GVSU welcomed its newest members to campus with a variety of activities
>> See B1
>> See A8
UNIVERSITY CUTS BUDGET,
Initiative aims for lower textbook prices
RAISES TUITION HAAS
View from the
President’s office
President Thomas Haas shares his views on the year ahead, state aid and what he is most proud of at GVSU
GVL / James Brien
Transfer student Carmen Kase prepares for the start of the school year by picking out books for her new classes.
By Molly Waite and Anya Zentmeyer GVL Staff
By Lauren Fitch GVL Editor in Chief
Facing another tuition increase, a changing state government and the usual challenges of balancing the different aspects of college life, some Grand Valley State University students have entered the Fall 2010 semester with questions and concerns on their minds. The Lanthorn sat down with Grand Valley State University President Thomas Haas before the start of classes to get some of these questions answered and hear the president’s thoughts on the upcoming school year. >> Lanthorn: What are some of the main challenges you foresee for this year? >> Haas: Uncertainty with the state. We have yet to receive our budget from the state, even though we have established our own budget. We mitigated tuition and I appreciate the faculty and staff and two of our union groups recognizing the challenges that our students and their families face with the Michigan economy. We froze salaries and there will be a change in the benefits around health (care) where the faculty and staff are going to pick up more of the obligation in the health area ... With the uncertainties, we need to anticipate, adapt and maybe lead some of the changes that are going to be prompted by what is happening around us. But I still want to maintain the stability and the quality of services that the students have come to expect at Grand Valley, At the same time, we have a strategic plan in place. That strategic plan, de- President Haas’ veloped events to watch last year by Julie for in Fall 2010 G u e - • Fall Arts Series vara and o t h e r s • 50th celebraa c r o s s tion the entire c a m p u s • opening of The i n c l u d - Connection and ing the new living center Board of Trust- • groundbreakees, re- ing on the Mary ally is going to Idema Pew provide Learning Coma stable platform mons for us • renovation of L. to make William Seidman sure that our in- building
See Haas, A2
Teachers, staff and students have each felt the effects of recent budget cuts at Grand Valley State University GVL / Eric Coulter
GVSU students have been forced to cough up more in tuition this year following state budget cuts and increasing costs.
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By Samantha Butcher GVL Senior Reporter
isappearing stimulus dollars, eroding levels of state funding and rising costs are creating a lethal cocktail for colleges nationwide as universities struggle to keep tuition raises to a minimum. Budget containment measures at universities have become increasingly drastic in the last few years, as administrations have been forced to add student activity fees, consolidate campuses and slash salaries in attempts to keep tuition levels competitive. In spite of these measures, some schools, including the University of Georgia and the University of California, have seen increases at 30 percent and higher. Grand Valley State University was not exempt from these challenges as administrators set out to create a budget for the 2010-11 school year. For the second year in a row, tuition rates increased 5.3 percent, making undergraduate tuition $9,088 per year. The increase kept GVSU below the state average tuition at the 15 public universities but not without cost. Labor unions representing the police force and the maintenance and grounds staff both agreed to pay freezes for their workers, as did the faculty. Vice President of Finance and Administration Jim Bachmeier praised the willingness of the staff to make sacrifices for the student body. “I thought it was really a fabulous gesture when the faculty’s Salary and Budget Committee said, ‘We get it,
things are tough, we know our students are hurting and we can get by without an increase this year,’” he said. “I think it speaks boatloads about our faculty.” In addition to pay freezes, faculty are shouldering more of their medical expenses this year in an effort to ou can keep tuition raises to a minimum. throw children The university also prioritized off of food spending, putting assistance, off non-vital t e c h n o l o g y you can throw purchases poor people and opting to leave some off of medical staff vacancies assistance, you unfilled. “(The faculty) can let prisonunderstood the nature of the ers out, or you economy here in Michigan, how can reduce it’s impacting our funding to students and their families, and this universities. was more than - Jim Bachmeier just symbolic. It really is VP of Finance and substantive,” said Administration GVSU President Thomas J. Haas. Adding to the university’s struggles were low per-student appropriations from the state legislature. Because state funding is not based on enrollment dynamics, GVSU receives $2,856 in per-student appropriations from the state despite a $3,775 per student floor funding level and a per-student average of $5,502, a system that Haas
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criticized. “They basically give you what you had last year, and if your numbers of students go up you have to operate with less dollars,” he said. “I call that irrational.” During the summer, Haas testified to the House Higher Education Appropriations Committee that he would cut GVSU tuition 5 percent if they were to receive the floor funding level for appropriations. While the state budget has not been finalized, Haas said at this point the decision was unlikely. “If you bring in students, you should be able to serve them with the resources that we have and not be punished in a way financially because we’re doing what the state wants us to do and that is to graduate an increasing, talented student body that will stay here in the state,” he said. Bachmeier said while he has been disappointed in the legislature’s low funding for the university, he understands why universities are a frequent target of budget cuts. “If you look at state budget, you can throw children off of food assistance, you can throw poor people off of medical assistance, you can let prisoners out, or you can reduce funding to universities,” he said. “In some ways their choices are not very good.” According to the 2010 General Fund Budget, the university lost $62 million in state appropriations as well as $1.7 million in stimulus funds due to cuts from higher education funding at both the state and federal levels. The tuition
See Tuition, A2
MICHIGAN PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES BY THE NUMBERS 10-year percent change in enrollment Grand Valley State University Ferris State University Oakland University Saginaw Valley State University Northern Michigan University Michigan Tech University University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Central Michigan University University of Michigan-Flint Michigan State University University of Michigan-Dearborn Wayne State University Eastern Michigan University Western Michigan University Lake Superior State University Fall 1998-Fall 2008 Source: HEIDI Access and Affordability Measures
INDEX
A
42.6 40.2 27.6 22.1 15.5 11.9 9.8 8.9 7.9 6.8 4.3 -0.6 -5.7 -6.8 -24.3
10-year percent change in tuition Central Michigan Tech Northern Eastern Ferris Wayne State State Average Oakland Western U of M-Flint Michigan State Grand Valley U of M-Dearborn Lake Superior Saginaw Valley U of M-Ann Arbor according to FTIAC
News......................................................A3 A&E.......................................................A5 Op/Ed.............................................A6 Photo..............................................A8
180.2% 152.3% 144.1% 139.8% 130.2% 125.2% 122.1% 120.2% 120.1% 117.9% 116.7% 113.2% 108.7% 108.5% 96.5% 85.9%
B
The contents of an average college student’s backpack are teaching hard lessons in economics, with a U.S. Government Accountability Office report showing textbook prices have tripled between 1986 and 2004. The federal government, taking notice of high textbook prices, has taken steps to reduce the expense of textbooks by passing a law in 2008 called the Higher Education Opportunity Act. A provision of this law will require textbook publishers to reveal, in advance, the price, description of content changes, availability of the book in other formats, copyright dates of the last three editions and prices of bundled and unbundled books. The hope is that providing more information to students and professors will lead to lower textbook prices. Laudo Ogura, assistant professor of economics at Grand Valley State University, said one of the reasons textbook prices have become so high is because instructors and students do not have perfect information about differences in textbook price and quality. “Instructors don’t have much incentive to look at prices, since they don’t pay,” Ogura said. “Some of them might start looking at the prices now that they will be disclosed, and avoid a too expensive book, although most books of the same quality have more or less the same price, so it is not likely there will be a large reduction in prices, though a 10-20 percent reduction is possible in the long term.” Ogura added, however, that the price reduction of textbooks will more likely be seen mostly in general education courses because there are already more textbook options available within those areas. Jerrod Nickels, manager of the University Bookstore in Allendale, said the law has had no impact on UBS textbook sales to date and that he does not anticipate it will in the future either. Nickels explained that the textbook information the law required be made public has already been accessible for students through the UBS site, but students can now access the same information through the Banner registration site as well. “UBS continues to be highly competitive in the textbook market based on a pricing structure which is student-focused and an excellent used book program,” he said. “Nearly 50 percent of the books that we sell are used books - the average college store sells about 27 percent used books. We do not feel that the law will have any impact on our ability to be competitive.” Other bookstores agree. Matt, a manager at Brian’s Books who wished not to reveal his last name, said things hav not changed much for the used textbook store at the southwestern corner of GVSU’s Allendale Campus. “Nothing seems to be all that different yet,” he said. “Everything seems to be flowing like normal, but its hard to tell at this point.” assistantnews@lanthorn.com
Sports...........................................................B1 Laker Life .........................................................B4 Marketplace................................................B7 Advertisement......................................................B8