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Faculty group plans to decertify Faculty Association SARAH SCHNEIDER Daily Egyptian
A group of faculty members have begun to discuss how to decertify the use of the only bargaining unit for tenured and tenure-track faculty, the Faculty Association, and instead represent themselves as a group of faculty. In the six days since Mike Eiholz, an associate professor of zoology, sent an email to all tenure and nontenure faculty expressing the goal of his group, Faculty for Sensible Negotiations, and the need to explore alternatives to the Faculty Association, Eiholz said he has received overwhelming responses both in support and in question of the group. Eiholz, representative for FSN, said more than 140 faculty responded in support of the effort to replace the Faculty Association which is affiliated with the Illinois Education Association. The IEA represents the four campus unions without contracts that have been negotiating terms in their contracts since June 2010 when the previous settlement ended. In the last two weeks the unions’ dues-paying members have authorized their executive bodies to set a strike date if there is no further progress in negotiations. Eiholz said a group of about five faculty members have discussed for two years their opposition to decisions made by the association. He said faculty members are intelligent enough to negotiate their own contracts without the use of an outside representation. “As you are aware, our university is at a crisis that threatens our reputation and possibly our future as a scholarly institution,� he said in the email sent Thursday. “While we may not agree with the administration’s stance on some matters, we believe that the Faculty Association and its parent organization, the Illinois Education Association, share responsibility for bringing us to this point. We are currently working under an agreement that was imposed because of what we believe was unrealistic and unreasonable FA demands on many issues.� The email said the association has resorted to tactics that have created an openly hostile atmosphere on campus. Rod Sievers, spokesman for the university, said the administration would have no say in how the union was represented and would want no say in the matter. He said it is something the faculty would have to determine. “Whatever group should emerge, the university would work with them just like they do in the Faculty Association,� Sievers said. Eiholz said the decertification of the association could take up to six months, but if it were to happen the group would want the Faculty Senate, or a similar organization, to represent the faculty. According to the senate’s website the group is a body of elected faculty members whose goal is to ensure the enforcement of policies involving academics and all faculty status and welfare. In a follow-up email sent to faculty Friday, Eiholz said the senate already represents faculty on many issues and is in place to deal with faculty concerns. He said they are not sure if the senate will be able to represent the faculty but they are in the process of determining that. Please see FACULT | 4
Justin Skinner, of Taylorville, casts a line Friday into Kinkaid Lake during the National Guard FLW College Fishing Central Regional Championship. Skinner, with
BROOKE GRACE | DAILY EGYPTIAN
his SIU-Edwardsville teammate Brad Lemasters, took third place in the tournament, advancing them to compete in the national championship.
Apple products influence students KARL BULLOCK Daily Egyptian The innovative mind of Steve Jobs, cofounder of Apple Inc., along with the creation of Apple products has allowed students and professionals in media to develop the skills reflective of the industry as a whole. Students who major in journalism and media arts at the university learn to operate multiple software programs on one platform with the use of Macintosh computers, said Gary Kolb, dean of the College of Mass Communications and Media Arts. CBSNews, along with many other news organizations, commemorated Jobs following his death Wednesday and in an article stated he “revolutionized technology through his design, marketing and creation of personal computers and mobile devices.� Jobs took a leave of absence from Apple, Inc. in 2004 to have surgey due to complications with pancreatic cancer and stepped down as chief executive in August. He died from respiratory arrest Wednesday,
according to a release from Apple. Kolb said the convergence of multiple programs onto the Macintosh platform has changed the way people work with media. “You’ll find that if you go out into the world and you’re dealing with professionals in film, video and photo editing, design, advertising and music production, the standard is the Macintosh platform,� he said. “I think that’s because from the beginning, the design of the platform was very friendly to people who are more visually or graphically oriented.� Kolb said the assembly of software such as Final Cut Pro, Final Cut Express, Adobe, video and audio editing on the Macintosh computer has caused people to develop a jack-of-all-trades skill set in the media industry. He said it was possible to find a job a few years ago with just one specialization in a communications and media program. “Now when you graduate you need to know how to shoot digital photographs, record digital audio and edit those things in a program like Final Cut Pro and post
it all on the web,� he said. “The difference between someone who’s practiced radio broadcasting and someone in photojournalism has decreased because now (employers) want people who know how to work on multiple platforms.� The demand of Apple products and software at the university can also be because of the familiarity of the brand with students, faculty and staff, said James Abbott, customer service manager of the University Bookstore. Abbott also serves as the unofficial oncampus representative of Apple products. He said on average the bookstore sells about 20 Macintosh computers per month. “We get students asking about every different Apple product and the majority of the time, customers will come in and they know, or they’ve already used, a Mac, iPad, or iPod,� he said. “Just because most people are familiar with it, it increases the demand on them tenfold.� Please see APPLE | 6