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City investigation concludes no cover-up ELI MILEUR Daily Egyptian An internal investigation into Carbondale Police Department procedures concerning the misfiling of the theft report of Chief Jody O’Guinn’s handgun found no evidence of a cover-up. The city released an outline of City
Manager Allen Gill’s report in a press release Tuesday and made the full report available to the City Council and public. “I am satisfied no cover-up was ever intended nor did any cover-up occur,� said Council member Jane Adams. The gun has also been connected to a September murder. Adams called for an internal
investigation into the police department’s procedures in September. An officer mistakenly filed the June 20 gun-theft report with the same case number as an animal complaint he’d handled earlier that morning, the press release said. Aside from that error, the release said all procedures were followed normally. Please see BRIEF | 4
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Unions say strike not about money, Cheng begs to differ
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t is not going to cost SIU a cent to give us transparency and accountability. — Dave Johnson spokesperson for the Faculty Association and chair of the Departmental Representatives Council for the FA
SARAH SCHNEIDER Daily Egyptian Editor's Note: The following story discusses issues affecting two unions negotiating its contracts, the Faculty Association and the Association of Civil Service Employees. Tuesday’s edition of the Daily Egyptian discussed two other unions, the Non-Tenure Track Faculty Association and Graduate Assistants United. While administrators say a majority of the items being negotiated in the unions' contracts concern money, union leaders insist the issues do not. Four unions representing students, faculty and staff at the university will go on strike at 12:01 a.m. Thursday if they do not have contractual settlements. No group in the history of the university has gone on strike. Chancellor Rita Cheng said the four unions have been offered pay raise packages of 1 percent in January, 1 percent in July and 2 percent in July 2013. She said if the pay raise packages are accepted, back-to-back years of tuition increases of 7 percent in 2013 and 7 percent in 2014 would be necessary. Cheng said each unions' issues are different but most include money. Dave Johnson, spokesperson for the Faculty Association and chair of the Departmental Representatives Council for the FA, said the administration may try to make it seem like negotiations are about money, but he said they are not. “It is not going to cost SIU a cent to give us transparency and accountability,� he said. “We are not saying no to financial exigency, we are not saying no to furloughs. We are not saying you can never lay off faculty and you can never cut their pay. We are saying you have to establish a transparent, accountable process to do so.� Leaders of the Association of Civil Service Employees could not be reached for comment after numerous phone calls Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Cheng said all the issues ACSE continues to bargain regard money. She said they are asking for free parking, more salaries, guaranteed positions and more vacation days.
She said the university cannot afford to give them free parking, and they have been offered the same pay increases as the other unions. Cheng said 280 positions have been lost across campus and it is unlikely they will be filled because there is no money to fund the positions. Workload has been an issue in bargaining for the union. “We are paying a lot of overtime,� she said. “We don’t have money to bring back any positions or give them positions.� Johnson said the union and administration’s bargaining teams continue to discuss language in the Reduction in Force section of the contract, and defining when and how the SIU Board of Trustees would determine financial exigency. According to an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education, declaring financial exigency acknowledges that the university would face repercussions, but would not have to worry about its credit ratings sinking if the declaration would improve finances in the future. “Declaring financial exigency basically acknowledges that a college cannot meet its contractual obligations and allows it to take unusual costsaving steps, like firing tenured faculty members,� the article said. Cheng said Board of Trustee policy should not be dictated in contracts. She said the administration’s bargaining team has referred to existing language in the BOT document about declaring financial exigency. “It is intended to have language for process, should something that unfortunate happen to the institution,� she said. Johnson said in the FA's two most recent contracts, there were side letters saying there would be no layoffs of faculty for financial exigency. “We would be perfectly willing to do that again but if we are not going to do that, and the board so far has said they are unable to do that, then we need to set this language up clearly. If we get a process established it would be there and would be basis of next contract so it is important we get this right,� he said. Cheng said language regarding Please see UNIONS | 6
Dillon Fairfield, right, is sworn in by Carbondale Mayor Joel Fritzler Tuesday as a Carbondale firefighter during the City Council meeting at Carbondale Civic Center. The City Council met to adjust budget items for fiscal year 2012. The
SARAH GARDNER | DAILY EGYPTIAN
council agreed to make adjustments to pay for damages caused by the April 19 storm, a fire in an equipment shed at a water treatment plant and other unanticipated items. Please see www.dailyegyptian.com for the full story.
Undergraduate students ill-informed on strike issues Concerns arise, students torn between teachers and administrators ASHLEY ZBOREK Daily Egyptian With the strike date only a day away, students share their views on the possible picket and how they will be affected. Contract negotiations have become a topic of discussion in classrooms. While the bargaining groups may be informed of contract details, some students say they have not been provided with enough information to form an opinion on the issue. “It is confusing. On the union side, I have teachers preaching about how they are mistreated, and on the administration's side I have received Rita Cheng’s condescending emails, which provided next to no useful information," said Samuel Knight, a freshman from Glenview studying English. Knight said he wishes there was a reliable source of information for students. He said it is apparent faculty is unhappy, but he said he knows little about the administration's side. “Students are just getting bits and pieces from their teachers, which is obviously
a biased source," Knight said. "I don’t think there should be pressure for students to choose sides. Yes, it affects us, but I don’t think students should be missing class to go stand on the picket line.� Jason Parini, a senior from Joliet studying architecture, said he thinks both the administration and faculty are trying to drag students into the middle of the situation. “I feel like it’s a business conflict and that it needs to be resolved between the unions and the administration," he said. Loreto Cruz, a freshman from Montgomery studying radio-television, said he thinks student involvement could be good or bad, depending on how this week's events unfold. “Students have the choice to become educated and involved in the matter," he said. "It is sad because many students seem not to care, even though, overall, they could end up being the ones who are most affected by the whole situation.� Parini said he hopes the situation is resolved quickly so it does not jeopardize his
education. "While I think it is very important for students to be educated about what is going on, I do not find it necessary for students to get involved,� he said. Tina Havrilka, a nontraditional senior from Walnut Hill studying elementary education, said she thinks most information available for students is biased. "Of course everybody has their own side, but nobody knows what the truth is except for the people at the bargaining table themselves," she said. Havrilka said the level of student awareness depends on the students themselves. She said it is their job to seek out the information through all available news sources. “Students should definitely become involved. After all, we are the ones paying for both the administration and faculty’s salaries," she said. "I wish there was a way that we could all come together in one strong unit so we can express the way that we feel about what is going on." Cruz said he is upset by the amount of negative publicity the university has received since the beginning of the strike threats. Please see STUDENTS | 4