Daily Egyptian June 9, 2010

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Gov. Quinn signs borrowing bill RYAN VOYLES Daily Egyptian

Gov. Pat Quinn signed a bill Tuesday afternoon that would allow SIUC and other state universities to borrow money to make payroll instead of receiving timely state payments. SIU President Glenn Poshard said the signing of the bill was a great relief to him and other administrators, as the next several months are critical as the university prepares its budget for the next fiscal year. “We will now be able to go out within the next 30 days into the open market and try to effect some borrowing, and that will definitely help us with our July and August payroll assessment. “We feel pretty good about it; it’s going to get us over this problem over the next few months, which is a critical time period for us,� Poshard said.

The bill — Senate Bill 642 — would allow universities to borrow up to 75 percent of their payrolls that have not been covered by appropriation payments for fiscal year 2010. According to figures from the Illinois comptroller’s office, state universities are still owed more than $630 million in late payments for the FY10 — which ends June 31. The state owes SIU around $106 million in payments. The deadline for the state to make the payments is Aug. 31, but Quinn has requested the FY10 payment deadline be extended to the end of December. Poshard said there will be an emergency meeting of the SIU Board of Trustees on Thursday to approve the borrowing authority. He said it would take around 30 days after the BOT meeting before the university would begin the borrowing process. There will still be paperwork to go through after the BOT meeting, along with

meetings with firms to help the university get on the market, Poshard said. “The borrowing would be sent out to several entities that loan money, and we’ll take what we can get at the cheapest rate,� he said. “We’ll be looking at the lowest rates we can get, but we won’t know how that works until we get out there on the market and see.� SIUC chancellor Rita Cheng said the bill would allow the university to continue at a high standard as it works to create a budget for fiscal year 2010. “It will allow us to continue to operate at a high-quality standard and make sure we keep all of our programs intact while the state continues to look for ways to support the universities,� she said. “It allows us to manage until the state funding issue continues to be discussed in Springfield.� Please see BUDGET | 2

‘100 Men’ help raise more than 40K at live auction

DIANA SOLIWON Daily Egyptian

Hundreds of people attended Carbondale’s first “100 Men Who Cook,� a Boys and Girls Club fundraising event sponsored by Old National Bank, on Saturday at the Student Center Ballrooms. For $60 a ticket, attendees could feast on 100 signature dishes made by Carbondale residents, including Mayor Brad Cole and Athletic Director Mario Moccia, during a live auction and band performance. One auction package included limo transportation and courtside tickets to the University of Illinois vs. SIU basketball game Nov. 14 in Champaign, while another was a trip for two to Las Vegas from Oct. 14 to Oct. 17. “C’mon you cheapskates!� women’s golf coach Diane Dougherty joked while auctioneering. “Don’t tell me you can’t contribute more toward this great cause.� Old National presented the Boys and Girls Club with a check for $41,642.39 at the end of the night — far surpassing its original goal of $30,000, said Mindy Combs, an Old National banker and chairperson of the event.

Diana Soliwon can be reached at photo@dailyegyptian.com or 536-3311 ext. 254.

DIANA SOLIWON | DAILY EGYPTIAN

Former chancellor Sam Goldman (above) laughs at women’s golf coach Diane Dougherty while they led the live auction, which totaled more than $20,000 in value.

Neckers fire causes more than $1 million in damages RYAN VOYLES Daily Egyptian The entire C-Wing of the Neckers Building remains closed after a fire started in one of the labs last Wednesday. Damages are estimated to be more than $1 million and repairs are expected to last several months. Rod Sievers, university spokesman for SIUC, said the estimates for damages are at least $500,000 to $600,000 in room 102 — the laboratory where the fire started — as well as $500,000 to $600,000 for equipment. He said insurance will cover most of the cost, but some of the equipment was not insured because of its age. Crews will not be able to begin moving debris until next week because the university’s insurance company needs to examine the damage, Sievers said. He said some-

one would be coming in this week to take air samples in the C-Wing, as the smells of smoke and chemicals remain strong. “We want to make sure the area is alright for human accessibility, if you will,� Sievers said. “I would imagine the major part of the clean up will begin next week, and we’ll probably have a better timeline of when everything can be completed then.� He said the first steps of the clean up involve the removal of asbestos around the pipes and in the ceiling. Sievers said a third-party might have to come in for the clean up because of the ‘specialty’ of the incident. Despite the expected months of clean up, Sievers said he does not believe it would seriously affect faculty or students over the summer. “I think some people are out of their places, but its summer school and that gives plenty of room to

move things around,� he said. “I think the general consensus is that we expect to have everything operational again by the time fall comes around.� The fire likely started when the cleaning chemical a student used was ignited by an unknown heat source, Sievers said. He said the investigation is ongoing, but was unsure if the cause would ever be discovered. The student was unharmed by the fire, but was examined by the medical staff on scene after saying he inhaled some chemicals. He was released shortly afterwards, Sievers said. The student will not be held responsible for the fire, Sievers said. “It’s obvious it was an accident; we understand that,� he said.

Ryan Voyles can be reached at rvoyles@dailyegyptian.com or 536-3311 ext. 254

Carbondale firefighters exit Neckers Building Wednesday after they responded and extinguished a chemical fire in the chemistry lab. The building was evacuated and one person was treated for a minor injury. Repairs to the building are expected to cost more than $1 million and last several months. EVAN DAVIS DAILY EGYPTIAN

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