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Freshmen enrollment on the rise
Union County Fair shows off livestock
LAUREN DUNCAN Daily Egyptian Chancellor Rita Cheng said there is a connection between enrollment and the campus budget. “Over the course of 18 years, we’ve got $10 million lost to the campus each year based on the enrollment decline,� she said. At the SIU Board of Trustees meeting Aug. 17 Cheng said freshmen enrollment is up 149 students, or 7 percent, from 2010. While official enrollment numbers have not been released, Cheng said recruitment and marketing efforts directed toward prospective students might have influenced an increase in incoming students. “Social media is huge,� Cheng said. “We are doing everything from translating our web pages into Chinese for our international recruitment as well as making sure that we have a Facebook linked in and all those other presences that are familiar to young people.� About 400,000 prospective students were sent SIUC advertising materials and 27,000 phone calls were a part of the “largest campaign in SIU history� this summer, Cheng said. Please see FRESHMEN | 4
LYNNETTE OOSTMEYER | DAILY EGYPTIAN
Karlie Eddleman, 11, of Dongola, watches over her Hampshire show pigs Tuesday at the Union County State Fair in Anna. Eddleman said she has been showing pigs in southern Illinois for two years and raises them on her family’s farm. They train the pigs, which she
said can weigh more than 250 pounds, to behave in the show ring by offering them marshmallows after they exit. “It takes a lot of work to do what we do,� Eddleman said. “But I’ve been very lucky with the pigs that I’ve raised. They are all very special.�
Unions 420 days without contracts continue negotiations SARAH SCHNEIDER Daily Egyptian
Four Illinois Education Association unions have gone 420 days without a contract. Chancellor Rita Cheng said without widespread unpaid days this year, she is hopeful that contracts for the unions can be signed. “We are cutting budgets in all of the colleges by 2.2 percent and while there may be some personnel disruption, we chose to do that rather than a temporary measure of furlough days because that didn’t get to the permanent solution that we need,� she said. The Faculty Association, Non-Tenure Track Faculty Association, Association of Civil Service Employees and Graduate Assistants United, totaling 3,400 members, will continue to negotiate terms of their contracts this year with concerns for job security, health care, the future of collective bargaining and the voice of employees on campus. Tamara Keen, a member of the bargaining team for the ACSE, said the organization has lost 72 positions and over 1.9 million dollars since January 2010, but those positions cannot be filled during the current hiring freeze. “We are overworked,� she said. “We were told that if we were working overtime hours they should be written down. However, they have not rehired in civil service.� William Stodden, a bargaining team
œœW
e were told that if we were working overtime hours they should be written down. However, they have not rehired in civil service. — Tamara Keen Member of bargaining team for Association of Civil Service Employees
member for GAU, said the goal is to get a settlement, while keeping in mind the big issues the union faces. During the summer some tentative agreements were made, but large items
remain on the table, such as possible stipend increases, changes to health care for graduate students and a possible fee freeze, he said. He said the GAU wants the university to acknowledge the Affordable Care Act, a 2010
Faculty Association
Non-Tenure Track Faculty
Association of Civil Service Employees
Graduate Assistants United ASHLEY MILLER | DAILY EGYPTIAN
law created to reduce health care premiums, but the university is under no obligation to follow the legislation. For instance, the university is under no obligation to treat students who have preexisting health conditions and are required to pay for the university’s health care insurance until they are on the plan for a year, he said. “Since graduate students tend to be a little older and we are typically non-traditional students, pre-existing conditions come into play way more for graduate students than for undergraduate students,� he said. “There are students who have pre-existing conditions who are being driven to almost bankruptcy waiting for the university’s health care system to kick in.� He said the administration has been interested with working with the GAU on a lot of big issues and they have had a lot of productive time spent on bargaining. Anita Stoner, president of the NTTFA, said the bargaining team met with the administration a few times over the spring semester and continued to state the issues the way they have always been stated. She said the issues dealt with are not monetary; they are based on job security. “We are always after the best interest of our students,� she said. “There are some union horror stories out there where someone wasn’t qualified for a job [but] because they had seniority they kept their job. That is not what we are looking for.� Please see CONTRACTS | 4