1-25-11

Page 1

Northern Iowan The University

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

I

of

Northern Iowa’s

Volume 107, Issue 30

I

student-produced newspaper since

Cedar Falls, Iowa

‘Die Fledermaus’ pleases crowd with humor >page 4

JOHN ANDERSON

See CHANGE IN NISG, page 2

Panthers demolish Drake behind hot shooting >page 9

More cuts on the way?

Iowa House passes bill that could cut UNI budget by $1.6 million this year JOHN ANDERSON

Editorial Staff

With movements for greater transparency and a smaller senate, the inauguration of new senators and the resignation of the body’s senior senator, the Northern Iowa Student Government is on the cusp of major internal change. “We’re at a crossroads. NISG has to change or become irrelevant,” said Senator Emeritus Gage Rewerts during the Jan. 19 meeting of the senate. Rewerts resigned after serving on the senate for eight semesters, longer than any other current senator. “We’re also moving in a direction that we’ve never moved before,” Rewerts said in his final address to the senate. “The last couple of executive branches have pushed for transparency, and transparency that four years ago simply didn’t exist.” This movement is reflected in the passage of Student Senate Bill 2011-32, also known

northern-iowan.org

MEN’S BASKETBALL

NIGHT AT THE OPERA

NISG pushes for internal change

I

1892

Editorial Staff

The Iowa House of Representatives passed a bill Wednesday that could potentially cut $1.6 million from the University of Northern Iowa’s budget this fiscal year and end state-supported voluntary preschool. The bill, House File 45, was passed along party lines by a vote of 60 to 40. The bill is currently being debated in the state senate, and is expected to be stopped by the 26 Democratic senators that hold a majority vote in the 50-member senate. The senate has not voted on the bill as of press time.

House File 45, which some Republicans have dubbed the Taxpayers First Act, will reduce state appropriations to Regents institutions by $10 million this fiscal year and by $15 million during each of the next two fiscal years. According to Joel Anderson, UNI student body president, these cuts will have a greater impact on UNI because it relies on state appropriations more than the University of Iowa and Iowa State University. “(These cuts) will likely lead to an increase in class size, higher tuition and fewer class offerings, which will hinder many students’ potential

JOHN ANDERSON/Northern Iowan

UNI Student Body President Joel Anderson calls legislators in Des Moines to refrain from cutting higher education See BUDGET CUTS, page 3 funding with House File 45.

UNI professors participate in study on climate change

UNI in winter

BLAKE FINDLEY Staff Writer

A few years ago, state legislators started to become concerned that Earth, and in particular the state of Iowa, was undergoing significant changes in the climate. The legislators decided to ask the three state universities to partake in a study of the recent changes and their potential impact on Iowa. Professors from Iowa State University, the University of Iowa and the University of Northern Iowa formed a committee that met 10 times throughout the writing and research of the climate change study.

“One of the first things we decided was that we needed to make the report easy for people who may not be well versed in scientific and biological terminology to comprehend,” said Laura Jackson, one of the two professors from UNI assisting in the study. “We want to have a responsible, well-done research of climate change that is not overstated.” The reasoning for this was that the state legislators would be fully aware of the findings of the research, thereby better enabling them to act upon it. Jackson, a professor of biology, and Peter See CLIMATE CHANGE, page 3

Online course development proposal deadline draws near KARYN SPORY Staff Writer

NICK MADDIX/Northern Iowan

UNI students have been braving below-zero temperatures and snow flurries while walking to their first few weeks of classes. This week the temperature is expected to rise, with highs reaching the 20s.

It seems that most communication these days is done via technology rather than face-to-face, whether it’s Skyping or face time chat on your mobile phone. Now, the University of Northern Iowa is accepting proposals for online courses in order to keep up with the movement. The department of Continuing and Distance

It was definitely really easy to procrastinate and still get by with online classes. Matt Plett Senior Math Major

Education is awarding a stipend of $1,000 per credit hour to instructors who create an online class from an existing class. The course development deadline is

Monday, Feb. 7. “I know the university is looking into online classes to become more competitive with other universities,” said Chris Martin, interim department head and professor of communication studies. However, with this push toward online learning, Martin doesn’t know of many communications See ONLINE COURSE, page 2


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.