Northern Iowan t h e u n i v e r s i t y o f n o r t h e r n i o wa’s s t u d e n t - p r o d u c e d n e w s p a p e r s i n c e 1 8 9 2
JULY 20, 2012
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VOLUME 108, ISSUE 60
FRIDAY
CEDAR FALLS, IOWA
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NORTHERN-IOWAN.ORG
FINANCIAL AID
Congress compromises on student loan interest rate Further reforms, regarding standardized aid award letters, a possibility KARI BRAUMANN Editorial Staff
After long debate, Congress reached a compromise June 29 extending the current interest rate on subsidized federal student loans. However, graduate and professional students will no longer be able to get subsidized loans, as part of the compromise. The interest rate on the subsidized loans, also known as Stafford loans, will remain at 3.4 percent instead of rising to 6.8 percent, the rate for unsubsidized loans. Five years ago, interest rates on the subsidized Stafford loans began decreasing annually as outlined in a law passed to establish fixed and more affordable interest rates for the loans. Part of the compromise to help fund the continued low rate resulted in a change to interest charges in the sixmonth grace period between the time a student graduates and enters repayment. Subsidized loans taken out
during the 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 school years will now begin accruing interest during the grace period instead of when repayment begins. However, the legislation does not change the key difference between subsidized and unsubsidized loans. The U.S. Department of Education will still pay the interest on subsidized loans while borrowers are enrolled in school. Generally, the continuation of the lower subsidized loan rate is “a good thing for this upcoming year,” said Tim Bakula, associate director of financial aid at the University of Northern Iowa. However, he said the measure is only a “temporary fix” for an election year. “Everything’s back on the table next year,” Bakula said. “It’s kind of buying a little bit more time. … (and it) will get tackled by whoever gets elected president next year.” As far as the change for graduate students goes,
Bakula said he hasn’t seen too much impact since the announcement that they would be unable to receive subsidized loans in the future. “It does obviously negatively impact them in their quest to keep interest rates down because they only have unsubsidized loan options now, but … I don’t think that is a huge factor in the making of a decision to come to grad school or not,” Bakula said. “If anything, it may cause them to think twice about it, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.” Having loans at lower interest rates does help when a student is consolidating his or her federal loans. In the consolidation process, a new interest rate is calculated based on a weighted average of the all the student’s federal loans. The average is weighted based on the amount of money borrowed at each interest rate. Borrowing more money at a lower interest rate can help lower the consolidat-
NEWS IN PHOTOS: HUDSON ROAD BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION
COLBY CAMPBELL/Northern Iowan
Rachel Smithart, a junior sociology major and financial aid employee, assists Amy Halverson, a senior family studies major, at the Office of Student Financial Aid in Gilchrist Hall.
ed loan interest rate, Bakula said.
Other changes in the works Another possible change for student financial aid has yet to come to a vote in Congress. In May, Senator Al Franken, D.-Minn., introduced the Understanding the True Cost of College Act of
2012. The bill calls for a standardized financial aid award letter for all institutions of higher education receiving federal funds. The award letter would include various types of consumer information, including a list of costs, the amount of aid offered that < See FINANCIAL AID, page 3
THEATRE
Youth theatre presents ‘The Spell of Sleeping Beauty’
NI NEWS SERVICE
BRANDON BAKER/Northern Iowan
The Hudson Road pedestrian bridge near the Kamerick Art Building and McLeod Center is pictured. Construction began on the bridge this summer to improve its structure and the safety of its walking surface, which had prompted complaints in wet or icy weather. According to Doug Lovejoy of Facilities Planning, the construction should be finished in mid-August, before the start of the fall semester.
The Sturgis Youth Theatre will offer performances of “The Spell of Sleeping Beauty” at the Strayer-Wood Theatre July 19-22. Sturgis Youth Theatre, a theatre camp for kids, is a program of the University of Northern Iowa Department of Theatre. The summer production is put on entirely by students in the fourth grade and up, directed by UNI professor of theatre Gretta Berghammer. “The Spell of Sleeping Beauty” tells the story of tells the story of a princess, an unhappy royal fairy, a spinning wheel and a prince who saves the day. Performances are at 7 p.m., Thursday, July 19; 10:30 a.m. and 7 p.m., Friday, July 20; 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., Saturday, July 21; and 2 p.m., Sunday, July 22. Tickets are $7 and may be purchased by calling the Strayer-Wood Theatre box office at 319-273-6381 or online at www.vpaf.uni.edu/ unitix.
NEWS
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NEWS IN BRIEF
Noodles and Company opens its 300th restaurant in Waterloo; commemorates with donation to area school
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The Northern Iowan is published semiweekly on Tuesday and Friday during the academic year; weekly on Friday during the summer session, except for holidays and examination periods, by the University of Northern Iowa, L011 Maucker Union, Cedar Falls, IA 50614-0166 under the auspices of the Board of Student Publications. Advertising errors that are the fault of the Northern Iowan will be corrected at no cost to the advertiser only if the Northern Iowan office is notified within seven days of the original publication. Publisher reserves the right to refuse any advertisement at any time. The Northern Iowan is funded in part with student activity fees. A copy of the Northern Iowan grievance procedure is available at the Northern Iowan office, located at L011 Maucker Union. All material is copyright © 2012 by the Northern Iowan and may not be used without permission.
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A group of 150 individuals form the number 300 near Valley Lutheran High School in Cedar Falls on Tuesday. The restaurant chain Noodles and Company staged the photo to commemorate the opening of its 300th restaurant on Crossroads Blvd. in Waterloo this week, donating $1 for each person present to Valley Lutheran.
KARI BRAUMANN Editorial Staff
Noodles and Company, a fast-casual chain restaurant, opened its 300th location in Waterloo Wednesday. To celebrate the milestone, the restaurant invited people to an event at Valley Lutheran High School in Cedar Falls Tuesday morning. A total of 150 people formed a large “300” on the ground and an aerial photograph was taken. For each individual who attended, Noodles and Company donat-
ed $1 to Valley Lutheran High School. The event was a way to celebrate Noodles’ rapid expansion in Iowa and across the country, according to Mandy Melby, a member of the Noodles and Company public relations staff. “We wanted to do something really unique to commemorate the event and Iowa’s really been a strong market for us in general,” said Melby. The Broomfield, Colo.based chain has added seven new restaurants in Iowa in
the past year and a half, Melby said. Melby said the company wanted to “make it very clear we are excited to be in the area” and said they look forward to “being kind of a piece of the fabric within the Cedar Valley community.” The restaurant will partner with Valley Lutheran in the fall for more fundraising events. The Waterloo location is located at 2833 Crossroads Blvd., near Crossroads Center mall. For more information, including restaurant hours, visit www.noodles.com.
STURGIS YOUTH THEATRE PRESENTS: “THE SPELL OF SLEEPING BEAUTY” Strayer-Wood Theatre 10:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. Students in the fourth grade and up participating in a summer theatre camp will give a performance of a play that tells the story of a princess, an unhappy royal fairy, a spinning wheel and a prince who saves the day. Tickets are $7 and may be purchased by calling the Strayer-Wood Theatre box office at 319-273-6381 or online at www.vpaf.uni.edu/ unitix. COLLEGE HILL ARTS FESTIVAL 23rd St. and College St., Cedar Falls Noon-8 p.m. Browse and purchase work by 75 featured artists from Iowa and beyond. The festival will feature live music, food and beverages, children’s activities and a kids-only art sale.
SATURDAY
SILVER SOUNDS OF THE SILENT SCREEN Oster Regent Theatre 103 Main St., Cedar Falls 7 p.m. In the opening concert of the Cedar Valley Chamber Music Festival, the chamber music ensemble will accompany classic comedic silent films with live music. For more information, visit www.cvcmf. com, email info@cvcmf.com, or call 319-481-8590. COLLEGE HILL ARTS FESTIVAL 23rd St. and College St. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. The festival continues with art for sale, live music and more.
sports
BRAD EILERS SPORTS EDITOR EILERSB@UNI.EDU
JULY 20, 2012
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NORTHERN-IOWAN.ORG
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VOLUME 108, ISSUE 60
BRAD’S SPORTS BLURB
Penn State football program should get ‘death penalty’
DAVID MAIALETTI/ Philadelphia Daily News/MCT
A detailed image of the halo that artist Michael Pilato painted over the likeness of Joe Paterno on a mural in downtown State College, Penn., Monday, Jan. 23, 2012. Pilato erased the halo, added after Paterno’s death of lung cancer in January, after a recently released report revealed the extent of Paterno’s role in the coverup of child sex abuse by former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky.
BRAD EILERS Sports Editor
Prior to the fall of 2011, most people associated Pennsylvania State University with football and Joe Paterno. “JoePa” was the winningest coach in college football history and most believed that he ran his program in a professional manner. However, in November of last year, word broke about a child sex abuse scandal at PSU between former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky and numerous young boys that took place over a 15-year timespan from 1994-2009. The news not only shook the college football world, but the entire nation. Since that time, Sandusky has been found guilty on 45 out of the 48 charges against him. “JoePa” was fired by PSU and then passed away in January. PSU director of athletics Tim Curley has been suspended after being indicted for perjury. PSU senior vice president Gary Schultz resigned, and PSU president Graham Spanier was fired. And as though the university and their prestigious football program didn’t have enough of a black eye already, last week former FBI director Louis Freeh released his 267-page report in which he concluded that Penn State’s most senior leaders, includ-
ing Joe Paterno, showed “total disregard for the safety and welfare of Sandusky’s child victims.” Freeh based this on more than 400 interviews and a forensic review of more than 3 million documents and emails, some of which showed PSU senior leaders discussing Paterno’s interest in how the Sandusky matter was handled. However, the most damning information revealed in Freeh’s report may be that Paterno was aware of a 1998 sexual abuse accusation and investigation into Sandusky and followed it “closely,” yet neither he nor any of the other PSU officials took any action against Sandusky. Young children being sexually abused and assaulted is disheartening enough. However, it was the failure of people in positions of power to ensure eyewitness accounts were heard and the perpetrator stopped, that made this such a heinous crime. This is one of the worst crimes ever to be associated with athletics, let alone college football, and for that Penn State football deserves the “death penalty,” meaning the football program would not be allowed to compete for at least one season. However, I believe PSU should be forced to disband their football program for five years and the football student-athletes should be
allowed to stay on scholarship at PSU or transfer to another university without losing a year of eligibility, since they are not the ones at fault. This would send a clear message that such a culture is not acceptable, not even at one of the most prestigious universities in the nation with one of the best football traditions around. Football should never be more important than the safety and wellbeing of children. Period. If the Southern Methodist University football program got the “death penalty” in 1987 and 1988 because they were paying their studentathletes, then PSU certainly deserves it for the intolerable act of trying to cover up a child sex abuse scandal. I feel the only debate on this matter should be who will impose the penalty. Should it be the NCAA, the Pennsylvania state government, or the university itself ? Some may argue that football at Penn State will help heal the wounds from all the bad publicity the university has received over the past nine months. But I ask, will football help heal the wounds and mental anguish those 10 young boys will have to endure for the rest of their lives? It’s that football-comes-first mentality that got Penn State in trouble in the first place.
FINANCIAL AID continued from page 1
does and does not have to be repaid, contact information for the school’s financial aid office and more. The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, or NASFAA, released a report with its own recommendations for standardized award letters. NASFAA currently has “a place at the table” in the discussions about the bill, according to Bakula. Eric Danielson, executive director of the Iowa College Access Network (ICAN), thinks a standardized award letter could be a positive as long as institutions of higher education have a chance to provide their input. “I think this is something that very well could help students, but there needs to be the college and university input on how this would take place if it was mandated,” Danielson said. “And I think that they are doing that, but I hope that they really listen to them before everything is done. Colleges are different, and so even if they standardize the letter, they’re going to have to have some leeway in how they present their financial aid information that (fits) for their students, going to that school.” Danielson has seen a wide variety of financial aid award letters at ICAN. He says letters can vary in what they include in their letters. Some colleges describe direct costs only (tuition and fees, and on-campus room and board) while others provide estimated indirect costs (books, transportation, miscella-
neous personal expenses) as well. This can be confusing for students and their families, he said. “And really, a lot of the families, the first-time (borrower) ones, they don’t know the difference between the direct costs and the indirect costs,” Danielson said. “Even if it’s spelled out for them, they may not realize that they don’t need to borrow for the transportation and personal expenses, that they’re not actually getting charged for that by the school, that it is only an estimation of what they might need, that that money would be there if they needed to borrow for that.” UNI’s financial aid award letter is “pretty standard” according to Bakula, and it is unlikely to need dramatic changes if the bill is passed. Regardless of what is on a financial aid award letter, Bakula said the responsibility will still fall on families to examine the financial value of attending different colleges. “It’s still up to that family, though, to compare – what are my costs here, versus somewhere else. And no amount of standardization may change a family’s kind of… struggle with determining that,” Bakula said.
To read the text of Franken’s bill, visit http://www.govtrack. us/congress/bills/112/s3244/ text. For questions about your financial aid, visit the Office of Student Financial Aid in Gilchrist Hall or call 319-2732700.
classifieds
Brandon Poll Managing Editor pollb@uni.edu
JULY 20, 2012
FOR SALE / FOR RENT Available July 1ST, 4 bedroom duplex. $960/MO., appliances included. 319- 236- 8930 or 319- 290- 5114.
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NORTHERN-IOWAN.ORG
FOR SALE / FOR RENT 1, 2, 3, 4 bedroom units, 10 minutes north of Cedar Falls. Security gated complex. Some utilities/cable paid. $400-800/MO. www.hildebrandrentals.com. 319- 352- 5555
4 or 8 bedroom duplex for rent. Half block from campus. 319- 240- 0880
Two BR. side by side duplex available possibly mid August or September 1ST. 2522 Hiawatha RD., Cedar Falls. No pets/no smoking. Rent $750 per month, utilities not included. 9 month lease and security deposit required. Two bedrooms, one full bathroom with shower/tub combo, eat-in kitchen and living room with vaulted ceilings, fireplace in linving room, large basement for all your storage needs. Applicances included are: stove, refrigerator and washer/dryer. This property is equiped with an air conditioning unit. Driveway and off street parking. Nice backyard, patio and connected breezeway shared by both units. Close to bike trail system and Black Hawk Park. Showing now by appointment. J&P Properties. 319- 277- 2564
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ROOMMATES
1, 2 or 3 roommates needed. Available now through the school year. 319- 240- 0880.
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VOLUME 108, ISSUE 60
MISC
HELP WANTED
Local game console repairs: 360 - PS3 - Wii - DSLite - PSP. www.cvxgameconsolerepair.com
Help wanted. Tony’s Pizzaria downtown Main Street. Hiring servers, cooks and drivers. Go to www.277tony.com. Fill out application and mention The Northern Iowan.
1 and 2 BR. available June and July. Most utilities included. Cats allowed. University Manor. 319- 266- 8586.
ROOMMATES 1 OR 2 TENANTS NEEDED FOR BRAND NEW APARTMENT (2609 OLIVE). FACING UNI. HAS EVERYTHING. 266- 5544, 610- 2882
2 male roomates wanted to share house 1 block off campus. 3328 Panther Lane, $300 plus utilities per person. 563- 650- 7432.
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