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Monday, November 16, 2015
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In Brief
Groups dance for unity
SA approves $1.5K in funds for BSU Northern Star staff
DeKalb | The Black Student Union was awarded $1,575 in supplemental funding Sunday to cover costs for its members to attend the National Black Student Union Conference. The annual conference will be held Friday to Sunday at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater campus, and will focus on addressing the recruitment, retention and graduation of black students, according to the National BSU’s website. BSU President Timi Adeboje said the amount would cover registration and rooming for five representatives to attend the conference, while transportation would be covered by the group’s current funds. The Student Association Senate approved the funding in full.
Voter registration drives to return Armani Thomas | The Northern Star
Dance group Final Warning performs its routine at Delta Phi Delta’s fourth annual Unity Show on Friday in the Carl Sandburg Auditorium. The showcase was held to unite and promote change amongst the dance teams of NIU and its surrounding areas, according to a description of the event on HuskieLink.
Armani Thomas | The Northern Star Armani Thomas | The Northern Star
Final Warning performs its dance routine at the fourth annual Unity Show held by Delta Phi Delta on Friday in the Carl Sandburg Auditorium. The show was put on as the fraternity’s annual community service project.
ENVY performs its dance routine Friday in the Carl Sandburg Auditorium as part of the fourth annual Unity Show held by Delta Phi Delta. The showcase was open to students and community members who wanted to show their talents and unite, according to a description of the event on Huskie Link.
Northern Star staff
DeKalb | Another voter registration drive is planned for the beginning of next month, and with hopes to reach out to organizations to register members, said Dillon Domke, Student Association Senate Speaker, citing a report by Kiran Gill, director of Governmental Affairs. More than 50 students have been registered in recent voter registration drives held by Gill, said Domke, citing Gill’s report. The director of Governmental Affairs serves as the SA’s deputy registrar and works with the DeKalb registrar to host at least one voter registration drive during a semester with an election, according to SA Bylaws. In three hours, 32 students were registered at the voter registration drive Oct. 27 in the New Residence Hall, Community Center, said Domke, citing Gill’s report. Twenty students were registered at the Oct. 29 rally, which was held by the SA to discuss the state budget impasse and lack of Monetary Assistance Program funding.
Proposal could speed up FOIA responses Keith Hernandez Editor in Chief T @dezjournalism
DeKalb | A proposal brought before a Board of Trustees committee Thursday would streamline NIU’s process for complying to Freedom of Information Act requests. The proposal would remove Board of Trustees regulations over the FOIA office and give NIU President Doug Baker the authorGreg Brady ity to appoint Deputy General deputies who Counsel would work under a single FOIA officer. The recommendation was created in response to constant changes in state law regarding FOIA and the
rising number of FOIA requests, changes. That would require us to said Deputy General Counsel come before the Board and change Greg Brady. the regulations every single time.” More than 450 FOIA requests are projected to be filed in Fiscal ”The Board regulations Year 2016, up by more than 50 reare in the [FOIA law] that quests filed in 2014 and more than existed in May of 2010. 150 in 2013, according to data from FOIA has changed since the NIU FOIA office. Brady said then. We could always apdeputies would be chosen by vice ply to the law, yet the law presidents from each division. changes. The would require Jerry Blakemore, vice president us to come to the Board and General Counsel, whose deand change the regulations partment would be in charge of ever single time. “ training the FOIA deputies, said Greg Brady Deputy General Counsel there wouldn’t be a cost associated with establishing the deputies as their jobs would count as added “The Board regulations are in responsibilities. The deputies will the [FOIA law] that existed in mainly be in charge of information May of 2010. FOIA has changed gathering while the FOIA officer since then,” Brady said. “We could will handle the actual requests and always apply to the law, yet the law responses, Blakemore said.
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The proposal will “allow the president or the person he designates as a FOIA officer to have deputy FOIA officers so that 500 plus FOIA requests can be broken down into the various divisions,” Blakemore said. “There’s no reason that the FOIA officer has to respond to that. So that will make us more efficient, and we can be more responsive.” FOIA The Freedom of Information Act requires governmental institutions to provide access to public records with the exception of private information, including personal phone numbers and addresses, and identities of people filing complaints or providing information in enforcement proceedings, among other things.
FY 2015 FOIA requests The following are FOIA requests at Illinois schools in FY 2015: NIU: 398 SIU: 329 ISU: 133 WIU: 98
Source: Board of Trustees Compliance, Audit, Risk Management and Legal Affairs Committee survey Go to niu.edu/foia/form/ to make a FOIA request online, or bit.ly/20W8A2f to print a PDF version of the form. NIU FOIA requests may be submitted to deputy FOIA officers Brady Hoey and Joan Laurino.