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Thursday, March 5, 2015
815-753-5606 H @NIUNorthernStar H NorthernStar.info/Opinion
Letter to the Editor
Northern Star
Star’s new policy not universal concept
Campus Life Building, Room 130 545 Lucinda Ave. DeKalb, Ill., 60115 Web: www.NorthernStar.info Fax: 815-753-0708 Editorial Board Editorials reflect the majority opinion of the Editorial Board; columns reflect the opinion of the author alone. Editor in Chief & Publisher: Kelly Bauer Editor@NorthernStar.info 815-753-0105
Ryan Kwosek DeKalb resident
Managing Editor: Keith Hernandez Editor@NorthernStar.info 815-753-0177 News Editor: Jackie Nevarez Editor@NorthernStar.info 815-753-9643 Digital Editor: Margaret Maka Editor@NorthernStar.info 815-753-9644 Perspective Editor: Rachel Scaman Editor@NorthernStar.info 815-753-9637 Sports Editor: Frank Gogola Sports@NorthernStar.info 815-753-9637 Scene Editor: Sabreena Saleem Editor@NorthernStar.info 815-753-5606 Photo Editor: Ryan Ocasio Editor@NorthernStar.info 815-753-1602 Other Assistant Scene Editor: Darius Parker 815-753-5606 Advertising Manager: Derek Noel Ads@NorthernStar.info 815-753-0108 Circulation Manager: Andrew Parnell 815-753-0707
Chelsea Ortiz | Northern Star
MAP conditions limit graduate opportunities
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Angela Pagan Columnist
Requiring students to pay back Monetary Award Program grants after they leave Illinois will create About us a financial burden and limit outThe Northern Star is a limited public forum whose content is determined exclu- side job opportunities for recent sively by its student editors. Information college graduates. presented in this newspaper and its webMAP grants are need-based site is not controlled by NIU administragrants funded by Illinois. Undertion, faculty or staff. graduate students are eligible to The Northern Star has a circulation of 10,000 Mondays and Thursdays. It receive the grant if they complete publishes online at NorthernStar.info a FAFSA and if they and their every day. A single copy of the Northern Star is free. parents are Illinois residents. The amount each student receives Additional copies are 50 cents. ranges from $300 to $4,720. Letters to the editor A bill proposed on Feb. 20 Letters should not exceed 300 words and would require students who remay be edited for clarity and brevity. The ceive Illinois MAP grants to pay deadline for a letter is 4 p.m. one day before the desired date of publication. back their grants if they leave the Submissions may be held due to space state within five years of gradualimitations. Letters written by students should include tion. The bill would also require the author’s year and major. Letters should include a phone number where the author can be reached. Phone numbers will not be published. Letters may be submitted to Editor@NorthernStar.info. Advertisement policy The Northern Star does not knowingly accept advertisements that discriminate on the basis of sex, race, creed, handicapped or veteran status, or sexual orientation. Nor does the Northern Star knowingly print ads that violate any local, state or federal laws. To place an advertisement, contact the Northern Star advertising team at 815753-0108 or ads@NorthernStar.info. To view advertising rates, go to NorthernStar.info/site/advertise/. Hiring Student employees must carry a minimum of six NIU semester hours and must have a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or better. Students of all majors and experience levels are welcome to apply. Apply at www.NorthernStarJobs.info.
Perspective
recipients to graduate within four years of receiving their initial grant. Recipients would have 10 years to pay back their grants at an interest rate of 5 percent and collection fees should they violate the bill’s requirements.
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After college, I don’t want to be restricted of where I can and can’t go.” Anthony Walker Freshman pre-physical therapy major
This reform of the grant program is being sponsored by Senator Chapin Rose, R-Champaign. If passed, this proposal in a sense traps students in Illinois in what seems like a greedy political maneuver to raise tax revenue. The bill could keep graduates who are presented with job opportunities in other states from pursuing these options. Anthony Walker, freshman pre-physical therapy major and
MAP grants For more information on MAP grants, go to bit.ly/1CymzRK. a recipient of a MAP grant, said the award helps when it comes to paying for college because it takes care of about $5,000 of his tuition. “After college, I don’t want to be restricted of where I can and can’t go,” Walker said. Artemus Ward, political science associate professor, said the proposal shows a larger problem with education in the state: Illinois doesn’t value education. On the one hand, MAP can be viewed as Illinois investing in students. If students leave the state, so does the investment. Therefore, it would make sense to ask for the money back; but, grants and other tuition breaks are given to students as a way to promote their success — not limit it.
I believe we can all agree that this was a free country and that smoking is not an illegal activity. I also believe that the intent of the new state law is to protect, by providing a clean environment, the health of those that choose not to smoke. While we all agree that smoking is not a healthy activity, it is one of many unhealthy activities someone can choose to participate in. It is not the place of the
Food hub can give benefits to DeKalb Sarah Stayner Senior organizational corporate communications major
uncomfortable and unwanted? The law itself is already very restrictive; with that in mind, I do not understand why the NIU Smoke-Free Campus Task Force has proposed to go to the farthest extent possible with restrictions. If the intent is to provide a smokefree environment on campus, what is the problem with allowing smokers to sit in their car and smoke if they choose to do that?
Read Online | bit.ly/1ALzE3i
Read Online | bit.ly/1B46txg
NIU should abide by law, not further restrict campus smokers state to determine that everyone must quit smoking, but we will be required to comply with the new state law. Some individuals may choose to continue to smoke, which is their right. I believe a balance should be made to protect those that don’t want the smoke while at the same time not punish and make feel like a second-class citizen those that choose to smoke. Since when did it become OK to make a whole group of people feel both
Letter to the Editor
On Feb. 12, the Northern Star’s “In Brief” section discussed the Northern Illinois Regional Food Hub and Processing Center. I am writing to elaborate on the benefits the food hub can provide for students and the DeKalb community. If NIU’s Housing and Dining obtained produce from the food hub, students in the residence halls would have more healthy options for food as opposed to a limited, and often fried or greasy, selection. Students who live off campus would be able to benefit from the healthier options, as well, should wholesalers, grocery stores and restaurants in DeKalb obtain their produce from the food hub. The benefits our community stands to receive from this food hub extend beyond “just” nutrition. Putting this food hub into action means creating more jobs for DeKalb.
Letter to the Editor
Ann Kenney DeKalb resident
Let us ask ourselves a most vital question: Are you, as a journalistic publication, more concerned with accurately conveying information to the public or advancing a particular far left-wing social perspective? I’m sure that one in your position would most properly wish to do both, but unfortunately what we have here is a case where it’s either the former or the latter. I think it’s reasonable, judging by your recent decision to refer to sources by their “preferred pronouns,” to say you’ve chosen the latter. Although the hyperpersonalization of the concept of identity is quite common (dare I say fashionable?) among high academia these days, it is far from being the universal way of processing that concept. In this way, such a decision as you have made will not only serve to obfuscate your sources from your readers (even if you do seek to explain potentially unknown terms to them), but will also render an implicit political stance. This is not the way an unbiased institution ought to operate.