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Monday, April 6, 2015
Northern Star
815-753-5606 H @NIUNorthernStar H NorthernStar.info/Opinion
Perspective
Students must take advantage of grants
Homework’s worth should reflect time spent on it
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 Managing Editor: Keith Hernandez Editor@NorthernStar.info 815-753-0177
Angela Pagan Columnist
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 Adviser: Shelley Hendricks 815-753-4239 Business Adviser: Maria Krull 815-753-0707 Departments Newsroom: 815-753-0105 Advertising: 815-753-0107 Classifieds: 815-753-0707 About us The Northern Star is a limited public forum whose content is determined exclusively by its student editors. Information presented in this newspaper and its website is not controlled by NIU administration, faculty or staff. The Northern Star has a circulation of 10,000 Mondays and Thursdays. It publishes online at NorthernStar.info every day. A single copy of the Northern Star is free. Additional copies are 50 cents. Letters to the editor Letters should not exceed 300 words and may be edited for clarity and brevity. The deadline for a letter is 4 p.m. one day before the desired date of publication. Submissions may be held due to space limitations. Letters written by students should include 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 Phone numbers will not be published.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.
Faith Mellenthin | Northern Star
Walters helpful, but waste of NIU money Northern Star Editorial Board
NIU is fighting tooth and nail for every cent it can squeeze out of the state. It also, until Dec. 31, was paying consultant Ron Walters $15,000 every two weeks. Walters, who was ultimately paid about $463,125 for 18 months of work, was brought to NIU by President Doug Baker in spring 2013 to reinvent the university. NIU has struggled with falling enrollment, sub-par retention and declining state funding for years. Walters has a long professional history in strategic planning and had worked with Baker during their time at the University of Idaho, and he seemed like a good fit to turn things around. But, Walters came with too hefty a price tag and should not have been employed by NIU as long as he was, especially as the Northern Star found he was paid even when he did not have work scheduled for weeks at a time. The money spent on Walters may not seem like a lot to some, but his $463,125 can pay for a semester’s tuition for 100 students. The university is facing having a third of its $93 million in state funding cut, its revenues are hurting as enrollment falls and every academic and administrative program is set to be reviewed as a
Dollars and Sense
This series will present the opinion of the Editorial Board on the Dollars and Cents news series, which examines the work and compensation of NIU employees. This is Part One. cost-saving measure. This is not a time for wasteful spending.
year were a positive force at NIU as they connected students with the community, but the Editorial Board sees no reason for Walters’ Work assessment continued employment after the Walters did do good work durworkshops had been arranged and ing his time at NIU: He and Baker their results analyzed. rolled out the Master Plan Thesis, a An analysis was released July 4, collection of ideas to make life more but Walters’ employment didn’t active on campus, during the spring end until Dec. 31. That’s nearly six 2014 semester. They implemented months — or $180,000 — of work. the Bold Futures Workshops, bring- Walters had little to no work scheding together nearly 800 community uled during at least eight weeks members to explore ways to revital- of that time, which amounted to ize NIU and improve its relation$60,000 in salary. ship with DeKalb. Baker could have used his curBut, many of those plans seem rent staff during that time. Or, if he too lofty and, as the Editorial wanted outside help, he could have Board has previously written, don’t put NIU’s money to good use and focus on the issues students care hired someone who wasn’t going to about, like creating resources for pick up paychecks while leaving his NIU’s large commuter and nontra- or her calendar empty. ditional student population. In the end, Walters has provided The Bold Futures Workshops held NIU with valuable information and throughout the 2013-14 academic insight — but at too great a cost.
Officials should talk to press Northern Star Editorial Board
Public officials who decline to comment to the Northern Star are truly refusing to speak to the people they serve. The Star’s staff members, like all journalists, seek to present and analyze facts to readers so they have a deeper understanding of news. Part of that work requires speaking to people: experts, politicians, those affected by a change and those with powerful stories to tell. In this way, journalists enable readers to hold public officials accountable. Sources who decline to comment aren’t refusing to speak to just journalists — they’re refusing to speak to the public because newspapers are advocates for the people. In recent weeks, the Star has
seen several public officials decline to comment. NIU President Doug Baker has informed the Star via his staff that he will not comment for a story from the paper’s Dollars and Cents series, which examines the work and compensation of NIU employees, although on Saturday NIU spokesman Bradley Hoey emailed a statement saying Baker would be “happy to talk ... at a later date about broader issues that deal with university ... .” Baker would have provided invaluable feedback on the work, the results of that work and compensation of an employee in this story. Nathan Lupstein, Student Association president-elect, declined to comment several times during the tumultuous SA executive election in late March. Lupstein’s voice in the
paper would have helped readers understand the actions of his campaign, which came under scrutiny from the SA Supreme Court. Former employee Ron Walters, who a Dollars and Cents story found was paid about $460,000 over 18 months while being reimbursed $32,000 for travel, never responded to an editor’s emails and voicemails. While Walters may not be an official in the same vein as Baker, highly paid employees at a public university should be open to speaking about their work and compensation. The staff will continue to make every effort to reach out to sources like these so they can connect with readers. The public deserves better. Sources must speak to journalists.
Students are underutilizing scholarship opportunities and need to take advantage of financial aid since it may be diminished due to budget cuts. NIU President Doug Baker said more than 4,000 students who rely on financial aid could be negatively affected if Gov. Bruce Rauner's proposed budget is passed, according to a March 23 Northern Star article. NIU students are graduating with tens of thousands in student loans. Yet, only a small portion of those students are applying for academic scholarships. That is unacceptable. The College of Engineering has 1,368 undergraduate students enrolled, said Debbie Gutierrez, office manager in the College of Engineering dean’s office. But, only 150 students — or 11.5 percent — applied for scholarships, said business manager Mia Hannon. Hannon said the College of Engineering had $175,200 in scholarship dollars to offer. Paul Baker, College of Education director of college relations, said the college awarded $234,000 through the 62 scholarships it offers and 195 students received the awards out of the 250 who applied. Patricia Wielert, administrative assistant to the dean in the College of Education, said there are 4,500 students enrolled in the College of Education. That means only 5.5 percent of College of Education undergraduates applied for scholarships. “Sometimes I’m kind of upset because we have quite a bit of money to give but not enough students apply ...,”said Katharina Barbe, Foreign Languages and Literatures department chair. “I don’t think all of them do take advantage. We advertise it on our website, we send emails to all our majors and minors and we advertise it through classes ... .” No matter what your major, minor, year in school, age or gender, there is a scholarship out there for you. Some scholarship requirements are easier to complete than others: Barbe said the Foreign Language Department started offering a blog scholarship for students who travel abroad in which they blog about their experiences. There are opportunities to decrease student debt by applying for scholarships. The average debt of 2013 NIU graduates was $31,997, according to the Institute for College Access and Success, an independent organization that “works to make higher education more available and affordable.” It is up to students to apply for scholarships.