themaneater The student voice of MU since 1955
Vol. 76, No. 58
themaneater.com
Columbia, Missouri • Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Fire safety deadline extended Concern regarding low
faculty salaries heightens
KELLY OLEJNIK Reporter Greek Life houses are on track to meet the updated fire safety regulations before the 2016 deadline. The Columbia Fire Department has inspected and confirmed that 15 of the 42 houses on campus have met the regulations and three houses are currently in the process of doing so. All houses must install automatic fire sprinklers before the Dec. 31, 2016, deadline. The fire sprinkler system is designed as a minimal safety device, and it is the only requirement the fire safety regulations are asking the houses to meet. CFD Battalion Chief Steven Sapp said houses may choose
FIRE SAFETY STANDARDS
Houses must meet the safety requirements by 2016. 15 houses are currently up to code. 3 houses are in the process of meeting the requirements. 24 houses have yet to start meeting the requirements.
Source: The Columbia Fire Department SPENCER PEARSON/GRAPHICS ASSISTANT
JARED GRAFMAN Senior Staff Writer
BEN STEIN/SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
The Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity house is one of the 42 Greek Life houses on campus that must meet fire safety regulations by 2016. The deadline was extended from the previous date of Dec. 31, 2012. to hide any of the sprinklers’ exposed pipes for appearance purposes, but once sprinklers are installed and fully functional no other renovations are necessary. Houses were originally required to meet the fire safety regulations by 2012, but the Greek Fire Safety Task Force petitioned and was granted a four-year deadline extension due to lack of funding for each house’s sprinkler system. Sapp said he did not want to enforce the deadline when a number of houses could not meet the safety requirements on time.
“We were certainly comfortable that the original date was an adequate one, but after a number of meetings with all the interested parties we agreed that the extension was suitable,” Sapp said. Greek Life Director Janna Basler said in an e-mail this extension was very necessary in order to include the alumni advisors. “Most chapters cannot afford to install sprinklers with the regular flow of income from rent alone,” Greek Life advisor
Members of the administration and the UM system Board of Curators believe the lack of faculty salary increases for the third consecutive year could cause significant problems for MU’s academic programs. The curators met in June and passed the UM system budget for fiscal year 2011 in a move that has raised concerns at both MU and the university system level. Thomas Payne, College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources vice chancellor and dean, said continuing without salary adjustments for faculty and staff will move MU further into an uncompetitive position with its peers around the country.
BIG 12 SALARIES
With the departure of two schools, MU now ranks 5th in the Big 12 in terms of average faculty salaries. 1. University of Texas.......................133,300 2. Texas A&M..................................120,300 3. University of Kansas.................... 116,900 4. Iowa State................................... 111,600 5. University of Missouri...................111,000 6. University of Oklahoma................110,600 7. Baylor University..........................106,500 8. Texas Tech..................................100,500 9. Kansas State................................. 99,100 10. Oklahoma State...........................96,000 Source: American Association of University Professors 2009-2010 report SPENCER PEARSON/GRAPHICS ASSISTANT
“MU must provide salary adjustments for 2011-2012,” Payne said. “Such increases will likely come from continued sound fiscal management practices that have see PAY, page 6
The Show Goes On
see CODES, page 6
Scholarships, MU programs cut GREGORY ZAJAC Senior Staff Writer The $63 million in higher education program cuts ordered last month by Gov. Jay Nixon went into effect Thursday, and those reductions will affect how thousands of MU students pay for college. Nixon ordered $300 million in cuts to the state’s total budget to balance it in the face of falling tax revenues due to the economic downturn. More than one-fifth of those came from higher educa-
tion funding, including scholarship programs. According to the Missouri Office of Administration, the Access Missouri scholarship, a need-based scholarship program, will lose $50 million of its $82.2 million in state funds. According to a document on the OA website, the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority will offset some of that, about $30 million, with a loan. Despite the offset, Access Missouri award amounts will likely be reduced from $4,600
to $1,000 for students at private institutions, from $2,150 to $500 for students at public colleges and universities and from $300 to $150 for students at community colleges, UM system spokeswoman Jennifer Hollingshead said. Anna Osterlind, assistant legislative director of the Associated Students of the University of Missouri, said Access Missouri was the state’s only need-based scholarship. More than 43,300 students statewide received Access see CUTS, page 6
ANDREW MITCHELL/SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Summer Welcome leaders perform skits depicting common situations incoming freshman might encounter June 22 at Jesse Hall. The show, entitled 'Revue,' caps off the first day of the two-day Summer Welcome sessions.
Table of Contents
News................................... Outlook............................. Forum................................. Sports.................................
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An apt app The MU iPhone app is set to debut on the first day of fall semester courses. News, page 3
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