NEWS
The New Hampshire
Salary
continued from page 1 The increase encompasses all benefits-eligible positions including professional and technical, academic administrators, operating staff, Extension educators, and faculty and librarians. “The settlement of the contract with the local chapter of the American Association of University Professors last spring has improved our ability to recruit and retain the outstanding faculty who are the heart of a University of New Hampshire education,” President Mark Huddleston said in a press release. Dick Cannon, vice president of finance and administration, commented that after state-level funding to the university was slashed last year, administrators offered early retirement incentives that left positions vacant. The unfilled positions required employees to work harder in order to serve students, sponsors and others who depend on UNH expertise. “We agreed to salary increases for both faculty and staff to reward all for their important and continuing contributions even in the face of these cuts in funding. And also to stay competitive with the set of universities we compare ourselves to,” Cannon said. He also noted that in addition to the 2 percent increase in salaries, there will also be merit and equity awards made from a pool equal to .75 percent of the salary base. Although the increase is generally welcomed by staff members, some believe it is not substantial enough.
“The faculty doesn’t have a voice in staff raises, so we are disconnected from the decisions being made about us,” said Deanna Wood, reference librarian. Wood said she does not feel like the 2 percent increase in salary is adequate, due to the rate at which inflation has risen. “Anybody who has been grocery shopping lately knows that food prices have risen and inflation is having an impact that 2 percent doesn’t cover,” Wood said. She said she hopes with the reshuffling of the state government that Gov.-elect Maggie Hassan will restore funding to higher education institutions and that the university will, in turn, seriously reconsider augmenting non-union staff salaries. “Faculty and staff are vital to this university. We shouldn’t be nickel and dimed,” Wood said.
Health-care increase
In addition, the new contract will also shift a higher percentage of health insurance costs to employees, in an attempt to minimize the university’s health-care expenditure. Health insurance premiums for employees covered by Harvard Pilgrim will increase by 2.5 percent with Delta Dental increasing 1.22 percent, which will both go into effect Jan. 1, 2013. “The employee population will experience a small increase in premiums this year, but much less than the anticipated increased in the marketplace of 7 percent,” Cannon said in an email. According to Cannon, the uni-
Associated Press
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Palestinian militants targeted densely populated Tel Aviv in Israel’s heartland with rockets for the first time Thursday, part of an unprecedented barrage that threatened to provoke an Israeli ground assault on Gaza. Three Israelis were killed. Air raid sirens wailed and panicked residents ran for cover in Tel Aviv, Israel’s commercial and cultural capital. Israel responded by moving troops and heavy weapons toward Gaza and authorizing the call-up of tens of thousands of reservists. There was no word on where the two rockets aimed at Tel Aviv landed, raising the possibility they fell into the Mediterranean. A third rocket landed in an open area on the southern outskirts of Tel Aviv. The fighting, the heaviest in four years, came after Israel launched a ferocious air assault Wednesday to stop repeated rocket fire from Gaza. The powerful Hamas military chief was killed in that strike, and another 18 Palestinians have died over two days, including five children. Some 100 Palestinians have been wounded. Israeli warplanes struck dozens of Hamas-linked targets in Gaza on Thursday, sending loud booms echoing across the narrow Mediterranean coastal strip at regular intervals, followed by gray columns of smoke. After nightfall, several explosions shook Gaza City several minutes apart, a sign the strikes
were not letting up, and the military said the targets were about 70 underground rocket-launching sites. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the army was hitting Hamas hard with what he called surgical strikes, and warned of a “significant widening” of the Gaza operation. Israel will “continue to take whatever action is necessary to defend our people,” said Netanyahu, who is up for re-election in January. There were mounting signs of a ground operation. At least 12 trucks were seen transporting tanks and armored personnel carriers toward Gaza late Thursday, and a number of buses carrying soldiers arrived. Israeli TV stations said a Gaza incursion was expected on Friday, though military officials said no decision had been made. Defense Minister Ehud Barak said he authorized the call-up of reservists, and the army said up to 30,000 additional troops could be drafted. “We will continue the attacks and we will increase the attacks, and I believe we will obtain our objectives,” said Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, Israel’s military chief. Hamas, meanwhile, warned it would strike deeper inside Israel with Iranian-made Fajr-5 rockets, acknowledging for the first time it has such longer-range weapons capable of hitting targets some 47 miles away. Tel Aviv is 40 miles from Gaza. By nightfall Thursday, Hamas said it had fired more than 350 rockets into Israel. Israel, which esti-
3
Anybody who “ has been grocery
shopping lately knows that food prices have risen and inflation is having an impact that 2 percent doesn’t cover.”
Deanna Wood
UNH reference librarian
versity has made strides to educate employees about the cost of services and the wide range of choices they are making related to their health care. Cannon noted that many UNH healthy living initiatives and programs have been launched in tandem with Harvard Pilgrim to encourage employees to know their health risks and work with providers to manage those symptoms to reach an optimal state of wellbeing. “The increase in healthcare premiums will have limited effect on employees’ pay in conjunction with the increase they will receive,” Cannon said. However, Wood felt that the increase in health-care costs zeroed out the salary increase that much of the faculty will receive. “Depending on how much health care you use, faculty will actually be spending more this year due to those increased expenses,” Wood said.
Hamas targets Tel Aviv as part of rocket barrage IBRAHIM BARZAK
Friday, November 16, 2012
mates Gaza militants have as many as 12,000 rockets, said some 220 rockets struck the Jewish state and another 130 were intercepted by an anti-missile shield. Israel believes Hamas has significantly boosted its arsenal since the last Gaza war four years ago, including with weapons from Iran and from Libyan stockpiles plundered after the 2011 fall of the regime there. “After four years, we became stronger, we have a strategy and we became united with all the military wings in Gaza,” said Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum. In the current round of fighting, Israel is facing an emboldened Hamas with a stronger arsenal and greater regional backing. Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, like Hamas a member of the regionwide Muslim Brotherhood, said he was sending a high-level delegation to Gaza on Friday in a show of support for the fellow Islamists there. Both Israel and Hamas had largely observed an informal truce over the last four years, marred by occasional flare-ups. In recent days, however, border tensions escalated, then exploded into major violence Wednesday when Israel assassinated Hamas’ secretive military chief, Ahmed Jabari, with a missile strike on his car. Jabari led Hamas’ 2007 takeover of the territory, turning small squads of Hamas gunmen into a fighting force and supervising Gaza’s fledgling arms industry, including rocket production.
Courtesy Photo
The photo above shows a Parsons Hall lab mid-construction. Renovations to Parsons are scheduled to be completed in December.
Parsons
continued from page 1 the four College of Engineering and Physical Sciences buildings to sustain significant renovations. Parsons Hall was the last building to undergo changes. As the semester winds down, so will the construction. “We’re closing in on the completion,” said Dr. Charles Zercher, chairman of the chemistry department. According to him, the final phase is on, if not ahead, of schedule. In the beginning of the KEEP initiative on campus, chemistry professor Art Greenburg played a large role. He was the dean of CEPS from 2000-2005 and chaired the Parsons Hall Renovation Committee. But in recent times, the team of Zercher and chemistry department Manager Cindi Rohwer has spearheaded the closeout of the renovation. “Over the past two years, they have really done virtually all of the work,” he said. The renovation was completed in multiple phases, according to the different wings of the building. The last to be renovated was the southwest wing. Included in this final stage is a courtyard area that will face the intersection of Arts Way and McDaniel Drive. “It will be a very nice new entrance with a courtyard, flowers [and] picnic tables,” Zercher said. Some building-wide features include the addition of a new water system that chills water and the replacement of a new HVAC system. The water system is another step in the direction of environmentalism. “It’s a chilled water loop,” Zercher said. “So, we’re not wasting water.” HVAC systems have experi-
Assault
continued from page 1 dent had minor injuries and did not need medical attention. Dean added that nothing was taken during the assault and that the suspects “weren’t successful” in their attempt to take the stu-
enced a complete overhaul, giving all occupants a cleaner air quality while in Parsons. “Air quality is so much better than it used to be,” Zercher said. Zercher was able to move straight into his new office in the West Wing, but others weren’t so lucky. “Some of us have been out for … approximately two years,” he said. Those faculty members who have yet to move back into offices are either displaced out in the North Wings, “jump spaces,” or are in “swing space” around campus. Those buildings include Spaulding Hall, Hewitt Annex and Nesmith Hall. “Everyone will be in their new space and it will just be touch-ups,” Zercher said. Both faculty members are thoroughly pleased with the results and the work effort behind it. “[It was] a terrific team to work with. The construction team was terrific,” he said. According to him, the chemistry department worked hard, too. “Through the entirety of the renovations, the chemistry department has been able to continue on without a lapse in class time. We have not missed any classes during this entire renovation,” Rohwer said. “We’ve all just kept plugging along.” The final budget is still up in the air, and an official number for total cost will come out around March 2013. The chemistry department is in the process of organizing a rededication for Parsons Hall, tentatively scheduled for late May. It would feature seminars, poster projects and historic presentations. “I enjoy the fact that I’m doing something that will make a huge difference and will have an impact for years to come,” Zercher said. dent’s backpack. UNH PD will increase patrols on campus and encourages anyone with information to contact UNH Police at (603) 8621427 or anonymously through their “Silent Witness” program by going to www.unh.edu/upd, and clicking “Contact us,” then “Silent Witness.”