STAT ATTACK
Check out this week in sports by the numbers, including stats from men’s basketball, men’s tennis, baseball and softball.
BLACK GIRLZ ROCK! Zeta Phi Beta Sorority hosted “Black GirlZ Rock! Monday to celebrate women’s empowerment.
PAGE 7
PAGE 3
THE
D aily E astern N ews
Tuesday, March 8, 2016 “TELL THE TRUTH AND DON’T BE AFRAID” C E L E BRATI NG A CE NTUR Y OF COV E RA GE E S T . 1 915
VOL. 100 | NO. 115 W W W . D A I L YE A S TE R N N E W S . C O M
Rauner endorses Shimkus, blames UPI Madigan for lack of Eastern funding to vote
on salary reduction
By Stephanie Markham Editor-in-Chief | @DEN_News Gov. Bruce Rauner attributed the lack of funding for Eastern and MAP grants to inaction by House Speaker Michael Madigan while endorsing the reelection of U.S. Rep. John Shimkus on Monday in Mattoon. Rauner and Shimkus stopped at the Stadium Bar & Grill to address a group of about 50 including Shimkus supporters, the presidents of Eastern and Lake Land College, the mayors of Charleston and Mattoon and a group of high school students. Some Eastern faculty members were present to hear the talk; however, they were not allowed to sit in the back room where the politicians were speaking. Other faculty members and students, barred from protesting inside the restaurant, gathered outside holding signs that demanded higher education funding. Rauner said by refusing reforms and pushing for a tax hike, Madigan, the chair of the Illinois Democratic Party, is holding up money that could be used to fund universities and MAP grants. “Madigan’s holding us hostage; he’s holding EIU hostage,” Rauner said. “The money is there for MAP grants, and the money is there to fund universities so there would have to be no layoffs. Madigan won’t allow it.” Rauner said the state has $160 million “sitting there idle” and “gathering dust” in the form of special purpose funds that could be used to fund universities such as Eastern. Shimkus, a Republican representing the 15th congressional district, is vying to maintain his seat against Republican state Sen. Kyle McCarter. Shimkus said taxation and econom-
By Cassie Buchman Associate News Editor | @cjbuchman
JASON HOWELL | THE DAILY EASTERN NE WS
Gov. Bruce Rauner talks to Erin Walters, executive director of the Sexual Assault Counseling Information Service, during an endorsement stop for U.S. Rep. John Shimkus at the Stadium Bar & Grill in Mattoon. Walters asked Rauner about funding for rape crisis centers. Rauner briefly touched on funding for Eastern and higher education before introducing Shimkus.
"Madigan’s holding us hostage; he’s holding EIU hostage. The money is there for MAP grants, and the money is there to fund universities so there would have to be no layoffs. Madigan won’t allow it.
Gov. Bruce Rauner
ic growth are issues on both the state and national levels that require attention. “If our workers’ compensation costs are three times more here versus Indiana, Kentucky and Missouri, we’re at a disadvantage; that’s part of the fight,”
Shimkus said. “That’s why we need this turnaround agenda, and that’s why we really need to do the same thing in Washington. EPA regulations, Department of Labor regulations really make it difficult for us to continue to grow.” Erin Walters, the executive direc-
tor for Sexual Assault Counseling and Information Service, was able to hear the presentation and ask Rauner about funding for rape crisis centers afterward.
RAUNER, page 5
Red flags, marching to honor those laid off By Cassie Buchman Associate News Editor | @cjbuchman Red flags will be placed on the lawn of Old Main and the Coles County Courthouse to honor the 261 Eastern employees who have lost or who will lose their jobs during a march at 4 p.m. Wednesday starting on the Library Quad. This number includes both the Annually Contracted Faculty members and the civil service workers who lost their jobs at the beginning of the academic year and the most recent layoffs. The march will start at 4 p.m., when people participating will put the red flags on the lawn of Old Main. At 4:30 p.m. there will be speeches by community members followed by a march to the courthouse, where more red flags will be put by the Courthouse. According to the press release,
“Many more EIU employees have been impacted by increased workloads, feared for their own jobs, and experienced deterioration in the quality of their work environment.” Eastern’s chapter of the University Professionals of Illinois, Council 31 Local 981, and EIU Plumbers and Pipefitters are working together to coordinate the march. Billy Hung, media coordinator for the University Professionals of Illinois, said they wanted to get the state’s and community’s attention with the red flags, because they were eye catching and they wanted to create awareness of the people impacted by the budget crisis. “These are people’s lives,” Hung said. “These are real people.” Hung said he was happy to get such a positive response from other unions. “They were like, ‘Oh you need us? When?’” Hung said.
Hung said they also received good feedback from community members. Oftentimes, when people see the news they see people talking about the budget and money issues, but they forget there are human faces behind those numbers, Hung said. “A lot of times people feel disempowered,” Hung said. “We need to let them know they are not forgotten.” Hung said he knows people who think they have been sidelined, because everyone is trying to fight for funding. “When times are rough, and people are upset, people are stressed, it’s good to remind them nobody is in this alone,” Hung said. He said it is important to think of the people most affected by the budget crisis. Hung said all unions have had members who are affected somehow. “We want to show people that people we know are suffering, are experi-
encing hardship,” Hung said. Hung said they were asked to talk about the impact the budget impasse has had on them and people they know. “Some are impacted worse than others,” Hung said. “We need to recognize that. For (the 177 civil service workers who were laid off) it’s really tough to adjust in two months.” Hung said different groups of employees at Eastern got to know each other from working together. “These are the people we work with,” Hung said. “We know when their birthdays are, when their daughter’s getting married, their grandchildren.” This march is open to everyone, including students and community members. Cassie Buchman can be reached at 581-2812 or cjbuchman@eiu.edu.
The Eastern chapter of the University Professionals of Illinois will vote on a proposal this week given to them by the administration asking that their salary be reduced by 5.6 percent of their annual base contract salary. President David Glassman, in a rationale, wrote that the university is still about $2 million short of making payroll through the end of the current fiscal year without further action. He said UPI representatives argued against furloughs and suggested salary deferral instead. “As a compromise I have accepted a program of salary reduction and repayment when certain financial conditions are met,” the rationale read. “In so doing and in keeping with the principle of equity and fairness, the additional furlough days assigned to other employee groups will be converted to salary reduction and conditional repayment too.” UPI President Jon Blitz said this salary reduction would generate the $2 million if the UPI, faculty and academic support professionals agree to it. Blitz said he hopes if the proposal passes, nobody else gets laid off, but if it does not pass he does not know what will happen. Paul McCann, interim vice president for business affairs, and Jeff Cross, associate vice president for academic affairs, declined to comment. The amount that will be deducted from the faculty’s salary will be deducted on a monthly basis beginning on March 31, with a second one on April 30, and ending on either May 31 or June 30. With this proposal, the UPI would be able to get the money back after Aug. 1, 2016, if the university receives the first $5 million FY16 appropriation from the state. If there is a FY16 appropriation, if Eastern gets $5 million, people with salaries of $50,000 or less will get their deferred pay back. When the university gets the second $5 million from the appropriation, people with salaries higher than $50,000 get half their deferral back. If Eastern gets more than $27 million back, 9.2 percent of the amount above $27 millions will be repaid to those with salaries above $50,000. They will be able to receive up to 100 percent of the amount contributed to the salary reduction. UPI Vice President Grant Sterling said if there is no FY16 appropriation given to Eastern, the money is then gone. “You can’t take 5.6 percent each month, because most of the year’s already done,” Sterling said. “So, essentially you have to triple that.”
UPI, page 5