SEASON RECAP
TOUGH START
The Eastern men’s basketball team saw a series of ups and downs during the 2017-2018 season.
Freshman tennis player Claire Martin admitted that her first semester as an Eastern athlete did not come easy. PAGE 7
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D aily E astern N ews
Wednesday, March 7, 2018
“TELL THE TRUTH AND DON’T BE AFRAID ”
CE L E B RATI NG A CE NT UR Y OF COVE RA GE
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VOL. 102 | NO. 118
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Bell, Davis talk taxes during candidate forum By Olivia Swenson-Hultz Associate News Editor | @DEN_News Shirley Bell, a candidate for the democratic nomination for state representative for the 110th District, and Terry Davis, a candidate for the republican nomination for the state representative, discussed their stance on taxes and the legalization of marijuana during a candidate forum in Coleman Hall Tuesday. Chris Miller, a candidate for the republican nomination, declined to show up. In regards to taxes, Davis said he does not support the progressive income tax because it penalizes people who have become successful. “The idea that a fair tax means that some people have to pay a significantly higher percentage just isn’t fair water,” he said. He said this would help make Illinois a more friendly place to start businesses. “By lowering the rate we can fix the state,” he said. Bell said the state needs to take a look at the entire tax burden as a whole. She said she is in support of a graduated tax so that people who are most wealthy and have prospered most from the state contribute the most to the state. “People become most wealthy by using the resources from the state,” she said. Regarding the income tax increase, Davis said in some ways making it go away entirely is a fantasy, but the state needs to look for ways to economize. When addressing the high property taxes in Illinois, Davis said the funding for schools needs to be generated without having an increase in property taxes. “If people are concerned about property taxes and are comparing them to other states, Illinois is going to lose,” he said. Bell said she agreed that funding the schools through property taxes is not an effective tactic and that the state should focus on funding
OLIVIA SWENSON-HULTZ | THE DAILY EASTERN NE WS
Terry Davis (left) and Shirley Bell (right) discuss their campaign plans prior to the primary election for the 110th State District Representative Thursday night in the Coleman Lecture Hall.
schools through state taxes. Other topics raised during the forum included the legalization of marijuana and Bell said she supports it but that age restrictions and other regulations should be put in order. She said legalization could be used to help save money on law enforcement. Davis said he does support the legalization of marijuana and that it could be used to help gen-
erate revenue for the state. “We have a black market that exists, but let’s face it, people are smoking marijuana,” he said. Davis said marijuana could be used to create local jobs for farmers, and regulating it could help avoid the use of pesticides and chemicals in its production, Additionally, Davis would like to see the state save money by cutting the salaries of legislators.
“We can’t afford to throw money around,” he said. Bell and Davis said they are both in support of equal rights for the LGBTQ community as well mental health reform. “Downstate Illinois is in need of better mental health care,” Bell said. Forum, page 5
Faculty Senate looks at shared governance restructuring By Brooke Schwartz Administration Reporter | @brookesch_wartz The Faculty Senate discussed a draft of a proposed shared governance model that would shift how campus groups are organized at Eastern Tuesday. The groups in the proposal included the Faculty Senate, the Council on Academic Affairs, the Council on Graduate Studies, the Council on Teacher Education, the Council on Faculty Research, the Committee for the Assessment of Student Learning, the Faculty Development Advisory Committee and a newly created general education committee. The new shared governance model proposes the senate becomes an all-encompassing body, where all members of the other listed committees would be a part of the Faculty Senate. This means the senate would now consist of 30 to 50 members with two to three meetings a semester. In this model, the senate would take more curricular responsibilities by officially approving program changes that would greatly affect the campus, while CAA would still approve minor changes and new programs. Faculty Senate Vice Chair Jeff Stowell, who presented the shared governance shift to the Faculty Senate, said this process would not make curricular approval harder or more time-consuming.
BROOKE SCHWARTZ | THE DAILY EASTERN NE WS
Jeff Stowell, the Faculty Senate vice chair and psychology professor, listens to Grant Sterling, a philosophy professor and a member of the senate, during a meeting in Booth Library Tuesday afternoon. Stowell presented a shared governance model which would change committee organization on campus.
This change could help accommodate Eastern’s campus as the number of faculty have dwindled over the past couple of years, Stowell said.
“We are starting, I believe, to see the effects of fewer faculty, particularly Unit A faculty, on campus,” Stowell said. “The deadline has now passed for submissions for elections (for cam-
pus organizations), and we have 14 positions for which people are running out of the 30 that are open.” Institutional repository librarian Todd Bruns said if the campus cannot currently fill 30 positions, he does not think it will have more success filling the 50 positions proposed in the new model. The more people added to the senate, the less focused it could become, he said. “(The Faculty Senate), as is, meets every two weeks, (and) we have the ability as a body to look at issues that are affecting the campus,” Bruns said. “In this model, I’m concerned that focus could be really watered down.” Bruns said the senate does not always get through every issue it is presented with during its meeting every two weeks, and he is worried about the effectiveness of the proposed senate in the new model. History professor Bailey Young said the senate may lose some of its worth if it becomes the proposed size in this draft. “Fifty is a big number, and that’s going to change the whole temper and tenor of the conduct of business. A lot of the value of Faculty Senate as it works here, in my experience, has been the possibility of spontaneous interactions,” Young said. “If you’re meeting a couple of times with 50 people and an agenda with items that have to be moved quickly, you’re not going to have that.” Senate, page 5