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Daily Egyptian TUESDAY
LETTER, PAGE 4: Gus Bode says ride your bike in the street; it’s the law.
SEPTEMBER 22, 2009
VOLUME 95, NO. 20
12 PAGES
Gitau honored as global ambassador
JUST DROPPING IN
Madeleine Leroux DAILY EGYPTIAN
MLEROUX@SIU.EDU
JULIA RENDLEMAN | D AILY E GYPTIAN Pilot Rob Lock, of Lakeland, Fla., flies his 1941 Boeing Stearman above Carbondale Monday. Lock and his wife, Jill Manka, operate Waldo Wright’s Flying Service in Florida. The pair had a chance to stop at SIUC, Manka’s alma mater, for a few days of flying before returning home from Michigan. The plane bears the name of Lloyd Stearman who founded the Stearman Aircraft Corporation, which became a part of Boeing in 1934. The bi-plane was manufactured at Stearman in Wichita, Kan.,
from 1938 to 1945. Many of the aircrafts remained in use as sport plans after the war. Lock’s passengers pay an hourly fee for the chance to pilot the World War II open cockpit airplane, which was used to train aviators for the war. Bob Curtis, of Harrisburg, said he drove to Murphysboro after learning the aircraft would be in town so he could take a ride “for old times’ sake.”
University tuition increase second-lowest in state Erin Holcomb DAILY EGYPTIAN EEERIN9@SIU.EDU
SIUC is not the only Illinois university increasing tuition because of cuts in state funding. The university had the secondlowest tuition increase in the state at 4.5 percent, trailing only the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign, which increased its tuition by 2.6 percent. Eastern Illinois University was among the highest at 9.6 percent. Jeffrey Donna, director of Eastern Illinois’ financial aid department, said the philosophy at the university is to keep education affordable for everyone, but with a lack in state funding, that philosophy is hard to maintain. “You wonder how higher education can stand to charge more and more every year when people can’t afford it,” Donna said. “I think that the cost of higher education has risen way too fast.” Other state universities also re-
corded significant increases. Northern Illinois’ tuition for 2009-10 is $10,180.48 while Illinois State bumped its tuition from $9,018 in 2008-09 to $10,209. Officials at Illinois State University and Northern Illinois University did not respond to several phone calls placed throughout the past two weeks. Chancellor Sam Goldman said SIUC has lost nearly $16 million from the state government since 2002 and part of that loss has to be made up through tuition increases. “In the best of possible worlds, if the states were providing us with adequate funding, we would not be doing this increase,” Goldman said. When the university drew up its budget for this academic year and sent the requests to the Board of Trustees, it asked for 9 percent of its budget to be paid for through the state, Goldman said. “The state said, ‘We’re not going to give you 9 percent, but we’re going to give you 4.5 percent,’” he
50000
2009-2010 in-state undergraduate tuition and fees by university 41,918
2009 fall enrollment for on- and off-campus
40000 30000
$25,65429,972
24,424
20000
20,856
20,350
12,679
10000 0
$8,957.40
11,966 $10,180.48
$9,428.76
$10,209
$7,290
Southern Illinois UniversityCarbondale
Western Illinois University
Eastern Illinois University
Northern Illinois University
Illinois State University
University of Illinois
Source: Universities’ respective Web sites Alexis Boudreau | DAILY EGYPTIAN
said. “We had to make up the 4.5 percent difference.” Goldman said SIUC made up for the lost funds by increasing its tuition rate 4.5 percent. In an effort to further cut costs, Goldman said the university has also adopted a hiring freeze until at least July 2011. Goldman said he does not know
if tuition increases will continue. “We may not even get the allocation we got this year; we might not get it next year; and if the (Monetary Assistance Program grant) doesn’t show up, we are looking at an even greater headache,” Goldman said. “There are so many unknowns; it shouldn’t have to be that way.”
For Dean of Students Peter Gitau, it was nice to get noticed. Gitau was one of eight former Eastern Illinois University students honored Saturday as Global Ambassadors. Gitau, who earned his master’s degree in educational administration from Eastern Illinois in 1995, said the dean of the univerPETER GITAU sity’s graduate school told him he had been nominated in August, largely because of his program, Teach My Kenyan Children. Teach My Kenyan Children is Gitau’s international non-profit organization that fosters development through education in Africa. “I felt a very strong sense of privilege and honor to know that somebody noticed (efforts in personal and professional life),” Gitau said.
I
wanted to give back to my community and help the children in the villages — Peter Gitau dean of students
Lori Henderson, a publicity promotion specialist for the Eastern Illinois graduate school, said Global Ambassadors are former Eastern Illinois international students who have achieved prominent positions and regional to international recognition for their accomplishments. Gitau, a native of Kenya, said he began the Teach My Kenyan Children program in 2000 at the University of Kansas, looking for a way to use his position and available resources to improve education in Kenya. “I came from a school in a village where we struggled to get resources,” Gitau said. “I wanted to give back to my community and help the children in the villages.” Gitau said his program provides writing materials, helps refurbish schools and works with teachers, especially in the area of special education, in tribal villages of Kenya. Gitau said he also began a scholarship program to help students from the five schools working with his program afford secondary education. See GITAU | 2