Northern Iowan t h e u n i v e r s i t y o f n o r t h e r n i o wa’s s t u d e n t - p r o d u c e d n e w s p a p e r s i n c e 1 8 9 2
APRIL 10, 2012
I
TUESDAY
VOLUME 108, ISSUE 49
INSIDE THIS ISSUE NISG
Speaker election invalid The NISG transitional senate will again vote on its speaker after a constiution suspension in the previous election was deemed out of order by senate leadership.
CEDAR FALLS, IOWA
Bunsis says UNI has ‘misplaced priorities’
15 and counting The UNI softball team kept its MVC record unblemished as it extended its winning streak to 15 with a threegame sweep of the Drake Bulldogs last weekend. < See PAGE 8 COLBY CAMPBELL/Northern Iowan
Nate Konrardy explores how art of all forms tricks us into a state of openmindedness and teaches us to appreciate a difference in opinon. < See PAGE 5
CAMPUS LIFE
Plants on a budget Students will be able to purchase small, affordable plants from the Botanical Center later this month. < See PAGE 6
ONLINE
BUDGET CUTS
Faculty to ‘retool’ programs LINH TA
SOFTBALL
From graffiti to Garfunkel
NORTHERN-IOWAN.ORG
Staff Writer
< See PAGE 4
OPINION
I
On April 6, Howard Bunsis, the chair of the American Association of United Professors, discussed why UNI is in a $6 million budget hole and why that hole should not cause academic program changes.
LINH TA
Staff Writer
According to Howard Bunsis, the chair of the American Association of United Professors, the current economic climate at the University of Northern Iowa is a short-term phenomenon. Meanwhile, he said, UNI should dip into its $70 million of unrestricted reserves to pay off its $6 million budget hole. “... UNI administration has not been true to the core mission,” said Bunsis, a professor of accounting at Eastern Michigan University. “No academic cuts should be made until a full, thorough examination takes place.” On April 5, in the John Deere Auditorium in the Curris Business
Building, Bunsis used the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) to point out various reasons why UNI is in a $6 million hole, and why that hole should not cause academic program changes. “The governing board of the university has likely allocated some of the reserves for future use ... however, if those choices could be reversed by decision, by statement or just by fiat of the governing board or administration, then they won’t be in the unrestricted category,” Bunsis said. Bunsis discussed what he believes are “misplaced priorities,” such as UNI’s funding towards athletics and administration, instead of < See BUNSIS, page 3
UNI BUDGET BY THE NUMBERS Unrestricted net assets:
$70,767,566 Amount spent on instruction:
$78,570,575 Percent of support from General Fund to auxiliaries:
4.8%
Amount of support from General Fund to athletics:
$4,559,000
Percent of support from General Fund to athletics:
2.8%
Find the CAFR at: https://access.uni.edu/ reports/cafr/index.shtml
Faculty in the various University of Northern Iowa programs slated for restructuring and suspension will begin to reevaluate and retool the programs, this summer or early fall, Executive Vice President and Provost Gloria Gibson said at a press conference on March 8. During the suspension and restructuring process, programs will not accept incoming students and will retool the courses. For programs selected only for restructuring, incoming students will be accepted, but there will still be a reevaluation and retooling of the courses within corresponding departments. Programs set for suspension and restructuring include the communication-theatre teaching Bachelor of Arts and minor, the geography B.A. and minor and the TESOL/modern language-teaching B.A., except Spanish. Programs set for restructuring include a variety of programs from the art, religion and philosophy, physics and education departments. According to UNI’s request for the suspension and termination of programs sent to the Iowa Board of Regents, “the request to suspend admissions to the academic programs is due to a need to
Information from the CAFR for FY2011
< See PROGRAMS, page 4
GOVERNMENT
Grassley holds Q-and-A with students NISG Get live updates of NISG meetings on Twitter. < visit twitter.com/nionnisg
INDEX I SPY AT UNI......................3 OPINION............................5 CAMPUS LIFE....................6 SPORTS.............................8 GAMES............................10 CLASSIFIEDS...................11
sities are to Iowa. “That’s a pretty easy question,” Staff Writer Grassley said. “They are very, very U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley important (because of) the decline of stopped by the Schindler Education K-12 in America, in relation to the Center for a Q-and-A session with other (Organization for Economic students on April 5. He visited with Co-operation and Development) a Human Relations class taught by countries. We have to work very Kathy Oakland and answered ques- hard to improve that. The universitions on topics ranging from immi- ties of our country, not only of Iowa, gration to education to health care. are very well respected throughout One student asked how important he thinks the three state univer< See GRASSLEY, page 2 JAIME YOWLER
COLBY CAMPBELL/Northern Iowan
U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) talks with students during a Q-and-A session on April 5.