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Saturday-Sunday, July 27-28, 2013
OUTDOOR CRAFTS • LIFESTYLE, C1
TRAINING CAMP • SPORTS, B1
Do-it-yourself pieces can make a big impact
Arkush and Musick analyze Bennett, Bears’ defense
AS AMERICA AGES • PART THREE
An uncertain future
D-427 sees progress on teacher deal Contract talks underway By FELIX SARVER
At a glance
fsarver@shawmedia.com
Photos by Monica Maschak – mmaschak@shawmedia.com
Dianne Gautcher of Sycamore works around her house. Gautcher, who worked as an administrative aide to the associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Northern Illinois University, recently retired. Members of the baby boomer generation, like Gautcher, are reaching retirement age in droves.
Many delay retirement, take on more work
Funding at risk for boomers
By DAVID THOMAS dthomas@shawmedia.com
and ASHLEY RHODEBECK arhodebeck@shawmedia.com
D
ianne Gautcher knew it was time to retire when she had her fill of Northern Illinois University students. As the administrative aide to the associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Gautcher would meet with students who had various questions and issues with their classes. During her 10 years in that role, she noticed the students becoming more and more entitled. “They became much more needy, and they did less and less for themselves,” Gautcher said. “You could see it happening from one year to the next. ... They’d come in and say, ‘It’s past the deadline for withdrawing from a class, but I’m not going to go it anymore so take care of that for me, will you?’ And I said, ‘Well there’s a deadline, right?’ ... Just not wanting to go any more just doesn’t get it. You had eight weeks to figure this out.” Eventually, enough was enough. Gautcher retired in 2011, and the 66-year-old has never looked back.
By EMILY K. COLEMAN ecoleman@shawmedia.com
Kathy Weeden Johnson and Steve Mitchell, both class of 1968, play a game of bags at a Baby Boomer Bash for Sycamore High School graduates.
WHERE BABY BOOMERS WORKED Agriculture 1.6% Construction
Public administration Other services Leisure and hospitality
4.9% 5.5%
5.7%
6.5% 12.1% Manufacturing
14.2%
12.1%
Health care and social assistance
Wholesale and retail trade
10.1% Education
Where baby boomers worked by industry in 2012, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Graphic by Emily Coleman – ecoleman@ shawmedia.com
6.4% 11.4%
7%
Transportation and utilities Information 2%
The droves of baby boomers leaving the workforce aren’t being replaced – at least not quickly enough to keep Social Security in the black. Since 2010, the two funds managed by the Social Security Administration – one for retirees, their dependents and the dependents of deceased workers, and the other for the disabled and their dependents – have spent more than they have received in taxes, according to the administration’s 2013 annual report. The combined funds are expected to grow until 2020 because of the interest earned off the surplus accrued over the years the baby boomers – those born between 1946 and 1964 – paid into the system. But as more baby boomers retire – the oldest boomers started turning 65 at a rate of about 10,000 a day in 2011– income into the funds won’t be able to keep up with the payments going out.
Professional and Financial business services
See FUTURE, page A5
SYCAMORE – Negotiations for a new contract between Sycamore School District 427 and its teachers union are underway and could result in a deal in the coming weeks. Carol Meeks, president of the Sycamore Education Association, said the teachers union and the school district hope to finalize the contract by the beginning of the district’s school year, which is Aug. 19. The first day of student attendance is Aug. 21. The teachers association has about 300 members, Meeks said. The district employs about 574 people who work either full- or parttime. Negotiations have been going well thus far. Meeks, who is a teacher at North Elementary School, said the teachers association continues to have a good relationship with the school district. The work the union does with the school board is always positive, she said. “Both sides are working honestly and openly,” Meeks said. Meeks said she wasn’t part of the negotiation team during the last contract negotiation, which resulted in a three-year contract that lasted through 2012-13 school year. She was unable to comment further on the current negotiations or who is on the negotiation team for this year’s contract, which has yet to be ratified.
Negotiations between District 427 and its teachers union are continuing this summer. A teachers union officials says the two sides hope to have an agreement before the new school year begins Aug. 19.
See D-427, page A3
Mysterious giant magnet attracts rock-star status By JASON KEYSER and SCOTT EISEN The Associated Press GLEN ELLYN – It skipped tolls. It had a Twitter hashtag and a GPS tracker. It even posed for photos with groupies. The 50-foot-wide, 15-ton electromagnet was a sensation wherever it went during its slow, delicate 3,200-mile journey from New York to Batavia. The land-and-sea trip culminated when scientists threw a rock star’s welcome for the mysterious, shrink-wrapped cargo Friday as it arrived at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory to help study blazing-fast particles. “ ‘Oh look, they found a flying saucer!’ ” retired software developer Chris Otis recalled thinking when he saw the massive, disc-shaped device when it made a pit-stop in a Costco parking lot.
See MAGNET, page A6
See FUNDS, page A5
ONLINE THE BOOM ’46-’64
The children born after World War II are the largest generation ever born in the United States. They are the baby boomers, and have lived through some of the biggest social changes in American history. The Daily Chronicle presents a three-day series on baby boom-
ers, who are turning 65 at a rate of 10,000 per day. Articles will focus on: Thursday: Family – Many boomers are turning their attention to caring for their aging parents while also helping their adult children in a down
economy. Friday: Health – As they age, many boomers are dealing with more health issues. Today: Employment – As boomers approach retirement age, many are examining whether they can afford to stop working.
Visit DailyChronicle.com to view a video, interactive timeline and demographics that define the generation.
AP photo
The Muon g-2 ring, a 50-foot electromagnet, is ready to be taken across the Brookhaven National Laboratory site on New York’s Long Island. The gigantic electromagnet ended its tedious journey early Friday at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, in Kane County, where it will be used to study blazingfast particles.
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