WEDNESDAY
Au gus t 19, 2015 • $1 .0 0
GOOD EATS
DAILY CHRONICLE
Farro, baked stuffed peppers offer a fun, new flavor to your meal / B10 HIGH
70 53 Complete forecast on page A8
daily-chronicle.com
SERVING DEKALB COUNTY SINCE 1879
LOW
Facebook.com/dailychronicle
@dailychronicle
DeKalb High seeks robotics club Teacher looks to help students learn a variety of skills in group interaction, competition By BRITTANY KEEPERMAN bkeeperman@shawmedia.com DeKALB – First-year math teacher Michael Lofthouse and senior Bailey Flemming are teaming up to bring robots to DeKalb High School. High school robotics clubs are increasingly popular, Lofthouse said. More than 50 Illinois high schools have teams in place including Winnebago, St. Charles, Rockford, Quincy, Peoria and Belvidere.
On the web
tion” as it tries to to get off the ground. “It’s a very student-run To view video program,” Lofthouse said. of today’s District “That really sets it apart 428 meeting and from other academic or athto get District letic programs. There will be 428 news sent some adult mentors to help right to you, visit with things like the electrical Daily-Chronicle.com and sign up work, but it is student-led and for text alerts. Message and data the end result is that you have rates may apply. really built something.” Students will learn a wide variety of skills through the DeKalb is working with robotics club such as proWinnebago’s team “Winnova- gramming, electrical engi-
Gov. Rauner on strike veto: ‘Let me do my job’
neering, coding, graphic design, marketing and proposal writing, Lofthouse said. “This is a great opportunity for students to get some real world experience,” he said. “It also allows us to work with community organizations as well as big corporations.” These skills will set them apart from others when they apply for internships, jobs and specialty college programs, he said. Students will build a robot
that can play a game chosen by the robotics competition officials, which could be as complicated as basketball or volleyball. The competition game is announced in January and students have six weeks to design a robot that can play. These aren’t tabletop robots either. Some have been up to 6-feet tall. “This is the level high school students want,” Lofthouse said. “They don’t want to play with Legos anymore.” Flemming said she was
surprised by how much background work goes into running a team. “I went into this thinking, ‘OK, we’ll need some welders and people who know how to work with the programming,’ ” she said. “But it’s crazy how involved other people are with things like the marketing and the budgeting. It’s cool because it seems like real world stuff. It’s not like doing worksheets in classes.”
See ROBOTICS, page A6
MAP grants on hold
By JOHN O’CONNOR and SOPHIA TAREEN The Associated Press SPRINGFIELD – Imploring them to “let me do my job,” Gov. Bruce Rauner asked Illinois lawmakers Tuesday not to undo his veto of a measure authorizing an unelected arbitrator to decide a potential labor-negotiation stalemate. The Republican governor is locked in negotiations over a labor contract to replace a pact that expired June 30 with about 36,000 state workers, members of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees. Rauner believes the plan, Gov. Bruce which would ban a union strike Rauner or government lockout in favor of third-party mediation, is linked to his having taken no union campaign money. “If our ability to negotiate with AFSCME gets stripped away, it’s likely going to cost taxpayers in Illinois billions of dollars beyond what I think we could negotiate if we were allowed to do it in good faith and complete the process,” Rauner said while visiting reporters in the Capitol. “It’s a big deal.” AFSCME responded with a letter to lawmakers saying the governor’s “crusade against this bill is based on hyperbole and misinformation.” “Nothing in the legislation compels the parties to go to arbitration,” the letter states. “In fact, either side could choose arbitration if negotiations fail to produce a settlement. As such, the bill does not short-circuit the negotiating process, but offers an additional path to a settlement free of the hardship, conflict and disruption that a lockout or strike could cause.” Rauner said AFSCME members have benefited for years from generous salary and benefit boosts from, particularly, Democratic governors currying favor. AFSCME says a University of Illinois study found state and local government workers earn less than comparable private-sector workers. There has been little progress in months of talks between the two sides. Rauner now promises no lockout and no wage cuts. Rauner released his missive on the eve of
See VETO, page A6
Voice your opinion Do you think state workers should be allowed to strike? Vote now at Daily-Chronicle.com.
Monica Synett – msynett@shawmedia.com
Kishwaukee College Financial Aid Director Cynthia Stonesifer (left) tells students about the current situation regarding the state-funded Monetary Award Program grants Tuesday during an informative meeting at the college. Out of approximately 2,000 Kishwaukee students who need similar financial aid, about 460 MAP grant recipients are affected by Illinois’ lack of a budget.
Kishwaukee College, NIU help students deal with fallout By RHONDA GILLESPIE rgillespie@shawmedia.com DeKALB – Katelynn Worley was worried that she wouldn’t be able to start her sophomore year at Kishwaukee College on Monday. The 20-year-old nursing major from Kirkland is among the scores of Illinois college students who recently found out the state isn’t funding the Monetary Award Program grants. “If I don’t get it, I can’t go to school,” said Worley, whose $930 MAP grant accounts for more than half of her total financial aid award. The Illinois Student Assistance Commission, which administers the MAP grant, announced that it would not be disbursing MAP money that students were notified they were
awarded to schools. The need-based grant is awarded to residents who attend college in the state. ISAC officials said that without a state budget in place – which not only authorizes the agency’s spending but appropriates how much it has to spend – MAP can’t be funded. “Unfortunately, because of the budget delay, we still don’t know what the MAP appropriation will be for the 2015-16 school year,” ISAC spokeswoman Lynne Baker said. “And without a final budget, the state cannot pay MAP dollars to schools on behalf of students.” But Worley found out Tuesday that she has options that could help her start – and stay in – school this semester. Kishwaukee’s Director of Financial Aid Cynthia Stonesifer addressed Worley and other students affected by the nonfunded grants at the first of three special
SPORTS
LOCAL NEWS
LOCAL NEWS
WHERE IT’S AT
Anchor points
Coming soon
Appeal update
Ness, Conlon look to stabilize relatively new NIU O-line / B1
DeKalb County probation system to add program for drug users / A3
Convicted murderer seeks post-conviction relief / A3
Advice ................................ B5 Classified........................B7-9 Comics ............................... B6 Local News.................... A3-5 Lottery................................ A2 Nation&World.............. A2, 5
informational sessions on the subject. Stonesifer said 460 of the school’s 2,000 financial aid recipients are affected by the MAP issue. “We’re willing to work with the students to keep them on track in their education,” Stonesifer said at the meeting. State Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, is expected to introduce legislation today that would pull MAP funding from the appropriations bills Gov. Bruce Rauner vetoed in June, creating a standalone measure that authorizes $373 million for the state college aid. If it passes the General Assembly and the governor signs it, the contingency plans higher education institutions are putting in place now could become moot.
See MAP GRANTS, page A6
Obituaries .........................A4 Opinion...............................A7 Puzzles ............................... B5 Sports..............................B1-4 State ...................................A2 Weather .............................A8
Join in the Celebration
DeKalb Farmers Market 20th Anniversary Thursday, August 20th • 10am-2pm • Van Buer Plaza • Downtown DeKalb
Beginning at 10am there will be a message from Mayor Rey, Ribbon Cutting, and Drawings throughout the day for a chance to win $20 to use at any market vendor!
adno=0353202