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September 1, 2015 • $1 .0 0
HUSKIES FOR THE WIN
DAILY CHRONICLE
NIU football picked to win MAC West in coaches poll / B1 HIGH
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NIU forum focuses on MAP grants
State treasurer Frerichs visits DeKalb campus for roundtable discussion By RHONDA GILLESPIE rgillespie@shawmedia.com DeKALB – Thousands of students in DeKalb County have yet to receive millions of dollars in state tuition assistance, and Illinois Treasurer Michael Frerichs wants that to change.
Frerichs, a Democrat who was elected treasurer in 2014, visited Northern Illinois University’s Holmes Student Center on Monday to talk about the state’s lack of funding for the Monetary Award Program. “Part of the reason I’m traveling around the state is to shine a spotlight on a problem
in Springfield,” said Frerichs, a former state senator. The 16-participant roundtable discussion included NIU chief financial officer Alan Phillips, Kishwaukee College President Tom Choice, state Rep. Bob Pritchard, R-Hinckley, DeKalb Mayor John Rey and DeKalb County Board
Chairman Mark Pietrowski Jr. The leaders expressed concern about the effect that not funding the need-based grants for the state’s low-income college students is having now – and will have in the future. “A lot of people think there’s not really a big consequence to this,” said Frerichs,
who was chairman of the Senate’s higher education committee. “We want to point out that, as students are going back to school, the need to make funding for higher education – specifically for MAP grants – a priority. In August, the Illinois Student Assistance Commission
announced that funding for MAP grants would be halted in the absence of a state budget for this fiscal year. Universities such as NIU have tried to blunt the impact on their students who would have received the state aid.
See FRERICHS, page A8
Ill. museum latest target in political budget fight
KISHWAUKEE COLLEGE POWER TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM
By SARA BURNETT The Associated Press
Photos by Monica Synett – msynett@shawmedia.com
Sophomore Erik Sullivan sets the timing on a Caterpillar engine Thursday during the Advanced Diesels class at Kishwaukee College.
Diesel tech classes rev up Kish College curriculum is only one in state north of I-80 By ADAM POULISSE apoulisse@shawmedia.com MALTA – After working as a diesel mechanic in the Army Reserve, Matthew Dyer knew that’s what he wanted to do when he came back to the region. So last spring, he enrolled at Kishwaukee College, and now he’s in the second semester of the program. “It’s just furthering it far more,” said Dyer, 26, who lives near Huntley. “I’d like to stay on the ag side of the business. It’s just been a passion since I was a little kid.” Kishwaukee College’s Diesel Power Technology program is in gear as a new semester is underway at the Malta community college. As the only diesel program north of Interstate 80, the diesel tech program teaches students the ins and outs of heavy machinery such as farming implements and semitrucks. Students who complete the program with working knowledge of diesel engines and heavy machinery also enter a market where their skills are in demand, instructors said. Although the program has been around since 1968, it’s changed over the years to not only focus on agriculture mechanics as it previously did, but also other diesel-powered
Nathan Arnquist reinstalls the wheels on an axle during the Truck Brakes and Suspension class Thursday at Kishwaukee College. automotives, according to John Boesche, lead instructor in the diesel department. “Over time, the demand for agricultural technicians kind of waned, and the need for technicians to work on construction equipment, industrial equipment, heavy-du-
ty trucks has expanded,” Boesche said. “As so the program, over its history, has tried to refocus what we train on in order to match the need of the industry who’s hiring our students.”
On the Web Visit Daily-Chronicle.com for a related video.
See DIESEL TECH, page A8
SPRINGFIELD – The skeleton of a massive mastodon, thousands of Native American artifacts and a giant shark could be the next casualties in an increasingly ugly fight over Illinois’ state budget that has dragged on for months with no sign of ending. The pieces are among millions held by the Illinois State Museum, a favorite stop for school groups and scientists looking to learn the history of a state that, millions of years before it went broke, was literally underwater. Now Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner is targeting the 138-year-old museum and four satellite sites for closure, the latest in a series of cuts the former businessman said are needed to manage Illinois’ finances as Bruce he battles with Democrats Rauner who run the Legislature. The move is also designed to put pressure on lawmakers by ensuring more voters feel the impact of having no state budget. Among the first items to get the governor’s ax were the state airplanes that lawmakers often used to make the 200-mile trip between Chicago and Springfield. Then low-income parents and seniors took a hit through cuts to subsidized child care and in-home care. Now the museum is on the chopping block, in a highly visible step that could either force lawmakers to the table or backfire on the rookie governor. Rauner’s decision comes even as other states spend millions to expand museums to lure more visitors. The locations that could be closed by the end of September include an archaeological site where Native American remains were unearthed and later reburied. “We are so sad,” said Twila Cline, whose 7-year-old granddaughter chose to spend her last free day before starting second grade visiting the Springfield museum, where kids can get their hands dirty in a faux archaeological dig or come eyeto-eye with a short-faced bear. Cline takes her two grandkids to the museum, where admission is free, every month. “It’s what we do.” Rauner said Democrats have forced his hand by not agreeing on a budget or accepting anti-union, pro-business priorities he wants. Closing the museum would mean about 65 workers would lose their jobs, and collections boxed away. “I don’t like to make cuts,” he said. Democrats, who want Rauner to sign off on a tax increase to help close a multibillion-dollar budget gap, said his requests will destroy organized labor and hurt the middle class. The standoff is sending Illinois into the third month of the current fiscal year without a budget.
See CLOSINGS, page A8
LOCAL NEWS
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MARKETPLACE
WHERE IT’S AT
New equipment
Corn poll
Mall expands
Shipman Park in DeKalb will get an overhaul this fall / A3
Trump is popular among area voters, Republican and Democrat / A3
Shoppers flock to new stores at Aurora outlet mall / A10
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