Plenty of surprises in NCAA March Madness bracket
Sports, B1
MONDAY, MARCH 17, 2014
WWW.NWHERALD.COM
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Report: U.S. struggles with gov’t transparency
Franks’ bill takes aim at student loan debt By CHELSEA McDOUGALL cmcdougall@shawmedia.com
Sarah Nader – snader@shawmedia.com
Huntley students Adam Reckamp (left), 15, and Chris Sawalski, 15, work on the next issue of the Huntley Voice during their newspaper class Thursday at Huntley High School. According to Reporters Without Borders, the U.S. is sinking dramatically in terms of press freedoms across the globe.
Sunshine Week puts focus on nation’s drop in press freedom index Inside
By JEFF ENGELHARDT jengelhardt@shawmedia.com
U.S. cites security for censoring, denying records. PAGE A2
H o l l y B a l d a c c i i s t h e e d itor-in-chief of Huntley High School’s student newspaper, and that just may be where she decides to end her journalism career. While she has some interest in the field, she has seen the increasing difficulty of tracking down information at the next level as more “fluff” pieces replace investigative pieces in the national media. “I don’t know that important news has decreased, but it is harder to find because there is more fluff out there,” the senior said. “In gen-
eral, more information is out there but not the important information. I feel it would be really hard to be successful in the field. I’m worried about it.” As Monday marks the beginning of Sunshine Week – a national initiative to push for open government and educate citizens about the dangers of withheld information and excessive closed-door dealings – the United States finds itself ranked 46 in press freedoms compared to the rest of the world. The ranking, given by Reporters Without Borders, is a 13-position drop from 2012 and was triggered by a secret seizure of Associated Press
phone records, the potential jail time facing a New York Times national security reporter for refusing to disclose a source and the multiple journalists facing prison for reporting about leaked documents from Edward Snowden. It’s not the first year the ranking dropped in the U.S., also falling in 2012 after journalists were arrested during the Occupy Wall Street movement. Dennis Brown, who serves as an adviser for Baldacci and the whole Huntley Voice student paper, said he is thankful students are able to
A bill making its way through the state legislature potentially could transform the way students pay for college. Introduced by Jack Franks, D-Marengo, HB 5323 authorizes the Illinois Student Assistance Commission to study the feasibility of a “Pay It Forward” program. A “Pay It Forward” initiative would allow students to attend college for free and repay their loan after graduation in the form of a small, fixed percentage of their future disposable income. Similar legislation has been introduced in 17 states with proposals in the works in several others. Repayment can fluctuate as one’s earning potential changes. Under a proposal in Washington state, the repayment period is capped at 25 years. Franks said he was motivated to introduce the bill by his own experience with college-aged sons and amid growing concerns for college affordability and student loan debt. According to the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, it costs an average of $11,552 a year in tuition and fees to attend one of the state’s 12 public universities. He said with tuition costs and loan debt skyrocketing, those from low- and middle-income families find it increasingly difficult to access higher education, let alone repay debt after graduation.
See SECRECY, page A6 See STUDENTS, page A6
State Rep. Jack Franks D-Marengo
By the numbers
7 in 10 Seniors graduating in 2012 with debt •••
$29,400 National average student loan debt •••
$28,028 Illinois average student loan debt •••
64% Proportion with debt •••
$11,552 Average tuition costs at Illinois public institutions for one year
Source: Institute for College Access and Success, Illinois Student Assistance Commission
GOP gubernatorial candidates careful with term limit issue By KERRY LESTER The Associated Press SPRINGFIELD – As lawmakers with 60 years of experience among them, three of four Republican candidates for governor in Illinois have crafted careful positions on the subject of mandatory term limits. One of them, state Sen. Bill Brady, supports limits for all lawmakers and the governor. Two others, state Sen. Kirk Dillard and state Treasurer Dan Rutherford, said only the roles of legislative leaders should be capped,
according to their answers on a campaign questionnaire from The Associated Press. The term limits issue, long popular with voters but never adopted in Illinois, was forced into the campaign by the fourth contender, Bruce Rauner, a Winnetka businessman who has never held office and is pushing for a constitutional amendment on the November ballot that would limit legislators to eight years. But he wouldn’t legally limit a governor’s tenure, instead promising to “self-impose” an eight-year limit on himself if he wins.
LOCALLY SPEAKING
For months, discussion of the issue has overlapped with another central issue in the governor’s race – whether Illinois wants a “career politician” or a selfstyled “outsider” to run the state for the next four years, and for that matter, how exactly to define a career politician. “When Bruce stands here and says the three of us are part of the problem – all three of us are citizen legislators,” Dillard, a 20-year senator who also is a partner at a Chicago law firm, said at a candidate debate. “We all have private sector experience ... I’m not part
of the problem.” The ballot proposal would place the eight-year limits on members of the Senate and House, among other structural changes to the Legislature. Nationwide, more than 20 states have adopted limits, but only about a dozen actually use them because some were either thrown out by courts or repealed. Mark Campbell, spokesman for a Rauner-backed Term Limits and Legislative Reform Committee, said the initiative is approaching the 300,000 signatures needed by a May 6 deadline to put
CARY
COLD A FACTOR IN HALF MARATHON The course wasn’t the only test of character runners faced Sunday during the 36th annual March Madness Half Marathon in Cary. The runners also battled temperatures in the teens. The annual race attracts competitive runners from across the area, with many using it as a tuneup for upcoming marathons such as next month’s Boston Marathon. For more, see page B1.
H. Rick Bamman – hbamman@shawmedia.com
HIGH
LOW
36 27 Complete forecast on A8
WOODSTOCK: In bid to homeschool son, Woodstock couple design, build and market Cat Tree Kingdom. Local, A3
Where to find it Advice Classified Comics
B8 C1-6 B7
the measure on the ballot. “Term limits is not a cure-all, but in a state as corrupt as Illinois, [it] will help eliminate the incentives for self-dealing and will help make politics about public service again,” Rauner wrote in his AP questionnaire. But his opponents have derided the term-limit push as a “gimmick” that Rauner is using to boost his own campaign without considering negative effects in Springfield. They said the limits restrict voters’ right to choose
Election Central Follow the local, state and national races at NWHerald. com/election.
See CANDIDATES, page A6
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Vol. 29, Issue 76 Local&Region A3 Lottery A2 Obituaries A4-5
Opinion Puzzles Sports
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