Printing cap questioned at University Council meeting

By Felix Sarver

Frustration with the new printing cap and concerns with student safety were raised at the University Council meeting Wednesday.

Austin Quick, Student Association (SA) Senate speaker, said the SA has heard about 15 to 20 students complaining about the new restrictions on printing. The complaints were not only about the restrictions, but also about the professors not taking these changes into account.

“At a time when we’re asking students to pay more, more and more, we definitely want to utilize services like Blackboard and other things,” Quick said.

Quick also said safety is a number one priority for students. He and other SA members met with the DeKalb Police Chief Gene Lowery over the summer to develop a working relationship between students and the police.

Quick said DeKalb is working on possibly enforcing new laws and regulations regarding landlords. Landlords are not doing any type of background checks on people, he said.

“People are living very close to campus, and almost are on campus, who do not have the best intentions,” Quick said.

During a presentation of the university’s fiscal year 2013 internal budget, President John Peters pointed out how the revenue from the state is decreasing while the revenue from the university itself is increasing. The FY 2013 internal budget is an anticipated budget required by law, he said.

The revenue from the university consisted of tuition, room rates, services, grants and other sources of funds. The appropriated state revenues from 2012 were $99.6 million and has been in steady decline since 2000, Peters said.

“This year, we got hit again,” Peters said.

Appropriated fund revenues from the state were reduced by 6.13 percent, leaving the university with $93.5 million. The university anticipated the reduction, Peters said. The state still owes NIU $28.4 million, which they pledged to pay by Dec. 31.

The targets for NIU’s nonappropriated revenes for the FY2013 internal budget are set higher than last year. Peters said the targets were based on a conservative range in order to take into account variables like student enrollment. The total anticipated revenues for the FY 2013 internal budget is over $450 million.

“The state has become an important, but a minor, contributor to our overall enterprise,” Peters said.