Students living off-campus don't always have the easy access to laundry facilities that students in residence halls enjoy.

While complexes where students traditionally rent apartments may have laundry facilities, not all residents find these appliances to be the most productive way to take care of dirty laundry.

The worst time to do laundry in DeKalb is on Sunday afternoons, when business at area Laundromats is at a peak, said Pat Hinkle, one of the owners of Double Bubble, 850 Pappas Drive. Saturdays also are busy days for area Laundromats.

Still, many students do laundry when it is most convenient for them, and often go to the business closest to where they live.

"My apartment building only has one washer and one dryer, so it saves lots of time to come here and do three loads at once," said junior elementary major Pam Richmeier as she waited for her clothes to finish drying at the Laundry Lounge, 818 W. Lincoln Highway.

Dave Melms, owner of the Laundry Lounge, said his business has a lot of customers who attend NIU, but a major portion of his clientele consists of DeKalb residents.

DeKalb resident Tiffany Porter said the washer and dryer at her apartment complex need maintenance and haven't worked for more than a month. She also found it convenient to go to the Laundry Lounge because of its close proximity to her apartment.

Hinkle said Double Bubble also sees a lot of students, but the clientele varies, and many non-students use the service.

She said her business always has an attendant on duty during business hours, and is the newest Laundromat in town, adding the business has new washers and dryers that are cleaned daily.

"We also have the hottest dryers in town, and you know that because we are the only ones who have dryers that display the current temperature," she said.

Other places rely less on student business to operate.

Randy Stillson, owner of First Street Cleaners and Laundry, 1110 N. First St., said about 15 percent of his business comes from students, and things really don't slow down when most NIU students leave for the summer.

"We probably have more students using our dry cleaning services than our laundry services," he said.

Transitioning to college is something that probably has occupied incoming students and their parents for at least a year. The stress of deciding what colleges to apply to, the anxiety about admissions and the ever-looming worries about paying for everything are barely behind you. In the relief of knowing that NIU is the college for you, it is easy to begin to think that the hardest part of the transition is over.

This may or may not be true.

Actually, one of the surprisingly difficult parts of college is that so many questions can be best answered, "It depends." This answer tends to provoke anxiety.

Should freshmen go home every weekend? It depends. On one hand, there seems to be a persistent connection between getting involved and connected at school, and graduating. On the other hand, students who have strong connections at home tend to feel more confident in stepping out into new situations. And on the third hand, at some point parents really do need to learn to troubleshoot their own computer problems!

Should students tell their parents all about the weird behavior of their new roommate? It depends. Parents can be very helpful in sorting out possible solutions to roommate conflicts, can give a broader perspective and, in general, offer support. Sometimes parents can get overwhelmed by the emotion of the moment, and get the impression that their student has a demon-possessed roommate, when actually the two of them solved the problem but forgot to pass this information along. Solving relationship problems is one of the great learning experiences of college. Just like in elementary school, it’s not a good idea to get parents to do their child’s homework, but a helpful hint can go a long way.

What should the student do who feels different because of ethnicity, race, disability, religion or sexual orientation? Is it best to look for other students who are like you, or to take a chance on mingling with other people who are different? It depends. Getting connected to an office or organization whose purpose is to work with students that share ones needs or interests can provide a sense of belonging. On the other hand, getting involved with a new group or organization can be very liberating and exhilarating. Fortunately, students can do both!

And speaking of relationships, what about students and their teachers? One of the few exceptions to "it depends" is to encourage students to talk to their professors. Most faculty enjoy connecting with students and feeling like they might be making a difference in their students’ lives. Students who ask questions, or even say hello, not only increase their chances of learning something, they are doing a good deed. On the other hand, faculty, as a rule, much prefer dealing with students rather than the students’ parents!

One of the great advantages of developing connections with faculty is that this often helps students who are trying to choose a major. Faculty know a lot about their discipline and related disciplines, and they often know about related career options. Finding a major that is a good fit is another "it depends." Since the choice depends on putting together information about interests, values, skills and careers, for many students several different majors can look like equally good choices. Talking to faculty, career counselors and employers can help in sorting this out.

Ultimately, the key is the same now as always: keeping communication open. Students who can talk with their parents, parents who can talk with their child, students who can talk to each other and to their teachers: All of these lines of communication contribute to success in college.

What to do if the communication gets too clogged up? NIU has a wealth of resources for addressing all kinds of communication problems, and one person who is very familiar with these resources is the community adviser on the student’s floor in the residence hall. Another option is to contact the Counseling and Student Development Center staff of counselors and psychologists who are available to assist students regarding personal issues, career counseling and study skills.

The Counseling and Student Development Center is located at the Campus Life Building, Suite 200. For information, call 753-1206.

Anna Beth Payne is the associate director and a licensed psychologist.

By now, you are no doubt tired of people telling you to make the most of your college years because they will be the best years of your life. However, if you can tolerate one more piece of advice, let me suggest that you listen to those people.

The endeavor which you are about to undertake here at Northern Illinois University offers the potential for more learning and more personal growth than you may have experienced in all of your life until now. Notice, however, that I say potential, for it is up to you to decide what you will make of it.

You join a long line of NIU students, numbering more than 150,000 and stretching back more than 100 years, each of whom came to this campus facing many of the same questions you are sorting out, each trying to map out a course for their future.

For all of them, NIU provided a solid foundation on which they could build their lives, and some used that foundation to help them attain spectacular heights.

U.S. Rep. Dennis Hastert built upon his NIU education degree to become the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Paul Sereno, a biological sciences major, used his NIU degree to launch a career that has seen him become one of the most prominent paleontologists of his generation.

Art grad Dan Castellaneta went on to become the voice of Homer Simpson. Theater Arts major Joan Allen has won three Academy Award nominations.

The names of those NIU alumni might be the most recognizable to you, but if you are from Chicagoland you have been surrounded and influenced by Northern graduates all of your life.

Our College of Education can claim as graduates more than 16,000 teachers currently working in Illinois and one quarter of the state's school administrators. One third of the city managers working in the state graduated from our world-renowned public administration program; our business graduates are recruited heavily by the leading accounting firms, banks and corporations. Our College of Law counts as alumni nearly 30 sitting judges.

The success stories go on and on, and each story began at the crossroads where you now find yourself. How your own story will be written will be shaped by the choices you make now, so I urge you to consider those decisions carefully and to challenge yourself at each step along the way. Rather than merely completing your requirements, seek out challenges, expose yourself to new ideas and learn how to think for yourself.

You have my pledge that the university, all of its faculty and staff, will do everything within their power to help make your experience here at NIU happy and productive.

Your time here at NIU can indeed be the best time of your life, but ultimately, the quality and the value of that experience will be up to you.

Roommates.

Even the word can cause problems if new students aren't used to living with someone.

Keith Kruchten, administrative vice president-elect of the Residence Hall Association, said the best way to handle living with a new roommate in tight corridors is to try to get to know one another.

"I highly recommend going to the events of New Student Welcome Days, and especially the RHA Block Party," Kruchten said. "Because this way not only are you doing something together, but it affords the opportunity to meet other new students on campus."

With every new living situation, Kruchten said that problems will occur. He said the best way to work through these situations is to talk about them in order to prevent further differences.

"Conflicts will occur, and the best way to solve them is to keep the lines of communication open," Kruchten said. "Too often, when problems arise, roommates stop talking to each other, and this just leads to more problems and the whole problem snowballs into something huge, when it started out small."

Freshman Lauren Mangold said communication is the key when dealing with a new living situation.

"You have to talk to your roommate about problems that can occur," Mangold said. "You also have to be considerate of the other person."

For Mangold, just going to dinner with her roommate helped her not only get to know her roommate better, but it also gave them an opportunity to spend time together outside of their residence hall.

"Always be considerate of each other's space and don't ever live with someone that you are really close with or even think you can be close with," Mangold suggests. "It will turn out bad."

Krista Hehl, a freshman pre-physical therapy major, also said communication is the key to a successful living situation.

"Be patient with each other," Hehl said. "You have to be more understanding toward people. I always had my own room and was not use to sharing it. At first it was kind of weird just talking on the phone with someone else in the room, but you get used to it."

Although there has been much debate regarding roommates living with someone they know, Kruchten said living with someone you don't know offers opportunity to meet new people.

"Getting a random roommate is a gamble, but almost always a good one," Kruchten said. "By living with someone you don't know, it opens you up to a new culture, a new way of thinking, a new ‘style' so to speak. College is about new experiences and living with someone you have never met before; it is one of the best growing exercises I can imagine."

Alex Underwood, president of the Residence Hall Association, agreed.

"Go out together, meet new people together, have fun together," he said. "The quickest way to bond is to have shared experiences."

The Board of Trustees is expected to vote on a tuition rate increase of 9 to 18 percent and a technology surcharge during a special meeting today, said Eddie Williams, executive vice president of Finance and Facilities.

NIU also has frozen admissions as of May 1.

Williams said the tuition increase and technology surcharge are necessary to deal with a reduction in funds to NIU in the wake of budget cuts for Illinois public universities.

Western Illinois and Southern Illinois universities increased their tuition 13 and 16 percent, respectively, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has a $1,000 surcharge, according to press information from Melanie Magara, assistant vice president of public affairs at NIU.

Williams anticipates the board deciding on the lowest rate possible for tuition increases and surcharge.

"Traditionally, they have kept [it] at the lower end of rate increases," he said.

He pointed to NIU having one of the lowest tuition increases in the state last year as an example of the board's history of low tuition rate increases. He also noted that the board did not increase tuition at mid-year like many other state universities.

The surcharge will be used to upgrade NIU's computer labs, purchase a new student information system and increase access and bandwidth.

Williams said the board will choose a surcharge below $1,000.

"That's a pretty safe bet," he said.

Williams added that the tuition increase and surcharge are part of a larger plan NIU has developed to provide a quality education to students.

To deal with budget cuts, NIU has eliminated 136 jobs and frozen salary increases, stopped all but essential safety-related building repairs, stopped purchasing of new equipment, eliminated all but essential travel and reduced student jobs and graduate assistantships. NIU also has made adjustments to its summer schedule by closing certain buildings and creating a four-day work week.

"It's part of a combined balancing act," Williams said. "And we've still got a lot of work to do."

A waiting list has been created to deal with applications to attend in the fall yet received after the May 1 deadline.

"We've received almost as many applications in March as we normal receive in June and July," Magara said about the need for the waiting list.

The board will meet at 11:15 a.m. in the Skyroom of the Holmes Student Center.

In a few weeks, grades will be announced, and invariably, some students will not be happy.

There is recourse for some of these students, however - grade appeals.

According to university policy on grade appeals, students can undergo procedures for grade appeals only for "capricious grading," not for an instructor’s judgment of work quality.

The policy describes "capricious grading" as one or more of these occurrences: "(a) The assignment of a grade to a particular (undergraduate) student on some basis other than performance in the course. (b) The assignment of a grade to a particular (undergraduate) student by more exacting or demanding standards than were applied to other students in that section. (c) The assignment of a grade by a substantial departure from the instructor’s criteria distributed in writing during the first fourth of a course."

In other words, "you have to convince the committee, the instructor, the chair, that a grade other than the one you were assigned was more fair," NIU Ombudsman Tim Griffin said.

There are four possible steps that could be taken in order to appeal a grade. If the conflict is resolved at any step, then the student does not proceed to the next one.

Students always should speak with the instructor of the course as the first step.

"Students don’t realize this, but half the time they thought they got a wrong grade, they did," Griffin said, attributing the problem to human error like an instructor adding along the wrong line in a grade book.

He also said that there are no statistics on student appeals, but based on his experience with students who seek his advice, a considerable number of these conflicts are resolved in this first step.

If speaking with the instructor does not amend the situation, students should "confer with the chair of the department in which the course was offered," the policy states.

If the conflict still is unresolved, a student then would submit to the chair of the department a petition to the Grade Review Board. The deadline for this step is "the end of the fourth week of the semester following the semester or summer term in which the grade was assigned," the policy states.

This means that if a student wishes to appeal a grade earned in the spring or summer, then they would turn in the petition by the fourth Friday of the fall semester.

"We’ll be glad to talk with [students] about [grade appeals] at any point in the review stage," Griffin said, adding that his office offers a template and tips for appeal petitions.

Each department is required to have a panel of potential appeal board members available. At least one student is required to sit on the board, Griffin said. A committee will be chosen for each case, and it will receive evidence from the student and instructor regarding their respective positions. The student will be provided with the instructor’s response to the board.

Ferald Bryan, an associate communication professor and appeals panel member for the department, said that judging an appeal consists of following the guidelines outlined in the university policy as well as weighing arguments from both sides and asking questions if necessary.

"It’s a very orderly and methodical process," Bryan said of the appeals process as a whole.

The board will decide whether the grade was fair or unfair. Griffin said usually the decision will be sent within a few days, but this is not always the case.

In the unusual circumstance students still feel the decision of the board was unjust, they may proceed on to the final step, appealing to the dean of the college in which the course was offered. The dean can then demand the case be reheard by the board. All decisions in this step are final.

Griffin said students progressing on to this step usually do so for procedural breaches; for example, the absence of a student on the board.

The regulations guiding a graduate student appeal process contain a few subtle differences, such as appealing to the dean of the graduate school in the fourth step.

"All students are entitled to their due process," Bryan said.

He recommended that students be aware of the process before considering a grade appeal, pointing out that the procedures for appealing a grade are available on the NIU Web site.

Griffin provided advice along those same lines.

"I would like to encourage students to inquire of their instructors," he said. "If students receive a grade they feel is incorrect, they should definitely contact the instructor [first]."

Most students are excited to go home, start the summer and visit with old friends.

You won't be too excited, however, to receive huge fines from Student Housing and Dining Services. So before you leave for a break filled with beaches, partying and low-paying internships, make sure the condition of your room won't make you have any fines.

First, make sure any repairs possible are reported to the Fix-It Line at 753-4948 before you move out. Housing and Dining asks that the following rules be followed upon checkout in order to avoid fines.

- All NIU-issued furniture must be present and accounted for in your room.

Whatever was in your room when you arrived in the fall should be left in your room when you leave. Leaving your chair on your floor, but in the lobby, is not going to save you from receiving any fines.

- Your room must be cleaned, and all trash must be emptied.

By clean, they don't mean empty of your personal belongings. That's right - sweep, mop and dust your furniture for the next residents.

- The NIU phone must be attached and working.

- The MicroFridge needs to be cleaned, defrosted and plugged in.

Make sure the Spaghetti-O stains are scrubbed out of your microwave, and take a towel to the fridge. The easiest way to defrost your MicroFridge is to turn the power off your unit for a while so that the ice in the freezer compartment melts. Then vacuum, dump or sponge up the water.

You can do things the hard way and scrape the frost by hand with the plastic scraper provided for you in your freezer at the beginning of the year. If your MicroFridge is not cleaned and/or defrosted, expect to receive up to $60 in fines.

- Your personal belongings must all be packed and removed from your room. Even if you have already requested to have the same room for the fall semester.

Jan Gerenstein, coordinator of Residential Technology Services, said it doesn't really make a difference if you report broken Internet equipment or not because all equipment will be checked after you move out.

Gerenstein said the most common pieces of equipment found missing are the power supply units because many students confuse them with units used for their VCRs, phones and other electronic devices. If this happens to you, Gerenstein suggests mailing or personally bringing back the equipment to the ResTech Help Desk to clear your fines.

The DSL Unit Power Supply and the Ethernet Hub Power Supply will cost you $15 if they are found missing from your room.

Make sure you leave your DSL unit(s) behind and in working order - they are the most expensive ResTech fines. If missing or damaged, you will be charged $250.

Express checkout

If you choose to go this way, all you have to do is drop your keys off in a check-out envelope at the main desk of your residence hall and sign an agreement that you consent to accept any fines incurred or split the charges with your roommate(s).

Alternate checkout

Going with option two will take you a little more time, but you will have the benefit of knowing your CA has inspected your room for any damages that you could be fined for. After your CA has inspected your room, leave your key at the main desk in a checkout envelope. Keep in mind that even though your room may be fine-free, any floor damages discovered after you leave may still be fined to you along with the entire floor.

An NIU student was killed in an apparent train accident Saturday.

Kenneth McInnis, 23, a pre-communication major, was pronounced dead by the DeKalb County Coroner's office at 2:15 a.m. Saturday.

His body was found by DeKalb police at 1:42 a.m. Saturday after police responded to a reference to a possible train accident at the 1000 block of West Lincoln Highway, according to DeKalb police reports.

According to the coroner's report, no foul play is suspected and it is being investigated by the DeKalb Police Department and the DeKalb County Coroner's Office.

An examination of the death is pending.

"The grant will be used to study the rules that govern how animals grow up, or their so-called life history," Schwartz said. "This is a fundamental aspect of an animal's biology and a very difficult thing to examine in long-dead fossils, but new tools are allowing us to accurately reconstruct the important biological parameter with unparalleled precision."

Schwartz attended New York's Stony Brook University with initial intentions of studying physics and astronomy, but he said anthropology found him.

"I have always been fascinated with natural history, at one level or another," Schwartz said.

"My earliest memories are begging my parents to drive me into the American Museum of Natural History on a Saturday, so that I could go see all the wonderful dinosaur and mammal fossils. I always knew I would end up studying the history of our planet, whether it was from the perspective of an astronomer, or that of a paleontologist."

Although Schwartz has been teaching at NIU since the beginning of August, a variety of other schools has given him experience in his field.

Schwartz was accepted to do his master's and then his Ph.D. at Washington University in St. Louis. Before finishing, however, he went to South Africa where he taught anatomy at Witwatersrand Medical School in Johannesburg, South Africa.

He then was granted a post-doctoral research position at University College London. After that, he took up a second post-doc position at the Smithsonian Institution's Natural History Museum in D.C.

"NIU has generously supported my research since my first arriving here last autumn," Schwartz said. "It has taken a year, but my lab is finally up and running enabling me to begin my research in earnest."

Schwartz feels fortunate to work at the anthropology department at NIU because of the recognized master's program.

"It is important for these students to learn the ropes insofar as getting one's hands dirty in the lab," Schwartz said. "Students learn the most by actually doing it, and this is just the kind of research that will introduce the uninitiated to the process of scientific discovery."

Schwartz believes that anthropology gives students a more physical appeal to learning.

"More than any other subject, biological anthropology is a touchy-feely science; students have to hold, fondle, palpate, examine, etc.," Schwartz said. "The direct evidence on which human evolutionary scenarios are based. It is astounding to see the light bulb turn on in students when they are able to hold in their hands the entire cast of characters in the story of human evolution."

Members of the Student Association Senate marched from an aborted senate meeting to SA President Kevin Miller's office Sunday night.

Senators angry at Miller's lack of availability for scheduling meetings walked from the Holmes Student Center's Clara Sperling Skyroom after quorum for a "special session" meeting called by Miller was not met.

Miller had called a special session of the senate to give them an opportunity to reconsider vetoes made by Miller to the Campus Activity Board's budget recommendations.

The senate had approved a recommended allocation of $508,924 at last week's senate meeting.

Miller had reduced the budget by $83,943 to a total recommended allocation of $424,981.

Meyer, Gravel and members of CAB will file a complaint to the SA Supreme Court today alleging, among other things, Miller had exceeded his constitutional powers and had injured the CAB members named on the complaint.

The complaint then asks for the court to restore the CAB allocation to the $508,924 originally recommended.

Laisha Fox, SA senator and Campus Activities Board president said she tried to meet with Miller in September.

"We got one in January, a semester later," Fox said.

Doug Reisinger, acting president pro tempore, said the executives of the SA cannot do anything at this point.

"Yelling at each other will not change a thing," Reisinger said in the Skyroom. He suggested for them to go to Miller's office.

After quorum was not met, Bertrand Simpson, associate director of University Programming and Activities stayed and discussed the veto with the senators and members of CAB.

Simpson alluded to the reason for Miller's budget veto being because of the Big Time Entertainment committee and the Convocation Center.

After the pack had arrived in the Campus Life Building, they were informed by some members of CAB that Miller had just left. Sen. R.J. Gravel and Speaker Andrew Nelms then called and left messages on Miller's voice mail.

"We'll be here for a while," said Sen. Jeff Meyer.

While the group waited outside of the SA office, Brooke Robinson, SA director of public affairs, returned briefly to the SA office.

"How about you stand up for something you believe in when you don't have a microphone in your face?" Robinson said to Meyer. "You are such a media whore."

Eleven senators showed up for the meeting, which required 17 in order to be held.

"We stood at ease for four minutes," Reisinger said.

Nelms said that to his knowledge he had never heard of a meeting not meeting quorum. He said the finals schedules probably contributed to the lack of senators present.

Despite the meeting problem, the veto's budgets will go ahead as changed, Nelms said.

"The senate did not reconsider the bill because we did not meet quorum," Nelms said.

Many of the senators and members of CAB still present after the meeting complained that Miller had left quickly from the meeting, before answering questions.

Shortly after the meeting, Meyer said the changes to CAB's budget went beyond the normal line item veto power the president has. He said Miller gave amended numbers instead of vetoing specific lines in the budget.

"How was what he did a veto?" Meyer asked shortly after the meeting. "It was an amendment."

Robinson refuted Meyer's claim. She said Miller had gone through the bill and vetoed the increases only and not the proposed budgets lines.

"I think your propagating lies," Robinson said to Meyer at the Skyroom.

While using your old textbooks as the fuel for an end-of-the-semester bonfire may be popular, a much more profitable way of disposing of these much-hated objects is to sell them back to the store you bought them from.

At the University Bookstore, book buyback is May 5 through May 8 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the Center Cafe West Corridor (CCW) of the Holmes Student Center and 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the bookstore service desk. Also on May 9 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. the buyback will be in the CCW. Buyback also is on May 10 from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the service desk.

Students must show their NIU OneCards to the University Bookstore to sell their books back.

At the Village Commons Bookstore, special book buyback hours are May 5 through May 8 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., May 9 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and May 10 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

The VCB also will buy students' books back at any other time during the year.

Mitch Kielb, acting director of the Holmes Student Center, said 50 percent of the books sold by the University Bookstore are used.

Kielb said the bookstore has two different ways of determining how much money to give students for these books.

If NIU will be using a book again, the University Bookstore will pay half of the new price no matter if the student bought the book new or used.

If NIU will not be using the book or if the University Bookstore does not need it, the bookstore will pay based on the price the book can be sold to a wholeseller for.

The state budget cuts to NIU won't affect how much money the University Bookstore pays students for books, Kielb said.

Lee Blankenship, owner and general manager of the VCB, said the VCB will pay at least half of the new price of a book if it was bought used and if NIU will be using it again, and if NIU will not be using the book or the VCB does not need it, the VCB determines how much a book is worth based on its national wholesale value.

Kielb and Blankenship both said a book may not be sold back if it is a new edition that NIU will not use again and a wholeseller can't sell it either or if it originally had a CD-ROM and no longer does.

"Anything you bought, bring it all back. If it's a set, bring the whole set back, not just a part," Kielb said. "If we need it all, and you don't have it, we won't buy any of it back."

Kielb and Blankenship both said general studies-type books are returned the most because these books are not typically students' major books that they feel they'll need in the future, and Kielb warned that students should think before they sell back all of their books.

"Sometimes people are too quick to sell," Kielb said. "You might need a book again to look back at in the future if you're taking other classes in the subject."

Usually, students will get a better price for their books if they sell them at the beginning of buyback week before the University Bookstore and the VCB fill up on books and have to pay the lower wholesale price, Kielb and Blankenship both said.

However, Kielb also said that sometimes the bookstores don't have the information from certain professors at the beginning of buyback week about which books they'll be using and that students might then get a better price later in the week after the information has come in.

Students can ask if their professors' information has come in before they sell their books.

Blankenship said that sometimes the VCB and the University Bookstore differ on the amount of money they give students for books when one store reaches its limit for certain books before the other does and then drops the price of the books to the wholesale value.

For information on book buyback, call either the University Bookstore at 753-1081 or the VCB at 758-0613.

NIU’s Board of Trustees approved a differentiating tuition rate increase averaging 11 percent and a $100 surcharge during a special session on May 5 in the Skyroom of the Holmes Student Center.

Chairman Manny Sanchez, who chaired in the meeting via telephone, also instructed President Peters to form a team that will find a way to create some financial reward for faculty and staff.

The board approved a tuition rate increase of nine percent for freshman and sophomores and an 12 percent increase for juniors, seniors and graduate students. "It’s an idea that’s time has come for NIU," Peters said about the differentiating tuition rates.

Peters said the need to charge upper division undergraduate and graduate students more for tuition is because they have more needs than lower division students. He said their schedule consists of smaller classes, more lab resources and other needs that come with upper level classes, therefore, they should carry more financial responsibility.

The program allowing students to receive a lower tuition charge when taking more hours will remain in effect, said Eddie Williams. Based on a 12 credit hour schedule, undergraduate lower-division students will pay $140 more a semester and $186 more a semester for upper-division undergraduate students.

The tuition rate increase will also affect the summer session tuition.

Trustees Barbara Giorgi Vella, Catherine Adduci, Robert Boey and student trustee Jesse Perez joined Sanchez in approving the motion. Trustee Myron Siegel voted "present", therefore abstaining from the vote. Trustees George Moser and Gary Skoien were not available to participate in the vote.

Siegel declined to explain why he didn’t vote for or against the tuition rate increase, only saying that he had explained his views with other board members via e-mail and in face to face conversations.

The board also approved surcharge of $100 per semester per student will begin for the Fall 2003 semester. The surcharge will increase to $250 for fiscal years 2005 through 2008.

Peters said the surcharge will be used to support teaching and learning technology.

Adduci said she supported the surcharge in order to stay competitive and attract the best students. However she asked Peters to "be prudent" when spending the money to upgrade NIU’s technology services.

Perez said he hoped the money for technology improvements will bring about a replacement to the social security number identification system currently in place.

All present trustees approved the surcharge motion.

During the chairman’s comments, Sanchez expressed concern about the morale of the faculty and staff who have had freezes placed on their salaries before instructing Peters to evaluate ways to reward them.

"They shouldn’t have to go through two years without a pay raise," Sanchez said.