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The Student News Site of Northern Illinois University

Northern Star

The Student News Site of Northern Illinois University

Northern Star

Huskie Busline second to CTA

By Moin H. Khan | November 2, 1987

NIU's Huskie line was second in ridership in Illinois only to the Chicago Transit Authority, as it carried about 3.2 million people during the last academic year, said its General Manager Charles Battista (cq). About 100,000 people a week use the Huskie...

Countryman discusses bill’s fate

By Paul Wagner | November 2, 1987

Illinois Rep. John Countryman, R-DeKalb, commented on several issues, including the possible shutdown of NIU if Senate Bill 1520 does not pass, at a campaign fundraiser brunch Sunday. SB 1520, which would allow NIU to spend money generated from the $150...

Forum focuses on budget cuts

November 2, 1987

Students will be able to voice their concern about next semester's tuition hike and budget cuts to higher education at a forum tonight at 8 p.m. in Grant Towers North cafeteria. State Rep. John Countryman, R-DeKalb, NIU President John LaTourette and Student...

NIU prof. studies Indian remains

By Peggy Keslin | November 2, 1987

An NIU laboratory recently received the skeletal remains of a number of Guale Indians excavated by an NIU anthropology professor from a Spanish mission cemetery along the coast of Georgia. Anthropology Associate Professor Clark Larsen has been studying...

Provost asks deans for resources plan

By Marianne Renner | November 2, 1987

NIU Provost Kendall Baker has asked college deans to plan for a 5 percent budget decrease and a possible re-allocation of funds for fiscal year 1989 although no decisions have been made. The deans are to present budget proposals to Baker which will define...

Hit and run tape examined

October 29, 1987

DeKalb County State's Attorney Philip DiMarzio said he will be viewing a videotape today to try to determine the driver of a car which hit a protester during last week's Day of Action protest. DiMarzio said his office has received the name of a suspect...

Huskie Bus runs altered

By Pam Schmidt | October 29, 1987

Although the Student Association Mass Transit Board tabled its discussion concerning the scheduling problems on bus route 3, construction on the Holmes Student Center has complicated the situation and forced the board to make emergency decisions. During...

Panel to vote on minimum score for fluency test

By Suzanne Tomse | October 29, 1987

NIU's Graduate Council will vote Monday on a recommendation by the Advisory Committee on Effective Classroom Instruction which will require foreign students to earn a minimum score of 200 on the Test of Spoken English before becoming teaching assistants....

‘Inventive’ ballet co. performs Saturday

By Lynn Hammarstrom | October 29, 1987

The small but inventive troupe of dancers known as the Theater Ballet of Canada will perform Saturday at 8 p.m. in DeKalb's Egyptian Theater. The company, which has been in existence since February of 1981, was formed when two dance troupes, EntreSix...

Students awarded co-op scholarships

By Moin H. Khan | October 27, 1987

The first NIU Cooperative Education Minority Scholarships were awarded to two students of the Cooperative Education program for their academic excellence and community and university activities. The $500 scholarships were contributed by Midcon Corp.,...

House might reinstate MAP funds

By Tammy Sholer | October 27, 1987

Possible funds for Monetary Award Program recipients to offset the tuition hike are still a reality if the House Appropriations Committee amends Senate Bill 1520.

Supplemental general revenue funding of about $4 million, which originated as SB 1525, would be enough money to offset the tuition increase for MAP recipients, Illinois Student Association President David Starrett said.

owever, after the Senate amended SB 1520 it did not include funds for MAP recipients, said Kathy Rooney, Illinois State Scholarship Commission's assistant to the director.

SB 1520 still has to go before the House Appropriations Committee at its November hearing, and it is unlikely the House will pass the same version as the Senate, Rooney said. The House still could reinstate some funds for MAP recipients, she said.

If the House passes an entirely different bill it will go before a conference committee to discuss the availability of additional MAP funds, Rooney said.

There is the possibility nothing will be done about the bill until spring, which means MAP recipients this spring will not receive additional funds, Rooney said.

But she said she does not think the bill will be left until spring. "I think some money will be approved," Rooney said.

In related matters, the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act has caused withdrawal of existing education funding, Starrett said. He said the act provides for funds to be withdrawn from the budget if the General Assembly cannot agree on a target level by Nov. 20.

The most immediate effect of this development is lenders losing income because the Guaranteed Student Loan Special Allowance was cut from 3.5 to 3.25 percent above the Treasury bill rate, Rooney said.

The special allowance to lenders is an interest subsidary from the federal government paid to lenders.

Starrett said the reduction caused several lenders to drop from the program, and further reduction to the 3 percent level might cause additional lenders to drop the program.

Lenders are dropping the program with the lower T-bill rates because they believe the program is not worth the cost of continuation, an ISA financial report stated.

In addition, marginal return rates on GSL's are normally low so lenders need the special allowance for them to keep the program, the report stated.

If the General Assembly fails to agree on a budget, the automatic spending reduction process will go into effect, and other scholarships besides the GSL, such as the Pell Grant and various campus financial aid programs, will be cut, Rooney said.

The short-term effect to students is an increase of the originating GSL fee from 5 to 5.5 percent, Rooney said. The increase was part of the cost-saving measure, she said.

Tootsie Roll drive aids mentally handicapped

By Christine Boike | October 27, 1987

More than $11,000 was collected by NIU campus organizations and the local Knights of Columbus organization last weekend in the Tootsie Roll drive to help the cause for the mentally handicapped. Bill Brady, a Knights of Columbus Tootsie Roll drive co-chairman,...