Carbondale Bytelife

I caught an announcement on WSIU this morning that ex-Chancellor Fernando Trevino has been appointed dean of the Robert Stempel School of Public Health and School of Social Work at Florida International University. The Southern has an article today.

Apparently, Trevino applied for the FIU position at the same time as the Chancellor's spot and opted for the higher level position here However, I guess a deanship in Florida is more attractive now than a tenured professorship here. FIU Provost Ronald Berkman's memo announcing the appointment (dated last May 29th) is here.

Labels: siu

As was pointed out in comments, Mayor Cole and interim director Suarez are candidates for the position of Alumni Director at SIU. Comments on the SI article indicate most readers believe Mayor Cole is poised to get the position.

Labels: Mayor, siu

According to this article in today's DE, Chancellor Trevino is still hanging in there disputing the charges/claims made against hem, which are still being kept on the QT. According to the article, due to privacy laws, the public may never know what the reasons were for putting Trevino on leave.

Labels: siu

Jo Ann Argensinger lasted 1 year. Walter Wendler lasted about5 years and Ferdnando Trevino lasted 9 months. Wanna take bets on how long the next chancellor lasts? And what department Trevino moves to?

Labels: siu

According to this article in the DE, the Student Environmental Center, along with SIUC's Plant and Service Operations, is pushing for an additional $10 student fee to fund renewable energy research and projects on campus. The fee would raise approximately $300,000 per year. The implication is the funding would be directed by the proposed Sustainability Council. I was struck by this comment:

Megan Pulliam, a senior from Chatham studying Spanish, said the fee would only be implemented if it has student support. There will be a campus-wide student vote in April on the proposed fee.

"I'm confident that students will show concern for the environment," said Pulliam, who is also the campus's representative on the Board of Trustees.

So if you don't vote for the fee, you're not concerned for the environment. Seems to me I've recently seen a similar "If you don't agree with me, you're not concerned for the environment/deserving of a position of leadership" comment.

Labels: Energy, siu

Took a little digging around SIU's website to find them but here're the official guidelines for what to do if there's a shooter rampage on campus like at Northern Illinois or Virginia Tech.

Labels: siu

Both SIU and Carbondale' police department and public works staff earned their money on Saturday. According to today's DE, SIU officers went on duty around McAndrew Stadium at 9:30 Saturday morning and didn't get off until after 11 that night. Meanwhile, I was told Saturday that Carbondale's PD and public works people worked on planning for Saturday's traffic for two months before the event and had spent the two weeks previous to the event getting signage out and ready.

I didn't hear of any major traffic snafus and downtown was empty less than half an hour after the parade ended.

Labels: Lights Fantastic, siu

I see by the Southern that attendance at the Lights Fantastic parade was at least 10,000 and the football game drew about 6500. Couldn't find figures on attendance at the SIU-Indiana game. Anyone know what they were?

Labels: Lights Fantastic, siu

Wow, lawsuits galore at SIUC. It appears Murphysboro attorney (and SIUC Law School Professor Emeritus) Darrell Dunham is representing both students.

Labels: siu

Caught a brief bit from President Poshard on WSIU this morning regarding student turnover. Apparently about a third of all freshmen who enter SIU do not return for their sophomore year. Wonder how much of this is due to the pretty low admission requirements for freshmen? Taking a look at the admission requirements, it looks like an incoming student still only has to have a 2.0 on a 4.0 scale. I remember there was some controversy some years ago when the admission requirements were lowered from a 2.5 to a 2.0. Given that, is it reasonable to expect incoming students that barely evaded a D in their high school coursework to be able to handle the (hopefully) more rigorous coursework of college?

Labels: siu

President Poshard has asked for residents of the area to contact their congressional representatives and ask them to override President Bush's veto of the appropriation bill funding Heath and Human Services, labor and Education Departments. The bill as passed would increase funding for Pell Grants and allow SIU to continue funding the McNair Scholars program

Labels: siu

BOT passed the budget yesterday. I caught this comment by President Poshard:

"In addition, our teams attract fans from well beyond Carbondale, which gives a boost to the local business community. The new football stadium and improvements to the Arena are long overdue and will go a long way toward revitalizing the east side of campus. I also am confident that in addition to helping recruit quality student-athletes, these facilities will help recruit other students who will be impressed by our commitment to moving the entire university forward."

Probably not. The research I've seen indicates that a successful athletic program has little effect on a student's decision to attend a college. Of course, there is only limited research in the area. I've only seen one study but will try to find it again. The remodeling on Morris Library will probably have more of an effect on a student's choice than a new football stadium.

Oh, and I really detest the term student athlete.

Labels: siu

Interesting article in the current issue of Fortune magazine on Florida Gator alumni support. The following bit caught my eye (emphasis mine):

But the really mind-blowing dollars in college sports are going into a facilities-building boom. According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, from 2002 to 2007 schools in the nation's six premier athletic conferences raised at least $3.9 billion for stadium expansions, new practice facilities, and such.

In many cases it's the powerhouses expanding to ensure their dominance, such as the $226 million stadium renovation planned at Michigan. Or it's a striver like Oklahoma State putting to use the $165 million pledge by billionaire OSU alumnus T. Boone Pickens. In all cases, it is the schools' boosters who are footing most of the bill.

Labels: Saluki Way, siu

Now don't get your hopes up. It's the master plan for University land use that dates back to 2001 but is stillthe one apparently being used. You can view a power point presentation here.

Labels: siu

According to this story in today's Southern, next year will see some much needed repair work to the roofs on a number of buildings around campus. That would be good since, according to an email send around by a department chairman last August, at least one room had such problems with leaks that students in larger classes would have problems finding dry seats.

Labels: siu

Following are the comments Dr. Linz Brown made at the Sept 18th city council meeting regarding the agreement between the city and SIUC to donate $20 million to SIUC:

Public Comments

Dr. Linz Brown

September 18, 2007 Council Meeting

On Tuesday, August 21, 2007, The City Council passed a resolution to “authorize the Mayor to execute . . . an intergovernmental agreement with Southern Illinois University Carbondale that will commit the City of Carbondale to pay the University $1 million annually for twenty years . . . .”

One week later, August 28, 2007, I sent the following letter to the mayor:

Read Letter

To date, I have not had a response to this letter.

This disclosure issue raises the following five questions:

1. Why was the intergovernmental agreement not disclosed at the public hearing or at the Council meeting? As mentioned in my letter to the mayor, this would be consistent with previous practice of attaching contracts, intergovernmental agreements, and other documents to proposals and resolutions placed on agenda. (I reviewed several recent intergovernmental agreements in the City Clerk’s Office.)

2. Why is it that other villages and municipalities in Illinois disclose their intergovernmental agreements before a vote and Carbondale did not with the SIU agreement? See Exhibits 1 and 2.

3. Why did the mayor and other council members feel that the people of Carbondale did not need to see or should not see the proposed agreement?

4. Did the majority of councilpersons who voted for the tax increase package realize that they denied other Council members their rights and responsibilities? The single vote of four members of the Council on the sales tax increase proposal and two resolutions as a package had the effect of denying the other three members of the Council the right and opportunity to exercise their responsibility to review and act upon a final document because the resolution authorized the mayor to execute the agreement.

5. Why did four Council members negate their responsibilities to act in the best interests of the public on this unprecedented commitment by deferring to one person to execute the intergovernmental agreement without review or oversight by the total elected body.

Also, in reviewing the intergovernmental agreements file, why is the mayor authorized to execute an agreement in a few instances and the city manager in most others. Do we sometimes have a city manager type government and at other times a mayoral type government? Is “executing” an intergovernmental agreement a policy function or an administrative function?

In conclusion, I repeat the request mentioned in my letter, i.e. that the agreement be available for public review and comment and that it be returned to the full council before signing. To ignore full disclosure is not in the best interests of the Council or the public.

Labels: City council, siu, taxes

About 120 people showed up last Friday in the Free Forum area on campus to protest the war and call for a pullout of the troops now. Not exactly a groundswell of support. Apparently there are also people protesting the war on a regular basis down at the Federal Building. Who knew? Not me.

Labels: downtown Carbondale, siu

From the Chronicle of Higher Education's website. Unfortunately, you need to purchase a day pass to read the entire article. It appears that appointing a panel of academics from SIUC may not be the best way to insure an impartial reading of the papers. I figure the panel will go ahead but would rather have seen a panel of academics from outside SIUC to ensure impartiality.

Labels: Glenn Poshard, siu

I was discussing the Poshard situation with a friend last night. No matter what happens, it hurts the university. Now, I'm working from the position that it was plagiarism or if not, sure smacks of it. I don't think anyone with any authority will ask for or force President Poshard to resign over this. He has too much support on the BOT and among faculty and staff as evidenced by the support he's gotten despite the fear of the AFAC. Additionally, there's no one waiting in the wings and a resignation would really impact the forward motion the university is showing. So, barring a third shoe dropping, not gonna happen.

On the other hand, given the excuses and justifications that have been made, what's to keep other plagiarists from offering up the same reasoning and request a do-over or the opportunity to bring their mistakenly plagiarized work up to accepted standards? If it's acceptable for the president of the university to be allowed to rework his work, why not a student? And I'm sorry, but I don't buy into the "standards have changed over the past 30 years" argument. I remember having to maintain standards when I wrote papers in the 70's and 80''s that were the same as what we have to do today. However this outcome, except to academic types, will hurt much less than the alternative of a resignation.

Labels: Glenn Poshard, siu

If you didn't catch this on the news today, the Secretary of Education announced the largest increase in Pell grants in 30 years. A student's maximum grant will increase to $4600 next year and $5400 over the next 5 years.

Labels: government, siu