Leatherneck Nation

Sounds like the 60's when a purchase of a refridgerator got you a black and white TV. This is gimmick recruiting! Not impressed! jc

Yet a lot of students hate the way universities have gone away from all-you-can-eat to an ala carte dining menu. Plus, many hotels offer small refrigerators and microwaves in their rooms. I know I appreciate when they do! So what Eastern is doing might not seem like much, but it is something that could make them stand out to students deciding where to go when they have a choice of options.

What does a microwave cost $100?

What does a min-Fridge cost $100?

yeah, I had that in my dorm room in 1995 as did every other kid on the floor and building. I'ts laughable to think that including those items would make one iota of a difference in where a kid decides to go to school.

Hint: it ain't gonna be 'bout a microwave.

Maybe offer unlimited toilet paper in the restrooms. That's a free Idea on me go run with it EIU.

Yes, it does seem trivial in the scheme of things, however, they are evidently trying to come up with ideas to set them a part. My question is, what is Western doing?

I would think that the unlimited meal plan that Eastern is considering would be an attractive option.

What does the research say. Freshman 15 is no longer a problem with the a la carte point system?

Western history professor Peter Cole writes about the university's budget battles in today's Peoria Journal Star:

Middle class is disappearing at WIU, too.

I have worked at Western Illinois University and lived in Macomb for more than 17 years. I’m sad to say that I’ve never seen more WIU employees so alienated from work and workplace.

The WIU administration continues to demand major pay cuts and needless, insulting increases in workload. Worse, they insult the union, manipulate facts about the negotiations, and continue destroying faculty morale. Meanwhile, faculty and other staff look for exits that further devastate the local economy and housing market.

WIU administrators claim that both they and the faculty union began contract negotiations with typically large demands of the other. Not true. The administration demanded an 18 percent salary cut, a massive increase in workload, a drastic erosion to the merit pay system, the end of salary minimums that ensure salaries don’t stagnate, and more.

The faculty union did not come in asking for the moon. The union requested no new raises but did ask for the 3 percent we voluntarily gave back several years. Now we are asking for 90 percent of inflationary costs after two years, which essentially means we’re asking to tread water. We quickly agreed to reform the merit pay system, an additional giveback. Yet the administration still demands a 7.1 percent cut in salary (3 percent cut to base, 4.1 percent in furloughs).

The union has held firm even when the administration held a proverbial gun to our head, threatening to fire more than 100 full-time instructors in June. Only the resolution of the budget crisis saved their jobs.

These administration demands simply are not fair. Other public universities in Illinois are maintaining salaries or granting raises. Northern Illinois University just announced a 3 percent increase.

We all suffered during the budget crisis, caused primarily by the intransigence of Gov. Rauner. For this fiscal year, fortunately WIU received a decent budget. Combined with the many faculty and staff who were fired or took buyouts or fled, payroll has declined by more than $10 million since 2015. Yet the administration hardly budges.

Although the budget crisis significantly worsened WIU’s enrollment situation, the truth is that enrollments have declined for about a decade. Half of the enrollment decline occurred before the impasse. I wish the administration would figure out the enrollment crisis instead of paying for it by making harsh demands of the people who give their all to WIU and the larger community.

The next time you hear that the middle class is disappearing in America, this is why.

Peter Cole is a professor of history at Western Illinois University. He lives in Macomb.

His last sentence baffles me- I guess I'm missing something. The salary negotiations at Western has affected the entire middle class in the United States? Who would have thought things at WIU would have such a large impact.

I would like to know what all is involved in an "increase in workload". If it's what I think it is, Mr. Cole can go cry to someone else.