daily egyptian 12/8/11
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The Daily Egyptian December 8th, 2011TRANSCRIPT
SIU men's basketball senior guard Justin Bocot is under police investigation in connection with a sexual assault that was reported Saturday.
According to a Carbondale Police report, the victim told o! cers she was sexually assaulted by Bocot between 2:30 a.m. and 9:45 a.m.
Bocot, the team's third-leading scorer, sat at the end of the bench and did not play in Wednesday’s loss against Western Kentucky.
Head coach Chris Lowery said at the post-game press conference that he would not discuss the incident any further than what was in a press release early Wednesday.
Lowery said in a press release on the athletics website the investigation is in the early stages and is being closely monitored.
"It is important to emphasize that he has not been charged with wrong-doing," he said in the release on the website. "When the facts are known, we will act accordingly."
Bocot's attorney Wesley Wilkins said he is con" dent the result of the investigation will clear him of charges, # e Southern Illinoisan reported.
SIU President Glenn Poshard knew what he was looking for in a new chancellor — someone who could make tough decisions and wouldn’t settle for the status quo.
He found her in Milwaukee, where Rita Cheng was serving as provost at the University of Wisconsin.
When Cheng became SIUC’s eighth chancellor in 11 years in June 2010, she faced a daunting charge. Poshard and the SIU Board of Trustees wanted to improve enrollment and retention, solve a budget de" cit, create a better marketing plan, and strengthen ties with community colleges.
With so many problems to solve on a three-year contract, Cheng was almost certain to anger some people as she made decisions and implemented changes. She has been accused of micromanaging, being deaf to the e$ ect of her words and insulting students, faculty and sta$ .
Others say she walked into the university’s pre-existing issues and received undeserved blame for labor turmoil, budget cuts and furlough days. # e four Illinois Education Association unions’ contracts ended in June, the same month she took o! ce, and the budget for the " scal year that began a month later was millions in the red.
“I think people that are critical either don’t know me, haven’t paid attention, or don’t really want anyone in the chancellor’s o! ce to make the " nal decision,” Cheng said.
Cheng began to shake things up immediately a% er she stepped into o! ce June 1, 2010. A% er less than two weeks, she removed Victoria Valle as assistant vice chancellor for enrollment management. Cheng appointed John Nicklow, associate dean in the College of Engineering, to the enrollment management position and directed his o! ce to report to the provost.
# e No. 2 position on campus had been " lled on an interim basis for
several years, but Cheng picked Gary Minish as the permanent provost in fall 2010. Minish resigned Jan. 19 via email — a month a% er Cheng hired him and a% er only 10 active days in o! ce.
Sources familiar with the situation, who spoke only on condition of anonymity, said the two had heated arguments days before Minish resigned. He cited issues with Cheng over the direction she planned to take the university, including the University College model and the removal of Larry Dietz as vice chancellor for student a$ airs. Cheng assigned Peter Gitau to absorb those responsibilities into his position as dean of students.
Dietz, who had served in the position since 2000, said the move
came as a surprise.“During our discussion, I told her
that I certainly didn’t question her authority to make the decision she was making, but I wasn’t consulted about it,” he said. “# ere was no opportunity to discuss it with her before she made the decision.”
Dietz moved to a tenured-faculty position in educational administration and higher education before he became the vice chancellor of student a$ airs at Illinois State University six months later.
Minish said he disagreed with Cheng’s plan to eliminate Student A$ airs, which she announced Dec. 6, 2010. She put New Student Programs, the Center for Academic Success, Student Support Services, Supplemental Instruction, University
101, Residential Life, Career Services, and pre-major advisement under the control of the provost. She also put supplemental instruction, Living Learning Communities, tutoring and mentoring programs, and Saluki First Year coursework into the same group so departments could work together as a team.
Cheng’s reorganization was intended to help create the University College, which Minish said was done without consultation from deans.
Tensions rose across campus following Minish’s departure. # e Faculty Senate met with Cheng and Minish separately before its executive council released a statement Jan. 20.
“We believe Gary Minish is a grassroots administrator, skilled at listening to those he leads and bringing their perspective to bear on university decisions," the council said. "We also believe Chancellor Cheng’s style is characterized by a top-down, heavy-handed approach. … We concur with what seems to be a widespread belief that she has isolated herself within a small inner
circle where all decisions are made."Cheng said the statement
surprised her, and she should not be blamed for Minish’s decision. She appointed Nicklow as the next provost May 12.
Dave Johnson, an associate professor of foreign languages and literatures and a member of the Faculty Association, said there are some positive aspects to top-down management, but it is risky because of the amount of authority it gives one person.
“We’ve not had a run of successful chancellorships, I think it’s fair to say," he said. "If you put more power in the central administration, you raise the stakes.”
Cheng said she doesn’t think being called a micromanager is fair.
“I think there’s been an attempt to demonize me with the people seeking some personal gain,” she said. “I’m not a micromanager. I can pay attention to detail. I’ve got committees and task forces and groups I meet with on a daily basis. Our strategic planning process has over 100 people.”
Cheng said she reinstituted the planning and budget committee that meets monthly and has created task forces to look at graduation polices, awards polices and academic issues.
Poshard agreed, the chancellor receives input from all across campus.
“# ere’s always going to be contention about, ‘Where are the parameters of shared governance and academic freedom?’” he said. “But I really think she’s made a good faith e$ ort in bringing more voices into the mix than we’ve had before.”
Nicklow said Cheng takes student feedback seriously as well.
“She responds to an incredible number of emails personally,” he said. “When a student, no matter how large or small the issue, submits an issue to the ‘Ask the Chancellor’ website, she reads them, she distributes them, she responds — sometimes personally — and that’s a really incredible thing to do.”
As Marnie Glazier closed the door to her gray minivan, she told her 13-year-old son, "It will only be a minute."
But as the SIU graduate student in speech communication stepped quickly through the market's doors to the wine section, she didn't reach for the " rst bottle she saw.
She paused to check prices.# e checkout line wasn't
Glazier's last stop Tuesday evening. She drove to her friend and fellow student Gabriela Ponce's apartment. Ponce had been watching Glazier's youngest son while she attended a meeting at school that night. Glazier took a seat, a deep breath and then smiled as her friends encouraged her to try some homemade salsa.
"We can't stay long, we've all got school in the morning," she said.
Outside of watching the clock, Glazier didn't seem to be plagued with worries. However, choices such as who will watch her children or what wine to buy may come with greater consideration in the future.
It is students such as she who will be a$ ected by recent legislation that will add to graduate school costs.
According to the Budget Control
Act of 2011, which was passed by Congress Aug. 1, graduate students will no longer be able to take out federal subsidized interest loans a% er July 1. As a result, those students will have to pay interest on all of their federal loans, which could cost some students several thousand dollars.
# e legislation will save $21.6 billion during the next 10 years, according to information from the Congressional Budget O! ce website.
# at money will help fund Pell Grants, which assist undergraduate students, according to the website.
According to an article published by CNN, the most a graduate student in the U.S. can borrow from the federal government is $20,500 a year, $8,500 of which can be from subsidized loans.
By the time graduate students
Her first 556: Cheng gets mixed reviews
Loss of subsidized loans could cost grads thousandsLAUREN DUNCANDaily Egyptian
Please see LOANS | 4
Please see CHENG | 5
TARA KULASHDaily Egyptian
Please see BOCOT | 4
Chancellor Rita Cheng makes an appearance at the 2011 Up ‘til Dawn event Nov. 19 at the Recreation
Center. Cheng spoke to the participants to show her support for the volunteers and event staff.
SARAH GARDNER | DAILY EGYPTIAN
Senior guard under police investigation
I’m going to receive criticism because you can never please everyone.
— Rita ChengSIUC Chancellor
SARAH SCHNEIDERDaily Egyptian
D!"#$ E%$&'"!( E!"#"$%& ) ursday, December 8, 20112
About Us) e D!"#$ E%$&'"!( is published by the students of Southern Illinois University Carbondale 50 weeks
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D!"#$ E%$&'"!(N!"#) ursday, December 8, 2011 3Blagojevich gets 14 years in prison for corruption
CHICAGO — ) e Rod Blagojevich who once challenged a prosecutor to face him like a man, the glad-handing politician who took to celebrity TV shows to profess his innocence, was nowhere to be found Wednesday as he was sentenced to 14 years in prison for corruption.
Frowning and pulling nervously at his tie, the disgraced former governor seemed like another person as he stepped up to address the sentencing judge. Bluster once as conspicuous as his famously lavish head of dark hair was wiped out, a victim of his June convictions on charges that included attempting to sell President Barack Obama’s U.S. Senate seat.
In a low voice, the two-term Democrat apologized again and again, telling Judge James Zagel he had made “terrible mistakes.”
“I caused it all. I’m not blaming anybody,” Blagojevich said, trying with uncharacteristic humility to avert severe punishment. “I was the governor and I should have known better and I am just so incredibly sorry.”
It was not enough for Zagel, who gave the 54-year-old a sentence close to the 15 to 20 years prosecutors had sought.
“) e abuse of the o* ce of governor is more damaging than the abuse of any other o* ce, except
the president’s,” he said.“Whatever good things you did
for people as governor, and you did some, I am more concerned with the occasions when you wanted to use your powers ... to do things that were only good for yourself,” Zagel said.
Blagojevich slumped forward in his chair — momentarily frozen as the judge pronounced the sentence. Moments later, his wife, Patti, fell into his arms; when he pulled back from their embrace, he brushed tears from her cheek.
“When it is the governor who goes bad,” Zagel said, “the fabric of Illinois is torn and dis+ gured and not easily repaired.”
Illinois governors have gone bad with stunning frequency. Four of the last nine have been sentenced to prison, including Blagojevich’s predecessor, George Ryan, who remains behind bars.
Blagojevich, who received more than twice as much time as any of the other governors, was also more of a national spectacle — both because of the charges against him, and how he responded to them.
In the most notorious of the FBI wiretaps that sealed his fate, Blagojevich is heard crowing that his chance to name someone to Obama’s Senate seat was “f---ing golden” and he wouldn’t let it go “for f---ing nothing.” His lawyers claimed the comments were simply “musings,” but jurors and the judge agreed they were evidence of a crime.
) e jury also found that Blagojevich demanded a $50,000
donation from the head of a children’s hospital in return for increased state support, and extorted $100,000 in donations from two horse racing tracks and a racing executive in exchange for quick approval of legislation the tracks wanted.
Blagojevich responded to his Dec. 9, 2008, arrest with de+ ance, appointing Roland Burris to the Senate job he was accused of trying to sell and proclaiming his innocence with a media blitz.
) e boyish-looking defendant continued pursuing the spotlight a, er he was removed from o* ce, writing a book, appearing in reality TV shows such as “Celebrity Apprentice” and even appearing in a TV ad in which he opens a briefcase over- owing not with money but with pistachios. “Rod Blagojevich does it innocently,” was the line.
“His behavior and conduct once he was charged was almost a template for what you don’t want a
defendant to do,” said Joel Levin, a former federal prosecutor. “... He did everything possible to alienate the prosecutors and the judge and, ultimately, it came back to hurt him.”
It took two trials for prosecutors to snare Blagojevich. His + rst ended deadlocked with jurors agreeing on just one of 24 counts — that Blagojevich lied to the FBI. Jurors at his retrial convicted him on 17 of 20 counts, including bribery and attempted extortion.
Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, left, speaks to reporters as his wife Patti, right, listens at the federal building in Chicago Wednesday after
being sentenced for 14 years on 18 corruption counts, including trying to auction off President Barack Obama’s former Senate seat.
PROVIDED PHOTO | ASSOCIATED PRESS
DON BABWINMICHAEL TARMAssociated Press
D!"#$ E%$&'"!(C!"#$%) ursday, December 8, 2011 9
ACROSS1 Geffen swallowed this record com-
pany in ’034 “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” band
(Abbr.)7 Where every festival band starts
12 What Willie’s “Boys” were, to CCR13 Singing is this type of talent14 “___ stand, head in hand, turn my
face to the wall”15 Gregg and Cher disaster “___
Woman”17 Festival fans are this18 Ramones “I Wanna Be ___”19 Finger ___21 Foo Fighter song that didn’t make
it?22 W. Axl ___23 Early ’80s laugh “___! (Enjoy What
You Do)”27 Boomtown Rats’ Bob31 Kiss “Dressed to Kill” classic32 Keeps guitar on34 What a record company takes35 Feeling when writing the blues36 Procol ___38 ___ Frehley39 “Shaft” Hayes42 Disco Biscuits festival Camp ___44 Black Flag “Loose ___”45 What you feel when you forget your
tix47 What festival photogs want their
pics to be49 What you don’t want to lug at
music festivals51 David Thomas’ Pere ___52 Kiss “Unmasked” ballad54 Violent Femmes “___ in the Sun”58 Leathery band from the U.K.?59 “It’s ___ feeling”61 ...And You Will Know Us by the ___
of Dead62 What rock stars are to rabid fans63 Sign you look for during a bad set64 Judas Priest’s genre65 Type of list on stage66 “___ It In a Minute” Hall and OatesDOWN1 Alfie “Hey ___”2 Freezing post-grunge band?3 Groove ___4 Delp of Boston5 Stereophonics “T-Shirt Sun __”6 Rocker hanging on to spotlight,
usually7 Backstreet Boys/Jonas Bros.?
8 Gov’t Mule/Allmans/Train/Crowes keyman
9 “Sister Havana” band ___ Overkill10 Cardigans “___ It”11 Paul or Elton12 Regina Spektor “Ne Me Quitte ___”13 Belinda Carlisle “Heaven Is a Place
___”16 Stereolab “Golden ___”20 Robert Plant “Big ___”23 O.A.R “___ Chariot”24 Cat Power’s battle cry?25 Cure “Killing an ___”26 Jam band Dirty ___28 Songwriting goddess Warren29 Hoobastank “Did it ever ___ to you
that this could be your final day”30 These got muddy at Woodstock31 The Used “___ Your Own Throat”33 Pearl Jam “___ Me, Pull Me”37 Michael Schenker’s partner Robin40 Duran Duran one-off splinter group41 Soundgarden/Audioslave Chris43 What jam band music fests send
fans into46 What Dead Kennedys and Minor
Threat were to skaters in the ‘80s48 What a band’s slot got, after rain50 Brit trip-hoppers Sneaker ___52 Hanson “___ About It”53 What was “on,” to Glenn Frey54 Poison’s Michaels55 Harry Chapin “driving” hit56 Robert John Godfrey band, with
“The”57 Festival narc58 Partying rocker’s loss (Abbr.)60 “___ Hill,” Badlees mining song?
More Than a Puzzle by Todd Santos
PREVIOUS PUZZLE ANSWER
© 2011 Universal Uclickwww.upuzzles.com
More Than a Puzzle12/25
12/18
By the time graduate students earn their degree, they can have up to $65,500 of subsidized loans. A student who borrows that maximum would owe an extra $207 a month for interest during a 10-year period, according to the website.
Carl Bloom, president of the Graduate and Professional Student Council, said he is concerned about how the changes will impact SIU students.
"I do talk to students who are concerned, and the solution for people now is to ! nish as quickly as possible," he said.
Finishing soon is a concern for Glazier, who said she hopes to graduate in the spring before the change.
"It could still a" ect us, though, because my husband may have to take out unsubsidized loans," she said. "He will still have another year of school a# er it changes."
Nearly half of students' loans can be subsidized, Bloom said. He said some students try to take out fewer loans to avoid debt upon graduation, but that hasn't prevented others from depending primarily on loans.
"I think there is this tendency now just to borrow and borrow, and I think it's a real problem," he said.
$ e elimination of subsidized loans may be one of many nationwide cost-caving incentives, but Bloom said the legislation may have originated from instances where students would
misuse loan money."$ ere's one case of this woman,
she was going to Japan and other countries on the basis of research, but in fact all she was doing was taking student loan money," he said. "She ran up something like $50,000 worth of student loan debt and then turned around and said 'I don't have a job' and just sort of quit school."
Because of the few highly-publicized cases that Bloom said have made a bad impression of graduate students on the public, many others will end up paying the cost. He said the federal government perceives graduate students as unable to repay loans, and as a result decided to move the money to undergraduate ! nancial aid.
"$ ey wanted to put more money into Pell Grants," he said. "And in order to put more money into Pell Grants, they took this away from graduate students. In a sense, what they're trying to do is they're trying to shi# more money from graduate students to undergraduate."
Bloom said undergraduate students may be just as likely to struggle with repaying loans.
"I think it's sort of a plague among undergraduates who borrow money and then sort of linger around, you know, spending the money and not ! nishing their degree," he said.
Bloom said he isn't opposed to providing more Pell Grant funding for undergraduate students, but the fact that Pell Grants are distributed to both public and private university students
shows cuts could be made from elsewhere outside of the graduate loans.
"I think the taxpayers would appreciate it more if they would try to keep the costs down on public institutions and limit the amount of ! nancial aid that comes from the public sector to students going to private colleges and universities," he said.
John Koropchak, vice chancellor of research and graduate dean, said the elimination of subsidized loans could a" ect graduate student enrollment if their ! nances are squeezed any more.
Koropchak said the university's graduate student enrollment went down this fall. Graduate enrollment at public institutions nationwide went down 1.5 percent in 2010. He said the decrease may be related to the e" ects of economic challenges on students before unsubsidized loans' extra interest gets added to the total amount owed.
"As new stressors are put on people, we have a signi! cant number of students already dealing with paying for their education," he said. "If the costs for that are rising, that's going to be an even greater challenge."
SIU President Glenn Poshard, who recently returned from a trip to Washington, D.C., said he began to worry more substantial cuts would be made a# er the subsidized loans were eliminated.
"Every university needs master and Ph.D. students, but they have extraordinary costs and a lot of them
have families, which costs them more," he said.
Poshard said it is important to consider Pell Grants when looking at the legislation. He said 76 percent of SIU students receive some form of ! nancial assistance. Cuts across the country in order to help programs such as the Pell Grant will a" ect not only current students, but also those considering higher education, he said.
"With the way many families can't a" ord an education today, how does a
person enter middle class America?" he said. "$ at's their meal ticket."
For families such as the Glaziers who are able to pay for education today, the change in July may not have an immediate impact. For students who depend on unsubsidized loans, however, further challenges may be ahead.
Lauren Duncan can be reached at [email protected]
or 536-3311 ext. 268.
D%&'( E)(*+&%, N!"# $ ursday, December 8, 20114
LOANSCONTINUED FROM 1
Marnie Glazier, a graduate student in speech communi-cation, purchases a bottle of wine and Orangina Tuesday at Arnold’s Market. After July 1, Glazier and her husband John Glazier, a graduate student in professional media and media management, will be affected
by a new law regarding federal loans specifically for graduate students. Under the new law, all federal loans will become unsubsidized. Marnie Glazier said she will only receive $7,000 after deducting inter-est if she were to take out a $10,000 loan.
NATHAN HOEFERT | DAILY EGYPTIAN
BOCOTCONTINUED FROM 1
Lowery said he did not want to make excuses for the loss, but Bocot could have done well in the game.
“Obviously this is the type of game for Bocot to excel at,” he said.
“It is an up and down, run or jump game and … he wasn’t available.”
Bocot, who has started in all four games this season, will practice with the team, Lowery said in a release on the website.
“As a young man, if you get accused of anything you are obviously upset,” he said. “He has
still been good for our guys.”Senior forward Mamadou
Seck said he didn’t feel any extra pressure in the game because Bocot didn't play, but having a thin bench was di- cult for the team.
“If we had everyone back, that would help the team,” he said.
Bocot was also reported to have been the victim of criminal property damage Saturday. Carbondale Police report both incidents are related and Bocot and the victim are acquaintances.
Police chief Jody O'Guinn did not return numerous calls from the D%&'( E)(*+&%, and was not
available when a reporter went to the police station.
A spokeswoman for Carbondale Police would not con! rm details of the investigation.
Sarah Schneider can be reached at [email protected]
or 536-3311 ext. 255.
Her methods weren’t always criticized as much, though. In fact, Poshard said he hired Cheng for her success with improving enrollment and budget issues in Wisconsin.
Tom Luljak, vice chancellor for university relations and communications at UW-M, said his school struggles with a decrease in state funding, and Cheng played a vital role in budget decisions.
“Rita’s business background (as an accountant) was incredibly important to the administration as we found ourselves working through some very di! cult budget times,” Luljak said. “She understood both the campus budget and had a deep appreciation for the di" erent academic components that we were attempting to advance.”
She faced SIU’s $15.3 million budget de# cit for # scal year 2011 when she asked each department on campus to cut its budget by 4 percent. $ e board of trustees approved the budget Sept. 16, 2010, saying it saved the university $7.3 million.
Cheng took the budget cutting a step further Nov. 3, 2010, when she announced that faculty and sta" would have to take four unpaid closure days for the school year. Even though the furlough days took place when school was not in session, faculty members began to express concerns they believed were unfair. $ e four unions without contracts protested outside the chancellor’s formal installation ceremony April 15. $ ey said SIU had higher administrative costs than other Illinois universities.
$ e unions — the Association of Civil Services Employees, Graduate Assistants United, the Faculty Association and the Non-Tenure Track Faculty Association — voted to authorize a strike Sept. 30 and later set a strike date for Nov. 3. Cheng said the strike date approval came as a blow to her. She said she thought the university had taken positive steps, especially in enrollment and retention.
For the past 20 years, SIU has had an average annual enrollment decrease of 1 percent. While there was still a enrollment decline this year, it was by one-third of the previous year’s.
Poshard said no one should expect the university’s problems to disappear quickly.
“It’s not going to work the # rst or second year (she’s in o! ce),” Poshard said. “It’s going to take time because it took us 20 years nearly to get into this situation.”
Cheng has staked much on the same University College model Minish said she developed without consultation. It is intended to address the 32 percent of freshmen who drop out of SIU by the end of their # rst year.
“We realigned and restructured the University College model, broke down the silos and really stepped up our service to the students in their # rst year, everything from academic support to a better alignment of the student life and orientation activities,” Cheng said.
She also hired consultants to revamp the university’s marketing strategy with a new logo and advertisements. She was criticized for the project's $1.5 million cost of this project as well, but Cheng said it’s already helped with enrollment.
She said universities across the state were down 4 to 7 percent in
enrollment for 2011, and community colleges in the region were all down 7 percent, while SIU was down by 1.1 percent.
Her working relationship with community colleges in the area has also brought more transfer students to the university, Poshard said.
“She’s made the strongest ties of any chancellor with these community colleges, and being up in these transfers, I think, speaks to the fact that she’s built really good relationships with them,” he said.
Her relationships with some on campus, however, grew increasingly frayed as the strike date approached.
Students began to take an interest in the negotiations as unions posted % iers around campus and the chancellor’s o! ce started to send emails to the campus community about the labor situation. When the unions began to recruit students for support through question and answer sessions, the chancellor said in an email students should not be used as pawns in the disagreement between the two sides. Some students, insulted by the word “pawn,” became active supporters of the unions.
A& er the Faculty Association, which represents tenured and tenure-track faculty, went on strike Nov. 3, students and others became frustrated when they saw saw their comments and questions deleted from SIUC’s Facebook page. Students created their own Facebook page, “SIUC Fan Page. Stop Censoring.” Cheng became the face of the administration as students put negative captions on photos of the chancellor and posted them around campus.
Nicklow said the chancellor’s emails were motivated by her concern for students.
“Her goal the whole time was to minimize student impact (and) reach out to students and parents so they knew what was happening,” he said.
“I think it certainly wasn’t an easy situation to deal with,” Nicklow said. “You have relationship issues, student impact issues, but I think she managed that very well.”
Even though Cheng was not a part of the administration’s bargaining team, Nicklow said she was as dedicated to the long hours of work as the negotiators were.
“I le& the o! ce one night at 9
o’clock and she was still there. She le& at 4 a.m. and was back here at 8 a.m.,” he said. “$ at woman clearly loves what she does, and it’s more than a job.”
John Jackson, who was interim chancellor from 1999-2001, said he dealt with similar issues when he helped negotiate the # rst union contract. He said Cheng did a good job during the strike.
“It was a di! cult thing to try to manage,” he said. “Given that the demands are almost impossible to meet, I thought she and the president handled it well.”
Although they had not o! cially settled on a contract yet, the FA bargaining team decided it was close enough to an agreement that it ended the strike Nov. 9 without a tentative agreement. $ e union approved the contract Nov. 30.
In the weeks following the strike, issues of Cheng’s image continue. Many blame the chancellor for the Facebook censorship and the ri& in the administration’s relationship with the faculty. Some of her emails' tone continues to grate on some among the faculty.
“She’s made some blunders as far as public statements that should have been thought through a little more clearly,” said Mike Eichholz,
an associate professor of zoology. Eichholz, a member of Faculty for Sensible Negotiations, which seeks to decertify the union, said Cheng got too involved in debating the Faculty Association in her emails.
“From a PR standpoint, it didn’t look good,” he said. “I think she felt like she had to defend the administration."
Eichholz said the university has seen positive changes since Cheng took over. He pointed to the university's increased productivity and better enrollment numbers.
Eichholz said Cheng is in a tough position, which is something even her opponents in the union agree with.
“It’s never an easy job, and she’s come in at a really di! cult time,” said Johnson, who served as the Faculty Association spokesman during the strike. “I think anyone would have to recognize that relations with the unions on campus have not been a strong point of her period in o! ce so far.”
He said he hopes the union and administration’s relationship will improve, but he understands the pressure placed on the chancellor.
Cheng said she expected some resistance to changes she's made.
“I think it’s kind of par for the job,” she said. “I’m going to receive criticism because you can never please
everyone.”Poshard said he has full con# dence
in the chancellor.“In all the major areas we have
expected a new chancellor to perform, she has done an excellent job. I don’t know anyone else that could have done the job better,” he said.
Cheng said she’s optimistic about the university's future.
“It’s going to be a lot of work, but we are de# nitely in much better shape than we were a year ago," she said. "I believe that the campus, faculty and sta" , in general, are very dedicated to the institution and they’re talented."
Yet it’s still early in the game, as the chancellor has been in o! ce for less than two years.
“It’s undeniable that she’s been very active,” Johnson said. “She’s been a change agent on campus. $ e question is whether those changes are going to work. She hasn’t been here long enough for us to be sure one way or the other.”
He said the well being of the university will be attributed to her, though.
“If enrollment doesn’t go up in the next couple of years, even if it’s not her fault, it’s her fault.”
Tara Kulash can be reached at [email protected]
CHENGCONTINUED FROM 1
D'()* E+*,-('.N!"#$ ursday, December 8, 2010 5
Students march Nov. 8 toward the Stone Center during a rally in support of the striking Faculty Association members. The FA went on strike Nov. 3
after negotiating with SIU administrators since June 2010 when the union's previous contract ended. The strike lasted seven days.
STEVE MATZKER | DAILY EGYPTIAN
Provost John Nicklow
SIU President Glenn Poshard
D!"#$ E%$&'"!( T!" G#$%& ) ursday, December 8, 20116
There’s nothing the media love more than self-destruction.
Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears, Charlie Sheen: Whatever you have to say about them, the fact is you have something to say. Celebrities are constantly ridiculed in the media for their personal mishaps, until, of course, they die and are hailed as martyrs of fame. Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain and Michael Jackson fit the bill, as does the latest addition, Amy Winehouse.
Winehouse, who passed away at 27 in July, has been securitized for her public battle with drugs and alcohol. ) e singer cheekily pointed the spotlight on herself with her 2006 breakthrough single “Rehab,” but it became clear addition overcame the young singer during the following years.
“Lioness: Hidden Treasures” highlights the brighter moments from an artist whose personal life and professional career was surrounded by blues and heartbreak.
) e majority of the tracks on “Lioness” are B-sides, covers and alternative versions of well-known Winehouse records. ) e compilation album contains outtakes from the singer’s 2003 studio debut “Frank,” which earned the songstress critical acclaim in her native England at the tender age of 20, to releases a* er “Back to Black,” the 2006 breakthrough album that shot the singer into reluctant international super-stardom.
An alternate version of the singer’s biggest single, “Tears Dry on ) eir Own” shows how di+ erent the original, jazz standard style recording was to the “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” baseline sampling record that showed up on “Back To Black.”
Winehouse’s reggae-tinged
cover of “Our Day Will Come” is a partially sunny moment on the album. The track, like most early ‘60s doo-wop records, has been covered by many artists but is best known for the 1963 version by Ruby & the Romantics.
The acoustic version of “Back to Black’s” “Wake up Alone” is a haunting and stripped-down recording. Winehouse’s vocals are wonderfully rough and imperfect, which delivers the genuine pain of the record’s subject.
“I would die before divorce you/I’d take a thousand thumps for my love,” she sings in the opening moments of “Between the Cheats.” The track, which was written for her third record, is a pure doo-wop pastiche. The song takes a lighthearted shot at her tumultuous relationship with her husband Blake Fielder-Civil, the focus point of “Black to Back.”
“Lioness” contains two duets: the jazz standard “Body and Soul” with Tony Bennett and the pure rap record “Like Smoke,” which features Nas.
Winehouse has gone on record to say both men are among her biggest in, uences. Her music has always been active in merging sounds and styles, especially jazz and hip-hop. Bennett’s signature standard-style
is written all over “Frank,” while “Back to Black” intertwines hip-hop beats and contains the song “Me and Mr. Jones,” a song written about Nasir “Nas” Jones.
“Why did God take the homie? I can’t stand it/I’m a firm believer that we all meet up in eternity,” Nas raps while she coos in the background over the ‘90s East Coast hip-hop beat.
“Body and Soul” was recorded just weeks before the singer’s death. Winehouse’s battle with emphysema put a stain on her vocals, which is clear here. Her voice sounds hardened and less playful than much of the record’s early recordings. It’s clear at that point Winehouse’s physical health had taken a turn alongside her mental state.
In an era of so many individuals prostituting themselves for their 15 seconds of fame, it’s sad to see an artist who wanted nothing more than to make music gone.
“Lioness” is a bit of a disappoint; only two tracks are new recordings. But, as a whole, the record paints an accurate portrait of a talented singer’s career cut too short.
Brendan Smith can be reached at [email protected]
or 536-3311 ext. 258.
New album captures Amy Winehouse’s careerBRENDAN SMITHDaily Egyptian
PROVIDED PHOTO
D!"#$ E%$&'"!(N!"#) ursday, December 8, 2011 7
DAVENPORT, Iowa — A former Iowa school district administrator will serve 64 months in prison and then be deported a* er being convicted of embezzling more than $1 million to pay for her upper-class lifestyle that included shopping sprees from high-end retailers, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.
Denisa “Denise” Babcock, former business o+ ce supervisor for the Clinton Community School District, o, ered “a big apology” for stealing 177 checks sent to the district from students, parents, companies and retirees between 2005 and 2009. ) e checks, which were for things like tuition for special education students, insurance premiums, and even property tax revenues from the city, were instead deposited in numerous bank accounts she controlled.
U.S. District Judge Robert Pratt said the 64-month sentence was appropriate because it was in the middle of federal guidelines. He ordered Babcock, a 37-year-old mother of four boys, to report to prison on Jan. 24 and pay $1.35 million in restitution to the school district, its insurer and other districts across the country which she ripped o, with her consulting business.
Pratt said he considered the devastating impact her incarceration would have on her children. But he told her, “You haven’t been convicted of being a bad mother. You’ve been convicted of embezzlement.”
) e sentence came a* er FBI Special Agent Je, Huber described how Babcock would steal checks, use them to buy certi- cates of deposit at di, erent banks and then let them gain interest. Once they matured, she then transferred the money to a bank account she controlled.
Between 2006 and 2009, she
used the proceeds to buy more than $547,000 in big-ticket items such as a $72,000 rental property, a $36,000 boat, to pay o, her home mortgage and student loans, to pay for a Hummer H2, a Cadillac Escalade and have a $55,000 swimming pool installed at her home. She also frequented high-end retailers, buying clothes, furniture, home appliances, vacations, and jewelry, and even had her own personal shopper in Chicago for Gucci clothing, he added.
To cover up the the* , she spread out the money at several banks and gave her accounts phony but legitimate-sounding names such as “Clinton Education Excellence.”
She altered some checks so they read “CCS” rather than “CCSD” and deposited them in the account of her side business, Camanche Consulting Services. Under her plea agreement, she admitted her company also stole $50,000 from a number of school districts across the U.S. who hired her to - le paperwork getting them discounted telecommunications services from the Federal Communications Commission.
“I behaved so poorly during my years at the school,” she said. ‘I have hurt a lot of people with my sel- sh actions and I am so sorry.”
Babcock pleaded guilty in May to one count of the* from a local government agency. Babcock, who was born in the Czech Republic and moved to Canada as a child, will be deported a* er her prison term, Pratt said.
Prosecutors said in a court - ling this month that Babcock has turned over some assets as required under the plea agreement, but was “less than forthcoming” when it came time to give up others, including the 1998 Searay boat. She claimed the boat was in Canada, but it was later located at her residence in Camanche, Iowa. Law enforcement o+ cials made arrangements to seize
the boat, which then disappeared. Investigators found the boat at an Illinois marina where it was being stored under her parents’ name.
Clinton Superintendent Deb Olson told Pratt that Babcock's actions tarnished the reputation of the district, which has spent the last two years trying to recover - nancially. She urged him to impose the maximum possible sentence for what she called unethical behavior that hurt the working families of Clinton and resulted in higher property taxes.
“I am angry — angry that Denise Babcock violated and stole from my children, that Denise Babcock felt that she was above the law and provided herself with luxurious items not available to the vast majority of our kids,” she said.
Olson, who became superintendent a* er the the* , said that even as Babcock was scamming other districts out of their technology rebate checks, she failed to - le the paperwork for Clinton’s rebates and it lost out on $300,000.
Huber testi- ed Wednesday that lax oversight by the district allowed her the* to continue. Babcock was solely responsible for receiving checks when they came in, logging them in - nancial records and cashing them, he noted.
District o+ cials had reprimanded her in 2007 for running her consulting business using district resources and for not timely depositing collections and counseled her about being dishonest, according to a state audit report. Months later, another employee - led a complaint alleging Babcock improperly modi- ed - nancial transactions in a so* ware program but no action was taken.
Her the* only came to light months a* er Babcock was laid o, for budget reasons in November 2009 and another employee could not locate a refund check from a company.
Woman who took $1 million from Iowa district gets 5 yearsRYAN J. FOLEYAssociated Press
D!"#$ E%$&'"!( C!"##$%$&'# ) ursday, December 8, 20118
Her methods weren’t always criticized as much, though. In fact, Poshard said he hired Cheng for her success with improving enrollment and budget issues in Wisconsin.
Tom Luljak, vice chancellor for university relations and communications at UW-M, said his school struggles with a decrease in state funding, and Cheng played a vital role in budget decisions.
“Rita’s business background (as an accountant) was incredibly important to the administration as we found ourselves working through some very di! cult budget times,” Luljak said. “She understood both the campus budget and had a deep appreciation for the di" erent academic components that we were attempting to advance.”
She faced SIU’s $15.3 million budget de# cit for # scal year 2011 when she asked each department on campus to cut its budget by 4 percent. $ e board of trustees approved the budget Sept. 16, 2010, saying it saved the university $7.3 million.
Cheng took the budget cutting a step further Nov. 3, 2010, when she announced that faculty and sta" would have to take four unpaid closure days for the school year. Even though the furlough days took place when school was not in session, faculty members began to express concerns they believed were unfair. $ e four unions without contracts protested outside the chancellor’s formal installation ceremony April 15. $ ey said SIU had higher administrative costs than other Illinois universities.
$ e unions — the Association of Civil Services Employees, Graduate Assistants United, the Faculty Association and the Non-Tenure Track Faculty Association — voted to authorize a strike Sept. 30 and later set a strike date for Nov. 3. Cheng said the strike date approval came as a blow to her. She said she thought the university had taken positive steps, especially in enrollment and retention.
For the past 20 years, SIU has had an average annual enrollment decrease of 1 percent. While there was still a enrollment decline this year, it was by one-third of the previous year’s.
Poshard said no one should expect the university’s problems to disappear quickly.
“It’s not going to work the # rst or second year (she’s in o! ce),” Poshard said. “It’s going to take time because it took us 20 years nearly to get into this situation.”
Cheng has staked much on the same University College model Minish said she developed without consultation. It is intended to address the 32 percent of freshmen who drop out of SIU by the end of their # rst year.
“We realigned and restructured the University College model, broke down the silos and really stepped up our service to the students in their # rst year, everything from academic support to a better alignment of the student life and orientation activities,” Cheng said.
She also hired consultants to revamp the university’s marketing strategy with a new logo and advertisements. She was criticized for the project's $1.5 million cost of this project as well, but Cheng said it’s already helped with enrollment.
She said universities across the state were down 4 to 7 percent in
enrollment for 2011, and community colleges in the region were all down 7 percent, while SIU was down by 1.1 percent.
Her working relationship with community colleges in the area has also brought more transfer students to the university, Poshard said.
“She’s made the strongest ties of any chancellor with these community colleges, and being up in these transfers, I think, speaks to the fact that she’s built really good relationships with them,” he said.
Her relationships with some on campus, however, grew increasingly frayed as the strike date approached.
Students began to take an interest in the negotiations as unions posted % iers around campus and the chancellor’s o! ce started to send emails to the campus community about the labor situation. When the unions began to recruit students for support through question and answer sessions, the chancellor said in an email students should not be used as pawns in the disagreement between the two sides. Some students, insulted by the word “pawn,” became active supporters of the unions.
A& er the Faculty Association, which represents tenured and tenure-track faculty, went on strike Nov. 3, students and others became frustrated when they saw saw their comments and questions deleted from SIUC’s Facebook page. Students created their own Facebook page, “SIUC Fan Page. Stop Censoring.” Cheng became the face of the administration as students put negative captions on photos of the chancellor and posted them around campus.
Nicklow said the chancellor’s emails were motivated by her concern for students.
“Her goal the whole time was to minimize student impact (and) reach out to students and parents so they knew what was happening,” he said.
“I think it certainly wasn’t an easy situation to deal with,” Nicklow said. “You have relationship issues, student impact issues, but I think she managed that very well.”
Even though Cheng was not a part of the administration’s bargaining team, Nicklow said she was as dedicated to the long hours of work as the negotiators were.
“I le& the o! ce one night at 9
o’clock and she was still there. She le& at 4 a.m. and was back here at 8 a.m.,” he said. “$ at woman clearly loves what she does, and it’s more than a job.”
John Jackson, who was interim chancellor from 1999-2001, said he dealt with similar issues when he helped negotiate the # rst union contract. He said Cheng did a good job during the strike.
“It was a di! cult thing to try to manage,” he said. “Given that the demands are almost impossible to meet, I thought she and the president handled it well.”
Although they had not o! cially settled on a contract yet, the FA bargaining team decided it was close enough to an agreement that it ended the strike Nov. 9 without a tentative agreement. $ e union approved the contract Nov. 30.
In the weeks following the strike, issues of Cheng’s image continue. Many blame the chancellor for the Facebook censorship and the ri& in the administration’s relationship with the faculty. Some of her emails' tone continues to grate on some among the faculty.
“She’s made some blunders as far as public statements that should have been thought through a little more clearly,” said Mike Eichholz,
an associate professor of zoology. Eichholz, a member of Faculty for Sensible Negotiations, which seeks to decertify the union, said Cheng got too involved in debating the Faculty Association in her emails.
“From a PR standpoint, it didn’t look good,” he said. “I think she felt like she had to defend the administration."
Eichholz said the university has seen positive changes since Cheng took over. He pointed to the university's increased productivity and better enrollment numbers.
Eichholz said Cheng is in a tough position, which is something even her opponents in the union agree with.
“It’s never an easy job, and she’s come in at a really di! cult time,” said Johnson, who served as the Faculty Association spokesman during the strike. “I think anyone would have to recognize that relations with the unions on campus have not been a strong point of her period in o! ce so far.”
He said he hopes the union and administration’s relationship will improve, but he understands the pressure placed on the chancellor.
Cheng said she expected some resistance to changes she's made.
“I think it’s kind of par for the job,” she said. “I’m going to receive criticism because you can never please
everyone.”Poshard said he has full con# dence
in the chancellor.“In all the major areas we have
expected a new chancellor to perform, she has done an excellent job. I don’t know anyone else that could have done the job better,” he said.
Cheng said she’s optimistic about the university's future.
“It’s going to be a lot of work, but we are de# nitely in much better shape than we were a year ago," she said. "I believe that the campus, faculty and sta" , in general, are very dedicated to the institution and they’re talented."
Yet it’s still early in the game, as the chancellor has been in o! ce for less than two years.
“It’s undeniable that she’s been very active,” Johnson said. “She’s been a change agent on campus. $ e question is whether those changes are going to work. She hasn’t been here long enough for us to be sure one way or the other.”
He said the well being of the university will be attributed to her, though.
“If enrollment doesn’t go up in the next couple of years, even if it’s not her fault, it’s her fault.”
Tara Kulash can be reached at [email protected]
CHENGCONTINUED FROM 1
D'()* E+*,-('.N!"#$ ursday, December 8, 2010 5
Students march Nov. 8 toward the Stone Center during a rally in support of the striking Faculty Association members. The FA went on strike Nov. 3
after negotiating with SIU administrators since June 2010 when the union's previous contract ended. The strike lasted seven days.
STEVE MATZKER | DAILY EGYPTIAN
Provost John Nicklow
SIU President Glenn Poshard
D!"#$ E%$&'"!(C!"#$%) ursday, December 8, 2011 9
ACROSS1 Geffen swallowed this record com-
pany in ’034 “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” band
(Abbr.)7 Where every festival band starts
12 What Willie’s “Boys” were, to CCR13 Singing is this type of talent14 “___ stand, head in hand, turn my
face to the wall”15 Gregg and Cher disaster “___
Woman”17 Festival fans are this18 Ramones “I Wanna Be ___”19 Finger ___21 Foo Fighter song that didn’t make
it?22 W. Axl ___23 Early ’80s laugh “___! (Enjoy What
You Do)”27 Boomtown Rats’ Bob31 Kiss “Dressed to Kill” classic32 Keeps guitar on34 What a record company takes35 Feeling when writing the blues36 Procol ___38 ___ Frehley39 “Shaft” Hayes42 Disco Biscuits festival Camp ___44 Black Flag “Loose ___”45 What you feel when you forget your
tix47 What festival photogs want their
pics to be49 What you don’t want to lug at
music festivals51 David Thomas’ Pere ___52 Kiss “Unmasked” ballad54 Violent Femmes “___ in the Sun”58 Leathery band from the U.K.?59 “It’s ___ feeling”61 ...And You Will Know Us by the ___
of Dead62 What rock stars are to rabid fans63 Sign you look for during a bad set64 Judas Priest’s genre65 Type of list on stage66 “___ It In a Minute” Hall and OatesDOWN1 Alfie “Hey ___”2 Freezing post-grunge band?3 Groove ___4 Delp of Boston5 Stereophonics “T-Shirt Sun __”6 Rocker hanging on to spotlight,
usually7 Backstreet Boys/Jonas Bros.?
8 Gov’t Mule/Allmans/Train/Crowes keyman
9 “Sister Havana” band ___ Overkill10 Cardigans “___ It”11 Paul or Elton12 Regina Spektor “Ne Me Quitte ___”13 Belinda Carlisle “Heaven Is a Place
___”16 Stereolab “Golden ___”20 Robert Plant “Big ___”23 O.A.R “___ Chariot”24 Cat Power’s battle cry?25 Cure “Killing an ___”26 Jam band Dirty ___28 Songwriting goddess Warren29 Hoobastank “Did it ever ___ to you
that this could be your final day”30 These got muddy at Woodstock31 The Used “___ Your Own Throat”33 Pearl Jam “___ Me, Pull Me”37 Michael Schenker’s partner Robin40 Duran Duran one-off splinter group41 Soundgarden/Audioslave Chris43 What jam band music fests send
fans into46 What Dead Kennedys and Minor
Threat were to skaters in the ‘80s48 What a band’s slot got, after rain50 Brit trip-hoppers Sneaker ___52 Hanson “___ About It”53 What was “on,” to Glenn Frey54 Poison’s Michaels55 Harry Chapin “driving” hit56 Robert John Godfrey band, with
“The”57 Festival narc58 Partying rocker’s loss (Abbr.)60 “___ Hill,” Badlees mining song?
More Than a Puzzle by Todd Santos
PREVIOUS PUZZLE ANSWER
© 2011 Universal Uclickwww.upuzzles.com
More Than a Puzzle12/25
12/18
THE Daily Commuter Puzzle by Jacqueline E. Mathews
ACROSS1 Walking on __;
elated4 Pinnacles9 “Get lost!”
13 Very dry15 Bird’s tweet16 Vagabond17 Conceal18 Cuban dance19 On __ toes;
alert20 Isolation22 Understands23 At __; relaxed24 African
antelope26 Posture;
position29 Settler residing
in a new land34 Explorer __ de
Leon35 Assumption;
thing taken forgranted
36 Poor grade37 Opie’s pa38 Dwelt39 Norton & Berry40 Even score41 Start42 Bread ingredient43 On cloud nine45 Cereal grass46 Word of disgust47 Rotate48 Heroic story51 Lawyers56 Filthy buildup57 Public uprisings58 Go first60 In the past61 Muse with
vengeful delight62 Wise man63 Celebrity64 Shouts65 Hee-__; bray
DOWN1 Ooh and __
over; admire2 Often-purple
showy flower3 Go by car, e.g.4 Point the finger
at
5 Selected6 Very short
skirt7 Therefore8 “The Star-__
Banner”9 Japanese
militarygovernor
10 Ice creamscoop holder
11 Aid in crime12 Fling14 Respectable
behavior21 “Arsenic and
Old __”25 Prefix for fat or
profit26 Large amount
rushing in27 Pick-me-up28 Chile’s range29 Do one’s __
duty; vote, e.g.30 Microwave __31 Perfect32 Intelligence33 Quick to anger
35 Oscar-winningLeslie Caronmovie
38 Listlessness39 Pieces of corn41 Sack42 Tale44 __ out; get tired45 Explodes
47 Sum48 Personalities49 Football kick50 Peruvian Indian52 Flooring piece53 Chisel or saw54 Slangy reply55 Long story59 Morning drops
Wednesday’s Puzzle Solved
(c) 2011 Tribune Media Services, Inc.All Rights Reserved.
Aries — Today is a 7 — There could be elements to the puzzle that are hidden from view. Because of this, avoid expensive purchases or big decisions today. Those elements get revealed later.
Taurus — Today is a 9 — When you’re feeling good, it’s possible to lose perspective of the world around you. Be considerate of others. Spread the love and the good fortune.
Gemini — Today is a 5 — A lucky hunch could turn quite profitable. You have the confidence to make your plan work: Put your back into it! Try again at something you failed at before.
Cancer — Today is a 6 — Find a trustworthy friend to help you solve any dilemmas. Don’t take it all so seriously. Not everything that glitters is gold. Inject a sense of humor.
Leo — Today is an 8 — Stifle your crazy side for a moment. Complete unfinished business (and impress others in the process). Attention to detail comes in handy. Figure out what you really want.
Virgo — Today is a 9 — The adventure continues, and there’s more work on the way. Don’t be misled by fantasy. Check your oil and tire pressure, and bring a sack lunch.
Libra — Today is a 7 — Business interferes with fun. Don’t goof off! Plan a trip, and research the best tickets. Then focus on productivity to pay for it all.
Scorpio — Today is an 8 — Respect the people that helped you get where you are, and show some appreciation. Be careful not to lose what you have in order to get more, even if you’re busy.
Sagittarius — Today is a 9 — As you get lost in the maze today, don’t forget your goal. Don’t be afraid if you don’t know the way. Use your network: Call someone whose view is wider.
Capricorn — Today is a 9 — Don’t worry about the money. Conserve resources anyway. There’s plenty to keep you busy, and more work coming in. Stay focused. It all works out.
Aquarius — Today is an 8 — Make sure what you build is solid. Fantasies fade in the sunlight. Romance is a growing possibility. Choose substance over symbolism, and have fun.
Pisces — Today is an 8 — Don’t let anyone push you. It’s your life. Get into a homebody phase. Think about your roots, and where you came from. You choose where you’re going.
D!"#$ E%$&'"!( S!"#$ B%&'( ) ursday, December 8, 201110
Answer here:
Now arrange the circled letters to form the surprise answer, assuggested by the above cartoon.
(Answers tomorrow
:
GIZMO ABATE JINGLE STOCKYJumbles:Answer: Instant replay was such a hit when it was introduced
in 1963 that people wanted to — SEE IT AGAIN
Level: 1 2 3 4
Unscramble these four Jumbles,one letter to each square,to form four ordinary words.
NICFH
TOPIA
REYAET
CEEDTT
©2011 Tribune Media Services, Inc.All Rights Reserved.
Find
us
on F
aceb
ook
http
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w.fa
cebo
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D!"#$ E%$&'"!(N!"#) ursday, December 8, 2011 3Blagojevich gets 14 years in prison for corruption
CHICAGO — ) e Rod Blagojevich who once challenged a prosecutor to face him like a man, the glad-handing politician who took to celebrity TV shows to profess his innocence, was nowhere to be found Wednesday as he was sentenced to 14 years in prison for corruption.
Frowning and pulling nervously at his tie, the disgraced former governor seemed like another person as he stepped up to address the sentencing judge. Bluster once as conspicuous as his famously lavish head of dark hair was wiped out, a victim of his June convictions on charges that included attempting to sell President Barack Obama’s U.S. Senate seat.
In a low voice, the two-term Democrat apologized again and again, telling Judge James Zagel he had made “terrible mistakes.”
“I caused it all. I’m not blaming anybody,” Blagojevich said, trying with uncharacteristic humility to avert severe punishment. “I was the governor and I should have known better and I am just so incredibly sorry.”
It was not enough for Zagel, who gave the 54-year-old a sentence close to the 15 to 20 years prosecutors had sought.
“) e abuse of the o* ce of governor is more damaging than the abuse of any other o* ce, except
the president’s,” he said.“Whatever good things you did
for people as governor, and you did some, I am more concerned with the occasions when you wanted to use your powers ... to do things that were only good for yourself,” Zagel said.
Blagojevich slumped forward in his chair — momentarily frozen as the judge pronounced the sentence. Moments later, his wife, Patti, fell into his arms; when he pulled back from their embrace, he brushed tears from her cheek.
“When it is the governor who goes bad,” Zagel said, “the fabric of Illinois is torn and dis+ gured and not easily repaired.”
Illinois governors have gone bad with stunning frequency. Four of the last nine have been sentenced to prison, including Blagojevich’s predecessor, George Ryan, who remains behind bars.
Blagojevich, who received more than twice as much time as any of the other governors, was also more of a national spectacle — both because of the charges against him, and how he responded to them.
In the most notorious of the FBI wiretaps that sealed his fate, Blagojevich is heard crowing that his chance to name someone to Obama’s Senate seat was “f---ing golden” and he wouldn’t let it go “for f---ing nothing.” His lawyers claimed the comments were simply “musings,” but jurors and the judge agreed they were evidence of a crime.
) e jury also found that Blagojevich demanded a $50,000
donation from the head of a children’s hospital in return for increased state support, and extorted $100,000 in donations from two horse racing tracks and a racing executive in exchange for quick approval of legislation the tracks wanted.
Blagojevich responded to his Dec. 9, 2008, arrest with de+ ance, appointing Roland Burris to the Senate job he was accused of trying to sell and proclaiming his innocence with a media blitz.
) e boyish-looking defendant continued pursuing the spotlight a, er he was removed from o* ce, writing a book, appearing in reality TV shows such as “Celebrity Apprentice” and even appearing in a TV ad in which he opens a briefcase over- owing not with money but with pistachios. “Rod Blagojevich does it innocently,” was the line.
“His behavior and conduct once he was charged was almost a template for what you don’t want a
defendant to do,” said Joel Levin, a former federal prosecutor. “... He did everything possible to alienate the prosecutors and the judge and, ultimately, it came back to hurt him.”
It took two trials for prosecutors to snare Blagojevich. His + rst ended deadlocked with jurors agreeing on just one of 24 counts — that Blagojevich lied to the FBI. Jurors at his retrial convicted him on 17 of 20 counts, including bribery and attempted extortion.
Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, left, speaks to reporters as his wife Patti, right, listens at the federal building in Chicago Wednesday after
being sentenced for 14 years on 18 corruption counts, including trying to auction off President Barack Obama’s former Senate seat.
PROVIDED PHOTO | ASSOCIATED PRESS
DON BABWINMICHAEL TARMAssociated Press
D!"#$ E%$&'"!(S!"#$%) ursday, December 8, 2011 11
“I told the guys that the last time we won in here, I was playing for a high school championship in 1988,” Western Kentucky head coach Ken McDonald said. “To come in here and execute down the stretch, a* er (SIU) started o+ the second half and established the inside game, I thought (our) guys did terri, c.”
Seck , nished with a career-high 20 points and seven assists to go along with seven rebounds, but got his fourth foul with 6:11 le* to go in the game, so he played sparingly as the game wound down.
“Mamadou was very good. He probably should’ve had ten assists, we missed some bunnies,” Lowery said. “We gave ourselves opportunities, but when you miss layups and then they get a chance and go down and score, it kind of de- ates yourself a little bit.”
Freshman point guard Josh Swan hit a snag as he turned the ball over seven
times while not recording a single assist. He , nished the game with six points and eight rebounds.
“He’s got to keep playing. ) is is his , rst high-turnover game, and they went a* er him,” Lowery said.
Sophomore guard Diamond Taylor cooled o+ with a 1-6 showing from the , eld, only scoring two points. As a team, the only person to hit a three was junior guard T.J. Lindsay, who , nished with 10 points.
Lindsay and Early accounted for 23 of SIU’s 55 points in Bocot's absence, and Lowery said the situation didn‘t distract his team in the loss.
“It becomes a distraction when it's out there. ) at’s what makes it a distraction, not to us, but to fans and everybody around our guys,” Lowery said. “We have our guys in a cubby hole, pinned in, where we’re able to control their environment.”
Joe Ragusa can be reached at [email protected]
or 536-3311 ext. 269.
MEN’S BASKETBALLCONTINUED FROM 12
Although students don’t pay at the door for athletic events, they have already indirectly purchased their ticket.
Every SIU student is required to pay a $292 athletic fee of that is factored into his or her tuition each semester. In 2010, athletic student fees accounted for more than $9 million, according to the athletic department website.
Students question if they should have to pay for sporting events they don’t attend.
Executive Assoicate Athletic Director Mark Scally said the athletic
fee is mandatory for all students. He said the fee supports the entire athletic department such as services at the Recreation Center, intramural sports and the SalukiWay project.
Kimberly Woods, a junior from West Frankfort studying English, said she thinks the fee could be put to better use.
“I just don’t have any desire to go to the games on campus, I don’t know any players on the team and I’m not that invested in sports,” Woods said.
Woods, a commuter student, said there is even less of an incentive to pay the fee because she is only on campus during class. Woods said the ability to apply the fee to a di+ erent department, or being able to opt
out of the fee altogether, would be a preferred alternative.
Timothy Dillon, a junior from South Elgin studying advertising, said he doesn’t see a problem in paying an athletic fee. Instead, he said it’s convenient for him to get into the games without paying upfront. Dillon said although its nice not to pay cash for game entry, it may make students unaware that the athletic fee exists.
Fatima Diabate, a junior at the University of Illinois from Elgin, said students at U of I are expected to pay for tickets to each game.
“I go to a Big Ten school and sports are a big deal,” Diabate said. “) ey generate a lot of money for the school and it makes sense that we have to pay to see teams that are nationally recognized.”
Rebecca French, a senior at the
University of Iowa from South Elgin, said she also has to pay for tickets to each sporting event and has mixed feelings about it. She said while she thinks it is reasonable to pay for football tickets, she is not willing to pay for other sports.
“I would never buy tickets for sports that are not as popular, like our basketball team, which is not very good,” she said. “But there are other options like a half season ticket package that the school o+ ers.”
Dillon said it ultimately came down to how the teams perform at their respective sports.
“Nobody is going to pay a lot of money to see losing teams,” Dillon said.
Students weigh in on athletic fee alternativesAKEEM GLASPIEDaily Egyptian
Senior forward Mamadou Seck blocks a shot Wednesday during a game against Western Kentucky University at the SIU Arena. The
Salukis are 1-4 on the season and face Western Michigan University Sunday in Kalamazoo, Mich.
ISAAC SMITH | DAILY EGYPTIAN
I would never buy tickets for sports that are not as popular, like our basketball team, which is not very good.!
— Rebecca Frenchsenior at University of Iowa
SIU started with a bang, but couldn’t keep up with Western Kentucky down the stretch and lost 62-55.
“Our young guys, they played like freshman today. ! at was a big part of it,” coach Chris Lowery said. “We struggled a little bit, but we can’t have 19 turnovers. I thought we played hard, but we had way too many miscues on o" ense. We did a lot of things that hurt ourselves.”
Before the game, news came that senior guard Justin Bocot would sit out during the game because he is under investigation for an alleged sexual assault that occurred Saturday morning. Junior
guard Je" Early started in place of Bocot and had 13 points and four rebounds.
“Obviously, this was the type of game for Bocot to excel at. It was an up and down, run and jump game, and he wasn’t available,” Lowery said. “We’re not going to make excuses for that.”
With Bocot’s suspension and freshman Dantiel Daniels still out with a pulled groin, SIU only had four players coming o" the bench.
“It’s kind of tough, because me, personally, I had to cover a guy that was a bang-up guy. You have to move your body every time and it makes you tired more,” senior forward Mamadou Seck said. “As I said, we fell a little bit short because we didn’t have enough bodies to
change defense and subs.”SIU (1-4) went on a 8-2 run to start
the game, but then Western Kentucky (4-6) came back with a 10-0 run of their own to take the lead with 12:15 le# in the $ rst half.
“! at was our biggest thing. We lost our focus because we gave up two transition threes and two lay-ups during that whole segment where we had done a good, solid job defensively,” Lowery said.
! e Salukis took the lead back on a jumper by Early with 18:15 le# in the second half to make the score 31-30, but Western Kentucky would take the lead back with 14:33 le# in the second on a jumper from WKU guard Jamal Crook to make the score 37-35.
A# er junior guard T.J. Lindsay tied the game up at 37 apiece, WKU forward George Gant hit a jumper in the post to take a lead they would not give up.
! e win gives Western Kentucky the edge in the all-time series against SIU 15-14, and it was the $ rst victory for the Hilltoppers in Carbondale in their last $ ve visits.
Please see MEN’S BASKETBALL | 11
Head coach Chris Lowery disputes a call Wednesday during the SIU game against Western Kentucky
University at the SIU Arena. Last night’s loss put Lowery’s SIU career record at 138-97
ISAAC SMITH| DAILY EGYPTIAN
Salukis lose to Western Kentucky with Bocot benched
It becomes a distraction when it’s out there. That’s what makes it a distraction, not to us, but to fans
and everybody around our guys. We have our guys in a cubby hole, pinned in, where we’re able to control their environment.
— Chris LowerySIU men’s basketball head coach
JOE RAGUSADaily Egyptian