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Show UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY Friday, Jan. 14,2005 Partly cloudy skies throughout the day with a 20 percent chance of precipitation. Mi It's cooler than your friend's house. Win big at home against Pacific. Page 9 High: 28, low: 9 School grants decreased Government changes Pell Grant requirements for students BY HILARY INCOLDSBY Senior Writer University students everywhere received an unexpected and unwelcome Christmas present from the federal government this year. President George W. Bush announced during the holiday break that the U.S. Department of Education has made a change in the eligibility for Pell Grants that will affect millions of students. The change was made after a revision to the tax table used to decide if a student receives a grant or not. Upon examining state taxes, the Department of Education found that overall state tax burden has declined, according to the American Council on Education. "The government looks at it as if people are paying less taxes then they don't need grants," Dave Feitz, Utah Department of Education deputy executive director for policy and development. Such changes will affect the eligibility of about 90,000 students nationwide, resulting in not qualifying or losing grants completely, and another million who will receive smaller grants than in previous years. According to the Department of Education, federal Pell Grants are loans that students do not have to repay. Pell Grants are awarded to students doing undergraduate work that meet certain income and tax standards. Students with the lowest income and most need won't be affected by the change, Feitz said. But those receiving the minimum grant of $400 will run the risk of losing it completely and those in the middle range will likely be lessened. Although $400 may not seem like a lot of money, Feitz said for many stuCiRANTS BY LEXIE KITE Staff Writer A look back at some of President Kermit L. Hall's contributions to the university 2001 January Declining the traditional presidential inauguration, Hall established a student inaugural scholarship fund, beginning with his pledge of $10,000. Now, the fund is valued at $850,000. Hall, in an attempt to acquaint himself with Utah, pledged to milk a cow in Utah's 29 counties. He since has. 2003 Due to record-breaking snowfall in recent days, parking on and around campus has become problematic for Utah State University students. "We understand that snow removal for sufficient parking is very important. It will take time for snow crews to do what they need to do, and they are working overtime to do it," said Paul Sampson, assistant vice president in the office of business and finance. Safety is the key issue when parking on or near campus, said Teresa Johnson, business manager of parking and transportation. She said there have been instances where parked cars were blocking the entrance and exits to residence halls on Michael $Uarp/michaelsharp@cc.usu.edu campus. RECENT SNOW STORMS have led to the burial of many vehicles along 800 East and in some apartment "The accumulation of complex parking lots. Safety concerns have arisen due to illegal parking in many areas around campus. snow has caused parking USU authorities are encouraging students to take advantage of alternate transportation forms. problems, and we do understand that," she said. that need access is not accept- USU police will be more while these conditions are so She said when there are able and violators will be tick- lenient when handing out extreme. Until snow removal fewer parking spots available eted, she said. tickets. is improved on our campus, because of snow accumulaHowever, Johnson said if it Mike Brewer, a student more flexibility concerning tion, students should use good is evident a driver could not new to USU, said, "I think it parking would be highly benjudgment Parking in the way see the lines designating park- would be acceptable for the of moving traffic, in front of ing spaces or an honest parkpolice to be more flexible PARKING dumpsters or other places ing mistake was made, the about parking regulations See Page 3 Faculty, students express support for Albrecht With a Feb. 1 deadline, the Board of Regents has not wasted any time in collecting opinions on how President Kermit L. Hall should best be replaced. A small group of officials met this week with groups representing faculty, students and stair of Utah State University to discuss the possibility of bypassing a national search in the hunt for a new university president. Janis Boettinger, president of the faculty senate, said she ALBRECHT met Wednesday morning with representatives from the Board of Regents, Board of Trustees and Uintah Basin Extension Board to present them with the resolution the faculty senate adopted Monday. The resolution endorses Provost Stan Albrecht as president and approves the bypass of a national search. "We think they took away that as a matter of principle, there should be a national search," she said. "However, this particular case is exceptional." Hall's influence at USU April See Page 3 Students struggle to find parking BY BROOKE NELSON Assistant News Editor Page 5 Officials who initiated the meetings are not commenting, said Dave Buhler, Utah System of Higher Education associate commissioner of public affairs, because it would be premature to reveal findings before they can be taken back to other board members. John DeVilbiss, USU public relations, said overall officials felt the visits "went very well" and provided "invaluable feedback." "There are a lot of important groups to listen to " Buhler said. "The faculty is important to listen to, but so are alumni and people in the community." Pitcher also met with student leaders. Les Essig, president of the Associated Students of USU said while there has been no formal resolution adopted by students, support of bypassing a national search in the best interest of the university on behalf of students was expressed. "We hope we were able to represent students with educated opinions as to what is best for the university," he said. Essig said the timing of Hall's resignation makes finding a candidate with knowledge of the political atmosphere in Utah crucial. "We are in the middle of a legislative session that looks to be very posi- tive," he said. "We need to have a leader at Utah State that is very prepared in that aspect as well as taking the university to higher heights and taking the next step " Essig said several important pieces of legislation, including faculty salary increases, investments, funding for research institutions of the state in excess of $200 million and the repeal of H.B. 331, are at stake. "That has been communicated more than once," DeVilbiss said. "That in the middle of a legislative session we need to keep the momentum going." Boettinger also cited the timing of Hall's resignation as a reason for supporting Albrecht. A national search could take up to a year, she said, and yield a president who may or may not have a vision consistent with the current leadership and course of the university. "Appointing Albrecht will provide the continuity needed to see some current exciting initiatives through to completion," she said. "We felt the faculty were very optimistic about the direction Utah State University is headed. "Stan [Albrecht] is the best and most logical choice." The Board of Regents will meet Friday in Salt Lake City. -bnelson @cc. usu. edu April Hall instituted a Graduate-in-Four program to encourage students to graduate on time. The program instituted a preprescribed curriculum plan for specific student majors. Hall commissioned the first study of women's and minority equality at USU. Results of the study indicated that salary disparities do exist and created a baseline to measure all university salaries. The "Think Utah State" campaign offers a new way to demonstrate the image of USU's value and economic impact. The university is now engaged in a 'visual Identity Program. Several construction projects have gone underway during Hall's presidency. The new library addition began in March, 2003; the announcement of plans for the living/Learning Center in March, 2004; and plans for the recital hall was announced in April, 2004. June July 2004 May Hall saw USU's first Rhodes Scholar in 22 years. The scholarships are given to 32 U.S. citizens each year. July Innovation Campus honored over the summer by the U.S. Department of Commerce. Hall announced to the student body of the 4?3 percent tuition increase proposal over the next three years. Hall opened a USU development office in downtown Salt Lake City to primarily focus on fundraising from USU alumni in the area. September October Hall hosted the first Benchmark Summit, connecting the Cache Valley community and university on quality of life issues in the valley. Compiled by Katie Ashton Statesman file photos |