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Show DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE Wednesday, November 9, 2011 3 Book prices drop daily in library sale Tyler North STAFF WRITER Rows of shelves stacked with books for sale fill a room on the bottom floor of the Marriott Library this week for the Book Sale held twice a year. The price of the books gets cut in half every day this week. The books started at $2 for hardback and $1 for paperback Monday. The books that remain by Friday are free. "The books are 90 percent donations throughout the year and io percent outdated, irrel- JEFF MCGRATH/The Daily Utah Chronicle U researcher John Downen takes a gander at books for sale in the Marriott Library's book fair on the first floor. evant or duplicate books that were withdrawn from the Marriott Library," said Carly Anderson, senior library specialist and director of library donations. The books range from fiction, non-fiction, science, religion, child development and political science, among others. Books and monetary donations are accepted throughout the year at the library entrance desk. The profits from the book fair go toward new materials and better, more pertinent books, HINCKLEY FORUM ECCLES Sen: Utahns are in good hands continued from Page 1 State of pensions not as dire in Utah, compared to nation Nic Dunn STAFF WRITER Problems caused by the 2008 financial collapse, including pension funding, can be solved by looking at what states like Utah are doing, said state Sen. Dan Liljenquist. The recession caused serious problems for Utah's pension fund, but state leaders reformed the system's rising costs, said Liljenquist, R-District 23, at a Hinckley Forum on Tuesday. "We made long-term commitments, and they were contractual commitments," he said. "Going into the downturn we had done a lot of things right." Nearly every seat was filled as Liljenquist used a slide presentation to outline the steps he and other elected officials took to ensure that public employees received their pensions while reducing the cost of the program. Some of the things Utah did well before the collapse include never borrowing from a pension fund to use for other spending—something the federal government has done repeatedly for decades—and always paying the full contribution rates. "In 2008 we lost 22 percent of our pension fund," Liljenquist said. He compared the annual state budgeting process to the board game Hungry Hungry Hippos. Each year, all the factions in government scramble for as much of the budgetary pie as possible until there is no more left, he said. "We've got to lift our eyes off of this Hungry Hungry Hip- STRESS-FREE continued from Page 1 nationwide are non-traditional, according to the Association for Non-Traditional Students in Higher Education. Some resources available to non-traditional students include the Tutoring and Writing centers, the Alpha Sigma PACIFIC continued from Page 1 "We want to expose [high school students] to education, scholarships and different areas of study," said Salote Uesi, co-president of the association. "It's all about taking the time to show them they have other skills and so much potential." The conference included seminars on how to find and apply for scholarships, choosing schools and taking advantage of opportunities. Following the main presentation, a talent show featured performances by conference par- SHURTLEFF continued from Page 1 comment further. "Right now we're in the confidential portion of that search," she said. "We hope to have a new president selected midway through 2012." Shurtleff is the only three- pos game board," he said, emphasizing that we need to look beyond the current year and try to gauge the budget io to 20 years down the road. Liljenquist said the 2008 crash caused the Utah retirement system to lose nearly $5 billion in real dollars, and more than $6 billion when analysts factored in how much money it would have returned under normal circumstances. If legislators did nothing to change the system, the state would have to commit io percent of its General Fund for the next 25 years to paying retirees, he said. Pension funds were calculated with a projected 8 percent rate of return, which was not possible after the financial crash. "Our number one goal was to meet our current commitments to our employees," Liljenquist said. "We were the first state in the country to say.. we're going to look down the road...and we're going to solve this issue for future legislators." The reforms that were decided on included having contribution rates peak at seven years then gradually decline. Multiple retirement systems for different sectors were combined. Liljenquist said some public employees would retire and begin receiving their pension, then start working in another public department for additional income while still receiving their retirement checks. He said one goal of the reforms was to ensure that the state's pension system was truly a retirement system and not a supplemental income widows. Before he started these reLambda Honor Society and the Women's Resource Center. "Most non-traditional students at the U are unaware of these services that we provide, and it is important that we make them known," Jensen said. For more information about the scheduled events for NonTraditional Student Outreach Week, visit www.asuu.utah.edu. s.javdan@chronicle.utah.edu ticipants, including traditional Polynesian dances, musical performances and break dancing. "They have so much potential, but many of them are too shy to showcase it," Houma said. "This allows them to give back to the culture." Kenya Finiac, a sophomore from Brighton High School, came to the conference with a group of her friends. She said she enjoyed the talent show and also appreciated all the campus groups that offered resources. "It's really helpful to get all of this background information," she said. more real-world, diverse experience." Ferah Azmi, a sophomore in finance, said she enjoys the space because of the community and open areas for students to work "This building has a community feel versus the [Business Classroom Building] where it's just in and out of the classroom," she said. "Here, you're going to come out of class and be able to interact with your peers in the lounges." The building is part one of a two-part project. Once the transfer of offices from the Garff Building to the new facilities is complete, it will be demolished and phase two will replace it. The expansion is scheduled to be complete in May 2013. "The building is going to transform this Business School experience, but the best is yet to come," Randall said. "To use a football analogy, we now have our stadium, we have our great coaches and a complete team of players ready to play." s.wiseman@ chronicle.utah.edu CONNECT • — • - JULIAN GOMEZ/The Daily Utah Chronicle Utah Sen. Dan Liljenquist speaks on the current pension crisis and Utah's reaction. forms, a colleague told him to wait until he had more seniority in the senate, Liljenquist said. "People expect us to pick up and do what needs to be done," he said. "Whether you have 4o years of seniority or whether it's your first day on the job." He said we can no longer wait to solve these kinds of long-term financial problems. "It's not news that Social Security...Medicare and Medicaid are in trouble and have been for a long time," he said. Erika Bernardo, a senior in political science, said the forum helped her understand how involved elected leaders to The Chronicle sr dailyutahchronicle.com truly are in these problems. "You think...politicians don't see the problem sometimes," she said. "[This is] a state issue and [we] have to take care of our state." Liljenquist said although this challenge was handled at the state level, the same problems exist in other states and nationally. He said national problems are solved at the state level first. He also said despite historic challenges, he loves the job. "This is the best time to be in government," he said. "Why? Because you actually get to do something." n.dunn@chronicle.utah.edu 157 S. Main Street 801 359-0192 Mckaydiamonds.com STUDENT MEDIA THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH Read. DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE www.dailyutahchronicle.com Listen. Watch. UNIVERSITY BROADCAST NETWORK THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH www.ubn.utah.edu a.rivera@ chronicle.utah.edu term attorney general in Utah history. He was first elected in woo and has served in the position since. He is a graduate of BYU and the U's College of Law. For more information on the search for the next U president, visit presidentialsearch.utah.edu. n.dunn@ chronicle.utah.edu Anderson said. Wednesday, books are so cents for hardbacks and a quarter for paperbacks. "Thursday it's just $5 for a large bag full of as many books as you can fit, and Friday all the books are free," Anderson said. "Monday and Friday are usually our busiest days." The sale will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily this week, ending Friday. All remaining books will be given to charity. The next book sale will be April. t.north@chronicle.utah.edu Create. absolute COMMUN ICA T ION LITHE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH' www.absolutecomm.utah.edu |