DOWNSIZING HAS CONSEQUENCES. Northern Illinois University had promised a report on the February 2008 shootings by the end of February 2010. The report has been further delayed.

A number of unexpected events at NIU during February is the reason for the delay, [spokesman Brad] Hoey said.

The first was finding out the school was receiving a $7.5 million federal grant to create a Regional Extension Center to help doctors throughout the state adopt digital health information records that can be shared quickly and securely. A news conference was held Feb. 17 to announce that.

NIU staff then had to focus on another grant, as it learned last week that the county would be receiving about $13 million in state and federal funds to expand high-speed Internet access in the area to about 60 anchor institutions, including schools, hospitals, libraries, public safety entities and government agencies.

DeKalb County will administer the project, known as the DeKalb Advancement of Technology Authority, or DATA. NIU will design the infrastructure and network, and DeKalb Fiber Optics LLC will maintain the fiber cable and provide services over the infrastructure. NIU staff helped coordinate the Feb. 19 news conference at which that grant was announced.

And on the morning of Feb. 19, the campus had to respond to a shooting outside of the Stevenson North residence hall towers. NIU student Zachary Isaacman has been charged with shooting Brian Mulder, 24, of Marengo in the leg around 3:30 a.m. that morning.

“It put us a little bit behind in coordinating and getting things together so that we can get the report out,” Hoey said of those unexpected events. “It is coming, and it is coming rather quickly.”

The university still is getting the hard copy of the report together and determining a delivery mechanism, Hoey said.

So much for downsizing being a way to boost productivity: there comes a workload that will overburden the most dedicated corps of remaining workers.

The editorial board of the Northern Star, which, while engaging in Ahab-like pursuit of campus police chief Donald Grady, has done excellent work uncovering family ties in the administration and reporting on the cost of the football positional arms races, disagrees.

Following the Northern Star’s editorial calling for Donald Grady’s removal as NIU Police Chief, the university announced that a three-person review panel would investigate the situation.

For weeks, NIU officials said the panel would conclude around Thanksgiving.

On Nov. 24, 2009 the university announced that the panel had submitted its report.

Pay attention to the date. Nov. 24 was the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.

It was not only the last day before Thanksgiving break, but it also comes at a time when the NIU community is not worried about the goings-on of the university, but how much food they will eat over the
weekend.

Then, when NIU announced that Grady would be reinstated, they did so on Dec. 11: the Friday of finals week.

Clearly, NIU has an issue with timing. When it comes to good news, it has no problem telling the whole world.

But when it comes to “bad news,” like releasing important reports or raising tuition, NIU prefers to do it at a time when no one’s paying attention.

Which brings us to this week. On Dec. 11, the university announced that it would be releasing the University Police’s report on the Feb. 14 shootings at the end of February.

The editors are betting on a Friday release. They have asked for a Wednesday release. The Star's last issue before spring break will be published Thursday.