Because of the minimum wage increase affective July 1, many Eastern employers on campus prepare for changes added to their payroll.

The salary increase raises minimum wage from $8 to $8.25 an hour. The raise in wage is one of the results of legislation passed in 2006.

Peggy Manley, the administrative assistant at Booth Library, said raising minimum wage is a good thing.

Manley said this increase will help college students and also aid many people who only make $8 an hour as their only source of income.

“When Illinois raises minimum wage, it helps the students here earn more with a few less hours,” she said.

Manley said although raising minimum wage has its benefits, the increase can have its disadvantages.

“It’s good news for the wage earner, but it makes it difficult for the library because we now have less hours of student help work,”

she said.

Manley said besides cutting hours of student workers, the library might also cut money used to buy equipment, Internet journals, and books to accommodate a payroll for needed civil workers.

Ken Baker, campus recreation director said the student recreation center will also cut money spent on equipment.

“We have two treadmills that need to be replaced and they probably won’t be replaced,” he said.

Baker said the Rec center probably will not see much change and no one will probably notice any differences.

“We have programs that we can sustain and afford, and will work harder,” he said.

Baker said one of the problems in raising money for student payroll and civil workers is due to the state still owing the university promised money.

Brittany Livingston, a junior communication studies major, said $100 is now worth $50 in this economy.

Livingston said she has been working at the Java Beanery and Bakery on campus this summer.

She said she has not noticed the minimum wage change, and is waiting until her next paycheck to find out.

Harrison Bueno can be reached at 581-7942

or at hbueno@eiu.edu

Queenie Adeboyejo, a pre-med major from Chicago, helps customers at the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union Bookstore on Wednesday. (Jordan Boner

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