**Recommended retirement policy could cut medical benefits**

THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA — OU Human Resources is recommending a new retirement medical benefit plan that could decrease the amount of medical care covered beginning January 2016.

The current retiree guidelines state once an employee has reached the proper prerequisites for retirement, OU will subsidize 100 percent of medical costs, said Julius Hilburn, associate vice president and chief human resources officer.

The new policy, which will be submitted to OU President David Boren in March, aims to cut that subsidy to between 55 and 95 percent, Hilburn said. Coverage would depend on length of employment and age, and no one would be eligible until age 55.

The rising costs were attributed to the growing number of retirees, which grew 16 percent between 2008 and 2010, according a news release.

With health care policy headed to the Supreme Court and the changing economy, the department will continue to evaluate its retirement policy regularly, Hilburn said.

—The Oklahoma Daily
By Sean Lawson

**Biden stresses being ‘best’ in education**

OHIO UNIVERSITY — Flamingos, penguins and Vice President Joe Biden took to the stage at Thursday’s Ohio Newspaper Association convention.

Secret Service agents kept an eagle eye on noted zookeeper and animal specialist Jack Hanna’s animals, a later feature in the convention, as Biden spoke at the Hilton Columbus/Polaris about the United States’ presence on the global scale and how it can be enhanced through education.

“We have the finest research universities in the world,” Biden said. “We completely dominate in terms of great universities.”

Biden referenced students’ willingness to demand the most from their educations, a tactic that makes the nation not unique but greater, he said.

“Ladies and gentlemen, it’s not nearly enough that we have an education system that’s getting better and that we are alternately working with, but that the notion from the outset is universal,” Biden said. “Orthodoxy is not part of the deal.”

Biden also addressed jobs, information access and the country’s reliance on exporting and importing goods.

“I’m here to tell you, whether we’re re-elected or not, you’re going to hear the word ‘insourcing’ as much as you heard the word ‘outsourcing’ the last 15 years,” Biden said.

—The Post
By Sara Jerde

**UD alumnus starts online company to help with college search**

UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON — Welcome to College, an online business venture started by a University of Dayton alumnus, has gained recent national recognition.

Justin Bayer, who graduated from UD in 2001 with a bachelor’s in business management, said the site helps prospective college students plan campus visits and search and rate schools throughout the United States. Bayer said he launched the website in September 2010.

Bayer said Welcome to College’s current market is located throughout the Midwest and east coast. He said he is excited that the company is also conversing with larger schools from the Big East, Southeastern, and Big Ten conferences at the moment.

—Flyer News
By Chris Crisanti