Classes are ongoing with temporary instructors but reports from the Southern Illinois University campus in Carbondale are that few students are in attendance.  That'as because the faculty strike continues.  Dr. Dave Johnson, a Faculty Association representative, says the negotiations appear to be improving.

[audio:rddSIU1.mp3]Johnson discusses negotiations[/audio]

The university's faculty has been on strike since Wednesday of last week.  They haven't been able to reach a labor agreement with the school administrators for at least 16-months. A federal mediator has now entered into the negotiations, but it's unclear when an agreement will reached.