1994-09-14; Central Michigan Life

              •MAC GETS 19 GAMES ON CABLE TV
*TRIBE ELECTS NEW COUNCIL MEMBER
•Student
doubles as
professional
BOWLER
PAGE 12
HIGH: upper 70s
LOW: low 60s
Central! IFF
Michigan LI m   E
%?ca3^
VOLUME 77, NUMBER 7
MOUNT PLEASANT, MICHIGAN 48859
O 1994 CM LIFE
(517> 774-3493
16 PAGES j
Dean of students position created
r By MARJORY RAYMER
L IFF Editor
With the creation of a new
student service office. President
Leonard Plachta used his annual
university address Monday to
continue restructuring the university administration.
Plachta created a dean of students   office   by   deferring  many
departments    that    were    previ-
iusIv part of the academic or Stu-
lent Affairs divisions to the new
iddition, which was designed to
>etter  serve   students  academically    and    non-academically,
Plachta said.
Interim Provost Richard
Davenport said the dean's office
will not replace the former vice
president of Student Affairs
office — which was dissolved by
Plachta in April, but instead is an
"entirely different model."
Academic   Advising.   Orienta
tion, Counseling, Academic
Assistance, Admissions, Student
Life, Scholarships and Financial
Aid, the Registrar's Office,
Career Planning and Placement,
the Honors Program and the Volunteer Center will fall under the
dean's jurisdiction.
"This is the first in a series of
steps to make CMU the most
student- and learning-oriented
university in Michigan,** the
president said.
Plachta appointed Bruce Ros-
coe. honors programs director,
interim dean of students; Susan
Clarkson, former assistant vice
president for Student Affairs,
accompanies him as associate
dean for the academic year; and
Mike Owens, director of Admissions, will become the associate
dean of enrollment management
within the office.
See PLACHTA Page 2	
THE NEW MODEL
Offices reporting to
new dean of students:
•Academic Advising
•Orientation
•Counseling
•Academic Assistance
•Admissions
•Student Life
•Scholarships &
Financial Aid
•Registrar
•Career Planning &
Placement Center
•Honors Program
•Volunteer Center
Interim
officer
selected
Roscoe
By TODD FETTIG
I IF-f-   Staff Writer	
Student service is almost a way of life for Bruce
Roscoe.
Since 1980 he's been serving students as a member of CMU's faculty, becoming director of the honors program in 1987 and a professor of human environmental studies in 1988.
He's earned bachelors and doctoral degrees in
child development and a master's degree in
counseling education and personal development.
And he's written countless publications, most of
which focus on adolescents, young adults or college
students.
So Roscoe's new duty as interim dean of students.
LIFE PhotorTodd Fettig
announced Monday during President Leonard
Plachtas campus address, seems to be right up his
alley, he said.
"Everything seemed to lead right to this," Roscoe
said. "It seems to be a very natural progression."
And the office of the dean of students, which will
oversee 11 departments that deal directly with student needs, seems to be a natural progression for
the university, Roscoe said.
m <   ROSCOE Page 14	
DO YOU
TRUST ME?
Teaching outdoor skills is a class based not only on working
together as a team, but also trusting one another. In this particular
LIFE Prioto/Jennifer Wade
activity each student tries his luck at falling blind into his teammates arms while standing up on a raised platform.
Teen testifies man, 27, committed 3rd-degree CSC
By CINDY TROMBLEY
LIFF Staff Writer	
Scott Alexander, 27-year-old
CMU student, was bound over to
circuit court on charges of third
degree criminal sexual conduct
after a 16-year-old girl and her
friend testified Tuesday in a 76th
District Court preliminary
examination.
The alleged victim testified at
the preliminary examination she
was visiting her friend, Stephanie Wilk, in Timber Creek Apartments, 33O0 E Deerfield Road,
when the alleged assault
occurred Sept. 5.
Third degree criminal sexual
conduct involves sexual penetration by force or coercion with a
person between the ages of 13 and
16
The alleged victim testified
that when Wilk finished work,
the two girls picked up two of
Wilk's co-workers. She testified
that Alexander, who was an
acquaintance of Wilk's friends,
purchased a fifth of vodka — of
which the alleged victim had "a
few sips** — for the minors.
Part of the group returned to
the liquor store to purchase four
or five 40-ounce beers later in the
evening, she said, with Alexander and the alleged victim
traveling to the store in the same
car and making "small talk**
while the others went separately.
Sharing drinks with Alexander
and a friend, the alleged victim
consumed about 20 ounces of beer
and said she felt nauseous. She
went into the bathroom to vomit.
Wilk testified that Alexander
and she both checked on the girl,
who was in the bathroom for
almost an hour.
The alleged victim said when
she came out of the bathroom
everyone except Alexander had
left
The girl fell asleep on a bed and
awoke to Alexander on top of her
having sexual intercourse, she
said. "His weight woke me up,
and I knew what was going on."
She said she told Alexander
she was going to be sick and
rolled away from him.
She said she put on her clothing, which had been removed
from the waist down, ran to the
bathroom and threw up.
The girl called her boyfriend,
she said. Alexander disconnected
the phone and began yelling profanities at her as she was making
the call. So, the girl went in
Wilk's bedroom, she said.
The alleged victim did not have
a chance to explain to Wilk what
happened because Alexander
continued to yell, she said.
Wilk said after everyone went
to bed, the girl woke her by coming into the room screaming.
Wilk said the girl was screaming
that Alexander had "raped*' her.
Wilk said she kicked Alexander
out of the apartment. "I told him
that if he wouldn't get out of my
apartment. I was going to call the
police," Wilk said.
Wilk called the girl's parents
and the police after Alexander
left, the alleged victim said   "By
this time, I had explained everything to Stephanie (Wilk)."
The girl said she had not previously known Alexander.
"She was never flirtatious with
him at all," Wilk said.
Alexander is scheduled for
arraignment at 8 a.m. Sept. 23 in
Isabella County Circuit Court.
Alexander's bond remained at
$1 <),()00 despite a movement from
the d€»fense to have it lowered, so
Alexander could return to work
and school.
Expert
lauds
MPPD
after
review
By TODD FETTIG
i IF-F   Staff Writer	
The Mount Pleasant Police
Department received a passing
grade from a Ferris State University criminal justice expert who
was hired by the city following a
police shooting of a Mount Pleasant man.
Robert Parsons, director of the
Criminal Justice Institute at
FSU, said in his 28-page review
that the Mount Pleasant Police
Department was "very well managed and provides excellent service to the community,** despite
being understaffed.
At Monday's city commission
meeting, City Manager Paul Preston outlined Parsons* report,
which was initiated shortly after
two Mount Pleasant officers shot
and killed Thomas Sova when
police say he lunged at them with
a knife, April 21.
Parson's findings include:
'■ Employee  morale  within  the
department   was   very   good   to
excellent;
■ The department's relationship with other departments in
Isabella County is "nothing less
than excellent";
■ New officer selection, field
training programs and the process for promotion to rank of
sergeant and above is excellent;
■ Individual officer training
and collective training is very
good.
Parsons also approved of the
department's record system and
data base as well as its policy that
provides an opportunity for citizens to make formal complaints.
But Parsons concluded that the
city should consider an increase
in police staffing and said the
department should lengthen its
probationary period for new
employees to allow more thorough employee assessment.
He also concluded the department needs to improve its televised police training, train existing clerical staff or contract with
central dispatch to transmit all
state crime data and strengthen
its citizen complaint procedure.