1996-01-17; Central Michigan Life

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Central I IE C
Michigan LITE
WEDNESDAY,
JANUARY 17,
1996
VOLUME 78, NUMBER 48
MOUNT PLEASANT, MICHIGAN 48859
©1996 CM LIFE
(517)774-3493
SPORTS
Not again
With a total of four players
suspended, the Chippewas
have only nine players for
tonight's game at Ball
State, including one walk-
on, vaguely reminiscent of
last year's 6-man team
fiasco.
Page 8
LIFESTYLES
CMU graduate provides
readers with advice
Kathy Lancaster, a 1973
CMU graduate provides
readers with adoption
advice in two books she
wrote.
Pg 10
CAMPUS
Montabella may
charter entire district
The Montabella School
District took one more
step toward chartering all
of its schools.
PAGE 3
W
TODAY     4o/;*a
mostlv clou civ
THURSDAY 15/35
rain showers
Students get refunds, employees lose jobs
w
E Features Editor
CMU announced Monday its
decision to subcontract the labor
portion of Dining Services and
pass on savings to students.
Approximately 90 Dining
Services employees, who were
waiting to hear the verdict on
their future job status at CMU,
were notified Monday in a letter
that their positions are being
subcontracted to ARAMARK as
of January 1997.
Both ARAMARK and the
American    Federation   of  State
County and Municipal
Employees Local 1568 submitted
bids for the labor portion of food
service.
"After careful review of those
proposals, the university has
determined that savings of about
$1.3 million per year over our
current costs will be realized by
contracting with ARAMARK,"
stated the letter from Kim
Ellertson, vice president for
Business and Finance, to Dining
Services employees.
According to Ellertson, the
savings will be passed on to stu
dents who are living in the residence halls in January 1997.
"We're going to give every student in the residence halls next
January $130," he said.
Ellertson said he doesn't think
announcing future student savings at the same time as laying
off approximately 90 Dining
Services workers will lead students to perceive the refund in a
negative light.
"I think they'll perceive it as a
refund . . . based on a change in
the cost structure," he said.
It's   estimated    that    subcon
tracting will save students an
average of $260 per year, or 6.5
percent annually in room and
board payments for each of the
university's 5,000 residence hall
residents.
Students living in the residence halls next January will be
issued vouchers that can be
redeemed for cash or can be
applied to other university
expenses.
For students, news of future
savings is a financial relief, but
for Dining Services employees
the news is devastating.
TRAFFIC
JAM
LIFE Photo/Bryan Bosch
Frustrated students find themselves trapped in traffic as they race to find a parking
space in Lot 33 behind Moore Hall Tuesday morning.
Tuesday, Ellertson visited each
of the four dining commons to
meet with employees.
Dining Services employees in
the Merrill/Sweeney Dining
Commons were told to stop work
and sit down at tables in the
cafeteria for a mandatory meeting with Ellertson at approximately 11:45 a.m. Tuesday.
In front of approximately 50
students eating lunch in Merrill
Dining Commons, Ellertson
talked about the future job sta-
See ARAMARK Page 11
Freshmen
still have
to stay on
campus
By Annie Heitjan
LIFE Staff Writer	
Word on the street is that
freshmen may soon be allowed
to live off campus.
"That's sure a rumor,** said
John Fisher, director of
Residence Life, who would like
to set the record straight. The
rules haven't changed.
He said the confusion may
have arisen from a section of the
residency requirements which
states that in times of high
enrollment sophomores may
move off campus to make room
for freshmen in the residence
halls.
"In that case we would want to
guarantee the freshmen space,**
Fisher said. He does not expect
this to happen in the 1996-97
school year, but according to
enrollment predictions, "after
'97 we would probably have to
exercise that option.**
It was common practice in the
'80s  to allow some sophomores
See MOVE Page 6
Troutman, Woldt and Trout turning
alcohol and tobacco free next fall
By Dave Borough
LIFE Staff Writer	
With the demand for alcohol
and tobacco free rooms increasing, CMU is taking measures to
accommodate students.
Beginning next fall Troutman,
Woldt and Trout halls will
become alcohol and tobacco free
residence halls, according to
Shaun Holtgreive, assistant
director of Residence Life.
Holtgreive said the change is
being made to accommodate the
demand for requests for ATF living areas.
The increase in applications
from incoming freshman, combined with requests from
returning students was a key
factor in making the decision, he
said.
The new ATF residence halls
will provide the extra space
needed to satisfy the demand, he
said.
**It is a matter of space,**
Holtgreive said.
He added that the decision
was made early last semester.
Selena Williams, residence
hall director of Troutman Hall,
said she was unaware of the
changes.
"I mentioned the possibility of
becoming an ATF hall, but I did
not think I influenced a decision," Williams said. 4VI think it
would be a great idea."
"I'm very for it," said Scott
Schlachter, St. Clair Shores
freshman   and   Troutman   resi
dent.
In addition to the new ATF
halls the other residence halls
will keep one floor ATF, said
Holtgreive.
"It is a good concept,** said
Julie Marek, Potterville sophomore and resident assistant in
Woldt Hall. "Most of the students on my ATF floor are there
by their own choice."
According to Audrey Pecott,
Clinton freshmen and Troutman
resident, an ATF environment
will only benefit the students.
In addition to the ATF halls,
Larzelere, Cobb, Beddow,
Merrill and Herrig halls will
become tobacco free in the fall,
Holtgreive said.
Local group claims City Commission
fed false data in High Street
By Jennifer Pawlowski
LIFE Assistant News Editor	
One local neighborhood group
believes inaccurate traffic data
may have influenced the Mount
Pleasant City Commission's recommendation to widen High
Street.
The South Central Association
of Neighbors is trying to gather
support to launch an investigation of traffic volume statistics
presented to the City
Commission in September by
Bart LaBelle, director of the
Michigan Department        of
Transportation.
LaBelle's letter to the commission  states that the traffic vol
ume on High Street increased
from 14,000 vehicles per day in
1992 to 16,000 vehicles per day
in 1994.
The letter also included a diagram of Mount Pleasant to support the statistics, but no studies
or traffic counts are cited with
the letter.
John Scalise, a member of the
steering committee for SCAN,
said he used the Freedom of
Information Act to request from
MDOT every traffic study or
count done from 1992 to 1995 on
the traffic volume on High
Street.
LaBelle said he obtained his
information   from   MDOT  staff.
but none of the traffic studies
Scalise received from MDOT
supports LaBelle's conclusion
that the traffic increased by
2.000 vehicles per day over the
two-year period.
Scalise has axle counts that
show the traffic volume
decreased by 8 percent during
the two years, with 13,471 vehicles per day in 1992 and 13,215
vehicles per day in 1994.
The axle count for 1995
decreased further to 12,496
vehicles per day.
Scalise said axle counts are
obtained by laying traffic hoses
across the street and a count is
See SCAN Page 6
Three more basketball
players suspended
after Saturday fight
By James Cook
LIFE Sports Editor
and Eric Herter
LIFE Assistant Sports Editor
Three more men's basketball
players were suspended in relation to a locker room altercation
after Saturday night's 81-76 loss
to Eastern Michigan University,
CMU head coach Leonard Drake
announced.
Team captian Mike Walker,
the only senior on the squad,
and sophomore forward Ryan
Holmes, of Jackson, were suspended for the season as the
principal individuals in the
fight.
Walker, of Oscoda, was hospi-
Edwards
Kilgore
talized with a broken jaw at
Central Michigan Community
Hospital and said Sunday he
would miss the rest of his last
season anyway.
Walker's attorney, Jean
Tournwald of Lansing, said
Walker also has bruises on the
side and back of his head.
Holmes had been suspended
indefinitely on Sunday.
Sophomore guards Thomas
Kilgore,  of Grand   Rapids,  and
Vince Edwards, of Cincinnati,
also were suspended for five
games each for their part in the
incident.
Their status will be reviewed
by Drake after five games.
"The whole episode is
extremely unfortunate, yet I'm
not convinced it isn't something
we can't get past," Drake said.
"At this stage, we're taking
steps we feel are necessary for
our team to work through this
episode.
"I'm not going to give the
details of the incident. It
appears to have come out of tensions after a hard-fought game.
We're dealing with it internally
and going on from here."
Walker filed a written statement with Department of Pub ic
Safety Detective Jeff Pickler,
who said DPS was "investigating the incident and when a
report is completed, it will be
sent to the prosecuting attorney."
Walker, who has had his jaw
wired shut, said he was not yet
sure if he would press criminal
charges .
Tournwald said Walker was
notified of his suspension by
Athletic Director Herb
Deromedi    Monday    afternoon
and added   he and Walker plan
to   ask   for   Walker's   reinstate
ment     in     a     meeting     with
Deromedi Thursday.
Walker   had   originally   esti-
See SUSPEND Page 2
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