1996-02-28; Central Michigan Life

              ^ervitto
Central I ICT
Michigan Lilt
WEDNESDAY,
FEBRUARY 28,
1996
VOLUME 78, NUMBER 66
MOUNT PLEASANT, MICHIGAN 48859
©1 996 CM LIFE
(517)774-3493
1 8 PAGES
SPORTS
CMU baseball, softball
begin new seasons
Both teams will begin
their quest for MAC titles
in Florida this year. The
baseball team is the
defending champions
while   the   softball   team
finished second last year.
PAGE 9
LIFESTYLES
Graduates prepare for
real world
Seniors preparing to
graduate in May express
mixed feelings about
leaving CMU.
PAGE 12
With this
issue CM
LIFE will
publication
until March
13.
Davenport shocked after dismissal
By Brad Monastiere
LIFE Staff Writer	
Expressing shock, CMU women's
basketball coach Donita Davenport
called the athletic department's
actions "classless" after Monday's
announcement her contract would
not be renewed.
After tonight's game at Toledo,
Davenport will coach her last regular season game at Rose Arena
Saturday night against the Akron
Zips.
Davenport   was   notified   of  the
contract decision by Athletic
Director Herb Deromedi Thursday
afternoon, before last Saturday's
home loss to the Ohio Bobcats.
Deromedi called her into his office
and said the decision was made to
not renew her contract and the
announcement would be made public Monday.
"Did I anticipate this? No," she
said. "I understand losing your job
because you didn't win."
What Davenport did not understand was the circumstances under
which the announcement was
made. There are two games left in
the regular season, tonight at
Toledo and Saturday night at home
against Akron.
The announcement was made
public in a CMU press release
Monday afternoon.
"I am totally shattered at the
way it was handled," she said. "To
do it with three games left in the
season, and to ask the coaches to
coach the last throe games, and the
players   to   play    the   last   three
games under those conditions is a
totally classless act."
Deromedi said the reason for the
timing was so a new coach could be
in place by April 10, when recruits
can make official what college they
want to attend by signing a national letter of intent.
"It's important that anyone who
has verbally committed can have
the opportunity to go elsewhere if
they  chose   to   come   here   for  the
See DAVENPORT Page 6	
•Assistant
Sherry Kelly and Mary
Sheltrown are facing
uncertain futures following Davenport*a firing.
Pif»8
•CMU men's basketball coach Leonard
Drake is not any more
worried than usual
after Davenport's firing.
PageS
FREEDOM
OF
LIFE Photo/Gabriel Guerrero
Cindy Bradley, Mount Pleasant resident, admires the painting she created and placed in front
of her home on High Street. She displayed the sign in protest of widening High Street saying
she is exercising her freedom of speech.
Flood
warning
issued for
Chippewa
River
By Nicole Lowe
LIFE Staff Writer	
The National Weather Service
has issued a flood warning for
the Chippewa River, which is
expected to reach flood level by
this weekend.
Between the hours of 4 and 9
p.m. Tuesday the river rose to
approximately 8 feet, the
National Weather Service
reported Tuesday night.
"It looks like what's causing
the problem here is the thick ice
on the river. (The National
Weather Service) does not
expect any rain tonight. I think
that we're pretty close to flood
stage," said Deputy Robert
David, Mount Pleasant Sheriffs
Department.
The National Weather Service
said to expect a fluctuation of 1-
2 feet of water in the river, leading to flooding.
"This happens a lot with melting snow and the rain," said Rob
Flynn, director of Parks and
Recreation. "The flooding usual-
See FLOODING Page 17
Mt. Pleasant drafts ordinance to ban public nudity
By Lenny Padilla
LIFE Staff Writer	
Spurred by rumor and public
concern, the city of Mount
Pleasant has drafted an ordinance to ban public nudity within city limits.
City Manager Paul Preston,
introduced the proposed ordinance at Monday's City
Commission meeting. The proposal was drafted by City
Attorney Sue JefTers. The state
allows cities and townships to
adopt such bans on public nudity.
The   City   Commission   sched
uled a March  11  public hearing
on the ban.
"There has been much attention focused on television about
an adult book store in Traverse
City," said Tony Kulick, director
of Planning and Community
Development. "It appears that
their ordinance didn't prohibit it
and the community isn't happy."
Kulick said he didn't want the
same situation in Mount
Pleasant.
According to Preston, the proposal was based on similar ordinances passed in other Michigan
cities, including Flint.
The city has a zoning ordinance on the books severely
restricting where establishments that promote public nudity can locate, but does not ban
nudity outright.
According to Kulick, that ordinance is divided into Groups A
and B.
Group A regulates the establishment of adult theaters, massage parlors, adult book stores
and tattoo parlors. Group B
includes such establishments as
pool halls and liquor stores.
Under the current ordinance,
a   Group  A  establishment   can
only be constructed on commercially zoned land and cannot be
built within 1,000 feet of a residential district, church, school,
trailer park or public park.
Establishments under Group
B, must be located at least 500
feet away from those establishments.
According to Kulick, there are
few sites within the city that
meet this criteria, and the land
available is privately owned.
"We haven't prohibited it, but
the property for that kind of
thing is not readily available,"
Kulick said.
"It is almost impossible to
meet the zoning requirements
until you get to north of Pickard
Street by the police post," Kulick
said. "But that doesn't mean
that the land owners will necessarily rent or sell the property to
a prospective group."
The proposed ordinance
defines public nudity as the
knowing or intentional display
in a public place of any individual's genitals or anus with less
than a fully opaque covering; or
a female individual's breast with
less than a full opaque covering
See NUDITY Page 2
Frozen ground postpones repair
for outdoor campus lighting
By Angela Cook
LIFE Staff Writer
A few spots around campus
without outdoor lights will have
to wait for warmer weather
before light is restored.
Lights along the west side of
the Rose Center, the center pole
in Lot 15 in back of Barnes Hall,
the lights on the north side of
the Bovee LTniversity Center and
the walkway of Building J at
Washington Street Apartments
are all without lights, said Dan
Lehr, supervisor of the electric
shop at Facilities Management.
The short lamp posts in front
of the Bovee University Center
also are out.
The problem is occurring
because an underground electrical  wire  has  been exposed  out
side of the building when the
ground shifted because of
changes in the weather, Lehr
said. This problem has occurred
in all five areas.
Lehr said he does not foresee
this to be a major project and
expects limited excavation and
digging in order to repair the
broken wires.
Because the ground is frozen,
the wires will not be repaired
until the end of March, he said.
"Its just a matter of finding
the conduit and pulling the wire
out and replacing the section,"
Lehr said.
Additional lights have not
been added to the affected areas
because surrounding lights are
sufficiently lighting the darkened areas, I^ehr said.
"Its not dark by any means,"
Lehr said. "But there is a noticeable black spot where those
lights are out."
Ron Williams, associate director of Public Safety, could not
comment on whether the lack of
lighting posed a danger to students, but said the unrepaired
lights posed a problem.
"Whether there is a danger or
not we want to get them
repaired," Williams said.
There are more than 1,000
lights campus wide so there will
always be lights needing repair,
Williams said.
"There will always be lights
off," Williams said. "But they do
work hard at getting them
replaced."
Song, dance to highlight
university's Hispanic
Awareness Celebration
By Liz Wishaw
LIFE Staff Writer
Music, food, dancing and culture awareness will highlight
the Hispanic Awareness
Celebration in March.
The theme voted on by the
Hispanic Student Organization,
"Rooted in the Past, Branching
into the Future," leads the celebration through two weeks of
events.
The festivities start March 11
with an art exhibit of Alex
Canelos' drawings and paintings. The exhibit runs until
March 23 in the Bovee
University Center Multicultural
Center
Minority social sorority Sigma
Lambda Gamma is sponsoring a
breast cancer awareness discussion. The event starts at 7 p.m.
March 12 in the UC.
Sigma Lambda Gamma also
will present a movie March 14.
The movie and location will be
announced.
CMU alumnus, Dennis
Valdes, is the keynote speaker
for the two-week celebration.
Valdes, a faculty member of|
the   University  of Minnesota,
teaches  Chicano  studies  and
history,   said   Laura   Gonzales,
director of Minority Affaire.
He received hie bachelor's
degree from CMU in 1968 and
his master's degree in 1970.
See HtSP*IMIC Paoe 2