1998-10-16; Central Michigan Life

              Central Michigan LIFE
Volume 81, Number 21
Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859
©1998 CM LIFE
79 years of serving the community
Friday
October 16, 1998
12 pages
Second incident closes Soaring Eagle casino, hotel
Chemical
release
leads to
closures
LIFE Staff Reports
An unknown chemical caused
the Soaring Eagle Hotel to be
evacuated for the second day in a
row, canceling an area business
expo and shutting the hotel down
until Saturday.
A chemical irritant of a yet
unidentified nature was released
into laundry and adjacent
employee dining rooms about
12:15 p.m. Wednesday. On
Thursday, tribal authorities were
notified of a possible reoccurrence
of the problem about 1:30 p.m.
and shut the hotel down because
it shares an air filtration system
with the laundry room. As many
as 1,100 people were evacuated.
According to a voice message
by hotel employee John
VanNebel, the hotel would be
shut down until Saturday to regular guest traffic. Business expo
belongings could also not be
picked up until Saturday.
Tribal Chief Kevin
Chamberlain said Thursday that
Thursdays incident happened in
the same general area as on
Wednesday and affected employees only.
"We don't know what the cause
or the source is,** Chamberlain
said.
Chamberlain said the air
shafts are different for the casino
than the hotel, thus the casino
would not be affected. But the
casino was later shut down by 10
p.m. as a precaution and for public safety
Chamberlain said he doesn't
know whether the past two days*
incidents were done on purpose
but the tribe is not ruling out any-
possible sabotage.
"1 think it's way too early in the
game to determine if this is suspicious, if this is a chemical, a
See CHEMICAL Page 2	
RYAN WOOD • CM LIFE
Several Michigan Medical Response ambulances gather at the southwest comer employee entrance of the Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort Thursday after the second chemical incident there in as many days.
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Casino emptied hours
later as a 'precaution'
A Michigan Medical Response ambulance exits the employee
security makes sure no others enter the area.
RYAN WOOD • CM LIFE
off of Broadway while
By Angela S. Vandenberg
LIFE Assistant News Editor and
Lindsay M. Allen
LIFE Et cetera Editor
Soaring Eagle casino patrons left
in droves Thursday upon being
evacuated from the larger casino.
Some went home but many just
went across the street.
At approximately 9 p.m.
Thursday, casino patrons -were notified that the casino would be closing
at 10 p.m. and were advised to
begin cashing out as soon as possible.
A press release from the Saginaw
Chippewa Indian Tribe said the
casino was closed as a precaution
and in the interest of public safety.
This is the responsible thing to
do,"* Tribal Chief Kevin
Chamberlain said in the release.
Judy Whitman, Tribal public relations, was unsure how many people
were evacuated from the hotel and
the casino Thursday
"There were no reports of ill
patrons," she said.  "It was simply
See CASINO Page 2	
Annual business Expo '98 canceled
■ Spill causes evacuation
of building, including
Business Expo '98
By Heather VanDyke
LIFE Assistant News Editor and
David Bossick and Noelle Logan
LIFE Staff Writers
The 6th Annual Business Expo *98
showed success — until things were
cut short and more than 2,000 people
were evacuated from the Soaring
Eagle Casino and Resort because of a
chemical leak.
The event, which began at 11:30
a.m. with a lunch in the grand ballroom of the resort and the expo starting at 1 p.m., had more than 78
exhibits from area businesses. The
event has been canceled and will take
place again next year at the resort,
said Cindy Hales, president of the
Mount Pleasant Area Chamber of
Commerce which sponsors the event.
It wasn't until about 1:20 p.m. that
expo participants were asked to evacuate the building. Most gathered in
the front of the hotel's entrance.
Donna Hatch, from Experience
Works! said she and her co-workers
were told leave the building.
Hatch said she did notice a change
in temperature within the building.
It just got really hot in there," she
said.
Louise Black, also an Experience
Works! employee, said the odor she
detected was familiar. "We could
smell something like an electrical
fire," she said.
Sue Smith, Democratic candidate
for state representative, 99th
District, said it was unfortunate the
leak occurred and said no one could
be prepared for "things like that.**
*Tt is really unfortunate (the chemical spill happened). The Saginaw
Chippewa Tribe has worked so hard.
I am sure they will have another
opportunity to make a good impression,** she said.
Frank Gillbert, paramedic for
Harrison-based United Rescue, said
the illnesses and symptoms guests
and employees of the hotel experienced were similar to Wednesday's.
"Basically the same thing that happened yesterday, happened today**
Hales said in a press release that
exhibitors would be contacted next
week by the expo planning committee. Several hundred people visited
the exhibit while it was open.
See EXPO Page 2	
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RYAN WOOD • CM LIFE
Business Expo participants wait outside the main entrance of the hotel after being
evacuated due to a chemical incident on Thursday.
Classified
11
Crossword
11
Et cetera
8-9
Sports
6-7
Voices
4
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Phone: <S17> 774-3493
E-Mail: CMLIFEecmuvmxsv.cmich.cdci
Fax number: (SI 7) 774-7805
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Internet address:
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Five students arraigned
on marijuana charges
■ .w.amui.n
sssssa
By Matt Edick
LIFE Staff Writer
Five CMU students entered a plea of
innocence Wednesday after being
arraigned on charges ranging from possession of marijuana to use of the same
substance.
Justin Melville and John Doyle, both
19, both Grand Rapids freshmen, pled
guilty to possession of marijuana charges
Wednesday.
According to Detective Jeff Pickler of
the CMU Police department, the maximum penalty for that offense is up to one
year in jail and/or a $2,000 fine. In addition, the court will also impose sanctions
against the offenders* drivers licenses.
Kevin Warnack, 19, Harrison
Township freshman, Ryan MacDermaid,
21,   Linden   sophomore,   and   Matthew
Lonsway, 19, Washington Township
freshman, were arraigned Wednesday
and pled not guilty to the charge of use of
marijuana.
The usage offense is a misdemeanor,
Pickler said. The maximum penalty, if
convicted, is 90 days in jail and/or a $100
fine. The court will also impose sanctions
on the offenders* driver's licenses.
The incident initially began Oct. 1,
when CMU Police received a tip that the
five Larzelere Hall residents were smoking marijuana in their room. Officers,
including CMU's K-9 officer Lizzy, were
dispatched to the hall.
A search was conducted and the officers recovered from the room a small
quantity of marijuana. The findings were
See MARIJUANA Page 5	
-slinging continues |
in Srrdth/Caul race
ByUzvVbhaw
UfeCdr**
More mud U b«in^ flun« m th« rmc« for
the 99th Dwrtrict State Representative
race and this time, CMU's reputation has
been dragged in.
A recent direct mail circular by the
Michigan Republican State Committee
stated that Sue Smith, Democratic candidate for the 99tih District, -brings new
meaning to the words frequent fryer,* at
taxpayer expense.
Smith, who Is the director of the
Masters of Science in Administration
Program at CMU, i» responsible for offering the program on campus and off campus through Use Oo&ege of Extended
Learning.
Part of the circular states Smith "spent
$83,793.82 of taxpayer money to do her
job. And she didn't teach a single day in
1997.*
Smith said the $84,000 was spent over
a seven-year period.
It implies that I am using university
resources improperly. The truth is, as a
director of MSA—or whoever it is —
they witt be traveling ail over the U.S.
and .. .Mexico, Canada,* Smith said.
Rae Goldsmith, associate vice president of Public Relations and Marketing,
said the a*fs statement is not true. She
said most of the $84,000 is from out-of-
state enrollment — about 95 percent.
See SMtTH/CAUt Page 11