1990-08-29; Central Michigan Life

              CMU football team struggles with injuries
^ See Page 12A
USING CAUTION
Officials concerned about funding callback
See Page 1B
LOWER
Oft     HIGH
OWS TODAY
MID
50
LOW
S   TONIGHT
Central
Michigan
WEDNESDAY
August 29, 1990
$1 million payoff
still eludes CMU
Utility company will make good on
investment, the question is when
by YVONNE C. CLAES
1 «r *~   t (Jitor
A six-monlh-old lawsuit
involving CMU, a securities
broker and two ratings corporations roads like a mystery novel,
with the latest chapter leaving
all sides guessing.
CMU officials made what they
considered a safe, $950,000
investment in a Colorado utility
corporation in February 1989.
When the company went under,
CMU decided to sue the broker
and ratings companies which
suggested making the investment.
In   an   "unusual   twist"   to   an
already complicated case, Judge
Patricia Clark of the Denver
branch of the U.S. Bankruptcy
Court ruled Aug. 6 to appoint a
trustee to handle Colorado-UTE
Rlectric Association's finances.
"From what I understand, it is
very uncommon," University
Attorney Eileen Jennings said of
the appointment.
Leo Weiss, staff attorney for
the U.S. Trustees Office, said
trustees usually are appointed in
cases where fraud, misuse or
incompentency is proven.
The appointment makes
Colorado-UTE's 14-member
board   of  directors   "powerless."
CMU, feds audit at least 2,000
Central financial aid students
Weiss said, adding the board will
serve in an advisory capacity.
"They basically have no po%ver
— just the power of persuasion,"
Weiss said.
Weiss, who said his role is to
act    as    a    "watchdog"    for    the
See TWIST Page 1 IA
by COLLEEN NEWV1NE
l IFf-  Arts & FnTertitininf'Mi Hdii'ir
Some Americans dread an audit by the Internal
Revenue Service, and spend hours poring over
their tax forms making every attempt to get it
tight.
But the IRS is not the only agency that may call
for an audit
Sheryl T. Spivey. director of Financial Aid, said
the federal government targets 30 percent of CMU
students receiving financial aid for verification of
the information they submit.
CMU chooses to audit another 10 percent for
additional verification, she added.
About 7,000 CMU people receive federal financial aid and of that number, 2.000 get the call for
more information, Spivey said.
Verification only applies to students receiving
aid through the federal government. But Spivey
added that some scholarships make need determinations based on federal information -■ and those
students may get called as well.
Once a student is targeted for verification, he or
she is asked to submit such items as student and
parent tax forms, federal assistance data or
statements of unemployment, Spivey said.
"If they submit the documentation, their
package will be ready on time," she said.
But some students end up in a last-minute
crunch due to the process.
"I sent in my financial aid forms and then they
sent me a letter about the verification process. I
had to get all the tax forms together and fill out a
form and then come in again to get it all straight,"
said Lisa Anderson, Ludington junior.
"The problem is. it slows down your whole
process — my registration won't go through until
the verification goes through." Anderson said
Friday.
She said if verification delayed her, she would
lose classes she registered for and have to pick up
new ones at Drop/Add.
See AUDIT Page 16A
m
*
£:, :J$g£:cA
p:"-;f-
SuscSSS.'.
Jennifer    LaMonte.  left,    Waterford    senior,    and    Robin    Lynch,
kitchen    since the begining of the semester.
LIFE Photo Mic Stankiewiez
Brighton junior, have lived in their Park Place apartment
Tire hazard' leaves students in the dark ages
by STEVEN PONIATOWSKI
! :t i   M ,;! 'AT,!,-!    ■
Residence halls Huge slabs of ugly concrete created by the same
person who designs state prisons
A place where privacy and space are unknown.
Moving out of them appeals to a lot of people.
But residence hall life does not put you through what 25 tenants
at Park Place Apartments, at Bellows and Elizabeth, have gone
through so far this semester.
Jennifer LaMonte. Waterford senior, and Robin Lynch. Brighton
junior, are spending their first week off campus in a tiny 10-foot
strip of their apartment.
No. these students are not trying to simulate the lifestyle of the
average (Guatemalan peasant. A city fire code inspector told tenants
thev cannot move into their bedrooms until the landlord has the
new walls knocked out, they said.
Until that's done, LaMonte and Lynch said they have no
electricity except in their kitchen, which is also their only source of
running water.
The newly added walls in the bedrooms split a two-person
bedroom into two one-person rooms.
The drywall cut the bedroom window in half, and LaMonte said
the city inspector declared it a fire hazard.
While they wait for the walls to be removed, without electricity,
they have to keep all their belongings out of the way and are now-
clumped in the living room, she said.
"It took me a half hour to find my calculator," Lynch said.
The residents have complained to the apartment management,
and the owners, I,ansing-based Bonfiglio and Reeves, are going to
meet the tenants sometime during the week.
Park Place officials declined to comment and the legal
department of Bonfiglio's office could not he reached.
SGA vice president aims
for seat on city commission
by MARY CHURCH
I H f   Copy r-riilor
The vice president of Student
Government Association is
attempting to expand his political realm.
■ Jason Laker declared his
candidacy for election to the
Mount Pleasant City Commission over the summeF.
But even if he loses the
election, Laker, West Bloomfield
junior, said he thinks he has
already accomplished
something.
"I'm more well-known on
campus than I thought," he said.
"It surprised me how many
people knew me. It makes me
feel good.".
Though he is only beginning
his third year at Central, Laker
said he likes the city and
considers Mount Pleasant, and
not West Bloomfield, his home.
"I have gotten to know the
town well," he said. "I have
gotten to meet a lot of people,
from typical residents to
Chamber of        Commerce
members.    I've   met   a   wide
spectrum of people."
•■■■■   Laker says he is encouraging
students to vote, but does not
feel dependent on them.
"I really believe if students go
out and vote I'll win," he said. "I
have every confidence (that) I
have as good of a chance as the
other candidates.
"I'm hoping the students go
out and vote. But at the same
. time, I'm not just an advocate of
the students."
Laker said he is particularly
interested in educational issues.
"I believe it would be helpful to
the kids in town to see someone
closer  to  their  age  in   govern-
h See LAKER Page 16A
LAKER: Bids for commission
CMU's recycling
aspirations stop
at high price tag
by SUSAN MAAS .\ • / (     ...•;/.--    ■• -._--- ■■ ■'-.... : . ^:..
\ nF  Copy Editor
As CMU administrators have learned, the right thing to do isn't
always the easiest thing to do.
Or perhaps, more importantly, the cheapest.
Hopes for a University-wide recycling plan for this year were
thwarted when officials learned the cost for such a plan could reach
around $160,000.
"We in the worst way want to get into the recycling business, but the
budget won't allow us to do it now," said Scott Cole, assistant vice
president for Facilities
Management.
Campus Planner Peter
Uortmi said estimates were
reached alter a recycling study
was    completed    by    Facilities
Management in late 1989.
The $lf>0.000 cost is
additional to the $110,000
Central already pays each year to have a contractor — M & M
Disposal of Mount Pleasant — haul its waste to a transfer station in
Alma, Cole said. The waste then is dispersed to an out-of-county
landfill, he said.
(Jorlon estimated that roughly 80 percent of the University's waste
is recyclable.
F.ven if the University was recycling all the waste it could, it
wouldn't lower M & Mf's $1 10,000 charge because contractors use flat
rates instead of volume rates, Cole explained. 5
Cole gave a general breakdown of the total estimated recycling cost.
See RECYCLE Page 11A
Faculty bargaining on
hold to await mediator
by KAREN EMERSON
I If \r  Staff Wnter
Contract negotiations between administrators and faculty members
are on hold this week while both sides await a mediator.
N'egoiiators for faculty and administration requested a mediator
Friday because they couldn't compromise on economic issues — but
the mediator assigned to negotiations has to be replaced.
"I'm not sure when a mediator will arrive," said Diane Mai mo, an
adviser to local Michigan Education Association members.
Malmo said she received a call in the last couple days that the
original mediator assigned to the Mount Pleasant region, Bill
Borushko, is not coming to work on CMU contract negotiations.
She said the Michigan Employee Relations Committee will assign
another mediator to the case soon.
"1 don't know who that is yet," Malmo said.
The [acuity's 1987 contract expired this year, and the faculty
continues to operate without a new contract.
Negotiations continued through Aug. 24 when faculty and
administrators began discussing economic issues, such as salary and
benefits.
'  A Sept. 4 Faculty Association meeting to discuss possible action and
negotiations is planned.
Association President Guy Meiss said members will discuss the
possibility of "work to rule."
"Work to rule" means faculty members would participate in
class-related activities only, said Meiss, associate professor of
journalism. ■
Faculty members did not have a contract when classes started in
1987, and they opted to have "work to rule" to protest slow
negotiations. ■ • ■ i,.;.'';•• <',:■*.*:*.■.
CM LIFE is printed entirely on recycled paper
v
11