1998-11-06; Central Michigan Life

              Central Michigan LIFE
Volume 81, Number 30
Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859
©1998 CM LIFE
79 years of serving the community
Friday
November 6, 1998
12 pages
Service, maintenance workers settle on contract
By Renee Lutz
LIFE News Editor
After more than two years of
negotiation, CMU administrators and members of the
American Federation of State,
County and Municipal
Employees Local 1568 union
have finally reached agreement
on a new contract.
The tentative agreement, ratified Thursday by more than
260 CMU service and maintenance   workers   in   the   union,
Council
was made an effective contract
immediately following ratification, said Maxine Tubbs, director of Staff Personnel Services.
"We are thrilled (to have the
contract)," Tubbs said. "We are
anxious to put this contract in
place and move ahead.**
Linda Philo, AFSCME Local
1568 president and utilities
worker, said Thursday's vote of
207 to 28 was a relief to those
bargaining since 1996.
"It was an overwhelming vote
in favor of ratification. We've
been negotiating for two years,
so it's been a long, hard struggle, but we hope that the university will continue to work
with us in good faith," Philo
said.
The contract, which is effective until July 1, 2002, has several provisions to be implemented at various dates prior to
its ratification, Tubbs said.
Among the provisions, ARAMARK, the national firm man
aging CMU's food service since
1995, will be taking over Dining
Services beginning July 1,
1999, Tubbs said.
Subcontracting will not take
effect until this date, she said.
According to the provision,
employees in Dining Services
hired after Jan. 1, 1996, will be
taken off of CMU's payroll July
1, 1999, and will be offered positions with ARAMARK, Tubbs
said.
"The   reason   we   used   that
date is twofold," Tubbs said.
She said since the retirement
law for employees at CMU
changed, and there was no program for those employees when
hired in, it was understood that
the change would probably
occur.
In addition, employees not yet
vested in the current Michigan
retirement sysvem will be
allowed to stay or CMU's payroll until the end of the month,
and will then become vested in
the retirement system, Tubbs
said. At that point in time, the
employees can use the staff layoff process to bump into other
positions within the CMU bargaining unit, or to sign with
ARAMARK, she said.
Also, those employees already
vested in the state retirement
system will be grandfathered in
for five years, starting July 1,
1999, and will  then be able to
See CONTRACT Page 12
another
resignation
■ Silker becomes second to quit
Affirmative Action Council
By Liz Wishaw
LIFE Editor
A second member of the Affirmative Action
Council resigned Wednesday, less than two weeks
after co-chair Diane Newby quit the council.
Gary Silker, assistant professor of counseling,
notified remaining council co-chair Sherry
Bourgeois of his resignation Wednesday at the
council's special meeting.
Silker, who represents the Academic Senate on
the council, said he and other members have
tried to remain positive about the council in the
past few weeks, since University President
Leonard Plachta released his eighth letter outlining the proposed changes to the Affirmative
Action plan. But Silker said he could no longer
remain optimistic and felt he could not sit on a
council whose mission was uncertain.
Tve been thinking about the process of the
council over the year and half that I've been on it.
Starting with the revision of the Affirmative
Action statement, I became concerned about the
process which left out input from the Affirmative
Action Council.
"While the current Affirmative Action protocol
has desirable goals to improve how issues of
opportunity and Affirmative Action issues are
addressed on this campus, I feel that the structure and process does not follow what I understand to be Affirmative Action goals. Specifically,
I feel that the process — which does not include
the groups that are affected by the policy in the
formulation of that policy — does not give the
people affected proper consideration.'*
Silker said the groups in question were not a
part of the input process when it came time to
revise the Affirmative Action plan. These groups
include the offices of Institutional Diversity and
Student Disabilities, Gay and Lesbian Programs,
Native American Programs and the
Multicultural Center and its administrators.
**Ib have input after the fact, people did not
have an opportunity to be a part of the decision
making process," he said.
Bourgeois, who is also assistant director of
marketing for the College of Extended Learning,
said Silker will also be missed on the council.
"Gary has been very, very active on the council
and Fm very sad to see him go, just as I was with
Dr. Newby. Both were very active in the discussions and activities, and I understand their reasons for resigning, but the council will definitely
miss them."
She said she can't speak for other members, but
she personally feels the council's spirit may be
breaking.
"Not knowing anything about the council's
future until next semester, all we can do right
now is make a response to the protocol. We're
expected to keep working with this, but it is in
the back of everyone's mind. It is hard to keep
SeeSHJCEW Page 12	
Classified 11
Crossword 11
Et cetera 8-9
Sports 6-7,10
Voices 4
To reach CM LIFE
Phone <517) 774-34*5
E-Mail: CMLIFEMc7nuvBucBv.csnicK.edu
Fax number: (517) 774-7a05
Central Michigan LIFE Online
Internet address Http--//*www.cmlifexrmirh.edu
7kYWG TO MAX* SAfl
Left: Acting as judge and jury,
Jim Hahn, Romeo sajnior and
vice pcssklerit of CMU's chapter
of Phi Kappa Tau, sentences Tony
Voisin, assistant director of
Residence Life, at the 1998 Jail
Ball Rind raiser to benefit
March of Dimes. The event took
place at Thursday at Kmart,
2125 S. Mission St.
Above: After being charged with
lurking with intent to gawk,
Voisin pled guifty and was sentenced to raise $600. He quickly
picks up a phone and begins to
calf everyone he's ever known
to try to raise "bail."
TONY CEPAK • CM LIFE
United Way surpasses campaign goal
By Shannon Marosi
LIFE Staff Writer
Thanks to CMU, the United Way
of Isabella County has received
$66,881.50 in donations as of Oct.
26, which exceeded CMU's goal of
$66,000.
The money was raised by CMU
faculty and students for the United
Way Campaign, an annual fund
raiser that takes place in the fall.
This is a yearly activity that
CMU participates in for the United
Way," said Teri Rau, a member of
the 1998 CMU Campaign
Committee. The week before
school begins there's a breakfast,
it's a CMU/United Way kickoff
breakfast.''
The faculty who chose to donate
had the option of sending a check,
or being billed by the United Way
periodically.
"The majority of people give by
payroll deduction," said Rau, also
an executive secretary for Business
and Finance.
The Campaign began Aug. 26 and
ended officially Oct. 9, but there are
still many pledges coming in.
After the campaign is over, a student campaign will continue
throughout the year until April or
May
"Students do it (fund raising) in a
lot of different ways. In past years,
the Student Government
Association organized Quarters
Across Campus. Student organizations will conduct their own fund
raisers and donate it to the United
Way," said Pam Fitzgerald, executive director of the United Way of
Isabella County. 1 think the primary activity will start in February,
but that's still in the planning
stages."
The money raised so far has come
mostly from employees and employee groups, such as administrators
and different labor groups.
That's what's so exciting is that
CMU has surpassed the $66,000
goal and the student campaign hasn't even kicked in yet," Fitzgerald
said.
The United Way began about 50
years   ago  at  the   request   of the
See UNITED WAN Page 12	
Brandon will
leave for U-M
By Angela S. Vandenberg
LIFE Assistant News Editor
By New Year's Day, David Brandon will return
to his Wolverine roots as he tosses out the
Chippewa apparel to switch university board
seats.
Brandon, a University of Michigan alumnus,
was elected Tuesday to one of two vacant positions
on the University of Michigan Board of Regents.
He said he thinks his term begins Jan. 1, meaning
he will resign as CMUs Board of Trustees chair
between now and that time.
CMU's constitution prevents Brandon from
remaining on both boards.
"It will be necessary for me to resign," he said. 1
am unsure at this time exactly when I will resign."
There are no issues Brandon plans to bring to
the board before he leaves, he said. The board's
next meeting is Dec. 4.
"I don't have anything pent up to bring forward," he said. "I think our board has worked well
together in terms of dealing with things as they
come up."
Charter schools and lowered tuition are two
things Brandon said CMU has done well on, and
he will bring that with him to U of M.
Brandon is also in the process of moving to Ann
Arbor — a factor that adds convenience to his new
job.
Brandon was appointed to the board by Engler
in May 1994 to nil a then-vacated seat by the late
trustee Marty Cholakian. Brandon was reappointed in February 1997 to a second term, which
expires Dec. 21, 2004.
In Brandon's absence, the board will have to
elect a new chair and Engler will appoint a new
See BRANDON Page 12	
Students can
save money on
federal loans
By Angela M. Teubert
LIFE Staff Wnter
CMU students may save anywhere from $50 to
$1,000 after President Clinton signed the Higher
Education Amendments of 199S last month, lowering interest rates on student loans.
Under the new amendments, borrowers who
apply for a consolidation loan from the direct loan
program before Jan. 31, 1999 will receive a 7.46
percent interest rate. Loan consolidation is the
combination of loans into one consolidated loan.
Although the interest rate is variable and
recomputed annually on July 1, it will be based
upon a lower interest rate formula for the life of
the loan.
A lower interest rate means the amount students have to repay once they leave college will be
lower.
They've indicated some students may save
anywhere from $50 to $1,000," said Judy
Emmons, assistant director of Scholarships and
Financial Aid.
Students who received a direct subsidized,
direct unsubsidized or direct consolidation loan
from July 1, 1994 through June 30, 1998 should
apply for a direct consolidation loan. Parents who
received a direct PLUS loan or a direct consolidation loan from July 1, 1994 through the present
should also apply for a direct consolidation loan.
Those receiving a direct loan from July 1, 1998
through the present should not apply for consolidation.
"We want to emphasize not all students are
going to be able to benefit from this," Emmons
said. "If the loan they took out was this year, they
already have the lower rate."
lb be eligible to consolidate loans at this time,
a borrower who is enrolled or accepted for enrollment in an institution of higher education may
not have federal family education loan program
loans or federal Perkins loan program loans.
However, this restriction expires on Jan. 31, 1999.
Borrowers do not have to include all of their
loans in the consolidation and they may consolidate a single loan and/or an existing direct consolidation loan.
There is no consolidation fee and no minimum
or maximum loan balance.
lb apply for a loan consolidation through the
Direct Loan program, call (800) 557-7392 and ask
for an application or download an application
form www.ed.gov/EhrectLoan.