1991-01-28; Central Michigan Life

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Watching war
War and movies are a lucrative combination
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According to plan
Women roll past Ball State with ease, 80-62
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Central
Michigan
MONDAY
January 28, 1991
]
VOLUME 73. NUMBER 51
© 1991 CM LIFE
MOUNT PLEASANT, MICHIGAN 48859
(517) 774-3493
18 PAGES
Carey Hall fire injures one, arson probable cause
by CRYSTAL HARMON
LirF  Staff VVr v?r
A fire early Sunday in Carey
Hall, apparently arson, injured
one student and caused an
estimated $1,500 in damages.
Two bulletin boards in the
second floor elevator lobby were
apparently "touched off" by an
unidentified person, said Lt.
James Collin, fire marshall of"
the     Mount     Pleasant     Fire
Department.
The fire was reported at
12:44 a.m.. according to a DPS
report.
L. J. Kalozi, Pennsylvania
sophomore, was overcome by
smoke as he tried to shut a
window in the second floor
study hall. He was taken by
ambulance to Central Michigan
Community    Hospital.     1221
South    Drive,    where    he   was
treated and released.
"The plastic backing on the
bulletin boards made the
smoke toxic." Kalozi said later
Sunday morning. "When I got
to the hospital, my vital signs
were all good, and they gave me
a shot to clear up my lungs. I
still feel a little light-headed."
Mike    Thorpe.    Fast    Leroy
sophomore, said he spotted the
burning bulletin boards, ran to
the resident assistant's room
where the fire extinguisher is
kept and put out the fire.
Second floor RA Jill Phillips,
Lansing sophomore, said she
called 911, reported the fires
and then checked each room,
evacuating 2~> people.
Since nobody pulled the fire
alarm, RAs went door to door to
evacuate all the residents in
Carey Hall, who waited in the
lobby.
Collin and DPS officers
completed the initial investigation at about 2:30 a.m.
There are no suspe^cts at this
time, but the incident is still
under investigation. Collin
said.
President
Jakubauskas
hopes for end
to violence in
Baltic states
by JEFFREY JOHNSTON
l if e   r.'.i-\ic_3 -H5 r-..! :■•.■.:
In 191.3. 21-year-old Constantino Jakubauskas emigrated
fro m Russian- o c c u p i e d
Lithuania to the United States
as a draft dodger.
"He didn't want to serve in a
foreign army," said his son. CMU
President Edward B. Jakubauskas. who now listens to reports
of anti-Soviet demonstrators
facing Soviet Army tanks in the
streets.
He hears of an army that
allegedly discriminates against
minority soldiers — such as
natives of the Baltic states —
now abducting draft-age Lithuanian men into its service.
Watching and reading the
news, and for the past five
months corresponding with
Lithuanians through a computer
network. Jakubauskas said he
follows events in the small
country closely.
"It's very much a part of my
heritage." he said of the increasingly violent conflict between the
independence-minded republic
and its determined Soviet rulers.
"\ feel very close to it."
The present conflict brings
comparisons to the past easily to
Jakubauskas" mind. He
described his father's homeland
as a country with a recent
history of subjugation — under
czarist ride and. now. Soviet
control — but with a strong drive
angered by crackdown against Lithuania
CMU President Edward B. Jakubauskas keeps a close tab on
developments in Lithuania, a country his father left in 1913 to come
to the United States. Jakubauskas believes the Soviet Union used
LIFE Photo/Tim Fitzgerald
the beginning of the War in the Gulf as a cover for the violent
crackdown in Lithuania: "I find it very repugnant," he said.
for self-determination.
On a more ominous note, he
compares the current crackdown
by the Soviets to the 1956 Soviet
invasion of Hungary, he said. In
both cases, the Western world
was distracted by military
conflicts elsewhere.
Just as attention today is
focused on the Iraq War. the
West was preoccupied in 1956
with the Suez Canal crisis.
Jakubauskas said.
HIS PORTRAIT of Lithaunia
dates   back  further than   recent
events, however.
"Lithuania has a long tradition of independence, dating
back about a thousand years." he
said.
The Soviet Union annexed
Lithuania, along with neighboring Latvia and Estonia, in the
aftermath   of World  War   II,   he
said.
Because of restrictions on
travel in the communist-led
Baltic states. Jakubauskas said
he      encountered      numerous
See LITHUANIA Page 2
'Outspoken'
counseling
prof dies
by JENNIFER CHRISMAN
UFE Assistant News Editor
James S. Owen will be remembered by most — whether liked
or simply respected — for his
outgoing personality and willingness to share his viewpoints.
Owen, associate professor of
counseling and special education, died early Sunday of a what
may have been a heart attack.
Specific information about the
time and cause of death was not
available at press time.
Visitation is scheduled for 7 to
9 p.m. today at Lux Funeral
Home. 503 E. Broadway. The
time and date of the funeral was
not available at press time. For
more information, contact the
funeral home at 773-5616.
Owen, who was 60 and
divorced, is survived by two
children. The funeral home is
taking donations for the Luke
and Ammeke Owen college fund
in James' name.
"Jim definitely was a bit of a
rather bold, brash individual —-
outspoken, certainly," said Jerry
Misner, associate dean of the
College of Education, Health and
Human Services.
"He was the kind of person you
definitely had some feelings
about. Some people loved him
dearly. Some people questioned
his motives at times."
"I respected him and felt he
contributed a lot." he added.
Owen came to CMU in 1967
with a bachelor of science degree
from Defiance College. He
earned his master's and his
doctorate in education from the
University of Toledo.
"He was a long-time member
of the counseling and special
education department," Misner
said. "He had served as a
primary person in the counseling
area. I think he has contributed
a lot in that area.
"There was a time when he
was 'The Program' in school
counseling."
Misner also said many other
universities used Owen's ideas to
build their programs.
He said Owen — after taking a
leave of absence during the fall
semester — had started a project
in the College of Education,
Health and Human Services.
See OWEN Page 17
Student uses comedy to take away people's pain
LIFE Photo/Brent Henderson
J.D. Watson, Hazel Park senior, delivers his
first-place winning stand-up routine at the
CERTS College Comedy Competition Saturday.
by MICHAEL DOYLE
LIFE Staff Writer
When James ''J.D." Watson first took the mike at
the Cert's Comedy Competition Saturday night,
many people must have thought he was playing a
cruel joke.
He began speaking with a slight speech impediment, and since the subject material was
humorous, people who did not know him could only
assume he was mimicking a handicapped person.
After all, he couldn't really be deaf, because deaf
people can't do things like this, right?
Wrong.
Not only did Watson, Utica senior, compete in
the contest at Warriner Auditorium, he won it.
And though he may not have heard all of it, the
laughter and applause he extracted from the
audience was quite loud.
Watson is completely deaf in his left ear and
partially in his right, but "hearing impaired" is a
more favorable term to him.
"I am God's gift to the hearing impaired," he
opened his act with, "because I know how to handle
people who can't handle my handicap."
Then he broke into a story of how he dealt with a
staring cashier at McDonald's.
"First I thought she was checking me out, then I
noticed she wasn't looking at the vital parts, she
See WATSON Page 6
Aspiring comics stand up for humor
in Warriner Auditorium competition
by MICHAEL DOYLE
LIFE Staff Wnter
It was five minutes to eight Saturday night
and Anne Craig was disappointed.
Craig, coordinator of Cert's College Comedy
Competition at Warriner Auditorium, was
moments away from showtime, and her
scheduled comedian emcee hadn't showed.
She had an alternate host ready to ad lib his
way through the Program Board-sponsored
evening, but her eyes flashed worry.
There was another problem. The video
recording equipment to record the winning act
for advancement to regional competition was
with the missing emcee.
No comedian and no equipment meant no
chance at a national title for the winner.
The matter had been discussed with the
contestants and all agreed to go through with
the program anyway.
Suddenly, in from the falling snow stepped
Randy Calvert, fresh off a drive from Lansing
and a flight from Dallas.
Within minutes, everything was back on
schedule. The lights were out and Calvert was
in a spotlight on stage.
"Hello Central       . State Michigan
University . . . whatever this thing is,", he
began.
Calvert went on to joke about his travels, sex
and censorship, with humor tailored to the
350-strong student crowd.
Next, the 14 amateurs gave it a shot, some in
their first stand-up appearances.
The acts ran three to five minutes each and
ranged in audience response — some received
heavy applause and others, well, didn't exactly
bring tears to anyone's eyes.
Frank Hillis, Mount Clemens junior, recalled
an incident he witnessed at the Western
Weekend riot when a student threw a beverage
at a police officer. ^   >-     • *i -,-
"Now what's this guy thinking? There's a cop
J ' ■ M '' :- ■. '.-.    " "*.. ..' See COMEDY Page 6
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