1998-01-26; Central Michigan Life

              Central Michigan LIFE
Volume 79, Number 51
Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859
©1998 CM LIFE
78 years of serving the community
MONDAY
January 26, 1998
14 pages
Solutions to retention problem discussed Friday
■ Student involvement
common solution to
retention problem
By Heather N. LaFave
LIFE Staff Writer
About 300 CMU administrators, staff, faculty and students
gathered in Bovee University
Center Friday to discuss and
learn how to improve retention
of the university's first-year students.
University President Leonard
Plachta said he was impressed
with the conference's turnout.
He said he is very concerned
about CMU's retention rates.
"I become more depressed, and
More
than 70
cars
towed
Saturday
By Clayton Mastaw
LIFE Staff Writer
More than 70 residents of
Mount Pleasant found something very important missing on
Saturday morning as they
walked outside preparing to go
to work, run errands, and take
care of other odds and ends.
Their cars and trucks, sitting
on the streets and in the parking
lots from the previous night, had
vanished, leaving only scraped
tire prints in the snow where the
rest of the vehicles once were.
Between the hours of 2 and 5
a.m., in compliance with Mount
Pleasant* 8 snow ordinances,
more than a half dozen tow
trucks from various companies
had been busy towing vehicles
which were parked illegally, relocating a total of 73 automobiles.
Paul Preston, city manager,
said the vehicles 'were towed
because Mount Pleasant has a
snow ordinance making it illegal
to park on city streets and parking lots when a specific amount
of snow falls.
He said he didn't know how
much snow was enough to begin
towing, and the Mount Pleasant
City Police issued the towing
order.
He said there was a notice
broadcasted over both radio and
television stories notifying residents of the situation and advising them to move their vehicles
before 2 a.m.
"I heard it at noon on Friday,*
Preston said.
"People can't park on city
streets or certain sides of the
parking lots from 2 to 5 a.m. If
you have a permit to park in the
lots, you get notification (of
which side to park on,)* he said.
The number of vehicles towed
on Saturday ranks at the top of
the list of the number of vehicles
towed at one time because of the
snow ordinance.
"I cant remember any time
there have been this many vehi-
See TOW Page 2	
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so does the provost, that the
numbers are getting worse,"
Plachta said.
Provost Richard Davenport
said CMU's retention rate in
1996 was 69.6 percent of a freshman class of 2,749 students.
"Many at the university,
including President Plachta and
I, have been aware of the insidious decline in (retaining) first-
year students," Davenport said.
"We have a serious problem."
He said the implications of
such an attrition rate are potentially serious and could affect
not only CMU's reputation
among potential students, but
state funding as well.
Among the issues officials are
looking into changing or improving are CMU's admission
requirements and the university's Academic Advising.
The keynote speaker for the
conference was John N.
Gardner, a national expert on
retention, and a professor from
the University of South
Carolina.
"You have a problem with the
first-year experience. Retention
is the outcome," he said.
Gardner outlined a number of
national trends for improving
the freshman experience, including residence issues, admissions
requirements, faculty/student
interaction, teaching styles, service     learning,     supplemental
instruction and linking students!
to the campus culture.
One effective way universities|
have been combatting retention
problems, he said, has been to
institute a mandatory freshman
seminar course in which students learn about the university.
In addition, they are given
information on career services,
college survival, diversity and
academic services available to
them. This type of common experience attaches students to the
campus community, he said.
One thing that may disenchant new students, he said, is a
gap between how students learn
See RETENTION Page 14
Equal rights & ice skates
YULI WU • CM LIFE
CMU administrators, staff, faculty and students gathered
in Bovee University Center Friday to discuss the retention
of the university's first-year students. Involvement in
campus events like sports, registered organizations, fraternities and sororities were cited as part of the answer to
the problem.
Officials going to
put conference
suggestions to use
AUTUMN FLUTUR •CM LIFE
Linda Mason has dedicated the last 30 years of her life to the National Organization for
Women, in which she continues to fight for women's rights and equality in society.
Mason fights for the right to participate
By Angie Fenton
LIFE Staff Writer
Linda Mason
has two passions in her
life: figure skating and
fighting for women's
rights.
When she is not on the ice at
the Community Recreation
Center where she ice skates
almost daily for several hours,
Mason works as ^ the
spokesperson for the Mount
Pleasant chapter of the
National Organisation for
Women (NOW).
Raised in a family where
women were treated equally;
Mason said she could always
see the day-to-day inequality
women faced in the world,
thus spurring her to become
active in women's issues.
"I joined (NOW) not long
after they started up (in
Mount Pleasant) in the late
1960s,* she said.
One of the issues Mason and
the members of NOW decided
to undertake was a study of
the  textbooks   in   public  ele
mentary schools to look for
gender bias.
"The books they used to use,
the Dick and Jane' books, had
the mother in an apron and
doing the same things. Boys
got to do the physical things
and girls stood on the sidelines
and cheered," she said.
In addition, Mason remembers fighting to change the
standard,    'he
has accomplished these
things,* - which
used to appear
on elementary
report cards.
•We got
them to
change   it   to
he/she so little
girls  wouldn't   ————————
feel so left out," Mason said.
Quietly laughing at the
absurdity of a battle she
helped to win, Mason recalled
the time NOW campaigned for
the addition of female names
to be included in the phone
book.
"All over the state we just
kept hassling the phone company on a one-to-one basis,"
she said.
The phone company would
use excuses, she said, such as
there would not be enough
room on the line for a woman's
and a man's name together, or
the company would threaten
to charge extra for the additional name.
"I went through the phone
book and found where they
had included
men's nicknames and it
took up the
whole line or
even a second line,"
Mason said.
Mason
sent the
samples she
"■^^^^™^^^^"" had discovered to the phone company
and finally they did change it.
Another issue Mason said
NOW dealt with in the early
1970s was the area of equal
credit.
"We held public hearings
with bankers and credit union
people and had women come in
See MASON Page 5
"Women hold up half
the sky and they ought
to have half the seats/'
UNDA MASON
Spokesperson for Mount
Pleasant chapter of the
NOW
By Kevin Hackney
LIFE Staff Writer
University officials were
pleased with the results of
Friday's Student Retention
Conference, and plan to put the
suggestions into action to
increase student retention
rates.
Provost Richard Davenport
concluded the conference by
announcing the university's
intentions regarding the information gathered from the day's
various speakers and workshops.
"This has been a fabulous
conference. We have a lot of
tasks ahead of
us. We have to
Lake Hie next
step and put
these suggestions into
action," he
said. "And
that's exactly
what we're
going to do
when we leave
here."
According to
John Gardner,
a      nationally
renowned edu-   —
cator and student       retention
CMITs retention
be  closely
"Men are more likely
to stay if tftere^s something going on. They
need more glitz, and
there's less of that
here/'
specialist,
troubles may
related to student
performance during their first
year.
"I don't think you have a
retention problem, I think you
have a first-year problem," he
said.
Gardner said his conclusions
were reached after examining
what he called "CMITs inherent structural characteristics,"
including academics, student
demographics and administrative policies.
He ended with a list of
strengths and weaknesses from
a student retention standpoint.
Location led the list of student retention weaknesses,
Gardner said.
"Location is a weakness from
a male point of view," he said.
"Men are more likely to stay if
there's something going on.
They need more glitz, and
there's less of that here."
Another "glaring omission"
Gardner found with CMU is the
lack of a first-year "common
experience" or "freshman seminar" class.
Gardner said such classes
may unite first-year students
and act as a positive building
block for the rest of their
tenure at the university.
CMU's lack of a university-
wide attendance policy as well
as the growing trend of eliminating Friday classes were also
seen as questionable from a
student retention standpoint.
Gardner said these factors
contribute to students returning home for an
extended weekend and never
returning.
"Can stu
dents learn if
they're not
there? I don't
know," Gardner
said.
Although
longevity can
be a great asset
in retention,
Gardner said
CMU must
make its traditions known to
the student body in order to be
effective.
"The fact that you are 106
years old tells me you have traditions," he said, "I just don't
know what they are."
Despite its many shortcomings, Gardner said CMU's
strengths far outweigh its
weaknesses relating to student
retention.
Gardner cited CMU's housing
policy as a major strength in
student retention. The fact
most first and second ymmr students are housed on campus
contributes to what he calls a
"positive residence hall culture," and may be effective in
halting drop-out rates.
University advising procedures were also seen as a
strength by Gardner, mm students who feel comfortable asking for academic assistance are
more likely to be retained.
See SOLUTIONS Page 13
JOHN GARDNER
Professor from the
University of South
Carolina
State bill would ban smoking in private businesses
By Jennifer Moore
LIFE Staff Writer
Many things would change if Michigan
initiated California's new anti-smoking
law.
As of Jan. 1, the new law banning smoking in most California bars was effective.
Casinos, bars on American Indian
Reservations and owner-operated businesses without employees are the only
bars not affected by the new law.
Some bar owners in California have
decided not to enforce the law, while some
customers have decided not to obey the
law.
In Michigan, House BUI 4835, which
was introduced by Rep. Laura Baird, is
presently in the house committee on
health policy, said Brian O'Connell, legislative assistant for Rep. Jim McBryde.
"This bill amends the pohlic health code
which would prohibit smoking in private
work places," O'Connell said. Private
work places include any indoor work area
which employs one or more people, he
said.
O'Connell said he doesn't know about
the future of this bill.
Michigan already bans smoking in certain areas, such as child-care centers and
some restaurants, said David Guenther,
assistant professor of management and
law
"In terms of legally prohibiting smoking
(in bars), I see no constitutional problem
with it," he said.
Guenther said people view smoking and
drinking as going together and Michigan
has one of the highest percentages of
smokers.
"Smoking and drinking have gone hand
in hand for so many years," said Dan
Breidenstein, owner of Ibe Bird Bar and
Grill, located at 223 S. Main St.
Some people only smoke after they have
had a few drinks, and if prohibiting smoking in bars was feasible, it would already
be happening, he said.
"I don't see us passing any laws prohibiting smoking in bars in terms of a
state-wide ban," Guenther said.
If smoking was not allowed,
Breidenstein mmid he would lose a lot of
his business.
"Probably 60 to 70 percent of people
who come in smoke," he said.
Breidenstein said he has the best of
both worlds because he also owns
Steiner's Pizza Planet, which is next door
to The Bird. The restaurant is smoke-free
and serves liquor.
In The Bird, there are two
to try and combat the cigaiette
Breidenstein said it would depend on
how the law was enforced to decide
whether he would obey it.
"You gotta go where the money is coming from," he mmid. "So it would really
depend on my customers."
If the law wasn't strictly enforced and
was just a minor ticket, "I would probably
be violating the law," Breidenstein said.
Nats Walton, manager of The Shaboom
Pub Club at 106 Court St., said he felt differently. He said business would stay the
same if there were anti-smoking laws.
If all bars banned smoking, people
would still go to bars and be able to smoke
outside, he said.
Walton said he agrees with the
California law.
"I don't think it's fair for the individuals
that dont smoke to have to breathe in the
smoke," he said.
is