1998-02-02; Central Michigan Life

              Central Michigan LIFE
Volume 79, Number 54
Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859
©1998 CM LIFE
78 years of serving the community
MONDAY
February 2, 1998
12 pages
Faulty wiring may be cause of car fire in lot 1
UFE Staff Reports
CMU students realized Sunday all it
takes is a few minutes and some bad
luck for misfortune to strike, causing
unexpected grief and thousands of dollars in damage.
Police officials received a call at 3:41
p.m. Sunday reporting a car on fire in Lot
1. Upon arrival, it was reported two vehicles had caught fire, a gray Chevy
Cavalier and a red Ford Ranger.
Mike Klein, fire equipment operator,
said the cause of the fire was most likely
electrical problems in the Cavalier. The
fire department can't state an exact cause
of the fire until it gets the test results
back. The incident is still under investigation.
"We don't have the exact cause of fire,
although that's what it looks like," he
said.
*1 just went in to visit some friends
before class for 15 minutes and I come out
and my truck is ruined," said Nicole
Assmann, Remus junior and owner of the
Rob Knapp, Midland sophomore and
owner of the Cavalier, said the wiring in
his vehicle was severely damaged when
his car was broken into Thursday and
unknown individuals punched a hole in
his trunk and stole his stereo system.
Knapp said he was told it appeared as if
the wires in the trunk had overheated,
ranging the fire. Knapp said his insurance
company will cover the damages.
A third car, a blue Pontiac Grand Am,
also received minor damages to the driver's side, with the heat from the other
two cars causing some of the paint to bub
ble. The owner was not able to be reached.
"We saw the flames from our window
and decided to come over,* said Tanya
Gustafson, Waterford senior.
"I guess there was an accidental fire
next to mine, and it started my truck on
fire, I guess," Assmann said.
She also said her insurance company
would cover damages.
"I certainly hope so, yeah it should," she
said.
Assmann, who commutes, tried to
remain optimistic and said she will have
to go looking for another vehicle.
Tm gonna go car shopping this week, I
guess," she said.
Officer Timothy Prout of the CMU
Police said no one was in the vehicles
when they caught fire and there -were no
injuries.
ERIC SCHERB
• CM LIFE
Mount
Pleasant
Rre
responded
to a car
Sunday.
Parents
gather to
discuss
change in
education
■ Proposal would
give public school
money to parents
DETROIT (AP) — About 250
people — mostly parents of
Detroit Public Schools children
— met for what they described
as the first step in a crusade to
change public education in
Michigan.
The Detroit Partnership for
Parental Choice is pushing for
a ballot proposal as early as
2000 that would take money
from public schools and give it
to parents who could spend it to
send their children to any public, private or parochial school
they choose.
"We really feel like our kids
need a choice," said Xylia Hall,
one of the parents who attended the meeting Saturday at
Cobo Center. "I defend the public schools, but something
needs to be done. They are not
staying focused on the children."
In 1970, voters passed a state
constitutional amendment banning public financing of private
schools.
Some members of the Detroit
parents group have traveled to
Cleveland and Milwaukee to
see how school-choice plans
have worked in those cities.
On Saturday, they heard from
Howard Fuller, former
Milwaukee school superintendent, who said giving parents
choices is the only way to make
urban districts accountable.
"We've still got people telling
parents Tm going to get my
check whether your child gets
educated or not,*" Fuller said.
"We've got all kinds of people
who say they support change as
long as nothing changes ... our
children don't need reform,
they need a revolution."
Anita Nelam, a leader of the
Detroit parents group, said that
one of its aims over the coming
year will be to identify school
board members, legislators and
candidates who support school
choice.
Classified
10-11
Crossword
10
Etcetera
8-9
Sports
5-7
Voices
4
To re**
CMLIFE
Phone:774-3493
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Fax number:f SI7*774-7805
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Buried in debt
TONY CEPAK • CM LIFE ILLUSTRATION
Students struggle with 'day of reckoning'
By Jolene Schuttz
LIFE Staff Writer
Becky Major knows what ifs
like to graduate into an institution of debt.
Major graduated with a bachelor's
degree in English and must begin
repayment of three loans totaling more
than $22,000 in July. She expects her
loan repayments to run between $300
and $400 a month.
Major, 26, received loans for seven
semesters at CMU. Currently, she
works at McDonald's Restaurant, but
wants to get a job in advertising.
"Ifs kind of depressing knowing (the
loans are) there,** she said, "...that it'll
be looming over my head for the next
10 years. I may pay off my student
loans in time to put my son through
college.**
Major is not alone.
With 70 percent of CMU students
receiving some type of financial aid,
many CMU alumni must begin repayment on their student loans shortly
after graduation.
Paying it back is the part Major is
-worried about.
Tm hoping I can find a job to cover
all the bills and allow (myself) to live,"
Major said. "Right now, I don't know
what my job prospects are.
"I was basically a debt-free person
until I moved to college," she said. "I
don't have credit cards like many people. I don't like having to do it. I don't
like knowing I'm that far in debt and
(that I) have to spend the next 10 to 15
years paying it back.**
Major said if she had it to do all over
again, she would finance her education
differently.
"I would have worked harder, taken
on a second job and taken fewer loans.
If I could have worked two jobs, been a
single parent and taken classes, I
would have done it. It may have taken
me a little longer to graduate, but I
would have.
While Major was enrolled mm a CMU
student, she didnt spend a great deal
of time thinking about loan repayments.
"At the time, I didn't give it much
thought,"  she   said.   "I  knew   there
would be a day of reckoning but Td
cross that bridge when I got there.
They all come due in July."
After six years of loan payments,
another CMU graduate who wishes to
remain anonymous and is a team
leader at Old Kent Financial
Corporation headquartered in Grand
Rapids has finally put the dark cloud
of debt behind her.
The alumna, who began paying off
$8,000 in student loans in 1991, sent in
her last payment in Oct. 1997.
"It felt really good when I paid it off,"
she said. "I was fortunate because I
only had to borrow $8,000 in student
loans. I financed my own college
tuition and worked full time while
obtaining a Bachelor of Science degree
in Business Administration.1*
The alumna said if she didnt have
the loan, it would have taken her
longer to get through college. While
attending CMU, she said she didn't
think a great deal about her loan
either.
See DEBT Rage 2
Penalties
severe for
defaulted
loans
By Jolene Schuttz
LIFE Staff Writer
With 70 percent of CMU students
receiving some type of financial aid,
many students will be faced with
loan repayments and interest rates
upon graduation.
According to Judith Emmons,
assistant director of Scholarships
and Financial Aid, the average debt
of the 1997 CMU graduate who borrows money is $16,520.
The borrower must begin repayment of their student loans six
months after graduation. A borrower can defer a student loan if the
individual goes back to school or is
unemployed, Emmons said.
"With a subsidized loan, the principal and interest are deferred," she
said. "If it is an unsubsidized loan,
the principal is deferred."
If the borrower becomes 180 days
behind in their monthly payments,
their loan will go into default and
the penalties are very severe.
"They are in very bad standing,"
Emmons said. 'The credit borrowers will be notified. If they go back
to school, they won't get additional
financial aid. If they're working, ifs
possible their wages could be garnished."
Emmons said the employer will
have to pull a certain percentage of
the borrowers check each pay period
to give to the federal government.
"Ifs a lot of work for the employer
to do and they really dont like
things like that," she said.
Emmons also said the borrowers
tax refunds can be seized and the
borrower can be taken to court.
"Frequently there is a penalty
assessed," she said. "We dont want
to see our former students getting
themselves in the situation, because
obviously we want good things from
our alumni.**
Emmons said if too many former
students go into default, it can have
an impact on Central's ability to
give financial aid to students.
"Some schools lost the right to
give financial   aid  because  their
See DEFAULT Page 11
The   men's  basketball
pulled an upset victory against
Akron    Saturday    at    Rose
Page 5
PBS: trying to integrate with CMU, students
ByJutta
LIFE Assistant News Edrtor
After two and a half years of
improvements and compliance with a
business plan, Public broadcasting is
still under fire.
In 1995 PBS was asked to cut their
budget and become more integrated
onto the campus. The college of business put together a two-year business
plan for PBS which ends this year.
Director of Public Television, Monte
Higgins, said the general funds of PBS
have been cut.
"Our budget has been trimmed,"
Higgins said.
According to the report filed with
the Center tor Public Broadcasting
dated June 30, 1997, PBS*s television
programming, out of a total of
$2,354,610, raised $786,790 from
11,882 viewers, the university funded
$717,764, and the difference was
made up of funds from the Center for
Public Broadcasting and busine*
industry underwriting.
Higgins said of last year's funding,
$1,800,000 went to progranumnt
duction  and  broadcasting winch he
said  is  the largest expenditure.  He
said $209,000 went to management in
See PBS Page 2
Too much of o burdon?
Expected PBS funding from the
university re going down.