1998-02-25; Central Michigan Life

              Central Michigan LIFE
Volume 79. Number^ u?V/
Mt. Pleasant,  MI 48859
©1998 CM LIFE
78 years ofserving the community
Wednesday
February 25, 1998
20 pages
CMU decides not to privatize Health Services
By Angela Cook-Reid
LIFE Assistant News Editor
Nine months and three hospitals
later, the university has opted not to
privatize CMU's Health Services.
"We just didn't find what we we're
looking for," said Rae Goldsmith, associate vice president of Public Relations
and Marketing.
Sarah Campbell, director of Health
Services, said employees are relieved
the issue has come to a close.
"I think we're very relieved closure
has been brought to this situation," she
said.
Campbell said the issue has been
hanging over the heads of the Health
Services staff, making if difficult to
concentrate on their jobs. Still, she said
she is not totally opposed to looking at
privatization again in the future.
"It would depend on the contract," she
said.
Penalope Cook, associate director of
Medical Services for Health Services,
said she too is relieved negotiations are
over.
"Fm glad the university is not going to
privatize," she said.
She said she may have agreed with
privatization with MidMichigan
because Health Services would have
gotten a new building, among other
things. However, she said she was not in
favor of privatizing with Sparrow.
"I think MidMichigan had a good offer
for students," she said.
Campbell said this process was important because it forced the department to
examine its services and come up with
solutions other than privatization.
"I think we have some choices ahead
of us," she said.
CMU began talks with MidMichigan
Regional Health System in July about
privatizing Health Services, but talks
were ceased Oct. 17 because an agreement could not be reached.
The university also considered
Central Michigan Community Hospital
as a possible partner in privatization,
but this idea was also abandoned.
The university then contacted
Sparrow Health System of Lansing in
October to discuss the organization's
interest in being the provider of Health
Services.
Sparrow then asked for 90 days to
prepare a proposal. The proposal was
received Feb. 17 and considered by university officials.
It was then announced on Monday the
university had decided not to privatize
Health Services on Friday.
Goldsmith said the university set out
to privatize to eliminate the $7,500 subsidy CMU pays to Health Services and
to enhance services.
See PRIVATE Page 20	
Pallone
talks
about his
double life
By Jodi Haughton
LIFE Staff Writer
Dave Pallone spent most of
his career as a National League
umpire living a lie.
As a gay man in a professional sport, he felt the need to live
a double life, keeping his profession separate from his home
life.
Pallone talked to 200 people
Tuesday night in Warriner
Auditorium about the struggles
he went through when he realized he was homosexual.
In 1988, an article appeared
in the New York Post falsely
accusing Pallone of being
involved in a teenage sex ring,
and that made him come out as
a gay male. When the Major
League Baseball commissioners
See PALLONE Page 2
MEA
FOIAs
charter
schools
By Julia Jones
LIFE Assistant News Editor
The Michigan Education
Association sent a request
under        the Freedom        of
Information Act in January to
charter school authonzers asking for the names and addresses
of each teacher employed at
Michigan charter schools and a
copy of each teacher's professional credentials.
Bob Harris, public education
advocacy consultant with the
Michigan Education Association
said he sent the letters to charter school authorizers including
CMU, Eastern        Michigan
University, Northern Michigan
University, Saginaw Valley
State University, Grand Valley
State University and Oakland
University.
Harris said the letters were
sent in response to complaints
and  concerns he received  from
See FOIA Page 2
Eating disorders don't discriminate
TONY CEPAK • LIFE ILLUSTRATION
To someone with an eating disorder, looking in the mirror is a harsh reality, not because of what is
truly reflected, but because of what they think the see.
Heather VanDyke
LIFE Staff Writer
Regardless  of shape,  size or gender,
eating disorders don't discriminate
and    affect    people    campus    and
nationwide.
"Fifty percent of all 4th grade girls have
dieted and 80 percent of all 5th grade girls
think they are fat. "Only 15 percent of these
young girls are actually overweight at all,"
said Aaron Bailey, general health program
coordinator of the Wellness Center.
These statistics launched the Wellness
Center and CMU into their first ever Eating
Disorders Awareness week, Bailey said.
"Fifteen percent of women have disordered
eating, not eating good foods, which puts
them at risk to have an eating disorder,"
Bailey said.
Diagnosed eating disorders, a more serious
problem, include anorexia, bulimia and binge
eating — all of which affect men as well as
women, Bailey said.
"Five percent of women and one percent of
men have been diagnosed with an eating disorder and that majority is on a college campus," he said.
Various departments including CMU's
Counseling Center and other organizations
are doing their part in informing students on
Eating Disorders Week.
Sheree Hall, intern for counseling center.
said eating disorders are particularly common among college students as well as young
grade school girls.
"It's called Eating Disorders Awareness
because it is so rampant," Hall said. "There
are a lot of people out there dieting or have a
low self esteem."
Hall said the counseling center is just one
group of many on campus participating in the
awareness week.
"There is a whole team of people involved,"
Hall said. "But only the counseling center will
be offering free screening."
Hall said the counseling center will be performing free confidential screenings beginning at 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. today in the Bovee
University Center Lake Superior Room and
10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday in the Lake Huron
Room.
Mark Minelli, manager of Health
Advocacy Services, said a variety of information will be available to students at display
booths stationed across campus. The booths
include literature, films and people educated
on the subject.
Bailey said a team comprised of members of
the Wellness Center, Health Services,
Counseling Center, Dietetics and the Student
Activity Center was made to combat eating
disorder problems specifically on campus.
This team is sponsoring booths on campus.
"We found out about National Eating
Awareness Week and once we developed the
team we decided that we'd be more effective
with a lot more people working," Bailey said.
See EATING Page 17
See pages 16-17 for more coverage
about eating disorders
INSIDE
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E-Mail  CMLIFEdcmuvm.csv.cmich.edu
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Internet address
http://www.cmlife.cmich.edu
More than 1300 signatures on smoking petition
The CMU men's basketball team
upset Ball State, the number one
ranked team in the MAC.
Wednesday night in Rose Arena
Commission changes public hearing date
By Angela S. Vandenberg
LIFE Assistant News Edrtor
The City Commission decided
to change its date for the public
hearing on the definition of family to the evening of March 23.
The commission also changed
its original proposal so appeals
on the definition would not have
to be heard by the commission.
Now, the planning director will
hear the first appeal.
The commission had set its
hearing for March 9, when CMU
students are not on Spring
Break.
See CHANGE Page 20
By Angela S. Vandenberg
UFE Assistant News Editor
City Commissioners accepted a petition from
opposers of the proposed smoking ordinance and
briefly discussed a meeting between government
officials and the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe
about the Community Recreation Center
A petition was given to the commission at
Monday^ meeting by Mount Pleasant resident,
Ron Roby with 1,386 signatures of people who
oppose the proposed ordinance which would prohibit smoking in ail public buildings.
Roby said the petition was circulated from Feb.
15 to Monday afternoon and not all signatures
were from community members. Some were from
people who recreate or work in Mount Pleasant,
he said.
Roby said the petition may seem somewhat premature considering the proposed ordinance is
only in the committee review stage.
"Perhaps if you knew there was this much opposition, we could save you some time and energy,"
he said.
In other news, city and county representatives
~xnet with the tribe one week ago to discuss, among
See PETITION
Paq<
e20