1998-03-25; Central Michigan Life

              Central Michigan LIFE
Volume 79, Number^
Mt. Pleasant,  MI 48859
©1998 CM LIFE
78 years of serving the community
Wednesday
March 25, 1998
16 pages
New CMU affirmative action statements unveiled
By Julia Jones
LIFE Assistant News Editor
After weeks in waiting,
Presidential Paper No. 7 has
revealed a new official affirmative action statement.
The official statement released
Tuesday states, "CMU, an AA/EO
institution is strongly and actively committed to increasing diversity within its community (see
www.cmich.edu/aaeo.htmi)."
A second statement is encouraged in large display ads
announcing faculty and staff job
openings.
"CMU, an AA/EO institution,
is strongly and actively committed to increasing diversity and
providing equal opportunity
within its community. CMU does
not discriminate in employment
against persons based on age,
color, disability, gender, familial
status, height, marital status,
national origin, political persuasion, race, religion, sexual orientation, veteran status or weight
(see www.cmich.edu/aaeo.html)."
Yet a third statement has been
Three statements of varying length
describe CentraVs official policy
added for use in non-job related
ads where space and cost factors
are critical. It reads: "CMU is an
AA/EO institution (see
www. cmich.edu/aaeo. html )".
In response to the new statements, religion professor and
director of Gay and Lesbian programs, Michael Stemmeler, said,
"I find it confusing that we can't
come up with a single statement."
He said he has the most confidence in the second statement,
and the first and third statements say nothing.
"If I design a flyer or poster ... I
would like to use statement No. 2
and not (one or) three."
University President Leonard
Plachta, Provost Richard
Davenport, Academic Senate
Chair James Jones, assistant
vice president of Diversity Stan
Shingles did not return phone
calls Tuesday.
Robert Newby, co-chair of the
Association of Faculty and Staff
of Color, was out of town and
unavailable for comment. One
concern Stemmeler has is he
wonders if departments could opt
to use the large statement even
though it would not be a large
display.
Stemmeler said in his experience with new faculty members,
they have told him they were
very comfortable with the statement in effect before the original
change. It read: "CMU, an
AA/EO institution encourages
diversity, and resolves to provide
equal opportunity regardless of
race, sex, disability, sexual orientation, or other irrelevant criteria."
He said he is not sure if new
See ACTION Page 2	
KVET
Chair of CMU
music dept.
will leave for
Loyola
LIFE Staff Reports
Ed Kvet, chair of the music department, has been
hired at Loyola University in New Orleans, La.
Anthony Decuin, interim dean of the College of
Music at Loyola University, confirmed
Kvet will fill the position, beginning
Aug. 1, 1998. Decuin also said Kvet
was associate dean of the College of
Music in the 1980s at Loyola for eight
years.
Decuin said Kvet will be carrying
out various kinds of administrative
jobs.
"He could also be possibly teaching
in the College of Music," he said.
"From my perspective, this is a wonderful opportunity," Kvet said, adding that, "It was a
very difficult decision. I've had a wonderful experience
here *t CMU."
Kvet said he regretted the fact that he wasn't able to
announce his decision to leave CMU personally.
"Fm sorry it had to come out this way. It's tough that
it did come out in the paper," he said.
Kvet said he had planned to tell the music faculty
at a meeting Thursday afternoon.
"I still will be meeting with faculty and calling our
various constituents ...■^^_■■_■_■__■_■
as soon as I can." he "ft was a very diffi_
said. .   . /
Kvet said he has a    CUlt  decision.  I Ve had
1^t^^ondJmemories   a   wonderful   experi-
of CMU and is appre- ^ ^,. MT T*„
ciative of the support   ence here at CMU.
he has received from
the CMU community. en KVET
Decuin said Loyola Outgoing chair of music
University a  College *     *     department
of Music is lucky to be "~H<"UM~M1
getting Kvet.
"Ed was an overall excellent candidate," he said.
Provost Richard Davenport was unable to be reached
for comment.
Kvet taught high school band and orchestra for eight
years in Ohio before teaching at Loyola. Also, he is coauthor of the MENC publication Teaching Wind and
Percussion Instruments: A Course of Study,
Instructional Literature for Middle-level Band, and
Strategies for Teaching Beginning and Intermediate
Band.
Kvet received his bachelor of music education degree
from Baldwin-Wallace College and his master's and
doctorate of music education at the University of
Cincinnati. He is the current president of the Michigan
Music Educators Association.
Kvet specializes in music research and curriculum
development at CMU.
The few, The
proud, The Marines
Two students relate
experiences in the U.S.
Marine Corps
By Tony Judnich
LIFE Staff Writer
Most of us have heard the slogan The few, the proud,
the Marines."
The catch phrase presents this branch of the military
as a league apart and implies that not everyone can
obtain the honor of being called a Marine.
Flint sophomores Araba Abruquah and Rosa
Robinson can boast that honor, though.
Abruquah, 20, is a Finance major with a Spanish
minor. Robinson, 19, is a psychology major.
They've    known   __mnummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmumm__,mmmm
"(Being in the
Marines) teaches you
commitment, discipline, high self-esteem
and great faith in God/'
ARABA ABRUQUAH
CMU student & Marine
each other for seven
years and joined
the Marines together after their freshman year at CMU
last summer.
"Fve always
wanted to be a
Marine," Abruquah
said. "It teaches
you    commitment, ———__ mmmmmmmmmm
discipline, high self-esteem and great faith in God. It
helped me establish my relationship with God."
Robinson said she liked the benefits involved in meeting the challenge of being a Marine.
"The Marines offered me money for college, job security and medical benefits," Robinson said. "You're well
taken care of. I liked what they had to offer."
Both women say they look forward to travel opportunities and being exposed to new places and experiences.
They also had family members either currently in the
military or retired.
"Some people (told me) *No, you can't do it,"* Abruquah
said. "I thought Til do it anyway.' Ifs an honor and a
privilege."
Giving the most encouragement in both women's decisions to join were their mothers, Cora Abruquah and
Bealuh Robinson.
"My mom is the type of mom who believes if you have
faith, you can do anything," Abruquah said. "My mom
always said to believe in yourself."
See MARINES Page 10	
AUTUMN FLUTUR • CM LIFE
Araba Abruquah and Rosa Robinson proudly salute the American flag they work
to represent as members of the Marine Corps and as students currently attending CMU.
AUTUMN FLUTUR • CM LIFE
Araba Abruquah and Rosa Robinson, Hint
sophomores, defied the odds by success-
fully completing boot camp and becoming members of the marine corps as both
African Americans and women.
i n s i n t
City commission passes new zoning ordinance Monday
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Central Michigan LIFE Online
Internet address:
http://wwwcmlife-cmich.edu
By Angela S. Vandenberg
LIFE Assistant News Editor
An ordinance affecting where
students and other unrelated persons call home was passed at the
City Commission meeting
Monday.
A public hearing on the Zoning
Ordinance Text Amendment
Regarding the "family" definition
was held at the meeting, but no
one spoke. Commissioners
changed the date and time of the
public hearing, originally scheduled to occur during spring break,
in February.
City Attorney Sue Jeffers
reviewed the history of the ordinance for commissioners and the
public, describing how three
changes were made to what she
called a "most likely unconstitutional" ordinance in February.
These changes include allowing
those seeking a special use permit
to live in a restricted area to go
before the city planner, instead of
the city and planning commissioners, giving two unrelated persons the right to have a nanny or
caregiver live with them, and
changing the word "natural" in
the definition to "biological."
Jeffers said the ordinance was
originally going to be suggested
as an emergency ordinance at the
meeting.
There has been some reflection
and we have decided not to make
it an emergency ordinance," she
said. Jeffers said the ordinance
doesn't fill the requirements of an
emergency ordinance, and
although she said it was unconstitutional, Mount Pleasant does
have an ordinance in place.
Commissioner John Scalise
said the commission and the city
staff have done a lot of work on
the ordinance.
"It always seems to boil down to
density control on one hand and
privacy on the other hand," he
said. "There are a number of different living arrangements where
someone may be living with
someone else and they couldn't
have the same opportunity as
someone who's married under
this ordinance."
However, the other commissioners appeared to want to move
on.
"The more I listen sometimes
the more confused I became," said
Commissioner Mike Ross.
Commissioner Al Kaufmann
said if the ordinance should
require additions down the line,
he'd rather deal with it then.
All the commissioners supported the ordinance.
"Finally," said Mayor Sharon
Tilmann.
"We have other municipalities
very concerned about the process
we've been through," Jeffers said.
"I'd like to think they're doing
that because we've done a good
job and they'd like to emulate
what we've done."
The commission seemed
relieved to conclude the controversial issue.
"It got to the point I'd almost
rather read an income tax form
than read it one more time,"
Tilmann said.
Commissioner Gerald Cassel
was absent from the meeting.
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