1998-05-27; Central Michigan Life

              Central Michigan LIFE
Volume 79, Number 88
Mt. Pleasant,   MI 48859
©1998 CM LIFE
78 years of serving the community
WEDNESDAY
May 27, 1998
8 pages
Plachta discusses CMU funding before house committee
By Angela Cook-Reid
LIFE Editor
University President
Leonard Plachta, along with
other state university presidents, appeared before the
State House of Representatives
Subcorrunittee On Higher
Education May 20 in Lansing.
The House Higher Education
Subcommittee is charged with
bringing recommendations for
university funding before the
House floor.
"The committee wants to
hear from the presidents of the
universities about what they
are asking for," Plachta said.
The committee, now finished
with   higher   education    hear-
I ings, will make
I their recommendation in the
I next couple of
I weeks, Plachta
I said.
"We don't
I think it will take
a long time but
' it will be a few
weeks,** he said.
"The process is a littler later
then what we had hoped it to
be."
Plachta was given 20 minutes to address the committee.
During this time he stressed
the issue of minimum per student funding.
Plachta asked the committee
University President asks for
$4,500 per-student funding for
all 15 state universities
PLACHTA
to consider committing up
front to funding each of the 15
state universities with $4,500
per student.
"We •would like to begin to
move towards the average," he
said
The average per student
funding among the 15 state
universities is approximately
$6,000, with CMU receiving
about $4,200 per student.
"Basically our university has
come to the conclusion that we
ought to make that a major
goal,** he said. "Historically,
the state of Michigan has not
looked at per-student funding."
Plachta said the sum of
$4,500 was decided upon in
order to increase funding for
CMU.
"We would argue that we
need  more but the state can't
Scottish for a day
TONY CEPAK • CM LIFE
ABOVE: "They're finally here," said Abby Calverley
(right), 7, of Vestaburg,  as the Alma Highland Band passes her,
her mother Patti (middle), and her sisterTonisha (left), 10, at the
Alma Highland Festival Parade Saturday morning.
ABOVE RIGHT: Participants in the age 17 and under division perform a reel dance during the Highland Dance
Competition Saturday morning. Although they dance in a
group, each dancer is judged individually.
78,000 attend 31st
annual festivities
By Stacy Tadajewski
LIFE Staff Writer
ALMA — Travelers from around the globe converged on
Alma College this past weekend with their musical bagpipes
and plaid-covered kilts for the 31st annual Alma Highland
Festival and Games.
About 78,000 attended the games, including volunteers,
vendors and participants, festival officials said.
Ticket taker Carol Rurikson, Alma resident, said she had a
17-foot line of people waiting to purchase tickets at her gate
Saturday.
"We have people here from Wales, Scotland and Ireland.
People come from all over the world and from all over the U.S.
to attend the festival," Rurikson said.
"People make this a family event. Its the site of many family reunions."
Rurikson said she has been coming to the festival for the
past 20 years. "It's a wonderful event."
The "Scottish weather," as Rurikson described  Sunday's
damp, rainy conditions, didn't put a damper on the festivities.
Events, such as the dancing competition, were moved
indoors to compensate for the weather.
Other festival activities included a caber toss, hammer
throw, -weight toss, the tossing of the sheaf and the putting of
the stone.
When not watching events, spectators milled around the
vendor   tents.   Many   of  the   vendors   featured   authentic
See GAMES Page 2
University spends $32,000 to
sprinkler systems
■ Third system
Installed by
end of the year
By Jeremy H. Dickman
LIFE Staff Writer
Facilities Management is
installing new irrigation systems
around campus by the end of this
year
According to Peter Gorton,
campus planner, two of the systems are already installed. One
is located in the south part of Lot
18 and one is in the north half of
the west side of Washington
Street.
The next system to be completed is on the south half of
Washington Street.
Although $35,000 was allocated for Washington Street, the
university has only used
$32,000
The cost for these new irrigation units was fairly low, Gorton
said, because of the use of natural water.
4*We use retention and detention ponds to bring water that
falls through rain into a collection basin and then we pump out
of that," Gorton said.
This way the cost is limited
only to electrical usage and
repairs, Gorton said.
The decision to install these
new systems was part of a planning decision made about one to
two years ago, Gorton said.
"This just adds to the already
existing systems that we have,"
he said.
Gorton said the reason for
these installations is to help cut
down on the maintenance for
Facilities Management workers
and so CMU can have high-performing turf areas for athletics.
"We're doing this to reduce the
maintenance of facilities personnel, so that you don't have to
move and relocate hoses," Gorton
said. "Also we're doing it to automate the irrigation system, so
that we could have high-performing turf areas."
One of the areas where a new
irrigation      system      will      be
installed is the new soccer field.
"For playing soccer collegiately
you want to have a lush, soft
base for others to compete,"
Gorton said.
Other areas selected for the
new irrigation units are those
with high-visibility or for competitive turf.
"Normally we only irrigate
those areas that are competitive turf surfaces, such as
sporting complexes or playing
fields," Gorton said. "Then
beyond that we only irrigate
those areas that are high-profile display areas or that present the best image for campus."
"We do irrigate those buildings that have high-profile public visitation and those that are
exceptionally well-designed,
such as the new music building, and there is already one at
the Industrial and Engineering
Technology building," he said.
Systems are currently located in places like the practice
football field, Theunissen
Stadium and Grawn Hall.
afford to bring up the (schools
that receive lower funding)
that quickly," he said.
Plachta said once the
increase in state university
funding is finalized, possible
tuition increases will be discussed and decided upon.
"If you don't get it from the
state, then you have to get it
from the students," he said.
He said in the last few years
CMU's support for per-student
funding has been met with
some success.
Also, during the hearing,
Plachta gave a rundown of
facts about CMU.
Among them were awards
CMU has  received  in  the last
year, including Michigan
Professor of the Year Gary
Dunbar. He also mentioned
CMU being ranked by U.S.
News and World Report as one
of the top public universities in
the Midwest and its rank of
second in the nation for awarding the most master's degrees
to African Americans.
"There were supporting comments in general and I had a
good feeling as I left," he said.
He also went over alumni
statistics, student services and
the student affordability of
CMU.
"I was very pleased," he said
"The ideas we presented
seemed to be well received."
Tribe to give $15.5
million to local,
state agencies
By Angela Cook-Reid
LIFE Editor
Local and state agencies are
receiving $15.5 million from
the Saginaw Chippewa Indian
Tribe Friday to help upgrade
their projects.
Judy Whitman, spokeswoman for the tribe, said while
she could not comment on actual donations, she did say the
tribal council is putting area
youth support organizations at
the top of their list of receivers.
"Th at's
one of the
tribal council's priorities," she
said.
Also on
the list are
local parks,
city and
county road
projects,
state and
local police
depart-
ments, local
medical
f aci 1 i t i e s
and city
schools.
The recipients will be
announced during a press conference at 3 p.m. Friday in
Soaring Eagle Casino and
Resort coffeeshop.
Agencies had to request the
tribal funding and the tribal
council reviews the requests
and decides what will be funded, she said.
Two percent of the Class III
gaming revenues is allocated
for dispersement among local
agencies. State agencies
receive 8 percent of the earnings. Class III gaming revenues
Some of the
organizations in the
past   that have
received monies are
the Isabella County
Recreation Center
and Mount Pleasant
Public Schools.
are collected from the slot
machines, craps and roulette
games housed within the
Soaring Eagle Casino and
Resort.
Whitman said the main reason the tribe makes these local
donations on a biannual basis
is to replace dollars the tribal
operations may have taken
away from the community, due
to increased tribal business
adding wear and tear to local
roads and infrastructures.
Whitman
also said
tribal gaming business
brings an
increased
number of
residents
into the
community,
this money
allows for
the tribe to
offset any
costs a pop-
u 1 a t i o n
increase
may     cause
to     schools,
city agencies or otherwise.
Whitman said local organizations that have received monies
in the past include the Isabella
County Recreation Center and
Mount Pleasant Public Schools.
In addition, projects that have
received past funding include
the renovating of local libraries
and playgrounds and installing
area sidewalks and street,
lights.
A total of $16.6 million was
dispersed in December 1997.
Whitman attributed the drop in
allocations to a slower gaming
season during the winter.
'Con man' sought in
three states eludes police
AP Staff Reports
KANSAS CITY, Mo.
— A fugitive described as "an
accomplished con man" and
sought in three states apparently walked away from a
Kansas City mental health
facility, and has eluded police
since.
Shawn M. Roma, 31, who is
charged in several fraudulent financial schemes, is
wanted in Missouri, Kansas
and Michigan.
Roma, 31, was supposed to
go on trial earlier this week
in Mount Pleasant but didn't
show up. A judge revoked his
bond and issued a fugitive
warrant.
Police in the Kansas City
suburb of Lenexa, Kan.,
tracked him down
Wednesday at a Kansas City
motel. They and Kansas City
police arrested Roma on the
Michigan warrant, as well as
warrants from Kansas City
and Jackson County in
Missouri,       and       Johnson
County in Kansas.
While in custody, Roma
began complaining of medical problems, and was taken
to Truman Medical Center
and then to Western
Missouri Mental Health
Center nearby.
It was unknown how he left
the mental health center
Thursday. Officials said they
could not comment because
of confidentiality requirements.
Police got back on Roma's
trail Thursday night when a
detective from the Johnson
County Sheriffs Department
got a tip that he might show
up at the Olathe Medical
Center in the suburb of
Olathe, Kan.
He did, and a chase ensued
with Johnson County sheriffs officers, Olathe police,
the Kansas Highway Patrol,
but Roma drove into
Missouri and lost them.
See CON MAN Page 2