1998-06-10; Central Michigan Life

              Central Michigan LIFE
Volume 79, Number 90
Mt. Pleasant,  MI 48859
©1998 CM LIFE
78 years of serving the community
Wednesday
June 10, 1998
10 pages
Legislation could net CMU more state funding
■
By Heather VanDyke
UFE Copy Editor
An 8.3 percent increase in
state funding for state universities is pending under a hud-
get approved by the House
Appropriations Committee.
The bill if passed will give
CMU a total of $77,583,994
which amounts to $4,498 per
student. Recently the state
senate passed a 6.6 increase in
higher education funding.
State Rep. Jim McBryde, R-
Mount Pleasant, said a confer
ence is scheduled between the
house and senate to "work out
their differences" concerning
the increase.
"I am quite sure the 8.3 percent increase for CMU will
remain in the bill,** McBryde
said. "Even though the bill has
already passed the senate, the
house version has an increase
for Central that is substantially more than the senate had
passed, therefore it has to be
worked out."
McBryde   said   the   bill   will
affect us in a "very positive
way."
"The larger the state appropriation for CMU, the less
pressure there is for the university to raise tuition,** he
said.
Although McBryde said he is
extremely confident with the
8.3 percent figure, he said it
still is not the final word.
"I fully expect the House of
Representatives to pass the
higher education budget but
that doesn't mean that it is the
final word that Central would
get it from the State."
University President
Leonard Plachta said he is
very pleased with the large
increase, however a tuition
hike is still likely.
"It is virtually impossible to
avoid a tuition increase,"
Plachta said. "The bigger the
funding increase for CMU, the
smaller the increase in
tuition."
Plachta    said    a    raise    of
tuition   is   needed   to   keep   up
Actor discusses winning
attitude, future goals
By Liz Wishaw
LIFE Managing Editor
Television and music star
Chris Burke says life handed
him abilities he can use, not
disabilities.
The 32-year-old actor,
known for his role as Corky
on the television series "Life
Goes On," has expanded his
talents to include a music
career, motivational speaking, and spokesman for The
National Down Syndrome
Society.
Burke was this year's honorary chairman at the
Special       Olympics       State
Summer
Games, held
this past
weekend on
CMU's campus.
"It's important that I
am active
and   help  out
with      everybody and
show   them    that   they   can
achieve    success,"    he    said,
about his participation at the
See BURKE Page 2
BURKE
LEI ZHENG ♦ CM LIFE
Lexie Bajraszewski, 13, off Macomb County, receives praise from
State Summer Games volunteers as she tries to touch
the ball during developmental athletics in the Student Activity
Center's Turf Room.
LEFT: Several dancers from the entertainment group. Up With
People, perform a Mexican song and dance during Thursday's
opening ceremony off the Special Olympic State Summer
Games.
Winners at heart
compete at games
By Kelly Taylor
LIFE Staff Writer
The 3,400 athletes who competed in the Special Olympics
Summer Games and the 1,000 Volunteers who pitched in
exemplified the theme of the games: "Winners at Heart."
Over 400 of the volunteers at the games this past weekend
consisted of faculty, staff, students and community members.
Spartan Stores Inc. of Grand Rapids, the main sponsor of the
games, brought 600 volunteers to the games.
Athletes from across the state competed in swimming, gymnastics, horseshoes, bocce, bowling, weightlifting, team handball and track and field.
One athlete, however, could be described more thoroughly as
a "Winner at Heart for a Lifetime."
Cindy Foster, of Birmingham, has been competing as a swimmer in the Special Olympics for the last 33 years — since she
was 8-years-old.
Neither Down Syndrome nor her tiny 4'6** stature has dampened her competitive spirit.
Cindy's mother, Lenore Foster, said the swimmer's height did
pose a problem when she was learning to swim.
"You had to be tall enough to touch the bottom to be allowed
in the pool, so all she could do was sit on the side with her feet
in," said Lenore, who is also Cindy's coach.
At one time, she was pushed in the pool before she could
See WINNERS Page 2
with the growing costs of higher education.
"It is a common fact that the
increase in the cost of operations for higher education
nationwide in recent years has
he**n higher." Plachta said.
"The way we spend our
money — the things we spend it
on, move faster than the average consumer costs."
Furthermore, Plachta said
while he hopes for the 8.3 percent increase, he will still be
happy    with    a    6.6    increase
which has passed the senate.
"The senate had already
dealt with this. They had
processed it," Plachta said.
"We're in for (at least) a 6.6
percent increase that the senate had passed."
"Even if you take 6.6 percent,
there most likely will be a
tuition increase even if it is a
generous amount."
The amount of the increase is
yet to be decided.
See FUNDING Page 2
University settles
Sheridan lawsuit
iFormer student
receives      $1.3
million for injuries
in the Rose Center
Turf Room
By Angela Cook-Reid
LIFE Editor
CMU says it isn*t responsible
for a former student's accident
but it has agreed to pay $1.3
million to settle the matter.
Brian Sheridan, a former
Bay City student, injured himself in 1993 while attempting
to use CMU's gymnastics
equipment - then open for all
students* use. Sheridan was
paralyzed from the neck down
after attempting a back flip on
the Tumble-Trak, an apparatus
that lets a person perform
gymnastic moves.
Sheridan sued the university
in 1994 for damages but
Isabella County Circuit Court
Judge Paul Chamberlain later
dismissed the case in the same
year.
Sheridan later filed suit
against other university personnel in 1996 for gross negli
gence. Those named in the suit
were: Tom Jones, director of
Campus Recreation Services;
Diana Hughes, professor of
communication disorders and
faculty adviser for the gymnastics club; former Athletics
Director Dave Keilitz and
Jerry Reighard, CMU varsity
gymnastics coach.
The 1996 suit was dismissed
May 4 by Chamberlain after an
agreement was made between
both parties in December. All
charges against the plaintiffs
have been dismissed and CMU
has agreed to pay the $1.3 million, which covers Sheridan's
attorneys' fees, medical costs
and any damages sustained
from the accident. The settlement will be paid by the university's insurer.
Jones would not comment on
the case itself but did say he
was glad to see the situation
ended.
"I'm terribly sorry it happened," he said. "I wish Brian
the best of everything."
Hughes, Keilitz and
Reighard did not return phone
See SHERIDAN Page 2	
Reinhardt leaving
post for Penn State
By Liz Wishaw
LIFE Managing Editor
Native American Programs
will see changes in administration again, only two years after
former director David Staddon
left the university.
Martin Reinhardt, who
replaced Staddon in 1996 as
programs director, resigned
June 1 after being accepted
into a doctoral program at
Penn State University. He
leaves his position July 31.
Reinhardt previously worked
in the Native American office
as a graduate assistant and
was a student from 1994 to
1996.
Reinhardt will begin the educational administration program at Penn State Aug. 26,
where he will concentrate on
special education issues. He
was awarded an American
Indian Leadership Fellowship
that covers all tuition, fees and
books.
"It's hard leaving CMU. I've
made a lot of friends here and I
started a lot of projects, that's
the  hard   part  of leaving," he
said. Some of the projects he's
worked on include the
Michigan College/University
Partnership that started last
year. The program works with
Native American and Hispanic
students from the five community colleges in the
MidMichigan area.Reinhardt
plans to return to the Great
Lakes area in the future and
work in a higher education
environment, possibly teaching
at CMU. He'd like to concentrate on how Native American
issues are created in the curriculum.
"Provost (Richard
Davenport) said to check when
I'm done and its a possibility
that I could teach here,"
Reinhardt said. "It's something
to look into, especially if the
Native American Cultural
Center and Institute is running by then."
Davenport said Reinhardt's
leave is the university's loss
but he thinks Reinhardt furthering his education will have
See REINHARDT Page 2
Gonzales leaving for BGSU doctoral program
By Liz Wishaw
LIFE Managing Edrtor
The Office of Minority Student
Services is undergoing another
change in its administrative staff
as its director takes a two year
leave.
Laura Gonzales, director of
Minority Student Services for 13
years, is leaving CMU in mid-July
on an educational leave. She was
accepted into Bowling Green
University's doctoral program for
higher education administration.
Gonzales, who joined the office
in 1985, has seen tremendous
growth in the services CMU offers
to minority students. For instance,
the area of academic retention has
increased, in particular the
Graduation Retention
Improvement Program.
"I think that Tve been fortunate
that Tve had a great group of staff
members and, to me, I see it as a
team effort that a really good
group of people have helped the
office to move in the direction that
it is now," she said.
"I would really like to thank
everyone on the campus, in particular the faculty and staff who have
supported our office and helped us
in* so many ways." *
She said the part shell miss the
most is working with the students
— getting to know them, helping
them in the office and watching
them work toward graduation.
"I've really enjoyed working
with the students. I plan on keeping in contact with them, in particular, some of the alumni," she
said. "I only see this (leave) as
temporary and my goal is to come
back and still have student contact
in some way"
Gonzales will still get the student interaction on BGSUs campus though. As part of her fellowship at BGSU, she's required to
work in the provost's office as a
graduate assistant.
"ni still be on a college campus
but this time as one of the students. It should be interesting to
be back as one of the students,"
she said.
Provost Richard Davenport said
Gonzales' leave is a significant
loss to the university but she will
be back in two years as part of her
leave agreement. Gonzales and
Davenport both said it is unknown
at this time where Gonzales will
work but she will have a job here,
whether its as Minority Student
Services director or not.
"Tve been working with her for a
long time. She is very capable and
ready for this major step. Fm very
supportive and pleased with her
work," Davenport said. "She's
learned a lot over the years and it's
prepared her well."
Davenport and David Williams,
incoming assistant vice president
of Institutional Diversity, are discussing several options on how to
fill Gonzales' position once she
leaves.
"I can't really say what yet but
we're exploring some possibilities
that will help him better run the
whole division," Davenporfsaid.