1987-05-27; Central Michigan Life

              Central
Michigan
WEDNESDAY
May 27.1987
VOLUME 70. NUMBER 85
MOUNT PLEASANT. MI 48859
c 1987 CM UFE
12 PAGES
Prosecutor asks
chief assistant
for resignation
BY DENNIS ARMISTEAD
LIFE Staff Writer
After nearly a decade in the Isabella County
Prosecuting Attorney's office, Tom Plachta, chief
assistant prosecuting attorney, found himself out
of a job Friday afternoon.
Plachta was given an ultimatum by Isabella
County Prosecutor Joseph Barberi. either resign
or face immediate termination.
Plachta elected not to resign at that time and
was subsequently fired.
"In a six-page letter, (given to Plachta Friday),
I offered him the courtesy of resignation in lieu of
termination," Barberi said Tuesday.
He referred to a Dec. 11 meeting with Plachta
which "lasted several hours" during which
Barberi "enumerated numerous areas of concern
pertaining to (Plachta's) employment activities."
In Barbori's letter, Plachta's work performance
since the December meeting was reviewed,
measuring, "his progress and non-progress."
"I spelled out specifically that his inability to
deal with many of the key concerns that I had
with the chief assistant's performance forced the
termination," Barberi said.
Barberi said Plachta was dismissed for several
reasons:
■ Improper use of personal leave and sick
days.
Many times Plachta did not inform the office he
would Ik- absent before 9:00 a.m., Barberi said
According to Barberi, that behavior interfered
with scheduling of appointments.
■ Plachta's "disheveled desk."
According to Barberi, Plachta's desk and office
files were "constantly in a state of disarray."
Barberi said disorganization caused problems
with clerical staff who were "constantly trying to
find documents."
■ "Personal attacks" on defense attorneys
and witnesses
The attacks had. "gone to the point where he,
(Plachta i, was tieing openly admonished by
judges," Rurheri said.
■ "Case after case," with Plachta as chief trial
attorney was reversed by the Court of Appeals,
PV-ase See PLACHTA Pago 10
March!
Veterans from the VFW
Post No. 3033. Mount
Pleasant. lead the
Memorial Day Parade
Monday, above. Ths
parade participants
marched from the Sacred
Heart Church. 302 S.
Kinney, and finished at
Riverside Cemetary on E.
Broadway, right. Ben Hitts.
5, Mount Pleasant, wore
his grandfather's parade
shirt, which is
53-years-old, below.
CM Lift/Cher. «~1,
World final competition comes to Centra
BY JACKIE RYNIAK
An international meeting of
the mind.-- is scheduled to bring
between lO.OOO and 1:2.01)0
people to CMC Thursday
Finals of tbe World Odyssey
of the Mind, a problem solving
comji-tition for students from
kindergarten   through    l'2th
- grades, will take place at ('Ml',
said Dennis Stariies, On-Sight
Coordinator for Odvssey of the
Mind.
About *i,200 international
participants are expected to
attend May 2<s-.'!0, said
Starne-. who is also (SMC
Acting Assistant Director of
Non-Credit Programs
"F.xtras. such as parents and
those curious attout the event.
will make the total Ixtween
lll.OW) and 12.000 attending."
Starnes said
Housing, arranged and
funded by participants and
spectators, includes campus
facilities, area hotels ami camp
grounds, Starnes said
"We have every bed from
here to Saginaw occupied," tie
added
Approximately    ">30    teams
from the I'nited States.
Canada and Mexico are
scheduled to attend, said Mike
Silverthom. Media Relations
The 1Mb annual competition
involves solving creative
problems devised hy the
program originator Sam
Micklas, professor of
technology at (Ilassboro State
College, ('■lassboro. N.J ,
according   to   Julie    Haughey.
Faculty Association and University set to bargain contract
Faculty and administration are scheduled to sit down again
Thursday to exchanged contract proposals
William Dunham, associate vice provost for faculty contract
negotiations, said the faculty's 1984 to 1987 agreement expires
on June 30. 1987, and both sides are negotiating new contracts.
Faculty and administrative representatives have met four
times to work on an agreement for the new contracts, Dunham
said.
"1 think we're moving along fairly well," Dunham said.
"We are getting together, and we are at work," Bargaining
Team Chairman John Pfeiffer said.
PfeifTer said he could not speculate on whether the two sides
can reach an agreement.
"It's still too early in the process to try to characterize how
things are going. There arc not enough signs to know if it's
going well"
Representatives from both sides have been meeting in closed
sessions to exchange proposals and discuss "difficult issues of
concern to either party," Dunham said.
One major faculty concern is a raise in salary, Pfeiffer,
English professor, said.
"We need more money," Pfeiffer said. "We need to make up
for past inequities or shortages. As the years go by,, we fall
behind further and further (in salary rates)."
He alao said CMU needs more regular faculty members.
Michigan Regional Competition Coordinator
"Students have worked on
long-term problems lor a long
time." Haughey said
Current problems were
issued la-t Fall to competing
teams who worked on them to
advance through local, regional
and state levels, Haughey said
P'cmso See MIND Page 11
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 NEWS
New acting dean appointed   page3
COMMENT
Mug       shot      maniacs
beware page 4
SPORTS
CMU softball team loses in
College World Series. page 8