1998-09-16; Central Michigan Life

              Central JVIichigan Lilt Jii
Volume 81, Number 8
Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859
©1998 CM LIFE
79 years of serving the community
Wednesday
September 16, 1998
16 pages
Board to consider more money for stadium complex
By Liz Wishaw
LIFE Editor
More money is being requested for
the renovation and expansion of
Kelly/Shorts Stadium and the new
athletics complex as part of the Board
of Trustees* meeting Friday.
An extra $1.57 million is being
asked for approval by the board to
complete several small projects within
the athletics facilities. $1.23 million is
coming from the overall general fund,
which is comprised of monies such as
parking fees, student tuition, state
funding and donations, while $340,000
is from private gifts. The open session
ofthe meeting takes place at 1:30 p.m.
in the Bovee University Center's
Presidents* Conference Room.
The board approved a total cost of
$28 million at its March 1997 meeting
for the stadium and athletics facility
project and approved another $1.46
million at its July  meeting for ancil
lary projecia
"We obviously see a need for additional spending money to finish the job
and cover the job to cover potential liabilities." said Mel Remus, director of
plant engineering and planning.
There was some hurry to contract
between last season and this season
and the design was not as complete as
we would have* liked it."
See STADIUM Page 16
Herron, Kehetian slighted
By Liz Wishaw
UFE€drtor
CMlTs Board of Trustees is snubbing a former employee and former trustee when it
comes to granting them emeritus rank.
Russ Herron, former secretary to the
board and vice president of University
Relations, will be granted emeritus rank at
Friday's Board  of Trustees  meeting.  But
what the trustees4 proposed resolution doesn't say has mm& surprised.
Alt the statement, reads is "Resolved, that
the Board of Trustees grants the vice president emeritus rank to Russell L> Herron
effective Jury % 199&* Herron was fired from
his vice president position in April after serv-
See HEfWON Page 7
Two students
may have
E. coli illness
By Angela S. Vandenberg
LIFE Assistant News Editor
A picnic downstate may have caused two
CMU students to possibly contract E. coli, a
rare but dangerous bacterial illness.
According to Sarah Campbell, director of
University Health Services, one student came
to them Friday, and the other on Monday.
Both were tested for E. coli, and one was
referred to Central Michigan Community
Hospital.
"We do not have final reports back on either
student," she said.
E. coli, or Escherichia coli is a group of bacteria normally found in the intestines of
warm-blooded animals. They can also be
found in some food, animals and humans, and
in water contaminated by animal or human
feces. E. coli is normally associated with
intestinal complaints or diarrhea.
Paul Hayward, district manager for Dining
Services, said the situation has "nothing
whatsoever" to do with CMU's Dining
Services.
Robert Graham, medical director of Central
Michigan District Health Department, visited
CMU to inspect Dining Services when
Campbell first heard ofthe situation.
Test results should be in within one to two
See E. CPU Page 2
Outside food
vendors ousted
from stadium
By Heather VanDyke
LIFE Assistant News Editor
No longer will football fans be able to grab a delicacy from The Embers, a deli delight from Max &
Emily's, ribs from Mountain Town Station Brewing
Co. and Steakhouse, or a slice of Little Caesar's
Pizza at the home games.
Outside vendors were eliminated this year as
part of changes made to the stadium and its concessions, said John Fisher, director of Residences
and Auxiliary Services. Instead concessions will
solely be managed by ARAMARK, Dining Services'
contracted management. The food tent of two years
was eliminated.
The food fair was on a trial basis. They were
affecting the sales of the university concessions,"
Fisher said.
Athletics reaps the benefits of the concession
stands run by the university food services, he said.
Athletics receives commission from the sales of the
concessions.
"With the outside vendors it kind of defeats the
purpose of helping the university (receive the commission)."
Fisher said Dining Services has been the concessionaire for the past three years.
"Nothing has changed, except we hired a management firm and that is ARAMARK," he said.
See FOOD Page 16	
A Latin
American
artifact display is at the
Multicultural
Center
through Oct.
15. See page
12 for details.
Classified 15
Crossword 15
Et cetera 12-13
Sports 8-9
Voices 4-5
To reach CM LIFE
Phor*e:
<517> 774-3493
I   Mail
CMLIFEecmuvm.
cav.cmicli.edu
Fax number
<517> 774-7805
Central Michigan
LIFE Online
Internet address
http-V/www.cmhfe
.cmich.edu
K
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Y
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N
G
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TONY CEPAK • CM LIFE
Top: Darra Dewar, Commerce freshman, uses a dichotomous key to identify a Norway Spruce outside of Park Library Tuesday afternoon. Directly above: Dewar and her Biology 101 class "keyed out"
trees all over campus as a part of their taxonomy lab.
Drug-using students may be denied loans
By Anthony Judnich
LIFE Staff v.
Students who do not say no to drugs
may soon, in turn, be saying no to furthering their education
Congress is currently finalizing an
education bill which would temporarily
suspend all federal loans and grants if a
student is convicted of using or selling
illegal drugs. The bill may rea< *h
President Bill Clinton for his approval by
Oct. 1.
The bill has be** passed bj  b •f1, tl
House and the Senate and is now in conference committee.
The* current law gives judges the discretion to deny federal benefits to people
convicted of drug-related crimes. The
new form of the bill would give the
responsibility of enforcement to the
Department of Education. It may also
require city and campus police to track
student crime s. Otherwise, the convicted
student would have to voluntarily disclose the crime.
It's     an     interesting     strategy     for
Congress to take," CMU Dean of
Stt.dents Bruce Roscoe said. "I'd be kind
of surprised if (the bill) did pass.
"I don't think it would have a great,
immediate effect on a young persons
decision to use drugs."
Roscoe said tracking student crimes
could be a painstaking effort.
"It will complicate activities," Roscoe
said. "It will cause more work to monitor
police records."
See DRUGS Page 14 	
Mother of
shooting
victim
speaks up
By Kelly Taylor
LIFE Staff Writer and
By Renee Lutz
LIFE Assistant News Editor
Vicki Sova, the mother of 23-
year-old Thomas Sova who was
shot and killed by Mount
Pleasant police in 1994, broke
four and a half years of silence
at Monday night's city commission meeting.
Her decision to step forward
came after reading published
statements made by City
Manager Paul Preston that the
recent out-of-court settlement
the city reached with the family cleared the shooting officers
of any wrongdoing, she said.
Preston said "the city has
always supported" the position
that the officers who shot Sova,
Sgt. Douglas LaLone and
Officer Jeffrey Shell, were committing no wrongdoing by their
actions.
Preston's opinion is not representative of the opinion of
the entire city, she said.
"Letters to the editor indicate that the citizens of our
city did not view the death of
our son (as right)," Vicki Sova
said.
She said the settlement did
not clear the officers of anything.
In her emotional testimony,
she read from a prepared
statement meant to remind
city commissioners of the circumstances that surrounded
her son's death.
Citing text from the opinion
issued by the 6th District
Court of Appeals in Cincinnati,
shc» said the appellate court
found there were serious factual disputes about the shooting,
and therefore sent the officers
back to federal district courts
for trial.
Among the factual disputes
was witness testimony that
contrasted police reports of the
night ofthe shooting, she said.
She said one witness stated
hearing Thomas say "if I come
out this door, he will shoot me,"
as LaLone yelled at him to
drop the knives and exit the
residence.
Other witnesses said police
presence escalated the problem
by screaming verbal threats at
Thomas.
"There are two very different
versions of our son being shot
dead within 10 minutes of
police arrival," Vicki said.
After reading the coroner's
report recently for the first
time,   she   is   convinced   that
See SOVA Page 15
Towers evacuated
early Wednesday
By Jeremy Stephens
LIFE Staff Writer
A fire Wednesday morning in
Cobb Hall left 392 residents
standing in their pajamas in front
of the Towers.
At 1:25 a.m. a fire that started
in the hall's first floor kitchenette
spread to the basement fire panel,
which controls the alarm system.
It was under control by 2 a.m. but
the alarm system is damaged.
About 15 firefighters from the
Mount Pleasant Fire Department
responded to the call.
There were no injuries or personal property damage.