1998-10-28; Central Michigan Life

              Central Michigan LIFE
Volume 81, Number 26
Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859
©1998 CM LIFE
79 years of serving the community
Wednesday
October 28, 1998
16 pages
Affirmative Action co-chair Newby quits council
■ President's plan to
change policy causes
resignation
By Liz Wishaw
LIFE Editor
The Affirmative Action
Council is still feeling the effects
of University President Leonard
Plachta's eighth paper this week
as it has changed the membership on the council.
The paper, which was released
Thursday,   detailed   the   presi
dents plan for Affirmative
Action at CMU, and part of the
plan calls for an evaluation of
the committee and possible
restructuring.
Diane Newby, co-chair of the
committee, resigned Friday from
the committee in an e-mail to
the committee members. Newby,
who represents the Faculty
Association on the council, said
Tuesday she had no formal comment for CM LIFE and referred
to the e-mail.
In the e-mail, Newby, who is a
professor and associate chair of
teacher education and development, said, "When considering
President Plachta's perceptions
about the current council and
his plans *to evaluate its structure and charge with an eye
toward recasting it/ I find the
council without a mission and a
charge.
"This is particularly so since
the new draft protocol does not
make references to the
Affirmative Action Council. In
addition, President Plachta indi
cated that he intends to offer
further thoughts about the
recasting of the Affirmative
Action Council after the 'CMU
Equal Opportunity and
Affirmative Action Protocol* is
adopted. This could take weeks
or months. Thus I view the current council as a lame duck,
advisory body without the active
listening ear of the administration," Newby said.
Sherry Bourgeois, also co-
chair of the council, said she
wasn't surprised by Newby's res
ignation.
"Before when we met with the
president, Diane was concerned
this was going to happen. She
was going to hold off and was
considering holding off until a
decision was made (about the
council by the president).
"She was correct in her
assumption that this was going
to take place," said Bourgeois,
who is an associate director of
marketing and communication
for the College of Extended
Learning.
She said Newby had expressed
concern about the president disbanding the council, which hadn't happened yet, but Newby has
told Bourgeois that she feels it
may happen soon.
Bourgeois also has considered
resigning from the council.
Tve considered it but I don't
know at this point what the
future holds. I need to meet with
the other council members first
before I make any decisions."
See NEWBY Page 2	
Mcknight
Student's
death stuns
loved ones
By Heather VanDyke
LIFE Assistant News Editor
She loved dolphins — so much that five of her
closest friends now have dolphin tattoos in memory
of their best friend, Kasie E. McKnight.
McKnight, 17, Johannesburg freshman, died
Thursday at her home in her sleep. An autopsy has
been done by the Otsego County Medical Examiner
but the cau.se of death could not be detected. A possible aneurysm may be to blame, said her mother,
Pam Eubank.
"We still don't know the cause of death. Basically
she died in her sleep. About a year ago she had lost
her hearing in one ear and
they don't know if that has
to do with it," Eubank
said.
Her friends and family
agree that Kasie's life was
snuffed out all too soon.
"She was great and
loved everybody, and
everybody loved her,"
Eubank said.
Eubank described her daughter as funny and *just
beautiful."
"She graduated with honors, was class treasurer
and homecoming queen and was in different
pageants — she was just beautiful," she said.
McKnight enjoyed hobbies such as modeling,
swimming, boating, and canoeing, Eubank said.
Eubank said she was a very well-liked student at
Johannesburg-Lewiston High School, which was
closed the day of her funeral. More than 500 students attended the funeral in her hometown.
Brooke Allen, Johannesburg freshman who considered McKnight one of her best friends, said
McKnight wasn't disliked by anyone.
"Where do I begin? She is not a person you could
be mad at. She didn't have any enemies and she
loved dolphins. The five of us (her closest friends)
got dolphin tattoos in memory of Kasie," Allen said.
Allen said McKnight was a very happy person.
"She was always laughing, she always laughed
about the stupidest stuff. . . and she could never
take a bad picture, she was, well, there are no words
to describe her Best friend, favorite daughter — she
was just everything," she said.
Getting over the death of her friend will be hard,
Allen said.
See MCKNIGHT Page 16
Public Radio
draws record
contributions
By Angie Fenton
LIFE Staff Writer
They were tired, subdued and all talked out on
Monday, but they hit the ground running on
Tuesday, and haven't looked back since.
CMU Public Radio broke a fund-raising record
Sunday night, raising $167,362 in 11 days, a
total which was pledged by 2,188 callers. The
figure is 5.4 percent higher than the 1997 fall
pledge total.
Tom Hunt, director of CMU Public Radio, said,
"It's the fifth consecutive year in which we've
had (an increase) in the fund raising results."
Hunt said he attributes the successful fund
raising to "the fact that our staff had a very positive attitude, and the listeners felt positive,
too."
Hunt said in a press release Sunday night
that the funds came from "Listeners (who)
responded generously when their pledges were
matched, or had additional dollars added from a
challenger."
The challenger grants came from a number of
businesses and underwriters, Hunt said.
Mount Pleasant-based radio station WCFX
95.3 FM challenged its listeners to pledge a
donation to CMU Public Radio and then, in
turn, 95.3 CFX donated challenge grants to the
public radio station as well.
"It was the first time a commercial radio sta-
See DONATIONS Page 2	
Miniature Grand Canyon
RYAN WOOD • CM LIFE
Potholes like this one in Lot 22 seem large enough to swallow small cars and send others airborne. Potholes can be filled, but whole resurfacings
come slowly on campus.
Potholes plague parking lots; fix process slow
By Jared Clark
LIFE Staff Writer
They're wide, they're deep and they are hard to
miss.
They're potholes and they have only added to
the parking problems for students and staff.
Several of the potholes riddle Lot 22 and until
Tuesday afternoon they were unavoidable. After
2 p.m. Tuesday, they were marked with white
lines and barricaded. However, there is no final
word on when repair work on the lot will take
place at this time.
Mel Remus, director of Plant Engineering and
Planning, said nothing is planned for the rest of
the fall semester, but much work has already
been done.
"So far this year, lots 42, 48, 49 and a portion
of Lot 54, by the campus Facilities Management,
have been resurfaced. We've spent close to
$150,000  this  year,  with  a  large  portion  of it
going to the resurfacing of Lot 42 in front of the
Towers," Remus said.
Tom Prenkert, manager of landscape operations, said that Lot 22 has been marked as
"needing rehabilitation."
"Lot 22 is an area that should be considered for
resurfacing in the future," Prenkert said.
The   situation   was   put   into   perspective   by
See POTHOLES Page 2	
The Real World: a typical CMU freshman weekend
SKYE FISHER ♦ CM LIFE
Jason, left, and Brandon joke around in their residence hall room.
By Angie Fenton
LIFE Staff Writer
The following is the third article in "The
Real World: CM UFE Style" series. What
began as an endeavor to peek in on the freshman experience of 10 students has become an
opportunity to follow around seven of them
— four men, three women. Brandon Walker,
18, Detroit; Jeff Washington, 18, Detroit;
Jason LaFontaine, 18, Tipton; and Josh
Vervoort, 18, Prescott, are all roommates in
The Towers. Keltic Drake, 18, Oak Park;
Kimberly Rogers, 17, South field; and Ay anna
Howard, 17, are all friends, though none of
them are roommates. Ayanna was unavailable for this article but will be included in the
next. It's the real world, through the eyes of
freshmen.
The Men
The weekend of Oct. 9 and 10, the four
roommates all did "their own thing."
Jeff went home.
"I spent quality time with my little brother
and my little cousins. They need a male figure in their lives. We're all real close," Jeff
said.
Jason also went home to do his laundry,
not to mention to see his girlfriend. When
asked if things are going OK, Jason shook his
head and said, "Mmm hmm."
Tlie other men laugh.
"Yeah it's going good," Jason said.
Jeff said, "Oh yeah, we can see the enthusiasm on your face, Laf."
(Brandon, Jeff, and Jason have nicknames:
B-t-hy, Chocolate Thunder and Laf — pronounced "loft" without the "t" — respectively)
Josh, who showed up late, said he had just
come from Lil* Chef.
"Do you want to eat after this, dude?"
Jason asked Josh.
See REAL WORLD Page 16	
WMU/CMU blood challenge results in tie
INSIDE
By Heather VanDyke
LIFE Assistant News Editor
There were no winners and no
losers in the Western/Central blood
challenge this year.
There was a tie in units of blood
donated at the Red Cross challenge,
which took place in the Bovee
University Center Oct. 13-23.
Heather Tofit, coordinator for the
American Red Cross, said the tally
was based on enrollment for both universities.
"CMU had 903 units and Western
had 962 units, but it was based on
enrollment of both campuses, so it
was (technically) a tie," Toft said.
Toft said with such a small margin a winner could not be determined.
Rachelle Ferris, Whitehall freshman and blood challenge volunteer,
said it was close.
"I know that we came out about
the same. They did a percentage
and it was like a tie, " Ferris said.
Ferris said there was a good student turnout.
"I think the turnout was good.
We had quite a few people that
were all willing," Ferris said.
According   to   a   Tuesday   news
See CHALLENGE Page 2	
Classified
Crossword
Et cetera
Sports
Voices
15
15
10-13
8-9
4-5
To reach CM UFE
Phone <5171 774-3493
E-Mail CMLIFEecmuvm.csv.cmich.edu
Fax number <517> 774-7S0S
Central Michigan LIFE Online
Internet address:
http-jTwww.cm li Ie .cmich. edu