1998-11-11; Central Michigan Life

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Central Michigan LIFE
Volume 81, Number 32
Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859
©1998 CM LIFE
Wednesday
November 11, 1998
16 pages
''••"."'■'. ■'•"■■ '■ '■■ ■
SGA demands student representation on council
By Toshalyn Erve
LIFE Staff Writer and
Liz Wishaw
LIFE Editor
The Student Government
Association voiced its concern
Monday night in the recent
developments over the proposed
Affirmative Action plan, asking
the president to keep a student
representative on the
Affirmative Action Council.
The group passed a resolution
asking    University    President
Leonard Plachta to include a
representative from the student
body if he revises and recasts
the council's charge and composition.
SGA Senate Leader Jeff
Falcusan, who is a member of
the current council, said his concern is that because there is no
certain future for the council, he
would like to make sure there is
representation from the student
body and that SGA can still
appoint a student.
"We want to demand that
President Plachta keep us as a
representative on the council,"
said Falcusan, Battle Creek
senior.
Plachta was out of town
Tuesday and could not be
reached for comment.
Falcusan said after the meeting that there is always concern
by SGA if there may be a chance
students could lose representation on the council.
"Since President Plachta has
n't given any indication of what
the composition of the council
may be, we decided to act and
put pressure on him to include
students," Falcusan said.
Members of SGA will have a
chance to talk to Plachta about
the proposed Affirmative Action
plan and other issues when he
meets with them at 7 p.m. Nov.
23 in the Bovee University
Center President's Conference
Room.
In   addition,   a   resolution   on
the student evaluation of faculty
instructional performance was
passed at the general meeting
Monday.
"The primary purpose of our
resolution is to ensure that student input for improvement of
instruction is continued within
our university," said
Christopher Blough, Gaylord
senior and SGA teaching standards committee co-chairperson.
Blough said there has been
some   concern   among   students
that the traditional student
opinion survey (SOS) filled out
at the end of a student's class
session is not as important as it
used to be.
"The university and our task
force have come up with a new
proposal — a survey to help get
better responses from students
about instructors and include it
for the improvement of instruction," he said.
See SGA Page 16	
Powers patcK up
Pozvers gets restoration
of masonry features
By Jeremy Stephens
LIFE Staff Writer
Powers Hall, one of CMU's older
buildings, is finally getting a little bit of
the exterior restoration it has needed for
some time.
Bob Wilson, senior project manager in
plant engineering, said the masonry
restoration project began Nov. 1 and, as
weather permits, could be completed
-within six weeks.
Wilson said with the extreme weather
conditions of winter, the project "will
likely have to be stretched into two
months.
The masonry restoration in Powers
will include waterproofing of the existing bricks, cleaning the limestone,
repairing broken bricks and fixing many
of the older and worn joints in the building," Wilson said.
Wilson said the restoration project
has been needed for some time, but
CMU didn't have the money available.
Wilson said the Powers masonry
restoration will cost between $50,000
and $60,000, depending on the project's
actual completion date.
See POWERS Page 2	
FABRIZIO COSTANTINI • CM LIFE
Pete Nichols, bricklayer for Herig Masonry Restorations in
Mecosta, works on a brick wall on Powers Hall Thursday afternoon.
'The wall is beginning to push and pull all over/ Nichols said.
 .
1 N s ib 1
Plachta sets third student meeting
The CMU women's basketball team concludes exhibition play today. See page 8
for details.
Classified
Crossword
Et cetera
Sports
Voices
14-15
15
12-13
8-9
4-5
By Renee Lutz
LIFE News Editor
A third open door meeting between
students and University President
Leonard Plachta is offered from 3 to 4
p.m. today.
Students only are invited to sign up
beginning at 3 p.m. in order to meet
'with and speak to Plachta about campus-related topics, said Jan Wagester,
executive secretary to the president. The
meeting takes place in the President's
Office, Warriner Hall 106.
Plachta was unavailable for comment.
The sessions are on a first come, first
serve basis, Wagester said.
The president is especially interested
to hear from students about something
that's happened that went very well for
them. It is not an opportunity for individual problem solving, but it is a forum
for suggestions on things on-campus
and academic," Wagester said.
She said other students, such as graduating seniors, use the meetings as a
chance to meet Plachta.
"We oftentimes will get seniors who
have never met the president,"
Wagester said. "And oftentimes, students can really give the president a
hands-on experience of what they're
going through and that can be very use
ful information."
At the last two meetings this semester, which took place in September and
October, a total of eight students signed
up to meet with Plachta, she said.
Six students signed up in September,
which fills the allotted meeting time
well, Wagester said. However, only two
students signed up in October, she said.
Another open door meeting is scheduled from 9 to 10 a.m. Dec. 7.
"We have tried to have the meetings
at different times of the day during different times of the week, to accommodate anyone that is wanting to come,"
Wagester said.
Lot 22 lights to receive priority upgrade
To reach CM LIFE
Phone <S17> 774-3493
E-Mail: CMLIFEecmavmxsv.cmich.edu
Fax number (517) 774-7605
Central Michigan LIFE Online
Internet address:
h tt p -V/wwrw.cmli fe.cmich.edu
By Heather VanDyke
LIFE Assistant News Editor
The lights in Lot 22 are being rewired
during the next two weeks, which eliminates more than two dozen parking
spots.
Mel Remus, director of plant engineering and planning of Facilities
Management, said the project was a
necessity.
"Our electricians can't fix it anymore
and they are the ones that asked for the
project to be done," Remus said.
The $16,375 project will be completed
by J. Ranck Electric, 1993 Gover
Parkway, and is slated to be finished
within the "next couple of weeks,"
according to Earl Morrow, director of
facilities operations for Facilities
Management.
"We have a contractor feeding the
wiring that is connected to the parking
lot lights," Morrow said.
Morrow said the parking lot lighting
has been of concern for quite some time.
"One light has been out and we have
had trouble with it the last few years.
The   project   includes   cutting   the
blacktop, trenching, installing conduit
and "pulling" new electric, he said. It
would have been done earlier, but due
to a lack in funds it was postponed.
Funds were accumulated mainly
through the deferred maintenance
funds.
"Some of the funds came from
deferred maintenance and the assistant
vice president (of Facilities
Management Jean Lindley) felt it was
important for this to get fixed before
winter comes and we moved it on to an
urgent basis," Remus said.
Veterans
remembered
today with
observances
By Shannon Marosi
LIFE Staff Writer
A framed quote by Rudyard Kipling sits on the desk
of Capt. Eugene Snyman, a Gulf War veteran, summing up how he feels about Veteran's Day.
"God and the soldier we adore
In time of peril, not before
The peril ended, all things righted,
God is forgotten, and the soldier slighted."
Today is Veteran's Day — and CMU is honoring two
different tributes.
Veteran's Day began in 1919, after 116,000 U.S. soldiers died fighting in World War I. President Woodrow
Wilson proclaimed Nov. 11 as Armistice Day to honor
the forces that fought and died in the war.
The two observances will be performed by the military science department and the Chippewa Battalion.
The first observance will start at 10:45 a.m. at the
Veteran's Peace Memorial Garden on East Campus
Drive. There will be opening remarks, followed by a 21
round salute, fires' by the CMU Army ROTC Redleg
Club. The salute commemorates the armistice ending
World War 1, that went into effect at the eleventh hour
of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918.
The second observance begins at noon at the Bovee
University Center Auditorium, and will consist of a
reading of the 239 Medal of Honor citations given during the Vietnam War. Members of the Chippewa
Battalion will be reading the citations, which will conclude around 5 p.m.
Snyman is a participant in these ceremonies.
Snyman is an assistant professor of military science
and a veteran of the Gulf War.
Snyman was in combat in various places throughout
Iraq and Kuwait from December 25, 1990, until May
15, 1991. He was a member of the 1st infantry division,
See VETERANS Page 2	
Longtime
public safety
director retires
By Renee Lutz
LIFE News Editor
After nearly two decades of service as director of
public safety for Mount Pleasant, Martin Trombley
has decided to make a shift in careers.
Trombley, who will retire from his current position
as public safety director Dec. 31, will become dean of
Contract and Continuing Education at Mid
Michigan Community College in Harrison just a few
days later on Jan. 4.
"I didn't exactly resign, I retired. I switched
careers," Trombley said. "This is community-based
and our emphasis is on developing and enhancing
the training programs for the community, working
with businesses as well as public sector agencies in
identifying their training needs, and of course, the
continuing education aspect is providing continuing
education credit training for students, professionals, and others," he said.
Trombley said he will continue to live in Mount
Pleasant and will remain active in the community
through the appointed position at Mid Michigan.
"There are more and more people in the workforce
required to maintain education. The community college is actively involved in that. Mid Michigan has a
role in that in Mount Pleasant," Trombley said. "It's
obvious to me that (Mid Michigan Community
College's) board of trustees and president are actively trying to be more involved in the community and
its development.
"That's why it's called a community college — its
function is to provide the first two years for students
seeking a four year degree or provide an associate's
degree," he said.
Trombley said the career change will be easy for
him to make.
"Moving to Mid Michigan Community College is
sort of a natural transition for me because Tve been
involved in training and education all throughout
my career," he said.
Trombley's involvement in education dates back
See TROMBLEY Page 2