1998-04-22; Central Michigan Life

              Central Michigan LIFE
Volume 79, Number 82
Mt. Pleasant,  MI 48859
©1998 CM LIFE
78 years of serving the community
Wednesday
April 22, 1998
TAwo sections • 20 pages
Rape is 'still an everyday struggle'
By Jennifer Ackerman
LIFE Editor
Lisa* always thought
her first time would
be special. She
thought it would be romantic and with someone she
cared about.
She thought it'd be something she would want to
remember.
But it didn't happen that
way at all. Instead, a close
friend stole her virginity in
a drunken stupor. She was
18 and a CMU freshman.
Bill* came over to her
dorm room in the Towers to
talk to her about his uncle's
suicide and she was trying
to be a friend. While they
were talking, Bill started
making advances toward
her.
"I told him no," she said.
"I tried to push him away
and he just kept at it."
Lisa's roommate, who
was watching television in
the study, heard her struggling and came into the
room to chase Bill out —
but not before he raped her.
"I think she heard that
there was something
wrong, because I kept
telling him no and trying to
push him off," she said. "He
was stronger than I was. so
it was kind of hard."
Lisa, now 23, said she doesn't
think Bill realized what he had
done, nor did he appear to recognize how inappropriate his
actions were. As if they had gotten into a minor disagreement,
Bill attempted to make amends.
"A couple days later he came
up and tried to apologize by giving me a card," Lisa said. "And I
wouldn't accept it. I didn't want
to talk to him."
Like every woman who has
been raped, Lisa must deal with
r^>
TONY CEPAK • LIFE ILLUSTRATION
the emotional scars left by the
attack for the rest of her life.
"Even to this day, a sexual
experience with anybody ... I
don't enjoy it. I don't like it. It's
just difficult for me still," Lisa
said. "I think it's because it was
my first time — you just don't
have something to base it off of.
It's supposed to be this beautiful
thing and I have this bad memory of it. ... Fm still working
through that." #
Lisa recalls the emptiness she
felt after being raped.
AffAf/ AH4 fa fUft k€pt At it. "
USA*
"When this happened, this
was my first sexual experience,"
she said.
"And it was kind of like (Bill)
had taken something away from
me. I was angry. I just had so
many emotions ..."
The following summer Lisa
worked up the courage to tell
her boyfriend, Matt*, although
she feared he may blame her for
what happened. They were dat
ing when the rape occurred,
but she couldn't bring herself
to tell him.
"I didn't tell him right
away. He was at Michigan
State. I was here at Central,"
she said. "I thought he was
going to blame it on me."
Unfortunately, Lisa's worst
fear proved true.
"He pretty much blamed it on
me," she remembers. "He wanted an HIV test done, and he just
See RAPE Page 2A
It- &i£^*VC*z
Sitting in a crowd of CMU
students, it's impossible to
know how many women have
been raped, or how many men
in the crowd have ever raped a
woman.
Since rape is the most under-
reported crime on the books,
many rape survivors suffer the
consequences of the attack
alone and don't trust anyone.
In most cases women don't
feel comfortable coming forward and reporting the crime
because of society's tendency to
blame the victim as opposed to
the perpetrator.
This trend was apparent just
a few days ago.
As 100 people marched
through Mount Pleasant
Sunday night in support of
those who have been sexually
assaulted and abused, a small
group of men mocked the participants.
Instead of recognizing the
significance of the issue, these
people threw cookies and made
ignorant remarks to the
marchers.
The stories inside today's
paper are written especially for
people like them — those who
don't understand why it's not
okay to violate a woman.
Tracy was raped by someone
she trusted. Carri was raped by
an acquaintance she met while
volunteering on campus.
Neither of these women
deserved to be raped. No one
does.
See pages 7A and 8A for
more information-
Bar owner investigates pill
By Heather VanDyke
U^E Staff Writer
Dan Breidenstein, owner of The Bird
Bar ilc Grill, has made numerous attempts
to uncover the identity of the pill discovered at his establishment last week.
Although the pill had been found before
anyone was arretted, Breidenstein said he
didn't want to take any channes and had
intentions to bring it into a lab to identify
the substance.
On April 2, a woman was apparently
drugged and sexually assaulted after leaving hj« fflrfrftKffi^|Mnfr*ttftt.
Breidenstein said Central Michigan
Caommunity Hospital told him it was
unable to examine the pOI because it was
not found in Wood> urine or feces, and the
Michigan State Police told lam it would
not examine the substance unless it was
united to a crime*-
Breidenstein aedd he was advised to take
tine piU to Michigan State University for
In tile meantime, fiieidenstexn advised
students and community to take precau-
Breidenstein said therohypnol drug has
been found in nara and dubs throughout
the Mount Pleasant area, not only The
Bird.
The pHX was found at about 8:30 pan.
Thursday in the bottom of a glass. After
discovering the pill, Breidenstein made an
announffement that he would investigate
the situation.
County prosecutor will investigate
meetings between Plachta, Trustees
Student reports CSC Sunday
Clayton Mastaw
LIFE Staff Wfrtter
After attending a party Saturday
evening, an 18-year-old female student
reported to the CMU Police Department
that she had been sexually assaulted by a
19-year-old male student from Grant.
Capt. Ron Williams of the CMU Police
said while attending the party, the victim
had "consumed a large amount of alcoholic
beverages."
The victim told officials that at about 3
a.m. the suspect walked her back to his
dorm room and then sexually assaulted her.
Williams said there was no intercourse,
and that the suspect had "fondled" the victim without consent.
There have been no arrests made because
the victim is unsure if she wants to prosecute, Williams said.
The case remains open, and if arrested,
the suspect will face charges of criminal
sexual assault in the fourth degree.
By Jeremy McBain
LIFE Staff Writer
A request for an investigation into informal meetings
between University Jpfes?dent Leonard Plachta and the
Board of Trustees was issued to the Isabella County
Prosecutor, Friday.
James Wieghart, former professor of journalism at CMU,
issued the request to Larry Burdick, prosecuting attorney
for Isabella County, asking him to investigate the meetings.
The meeting of particular concern
in Wieghart's request was an April 7
meeting held in the president's office
which was attended by the Board
Chair David Brandon, and Trustees
Sidney Smith, Roger Kesseler and
Jerry Campbell.
After the meeting, a press release
was issued by the university announcing the firing of Russ Herron, vice-
president of University Relations.
Wieghart states in his letter to the
prosecuting attorney, the meeting -—————-^——
may have been a violation of the Michigan Open Meetings
Act because a quorum of the board was present, due to the
resignation of a board member the day before.
Burdick confirmed he had received Wieghart's request
and said he will be conducting an investigation.
Burdick added he has received four or five telephone calls
from people requesting an investigation, but has told them
he needs the requests in writing.
He said he expects to receive more written requests for an
investigation of the meetings.
"It's an extraordinary
situation. (The president
and the board) seem to
think they are the university. "
James Wieghart
former journalism
professor
Wieghart said in a phone interview Tuesday with CM
LIFE, " Tve been concerned for some time since I came to
CMU as chairman of the Journalism Department in 1989
about the way the university has been governed."
Wieghart said the April 7 meeting was just one example
of the unwillingness of the current CMU president and
Board of Trustees to inform the public of its plans.
He said another example of this unwillingness to work in
the public view can be found in any meeting of the board.
Wieghart   said   they   purposely   meet   in
small rooms to regulate attendance and due
to the layout of the room, many people can't
be there.
He added that the board also does not
really have a discussion on issues at its publicized meetings, indicating it must have discussed the issues beforehand.
Although Wieghart said he feels the president and the board do not like to let the public know about their plans, he added that
many of those in the CMU administration
——■——»   are out of the information loop as well.
"It's an extraordinary situation," he said. "(The president
and the board) seem to think they are the university."
Wieghart said even some top administrators, like the
provost, are not important to the president and the board.
"Even the provost is a toad of the president," he said.
Wieghart said the provost is supposed to support the academic community and lead the charge to improve it, but he
can't because of the president and the board.
See INVESTIGATION Page 2A
Annual Powwow set for this weekend in Finch
By Clayton Mastaw
LIFE Staff VSfrrter
Continuing with an historical Native
American tradition, Native American
Programs, along with seven other co-
sponsors, will be hosting the 10th
annual CMU Powwow Friday through
Sunday.
Martin Bernhardt, director of Native
American Programs, said people
attending the Powwow, which will
take place at Finch Fieldhouse, will
experience Native American dancing,
drumming, feasting, trading and educational activities.
Bernhardt said the drum is a key element to Powwows and is the centerpiece of the event. It represents the
heartbeat of the earth.
People extend around the drum and
dance clockwise in an east to south
rotation, signifying the circle of life, he
said.
Tb enhance the spirituality of the
program, Bernhardt said during specials songs the audience may be asked
not to take photographs out of respect
for the songs.
Bernhardt said the idea behind the
Powwow is to give people a healthy
dose of "edutainment," combining
entertainment and education.
The experience will teach people
about Native American culture in a
fun and exciting atmosphere and will
give them an understanding of tribal
traditions and a taste of Native
American culture in today's society, he
said.
"A Powwow is a celebration of the
living Native Americans" he said.
It stems from traditions begun with
tribal ancestors, and people get to
exchange all of the stones they learned
throughout the year, Bernhardt said.
Bernhardt said Powwows also give
people a chance to meet the friends
and family they never met before.
"Ifs also a celebration of the coming
of spring," he said.
Tne Grand Entrance, which is when
all of the dancers line up together and
proceed into the arena, will take place
at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. on Saturday and
at 1 p.m. Sunday.
Leading the dancers will be the
Eagle Staff, the accepted national flag
of Native Americans.
Program booklets, which contain
information about other CMU programs, past Powwows, lessons in
Ojibwe language and information
about this year's Powwow, will be
available for those attending the event
Tne cost of admission is $11 for a
weekend pass or $7 for daily admission. CMU students and Saginaw
Chippewa Tribal members get in free
with identification. Children under 4
and elders also get in free.
See POWWOW Page 2A	
I   N   S
i n i
The CMU base
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ball team beat
SVSU 14-0 on
Monday. Central
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31
will face Akron
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-1
Wednesday and
MSU on Thursday
ammmWammj
at Theunissen
Stadium.
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