1998-09-11; Central Michigan Life

              Central Michigan LIFE
Volume 81, Number 6
Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859
©1998 CM LIFE
79 years of serving the community
Friday
September 11, 1998
2 sections, 22 pages
Renovated Kelly/Shorts makes debut Saturday
By Angie Fenton
LIFE Staff Writer
It is, without a doubt,
absolutely awesome. At least
that is what the general consensus was of those who attended
the open house for the newly
remodeled Kelly/Shorts Stadium
Thursday evening.
Students, faculty, staff, and
community members had a
chance to view the tail end of a
CMU football practice and to
tour the newlv renovated stadi
um Thursday afternoon.
"We wanted people to get a
chance to see (the stadium). We
wanted especially to make it
available to our students and
faculty," said Gary Friedman,
associate athletics director.
The main purpose of the open
house, Friedman said, was to get
people excited about coming to
the CMU football games on
Saturdays.
"We want as many students
and  faculty as  possible to come
out for the game," Friedman
said. "Anytime you get people to
see something like this, hopefully you will entice them back."
Friedman said the renovation
of the stadium, which began in
November 1997, has been a focal
point on campus and Thursday s
event gave people the opportunity to view the upgraded facility,
which is important.
"Whenever you upgrade a
facility two things happen: One,
I think it increases the general
students* pride and interest
because it is something that will
make thv university better,
which instills pride. Secondly,
obviously the students want as
good of a football team as we can
have and what this does. . . is
help us to get better student athletes here," he said.
Making people feel excited
about being a part of Central
Michigan University — that's
what its all about," Friedman
said.
In addition to adding 10,000
new seats, concession areas with
new menus and a higher quality
of food and a sound system
which is supposed to be "crystal
clear," the stadium is also up to
date with the American
Disabilities Act Accessibility
Regulations.
Athletics Director Herb
Deromedi said he believes the
entire athletics expansion will
benefit the university, the student, athletes, the alumni, and —
of course — the fans.
"It makes a statement that
CMU wants to be a (Division) 1-
A institution. That's important,
and as I said, all of us will benefit," Deromedi said
As far as the success of the
upgrading, Deromedi said the
entire athletics staff is "really
excited" with how it has turned
out.
Larry Dennis, operations man-
See STADIUM Page 2A	
*EagLe not: soaring
Bald eagle healing after
rescue by local residents
TONY CEPAK • CM LIFE
Top: This bald eagle was found malnourished Sept. 1 in St. Louis
and is now being rehabilitated at the Wildlife Recovery Association
in Oil City.
Above: Joe Rogers, of the Wildlife Recovery Association, watches
as an adult bald eagle flies from one end of the pen to the other.
By David Bossick
LIFE Staff Writer
OIL CITY —An eagle that was rescued in St. Louis earlier this month is
past the critical stage of recovery.
When it was recovered S~pt. 1, the
eagle was underweight and possibly poisoned, said Joe Rogers, wildlife biologist
for the Wildlife Recovery Association.
The association is non-profit and houses hurt, recovering and permanently
damaged birds. These birds can range
from hummingbirds to several varieties
of hawks and owls — even vultures.
Soon after the eagle was recovered, the
Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of
Mount Pleasant picked up the tab for the
rehabilitation of the eagle.
In a recent press release, Chief Kevin
Chamberlain said, "Historically, we have
always placed great emphasis on the
importance of the eagle and the spiritual
relevance it has in our culture. With
today's technology, we can help this bird,
where in the past that might not have
been possible."
Chamberlain was unavailable for further comment on Thursday at press
time.
Lisa Richter, St. Louis resident, was
the first in the community to spot the
bird.
"It was in the neighbor's yard, and
then it came into our yard.
"Three dogs were barking at it, but it
stayed on the ground. It got within two
feet of the chocolate lab," she said.
But luckily, the dogs were chained and
in pens, she said.
*TTie bird was definitely looking for
something to eat, .because it even
attacked a plastic squirrel that was in
my yard," Richter said.
Richter first called the police and then
the Department of Natural Resources.
Rogers arrived and tried to capture the
malnourished eagle. It went into a tree
and then on a telephone pole. Even a
GTE serviceman tried to help.
"It wasn't really afraid of humans,"
Richter said.
At Richter's home, she fed the eagle
about three pounds of bacon that had
been in her freezer and around two gallons of water.
The eagle stayed there from 9 a.m.
until about 2 p.m. and then escaped.
It wound up at the Bush residence,
also in St. Louis.
"I was going along the riverbank, mow-
See EAGLE Page 2A	
Classified
Crossword
Et cetera
Sports
i n s i n F.
10A
10A
8A-9A
6A-7A
Prof settles lawsuit for reverse
discrimination at BGSU
Voices
4A
To reach CM LIFE
Phone  <517) 774-3493
E-Mail CMLIFEdcinuvm.c»v.cniich.cdu
Fax number  (517) 774-7805
Central Michigan LIFE Online
Internet add res*
http://www.cmlife.cmich.edu
The CMU football team takes
on Western Illinois this weekend in the opening home
game. This will be the first
opportunity for CMU to
show off the newly renovated Kelly/Shorts Stadium. For
in depth information on the
stadium and the team, see
section B of today's issue.
By Liz Wishaw
LIFE Editor
A CMU journalism professor has settled a
lawsuit that contended he was snubbed for a
teaching position at Bowling Green State
University because he is white.
Six months ago, a U.S. District Court jury in
Toledo agreed with CMU professor John
Hartman that he was the victim of reverse discrimination and awarded him $122,500 in
da nages. But after a 4 1/2-year legal battle
against BGSU, Hartman accepted a flat settlement of $75,000 from the university, which
was finalized TYiesday About $20,000 of the
settlement is for attorney's fees.
Hartman, a CMU professor of 15 years, said
Thursday that he decided to settle the lawsuit
after a private meeting within Judge James
Carr's chambers in June. Hartman said the
judge told him he would uphold the verdict but
would not award him a teaching position at
BGSU.
Hartman said Judge Carr would either
reduce the damages to $25,000 or order a new
trial on the damages issue because Carr said
he had not properly instructed the jury to separate economic damages from emotional damages.
Hartman had argued in April 1994 that several members of the BGSU staff unjustly hired
See LAWSUIT Page 5A	
Bogus chain
mail clogs
CMU e-mail
By Angie Fenton
LIFE Staff Writer
No one won the free trip to Disney World,
$5,000, or a free vacation offered to several
CMU e-mail account holders offered by the
senders of a bogus chain letter, but at least
Technology Operations has been able to
inform the public about CMlTs Acceptable
Use Policy for e-mail.
According to a statement by Mark
Strandskov, network manager of Technology
Operations, "We didn't make it through the
first day of classes without having to deal
with a chain letter. The only difference this
time was that it primarily involved staff and
not students."
The informative letter from Strandskov was
sent to the recipients, and the senders, of a
phony e-mail chain letter.
Strandskov said the chain letter did not
originate at CMU, but the forwarding of chain
letters is in violation of the university's policies. Thus, Strandskov is searching for the
CMU staff, faculty, or student who first
received the e-mail and forwarded it on.
According to Strandskov, a chain letter is
any message whose content specifically indicates that an individual should forward the
message to many people. It is usually a message indicating that there is some financial
gain to someone, or that someone will be the
victim of bad iuck if he/she doesn't forward
the note.
Last week several e-mail account holders
received a chain letter claiming that the
recipient would win some type of prize — a
vacation or money — if they forwarded the
chain letter "to X number of people,"
Strandskov said.
"We found out about the chain letter from
two sources," he said. "First, our help desk
had received a note from a supervisor who
wondered if there was any way to stop the
chain letter from being forwarded on to oth-
See E-MAIL Page 11A	
CMU benefits
from state
cash surplus
By Karen Keaner
UFE Staff VUriter
State Rep. Jim McBryde, R-Mount Pleasant,
presented University President Leonard
Plachta with a $1.5 million check for CMU at
a ceremony Wednesday.
The money was state funding from a surplus
of year end money from the state of Michigan.
The $1,513,926 check was in addition to a
$74,118,888 check presented to Plachta for
state funding of CMU.
This is a real victory for the Dollars for
Students task force that we have been striving
for," Plachta said.
The task force Plachta is referring to began
in 1995. CMU has been getting more state
money every year since it started.
Plachta said it looks like the approach to
funding is paying off.
"Rep. McBryde worked toward getting CMU
a larger amount of money than was originally
allocated, and it paid off," he said.
McBryde said he strongly supports CentraL
"X do believe CMU is the best value in the
state for your money," he said.
The money will be used for several needs on
campus, Plachta said.
Tbe extra money could be used for infrastructure, technology, equipment and maintenance needed to keep the university on its path
to success," he said.
The quest to encourage new legislators to
support higher education is something Plachta
plans to continue.
CMU ranked third out of Michigan's 15 public universities this year for state funding,
another reason McBryde said the money was
allocated.