1985-01-14; Central Michigan Life

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Michigan LIFE
Monday?!
anuaryl4,1985
I'lfHCMUTB
16 pages
Mount Pleasant. Mich. 48859
VoU7Na44
fligher ed report good, bad for CMU
by NATHAMEL PROCTOR
LIFE Edttor and
PAULMASON
UFE Managing Editor
•. Administrators say there is good and bad news for CMU in the
/Dec 13 report by the Governor's Commission on the Future of
Higher Education.
The report, originally scheduled for release Oct. 1,1984, caps
a 15-month study by the 25-member panel, which focused on
'muHng higher education more affordable and accessible; maintaining diversity and reducing unnecessary duplication; and
'studying how higher ed contributes to Michigan's economic
revitalization and enhances quality.
Provost John Cantelon said no official CMU response has yet
been formulated. Copies still are being distributed to various
University offices for review.
The report will be the focus of a one-day executive officer
retreat scheduled for later this month, Cantelon said.
"The report was released at an inopportune time of the year
for immediate and thorough review," Cantelon said. "It had an
uneven reception because of the timing."
"The report itself is going to have a thorough appropriate
review. We're going to take it very seriously," he said.
Among the panel's recommendations:
— That women, minorities and handicappers have equal access to higher ed facilities and programs.
— That teacher education programs be improved through
curricular changes and tighter admission criteria.
— That an additional $12 million be appropriated annually for
five years to restore and upgrade instructional equipment.
— That institutions be classed by specific program roles.
degree levels and regional access responsibilities and be
funded accordingly.
— That the governor and Legislature establish a comprehensive review and approval procedure within the budget development process.
— That regional cooperation and resource sharing be actively
sought and a panel evaluate the cost and feasibility of expanding
the television-based teaching and automatic library operations.
— That new construction projects at four-year institutions
and community colleges be required to meet strict criteria to
receive state funding, and $10 million be appropriated annually
to the Department of Management and Budget for remodeling
projects at those institutions.
— That the governor and Legislature consider campus or
♦See "Report" — page 3A
CM mi ««• Sri
if>lf  fljn      It only took a few days of freezing weather at the end of last       Dave Povich. Saginaw junior, andJeff Miller, Bay City sophomore
**"¥'   '*•"   semester to make Rose Pond safe enough to play hockey on before       took some time out to skate on the thin but smooth ice.
warm temperatures melted it again. Jim Zedella, Chicago junior.
Capital improvements top Mayor Ellis'priorities
by WENDY GAGER
LIFE Aaa'L News Editor
Continuing capital projects
and improving county and
township relations with the
city are aspects Mayor Sibyl
Ellis plans for Mount Pleasant.
Ellis was elected Jan. 7 by
her fellow commissioners as
mayor. Pat Doyle was elected
vice mayor.
Although Ellis said she wants
to see several projects completed, she does not see her
role as mayor as any different
than other commissioners.
Ellis is in her ninth year as a
commissioner and has been involved in the Michigan Municipal League. She currently is
chairwoman of the financial
and taxation committee and
has served on the board of trustees for the MML.
Capital items on the budget
include airport expansion, pav
ing gravel streets and city hall
renovation.
The airport expansion will
lengthen and widen the runway, costing $1.5 million. A
five-year program has
budgeted funds to pave 10
miles of gravel streets. With
the opening of the new Public
Safety Building, at High and
Mission streets, city officials
will remodel the police and fire
department areas to add more
office space, at a cost of
$800,000.
"These are not new projects.
We've been talking about them
•See "Ellis" — page 15 A
Campus Rec building ad hoc committee planned
by WENDY GAGER
LIFE Asa't News Editor
A campus recreational building may be getting off the
ground if an ad hoc committee
is formed as planned.
• Vice President for Student
Affairs James Hill said he will
appoint a committee next week
composed of 30 students, faculty, staff and community members.
> Hill said he is scheduled to
have a report to President
Harold Abel by April 1.
The building will be devoted
mainly to recreational areas so
students will not have to compete with athletic teams or
crowded conditions.
The idea began this summer
but the committee was not
formed until early September
because of other pressing matters at the Office of Student
Life, he said.
The committee will be split
into two parts with one looking
into the type and degree of
facilities needed and the other
committee will look at financing, he said.
"Once we get together, I
don't think it will take a heck of
a lot of time," Hill said.
The committee only will look
into initial funding and facilities. In order for cost estimates
and detailed plans to be made,
an architect would be needed.
Abel would have to approve the
project from the April 1 report
for more detailed work to be
done, he added.
In Brief
Late Registration for students who have not
registered for classes is Tuesday and
Wednesday from 1 to 6:30 p.m. at Finch Field-
house. Drop and Add continues today, Tuesday and Wednesday 1 to 6:30 p.m. in Finch
Fieldhouse.
Inside
CMU officials react
to the report from the
Governor's Commission on the Future of
Higher Education.
page 3
Hill said financing the building probably would have to
come from a new type of fee
such as user fees for operations or student fees for construction.
He said the building would
give students an alternative to
drinking.
"I feel it's a must to give students an alternative which is
relatively available," Hill said.
"Students need other things to
do besides going to the bars."
About 900 students
walked through commencement   ceremonies in December.
page 8
He said he realized there was
a need for such a recreational
building after surveying the
crowded conditions last year at
Finch and Rose. Students hat'
to compete with organized
teams and several other activities were being conducted
simultaneously and that
caused a safety hazard.
Even it all goes well with the
funding, construction plans
and approval, the building
would not be constructed for
two to three years. Hill said.
Wood
plant
firing
planned
byTOMWICKHAM
LIFE Staff Writer
CMU is only weeks away
from becoming the first Michigan university to have an operating wood chip burning plant.
The $3.6 million plant, which
will generate heat for Central,
is scheduled to be fired up by
the end of January and placed
in full operation by April, Tom
Zajac, project manager, said.
"The first few days it will be
used to clean the boiler," he
said. "By the end of the month
we'll be running a couple days,
10 percent capacity, on wood.
By April we should be 100 percent wood."
The burning of wood fuel,
rather than natural gas, will
save the University $20 million
in the next 10 years, Zajac said.
Recoup on the cost of the plant
will take less than four years.
Central is contracted with
Morbark Industries, Inc., of
Winn, to receive 44,000 tons of
fresh cut wood annually. Zajac
said the plant will burn 180 tons
of wood a day during the winter
and less during warmer
weather.
Central will harvest only one
acre out of every 1,600 acres
within a 50-mile radius of campus for timber, Zajac said. And
by purchasing the wood from
Morbar, Central is expected to
mitigate the annual 83 percent
amount of natural gas purchased from out of state.
Eight truckload.s each carrying 25 tons of wood, will visit
the plant everyday, but Zajac
said motorists need not worry
about congested traffic on Kast
Campus Drive
"If you drive by the plant
there is a waiting area (a third
lane) the entire length of the
plant," he said
Zajac said the lack of bad
weather allowed workers to
finish most of the plant, by the
first of the year.
The work force, which numbered as high as 42 last semester, is now at 29, he said
Zajac said the startup of the
wood chip plant will not mark
the end of the project, which
began construction less than a
yearago
♦See"Woodchip" — page 2 A
Index
Arts and Kntertainment 6B
BloomCounty <B
Classifieds 2JB
Comment 4B
Dooncsbury    2JB
Sports 1RB