1984-10-31; Central Michigan Life

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Central Michigan LIFE
Wednesday, October 31.1984
1984 CM UFE
16 pages
Mount Pleasant. Mich. 48859
Vol.67 No.28
Sig Ep charter revocation sought
by PAUL MASON
UFE Managing Editor
Isabella County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Thomas Plachta is seeking the revocation of
Sigma Phi Epsilon's charter
and possible felony warrants
against those involved in an
alleged harassment of the Phi
Mu sorority Sunday night.
The complainant of an
alleged sexual assault told
Plachta she was harassed by
"about 100" Sig Ep members
Sunday night who were yelling
and pounding on windows and
doors of the Phi Mu sorority
house. 1808 Deming.
Sig Ep President Paul Bonac-
cinie, Birmingham senior, is
charged with sexually assaulting the female, a 23-year-old
former CMU student May 31.
"According to the victim in
the case, she was visiting the
sorority and Sig Eps were hollering her sorority nickname
and pounding and yelling in an
apparent attempt to intimidate
her," Plachta said.
Sig Ep vice president Roger
Becker, Farmington senior,
would not comment on the
alleged incident.
Plachta said he will ask the
Media members and
others were given a tour
through the Morbark Industries Inc. manufacturing plant in Winn Tuesday
morning as part of a daylong briefing on the current and future use of
wood chip energy in
Michigan. Right. Bill
McMaster. of the McMas-
ter Communications Inc.
public relations firm, uses
a stump to get a belter
view of the Morbark Total
Chip Harvester, above, at
work in the Mission Creek
Woodland in Mount
Pleasant.      .
Chip plant a 'better decision'
by JAMES GEMMELL
UFE Staff Writer
CMU's burning of wood
chips will be "one of the better
decisions" the University has
made. CMU President Harold
Abel told media from throughout the state Tuesday afternoon.
CMU's wood chip burning
In Brief
plant, currently under construction on East Campus
Drive, is expected to save the
University $20 million in fuel
costs during the 10-year period
beginning in early 1985.
The Tuesday news conference was the second in a three-
city news briefing that saw
similar media gatherings at
Winn's Morbark Industries,
Inc.. in the morning, and at
Midland's Dow Corning Corporation in the afternoon. The
conferences were intended to
expose the state to mid-
Michigan's trio of organizations committed to wood chip
burning for manufacturing
plants' and utilities' energy.
"In the long haul for the in-
»See "Woodchip" — page 2
Advanced registration for the 1985 Winter
Semester ends Thursday, in the Receivable
Accounting Office. Course Offering guides
and Course Request Forms are available in
the University Center Bookstore.
Inside
Student Government Association
may discuss informal
meetings tonight.
page 3
national Sigma Phi Epsilon to
investigate the alleged incident for the purpose of revoking the local chapter's charter.
Plachta said he will request
either Mount Pleasant City
Police or the Department of
Public Safety to conduct an in-
vestigaton. He is looking into
the possibility of issuing felony
warrants for obstruction of
justice to those involved. Ob
struction of justice carries a
maximum sentence of five
years in prison.
"Some people think this is a
game. Rape isn't a game and if
some people have to go to prison to get the message across, so
be it," he said.
James Hill, vice president
for Student Affairs, said the
University also will open an in-
incident.
Hill earlier said the University was not aware of the
sexual assault charge against
Bonaccinie because no one
made a formal complaint to the
University about the alleged
assault.
Ann Stirling, advisor of Phi
Mu sorority, said she was at the
sorority house Sunday night
vestigation of Sunday's alleged iwhen the incident occurred at
»See"SlgEpsM—page 2
Board may discuss
officers' spending
by PAUL MASON
UFE Managing Editor
An audit of University executive officers' expenditures
may be brought up for discussion again in Board of Trustees
committee meetings Thursday, one trustee said.
Trustee Rachael Moreno.
Lansing, requested an audit of
executive officers' expenditures for the past three years
including traveling expenses,
health insurance and automobiles. But in a letter to trustees. Board Chairman Alfred
Fortino, St. Louis, requested
trustees specify what information they wanted investigated.
Moreno said.
The audit has been put on
hold until Fortino receives
feedback from trustees.
Moreno said the audit probably will be brought up for discussion Thursday night at the
Finance Committee meeting.
"There have been a number
of charges and questions asked
of the president's expenditures, and travel funds . . ."
Moreno said. "I feel the goal
for the audit is to make a
documentary statement that
everything is above-board."
In early October, the Board
discussed and selected the University's external auditor
Ernst and Whi.iney of Saginaw,
to conduct the audit. Moreno
4*5
/ believe confidential matters of
the Board are just
that and should remain that way.
—Alfred Fortino
Board of Trustees
chairman
99
had requested an outside auditor or Central's internal auditor Bill Fagerland conduct
theaudit.
"I'm not intimating or inferring any wrongdoing, nor questioning the professional skills
of Ernst and Whinney, but certainly one could perceive the
relationship that occurs when
one has an auditing firm for
years."
Fortino would not comment
on the audit nor the selection of
Ernst and Whinney as auditor.
"I believe confidential matters of the Board are just that
and should remain that way,"
Fortino said.
Fortino removed from the
Oct. 5 agenda all items dealing
with review of Board policies
concerning University automobiles assigned to executive
officers and senior administrators and those concerning lifetime health insurance for executive officers.
Trustee William Odykirk.
Mount Pleasant, then requested that the items be put
back on the agenda.
Odykirk said he requested
the automobile and health insurance policies for executive
officers be reviewed so they
could be put into a Board policy
manual.
In a letter to Fortino, Odykirk requested information
concerning guidelines for purchasing and disbursement of
University automobiles and
cost of the automobiles, he
said.
Odykirk said he also requested that the internal auditor conduct theaudit because
he wanted those policies to be
put in the Board policy manual.
The Finance Committee
meeting is scheduled for 5:30
to 6:30 p.m. Thursday in the
Board room on the third floor
of the Bovee University
Center.
Pumpkin-dropper charged
A Mount Pleasant man was
arrested Sunday and received felony and misdemeanor charges stemming
from dropping pumpkins on
cars from an overpass.
Susan Grigaliunas, an instructor in Central's speech
and drama arts program,
had the windshield of her car
smashed when a pumpkin hit
her car while she passed
under the overpass on High
Street.
Isabella County Prosecu-.
tor Joseph Barberi
announced Tuesday that
four warrants were issued
charging Gregory Welch, 25,
617 S. Pine, with malicious
destruction of personal
property of more than $100,
a felony, and littering by
throwing objects in the path
of a moving vehicle, a misdemeanor.
In addition to Grigaliunas,
three other people made
complaints that pumpkins
were thrown at them by
Welch while driving under
the overpass. Police said no
damages were incurred by
the other three cars.
The charge of MDOP over
$100 carries a maximum
sentence of four years in
prison and a fine of up to
$2,000. The other charges
carry one year in prison and
The Alumni Office
is still homeless.
pageS
Sports
Officials of the
Cherry Bowl have upset CMU athletic officials.
page 10
a fine up to $100, Barberi
said.
Barberi said Welch was
arrested at the overpass site
and the possibility of the
Eumpkins being stolen is
eing investigated. Additional charges of larceny are
possible.
"This is an extremely
dangerous situation. I remember a similar case in
Detroit . .. where a person
was killed by a bowling ball
coming through his windshield. My office will take
the same strong action
against others involved in
similar situations," Barberi
said.
Weather
Partly cloudy today. Highs in the 50s.