1993-10-20; Central Michigan Life

              High: upper 50s
Low: mid 40s
cloudy, rain likely
in the afternoon
The search is on
Committees formed to find deans
Page 3
Just a flesh wound
Shock comedy comes to town
Page 8
Mixed emotions
WR overcomes personal loss
Page 10
Central
Michigan
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VOLUME 76. NUMBER 22
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16 PAGES
Plachta urges Central to roll with changes
LIFE Photo Jason Flowers
CMU President Leonard E. Plachta gave his state of the university
CMU passes on
minority 'theme'
housing trend
By Jill Behnke
l IH    St,iff WnU-r
While universities on the
East and West coasts are creating new ethnic or alternative
"theme" housing options, Michigan universities seem to have
missed the trend.
Gary CiafTone, director of
Housing, said similiar housing
cannot be found at CMU. "We
don't assign rooms based on
race," CiafTone said.
An unwritten agreement
between the Office of Minority
Affairs and the Housing Office
tries to accomodate students
requesting a minority roommate, said Steve Clark, assistant director of Minority
Affairs.
The program is a courtesy
provided by Minority Affairs to
help minority students feel as
comfortable as possible," he
said.
According to  a  Detroit  Free
Press  article, "a desire on the
part of students to gain official
college sanction for their separ-
See ROOMS Page 16
Provost: freshmen's
GPAs, ACT scores
up from past years
By Kelly L. Adams
Llf-h  Staff Writer
Provost Robert Franke
announced that CMU is enrolling
students with higher grade point
LIFE
on the
Inside
MORE NEWS 3
VOICES 4
POLICE 6
ET CETERA 8
SPORTS 10
DIGEST 16
CLASSIFIEDS 15
averages and higher ACT scores
at Tuesday's Academic Senate
meeting.
Franke said 9.4 percent of this
year's freshmen have a GPA of
3.75 to 4.0. Almost 16 percent of
first year students have a GPA of
3.5 to 3.74. These figures have
increased from last year's 6.34
percent and near 10 percent,
respectively.
According to Franke, 8.5 percent of the 1993 freshman class
have ACT scores from 27 to 36,
compared to 6.5 percent of last
year. Another 37 percent of this
year's freshmen have scores from
22 to 26 — up from 34 percent last
year.
Franke said freshman enrollment is up from last year
although overall enrollment is
slightly down. This is because of
losing some students, mostly at
the sophomore and junior levels,
he said.
More  enrollment  information
See SENATE Page 16
By Marjory Raymer
I Ihf-   Staff Writer
President Leonard E. Plachta
urged CMU to meet the challenge
of accepting change during his
state of the university address
Monday.
"I urge everyone who is associated with the university to
avoid the very human tendency
to resist change." Plachta said,
"instead, see our issues as challenges and opportunities for redi
recting this fine university."
Plachta said the current system is not working.
He emphasized the lack of efficiency in several areas of the university including the University
Program and competency
requirements, the inability of
students to graduate in four
years and the amount of time
wasted in committees.
Plachta said the requirements for all undergraduates has
loped into an overly complex system, and he questioned whether
the University Program fit the
intended goal of general education. He named Provost Robert
Franke to review the UP and
competency requirements in an
effort to modernize them.
The president suggested ini-
t iating programs to help students
complete their education in four
years and studying the feasibility
of a three-year bachelor's degree
program, which would include
summer classes.
He also emphasized the need to
examine resources spent on classes with low enrollment, programs with small demand and
small departments
Administrative time was
another focus of the speech. The
university must dedicate less
time to committee work. Plachta
said. One step is retaining a cen-
See SPEECH Page 1 5
Feedback on university address varies
By Andrew Guy Jr.
I lh(r   Stciff Writei
Faculty and students voiced
positive and negative reactions to
President Leonard E. Plachta's
state of the university address
Tuesday.
Randy Peterson, University
Democrats president and Mortar
Board member, said he was "dis-
appointed (Plachtai didn't
address the student issues more
clearly."
Jim Hill, vice president for Student Affairs, said he agreed with
Plachta's need to accomplish certain goals at CMU, and said that
he adequately focused on
student-or ic?nt*?d issues.
Peterson, Kinde senior, said
issues Plachta raised such as
racism on campus and departmental reorganization affect
every CMU student
"I think he glossed over the
more important issues on campus. It was basically a rehash of
his (vision) statement," Peterson
said.
Greg Morris. legislative
counsel, said people often misinterpret Plachta's management
style.
"People expect Plachta to be a
manager because of his background," Morris said. "Managers
worry about what's happening
this    afternoon.    Leaders    worry
about the future."
Bruce Allen, chairman of the
marketing and hospitality services administration deparment.
said the speech was "fantastic"
and was targeted to faculty.
CMU's future rests in the
hands of the administrators, he
s« lid.
"The key is whether the faculty
can accept the inevitable restructuring (of the university*. This is
typical in the evolution of success
constantly changing," he said.
Jerold Misner. dean of the College   of   Education,   Health   and
Human Services, said he agreed
with tne iasue of change.
To    voice    your   opinion.   See
page 14.	
"I thought (Plachta's speech)
was very timely," Misner said. "It
was appropriate while the country is looking at change at different levels."
Rebecca Bollenberg, SGA vice-
president and Honor senior said
Plachta intended to address students.
"Maybe he didn't directiy say
students, but he meant students," she said.
"I think he's got some good
plans," said Shannon Payne,
Mount Clemens junior. "1 think
hfr»'» better than what, we've had.**
Committee finds alternatives to merger
By Marjory Raymer
L IhE-  Staff Writer
The College of Business Administration's realignment/ reorganization committee recommended the college reconsider the approved
departmental merger.
Provost Robert Franke suggested a merger between the departments
of management and business law and regulation with a goal savings of
$37,345. A college-wide vote approved the merger in September.
The committee generated ideas that would be more cost effective, the
report stated.
The report suggested^* he merger might have been politically motivated.
"Subsequent discussion and information generated tells us that there
may, in fact, have been political reasons for this move," the report
stated.
See REPORT Page 2
LIFE Photo Amy Sw*rtout
Practicing backstroke techniques with 3 year old Jamisen Norlan
der is Amy Thue. Grand Rapids sophomore. She has been teaching
him for more than a year.