1998-01-19; Central Michigan Life

              Central Michigan LIFE
Volume 79, Number 48
Mt. Pleasant,  MI 48859
©1998 CM LIFE
78 years of serving the community
MONDAY
JANUARY 19,1998
14 pages
Bernice King to speak of her father, her book
By Bridget Perkins
LIFE Staff Writer
About 1,000 students, faculty and staff
are expected to attend
a presentation by
keynote speaker Rev.
Bernice A. King,
youngest daughter of
Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr. Tuesday at 7
p.m. in Warriner Auditorium.
Bernice King, the only child of
King to enter the ministry, will be
KING
Dr.
dis
cussing her first book, entitled "Hard
Questions, Heart Answers," which is a
collection of her sermons and speeches.
King's speech will address important
issues such as gun control, teen pregnancy, the death penalty and racism.
"She will be able to provide us with
personal knowledge of her dad," said
James Mitchell, assistant director for
Minority Student Services. "Dr. King's
dream was to promote unity among all
races and having Ms. King gives us
some of that presence.
"We are really publicizing it.  With
Ms. King being the daughter of Dr.
King, it should be a draw within
itself."
Jeff Boykin, Holly senior and president of Program Board, said he is
anticipating an attendance of 800-
1,000 faculty, staff and students at this
event.
Boykin said Bernice King will be
able to give a straightforward message
which would be more effective than
having it delivered by someone not as
close to Dr. King.
"We got a tip that she is the most
influential," Boykin said.
Remembering Dr. King's legacy and
better understanding what he stood
for are goals Boykin expects to achieve
Tuesday night.
Mitchell said the audience will benefit by understanding the struggle
African Americans went through, their
close ties to religion and how the
church played a significant role in the
Civil Rights movement.
To make this event possible, Boykin
said financial contributions were made
by    the    Program    Board,    Cultural
For more
coverage of
Martin Luther
King Jr. Day,
see page 7.
Diversification
Funding
Committee
(   C   D   F   C   )   ,
Minority
Student
Services, Phi
Beta Sigma Fraternity and the Office
for Institutional Diversity.
For more information about this
event and the many other events during Martin Luther King, Jr. Week, contact the Minority Student Services at
774-3945.
King's
birthday
observed
without
day off
By Julia Jones
LIFE Assistant News Editor
In celebration of Martin Luther
King Jr. and his life, some
Michigan universities get the day
off.
Today is recognized as a national
holiday; thus, banks, post offices
and other governmental agencies,
as "well as many factories, will be
closed.
But that's not the case at CMU.
Students and faculty at these
schools did get to sleep in a little
longer today: Eastern Michigan
University, Western Michigan
University and Wayne State
University, according to their web
sites.
Information on other schools
from around the state was unavailable, but the University of
Michigan has several events
planned for the day.
It has been rumored that students who have the belief that they
should have the day off may call
Student Life and be excused, but a
source inside the Student Life
office said that is not true.
CMU Provost Richard
Davenport said, to his knowledge,
there has been no recent discussion on the issue here.
The calendar is put together
several years in advance with
input from the board, the Faculty
Association and the President,"
Davenport said.
"It's not a single body that
decides."
The calendar has been set up to
spring 2000, but Davenport said it
can still be changed.
He said to change the calendar, a
proposal would have to be brought
forth to the Board of Trustees.
"No one has proposed the day be
observed as a holiday," he said.
A proposal to change the academic calendar may be brought
about by anyone.
Weight-cutting: wrestling's crash diet
£?
«^r
SABRINA BURTON • CM LIFE
The CMU wrestling team
began practice Friday after*
noon to get ready for their
meet at Eastern on Sunday.
TONY CEPAK • CM LIFE
After the deaths of three collegiate wrestlers by "cutting weight" before a meet, questions
have arisen concerning the extreme measures that some wrestlers go to in order drop a couple of pounds to make weight before a meet.
By John Fuller
LIFE Sports Writer
Body weight has played a large role in the sport of wrestling to
ensure that athletes of relative size compete in a battle of
agility and strength.
However, not until 1997 did the weight-loss practices of -wrestlers
fall under the national spotlight following the deaths of three collegiate athletes.
These were the first deaths directly related to wrestling since it
became a college sport in 1928.
Billy Saylor of Campbell University, Joe LaRosa of the University of
Wisconsin, and Jeff Reese of the University of Michigan were the
three wrestlers who died while trying to cut weight near the end of
1997.
All three collapsed during or after workouts to make weight for
upcoming matches. Medical personnel were unable to revive all three
men.
Their deaths put wrestling under the watchful eye of the NCAA and
people across the country.
The deaths shook the wrestling world, including those with ties to
CMU.
"I was really saddened. Wrestling is a pretty tight-knit community,
so you know those people," CMU wrestling coach Tom Borrelli said.
"We competed against Jeff Reese from the University of Michigan.
He's wrestled against us in dual meets and in tournaments, and I
recruited Billy Saylor."
All three died of severe dehydration, as all were trying to cut at least
10 pounds or more. Their deaths are still under NCAA investigation.
H Is cutting weight Healthy?
While some worry about the long term health effects of the rapid
weight loss methods used by wrestlers, some athletes don't consider
weight-cutting anything out of the ordinary.
"We're just like normal people on diets," said 177-pound Mike
Greenfield, a tri-captain of the CMU wrestling team.
His statement adds more fire to the ethical question: Do college
wrestlers train and compete in a healthy manner?
Wrestlers often go to a higher extreme than other athletes, many
times wearing rubber suits and sitting in saunas for long periods of
time to lose weight. Many have questioned the methods used to cut
weight for years, but the issue is bigger than ever now that tragedy
has struck.
"Wrestlers have a warrior mentality and they're going to push themselves to the limit, and there's got to be some sensibility," Borrelli said.
The issue of how much a person weighs is more important in
-wrestling than in any other sport. There are 10 different weight classes, ranging from 118 pounds to heavyweight, which includes anyone
over 190 pounds. Each weight class is about 10 pounds apart from the
next.
Carolyn Hoffman, a sports and cardiovascular nutritionist and associate professor of Human Environmental Studies, said quick -weight
loss methods can lead to heart problems.
"From the sports nutrition aspect, the greatest danger is dehydration; and when you have dehydration, you have a drastic decrease of
electrolytes in the body, including potassium," Hoffman said.
"The decrease in electrolytes is exceedingly dangerous," she said.
"When someone is losing weight quickly, that's the culprit."
■ Wrestling deaths force NCAA rule changes
In December, the NCAA put together a committee to discuss possi-
See WEIGHT-CUTTING Page 14	
Detroit board workshop addressed
issues without SGA knowledge
INSIDE
By Julia Jones
LIFE Assistant News Editor
The Board of Trustees workshop Wednesday in Detroit has
raised some concern with student government.
Adam Miller, president of the
Student Government Association
and Paw Paw senior, said he "was
not informed of the scope of the
board workshop.
"I knew there was a workshop
coming up. I didn't know the
substance    of   the   workshop,"
Miller said.
Miller said he -was concerned
he was not informed the board
would be discussing four major
issues at the upcoming workshop.
He said he was not aware the
board would be discussing the
vision statement,        Public
Broadcasting, recruitment and
retention and charter schools —
four issues he said SGA will be
looking at closely this year.
"My responsibility is to seek
out proper representation. I kind
of felt that student representation wasn't a major priority by
the board," Miller said.
Rae Goldsmith, associate vice
president of Public Relations and
Marketing, said workshops are
nothing new to the university.
She said other than the vision
statement, which several organizations on campus, including
SGA,   gave   written   input   to,
See WORKSHOP Page 6	
False alarm sends firefighters to
Park Library late Sunday evening
LIFE Staff Reports
At 10:01 p.m. Sunday, the Mount Pleasant Fire
Department received a call from someone inside
Park Library who said they smelled smoke, a
source who works for CMU said.
Those inside the library did not evacuate while
several firefighters went inside the building to try
and locate the source of the smoke.
Lee   Schafer,   Mount  Pleasant  firefighter,  said
firefighters went through the entire building,
including the elevator engines, shafts, mechanical
rooms, etc., but found nothing.
Several sources contacted late Sunday night
declined comment.
"Tve been told that all information has to come
from Capt. Williams or Detective Pickler," said
McCarther Griffis, CMU Police officer.
There was no alarm pulled, Schafer said.
CMU women's basketball
beat rival Western at Rose
Arena Saturday. See page 8.
Classified
Crossword
Et cetera
Sports
Voices
12-13
13
10-11
8-9
To reach CM LIFE
Phone: 1517) 774-3493
E-Mail: CMLIFEecmuvm.csvxmich.rcln
Fax number: (5171774-7805
Central Michigan LIFE Online
Internet address:
http://www.cml i i e.c m ic h.ed u
Snowmobile accident
claims another victim
■ Snowmobile-related
deaths on the rise;
prompts legislation
By Jeremy Russ
LIFE Staff Wrier
A 28-year-old Lake man was
killed early Sunday morning from
injuries he received when his
snowmobile struck a tree.
This case is one in a trend of
increasing numbers of snowmobile
accidents this year, which has
prompted a legislative proposal.
According to the Isabella County
Sheriffs Department, Guy Mason
Russell was driving his snowmobile around 3 a.m. on Littlefield
Road when he failed to stop at the
intersection of Littlefield Road and
Rustic Hill Drive.
Hie snowmobile left the road
where it struck a tree head-on.
Police attribute the cause of the
accident to speed and alcohol.
A passenger on the snowmobile,
Jason Alan Winter, 27, of
Ludington, received minor injuries
from the accident. Winter said he
jumped off the snowmobile before
impact.
Russell was transported to Mid-
Michigan Regional Medical Center
in Clare where he was pronounced
dead at 5:45 a.m..
Earlier this week, the Michigan
Department of Natural Resources
said even though the state has
been having light snow this year,
snowmobile related deaths are up
from last year, the Associated
Press reported.
So far, at least 15 people have
been killed this season in snowmobile crashes, compared with 10 at
this time a year ago.
This is crazy," Department of
Natural Resources Lt. Suzanne
Kopello told the Detroit Free Press
for a story TTiursday.
Kopello runs the DNR's hunter
and snowmobile safety division.
"I was hoping the lack of snow
would mean we have less snowmobile fatalities than last year, but
now I wouldn't bet on it," she said.
"I don't know what they're running
See SNOWMOBILE Page 6