1998-02-06; Central Michigan Life

              Central Michigan LIFE
Volume 79, Number 56
Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859
©1998 CM LIFE
78 years of serving the community
FRIDAY
February 6, 1998
. 12 pages
Brandon could leave CMU for University of Michigan
■ Central trustee seeking
nomination to U-M's Board
of Regents
By Angela Cook-Reid
LIFE Assistant News Editor
Board of Trustees President David
Brandon is seeking a nomination to the
University of Michigan's Board of
Regents, which means he would vacate
his current position at CMU if elected.
The U-M nominations for the regent
Students
seats will be made at
the Republican State
Convention in August,
and Brandon hopes to
be a contender.
"I intend to go after
that nomination,"
Brandon said. "I
adopted CMU but U-
M is my alma mater."
Brandon    attended        BRANDON
the University of Michigan on a football
scholarship, earning a bachelor of arts
degree in education in 1974. His term
on CMITs board expires in 2004, however, he could leave sooner.
He said he believes there are a lot of
improvements at U-M he would like to
take part in. In addition, Brandon said
he is in the process of moving to Ann
Arbor, and as a result it would be more
of a convenience for him to serve on the
Board of Regents.
He said -while he does intend to campaign, this will not conflict with his current position as president of the CMU
Board of Trustees.
Tin not going to try to get a new job
while neglecting the one I have," he
said. "My priority for now is to be a good
CMU trustee.99
John Truscott, press secretary for the
governor's office, confirmed Brandon's
possible nomination and said he is
favored by Governor John Engler.
Truscott said the announcement was
made to allow the public to focus on the
candidates.
"We don't expect any trouble at all,"
concerns
at forum
■ Communication rift
a complaint of teacher
education students
By JodiHaughton
LIFE Staff Writer
Concerned teacher education
students had the opportunity to
voice their frustrations to members of the education department.
Kelvie Comer, dean of
Education and Human Services,
attended the teacher education
ad hoc committee meeting
Wednesday night, to hear student concerns and present solutions to problems aired at the
teacher education forums in late
November.
During discussion, Comer said
she understood the students
problems, but was surprised at
how big of a concern there was in
the program.
"It came as a real surprise to
me to find all of these (upset)
students out there, and none
banging on my door," she said.
One concern discussed at the
meeting is the lack of communication between the program's
administration and students.
Some students said they have
had trouble reaching the persons
they need to reach when they
have concerns.
Janice Hesch, Rochester Hills
senior, said she needed to see
Comer and was told she should
see another faculty member
because there was nothing
Comer could do that the faculty
member couldn't do, when in fact
he could not help her at all.
Amy Perkins, Battle Creek
senior, had a similar situation
occur when trying to reach
William Merrill, director of
Teacher Education and
Professional Development.
She too was pointed in the
direction of another faculty
member who could not-help her.
Comer said she plans to
address the communication concerns by offering more open
meetings and forums, as well as
having an open door policy to her
office.
She plans to find a two-hour
time frame in her day so students can make 15-minute
appointments with her to discuss
any issues they may have.
Perkins suggested that Comer
drop into a lower level-education
class to introduce herself to students and let them know she is
See TEACH Page 5	
Classified
Crossword
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Voices
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Phone 774-34*3
E-Mail: <
Fax number (517)774-7aD5
Kevin Fisher, of Monroe County, skis across the finish line in Wednesday's men's cross country preliminary.
TONY CEPAK • CM LIFE
LIFE Staff Reports
CEDAR — The 22nd annual
Special Olympics Winter Games
began Wednesday with the roar
of snowmobiles, the flashing of
fireworks and the cheers of over
1,000 in attendance.
Over 900 athletes participated
in the Winter Games at the
Sugar Loaf Mountain Resort in
Cedar.
The opening ceremonies began
with the singing of the National
Anthem by Karyann Fahoome,
Mrs. Michigan International
1997.
A slow procession of Wertz
Warriors, a group of snowmobile
enthusiasts, could be seen
snaking their way down the
mountain.
Caroline Ruch, of Lansing, was
awarded this year's VanderSloot
Award, given to the athlete who
best demonstrates the philosophy, "Nothing is impossible if I
try*
After the award presentation,
the athletes recited the Special
Olympic oath and the event was
opened officially with the lighting
of the Special Olympic torch by
Allison Moore, last year's
VanderSloot Award winner.
Before the crowd dispersed, a
large boom rang out from the top
of the mountain and the bright
lights of fireworks lit up the night
sky, while the Special Olympics
symbol appeared on the side of
the mountain in red flares.
Marcia Lindberg, public relations manager for the Michigan
Special Olympics, said the only
obstacle was the lack of snow due
to abnormally warm tempera
tures. Snow was trucked in from
other parts of the resort and the
games were nmning smoothly,
Lindberg said.
She added that this year's volunteers from CMU were working
out great.
"WeVe got a lot of return volunteers,'* she said. "It improves
the venues for the athletes to
have experienced volunteers."
Lindberg said she is looking
forward to a great competition
this year and great weather for
the event.
Barry Cobbiey, director of marketing for Sugar Loaf, was also
optimistic for the games
Wednesday.
He said the planning for the
games is easier for them because
the games have been taking
place at Sugar Loaf for 17 years.
There is a pattern established
now," Cobbiey said.
Cobbiey said preparation for
the games begins at least a year
before the actual event and
preparations are already set for
next year.
"For me personally, it is sort of
an honor to host the Special
Olympics," he said. "Everybody
that participates in it gets a real
positive feeling. We all have to
pitch in and work hard for the
three days, but its such a positive
experience it helps us through
other parts of the year."
As for the athletes, many of
them were excited and optimistic
about the winter games.
Hearing impaired athlete from
Charlotte, Mary Finley, said
through her interpreter and
coach,   Janice   Dodds,   also   of
TONY CEPAK
• CM LIFE
Matthew
Parsons, of
Macomb
County, sits
and relaxes, anticipating his
heat of the
snow show
time trials
Wednesday
afternoon.
Special Olympics Jast Jacts
Athict*
-statewide-
20.000
-worldwide-
1 million
m
Yolunt*
-statewide-
13300
-worldwide-
13 million
• More than 7<rO countries around the world are
involved in the Special Oiumpics.
• Programs are no cost to the athletes or their families. The
Special Oiumpics are funded totally k?u private donations.
\s\mWsmEEmnmm!mss\sWmssWm'
Charlotte, she felt she did very
good in the time trials held earlier in the day Wednesday and was
looking forward to the possibility
of winning a medal in snowshoe-
ing.
Dick Jacques, a member of the
ski patrol, said his hope for the
ski patrol is that their job is very
iuuLiu»mi»LMaufffir
boring. He said the patrol is there
in case something goes wrong
and he hopes that nothing does.
Jacques is happy to be involved
with the Special Olympics and its
athletes.
"The Michigan Special
Olympics is one of the best programs around," he said.
he said.
Truscott said Brandon is an excellent
candidate for the position because he is
involved in the Republican party on a
local, regional and state level.
"We look for the best possible person
and he was at the top of our list," he
said. "He's done a super job at CMU."
In addition, Brandon is a proponent of
higher education in the state of
Michigan.
See BRANDON Page 5	
Global ed
proposal
maybe
reborn
By Kristi Gutowski
LIFE Staff WAiter
Trie global education proposal,
which would add a foreign language requirement to the
University Program, is starting to
show some life again.
According to Gary Peer, assistant vice president of academic
affairs, the global education committee has not met yet, but talks
about adding a foreign language
requirement will begin soon.
Originally introduced in the fell
of 1996 by the global education
committee, the proposal would
force almost all students to take a
foreign language along with nine
credits in subgroups A, B and C.
The proposal would keep the
amount of credit hours in the UP
the same because the three elective credits will be done away with.
The only students exempted
would be those who took two years
of foreign language in high school.
Peer said many students will be
exempted under this policy.
"Two surveys suggest that about
68 to 70 percent of incoming freshmen had already met the requirements," Peer said. "Only about
one-third would need to meet the
requirements."
Peer said forums are planned for
the spring and later in the fell to
discuss the issue. The committee
hopes to have their recommendations set by November.
"I hope the months ahead are
used to reach an informed decision
about the proposal," he said.
Peer said the first step for the
committee is to clarify the proposal
so the questions previously raised
can be answered more clearly.
Peer said in the past, the proposal was not as clear as people wanted it to be.
"It went to all the proper places
before, but at that time the topic
was sensitive and needed explanation for the rationale," Peer said.
The committee needed to have the
proposal be more thorough for the
recommendation."
Peer said the proposal is important.
"I think the topic is important
and is worth serious consideration," he said. Tt warrants significant discussion and campus
debate."
Lawrence Fryda, chair of the
global education council, said he is
happy about the way the proposal
is going thus far.
Tm glad to see the issues are
being treated within the community of scholars," he said.
\  s i  n
Women's basketball team is
still in second place hunt
despite 77-67 lose to Ohio
Thursday. Page 6
Officials mulling over department merger
By Joseph McCarthy
LIFE Staff Writer
As of Thursday, University President
.Leonard Plachta said he had not made a
decision on the possible merger of the philosophy and religion departments — But
said he and Provost Richard Davenport are
still considering the change.
"In general, we both have explored rather
thoroughly (the merger) and we're both listening and learning," Plachta said.
Guy Newland, associate professor and
chair of religion, said the merger is a possibility.
"I still haven't (heard) anything formal.
I've developed the impression that this is
something the administration is considering."
Newland said he would like to meet with
Plachta to discuss the merger.
T think we would like to have the opportunity to have a quiet, reasonable discussion about our reasons for not wanting to
merge," Newland said.
Newland said he did not expect the president to offer such a vague response when
questioned by members of the Academic
Senate Tuesday.
Although Plachta has yet to state his
position on the merger, Newland said he
suspects the president may be in favor of
the proposal.
"My impression is that the president
thinks it is a good idea to merge the two
departments."
But, he said, the lack of an answer at the
Senate meeting may have been a refusal to
commit himself.
"One reason that (Plachta) might not
want to say is that he hasn't decided yet,"
Newland said.
Robert Stecker, professor and chair of philosophy, declined to comment about the
president's handling of the merger, but said
he looked forward to meeting with the him.
"He  agreed  to  meet  with  philosophy,"
See MERGE Page 5