1972-08-28; Central Michigan Life

              K***i_JL
ILL
H
- Charles B. House, Jr,
<ti-,r^^,3^
There is irony in the fact that summer
shows signs of.arriving in earnest just
when We are called back to the> tyranny^r
academic schedules. So far, the season has
l3#eTre=*aiiiy1^^
We; thank you for that. It makes the
hassles worthwhile;
it has been over much of Michigan. Br
there is justice in the universe we can look
forward to a splendid autumn and I hope
we can all make the'most of it.
If your summer was spent working, I
hope the work was rewarding. If the
season was idle*. I hope it was truly
relaxing as ,w_eH,J£ y°u travelled, I hope
that you met interesting people in lovely
places-or lovely people in interesting
.places.
These are uneasy times in universities. They might even be grim times if it
was not for the vitality and excitement
which students bring to the whole scene.
1 am happf to extend to new and
returning students alike this formal and
traSitibn^^
that the coming weeks will give my
colleagues of the faculty and administration and myself the opportunity
to demonstrate in action how sincerely our
welcome is meant.
Charles B. House, Jr.
Executive Assistant to the President
V
V
volume 52, number 94 .
Mt. Pleasant, Michigdn 48858
. Monday, August 28, 1972
I
x
RainsHaJt Gonstructipn
To Open?
— ByDALEGOWING
LIFE Managing Editor
A near-record August rainfall has all
but drowned any hopes that the new
Perry Shorts Stadium will be completed in
time for CMU's home football opener
Sept. 30.
m As of Sunday morning* 8.4 inches of:
ram had soaked Mt. Pleasant since the
bepnning of the month, causing lengthy
delays in the construction of the $2.7
million sports facility south of Broomfield
Road.
The problem, according toJPhysical
PlantJDirector Robert B. Long, is that the
Astroturf playing surface cannot.be installed until the ground is completely dry,
and each day's rainfall just delays the
drying process.
- The Chippewas open their home
schedule Sept. SO against Indiana State,
outj said Long, the chances "are not good"
that the field can be made ready-in time.
As a precaution, ancient Alumni Field is
being prepared to handle the game if the
need should arise.
Long explained that the installation
of the artificial turn in Shorts-Stadium is a
three-step job. The first is the rolling and
'graveling* of the clay base, followed by
the pouring of asphalt and finally the
laying of the green carpet surface..
Ten large canvass tarps are covering
the field now, but even so, the clay underneath is only 80 percent dry, said
Long. "Once the rain finally stops, it will
still take two to three days to totally dry
out, and then another three days to roll
and-gravel the ground."
Friday Deadline
Long and university officials have
agreed on Friday as the "deadline date."
"If the rolling and graveling is not started
by Friday," he decided, "I see no way that
the stadium can be ready for the first
game."        .; "     ,   ," v
The two Saturdays .following the
Indiana State game are also home encounters, and Long was uncertain
whether the stadium could be completed
for them either.
"I hate to be pessimistic," he said,
"but we certainly haven't gotten any
cooperation with the weather."
The playing surface is not the only
area affected, though. The huge parking
lot west of the stadium is a sea of mud and
cannot be completed either.
Before the rains came, only one
obstacle stood* in the way of a speedy
completion, and that dealt with! labor. Pipe
insulators contracted to the stadium have
been on strike since Spring, causing minor
changes to be made in plumbing layout.
Helicopter Hired
' CMU officials were so desperate to
dry the field in time that they hired a
helicopter at ^75. per hour last Saturday
to. hover over the field to K speed the
process up. "We had the tarps off Friday,"
Long said, "and the field was allowed to
dry all day."
Rainfall Friday night and Saturday
cancelled out those efforts, though.
The Indiana State game is billed as
the Dedication Game for the new stadium
and extensive plans have already been
made for the day. "But," noted Athletic
Director Daniel P. Rose, "our plans can be
altered to include Alumni Field."
Head football coach Roy Kramer is
disappointed in the turn of events since he
would like to practice on the AstroTurf as
soon as possible.
The rain situation appears ironic to
Long. "We were moving along well before
the rain, and had made great progress on
the stands and seats," he explained. "All
that was left to do was a portion of the end
zone stands."
"It's funny, because in January I
would have predicted that the concrete-
work would hold us up, not the rain."
'r " *■'