1998-10-19; Central Michigan Life

              Central Michigan LIFE
Volume 81, Number 22
Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859
©1998 CM LIFE
Monday
October 19, 1998
14 pages
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Washing machine causes tribe's hotel, casino shutdown
Chamber
considers
options
for expo
By Liz Wishaw
LIFE Editor
A faulty hotel washing machine is
being blamed for the temporary shutdown of the Soaring Eagle Casino
and Resort, which sent more than
100 employees to area hospitals last
week.
That finding ended a four-day
search for the source of what temporarily closed the Soaring Eagle
Casino and Resort. The casino
reopened Saturday just before noon,
and the hotel is scheduled to reopen
at 4 p.m. today.
Investigators from Prism
Analytical Technology Inc. of Mount
Pleasant discovered Saturday one of
four washing machines reverted back
to an original setting, causing sodium
hypochloride — which is the active
ingredient in bleach — to mix with
an acid that    adjusts the pH level
during the washing process, said
Judy Whitman of Tribal Public
Relations.
Ordinarily, these two agents would
not combine. When they do, it creates
hypochlorous acid, a gas which can
make people sick, but quickly dissipates in the air.
"We believe this contributed to the
problem of immediately identifying
the source," Whitman said, "because
by the time the employees had the
symptoms and we were able to do
testing, the gas had dissipated."
After two different instances — one
on Wednesday and another on
Thursday — when the then-unknown
irritant was released, tribal officials
made the decision to evacuate and
close the hotel Thursday afternoon.
The casino was then closed Thursday
night.
Approximately   400   people   were
evacuated from the hotel ballroom
Thursday afternoon, along with an
estimated 150 guest rooms, said
Kevin Chamberlain, Saginaw
Chippewa Indian Tribe chief.
Thousands more were evacuated
from the casino Thursday night.
Chamberlain said independent
environmental testing agencies,
including the federal and Michigan
branches of Occupational Safety and
Health Association, had been brought
in to test for chemical or gaseous irritants, but there was "nothing found
to be out of order/'
Prism Analytical Technology of
Mount Pleasant took air samples in
the casino and hotel and the tests
came back negative for anything
inorganic or organic.
The    company that manufactures
See TRIBE Page 13	
RYAN WOOD • CM LIFE
Tribal chief Kevin Chamberlain addresses the crowd at
Friday's press conference about last week's events.
Kennedy to speak
tonight about the
environment
MuSn  JSiil   '33
By Angela S. Vandenbe-g
LIFE Assistant News Editor
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s concern for the environment and
what he's done trying to save it
will dominate his talk tonight
at Finch Fieldhouse.
Kennedy, who's speech is
sponsored by Program Board,
is an environmental advocate
-who serves as chief prosecuting
attorney for the Hudson
Riverkeeper and senior attorney for the National Resources
Defense Council. His talk,
which begins at 7:30 p.m., is
expected to focus on pollution,
extinction and the future of the
country's environment.
Chet Tyrakowski, Dowagiac
senior and chairman of the lecture committee for Program
Board, said his committee
wanted to bring someone to
CMU with a big name that students would enjoy.
But   Tyrakowski    said    stu
dents will want to see Kennedy
not just because of his name —
he will also speak on a diverse
range of topics.
"He covers enough areas that
different students from different areas can come and enjoy,"
Tyrakowski said.
Kristin Norton, adviser to
Program Board and assistant
director of Student Life, said
the environment is a hot current topic, so it seemed right to
select Kennedy — someone
with extensive knowledge in
that area.
"Students will get a better
outlook on problems the environment causes and also get to
see different "ways things can
be done to help," she said.
Norton doubts Kennedy will
talk about his famous family
because he usually focuses on
outlined topics in his speeches.
See KENNEDY Page 2	
But   Tyrakowski    said    stu- I
Ziemba may not
have money to settle
By Angela S. Vandenberg
LIFE Assistant News Editor
One family's ability to pay a settlement to another family whose
son was killed in 1996 is being
examined Friday.
Ronald T. Ziemba, the father of
CMU student Ronald S. Ziemba, is
being examined to determine if he
has any assets that could help pay
a possible settlement to the surviving family of Michael J.
Kirkpatrick — a CMU student
who was a passenger in a car that
was struck by a truck that Ronald
S. Ziemba was driving.
A pre-judgment creditor's exam
is taking place at 10 a.m. Friday. A
possible creditor's meeting is to be
set, and the meeting and exam
must be completed by Nov. 16. A
mandatory settlement conference
is set for 3 p.m. Nov. 20.
In court documents,
Kirkpatrick's   attorney  said  the
i \ s i n t-
only way a settlement discussion
can occur realistically would be by
exploring the assets of Ronald T.
Ziemba. He owned the truck his
son was driving when Kirkpatrick
was killed, therefore making him
fully liable for all damages under
Michigan's owner/use statute, the
attorney said.
The plaintiffs concerns have
been heightened by statements
made in the presence of the court
that Ronald T. Ziemba expended
over $150,000 in defending the
criminal charges against his son.
The plantifFs attorney said this
amount is "grossly excessive" and
is not reasonable under the circumstances of the criminal case.
The plantifFs records state Ronald
T. Ziemba may have hidden assets
which need to be discovered before
settlement    discussion    can    be
See ZIEMBA Page 2	
Assistant Director of Student Life Kristin Norton (left); Chris Webber, of the NBA's Sacramento
Kings and Trent McGuirk, 9, of Mount Pleasant, judge the slam dunk contest at Moon Jam '98.
Three musical chair
finalists, from left, Adam
Upston, Battle Creek
sophomore; Nate Lott,
Lansing freshman, and
Chad Kawa, Sanford
senior, battle for the last
two chairs to qualify for
the chance to win a trip
to Chicago. Upston and
Lott continued on to
take on the winners
from the crab walk
competition.
life photos by
Ryan Wood
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■ Canceled Business
Expo may be replaced
with alternate event
By Renee Lutz
LIFE News Editor
After Thursday's chemical incident at the Soaring Eagle Casino
and Resort displaced dozens of
representatives from area businesses taking part in the
Business Expo *98, event organizers are discussing what to do
since officially canceling the
event.
On Thursday at 6 p.m., expo
planning committee members
met to determine what else they
could do aside from simply canceling the event, said Cindy
Hales, president for the Mount
Pleasant Area Chamber of
Commerce.
"We did meet to take into
account the chamber and the
business points of view," Hales
said.
She said an "un-expo" event, in
which a silent auction with no
exhibits would occur, was brought
up at Thursday's meeting, but the
idea was not set in stone.
"There was an idea to throw
sort of an un-expo event . . . I'm
not sure if that's going to happen," Hales said.
She said exhibitors have until 5
p.m. today to pick up any materials from their booths which may
have been left behind after the
evacuation in the hotel's Grand
Ballroom.
"First things first. We must
consider the huge detriment to
the property. Our second concern
is to ensure exhibitors had their
things out of there safely," she
said. "Once those two hurdles are
crossed, then well consider (other
options)."
Hales said before making any
plans to reschedule the expo, she
wishes to make contact with all
78 expo exhibit representatives.
"For now we are focusing on
getting in touch with all
exhibitors for a meeting to see
everyone, to make sure everyone
got out OK and nothing was lost,"
she said.
Hales said of those exhibitors
she has already made contact
with, the feedback so far has been
positive.
"They have been very understanding and supportive," she
said. "(Some of the exhibitors)
said they conducted more business in the first half hour than
they have in a long time. And
with the luncheon right there,
there was a captive audience of
people there."
Hales said she and other planning committee members will
meet again within the next week
or so to further determine any
options concerning the expo's cancellation.
Classified
13
Crossword
13
Et cetera
10-11
Sports
6-9
Voices
4-5
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Central prepares computers for 'The Millennium Bug'
Be prepared for the
voorst on Jan. 1, 2000
By Joseph McCarthy
LIFE Staff Writer
The year 2000 problem has
been described as a programming
oversight in most of today's computers and CMU is taking it seriously
Also known as "The
Millennium Bug," Y2K — which
stands for Year 2000 — is
expected to affect almost every
aspect of daily life starting on
Jan. 1, 2000. Computers without
updated software and hardware
will be unable to distinguish the
year 2000 from 1900, which
experts say will cause a myriad of
complications.
If computers are unable to recognize dates accurately, data in
large databases, such as those
used at CMU to keep track of
class  information  and  financial
aid will be inaccurate. Worse, the
glitch is likely to cause at least a
small percentage of computers to
"crash," or cease functioning altogether.
However, CMU has taken steps
to prevent the majority of expected problems from occurring,
according to Gerald Hartman,
associate director of Computer
Services.
Hartman said Computer
Services has been working on the
Y2K situation since 1996. He
said the most important systems
used by administrators and students at CMU will be completed
by the millennium, but added
that not everything would be
repaired in time.
"Not everything will be completed by the year 2000 . . , the
major  things  will   be  done,"  he
said.
Hartman added that "everything" includes not only computers, but VCRs, and quite a few of
the other everyday things with
computer chips in them.
Hartman said some of the
"mission critical" software has
already been replaced, including
finance, payroll, library, teleman-
agement billing and e-mail software.
He added that within four to
six weeks the IBM mainframe
software, as well as some other
major network systems, will be
ready to function in the year
2000.
In late 1996, student information software began internal revision, which means programmers
See Y2K Page 2	
Joseph
McCarthy
UFE Staff Writer
Imagine waking up on Jan. 1,
2000.
You're hung over from last
night's New Year's party.
You realize you're late getting
over to your buddy's house to
watch  the  Rose  Bowl  because
your alarm clock didn't go off.
There's no power in your home,
you realize, as you see a blank
face instead of it's normally cheerful red glow.
Its a Saturday, and the beginning of a new era, so you didn't
miss work, but you're still a little
peeved.
You take a quick shower and
head to the ATM machine to pick
up a little extra cash. The ATM
rejects your card.
See BUG Page 2