1990-07-03; Central Michigan Life

              Michigan
WEDNESDAY
July 3, 1990
Officials
request
increase
for CMU
by MARGARET WOLFGANG ;
LIFE Editor  •-   '
State House of Representatives and Senate recommendations that CMU receive a 6.6
percent base budget increase
for 1990-91 have University
officials "cautiously pleased."
See related story
/Page 5
Their caution comes from a
result of a combination of the
tight budget year ahead for the
state of Michigan and a gubernatorial election, said Jerry
Scoby, executive assistant to
the president for Budget and
Planning.
Scoby, interim executive
assistant to the president for
'■-''- See APPROVE Page 2
i   1?
,-v
>?■*-
■vvT-V>   r+ r-jr&s:.
^»Bg!f'^,*t*S_l
__?V*
LAZY DAYS
UFE Photo/Chris Birhs
With the weather becoming more like summer with each day. Alan Mazurek, Mount Pleasant,
catches some rays by Rose pond.    ■*-■' *-*    - <■
Board to
decide on
tuition
increase
by MARGARET WOLFGANG
LIFE Editor
Playing "catch up" in terms
of funding equity has CMU
Board of Trustees members set
to consider a 6.7 percent tuition
increase for the 1990-91
academic year.
Despite recommendations to
increase the University's base
budget by 6.6 percent for
1990-91, President Edward B.
Jakubauskas said a tuition
increase is necessary for CMU.
"The percentage increase
looks good but it doesn't put us
in a (monetary) surplus situation."
The proposal to go before
Board members at their July 12
and 13 meeting involves raising
undergraduate    tuition    for
See TUITION Page 9
Siedlee found giiijfy?bfiffiUitM
in September death of -trustee
by JENNIFER CHRISMAN
LIFE Managing Editor         	
A 62-year-old man was found guilty
Wednesday by a Michigan Recorder's Court
jury for first-degree murder in the Sept. 6,
1989, shooting death of former Board of
Trustees member Bernard J. Firestone.
Stanislaw Siedlec is scheduled for arraignment on the conviction July 12, the Recorder's
Court clerk said.
Siedlec shot Firestone, 53, in Firestone's
Detroit office after an argument about Siedlec
not receiving pension.
Firestone, who was appointed to CMU's
Board of Trustees on April 28, 1989, by Gov.
James J. Blanchard, also was secretary-
treasurer of the Amalgamated Clothing and
Textile Workers Union, Detroit, and vice
president of the Metropolitan Detroit
AFL-CIO.
Siedlec was apprehended by police in his
home on the afternoon of the shooting and
arraigned  on  the  charge  Sept.   7  in Wayne
See SIEDLEC Page 2
Qoh. Aah
County, committee sponsoring holiday
fireworks, fun at County Fairgrounds
by JENNIFER CHRISMAN
LIFE Managing Editor	
After the sun goes down, the lights will go
up during Isabella County's Fourth of July
festivities this year.
Lights from a fireworks display, that is.
Sponsored by the Isabella County Convention Vistors Bureau, the Fireworks Committee
and Mount Pleasant-area sponsors, the
fireworks are scheduled for Wednesday at
dusk at the Isabella County Fairgrounds,
Fireworks Committee Chair Cheryll Nordin
said.
Nordin, Isabella County Convention Visitors
Bureau Tourism coordinator, said the event,
scheduled to last about 20 to 30 minutes, cost
about $5,000 and without sponsors and donors
would not have been possible,  r
Nordin said WCFX 95 FM raised a large
portion of the money by convincing the
Pepsi-Cola Bottling Co. to sponsor the event.
Another group involved with the fireworks
display is the 4-H Club, which is selling
refreshments and glow-in-the-dark necklaces
at the fairgrounds.
Nordin said the Fireworks Committee
purchased the necklaces and profits raised
from their sale will be divided bewtween the
4-H Club and the Fireworks Committee.
Donations at the gate also will be accepted,
she said.
Any excess funds raised by donations for the
event are designated funds for fireworks next
year. Nordin added she hopes the display can
last longer next year. :'.
She said 600 to 800 cars are expected at the
fireworks display, so visitors are encouraged to
arrive early in order to locate parking spots in
the fairgrounds.
Nordin said parking will not be allowed on
Mission or Baseline roads. All visitors must
park in the fairgrounds. She added local police
agencies plan to enforce this policy.
Prominent Mount
Pleasant oilman,
48, died Sunday
by D. MICHAEL HEANEY
LIFE News Editor
In a vintage World War II aircraft ironically named the
Death Rattler, Harry Tope plummeted to his death Sunday
afternoon as a Canada Day crowd of about 100,000 looked on.
Tope, a prominent Mount Pleasant businessman and flying
enthusiast, crashed while performing in the National Capitol
Airshow in Ottawa, Canada. The show was part of Canada's
independence day celebration.
John T. Issenman, president and chairman of the board of
the National Capitol Airshow association, said Tope was flying
at a low altitude while demonstrating the capabilities of his
P-51 Mustang, when the plane dove abruptly and crashed in a
golf course near the Ottawa International Airport. Tope was
killed on impact.
"I don't think it was planned," Issenman said. "The aircraft
nosed at 300 feet — there isn't much chance to do anything."
The accident is still under investigation by the Canadian
Transportation Accident Investigation and Safety Board, he
said. ■•...-  :'- -■'■'■..;■'■ '":>:-;~
Issenman, also a pilot, witnessed the crash as he sat in the
crowd with Tope's wife Diane.
"It's unfortunate that this had to happen to Harryi" he said.
But Issenman said the crash proved to be a lesson in human
compassion.
Soon after the incident, Issenman contacted Peter Caws,
deputy director of flight operations for Transport Canada, in
the hope of arranging a flight home for Diane.
Although Caws — a government employee — was not
working because of the Canadian national holiday, he
volunteered to help.
Caws and five other off-duty Transport Canada employees
prepared a plane and flew Diane directly back to Mount
Pleasant — a roundtrip of more than 10 hours.
"I think that's just outstanding — it just blows me away,"
Issenman said.
See TOPE Page 5