1997-10-31; Central Michigan Life

              Central, Michigan LIFE
Volume 80, Number 30
Mt. Pleasant,  MI 48859
©1997 CM LIFE
78 years of serving the community
FRIDAY
October 31, 1997
12 pages
I
Faculty voice affirmative action concerns
By Julia Jones
LIFE Staff Writer
About 65 people attended a forum at the
Wesley Foundation Thursday night to
voice their opinions on the new affirmative
action statement.
The forum, initiated by a general committee of Association of Faculty and Staff
of Color, was informal, but a panel of representatives from the association, other co-
sponsoring groups and Phyllis Powell,
Affirmative Action Officer, were present to
begin the discussion.
_ think if s very clear that the concerns
are still there, and they run deep," said
Robert Newby, co-chair of the Association
of Faculty and Staff of Color and chair of
sociology, anthropology and social work, in
closing of the forum.
The main topics of concern voiced at the
Powell feels that the statement is not
policy but a statement for ads
forum were a lack of consultation with faculty and staff groups on campus, the use of
the word "diversity" to take the place of
separate designator such as "race" and
"sex", and Powell's feeling that the statement is not policy but a statement for ads.
Powell said when she came to Central in
January she was aware of the need for one
set of hiring procedures and a new statement for ads for the university.
The previous statement read, "CMU
(AA/EO institution) encourages diversity,
and resolves to provide equal opportunity
regardless of race, sex, disability, sexual
orientation, or other irrelevant criteria."
She said after long hours working with
an ad hoc committee, a new statement
which reads, "CMU is an equal opportunity, affirmative action institution which is
strongly and actively committed to
increasing diversity within its community," was devised and was sent to
University President Leonard Plachta for
approval. Powell said there was no hidden
agenda in not consulting the Affirrnative
Action council.
"There was no pressure from the top,"
Powell said.
Powell said she has admitted this oversight 18 times in 18 discussions she has
had since the new statement was released
on Sept. 29.
"I should have sent it past the (affirmative action) council," Powell said.
Martin Reinhardt, co-chair of the
Association of Faculty and Staff of Color
and director of Native American
Programs, said, "A recall of the statement
would be best . . . We have to be at the
table," he said.
Guy Meiss, member of the Academic
Senate and associate professor of journalism said, "We were concerned about the
lack of consultation."
In discussing "diversity" being used as a
blanket term in the statement, several
participants said they felt it was not the
proper term for what CMU is trying to do.
David Smith, president of the Faculty
Association and associate professor of religion said, "(The word diversity) goes far
beyond any kind of guidelines, it has
become meaningless."
Joyce Baugh, associate professor of political science said, T don't believe it strongly
commits us to what we want to commit to."
Carol McGinnis, co-chair of the association of Lesbian and Gay Faculty and Staff
and manager of electronic communi cations, public relations and marketing, said
gays and lesbians are not by law protected
and by using "diversity" instead of the designator "sexual orientation" the school is
showing a lack of commitment in that
area.
In response to Powell saying the state-
See FORUM Page 12
BAD HAIR DAY
Recalled condoms
show up on dept.
store shelves
CMU Women's Cross Country team ran in style Thursday afternoon as they celebrated
annual run across campus.
TONY CEPAK
'Ugly Day" with their
CM LIFE
By Emily Gerkin
LIFE Staff Writer
At least one Mount Pleasant
business was selling condoms
Thursday which had been voluntarily recalled by their manufacturer last week.
As a result of in-house testing,
Ansell decided last week to recall
some of the condom brands that
may no longer comply to standards required by the Federal
Drug Administration.
Ansell, which makes
Contempo, LifeStyles and Prime
condoms, has determined that
some spermicidally lubricated
condoms (specifically those with
non-oxidol 9) manufactured two
to three years ago may no longer
be effective.
Although the condoms complied to the standards at the
time they were manufactured,
some failed to meet regulations
as the product reached the end of
its three-year shelf life.
Scott Pertz, team leader of
health and beauty aids at
Target, 4097 E. Bluegrass Road,
said he had not received any
information from either Ansell or
SP£fiA.:_c/._.Y u_e _:._.__•
Only the following spermicidally lubricated condoms are being voluntarily
recalled:
■ LifeStyles Ultra Sensitive
with Spermicide Oct. 1997
■ LifeStyles Assorted Colors with
Spermicide Oct. 1997 through June
1998
_ LifeStyles Spermicidally Lubricated
Oct. 1997 through Oct 1998
■ Lifestyles Vlbra-Ribbed with
Spermicide Oct 1997 through April 2000
■ LifeStyles Extra Strength with
Spermicide Oct. 1997 through April 2000
■ Prime Spermicidally Lubricated
Oct. 1997 through Feb. 2000
■ Power Play with Spermicide
Oct 1997 through Feb. 2000
■ Intensity Assorted Colors with
Spermicide Nov. 1997
the Target headquarters.
Upon contacting the Target
headquarters, a service information technician said that Target
See RECALL Page 2	
.   N SID T.
Mt. Pleasant
debate fate of fluoridation
The CMU football team is not
planning a special attack for
running back Randy Moss.
See page 6
Classified
Crossword
Et cetera
Sports
Voices
11
11
8-9
6-7
4-5
By Ron Kooi
LIFE Staff Writer
Those on opposing sides of the fluoridation issue met Wednesday night at Mount
Pleasant City Hall and presented sharply
divided points of view to 22 local residents.
Voters will decide Tuesday in the general election whether or not to remove fluoridation from Mount Pleasant's water.
Arguing for the continuance of fluoridation was Thomas Kochheiser, public relations director of the Michigan Dental
Association.
"In the interest of the public's health,
the American Dental Association recommends the fluoridation of the drinkable
water supply," Kochheiser said.
People who drink fluoridated water
have, he said, "up to forty percent less
tooth decay."
Darlene Sherrell- former assistant
administrative officer for the Michigan
Court of Appeals, presented information
for the removal of fluoride.
Sherrell maintains there is too much
exposure to fluoride without it being
added to the water. She said there is fluoride in the air we breathe and in the food
we eat.
Fluoride is in many of the beverages we
drink as they are bottled in large cities
that use municipal water, she added.
Sherrell said an overdose of fluoride
leads to fluorosis of the teeth, or pitting
and discoloration, and hardening of the
joints and spine. She said men weighing
167 pounds, and women weighing 134
pounds, will experience significant skeletal fluorosis with the intake of 5.0 mil-
FlUO'RII)._H)\' V( .T_
■ Voters will decide Tuesday in the
general election whether or not to
remove fluoridation, from Mount
Pleasant's water.
ligrams per day over 40 years.
A person who has an intake of 20 to 80
milligrams per day is entitled to make a
claim for worker's compensation, she
said.
Kochheiser said only five cases of skeletal fluorosis have ever been reported in
the U.S.
Malcolm Fox, superintendent of the
Mount Pleasant water treatment plant,
attended in an informational capacity to
answer concerns of the audience.
According to an informational paper
prepared by Fox, the United States
Environmental Protection Agency has set
the maximum contaminate goal at 4.0
milligrams per liter.
"The naturally occurring level of fluoride in the Mount Pleasant water supply
is 0.4 milligrams per liter," the document
reports. "Fluoride is added to reach the
optimal level recommended of 1.0 milligrams per liter."
"The fluoride they are adding to your
water," Sherrell said, "is a toxic waste
captured from scrubber water, (an industrial by-product that contains lead)."
She said the addition of fluoride to city
water is a means of dumping industrial
waste that generates $200 per barrel for
See VOTE Page 2
To reach CMLIFE
Phone: 774-3493
E-Mail:
CMLIFE @cmuv_rt.
csv.cmich.edu
Fax number:(517)774-7805
Central Michigan LIFE
Online
Internet address:
httpr//v»rww.cmlife
.cmich.edu
NASA astronaut will launch
Native American celebration
By Aiesha D. Little
LIFE Staff Writer
A presentation by a NASA
astronaut will kick-off the festivities for the 1997 Native
American Month celebration.
Lt. Commander John
Herrington, the first Native
American person to be selected
for NASA shuttle mission training, will speak at 10 a.m.
Saturday in the dining area of
the Soaring Eagle Casino.
"Native American people are
the most under represented in
science, math and technology
fields so we must truly celebrate
when a Native American attains
as much success as John
Herrington," said Martin
Reinhardt, director of Native
American Programs.
"We hope
that his visit
will inspire
Native
Americans of
all ages to
careers where
they are largely
absent."
The month
long celebration, which is
co-sponsored
American
HERRINGTON
by Native
Programs, the
Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe,
the Cultural Diversification
Funding Committee, the Office
for Institutional Diversity,
Minority Student Services,
Multicultural Programming and
the Student Budget Allocation
Committee,   continues   Tuesday
with the Anishinaabe Cultural
Food Taster.
Members of the North
American Indian Student
Organization will prepare food
traditional to the Anishinaabe
tribe. The taster will take place
from 6 to 8 p.m. at the CMU
Alumni House.
Reinhardt said the programs
this month are a mixture of old
and new activities.
"Some of these events are spinoffs of previous years' events," he
said. "(But) we certainly like to
bring in new and different talent
when we can."
Todd Williamson, Michigan
College and University
See CELEBRATION Paqe 2
HAUNTED YA
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