1992-01-15; Central Michigan Life

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Central
Michigan
WEDNESDAY
January 15, 1992
VOLUME 74, NUMBER 46 £4^
MOUNT PLEASANT/MICHIGAN 48859,
© 1992 CM LIFE
(517) 774-3493
.18 PAGES
Park Place files chapter 11
By Colleen Newvine
l lf-F IVfws Pditor
Park Place is among the
casualties of current battles to
capture an ever-dwindling number of off-campus renters.
Mount Pleasant Limited Partnerships, an association of about
25 individuals who bought Park
Place in February 19S4. tiled for
chapter 1 1 bankruptcy in Grand
Rapids Bankruptcy Court Dec.
20.
James Bonfiglio, a general
partner in the Lansing-based
organization, said the two key
factors in the decision were an
inability to keep up with increasing property taxes and the number of renters  in  the  market   in
Resolution
to review
nickname
is adopted
By Brian D. Bell
The end of CM Us "i()-year
association with the nickname
"Chippewas" could end in May.
All but one of ~>1 Academic
Senate members attending Tuesday's meeting voted to adopt a
resolution drafted by the Affirmative Action Council urging
Interim President Leonard E.
Plachta to lake final action on the
nickname issue by the end of this
academic year.
A-Senates resolution asks
Plachta to reconvene the original
members of the President's
Advisory Council Examining the
use of "Chippewas" as the University Symbol.
In March 1989. the original
19-member committee advised
former president Edward B.
-Jakubauskus to keep the Chippewa nickname for a three-year
trial period. The original group
was comprised of adminstrators.
(acuity and students.
At Tuesday's meeting. Affirma-
tive Action Council co-
chairpersons Robert Newby, professor of sociology, and Laura
Gonzales, director of Multicultural Programming, asked senators to adopt the resolution
because attempts to comply with
trial-period guidelines were not
successful.
"There have been some educational programs, but they are not
well attended." Gonzales said.
"And some of our Native American students have been harassed
and told the issue of the name
change is their fault."
The reformed committee would
examine nickname usage in the
last three years and make a
recommendation to Plachta by
March 16 about whether Central
should retain its moniker.
Plachta said the time is right to
review the issue.
"I intend to follow through and
go ahead and get that committee
resurrected." he said.
But Plachta said he's unsure if
(he committee could throroughly
examine the issue by May.
"We haven't done this very
often," he said.
A nickname change requires
Board of Trustees approval, and
the Boards only remaining
meetings this semester are Feb.
28. April 3 and May 3, Plachta
said.
"The Board has to take action
land) the Board needs notice," he
said.
In addition, Plachta said making a change requires careful
implementation and education of
the   University  community  and
See ASENATE Page 2
Apartment complex reorganizing;
Owners: tenants won't be affected
Mount Pleasant.
"The dwindling number of students available to rent properties
as a result of the University's
5o-cred.it rule and the former
3;Vcredit rule has had a negative
impact on the market," Bonfiglio
said. CMU has a rule on the books
stating students must rack up 00
credits before moving out of University housing.
Chapter 1 1. unlike a complete
bankruptcy proceeding, giants
companies protection from creditors'while reorganizing and continuing to operate.
"It gives us what they call breathing room," Bonfiglio said.
Park Place Apartments — the
only holding of Mount Pleasant
Limited Partnerships — will
operate while putting together a
plan to reorganize the company,
he said.
"It really should not affect the
residents at all." Bonfiglio said.
Bonfiglio declined to comment
further on case specifics.
Renters might see some physical improvements in the buildings — if things work out the way
Bonfiglio hopes.
He did say, however, that the
company will not make the final
decision in returning security
deposits.
"I anticipate that there won't
be a problem, but ultimately that
decision is one that will be made
by the court," Bonfiglio said.
Some Park Place residents
aren't worried yet.
"It doesn't concern me as long
as they aren't going to shut my
apartment down," said Christina
Seiarrotta, Sterling Heights
junior.
Her     roommate.     Hartland
junior Linda Nussle, said neither
of them knew anything about the
bankruptcy  procedings   until  p
See PARK PLACE Page 2
■ The association
which owns Park Place
apartment complex filed
for bankruptcy in
December
■ One of the partners
says property taxes and
dwindling numbers of
off-campus dwellers
hurt the business
■ The action shouldn't
affect tenants and Park
Place will continue to
sign leases for next year
■ The court will make
all decisions regarding
immediate finances,
including the return of
security deposits
TRAPPED
LIFE Photo Dustin A. Wyman
Paramedics try to free Tania Galarno, Saginaw senior, from her     damaged car after she was involved in an accident Tuesday afternoon at the corner of Washington and Illinois.
Money dwindled, so did support
Jakubauskas
tries to explain
where things
went wrong
Coming Friday: An in-depth
look at leadership at CMU
past, present and future.
By Karen Emerson
LIFE Editor	
When Edward B. Jakubauskas arrived on campus in 1988,
he carried with him a lengthy
list of plans and goals.
He wanted to work hand-in-
hand with the faculty. He hoped
to create a sense of community
and .to bridge the distance
between the administration and
the employees and students.
Finding solutions to student
and employee concerns — lower
tuition and higher wages —
ranked among his top priorities.
The "people's president" was
what he wanted to become. But
something happened and these
goals were never fully realized.
"The dynamics changed,"
Jakubauskas said in an interview last week. "My first two
years went well. I didn't have
Plachta's first speech today
Interim President Leonard E. Plachta delivers his first formal
address to the campus community today.
The president's address is scheduled for 4 p.m. in Warriner
Auditorium. Students, faculty, staff and local community members
are invited to attend the speech.
The speech is expected to detail some of Plachta's ideas and
concerns for the next few months at Central.
Plachta was appointed to replace Edward B. Jakubauskas, who
announced Nov. 8 he would resign effective Jan. 5.
EDWARD B. JAKUBAUSKAS
too many problems.
"But we got into collective
bargaining in that third year
and the whole collective bargaining process creates an
adversarial role. The mentality
is different and it spreads across
campus.
"People start thinking 'let's
get the administration, let's
tear the president apart.' That's
what happened here."
Jakubauskas, who plans to
move from Mount Pleasant by
week's end, resigned as the 10th
president of CMU Nov. 8.
The resignation came at a
time when he said he needed to
move on to another kind of
work. The last 12 years of Jakubauskas' career have been spent
serving as president of universities.
"I never experienced a campus like this," he said.
The constituents — unions
and other employees, the student body, the Board of Trustees, alumni and the local community — all needed attention,
Jakubauskas said.
And too few constituents were
patient enough or willing to give
a little to get a little, he said.
"Things were working until
we ran into tight resources,"
Jakubauskas said. "In New
York, I had to lay off people and
eliminate programs. It was terribly hard to do, but I didn't
have any real problems doing it
because the people knew it had
to be done."
Jakubauskas served as president of State University of New
York at Geneseo before coming
to Central.
"Here they just want to argue
with the president and take the
president down."
He attributes many of the
problems he encountered while
president to the "collective bargaining mentality," a tight university and state budget and a
militant-like attitude which
many members of the campus
community have toward the
administration.
,"I was going to be the faculty's
president," Jakubauskas said.
"I   was  very  much  pro-faculty
See JAKUBAUSKAS Page 2
SCOBY
Scoby first
to testify
at clerical
fact finding
By John Dobberstein
l IFF Copy Editor
Jerry Scoby wasn't playing
games Monday when he pulled
out some Monopoly money and
laid it on the table.
Scoby, executive assistant to
the president for Budget and
Planning, instead was using the
money to make a point during the
first day of fact finding between
CMU and its clerical workers.
Three witnesses,
including
Scoby. were
called upon
Monday in
Bovee University Center.
Fact finding resumes
10 a.m. Fri-
day in t he
Lake Michigan Room. The first
witness expected to testify is
Shary Gaunt, clerical union
president and Park Library specialist clerk.
Most discussion at the first session centered around CMU
budget woes and the validity of
numbers used by a United Auto
Workers representative.
Scoby    presented    two    budget
reduction plans to fact finder Bernard Klein which previously had
been   shared   with   the  Board  of
Trustees.
Scoby cited a variety of reasons
why the budget would be sensitive to a pay raise for CMU clericals.
Those problems include loss of
a fourth-quarter payment from
the state, a 1 percent callback of
state approprations in December
1990, falling student credit
hours, rising utility expenses,
declining enrollment, an increase
in faculty compensation, delayed
cuts in 35 to 38 faculty full-time
equivalents, 1 o w e r -1 h a n -
projected income from investments, declining interest and less
money to invest, a loss of students in Extended Degree Programs because of the Gulf War,
and opening costs of Science II.
"Any increase in compensation
has a direct impact, on 72 percent
of the budget," Scoby said.
He used the play money to
demonstrate how the University
lost nearly $6 million in appropriations from the state in the past
fiscal year due to elimination of
the fourth-quarter payment and 1
percent callback.
Rhette Pinsky, the lawyer representing CMU's clerical  union.
See FACT FINDING Page 2
ENDEX
News 3
State. Nation. World 3
Opinion   4
Arts. Entertainment 8
Sports 10
Basketball Page 11
Police Log 14
Classified Ads 16
Crossword 16
Comic 16
WEATHER
Chance of snow, flurries are
expected In the evening.
Temps will range from the
low 20s to zero.
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