1997-02-03; Central Michigan Life

              Central Michigan LIFE
Volume 79, Number 56
Mt. Pleasant,   MI 48859
©1997 CM LIFE
77 years of serving the community
MONDAY
February 3, 1997
16 pages
Festivities end with
cultural performances
LIFE Photo/Ryan Wood
Sixteen students from Chung's Praying Mantis School in Midland performed the Lion Dance Saturday
in the Moore Hall Kiva.
■ Lion dance, martial arts highlight
Saturday's presentation
By Wendy Williams
LIFE Staff Writer	
Asian Heritage Week concluded its festivities
with martial arts demonstrations and other cultural performances Saturday in the Moore Hall
Kiva.
Sixteen students from Chung's Praying Mantis
School in Midland, demonstrated Kung Fu for
approximately 90 spectators, including University
President Leonard Plachta and Non-traditional
Student Advocate Louise Plachta. The performers
exhibited various forms for the audience including
single and two-person routines as well as the use
of spears, daggers and swords.
Kung Fu is more fluid than other martial arts
forms, said Henry Chung, instructor at the
Praying Mantis School.
Bob Jarvis, a student at the Praying Mantis
School, has been practicing Kung Fu for three
months. Having recently moved to the area, he
saw the sport as a "good way to meet people."
Chung spoke about the Chinese New Year which
follows the Lunar calendar. The Lunar calendar is
34 days behind the Solar calendar, Chung said.
Traditionally, a seven-day celebration takes
place in honor of the New Year. The seven days
symbolize the seven days taken in Buddhism to
create all the world's people, he said.
Special food is prepared such as chicken dishes,
pork and seafood, and a gift is given to each person
in the family.
Chung also participated with his students in the
Lion Dance. This 1000-year-old practice is part of
the New Year celebration and is used to "scare evil
spirits away," Chung said.
Chung, born and raised in Hong Kong, came to
the United States in 1979 and has been practicing
Kung Fu for 36 years. He said he enjoys the physical activity and mental challenge of the sport.
This is the second year students from the
Praying Mantis School have performed as part of
Asian Heritage Week.
Following the Kung Fu demonstration, students
from West Ottawa Schools in Holland, presented
See CONCLUSION Page 2	
Teacher education
admittance procedure
to be changed in fall
By Michelle Eickmeyer
LIFE Staff Writer
The department of teacher education is changing the procedure
for admittance into the teacher education program.
Leroy Kemp, interim director of Teacher Education, said the
admission process will change in the Fall 1997 and the new procedure will combine the current selection and admission policies.
Under the old policy, students had their composite score compared to the scores of the other applicants. Because only 600 students could be selected a year, a cut-off was determined somewhere
around 300, Kemp said. Students with composite scores the same
as or higher than the cut off were selected, he said.
Students can earn points for their composite score in a number of
areas, Kemp said. The students overall grade point, grade in
ELE/SED 107, Introduction to Teaching, score on the written
expression and interview score all add points to their composite,
Kemp said.
For example, students earning a B+ in ELE 107 would receive
nine points, he said. The interview, worth up to 16 points, has the
highest point value.
See CHANGE Page 5
Investigation of fatal
accident continues
■ Police release name
of high school student
killed in accident
By Dave Borough
LIFE Start Writer	
The Mount Pleasant Police
Department continue to investigate a fatal accident which
occurred at approximately 3:50
p.m. Thursday at the intersection of Pickard and Bradley
streets.
Scott Bendele, a 15-year-old
Shepherd High School student,
was pronounced dead at Central
Michigan Community Hospital
resulting from injuries sustained
in the accident.
According to MPPD, there
were three vehicles involved. The
first vehicle was a 1991 Ford
Pickup truck driven by Kari
Farling, 35, of Gladwin, and a
passenger Walter Farling, of
Mount Pleasant.
The second vehicle was a 1991
Mercury Sable station wagon
driven by Maria Rubingh, 41, of
Mount Pleasant. There were two
passengers  in her vehicle,  Erin
Rubingh,     14, and     Rodney
Rubingh,   9,      both   of   Mount
Pleasant.
The driver and both passengers of the second vehicle were
transported by ambulance to
CMCH where they were treated
and released.
The third vehicle was a 1991
Chevrolet two-door vehicle driven by Darren Bendele, 22, of
Mount Pleasant. The two passengers in his vehicle were Mark
Bendele, 19, and Scott Bendele.
The driver and other passenger in the third vehicle were
treated for injuries and released.
Witnesses interviewed at the
accident scene indicated the
Bendele vehicle was southbound
on Bradley Street and did not
stop for the stop sign. The
Farling vehicle was eastbound
on Pickard Street and collided
with the Bendele vehicle. This
forced the Bendele vehicle into
the Rubingh vehicle, which was
facing northbound at the stop
sign on Bradley Street.
Verve
Vibes
(above)The Verve
Pipe rocked
Warriner
Auditorium Friday
evening during a
'homecoming'
show.
Members of The
Verve Pipe   include
brothers Brad
Vander Ark(right),
Brian Vander
Ark(left), A.J.
Dunning, guiarists,
Donny Brown,
drummer and Doug
Corella, keyboardist
and CMU alumus.
IN  SI
D
E
Classified
14-15
Crossword
15
Et cetera
12-13
Sports
8-9
Voices
4-5
r'     4-,'v         "                  X
"
Early retirement program available for professors until March
By Jeremy Russ
LIFE Staff Writer
Professors who want to take part in
early retirement program being offered
by the university, have until early March
to do so.
Provost Richard Davenport said, he is
not sure the university will be offering an
incentive program for early retirement as
"attractive" as this for quite some time.
The Board of Trustees has made it clear
the university would not be offering a pro
gram such as this for a long time,
Davenport said.
Mary Senter, associate professor of sociology, anthropology and social work and
president of the Faculty Association, said
the program offers faculty members a
cash payment based on 2.5 percent of
their 10-month salary multiplied by the
number of years of service they gave to
CMU.
For example, if a professor work for 18
years and makes $40,000 a year,   the pro
fessor would receive a $18,000 bonus.
The payment is made in one check during the last month of the retiring faculty
member's service?.
Senter said this incentive is only open
to faculty members who are eligible for
retirement under the eligibility requirements given with this program.
. According to the 1996-1999 Agreement
between the university and faculty, an
faculty  member who  is  eligible  for this
incentive must have at least 15 years of
service and be at least 50 years old on or
before Dec. 31, 1996.
Along with this payment, Senter said,
faculty members who have over 20 years
of service at CMU will also receive a
retirement service award.
Senter said this program is a good situation all around, because it gives faculty
members who are retiring a nice financial
See RETIREMENT Page 11	
3