1997-01-08; Central Michigan Life

              Central Michigan LIFE
Volume 79, Number 45
Mt. Pleasant,  MI 48859
©1997 CM LIFE
77 years of serving the community
WEDNESDAY
January 8,1997
20 pages
Cause of Sig Ep fire still unknown
■ Police say indications do not
show the fire was an act of arson
By Dave Borough
LIFE Staff Writer
A fire destroyed a fraternity house three
days before Christmas leaving 15 students
without a home to return to this semester.
The cause is still unknown.
On Sunday, Dec. 22 at approximately 2:40
a.m., Mount Pleasant firefighters were dispatched to the Sigma Phi Epsilon house, 906
S. Main St. Upon arrival the house was
already engulfed in flames.
The Mount Pleasant Fire Department has
estimated damages of the house at $140,000
to $142,000.
Marc Collins, Fenton junior and former
Sigma Phi Epsilon president, lived in the
house at the time of the fire.
Everyone who lived at the fraternity house
lost everything and the costs would be recovered by their parents' personal home owner's
insurance policies, Collins said.
The fraternity lost at least 10 composite pictures of old members, between 25 and 30 paddles and other trophies in the fire, Collins
said.
"All the members have found a place to stay
and have been taken care of," Collins said.
Although the cause of the fire is unknown
at this time, indications do not show it was
an act of arson, said Martin Trombley, director of Mount Pleasant Department of Public-
Safety.
"We haven't eliminated anything, but nothing suggests (the fire) was intentionally set,"
Trombley said. "It could have been arson, but
we are not leaning toward that being the
cause."
Molly Duggan, assistant director of Student
Life, discussed with the fraternity their
options for Spring Rush, since most of those
activities are held at their fraternity houses.
Collins said they will be working with the
university to find space to conduct their activities and functions.
"We are still going to have a fraternity,"
Collins said. "We're keeping a positive mind
and it will pull everyone closer together."
The investigation has been slowed due to
the lack of occupants in the house, and the
fact crucial evidence could have been burned
up in the fire, Trombley said.
Fire officials have determined the origin of
the fire but will not release that information
while the investigation is ongoing, he said.
"Fire personnel have determined the origin
of the fire," Trombley said. "They haven't been
able to absolutely identify what the cause
was. Potentially they may never find a cause,
which is the case in a lot of fires."
A reward is being offered as the cause of
The fire at the Sigma Epsilon house at 2:
about $140,000-$142,000 in damages.
LIFE Photo/Carol Nelson
the fire is still unknown.
40am on Dec. 22 caused
Tribal judge attempts
to clear up election
validity concerns
By Jennifer Ackerman
LIFE Editor	
Saginaw Chippewa Tribal Judge
Bruce Havens will rehear arguments today at 1 p.m. concerning
the validity of the tribe's Dec. 12
primary election results.
The tribe filed a motion Monday
asking Havens to reconsider his
Dec. 28 ruling that the tribe's primary election results will stand.
Despite claims that some of the
candidates had improperly registered. Havens decided that the
results were valid.
Following Havens' decision,
there were reports that the two
members of the interim Tribal
Council, Ron Jackson and Arlene
Molina, would not accept Havens'
decision, but they since have
agreed to honor today's ruling no
matter what the outcome.
According to a press release
dated Monday, "Under the special
circumstances   explained   in   the
tribe's motion, the Interim Tribal
Council agreed to be bound by the
final determination of the court in
this matter."
The release further explained,
"The motion was made out of the
concern that all of the relevant
facts and issues may not have
been available to the court at the
time of its decision because of the
emergency nature of the earlier
proceedings in this case."
"Judge Havens' decision is paramount in determining the schedule of future events," said Joe
Sowmick, tribe spokesperson.
"The hearing will determine
whether (the primary) was valid
or if it wasn't valid, and dates will
be set (for future elections)."
Sowmick said the situation is
expected to be resolved at today's
meeting. "I think it's in the best
interest of the tribal court, the
tribal government and tribal
membership."
CMU clinical instructor,
program co-founder dies
LIFE Staff Reports
A CMU instructor involved in the physical therapy program since
its beginning died Saturday at University Hospital in Ann Arbor.
William C. Stahl, 41, a clinical instructor in the physical therapy
program, owned and operated Emerald Physical Therapy, 210 Court
St., since 1987.
Services will be at 11 a.m. today at Sacred Heart Church in Mount
Pleasant. Burial will be in Calvary Cemetery in Mount Pleasant.
There will be visitation from 10-11 a.m. before the funeral.
Herm Triezenberg, chair of the department of health promotion
and rehabilitation and director of physical therapy, described Stahl
as a role model to students going into practice.
"He exemplifies the practitioner in this field. He was careful,
warm and understanding," Triezenberg said.
See STAHL Page 2	
A-Senate
approves
8-college
model
By Angela Cook
LIFE Staff Writer
THE WAITING
GAME
LIFE Photo/Sabrina Burton
The line to buy books at the University Center Bookstore
stretched from the cash registers to the back of the store
Monday afternoon.
In the narrowest of votes, the
Academic Senate approved the
university president's plan for
reorganization by a single vote.
On Dec. 10 the Senate
approved University President
Leonard Plachta's plan for reorganization in a secret ballot vote
of 28 to 27.
The reorganization plan calls
for an 8-college model comprised
of the College of Health
Professions, the College of
Business Administration, the
College of Education and
Human Services, the College of
Humanities and Social and
Behavioral Sciences, the College
of Fine Arts, the College of
Science and Technology, the
College of Graduate Studies and
the College of Extending
Learning.
Before the vote, Joyce
Henricks, associate professor of
philosophy, urged the voters to
vote no on the plan if they disapproved of even a portion of the
plan.
Scott Manning, Six Lakes
senior, asked the Senate before
the vote how much the plan
would cost and what was wrong
with the current model.
According to Provost Richard
Davenport, the reorganization
plan will enhance and promote
programs and departments, and
funds going toward reorganization will be used wisely to pro-
See A-SENATE Page 7
Student profile reveals Fall '96 demographics
By Jennifer Ackerman
LIFE Editor	
For the second consecutive year
the Office of Institutional
Research has collected data on
the demographics of CMU's student body during the fall semester.
According to the On-Campus
Student Profile, there were a
total of 16,597 on-campus students, including 14,640 undergraduates, enrolled last semester.
This was an increase of 162 students more than the total enrollment during the fall of 1995.
The report revealed that
women represented 57.7 percent
of undergraduate students, 61.6
percent of graduate students. Of
new freshmen, 60.5 percent were
females and 39.5 percent were
males.
Among transfer students, the
gender gap narrowed with 45.8
percent male and 54.2 percent
female.
The average age of undergraduate students was 21.6 years old
and the average age of graduate
students was 31.3 years.
While the greatest numbers of
CMU students are Michigan residents from Oakland, Isabella,
Wayne and Macomb counties,
354 were from foreign countries
and 375 wore from other states
and territories.
There were no significant differences from this year to last.
The most notable increase was
in foreign student enrollment,
■which included representation
from 65 countries. Last semester
93 students from Thailand were
enrolled as opposed to the only
28 in 1995.
Minoritv enrollment decreased
slightly from 6.35 percent of the
total student body in the fall of
1995 to 6.3 percent in 1996.
According to the report, a total of
1,045 minority students were on
campus last semester, including
528 African Americans, 136
Native Americans, 165
Asian/Pacific Islanders and 216
Hispanics. Undergraduates
totaled 936 and graduate students tallied 109.
Last    semester    there    were
2,826 new freshmen, an increase
See PROFILE Page 7	
Age of CMU Undergraduates
24-23
22-2 1
Ages
of
Students
20-IV
18-
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Number of Undergraduate Students
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Phone 774-3493
Mail  CMLIFE@cmuvm.csv.cmich.edu
Fax number (517)774-7805
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Internet address:
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CMU employee, former Harrison coach dies
LIFE Staff Reports
Thomas E. Ulicki, coordinator of Salvage
Operations for University Stores, died at his
residence in Clare Dec. 18, 1996. He was
born Jan. 6, 1948 in Saginaw.
Robert Pickens, coordinator of Warehouse-
Equipment Inventory for University Stores,
said Ulicki, 48, started working at CMU in
May 1979 and worked exclusively with managing University Stores.
"Professionally and personally Tom was a
thorough, organized person, most noticeably
in his hobbies," Pickens said.
A few of Ulicki's hobbies were woodworking, including woodwork in the interior of his
home, redoing furniture and golfing, he said.
Pickens described Ulicki as easy to work
with and as a person with "a talent for conversation."
Ulicki was a former coach of the Harrison
girls' basketball team and served in the U.S.
Army during the Vietnam era.
Ulicki is survived by his wife, Jalae, of
Clare; son, Christopher of Clare; daughter.
Tricia   (Josh)   Farrell   of  Mount   Pleasant,
mother, Mary Ulicki of Clare; three sisters,
Karen Hale of Tennessee, Phyllis (Bill)
Erskine of Harrison and Mary Jo Ulicki of
Missouri; mother- and father-in-law, Priscilla
and Parviz Khabir; brothers-in-law, Jeffrey
(Bonnie) Khabir of Mount Pleasant and
Roger (Pam) Everdeen of Ithaca; and sister-
in-law, Jovanna (John) Sherman of Harrison.
Funeral arrangements were handled by
Stocking Funeral Home in Harrison.
Memorial contributions are being directed to
the family to be passed on to the Cystic
Fibrosis Foundation summer golf outing.
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