1997-02-26; Central Michigan Life

              Central Michigan LIFE
Volume 79, Number 66
Mt. Pleasant,   MI 48859
©1997 CM LIFE
, /
i/twrs of scnyiu^ the community
New lot
will add
372
■ Parking lot will be constructed where Barnard
and Tate Hall used to be
By Sara Kuehlhorn
LITE   Staff Writer	
The search for a parking spot
may become easier when a new-
parking lot is constructed where
Barnard and Tate halls used to
he.
Peter Gorton, campus/space
planner for Facilities
Management, said the new lot
will add 372 new parking
spaces.
Lot 12, the former Tate Hall
parking lot, currently has 112
parking spaces and the former
Barnard Hall parking lot has 35
existing spaces, Gorton said. A
total of f)19 parking spaces will
be in the lot.
Gorton said the parking lot
will hopefully be completed in
time for the summer semester
and at the latest will be done
before the fall semester.
He said Facilities
Management will take bids for
the construction in March and a
contract will be settled on by the
end of March.
"I expect favorable bids
because this ;s the first project of
the construction season for us,"
he said.
The estimated cost of the construction is $540,000, Gorton
said. Drainage will begin as soon
as the ground is dry. If all goes
well, construction will begin on
April 10.
Plans for the new lot include
designating it for anyone with a
valid parking permit, including
faculty, staff, on—campus students and commuters, said
Ronald Griffiths, assistant
director of CMU Police.
He said the lot may also be
used during conferences at the
Bovee University Center.
Barnard and Tate halls were
vacated in 1993, and last spring
the buildings were torn down.
The lot i> located mi tin- North
end of campus just off of East
Campus Drive.
With this
issue
CM LIFE
will cease
publication
until
Wednesday
March 12.
Queen of
the Hill
LIFE Photos/Gabriel Guerrero
(above) Contestants for the 4th annual drag competition at
"The Towers" strut their stuff and say a few words to the
audience Monday night before competing for the crown.
Contestants performed in sportswear, talent, and finally the
evening gown round. The show was put on by Cobb Hall
Staff.  "It's a nice stress release...Get out, laugh, and have
some fun!" said Grand Rapids senior Melissa Marshall, (left)
Trying to sway opinions, Justin Kessler, Columbiaville
senior, drapes his purple boa around the neck of CMU
Officer Leo Mioduszewski who served as one of the judges
for the competition.
Groups focus on academic integrity
By Matthew J. Roberge, Jr.
1FL  Staff Writer
Numerous student groups have
met during the last few weeks to
discuss the issue of academic
i n tegri t y.
Sharon George, director of
Student Life, said the focus
groups were formed by the university committee on academic
integrity and were commissioned
by the provost to get student
input on the issue.
She said six to seven focus
group meetings have taken place
or are finalized to take place.
The focus groups are facilitated
by members of the committee on
academic integrity.
George would not say exactly
which student organizations were
involved in the focus groups or
when they would take place.
Residence hall leaders.
Resident Assistants,
Multicultural Advisors and members of Residence Hall Assembly
and diversity representatives met
as focus groups Tuesday.
About 20 students attended
each discussion.
A court reporter kept track of
student comments at each focus
group.
CM LIFE reporters were asked
to leave both focus groups on
Tuesday
George, facilitator for the second focus group Tuesday with
diversity representatives, said the
"focus groups are confidential."
She said, "I didn't want participants worried about being in the
paper."
George would not release specifies regarding what was discussed
during the focus sessions.
Holly Mercer, Union City
sophomore   and   diversity   repre
sentative, attended the diversity
representative focus group.
She said what students could
do to prevent academic dishonesty both on the individual and
university level was discussed.
Mercer said, "I think what we
discussed is a problem here at
CMU. We came up with a lot of
good ideas."
She said she felt comfortable
sharing her opinions during the
focus group because "the people in
the group were my peers."
Charles Westerfield, Traverse
City senior and treasurer of RHA,
said, "I'm a firm believer in the
need and justification of an honor
code we can call our own, but this
honor code needs to be implemented and enforced with student guidance."
Westerfield said in the focus
grout) for residence hall leaders,
Peter   Koper,   associate   professor
of English, facilitated the group
and did a good job of taking in the
information discussed with very-
little analysis.
He said, "I feel these focus
groups serve as a valid and very-
resourceful opportunity for the
administration to listen to."
George said, "There is a lot of
academic dishonesty."
Cheating on tests and having
copies of test before tests are
administered are examples
George cited.
George said they were working
on a general student group and
hopes a final report on this issue
will be ready by the end of this
semester.
Students interested in participating in a focus group should
contact Kimberly Stange, Trout
Hall residence hall director, at the
Office of Student Life, 774-3016.
WEDNESDAY
February 26, 1997
20 pages
Fewer
FTE
raises
concerns
By
E Assistant News Editor
Approximately 12 fewer full
time equivalent teaching positions in the College of Arts and
Sciences this year has created
concerns among the departments.
At the Academic Senate meeting Tuesday, FTE funding concerns were discussed among the
senators.
Rod Kirk,
professor of
anthropology,
said the FTE
loss in the
College of Arts
and Sciences
has made it difficult to staff
his department       __ _
and  key cours-       DAVENPORT
es do not have professors.
Provost Richard Davenport
said the hit to the College of
Arts and Sciences should have
been harder, but the blow was
softened after he gave some discretionary FTE to the college
from other resources.
Ken Smith, interim assistant
vice provost for Institutional
Research, said the projections
for Arts and Sciences were higher than what actually came in.
Smith presented the annual
enrollment report from the fall
of 1996. Enrollment was at
16,597. the largest since 1990
and a 1 percent increase from
the fall of 1995.
FTE funding allocations are
based on the student credit
hours projected for the following year. Smith said. Student
credit hour total for fall 1996
was 216,572.
"Enrollment is not on a downward spiral. It was projected to
be over 17,000 students at this
time. Allocations are based on
these projections," Smith said.
Even though the projections
are down some 400 students,
the student credit hour is up by
1.9 percent from the fall of
1995, Smith said. The average
number of credits students are
taking is up 1 percent.
"It is not substantial, but it
softens the blow a little bit,"
Smith said.
Value-centered management,
also known as strategic budget
management, was discussed
briefly by Davenport.
Davenport said different budget models are being explored
and have not done a full-scale
budget. At a conference he
recently attended, Davenport
said he iearned a great deal of
what not to do with this management procedure and the positive things to do.
He said it is too eariy to
make any decisions, but these
decisions would involve faculty
and staff. Plachta will be meeting with a small planning group
next week.
See A-SENATE Page 2	
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LIFE Photos/ Erin Mercer
PARKING PERMIT-Prestdent Leonard Plachta's car (right) was parked in a tow-away zone outside of Washington Apartments Tuesday afternoon at about 4 p.m. Plachta drives a university
assigned vehicle, a 1996 Oldsmobile 98 Regency Elite. Three other university-owned vehicles (left) were parked outside the Washington Apartments as well. CMU's motor vehicle regulations state
that cars parked in no parking areas may be towed at the owner's expense - in this case the university's.