1997-03-12; Central Michigan Life

              Central Michigan LIFE
Volume 79, Number 67
Mt. Pleasant,  MI 48859
©1997 CM LIFE
77 years of serving ihe community
WEDNESDAY
March 12, 1997
Section A , 10 pages
Drake fired after
four seasons,
21-83 record
By Doug Fisher
LIFE Sports Editor
Time's out.
After four long years for CMU
basketball fans, the Athletics
Department decided March 3 not
to renew the contract of head
basketball coach Leonard Drake.
Drake had an overall record of
21-83, including a 7-19 mark
this season, his best at the helm.
Still, the Chippewas failed to
reach the Mid-American
Conference playoffs all four seasons under Drake's tutelage, finishing last twice.
The last four years were filled
with turmoil as players transferred and the team partook in a
locker room brawl last season
following a home game against
Eastern Michigan in which players were suspended.
"Based on the evaluation and
after a four-year period, we gave
the program a chance to see
what it could do," Deromedi said,
"and we decided to not renew the
contract."
Drake refused comment to CM
LIFE Tuesday.
Tm not talking to the media
anymore," he said. "I've talked
as much to the media as I'm
planning to. Sorry. Bye."
Deromedi did not go as far as
saying Drake would have kept
his job if the Chippewas would
have qualified for the MidAmerican Conference
Tournament.
"We wanted to see if they could
qualify for the playoffs,"
Deromedi said. "They were in
some tight ballgames. I was prepared to make the decision
either way.
"Clearly we talked about it in
previous evaluations what the
expectations were," he said. But
Trustees will discuss
athletic expansion,
charter schools
By Jeremy Russ
LIFE Staff Writer
The Board of Trustees will meet Thursday and Friday to discuss
numerous issues including tuition and fee increases, athletic expansion plans, charter schools and meal plan rebates.
During an open session at 1:30 p.m. Friday in the President's
Conference Room at the Bovee University Center, the board will discuss an increase in fees and tuition for the College of Extended
Learning.
The board also will act on the one-time residence hall $40 rebate
per student on the residence hall meal plan by authorizing the
awarding of the rebate to students living in the residence hall.
The rebate will be funded from the 1996-1997 Residences and
Auxiliary Services budget and will not exceed $200,000.
The board will look at room and board rates for next year.
Russ Herron, vice president for University Relations, said
increases in room and board rates will be discussed but no action
will be taken.
He said the board will not act on this probably until next month.
The board will be looking at a proposal for the renovation and
expansion of parking lots 8 and 12.
The project -will be funded from the capital budget and is not to
exceed $540,000.
According to the proposal description, the parking lot would be the
enlargement of an existing site where Barnard and Tate halls once
See MEETING Page 2A
Plachta plans to present
budgetary needs
By Liz Wishaw
LIFE Assistant News Editor	
CMU will be hosting the
Michigan Senate budget
hearing April 25, said a
university official Tuesday at the
Academic Senate meeting.
University President Leonard
Plachta said about four other
universities along with CMU
will present its budgetary needs.
The Senate will provide 45 minutes to each university to speak.
In the past the hearing has not
been open for public comment,
but anyone can attend.
Plachta also said his meeting
before the Michigan House of
Representatives was rescheduled to March 19, because of
President Bill Clinton's visit to
Michigan.
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At the Academic Senate meeting, Plachta extended an invitation to the Senate, departments
and other administration personnel to ask questions in
regards to how CMU operates,
administrative salary concerns,
and any other information pertaining to CMU interest.
Guy Meiss, associate professor
of journalism, addressed Plachta
about the policy regarding flying
the university flag at half-mast
in memory of staff members who
have died.
Plachta said the policy was
changed because the flag
seemed to fly at half-mast all the
time.
"As the university matures, so
See A-SENATE Page 7A	
Airline shut down
strands 2,000
By Julia Jones
LIFE Staff Writer
LIFE File Photo
After Leonard Drake's 7-19 mark this season, CMU decided on
March 3, not to renew his contract. Under Drake, the CMU men's
basketball team failed to reach the MAC playoffs.
Deromedi declined further comment on what those expectations
were.
Deromedi alone renders the
formal evaluation after the season (which took place on March
3), although there is always an
on-going evaluation during the
season, he said.
"It was a difficult, agonizing
decision," Deromedi said. "He
worked hard and it was impor
tant for him. He's a big part of
Central Michigan's history and
tradition. Those were the areas
where it made it that much more
difficult."
Drake is one of CMU's all-time
greatest players. A 1978 graduate of CMU, he is the school's
fifth all-time leading scorer with
1,338 points.
See DRAKE Page 2A
Some CMU students who vacationed in Mexico or the Bahamas
during Spring Break this year had an extended vacation.
Students who traveled with Take A Break Travel of Boston and
were booked on an Av Atlantic flight were stranded when the
Federal Aviation Administration grounded Av Atlantic flights.
"The airline shut down effective
Friday night," said a customer service representative of Take A Break
Travel. Roughly 2,000 students from
all over the United States were
stranded in Mazatlan, Cancun and
the Bahamas when the FAA grounded the planes.
A press release from the FAA said
the carrier certificate of Av Atlantic
was   suspended   Friday  because   of
several findings, including improper-   ———————■■———■■—^—
iy trained staff, improperly performed maintenance, discrepancies
in maintenance logs and missing safety devices.
The representative of Take A Break said the agency has never had
this problem before. "We're very proud of the fact that nothing like
this have ever happened."
The representative said students who were booked on airlines
other than Av Atlantic were on schedule. All students who were
stranded have been booked on eight other airlines and are returning, the last planes left Tuesday, the representative said.
"We're not certain at
this point (who will
pay compensation).
"We're still working
on solving it."
Representative of
Take A Break Travel
The representative said Take A Break is still working out the
See BREAK Page 7A	
WALKING THE
DOG
LIFE Photo/Sabrina Burton
Chris Benn, Weidman graduate, takes his dog, Harley, out for
a run at Nelson Park located on W. Broadway  St., while visiting home after a long stay in Germany with the U.S. Army.
ISports 1B-4B
Voices 4A-5A
To reach CM LIFE
'Phone: 774-3493
'|jx£-Maii: CMLIFEdcmuvm.csv.cmich.edu
pFax number:(517)774-7805
CMU requires $50 per summer session tech fee
By
Lift
E Staff Writer
With registration season about to begin,
students are once again reminded of the
price of attending CMU — including fees.
A technology fee of $50 for each summer
session will be assessed to students taking
summer courses, regardless of the number of
credit hours they take, based on a decision
by the Board of Trustees in April 1996.
According to Keith Nelson, interim assistant vice provost of Information Technology,
if a student signs up for both Summer I and
Summer II, they will pay $100 total for tech
nology fees.
"Everyone pays the fee if they are an on-
campus (at the Mount Pleasant site) student," Nelson said.
The fee is the same for everyone taking
summer courses. "It's an infrastructure fee,
not a user fee," Nelson added.
Students who have only one credit hour
still have to pay the fee of $50 per summer
session.
"Over the long haul they're going to be students here for more than one hour," Nelson
said.
The money from the technology fee is being
used to keep computer access sites staffed
and open and upgrading equipment, student
networking and off campus access to networks, Nelson said.
Nelson compared the technology fee to the
registration fee. It is a general fee that supports technology. An exception to the payment is for students who are studying
abroad for the summer and summer internships where students are away and do not
have access to the technology on campus.
Nelson said letters were sent to depart-
See FEES Page 2A	
Judge
rules to
suppress
evidence
■ Ziemba's blood
alcohol level will
be withheld from trial
By Emily Gerkin
LIFE Staff Writer
A    district     court    judge
LA. ruled to suppress some
.£. .Auof the evidence in the
case against Ron Ziemba, a driver in the fatal accident Oct. 31.
Judge William Rush granted
the defense's motion to suppress
the blood alcohol level of Ziemba
for the trial. The Michigan State
Police forensic report, filed in
mid-December, had shown
Ziemba to have a .13 blood alcohol level.
Isabella County senior assistant prosecutor Robert Holmes
said the judge's decision will
affect how the prosecution will
present its case.
"Obviously we are disappointed," Holmes said. "But we will
move on. We still have plenty of
other evidence and witnesses."
Ziemba's trial is scheduled to
begin in early April.
Ziemba was the driver of the
Dodge Ram pick-up truck that
collided with a Honda Prelude in
the early morning hours of Oct.
31 at the corner of Maple and
Main Streets. Kurt MacDonald,
Gaylord senior, the driver of the
Honda, was injured. His passenger, Michael Kirkpatrick,
Rochester senior died at the
scene.
Attorneys David Kramer and
Kevin O'Connell are representing Ziemba, a 20-year-old Troy
resident and former CMU sophomore.
The defense filed their motion
Feb. 20 to suppress evidence and
disregard information obtained
by Mount Pleasant police officers
prior to Ziemba's arrest.
Rush delivered his opinion
March 7, agreeing to suppress
the blood alcohol level, but
denied the defense's other
motion to disregard Ziemba's
statements.
In their motion, the defense
argued that the search warrant
obtained to draw blood from
Ziemba did not meet the level of
probable cause needed, therefore
the warrant should be quashed
and the results suppressed.
In his decision, Rush said the
court agreed that the officers did
See SUPPRESSED Page 2A
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