1998-01-23; Central Michigan Life

              Central Michigan LIFE
Volume 79, Number 50
Mt. Pleasant,  MI 48859
©1998 CM LIFE
78 years of serving the community
FRIDAY
January 23, 1998
12 pages
Alleged sexual harassment; Rand files lawsuit, resigns
By Jennifer Ackerman
LIFE Editor
After receiving a letter of reprimand for alleged sexual harassment
and "creating a hostile work environ-
ment," David Rand submitted his resignation and then filed a lawsuit
against CMU for failing to release his
employee records to him under the
Freedom of Information Act.
Rand, who became director of
Greater Michigan Programs for
CMU's department of Extended
Learning in February 1996, filed suit
against the university last week.
He did not receive any of his
requested documents until Thursday.
But he said the wording of the documents is "vague."
Rand submitted an FOIA request
Dec. 19 to the office of Provost
Richard Davenport, after he was
issued a letter of reprimand by Del
Ringquist,   dean   of  the   College   of
on which this
is   based.   The
Extended Learning.
However, the university did not respond.
"I don't believe I
have done what the
university has
alleged," Rand said.
"I wanted the letters
letter of reprimand
Constitution says if you're accused of
something you have the right to know
who's accusing you.
aI think they've confused certain
kinds of speech with sexual harassment. I think it's a ludicrous assumption," he said.
According to the lawsuit, the university didn't reply to grant Rand's
request, issue a written notice denying his request in full or part, and
didn't ask Rand for a 10-day extension to respond to the   FOIA.
Eileen Jennings, university council,
said CMU takes FOIA requests very
Director of Greater Michigan Programs
sues university for failing to
comply zvith FOIA request
seriously and is investigating the
matter.
"We're looking into it and we're trying to figure out what has happened,"
she said.
In addition to the lawsuit, Rand
filed a grievance against the reprimand in accordance with CMU's
Professional Administrative
Handbook in December.
According to Rand, Russ Herron,
vice president of University
Relations, has been designated to
hear his appeal, and said no hearing
date has been set.
Davenport said he has removed
himself from Rand's appeal panel due
to a conflict of interest
"I can't be sitting
on any kind of
appeal panel of any
regard," he said.
"I've sort of been out
of it for some reasons that I can't
state on the phone. There are other
reasons why it's a conflict of interest.
I've taken myself out of this."
Davenport's wife, Sharlene
Davenport, is an instructional material manager for Extended Learning.
Rand is her direct supervisor.
Phyllis Powell, CMU's Affirmative
Action Officer, said, "No comment. I
will not divulge any information."
Late Thursday night, Rand indicated that he knew who had made the
informal complaint, but refused to
name names. He said, "It was not one
of my staff. It was someone else.
Someone, I've never met."
Rand is working out of his home
until the end of this month when his
resignation will take effect. He doesn't have another job lined up, but said
he plans to move to Spokane, Wash.
While some may perceive Rand's
actions as an admission of guilt —
Rand maintains that's not his reason
for leaving.
"I thought I had been unjustly
accused," he said. "I thought I knew
why and I knew where this was going
to lead and I just decided I didn't
want the hassle.
"I don't mind defending my name. I
just knew it would ruin my effectiveness to be a good director," he said.
Rand said he was "shocked" when
he was notified about the allegations
during a meeting with Ringquist,
Powell,  and  Larry  Smiley,  associate
See SUIT Page 12
Activity
key to
fighting
cabin
fever
By Heather VanDyke
LIFE Staff Writer
With the end of the
holidays, and with
campus covered in
snow, some students may be
feeling a little confined.
Don Bertsch, director of the
Counseling Center, said this
feeling of confinement is commonly called cabin fever.
He said when students experience cabin fever, they're often
unmotivated and can easily
begin to feel the blues.
"Cabin Fever is a form of
depression. People get down
and feel closeted," Bertsch
said.
He said cabin fever often
occurs among students residing in the dormitories, but it
possible for it to affect just
about anyone.
Jay Teneyck, Westland
senior, who lives in the
Douglas Street Townhouses
occasionally suffers from cabin
fever. He said he counters the
feeling by staying active.
"My friends and I have snowball fights and go out to lunch
a lot," Teneyck said. "We also
go to the bars at night."
Teneyck said he is glad he is
able to find things to keep him
busy.
"If it wasn't for the activity,
I'd probably have cabin fever,"
See FEVER Page 2
Addition to SAC
being looked at
by university
By Kristi Gutowski
LIFE Staff Writer
A room at the Student Activity
Center is being pegged for a possible addition.
According to Tbm Jones, director of campus recreational services, engineers have been hired
to look at the possibility of placing an additional floor to the top
of the Multi-Activity Center,
room one.
"I believe that this is feasible
since I have seen these things
done before," he said.
Jones said there is an issue of
money. He said he is not sure at
this time how much the project
would cost.
"This is practical, but it may
take three to four years for the
money and resources," Jones
said.
Jones said in the Multi-
Activity Center, room one, there
are several sports activities
held, including yoga, aerobics,
indoor soccer and floor hockey.
He said a full-time aerobics
room with mirrors on the walls
is needed.
"We believe that there is a
demand for the full-time aerobics room," Jones said.
"This student body is approximately 58 percent female, and
today, most women are into fitness and wellness."
Jones described the many benefits of adding another room and
said he could not foresee any disadvantages, except for the cost
factor.
"We would have twice as much
floor space, and our students
deserve a full-time aerobics
room.
"The only disadvantage might
be if we are not able to afford
this."
LIFE ILLUSTRATION/ERIK S  SCHERB
The desk crew at the lowers have got it bad. Cabin fever strikes CMU. From upper left:   Jen
Miracle, Bedford senior;  Lee Arcay, Saginaw freshman; Eric Birko, Warren senior; Ashley
Butler, Gaylord freshman.
CMU retention
conference today
CMU is hosting a Student Retention Conference today
beginning at 8:15 a.m. in the Rotunda Room of the
Bovee University Center.
The purpose of the conference is to raise awareness of
the issue, examine the profile of CMU students and
form strategies for increasing retention rates.
Guest speakers include John Gardner, a nationally
renowned educator and John Matlock, assistant vice
provost and director of the Office of Academic
Multicultural Initiatives of the University of Michigan.
In addition/ University President Leonard Plachta,
Provost Richard Davenport and several student leaders
will be in attendance.
'■■'■■
Gymnastics team ranked 8th
in the country.   Page 5
Classified
10-11
Crossword
10
Et cetera
8-9
Sports
5-7
Voices
4i
CMU ranks second in master's for African Americans
By Ebonii Broadus
LIFE Staff Writer
With help from the extended learning
program for adults, CMU is second in
the nation for graduating African-
American students with master's
degrees and eighth overall for all
minority students.
Generally, the minority students in
the program graduate from one of
CMU's 50 off-campus sites in the
United States, said Mary Meier, interim director of the Office of Institutional
Research.
"CMU has a large problem recruiting
minorities (on campus) because we are
not near a big city, and with the off-
campus sites adults can continue with
their families and their jobs," Meier
said.
According to a 1993-94 study conducted by the CMU Office of Institutional
Research, for on-campus students
receiving master's degrees: 4.9 percent
were Asian, 1.8 percent were unknown,
1.6 percent were African Americans, 0.9
percent were Hispanic, and 0.9 percent
were Native American.
Approximately 20 percent of all students enrolled in CMU's extended
learning program are minority students.
"There are some attempts underway
to   increase   the   number   of (master's
degrees     to)     African   ______
American and other
non-majority students
on campus; but CMU
needs to be a lot more
creative in their
attempts to attract
African-American students," said Robert
Smith, Thorpe
Residence Hall director.
"It's great to see that
minorities are moving
forward with extended
learning on campus as
well as on the off-campus sites/ said
James Mitchell, assistant director of
Minority Student Services.
According to statistics from the U.S.
Department of Education, CMU is second   in   master's   degrees   to  African
"It's great to see
that minorities are
moving forward with
extended learning on
campus as well as on
the off-campus sites."
JAMES MITCHELL
Assistant Director of
Minority Services
American students with 406. Webster
University in St. Louis, Mo., is first in
the nation with 434.
State University of New York-
Brooklyn College is third with 309.
Wayne State was 11th with 231. The
_____   University of
Michigan    was    14th
with 211.
CMU was eighth
nationwide in master's degrees to all
minorities with 511.
New York University
ranked first with 723.
The University of
Michigan ranked
ninth       with        503.
Wayne State
University   was    22nd
with 313.
CMU's extended
learning programs reach over 50 locations in 20 states and Canada, Mexico
and Puerto Rico. CMU has off-campus
locations in metropolitan Detroit,
Saginaw, Washington, D.C., Honolulu,
Kansas City, Atlanta, Jacksonville, Fla.
Getting a master's degree
School rankings mat give out the highest
number of master s degrees to African
Amencon and non-majonty students
African American student*.
• Webster University 434 *
• Central Michigan Univ 406 •
• State Univ. of NY-Brooklyn College 309 •
• Wayne State (nth) 231 •
• University of Michigan (14th) 211 •
Non-Majority students
• New York University 723 ♦
• Central Michigan Univ. (8th)....511 •
• University of Michigan (9th) 503 •
• Wayne State University (22nd) 313 •
: U.S.
and other sites.
The university also has programs on
military bases in California, Georgia,
Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland,
Nebraska, New Jersey, New York,
North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio,
and Virginia.