1998-02-13; Central Michigan Life

              Central Michigan LIFE
Volume 79, Number 59
Mt. Pleasant,  MI 48859
©1998 CM LIFE
78 years of serving the community
Friday
February 13, 1998
14 pages
Phi Sigma Kappa trying to get charter again at CMU
By Autumn Flutur
LIFE Staff Writer
After a five year hiatus from the
Greek community, Phi Sigma Kappa is
attempting to once again become a
charter organization at CMU.
In October 1993, Phi Sigma Kappa
was suspended from campus on charges
of sexual harassment.
Its national fraternity pulled its charter, and as a result, the group was
removed     from     the     Interfraternity
Council and was no longer allowed to be
a registered student organization at
CMU.
Members and new affiliates of the fraternity allegedly sang songs in front of
the Alpha Chi Omega house which contained lyrics degrading women and contained references to overt sexual acts.
Bruce Roscoe, dean of Students, said
while he did not recall the actual incident which occurred, the university
does not take sexual harassment light-
ly-
"I would want to be sure they are
aware of expectations and abide by
them,*' he said. "If the group was reinstated, we'd want them to know our
stance on sexual harassment."
Andrew Starner, Freemont junior,
and acting president of the fraternity,
said he refused to comment on the past,
but stressed the fact individuals
involved with the incidents were not
allowed to be associated with Phi Sigma
Kappa ever again.
Jeff Cabarios, Interfraternity Council
president and Sterling Heights senior,
said he was not worried about Phi
Sigma Kappa because he feels the fraternity still has a lot of internal work to
complete before it becomes chartered.
"Once they receive their charter, -we'll
begin talking about their acceptance
into the IFC," he said. "As for what happened in the past, we're still going to
investigate a little more."
Cabarios said he was not very familiar with the case, but when the time
comes for Phi Sigma Kappa to petition
the IFC for membership, he will be
more educated about the situation.
"Once you're admitted to IFC, it is
usually only a one year probation," he
said.
Cabarios said he was glad Phi Sigma
Kappa is now nationally recognized as a
colony and said they are welcome to all
See KAPPA Page 6	
CMU
claims
legal
privilege
to state
By Julia Jones
LIFE Assistant News Editor
The university has claimed
attorney-client privilege for 34
documents involving attorney
consultation with charter
schools, and withheld them from
the State of Michigan Office of
the Auditor General.
In a letter to University
President Leonard Plachta
dated Feb. 6 the university to
reconsider its position.
Plachta could not be reached
for comment Thursday.
James Agee, D-Muskegon,
said of the legality of the university's position, "It is my belief
that not releasing documents
definitely violates the spirit of
the law and (perhaps) the law,
period."
Rick Stafford, audit division
administrator from the Office of
the Auditor General, is responsible for performance audits of
public universities. He said the
office is in the process of looking
at its options, which include
requesting an opinion from the
Attorney GeneraFs Office or
holding a legislative hearing. He
said the attorney general will
only issue an opinion if it is
requested.
Stafford also said this is the
first time an institution has
withheld documents from the
office on the basis of attorney-
client privilege.
He said there were originally
43 records the university had
asserted as attorney-client privilege. The university waived the
privilege for nine of the documents and there are now 34 that
the auditor general has not
received.
"We clearly understand CMIPs
position on this topic. Our posi-
See WITHHOLD Page 2
The  men's   basketball   team
plays Western this weekend.
Classified 12-13
Crossword
Et cetera
Sports
Voices
12
10-11
7-9
4-5
To reach CM LIFE
Phone: 774-3493
E-Mail: CM LIFE^cmuvmxsv.cmich.edu
Fax number <517)774-7805
ITaMag 4Bi® pMirage
Engler proposes 1.5
percent increase in
University funding
TONY CEPAK • CM LIFE
(Above) Cadet Captain Ian
Mckenna (Back), Gaylord junior,
spins Cadet Travis Dolen (blindfolded). Mount Pleasant junior,
around on the diving board
before pushing him into the
water. The drill was a part of the
combat water survival test held in
Rose Pool Wednesday morning.
By Julia Jones and
Angie Cook-Reid
LIFE Assistant News Editors
Gov. John Engler has proposed
a 1.5 percent across-the-board
increase for state universities,
including CMU, and no increase
for community colleges in general fund spending.
At the January workshop of
the Board of
Tru s t e e s ,
many board
members
said they
were hoping
for a 2 percent increase.
"I know we
wanted two,"
Trustee
Mitch
Kehetian said Thursday night.
"It's not as much as we'd like to
get."
As for any raises in tuition
next year, Kehetian said it is too
early to tell, and it's never an
easy decision for the board to
raise tuition
year, Kehetian said Engler
spread the money around to
ensure equal distribution.
"Everybody wants a piece," he
said.
He said the across-the-board
increase was fine, but next year
he hopes the university will step
up its efforts to catch up monetarily with Eastern and Western
Michigan
universities.
"In the
past, we
were   always
percentage
points lower,
but I'll settle
for      across-
the-board,"
he said.
According
budget,   CMU
from
Eastern   and
to   the   proposed
will   receive   $72,735,062
the   state,   while
Western will receive $77,278,273
and $109,552,639, respectfully.
"If we were increased 1.5 and
Western was increased 1.75, I'd
Due to this being an election     See BUDGET Page 2
SGA looking for
candidates for office
By Ebonii Broadus
LIFE Staff Writer
The Student Government Association is holding another rules meeting to get more candidates to run for officer positions.
Elections director and Mount Pleasant senior Andrew Devenney said
he will announce at a 2 p.m. meeting today another rules meeting is
going to be held.
Devenney said he will announce, "Next week will be a rules meeting.
The time and place will be announced, and elections are still open."
When asked why another meeting has been called, Devenney said
this has been done before, in the 1994-95 elections.
Two rules meetings -were held, one on Wednesday and one Thursday
for persons interested in running. There was one interested president/vice-president ticket, one interested treasurer and 19 interested
senators.
Clinton Township sophomore Lacy Gapczynski and Laurium junior
James Cone are running on a president/vice president ticket, and
Rochester Hills sophomore, Matthew Murphy, is running for treasurer.
Gapczynski spoke on behalf of herself and Cone. "I wouldn't mind
See SEARCH Page 2 j	
Stemmeler rehired as director of Gay, Lesbian Programs
By Heather N. LaFave
LIFE Staff Writer
Michael Stemmeler has been rehired
to the position of director of Gay and
Lesbian Programs, a position left Vacant
last semester following his resignation
in April 1997.
Stemmeler was rehired in December
of 1997, and he said changes made to
improve the efficiency of the office
inspired him to reapply.
The biggest change occurred when it
was switched from a quarter-time position      to      half-time.      This     change,
Stemmeler said, gives him more time to
work on programming but still allows
him to teach two courses in the religion
department.
In addition, a second student worker
was hired to assist with office duties,
including publication distributions and
e-mailing, which used to take time away
from more important work.
"This gives us a good amount of coverage in the office," he said. "What I can do
now is concentrate on programmatic
issues."
Stemmeler resigned from the position
in April after serving for four and one
half years. He said he gave up the job
because it -was quarter-time and most of
the time was taken up with paperwork
and preliminary work.
Stan Shingles, interim assistant vice
president for Institutional Diversity,
said he is happy the position has been
filled.
"We are very pleased to have Michael
back," he said. "He brings a tremendous
amount of expertise in gay and lesbian
issues."
Shingles said Stemmeler has commit
ted to the position through the end of
next school year.
"We are excited about the stability
that will create," he said.
One of the first projects Stemmeler
said he has worked on since he was
hired has been organizing a visit to campus by gay major league umpire Dave
Pallone, author of "Behind the Mask: My
Double Life in Baseball." He will speak
in Warriner Auditorium on Feb. 23.
Pallone will not only be speaking in
See REHIRE Page 14	
Broomfield speed limit will stay, no crosswalks added
By Angela S. Vandenberg
LIFE Assistant News Editor
Despite support from CMU
and local government, lowering
the speed limit and installing
more crosswalks on Broomfield
Road will not take place anytime soon.
Ray Casey, manager of the
Isabella County Road
Commission, said for the speed
to be lowered on Broomfield
Road, the commission must
first see a need for it, which it
doesn't at this time.
Should it see a need in the
future, the road commission
would then have to make a recommendation to the Michigan
State Police, who determine
changes in speed zones.
Thus, recommendations from
CMU and the city commission
are just that — recommendations — which have no real
effect.
"We have a process we have to
go  through,"  Casey  said.   "We
just can't change the speed."
A study conducted in October
found the average speed on
Broomfield Road to be almost
10 miles an hour more than its
posting.
"People are just going too
fast," he said. "When the average speed there is approaching
50 miles per hour, more enforcement is needed, not a lower
speed."
A resolution  passed by the
city commission Monday night
supported CMU by requesting
the road commission lower the
speed to 30 miles per hour from
W. Campus Drive to S. Mission
Street on Broomfield Road.
The resolution also asked the
commission to consider
installing a pedestrian crossing
at Washington Street and
Broomfield Road and a flashing
signal west of Rose Arena to
warn auto traffic of pedestrians'
presence.
"We are delighted the city has
joined us in the request," said
Jean Lindley, assistant vice
president of Facilities
Management for CMU. "We
really appreciate their support
and recognition."
Casey said analysis has
shown a relatively high percentage of students weren't
crossing at the crosswalk location by the Student Activity
Center.
See SPEED Page
14