1996-04-08; Central Michigan Life

              4,crvia9
^TEARS^
Central I  IPr
Michigan LITE
MONDAY,
APRIL 8,
1996
VOLUME 78, NUMBER 77
MOUNT PLEASANT. MICHIGAN 48859
©1996 CM LIFE
(517)774-3493
14 PAGES
Commencement speakers chosen
By Kristi Groner
t IFf  Staff Writer
A well-known journalist, a former CMU Hoard of Trustees
member and a financial economist will speak to May graduates.
Spring commencement takes
place on May 4 in Rose Arena
with three ceremonies. The 9:30
a.m. ceremony is hosted by the
College of Arts and Sciences followed by the 1:30 p.m. ceremony
hosted     by     the     College     of
Education,   Health   and   Human
Services    and     the    College    of
Extended  Learning  and   finish
in*: with the 4:'M) p.m. ceremony
hosted       by      the       College      of
Business Adm in ist rat inn
Neil Shine is the commence
men! speaker for the morning
ceremony. Shine is a retired editor and publisher of the Detroit
Vr^ Press and is a journalism
professor at Oakland University,
said Robert Kohrman, associate
dean of the College of Arts and
Sciences.
Shine, who resides in St. Clair
Shores, began at the Detroit
Free Press in 1950 as a copy boy.
In the past four decades leading
up to his retirement in 1989, he
was a reporter, .assistant city
editor, city editor, managing editor, senior managing editor and
columnist.
According to a press release,
lie also served as publisher, president and chief executive officer
for the   Detroit   Free  Press  from
1990 to  1995
For his work with the Detroit
Free Press, he has received
numerous awards. In 1968. redirected the staff which won the
Pulitzer Prize for reporting on
the Detroit riots. Shine was
inducted into the Michigan
Journalism Hall of Fame in
1990.
In addition to his work at the
Detroit Free Press. Shine is a
tenured professor of journalism
at     Oakland     University    and
director   of the  journalism   pro
gram there.
He has two published books
and his work has appeared in
about 10 other publications
including the* New York Times,
Time. Life and Readers Digest.
( hitside of the classroom and
newsroom, Shine has served on
more than 35 community organizations and has received numerous     community     honors     and
See GRADUATION Page 2
Medical
advice
suggested
for people in
Merrill Hall
incident
By Jennifer Ackerman
LIFE Features Editor	
Technology helps local clinic provide 'Urgent Care'
By Emily Gerkin
I   : itafl Writer
After spending eight years as
the director of the emergency
room at Central Michigan
Community Hospital. Jvft'
Khabir knew where the loopholes were in running an emergency center.
Branching out on his own,
CMU graduate Khabir is combining his experience, new ideas
and new technological advancements to bring Mount Pleasant a
new health clinic. Urgent Care.
(>pen since1 February. IVgent
Can, 905 E. Pickard Ave., is
Khabir's answer to problems he
said he feels emergency rooms
don't tackle
"I wanted to provide people
with an alternative to going to
the ER because I feel we can better handle their situation,"
Khabir said. "The problem with
the ER is that you can ond up
waiting a really long time, even
for serious emergencies.*"
"Conflicts also arise with
insurance agencies. If a company
doesn't feel it's an emergency,
then they don't cover it," he said.
According to Khabir, insurance agencies t<md to look more
favorably upon nonemergency
room settings because of their
lower price expenses.
"With      ER     situations,
insurance  company  knows
will    ultimately    pay    more,
said.
Khabir boasts the biggest
attribution to his clinic is the use
of the newest technology.
"One of my starting goals was
to get people in, and treated, as
quickly as possible," Khabir
said.
"One of the ways we are doing
that is that we are very state-of-
the-art. We are the only completely electronic health clinic in
Michigan,  and  probably  one of
the
they
."   he
LIFE Photo/Jennah Spitzley
A nurse at Urgent Care uses the Cruisepad, a laser pen and pen tablet, to transfer patient information to the main computer. The
Cruisepad is one example of the state-of-the-art technology used at Urgent Care.
the first   in  the nation/* Khabir
said.
Everything at Urgent Care is
stored on disks - there is no
paper work or charts or tiling
cabinets.
"The stuff we are using is so
cutting edge that is hasn't even
been marked for mass distribution/1 Khabir said.
The electronic system Khabir
uses is called Multicruise by
Zenith. It is completely wireless
and     all      the     information      is
relayed in the computer for storage
A nurse enters the patients*
information with a laser pen into
a hand-held pen tablet, called a
Cruisepad. At the same time,
Khabir can be viewing the information from his computer monitor- in his office.
*Wre are combining the
Multicruise hardware with medical software. It's really a fascinating system."
Khabir said  he began   reading
about this new system m
January and he knew this system was a great advancement in
his profession.
"It saves so much time and
space that it's unreal. This is the
sort of thing I wanted to do and I
needed to get on my own to do
it," he said. "Without modern
technology like this, things tend
to be wry. wry slow."
"Technology is a two fold subject. It not only increases patient
can* but it increases the efficien
cy with which it is done."
Khabir said the new technology and equipment does not make
his prices more expensive when
compared to other health care
facilities.
"Our technology makes it, for
the most part, more cost efficient
for the patient. We can do our
own testing on site, which keeps
our costs down and improves the
timeliness in which patients are
seen," Khabir said.
See CARE Page 6	
Contrary to rumors of a
Hepatitis B scare resulting
from a March 30 drug related
disturbance in Merrill Hall,
university officials say there's
no cause for alarm.
More than a week ago,
Randy Rudlaff. Clarkston
freshman, jumped out his second story window in Merrill
Hall while under the influence
of I,SD and marijuana, police
said. RudlafTis hospitalized for
injuries to his back, wrist and
ankle.
A second Clarkston freshman, who had to be forcefully
removed from the same dorm
room, was arrested at the scene
for possession of LSD and marijuana, resisting and obstructing a police officer and malicious destruction of property to
a police car. He is scheduled to
be arraigned April 15.
Since blood and urine were
found in the Merrill dorm room
were the situation unraveled,
those involved are being asked
to take precautionary measures in accordance with the
university's Bloodborne
Pathogens   Exposure   Control
Plan.
Rae Goldsmith, associate
director of Public Relations and
Marketing, said all employees
and students who were
involved in the March 30 incident have been advised to go to
a risk assessment meeting
with a medical professional to
discuss the possible risk of contracting Hepatitis B or HIV
through exposure to blood-
borne pathogens.
"Whenever we have an incident where people come in contact with blood or other body
fluid of another person, and in
this case we did, it is our practice and just common sense to
advise them to seek information from a health care professional," Goldsmith said.
Goldsmith stressed the exposure control plan is standard
procedure at CMU.
**People do not have any rea-
See RUMOR Page 6
Chippewas beat Miami,
weather for 3-1 record
CMU's baseball team got
two doubleheaders in
over the weekend despite
some nasty Michigan
weather. Central's pitching
staff was up to the task as
CMU dropped just one
game.
PAGE 8
House fire victims thankful for area support
By Jeff Haywood
UFF Staff Writer
ARTS
&
ENTERTAINMENT]
Modern Dance to
highlight weekend events
Pilobolus Dance Theatre
will combine gymnastic
skill and modern dance
technique into an
entertaining   show   Friday
in Warriner Auditorium.
PAGE 10
While the fire which destroyed
the home of five CMC students
occurred more than a month and
a half ago, memories of the night
are still fresh in their minds.
Jose Olivarez was sound
asleep early in the morning of"
Feb. 17 when he awoke to frantic sounds outside his bedroom
door.
"Mv upstairs roommate
pounded  on   the door and  said
"Joe there is a fire* Get everybody out'* " Ohvarez said.
Olivarez. a Blissfield senior,
quickly helped wake his other
roommates and their family
members, who were visiting for
Siblings Weekend, at the house
at  1025 S   Main St
"Joe came by and vvokr me
up." said Miguel Centellas.
Saginaw senior "But I didn't see
anything Ofl fire ... I didn't
think it was going to be bad."
But once outside, everyone
watched m horror as the fire
quickly spread from the porch to
the house.
"I didn't even get a chance to
pick up any clothes so all I had
sras boxers »irtd a T-shirt. I didn't
even have any socks on,"
( Hivarez  said    "We just  sort of
-^yjl
*4L%
m  ^
i
i
i
^25^8
fe^
/          * *A
ti<.
"A
,'k    I'll
i:TT
•
»
•
■
f ffr rfiffB
LIFE Photo/Erik Scherb
One student was charged Feb. 23 for felony arson and faces trial
April 11 for the Feb. 17 fire that destroyed the home of five CMU
students on Main Street.
stood   there   Ibr   a   few   minutes
and watched it until the adrena
line ran down a little bit and we
started to get cold "
Oil va rex's older sister and
nephew and Centellas' younger
sister were among those visiting
the house the weekend of the
fire
It made things a little bit
tougher thai weekend," < Hivarez
said.  "You don't  like to see  your
family go through that kind of
stuff"
Centellas said the reality of
the fire didn't hit his sister until
she returned home from the
weekend.
"But she's fine. We're able to
joke about it now," Centellas
said
But there is no joking when it
comes to the possible cause of
the fire.
On Feb. 23, Timothy Amodeo,
Washington, Mich, freshman,
was charged with felony arson in
relation to the house fire.
Olivarez said the fire investigators told him the fire was
started in a trash can which was
leaned against the porch.
~It's odd how you work hard
your whole life for all the things
that you have and then somebody comes and sets your house
on fire and takes those things
away," Olivarez said.
Olivarez said even though he
lost many of his possessions, he
was thankful that no one was
hurt
"All of my belongings can be
replaced, but a human life I
can't replace,** he said.
Olivarez added he had never
met Amodeo before and isn't
sure what his possible motivation would be to burn down his
house.
"Once the trial comes around
we will try to find out exactly
what the rational was,** Olivarez
said.
Even though the fire
destroyed more than $13,000
worth of Ohvarez's possessions,
he said he has tried not to dwell
See MEMORIES Page 6