LIFE CENTRAL MICHIGAN
Sunday: Live recap, photos, video from Sacred Heart alum speech, cm-life.com
Central Michigan University
| Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Check out cm-life.com for coverage of the CMU-MSU baseball game at Comerica Park
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CMU stepping up meningitis awareness after student death By Aaron McMann Editor-in-Chief
Central Michigan University is ramping up efforts to educate the campus community and incoming students of the dangers of bacterial meningitis following the abrupt death Thursday of a Livonia freshman. In an email to Central Michigan Life Monday, Tom Trionfi, director of Health Services, said the university has begun an “educational outreach” target-
ed at employees and upcoming orientation sessions. Among the efforts, a meningitis presentation was scheduled this week for orientation mentors. Freshman orientation sessions, expected to bring thousands of new students to campus, begin Tuesday and run every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday through midJune. Information on meningitis and university guidelines will also be highlighted during Student Health Matters presen-
tations, scheduled for each orientation day, Trionfi wrote. CMU does not require incoming students to receive the meningococcal meningitis vaccine, although Trionfi said “a good number of high schools are requiring the vaccine.” On Thursday, Nick Collins, 19, of Livonia died three days after being admitted to St. Mary Mercy Livonia hospital with what the family thought was the flu. He was diagnosed with meningitis Monday, and
CMU notified students and faculty via email Wednesday that health officials believed Collins might have been contagious between April 30 and May 7. Collins’ second-floor residence hall room has since been cleaned with a bleach water mixture, per specifications from the Central Michigan District Health Department, Trionfi said. Health Services also plans to have Sarah Yonder, associate director for medical services,
present to university custodial staff. Collins is the second CMU student to have died from meningococcal meningitis in the past four years. On May 7, 2008, LaMott Smith of Sterling Heights died at Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids after visiting friends in Coopersville. Health Services has also submitted messages promoting the meningitis vaccination for the digital sign outside the Student Activity Center/McGuirk
Arena and scrolling side inside the Bovee University Center, Trionfi said. The shots are available 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday in Foust Hall. No appointment is needed. Since July 1, Trionfi says 53 vaccines have been given at Foust Hall, “including a few last week” after Collins’ death had been made public. university@cm-life.com
Nick Collins’ father: ‘We kept praying and hoping ...’ By Aaron McMann Editor-in-Chief
His answers short, prefaced with long pauses to keep himself from crying. Mark Collins, the father of 19-year-old Nick Collins, the Central Michigan University freshman who died Thursday from bacterial meningitis, sits stunned. “I can’t talk, man,” Collins said, his voice cracking. On Thursday, May 3, Mark remembers making the two-hour drive to Mount Pleasant to pick his son up. Nick was done with finals and ready to move out of his second-floor room in Trout Hall. By all accounts, Nick was fine. Friday, he seemed fine. Saturday, he seemed fine.
Kaitlin Thorne/staff photographer
Dick’s Sporting Goods, 4208 E. Bluegrass Road, opens Thursday in Mount Pleasant. Dick’s will be the third sporting retail store to open in the Mount Pleasant area, joining Dunham’s and MC Sports.
retail rush
New retail stores are making their way to Mount Pleasant in numbers this year. Dick’s Sporting Goods, PetSmart and Belle Tire are in the process of creating new stores in the Mount Pleasant area. With a Panera Bread and an O’Reilly Automotive moving in as well, a rise of upcoming developments has begun.
Harris pleads guilty, Butler enters plea agreement in larceny
It is not uncommon for a number of retailers to move into a location during the same time, said William Mrdeza, community services and economic development director for the city of Mount Pleasant. “Activity begets additional activity,” Mrdeza said. New development generates excitement, leading others to take interest, he said. Development from one retailer attracts the attention of others. “Stores like this usually have
[INSIDE] w Motion of second ‘no confidence’ vote against Ross, Shapiro withdrawn at A-Senate, 3 w Graphic design professor Clark Most wins Webby Award, 4 w LeFevour, Staley returning to Mount Pleasant this weekend, 5
a corporate office somewhere else and usually don’t contact the chamber, so it’s a surprise to us too,” said Lisa Hadden, president and CEO of the Mount Pleasant Area Chamber of Commerce. “They do market analysis for potential locations.” Hadden said retail companies might be interested in Mount Pleasant for a number of reasons, including the low unemployment rate in the area, the large gaming operation at Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort, and CMU, more spe-
“I think it should help the economy in general.” Lisa Hadden, president/CEO Mount Pleasant Area
Chamber of Commerce cifically, the new medical college. The new medical school is expected to bring 60 to 80 new families to the area, Hadden said. Medicine is often a second career path and attracts families, not just students. She said new retail stores and developments should stimulate the economy of the Mount Pleasant area. “I think it should help the economy in general,” Hadden said. “If they’re providing jobs, that will be a big help to the current economy.” The addition of new retail stores will grow the tax base, Mrdeza said, meaning the city can afford to do more projects and stimulate further economic growth through development.
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Football arrests
Dick’s, PetSmart, Belle Tire opening in Mount Pleasant By Jeff Ketcham | Staff Reporter
Sunday, when he went golfing with his dad and brother, he seemed fine. Even Monday morning May 7, as he got ready for work, he was fine. But when Nick came home that afternoon, things quickly broke down. “He came home around 3:30 p.m. and told my wife he was getting a cold,” Mark Collins said. “He laid down on the couch and began to feel flu symptoms.” The family figured he just had the chills. But by 6:30 p.m., Nick complained of a headache. Mark said by 8 p.m. the headache severely worsened, and he called 911. Nick was transported to St.
By Aaron McMann Editor-in-Chief
“Our city manager has gone on record in supporting developing our way out of slump, not cutting it,” Mrdeza said. Toni Faulman, store manager for Soldan’s Feeds and Pet Supplies, said she is not concerned about the new retail stores affecting her business. “I think in the beginning it will affect us; but, in the long run, it will be fine,” she said. Soldan’s is family orientated, offers competitive prices and has a strong and loyal customer base, Faulman said. She worked at Soldan’s Midland location when a Petco and Pet Smart moved into town. Soldan’s remained open, she said, while Petco ended up closing.
Danel Harris, the former Central Michigan University football player who sparked a police investigation that led to the arrest of him and three teammates last month, has confessed to his crime. Harris, 19, of Miramar, Fla., pled guilty May 2 to a charge of larceny from a vehicle before Judge Mark H. Duthie in Isabella County Trial Court, according to court records. He is scheduled to be sentenced by Duthie at 10 a.m. May 31 in Isabella County. Under Michigan law, larceny from a vehicle is classified as a felony and punishable by up to five years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine. Harris is being represented by Thomas
metro@cm-life.com
Anthony, a Mount Pleasant attorney. CMU police say Harris stole a cell phone from a vehicle on campus March 16, where it was later tracked to a terrace-level room in Celani and found in the possession of Detroit sophomore Deon Butler, CMU police chief Bill Yeagley told Central Michigan Life. Butler, also a member of the CMU football team, was arrested April 23 and charged with receiving and concealing stolen property. According to court records, he entered into a plea agreement May 4 and has petitioned the court for probation under Michigan’s Holmes Youthful Trainee Act. Butler, also being represented by Anthony, appears back in court June 8.
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Gay Sacred Heart alum speaking in Plachta Sunday By Mike Nichols Managing Editor
Dominic Sheahan-Stahl is not going to be quiet quietly. The openly gay alumni of Sacred Heart Academy might be disinvited from speaking at his alma mater for the graduation ceremony of his younger brother William, but he still plans to be heard. Instead, Sheahan-Stahl will speak at 1 p.m. Sunday in Warriner Hall’s Plachta Auditorium. He said he plans to essentially give the same speech he would have given at the graduation happening that same day. “My speech that I was going to give had nothing to do with be-
ing gay or homosexuality whatsoever,” he said. “It was about fear and facing those fears. This one is going to be about fear and not letting anything stand in the way of achieving your dreams.” The space was set up for him by Anne Groves, a family friend whose son graduated with Sheahan-Stahl. Groves called Sheahan-Stahl after hearing he would not be allowed to speak and offered him any help she could. Groves said the cost to rent the auditorium was somewhere between $1200 and $1400. She is currently attempting to get donations from local businesses to help defer costs. She said it was God’s provi-
dence that Warriner Hall was available for Sheahan-Stahl to speak on the same day of the graduation. “It’s really special that it’s Sunday, because the seniors have so dearly wanted to keep Dominic (as part) of their graduation day,” Groves said. “Doing it this way, they can go to mass, go to hear Dominic at 1 p.m., then go back to their school at 3 p.m. to graduate. So, in their own way, they can stand their ground.” Sheahan-Stahl’s father, who William is named after, died the year Sheahan-Stahl graduated from Sacred Heart, Groves said. All the children in the family A Sacred heart | 2
CHuck Miller/photo editor
New York resident and Sacred Heart Academy alum Dominic Sheahan-Stahl appears on a live Skype feed April 27 in the Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart High School gymnasium.
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