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cm-life.com
Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2013
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Student reactions mixed for porn star Ron Jeremy’s Feb. 19 debate vs. pastor By Ryan Fitzmaurice Senior Reporter
As expected, students on campus have mixed reactions about the upcoming “Great Porn Debate” between porn star Ron Jeremy and anti-porn pastor Craig Gross. Scheduled for Feb. 19, the Great Porn Debate is sponsored by Central Michigan University’s Program Board and will be free and open to the public. The event, being held at Platcha Auditorium, is one of several programs Program Board will host in February on sexual awareness. The event has stirred up controversy from people throughout campus. Rachel McDaniel, president of Voices For Planned Parenthood, said the discussion is worth having but does not agree with how the discussion will be pursued. “I think it could be quite an interesting and intel-
lectual conversation if it involved anyone worth hearing from,” Allegan senior McDaniel said. Ron Jeremy “I’m tired of hearing the same old arguments focused on religion and male porn stars. ‘Yes or no’ debates only get so far, and they barely scratch the surface of the topic, especially when it concerns such a complex topic as pornography.” McDaniel said she thinks the conversation suffers from an over-emphasis on the male perspective of pornography. “While I’m not shocked, valuable perspectives are being excluded from this discussion. There are women who participate in pornography as actresses, A JEREMY | 2A
Vice Provost Douglass takes seat on education e-board By Justin Hicks Senior Reporter JEFFREY SMITH/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Steven Johnson, vice president of Enrollment and Student Services, poses for a portrait Tuesday morning in the Bovee University Center.
Evolving door Steven Johnson leads university enrollment with diverse opportunities, personal relationships Alayna Smith | Staff Reporter
Although he might be a relatively new face around the university, Steven Johnson is no stranger to the inner workings of the enrollment process.
His first position in enrollment was when he was just 18 years old, as an undergraduate work study student at Davenport University. Now, as the Vice President of Enrollment and Student Services at Central Michigan University, Johnson is continuing his passion for education by providing guidance in enrollment for the university. January marks one year of being in his position in Enrollment and Student Services,
CMU ranked fifth safest campus in Michigan, up from seventh in 2011 By Shelby Miller Senior Reporter and Annie Harrison Staff Reporter
Central Michigan University was ranked the fifth safest campus in Michigan by StateUniversity.com, thanks to improved case closure and fewer reported crimes last year. The schools are ranked by the number of reported campus crimes per 1,000 students, the scale factors in the severity of a crime as well as the frequency of a crime. CMU received a safety rating of 95.03. The rate for aggravated assault at CMU was 0.04, arson was 0.04, burglary was 0.42, forcible rape was 0.07, larcenytheft was 5.02, murder was zero, robbery was 0.04 and vehicle theft was 0.04. The ratings are designed to show the odds of someone becoming a victim of a crime on CMU’s campus. CMU Police Department Lt. Larry Klaus said the depart-
ment saw a decrease in violent crimes and was able to close many cases over the past year. “We’ve had, basically, less violent-type crime and crimes that are reported to the state and federal government,” he said. CMU’s top-five ranking is improved from 2011’s seventh place rank. Eighteen universities in Michigan were ranked for safety. Oakland Community College was ranked first, Delta College second, University of Michigan-Dearborn third and Lansing Community College fourth. Grand Valley State University, Oakland University, Ferris State University, Eastern Michigan University and Western Michigan University rounded out the top 10. StateUniversity.com ranked CMU the 122nd safest out of 450 schools the nation in 2012, up from 183 in 2011. “We, as a department, train regularly for shooter types of
and Johnson said he could not be more pleased with how things are going, despite a slight drop in overall fall enrollment and 12.4-percent decrease in freshmen. “I think coming to (CMU) at this stage is being part of a greater opportunity of the evolution of the institution,” he said. “It has always served the state of Michigan very, very well, but there are some greater opportunities to expand that reach beyond the
state of Michigan. What we’re trying to do is identify where our greatest opportunities are to attract students beyond just the state of Michigan but also to continue to serve this population very well.” Building relationships with students, faculty and staff is the best part of the job, Johnson said because it illustrates the great learning community that exists at the university.
HIGHEST SAFETY RANKINGS IN MICHIGAN Oakland Community College: 97.75 Delta College: 97.28 University of Michigan-Dearborn: 96.57 Lansing Community College: 96.22 Central Michigan University: 95.03 Safety of campus based on 100-point scale
situations,” CMUPD Lt. Cameron Wassman said. “We have different live shooting throughout the year and a university crisis response team.” In the event of a natural disaster, a violent crime, health threat, civil disturbance or sudden or unexplained death, the crisis response team alerts students, faculty, staff and visitors of the issue at hand and how to respond. “In preparation for a largescale event, one of the big things we do is reach out to as many people as we can for safety tips that the community can do during a situation before the police can get there,” he said. A SAFETY | 2A
A JOHNSON | 2A
Interim Vice Provost Claudia Douglass is dedicated to the involvement of women in higher education and now has the opportunity to further her involvement in the field. Douglass has been selected to be a member of the Michigan American Council on Education executive board, replacing former board member and former Vice President of University Communications Renee Walker. Walker resigned in May and was later offered a $140,000 severance package. “I’m very honored to be appointed to this position,” Douglass said. “Michigan ACE is about strengthening the women’s leadership in higher education, and that is something I’m very committed to so, I feel privileged to be a part of the statewide planning to advance higher education.” Douglass will complete the final 18 months of Walker’s term and said she hopes to be considered for a full three-year term afterward. Formed in 1978, Michigan
ACE Network is represented by its 16-member executive board. Its responsibilities include identifying, developing the leadership of, advancing and supporting the retention of women in higher education throughout the state. “The executive board is responsible for all programming, including the annual conference, and is the link to the national Office of Women in Higher Education,” Douglass said. She is a long-time member of Michigan ACE, attending the summer statewide conference as both a participant and presenter during her career. She also provides a support network for women at CMU through speakers and events. “With a board opening, they asked me if I would apply, and I did and was approved for the position,” Douglass said. “I had to submit my materials to the board, and they discussed them. They knew me pretty well, and I have been involved in Michigan ACE for many years.” A DOUGLASS| 2A
TITLE IX
Dept. of Education wanted CMU to add women’s swimming/diving, tennis in ‘11 By Aaron McMann Editor-in-Chief
While Central Michigan University approved women’s lacrosse and golf last month, two different sports were originally on the docket following a September 2011 letter from the Office of Civil Rights. According to a 50-page internal report issued to University President George Ross by the Title IX & Gender Equity committee, obtained by Central Michigan Life, CMU received a letter from the Office of Civil Rights on Sept. 26, 2011 that had determined it “needed to take immediate action to add women’s swimming and diving and women’s tennis.” The move was a response to Title IX, enacted as part of the Education Act of 1972 to begin the process of evening the playing field when it came to opportunities for females in collegiate sports. In 1996, the Office of Civil Rights defined a threepart test for universities to determine if they were properly striving toward compliance.
The three parts, referred to in the report as “prongs,” are 1.) whether participation opportunities for male and female students were proportionate to their respective enrollments, 2.) whether an institution can show a history and continuing program expansion and 3.) if a program cannot show program expansion, whether it can demonstrate the interests and abilities of that sex can be accommodated by the present program. CMU’s participation rate in athletics, according to the report, is currently at 61 percent males and 39 percent females, a contrast to the 54-46 female-tomale enrollment ratio, meaning the university did not meet prong one compliance. CMU then tried to go the prong two route in 1995, planning to add swimming in 1997 and an unspecified sport in 1998. Those, however, never materialized after a 1996 letter from the university’s general counsel to then-athletics director Herb Deromedi said the swimming facility in Rose did not meet
standards and posed safety concerns. “The plan was revised,” according to the report. “This revision resulted in the addition of women’s soccer in the fall of 1998. The addition of another sport was indefinitely delayed.” The report states CMU told the NCAA in 2005 that it would add another women’s sport by the 2009-10 academic year, but a change in interpretation by the Department of Education on how to measure prong three compliance allowed the university to, once again, delay the addition of another women’s sport. It was then determined that since CMU had only added one women’s sport and eliminated three since 1972, it could not satisfy the second prong.
LEAVING PRONG THREE
In 2008, according to the report, CMU was notified by the Department of Education that the Office of Civil Rights was conducting a randomly selected review of participation A TITLE IX| 2A