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Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2009
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Central Michigan Life
Mount Pleasant, Mich.
[cm-life.com]
No buses to Western Student Life decides trips for weekend game not needed By Luke Dimick Staff Reporter
Those looking to support Central Michigan University football this weekend against Western Michigan will have to find their own transportation. Though there was a bus trip available to Kalamazoo in 2007 for the Tuesday game at WMU, that option is not available this year to students. “In 2007, it was a big controversy because the MAC scheduled that game on a ( Tuesday) night,” said Director of Student Life Tony Voisin. “It was one of those situations where students from Western or Central weren’t happy that it was scheduled during the week. We scheduled the trip to
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w Use your voice: Do you think CMU should offer bus rides to Western Michigan and back Saturday for the rivalry game? Fan CM Life on Facebook and tell us. give students the opportunity to attend the game.” In 2007, the bus trip cost $20 and was co-sponsored by the office of Student Life and the CMU Bookstore. The cost included a ticket to the game and a bus trip from Lot 64 behind Kelly/ Shorts Stadium to Waldo Stadium in Kalamazoo and back. A trip from Mount Pleasant to Kalamazoo takes approximately two hours and 20 minutes, according to MapQuest. “For a weekend game, we figure that students are going to go down for the weekend and make a trip A western buses | 2a
GOP investigated for illegal activity CMU College Republicans member blogged about underage drinking By Jake Bolitho Senior Reporter and Lonnie Allen Staff Reporter
The Michigan Liquor Control Commission is investigating allegations of underage drinking at the state Republicans’ leadership conference on Mackinac Island in late September. “It’s an open investigation,” said LCC Spokeswoman Andrea Miller. The investigation stemmed from a Sept. 28 blog post written by Saranac sophomore and Central Michigan University College Republicans member Vanessa Oblinger, entitled “A Real Political Party.” Oblinger, a minor, wrote she attended a party hosted
[inside] NEWS w Stephen Lynch still performing Friday, 3A
sports w Sports Editor Andrew Stover breaks down the first half of the football team’s season, 6A
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by Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Mike Cox, during which she was provided alcohol. “Friday night, we were rewarded with open bars and free dinners,” the blog read. “The X’s on the minors’ hands were washed off and the free drinks showered upon us, but this got old fast.” Cox’s campaign could not be reached for comment Tuesday. Other parties were hosted by GOP gubernatorial candidates Mike Bouchard and Rick Snyder, Oblinger said. Oblinger said she originally intended on going to Snyder’s party, but was turned down at the door because she is under 21. “My intentions were not bad,” Oblinger said. “The blog was a stupid thing that I just wrote for class.” Oblinger issued an apology letter to the Snyder campaign regarding the leadership conference events, after the Detroit News reported on the story last week. A investigation | 2a
photos by ashley miller/staff photographer
Mount Pleasant resident Crystal Haggart, kennel technician, transfers cats from their cages Tuesday morning to an open room at the Isabella County Animal Shelter, 1105 S. Isabella Road, so the animals could exercise. “We are very overpopulated,” she said.
Cats in the HATS County animal shelter seeing influx of felines By Todd Betzold | Staff Reporter
T
here are about three cats for every dog received at the Isabella County Animal Shelter. “Given the economy, people aren’t adopting at high rates,” said Humane Animal Treatment Society Director Lee Fabiano. “It’s a struggle every year.” The shelter, at 1105 S. Isabella Road, is full with 170 cats in its care. “There are at least 70 cats in the shelter with about 100 more in the quarantine building,” said HATS Student Chapter President and Troy senior Megan Smith. The cats have caused extra work for the shelter’s volunteers, Fabiano said. In dealing with the number of animals, many kittens are sent out to foster care until they are ready to be spayed or neutered and adopted, she said. A small market One major reason for the high number of cats is owners not being able to afford to keep them. “In owner release, for whatever reason, they say they can’t keep the cat. We try to find the problem and we encourage them to keep the cat and they often do,” Fabiano said. “We try to give as much assistance as possible.”
Bond, a nine-month-old cat, is available for adoption at the Isabella County Animal Shelter, 1105 S. Isabella Rd. The shelter projects three cats are arriving to every one dog.
A lack of spaying and neutering is another reason for the high number of cats, said HATS Manager Emma Goodrich. Part of the assistance HATS offers includes spay/neuter vouchers to the owners, Fabiano said. All veterinary clinics in Isabella County honor the voucher, and HATS pays a portion of the costs. “The owners can pick up information sheet at the shelter or veterinary and they send to HATS, and HATS sends out the certificate to the owner,” Fabiano said. “For cats, we pay $20 for males and $30 for females and, for dogs, we pay $30 to neuter and $40 to spay dogs to assist people.” Although there is not a maximum
number they can hold, she said HATS does have to euthanize some of the cats. “We are not a no-kill shelter,” Fabiano said. “It’s not pleasant. We have to practice euthanasia.” HATS received about 3,300 animals at the shelter in the past year. When animals are turned over to the shelter, adoption rates stay higher than other shelters in mid-Michigan. “Overall adoptions rate is about 43 percent – just dogs, probably 60 to 65 percent,” Fabiano said. “For a county shelter, it’s excellent. Midland County is at 13 percent.” metro@cm-life.com
Granholm to veto bills, support Michigan Promise Tax increases being lobbied to support scholarship By Amelia Eramya Staff Reporter
Gov. Jennifer Granholm said Monday she will veto line items in budget bills to fund high priorities such as the Michigan Promise Scholarship, Medicaid, local police and firefighters. “The bills that are going to be sent to the governor do not fund the Michigan
Promise Scholarship,” said Granholm’s spokeswoman, Liz Boyd. Because Granholm supports the Promise, she intends to exercise her line item veto authority, Boyd said. Since the state Senate voted to no longer fund the scholarship, Granholm is pushing for tax increases to generate $300 to $500 million for the scholarship, said Brighton freshman Colleen McNeely, chairwoman of Student Government Association’s Legislative Affairs Committee. “The Republican Senate
does not want Granholm to do the line item vetoes,” McNeely said. However, State Rep. Bill Caul, R-Mount Pleasant, is unsure what Granholm will veto. “If the governor vetoed some of the sections of the budget bills, we’ll have to come up with an alternate plan,” Caul said. “It will be supported in some way.” Caul said he supports the Promise Scholarship, but is concerned with where the money will be coming from. “It’s about where we’re going to get the money to fund
these high priorities,” he said. Funding The six bills supposed to go to Granholm need to fund the Promise Scholarship, Boyd said. “The governor believes that the legislation should fund the scholarship,” Boyd said. But there are no proposed tax increases in the new budget bills the Republican Senate formed, McNeely said. “I don’t agree with some places she’s looking to fund the Promise grant,” Caul said. “We need to show the people
of Michigan we are ready to tighten our belts and to fund our priorities before we go out and raise taxes on our families and the people in Michigan.” Although tax increases are generally viewed as economically damaging, they would fund the scholarship, keeping more students in Michigan, which would strengthen the work force, McNeely said. “In the long run, this scholarship will have a positive effect on Michigan’s economy,” she said. “I think Granholm
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