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cm-life.com
Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2012
THE HUNT IS ON
YOUNG ATHLETES
Students, alumni search for medallion during Homecoming Week » PAGE 1B
Program encourages social, motor skills among special-needs children » PAGE 3A
Obama, Romney clash on economy, immigration in second debate By John Irwin Elections Coordinator
The stark contrast between President Barack Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney was on display when the pair squared off for their second presidential debate Tuesday night. A wide range of issues facing the United States and their potential solutions were debated, at times very heat-
edly, by both candidates, from the economy to education to foreign policy. The townBarack Obama hall-style debate began with a discussion on dire employment prospects facing recent college graduates. Romney promised he would
get a struggling economy moving forward, creating more job opportunities for graduates. “I want you to be able to get a job,” Romney said. “I know what it takes to get this economy going. With half of college kids graduating this year ... without a college-level job, that’s just unacceptable.” Obama emphasized his plan to bring “high-paying jobs” back to the United
States by investing in education and in manufacturing. He cited the 2009 bailouts of General Mitt Romney Motors and Chrysler as an example of success. “When Gov. Romney said we should let Detroit go bankrupt, I said, ‘We’re going
to bet on American workers and the American auto industry,’ and it’s come surging back,” the president said. “I want to do that in industries, not just in Detroit, but all across the country.” As has been the case for much of the election season, taxes remained a major issue during the debate. Obama highlighted middle-class tax cuts he signed into law as an example of a promise kept but
accused Republicans in Congress of holding the extension of the middle-class Bush-era tax cuts hostage to those for upper-level income. “That’s part of what took us from deficits to surplus,” Obama said of the Bushera tax cuts, calling for a return to the Clinton-era rates on earned income over $250,000. A DEBATE| 2A
Men’s club hockey team to appeal suspension
SGA views on calendar differ since plan unveiled
By Justin Hicks Sports Editor
By Alayna Smith Senior Reporter
The Office of Student Life will listen to the men’s club hockey team’s appeal of its fiveyear suspension at 9 a.m. today. Associate Director of Residence Life Shaun Holtgreive, who holds interim responsibilities in the Office of Student Life, declined comment on the appeals process Tuesday. “Since their appeal is tomorrow, we’re not at a position to have a public discussion prior to their last part of the due process,” Holtgreive said. “I don’t want to anyway hurt their having a fair appeal process.” The appeal was originally scheduled for Oct. 12 but was postponed due to an emergency by a member of the hearing body. “The code was very specific as to who has to serve on that,” Holtgreive said. “(The hearing board) comprises of the student body president, or their designee, the chair of the Academic Senate, or their designee, and the vice president of enrollment and student services, or their designee.” Club hockey was originally charged Sept. 28 with violation of section 3.2.13 (alcohol policy), section 3.2.19 (hazing) and section 3.2.25 (violations by a registered student organization) of the Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities and Disciplinary Procedures. CMU began investigating the team following a Sept. 14 party at the Deerfield Road home of multiple players. Photos of the event were posted on players’ Facebook pages, which were presented during the initial hearing. Sophomore Nolan LeClaire was a first-year player who attended the Sept. 14 party. “The rookies (in attendance) were called upstairs and (the veterans) gave us thongs and the rookies laughed and threw them on,” he said. “I’ll speak for myself, and what I believe is the rest of the rookies, it was just fun and games, and we had a dance off.”
What was once largely supported throughout campus is now the topic of debate between the Student Government Association and Academic Senate. Phil Squattrito, who served as A-Senate chair in 2010-11 when calendar changes were initially discussed, said the student leadership supported the idea. Recommendations were made by the Student Priorities subcommittee of the president’s transition team, and comments were made at A-Senate by student senators showing this support. The proposed changes to the Academic calender would begin in the fall of 2014. Students’ perspectives changed once the changes became a reality, and issues were raised about how to handle it, Squattrito said. “Leadership Safari is one example, but there are other programs that will be affected, and it is not just students who have raised concerns,” he said. “From what I understand, and I’m not directly involved in this, there are efforts going on behind the scenes on the administrative side to try to address whatever concerns people submitted to the committee. The answers to these questions may help to alleviate the concerns.” Squattrito said he did not have a strong position either way when the ad hoc committee was first created to address the changes. He felt the committee would be helpful since the calendar had not been looked at in a decade, and people were showing support for the changes. “Speaking personally again, I was hopeful that if the calendar was shortened, an attempt would be made to maintain the same amount of instructional time,” he said. “It is true, however, the committee was not specifically charged with doing that.” Squattrito said although many other universities already have truncated academic calendars, he does not fully support the idea. “Speaking entirely as an individual, I am not enthusiastic about losing a week of instruction, since it will mean that some topics will probably have to be shortened or omitted from my courses,” he said. “I think this is a particular challenge for science classes where the syllabi are typically very full already, and there is a set list of topics we are expected to cover.” Though A-Senate has already recommended in favor of the new calendar, Squattrito said there are still options if students wish to reverse the decision. “One option would be to attempt to get the Senate to reconsider its recommendation. There are procedures in Roberts’ Rules for this,” he said. “I suppose another option for SGA would be to demonstrate overwhelming student opposition sufficient to cause everyone to take a step back.”
A HOCKEY| 2A
ANDREW KUHN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Blue Light Run participants take off past the first blue light located next to the EHS building Tuesday night on the CMU campus. The event was held to promote the blue light emergency phone system throughout Central’s campus and raised $968 for Sexual Aggression Peer Advocates.
Running for a cause Blue Light Fun Run raises awareness for campus emergency phone system By Sean Bradley | Senior Reporter
Students ran from blue light phone system to blue light phone system Tuesday night. Not for their safety, but to promote the safety of others. The Blue Light Fun Run put on by Sweeney Hall raised $968 for Sexual Aggression Peer Advocates.
ANDREW KUHN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Frankenmuth junior Andrew Haubenstricker accepts his first place award Tuesday night in Sweeny hall following the Blue Light Run.
The 2.5-mile race, which 58 people ran, featured a course including checkpoints at 10 of the 26 blue lights around campus. Each on-campus blue light hosts a phone used for people to use for emergencies. Lake Isabella junior Sarah Fiorillo came up with the idea for the event to promote the blue lights in a journalism class where people were asked to assess the safety of Central Michigan University’s campus. “I thought of the idea to promote the fact they exist and promote their location,” she said. “Students walk by them every day, and having knowledge of their location is important.” She said the money raised, through a $10 registration, for SAPA and promoting the blue lights helps promote campus safety. “They impact students,” she said. “They’re both important safety tools and important aspects of CMU that all students should know about.” CMU Police Lt. Cameron
Wassman spoke before the run, giving tips on how to be safe on campus and taking advantage of the blue lights. “I think it’s important,” Wassman said. “It raises awareness of safety mechanisms, like the blue light phones and that SAPA exists.” He said the blue phone lines have been used 24 times since the beginning of the calendar year. He said the lights help people who might feel uncomfortable when out at night on campus. “If they frequently walk place to place, they should know where they’re located,” he said. Albion graduate student and assistant for SAPA Megan Scudder said the money raised will help the group continue to provide confidential services such as Internet and phone conversations to people in need. “Basically, it helps us A RUN| 2A
A-Senate delays decision on deleting B.S., B.A. computer sciences, math majors By Andrea Peck Staff Reporter
The Oct. 16 discussion regarding the deletion of the computer sciences-mathematics major for the bachelor of arts and science degrees was brought up again in Tuesday’s Academic Senate meeting. The importance of the program to the university was discussed. The major is a joint program with the department of mathematics, where the average high school GPA of a student who enters the program is a 3.98. A representative of the program who spoke at the meeting said it is a small program, and, while it is not critical to the university, it is still a good program to have. Donna Ericksen, professor of mathematics, said the program was given a priority rating of 5,
which is the lowest, during Provost Gary Shapiro’s academic prioritization last fall. “If a program is rated as a 5, we may be told to delete it,” she said. Pam Gates, dean of the College of Humanities and Social and Behavioral Sciences, said departments need to decide on an individual basis whether to delete or attempt to restore lower-ranked programs. “The decision if this is a viable program needs to come from the departments,” Gates said. “A decision must be made as to whether the program is no longer viable or if it can be reconstituted in some way.” The motion passed at Tuesday’s meeting requires more information to be provided regarding the importance of a program and the reasoning behind deletion when the suggestion of deletion is referred
back to the departmental level. The vote will then come back to the Academic Senate for further consideration. In addition, the deletion of the Mathematics Minor: B.S. in Business Administration degree was approved. A general presentation on Title IX was given by Derek van der Merwe, deputy director of CMU athletics and Judy Chandler, a physical education faculty member. “Essentially, we have to make sure there is equal opportunity for both male and female students in all our programs,” van der Merwe said. During a discussion about shared governance, it was announced that a campus-wide survey regarding the role of shared governance will be distributed in mid-November. university@cm-life.com
BROOKE MAYLE/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Department of computer science Chairman Dr. Michael Stinson stands with a microphone while listening to reviews and comments by faculty senators concerns regarding the Computer Science-Mathematics major program during the Academic Senate meeting Tuesday afternoon in Pearce Hall.
A CALENDAR| 2A