fright night | event marks start of basketball, 3A | local ghosts Myths, legends of Mount Pleasant haunt community, 1B
touchable art| Students showcase interactive pieces in Wightman Hall, 3A
Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2009
Central Michigan Life
Mount Pleasant, Mich.
[cm-life.com]
Trustees authorize $1 million offer for Flint TV station CMU seeks to use purchase to expand academic programs By Jake Bolitho Senior Reporter
The Central Michigan University Board of Trustees approved a proposal Tuesday to submit an offer to purchase WFUM TV in Flint for $1 million.
The television station, owned and operated by the University of Michigan, broadcasts from Bay City to the metro Detroit area. CMU received a $750,000 grant from the United States Department of Agriculture, which will be used to equip a mobile production truck with high-definition digital production equipment, said Ed Grant, general manager of CMU Public Broadcasting. The truck and equipment was originally intended for use at CMU
stations in the rural areas of central and northern Michigan, where the digital transmission is slower. However, CMU now plans to use the truck in Flint after the station is purchased, Grant said. The Board met in special session Tuesday in the President’s Conference Room in the Bovee University Center to discuss the television station. Interim University President Kathy Wilbur said the Board viewed the station as an opportunity to signifi-
cantly expand the university’s coverage into critical areas such as southeast Michigan. “It allows us to expand academic programs on the behalf of CMU, especially through ProfEd,” she said. “We’re so focused on our enrollment question and retention question, this gives us another avenue in which to pursue that.” Public Broadcasting will draft a purchase agreement and interim management agreement for CMU to take over the station as soon as possible.
a new perspective
Amnesty bill being sent to state Senate Minors could call hospital without getting MIP charges
By Kelli Ameling | Staff Reporter
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Vaishnavism believers use Bhakti yoga to help practice their religion. It helps the body prep for meditation and gives satisfaction to the soul, Mike said. “Yoga means to link or connect with the Absolute or God,” he said.
Soul satisfaction Vaishnavism, which originated in India, is 5,000 years old, making it one of the oldest religions. It was not introduced to America until 1965, Mike said. Mike is from Knoxville, Tenn., and started traveling to schools to talk to students about a year ago. He targets big schools across the United States and Ontario, Canada. “I am part of The International Society for Krishna Consciousness,” Mike said. He said he started going to campuses because it is part of the Yoga practice and it satisfies his soul.
[inside] NEWS w CMU considering upgrading to Windows 7, 3A
sports w Field hockey hosts Michigan today, 6A
campus vibe w Students investigate local hauntings, 3B
CM-LIFE.com w Check for stories on local, campus hauntings.
weather w Rain showers High 57/ Low 43
A board of trustees | 2a
underage drinking
Monk from Tennessee teaches Hindu beliefs on campus Tuesday
ew people have had the opportunity to learn from a monk who travels countrywide to teach his religion. Bhakta Mike, a Vaishnavist monk, came to Central Michigan University in the van he lives in Tuesday to meditate and teach others about Vaishnavism, also known as the Hare Krishna movement. Vaishnavism is a part of Hinduism, which worships God under the name of Vishnu, the one who is all-pervading. South Lyon senior James Scott said it was not what he is used to seeing on campus. “It was pretty cool,” Scott said. “It was a breath of fresh air to see something different.”
“This is very common in the broadcast world because of the normal delays in getting approval for a change in ownership through the FCC,” Grant said. Under the interim management agreement, the university could control the station’s programming despite not being the official owner. Broadcasting could begin by the end of November, Grant said.
By Jake Bolitho Senior Reporter
photos by libby march/staff photographer
Bahkta Mike, a Vaishnavist monk, meets and speaks with Jackson freshman Chance McBride while offering free literature to students Tuesday outside of Brooks Hall.
“Bhagavad Gita” is a book Mike handed to students to help understand his religion. He said the book contains everything a person would need for self-realization. “Bhagavad Gita” also references to the yoga and meditation the Vaishnavism religion uses. Mike said he came to campus to enlighten society. All problems in society come from people misidentifying with their bodies with problems such as violence, he said. “We are not the body. We are spiritual beings,” Mike said. By realizing people are spiritual beings, it will give people the opportunity to have unlimited satisfaction instead of temporary satisfaction of the body, Mike said. He said the main reaction he receives from students he talks to is bewilderment. university@cm-life.com
Vaishnavist monk Bahkta Mike offers free literature to students Tuesday near Brooks Hall. “This was actually one of Ghandi’s favorite books,” said Mike. “We’re just trying to enlighten the world.”
Local police are preparing for a law that would grant amnesty to underage drinkers brought to the hospital for overconsumption of alcohol. The state House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved the medical amnesty bill last week, and it now is on the Senate floor. Under the law, minors would be exempt from liquor violations if they turn themselves or a friend into the hospital. The Mount Pleasant Police Department has issued minor-in-possession citations to minors being treated in the emergency room after consuming too much alcohol and underage individuals who brought them in or called 9-1-1, said Public Information Officer Dave Sabuda. “As a police department, we will adjust to any legislation passed,” Sabuda said. State Rep. Mark Meadows, D-East Lansing, is sponsoring the medical amnesty bill and has spoken out against the current policy present at law enforcement agencies statewide. “It is a common sense issue,” the House Judiciary Committee chairman said. “What we would learn is that students would not call (9-1-1) because they were worried about getting a ticket.” Only seven of 110 state House members voted against the bill, and Meadows said he hopes to see similar results in the Senate. Decrease the likelihood Sabuda said he does not know A underage drinking | 2A
Mission Street among Michigan’s 10 riskiest roads Meeting with MDOT next week to address concerns By Ryan Czachorski Staff Reporter
Mount Pleasant residents should not be surprised to hear south Mission Street is among the busiest and riskiest roads in the city. It also is among the riskiest in the state. The stretch of south Mission Street between Broomfield Street and Appian Way
ranked tied for sixth on a recent list of Michigan’s riskiest roads published by the Detroit Free Press, with 51 accidents in 2008. Mount Pleasant Police Department Public Information Officer Dave Sabuda said the number provided to the Free Press was low, with police records indicating 78 accidents on the stretch of road last year. The Mount Pleasant post of the Michigan State Police does not keep track of accidents on south Mission, said State Trooper Chris Pietrantonio. “There are consistently accidents down through there,”
cm-life.com Check for a map of the top 10 riskiest streets in Michigan. Sabuda said. “It’s just the nature of the traffic. You have cross-traffic and high volumes of traffic.” Most accidents on that stretch are rear-end accidents. The tendency of traffic to back up at stoplights, combined with the fast pace, causes people to be a bit reckless, Sabuda said. A mission | 2A
chris bacarella/staff photographer
Mission Street between Broomfield Street and Appian Way was ranked the sixth riskiest street in Michigan by The Detroit Free Press with 51 accidents in 2008. Mission Street has had 31 accidents in 2009.
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