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SPorTS:
Men’s basketball earns fourth win Sunday, despite blowing 20-point lead » PAGE 7
moUnT PLeASAnT:
‘It’s A Wonderful Life’ drawing strong crowds to Broadway Theater » PAGE 3
cm-life.com
Monday, Dec. 3, 2012
FISH N’ CHIPS
WOOD THAT HE COULD
Group sings for more than 1,000 in Plachta Saturday, two members perform » PAGE 3 for the last time
Honors Program student Ryan Lewis incorporates woodshop skills in senior project » PAGE 3
Chippewas play Western Kentucky in Little Caesar’s Bowl on Dec. 26 By Matt Thompson Senior Reporter
After 8 p.m. Sunday, Central Michigan Athletics Director Dave Heeke was getting “anxious” with his football team not yet in a bowl game. “It was coming down to the wire,” he said. “But I knew we had a good shot with our team this year, our program history and how good our conference is.”
At 6-6, CMU squeezed into a bowl game and will play Western Kentucky in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl Dec. 26 at Ford Field in Detroit. Western Kentucky finished the regular season 7-5 with an overtime win over Kentucky. The Hilltoppers lost three of their last four games in the Sun Belt Conference. It will be the fourth trip to the Motor City Bowl-Pizza Bowl for
the Chippewas since 2006. “I’m excited, and I hope our fans are excited to go back to a bowl game in our backyard,” Heeke said. “It’s another step Dave Heeke in the right direction for our program to rebuild.” Northern Illinois will be the first team in the Mid-American
Conference to play in a Bowl Championship Series bowl against Florida State in the Orange bowl. The Huskies will be without head coach Dave Doeren, who accepted the head coaching position at North Carolina State. CMU goes to NC State next year. “Today was a landmark day for MAC football,” Heeke said. “We jumped that hurdle. It’s something we’re all striving to do; now it’s attainable. I hope to see us
get that opportunity one day.” Other notable bowl games include Michigan facing South Carolina in the Outback Bowl on New Year’s Day, and Michigan State plays Texas Christian University Dec. 29 in the Buffalo Wild Wings bowl. Louisiana Tech is a bowleligible team not bowling. A 9-3 record wasn’t good enough in the A BOWL GAME | 2
RECRUITING TRENDS
Job growth predicted for associate degrees By Kyle Kaminski Staff Reporter
JeFFrey SMith/Staff PhotogRaPheR
Two year old Rowan Barz of Mount Pleasant visits Santa Claus (Larry Curtis) Friday evening during the Dickens Christmas Festival in the Town Center in downtown Mount Pleasant.
Tis’ the season
Dickens’ Christmas attracts hundreds to downtown Mount Pleasant Adam Niemi | Senior Reporter
He sat wide-eyed with his Spider-Man shoes dangling, holding a Styrofoam cup full of hot chocolate.
Students graduating this year can expect continued job growth according to Michigan State University’s 42nd Recruiting Trends Report. The study shows an overall increase in job growth for college graduates of about three percent this year. Comparatively, the expected growth rate is relatively consistent with last year, which reflected a four-percent increase. Students working toward both bachelor, and PhD degrees can expect to see an employment increase of five to eight percent, respectively, especially those in marketing, finance, human resources and advertising. However, engineering, accounting and computer science majors are declining slightly from last year. This decline could be attributed to a number of factors, according to Associate Professor of Computer Science Thomas Ahlswede. “I’ll guess that much of the increase is in lower-level technician kinds of work, rather than advanced professional positions,” Ahlswede said. “I’m sure those are growing, too, maybe just not quite as fast. Maybe there’s no more room for them to grow.” The real increase in employment rates doesn’t usually come from the standard four-year university. Associate’s degrees are receiving the
Cash Litwiller, 4, perched on his uncle’s
A GROWTH | 2
lap during a hayride and asked his aunt:
ESTIMATED JOB GROWTH PER DEGREE*
“Where’s my gloves?” Not far from Cash, a mother held her six-month-old daughter close while the cold air breezed past as the tractor drove the streets. The damp, cold air indeed brought families closer during the Dickens’ Christmas Festival this weekend in downtown Mount Pleasant. Plus, many kids saw Santa Claus and reindeer. Litwiller nodded when asked if he was looking forward to seeing Santa, then sipped his hot chocolate.
“It’s just his second time seeing Santa, so he’s very excited for it,” Litwiller’s aunt, Hannah Townsend, said. On Saturday, hundreds of people lined Main and Broadway streets to see the different floats featuring Santa. The parade also included tractors, ambulances and vehicles covered with Christmas lights. People who marched in the parade threw candy to the kids nearest the middle of the street, and they scrambled for peppermints and candy canes.
estimated job growth per degree* JeFFrey SMith/Staff PhotogRaPheR
Mount Pleasant resident Cheryl Rosebock looks a Christmas lights on a hayride with her 6-month-old son Stephen, and 4-year old daughter Emily Friday evening during the Dickens Christmas Festival in downtown Mount Pleasant.
Downtown businesses opened their doors to carolers and live music. Some gave away free hot chocolate. There were horse carriage and hay rides. Papa’s Pumpkin Patch, 3909 S. Summerton Road, donated the tractor and trailer used to give hay rides during the annual autumn Applefest.
The hay ride went south on Washington Street to Bellows Street, then over to Main Street and back downtown. It loaded and unloaded in front of Marty’s Bar, 123 S. Main St. A DICKENS | 2
Associate’s: PhD: Bachelor’s: master of Arts: master of Sciences: Professional: master of Business Administration: overall:
+31 percent +8 percent +5 percent -1 percent -1 percent -5 percent -6 percent +3 percent
*Information obtained from MSU’s Annual Recruiting Trends Report
Hot Yoga studio to open downtown today after $60,000 investment from owners By Elizabeth Benson Staff Reporter
ZaCk WittMan/Staff PhotogRaPheR
Manager and Instructor Jofus Smith demonstrates the Triangle Pose “Trikosana” yoga position at Mount Pleasant Hot Yoga studio, 115 S. Main St., on Friday afternoon.
A new business is preparing to open amid the brightly colored shops of downtown Mount Pleasant. Mount Pleasant Hot Yoga, 115 S Main St., owned by Patty Sutherland and managed by Jofus Smith, is set to open today after a long and arduous journey. It was a journey full of pitfalls and unpleasant surprises leading up to the successful building inspection Tuesday, Sutherland said. “It was a 100-year-old building, and we kept finding things that were unexpected,” she said. “We wanted to keep the old floors, but they were in bad shape, so we fixed them up.” Hot yoga is defined as yoga practiced in conditions upwards of 100 degrees. Most classes, said Sutherland, are done in 105-degree tem-
peratures with 40-percent humidity. Having conditions like that, in an old building, required a lot of extra work on their part, Sutherland said. The Main Street building was chosen over several Mission Street locations because of significant price differences in rent, she said. Locations on Mission Street cost four times the amount of the downtown location, Sutherland said. Sutherland purchased a special furnace that could reach high temperatures while being efficient, she said. “We had to put in insulation up above and below, because the basement is icy cold and draws heat away,” Sutherland said. Because of the old foundation, Sutherland estimates she spent about $60,000 getting the building up to par. The newly renovated studio also boasts two full locker rooms with
showers, a must after such a rigorous workout, Sutherland said. The team is already planning to expand to another changing room in the back and a room in which they can practice massage therapy. Smith, lead instructor and manager of the studio, is also trained in healing practices such as massage, he said. Some might be wondering why anyone would want to practice yoga, an already intense exercise, in such degrees of heat. The benefits, Sutherland said, are numerous. “It detoxes the skin, makes it so much softer. You become more flexible, the joint pain just isn’t there, you sleep better, and it works every muscle, tendon and joint. The emotional benefits are more with hot yoga as well. The word we hear is euphoric; you just float.” A HOT YOGA | 2