editorial | Cmu must keep education a financial priority, 4 TEXTING |
board of trustees | participate in a live chat on cm-life.com during the meeting
Law discouraging texting while driving difficult to enforce, 3
Central Michigan Life
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Mount Pleasant, Mich.
[cm-life.com]
Trustees to set undergrad tuition rate Thursday By Maria Amante Senior Repor ter
The 2011-12 operating budget, including the undergraduate tuition rate, is up for approval at Thursday’s CMU Board of Trustees meeting. The meeting will take place at 9:30 a.m. in the Presidential Conference Room, Bovee University Center 300. The agenda for the meeting was released Tuesday afternoon. No specific information was included regarding the operating budget or what will take place with tuition. University President
George E. Ross gives a presentation at each board meeting, which will also take place Thursday morning. Three board committees will meet publicly Tuesday, Academic and Student Affairs will meet at 11:10 to 11:40 a.m. in the University Center’s Lake Michigan Room, the Finance and Facilities Committee will meet from 1:00 to 2:10 p.m. in the Presidential Conference Room and the College of Medicine Committee will meet from 2:15 p.m. to 2:50 p.m. in the Lake Michigan Room. The board will discuss changing the name of the
department of Geology and Meteorology to the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Science. Tuition increases have ranged at the other public universities in Michigan, from 3.65 percent at Eastern Michigan University to 7 percent at Oakland University. Most of the schools have made increases above 6 percent. The increases have kept in line with the state’s tuition restraint penalty, which would cut into a university’s public funding if tuition is increased more than 7.1 percent. Ross has previously said any tuition increase for
the 2011-2012 school year would be “modest.” The Faculty Association announced today it would accept a pay freeze if tuition was also frozen; the motion will be brought up at mediation Thursday morning. The group is currently bargaining with the university for a contract, theirs expired June 30. Bath senior Sarah Johnson said her on-campus classes would not be affected by any tuition increase this year because she is still covered by the CMU Promise tuition plan, but her online classes would A BOARD OF Trustees | 2
Faculty to accept pay freeze if no increase in tuition Association plans to demonstrate outside meeting By Maria Amante Senior Reporter
The FA bargaining team says it is willing to accept a pay freeze on the condition that tuition is also frozen. The university was unavailable for comment regarding this matter at press time. FA President Laura Frey said her organization’s goal is to reduce some of the burden felt by students and the proposal will officially be presented to the university during Thursday’s mediation session. “The students and their families are hardworking and they have faced many tuition increases (through the years) and we recognize that,” Frey said. Frey said the university is rock-solid financially and therefore the FA’s proposal is viable. In a statement, Frey said the FA will also propose a cost-sharing model for health care plans, no increases in promotion amounts and a cap for summer teaching income. The third mediation session nearly comes two weeks after the Faculty Association’s contract expired June 30. The bargaining teams will meet Thursday morning with the mediator at 9 a.m. in Ronan Hall. The board of trustees will also meet in the Bovee University Center’s Presidential Conference Room that morning. The FA plans to demonstrate outside the building at 8:30 a.m.
photos by brenna riley/staff photographer
Natalie Alazar, 9, and Sasha DeLellis, 9, are creating colorful polymer in Chemistry Connection class Tuesday in the Dow Science Building during CMU’s Summer Science and Math camps. The polymer will act like Silly Putty that the students can take home and play with.
Science rules
Summer camps at CMU involve young students in academic fields By Jordan Spence | Staff Reporter
Students learning about science and mathematics at CMU are not getting shorter, but this week, they did get a lot younger. Summer Science and Math camps aimed at kindergarten through eighth grade students are being held on campus Monday through Thursday from 9 to 11:30 a.m. The camps provide a variety of classes where students perform hands-on experiments to learn more through science and math. A camp | 2
Benjamin Melton, 8, and Matthew Alton, 8, color animals Tuesday during their “pets... ALIVE!!” class in the Dow Science Building during CMU’s Summer Science and Math Camps.
FA President Laura Frey said it is committed to reaching a fair contract with the university and doing so amicably. “The administration appears to want to undermine the infrastructure of quality teaching, research and creative activities, and service endeavors currently provided to students and the community by this dedicated faculty,” Frey said in a statement.
Demonstration Some faculty members participating in demonstrations on July 8 said the university’s alleged position table is a regression and insult for faculty member contracts. The university reportedly asked for a pay freeze for all faculty, a 15- to 20-percent reduction in health contributions and removal of department chairs, coaches and librarians from the Faculty Association. The demonstrations took place outside the Music Building and Warriner Hall, coinciding with the colleges of Business Administration and Communication and Fine Arts showcases for prospective students. At 8:30 a.m., four people were outside the Music Building and 15 were outside Warriner Hall demonstrating. Heather Polinsky, broadcasting and cinematic arts professor, participated in the demonstrations. “What we’ve been offered is a regression,” she said. “They’re trying to break up the union.” Charles Vonder Embse, a mathematics professor, said the proposed contract was the worst he had ever A faculty | 2
Freshman Kyle Nicholson succumbs to leukemia Funeral to be held today By Jordan Spence Staff Reporter
Despite being diagnosed with leukemia, Kyle Nicholson never lost his sense of humor or positive attitude. After a six-month battle with acute myeoblastic leukemia, the 19-year-old Shelby Town-
ship freshman died July 7. “He was an absolutely fabulous person who touched people’s lives,” said his mother Elaine Nicholson. “He was a very special person in a positive way.” She said he was an avid sports lover, especially of football, which he played while attending Eisenhower High School. His athleticism made it particularly strange when he started experiencing bouts of
fatigue, she said. He was diagnosed with the disease after tests were done in February. Friends and family came together to help Nicholson after the diagnosis. Shelby Township sophomore Sam Licari said they formed “Team Kyle,” holding fundraisers at a Shelby Township Buffalo Wild Wings, a penny drive and a spaghetti supper to raise money for treatments and medical bills. They also held bone mar-
row drives, including one at Sweeney Hall, in an attempt to find a transplant match for Nicholson. Nicholson was set to recieve a transplant in about a month if his white blood cell counts were good, said Brian Piper of Shelby Township, a friend of 17 years. But his health took a turn for the worse. “He was a fun guy that liked to goof around and always had a smile on his face,” Piper said.
“No matter what, he was smiling.” In order to show solidarity during Nicholson’s fight with leukemia, Piper and some Kyle Nicholson of Nicholson’s other friends shaved their heads. Licari knew Nicholson since second grade, but didn’t be-
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come close with him until a couple years ago. “He was very, very loving, he always cared about others before himself,” she said. “I lived right across the hall from him at CMU and we were always laughing.” Nicholson’s funeral will be held at 10 a.m. today at St. Therese of Lisieux Church in Shelby Township. news@cm-life.com