Your independent CMU news source since 1919
UPDATE:
Curtis Leachman found guilty of second-degree murder, faces up to life in prison » PAGE 3
SPECIAL OLYMPICS:
Check out a special edition of CM-Life next week for full coverage of the games » Wed. June 5
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
cm-life.com ‘NO’ MONSANTO
SPORTS
Mount Pleasant activists protest food giant over genetically modified foods » PAGE 3
Football recruit Derrick Nash battles leukemia, adament about full recovery » PAGE 4
CMED inaugural class to be made up of nearly 90-percent Michigan students By Neil Rosan Staff Reporter
The College of Medicine’s inaugural class is set, and it is heavy on Michigan students. The 64-member class will be comprised of 57 Michigan students, 25 of them coming from the central and northern regions of the state. Other students in the class come from Canada, California, Massachusetts and Georgia. According to a university news release, 11 members of the class are CMU alumni. “As the only medical school in Michigan dedicated to training doctors to address the needs of residents and families living in more rural areas, we carefully selected students with a passion for medically underserved communities,” CMED Dean Ernest Yoder. said in a news release. There were a total of 2,765 applicants for the inaugural class, and 78 acceptance letters were sent out to prospective students, according to Yoder. Another 85 students were put on a wait list and the class was filled from among the 118 students on the two lists. A full roster of the inaugural class will be released this summer once it is clear the students are set to stay at CMED. Yoder also addressed questions surrounding the likelihood of CMED graduates practicing in the area after graduation.
Inaugural College of Medicine Class Breakdown
64 members
2,765 applied 78 acceptance letters sent 85 wait listed 57 Michigan natives 25 central and northern Michigan region natives w 11 Central Michigan alumni w Other students from: Georgia California Canada w w w w w
PHOTOS BY SHANNON MILLARD/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
“The answer rests largely in the community partnerships we’re forming,” Yoder said. “CMED already has affiliations with about two dozen hospitals throughout central and northern Michigan. Students will do clinical training and, in some cases, complete their residencies at these hospitals. This is significant because national studies show approximately 60 percent of physicians continue to practice within 100 miles of their residency sites.” CMED will open on campus in the fall, and CMED East, a $46.5-million project in Saginaw, is set to open by 2014. university@cm-life.com
CMU incoming freshmen cheer as members of their group “Gold Team” are selected for dissmissal to Plachta Auditorium to see their assigned orientation mentors sing and dance during the Central Stage portion of freshman orientation Tuesday at the Down Under Food Court in the Bovee University Center.
New Chippewas Incoming fall freshmen attend hectic academic orientation By Arielle Breen | Staff Reporter
When students think of academic freshman orientation at Central
How I overcame OCD My mind was my own worst nightmare. It was telling me I was going to die if I didn’t perform the tasks it told me to do with acute detail. I didn’t understand. My parents didn’t either. I was lost, confused. I needed help. I was diagnosed with ObsessiveCompulsive Disorder at the age of 9 — a time when I was going through countless changes in my life. It became apparent I needed help after a family trip to Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, had to be cut short because my compulsions were virtually taking over my life. Minutes, even hours, of my days were being spent performing repetitive tasks as I succumbed to my mind’s every demand. Birgit Amann, medical director at the Behavioral Medical Center in Troy, said there is a certain point when an individual should come in to receive help for the disorder. I was at that point. “In general, the biggest reason is it’s gotten to a point where they (people with OCD) are unable to function,” she said. “Clinically, it’s when it gets to the point where you’re missing out on things, you’re not getting to school or getting to work and that type of stuff.”
Michigan University, mentors singing and dancing to a “Thrift Shop” parody song
Ryan Zuke Staff Reporter
Adrian resident Cayla Coleman, left, and Milford resident Alexis Vitta talk about their schedules over lunch during freshman orientation on Tuesday afternoon in the Down Under Food Court of the Bovee University Center.
Luckily, I was able to receive the therapy I needed and realized I am not the only one with this disorder.
might not top the list.
OTHERS JUST LIKE ME
But, fall freshmen laughed and cheered when a group of more than 20 of their assigned orientation mentors left the stage at Warriner Hall’s Plachta Auditorium during the Central Stage portion of their orientation. While freshman orientation started with early morning check in, students often came with their parents and then were assigned to various groups for orientations tailored to the students or parents. Soon after, parents were watching the family mentors sing and dance trying to entertain and educate the families of new CMU freshmen about what CMU has to offer. Cayla Coleman of Adrian who was assigned to the “Pepper Team”, hadn’t decided her major by the time of orientation but said she was thinking about becoming involved in legal or medical fields. “I chose CMU because they had more programs to offer, since I was undecided, it was better for me,” Coleman said. “I am interested in health professions, and (Western
That was the hardest part in the early stages of my OCD. I felt like I was completely different than everybody else. I felt like I was being punished for some reason. I felt like I was the only one that was wasting away hours in a day, so engulfed in my rituals that everything in the outside world was oblivious to me. But as it turns out, there were plenty others just like me, with about half a million children in the United States suffering from OCD, according to ocfoundation.org. Understanding that OCD was a relatively common disorder was a big first step in my battle against my brain. However, I still didn’t understand why my mind was telling me to turn the lights on and off a certain amount of times, why I had to keep closing and opening drawers until I did it just right, why I had to put the dishes away in a certain order. A OCD| 2
Michigan University) didn’t really have a whole lot to offer.” Coleman said her close relationship with her mother who attended the optional parent’s orientation and CMU’s location also played a part in her decision over WMU. “She’s probably nervous, we’re always together,” Coleman said. Coleman attended a meeting for the Health Professions Residential College and said that since she was undecided she felt a little out of place at the meeting. “I am so undecided,” Coleman said. “I’m stuck between pre-law, looking into pre-law or medical professions.” After many of the meetings, students had their CMU ID photos taken. Hats were removed, and the hat wearers worried about their hair on an ID that they would use for the next four years. Ryan Ferris from Madiwan was in line with the “Red Team” for ID photos and said he hadn’t decided on a major. He said he wasn’t
nervous when he came in for orientation and that he might try out for various on and off-campus activities. “I might try to rush, but I’m not sure. And then I might try lacrosse, I might do intramural swim team as well, that’s what I did in high school,” Ferris said. Ferris also offered advice to other incoming freshmen who have later orientation dates. “Don’t be shy. It seems like a lot of people are pretty quiet, “ Ferris said. “It’s not going to help you get anything out of it.” After having ID cards made, students went through other meetings with advisers and mentors and moved on to Plachta Auditorium to watch various songs and dance routines done by their CMU mentors that further introduced them to campus life and activities. After several other meetings where groups continued to break off and see different specialty A ORIENTATION | 2
6,000 set to attend Michigan Summer Special Olympics starting Thursday By Taylor DesOrmeau Staff Reporter
FILE PHOTO BY CHARLOTTE BODAK
On June 1, 2012, Hartland resident Billy Schiltz celebrates winning his second place medal after competing in the Men’s 50 yard backstroke during the 2012 Special Olympics Michigan Summer State Games in Mount Pleasant.
More than 6,000 athletes, coaches, spectators and volunteers from throughout Michigan will be in Mount Pleasant this weekend for the 2013 Special Olympics State Summer Games. The torch will be lit Thursday at 10 a.m. on the steps of the Capitol in Lansing to signify the beginning of the games and will arrive at Kelly/Shorts Stadium in time for the opening ceremonies at 6:30 p.m. Steven Doederline of Monroe will be running the last leg into the stadium after being named the 2012 Inspirational Athlete of the Year at last year’s games. Doederline has been involved with the Special Olympics for 26
years and participates in skiing and bocce. He also volunteers at a Monroe County school with students with severe cognitive disabilities, as well as at his local nursing home. The athletes won’t be the only stars in Mount Pleasant this weekend for the games. “The Biggest Loser” season 14 runnerup Jeff Nichols, another Monroe native, will be in attendance. Nichols lost 181 pounds on the NBC reality TV show, starting off at a weight of 388 pounds. Besides awarding medals to athletes, Nichols will be at the Healthy Athletes Village in the IAC and will sign autographs Friday from 3-4:30 p.m. in the Event Center Atrium. A local celebrity, “American Idol” top-40 finalist Shubha
Vedula, will be at the summer games, as well. The Mount Pleasant native will be performing the national anthem during the opening ceremonies and will also sing one or two other songs. The 17-year-old is graduating from Sacred Heart Academy, 316 E. Michigan St., and was named her class valedictorian. She is the first Indian female to be in the final 20 females on “American Idol” and plans to return to the show again next year. Other celebrities that will be appearing at the Celebrity Autograph Signing include former NFL player Tom Kanka, Miss Michigan 2012 Angela Venditti, Olympic athlete Paul McMullen and various CMU varsity athletes and coaches. A SPECIAL OLYMICS | 2