Students spend time playing hockey-like game, 5B
Friday, April 29, 2011
Downtown for a pint | Rain brings event inside, 3a All-star team | check out cmu athletic’s best, 1b
Central Michigan Life
Mount Pleasant, Mich.
[cm-life.com]
A c a d e m i c P r i o r i t i z at i o n
Program review on schedule, Provost says By Maria Amante Senior Reporter
Provost Gary Shapiro said the process of prioritizing all academic and service programs on campus is “right on target.” Academic Prioritization, a comprehensive review of academic programs, is being conducted to determine how the university can better focus on advancing academic excellence and quality, according to the initiative’s website. Shapiro said the program is something CMU should engage in consistently. “This will give an opportunity for the university to make choices and use what are limited resources and ... spend our resources in a manner that best helps our students and best helps move our university forward,” he said. Shapiro said all department heads have submit-
ted their self-evaluations and are now being reviewed by advisory committees composed of faculty members in each college. Each college’s dean will receive the reports from the advisory committees by the end of this month, and the deans will then submit their analysis of those reports to Shapiro. Shapiro said he is waiting for reports from each dean before making any decisions. “I’m not making any premature judgments that this needs to be strengthened or this program needs to be eliminated … if I had those, then there would be no need for the prioritization,” he said. Salma Ghanem, dean of the College of Communication and Fine Arts, said the departments in her college did a very thorough job with their reports, but
Kaitlin Thoresen/staff photographer
Kentwood senior Josh Fisher dances with Ashley Jurick, 22, during the Special Education Field Day Thursday afternoon at the Indoor Athletic Complex.
love of the game
A ACADEMIC | 2A
Volunteers promote culture of inclusion
One-third of Isabella bridges in need of repairs Lack of funding puts county, MDOT in difficult position By Emily Grove Senior Reporter
While some roads in Isabella County are in dire need of repair, more than one-third of county bridges are also in rough shape. Of the 114 bridges in the county, 39 are on a critical bridge list. Isabella County Road Commission Manager Tony Casali said there are two classifications of issues for bridges on the list — structural and functional. The functional classifi-
By Hailee Sattavara | Staff Reporter
cation means something is insufficient, such as the road may be too narrow for the traffic volume, he said. The structural classification is more serious and often requires more time and effort to fix. “Structurally could mean the beams are in rough shape or fatigue of the bridge itself,” Casali said. “In that case, we would start imposing things like weight restrictions where we don’t let trucks with loads over a certain weight access the bridge and they have to take an alternate route.” Last year a weight restriction was placed on a bridge over the Chippewa River on Lincoln Road between Broomfield Road A bridge | 2a
The smiling faces of children filled the Indoor Athletic Center Thursday for the first special education field day hosted by CMU professors and student volunteers. Judy Chandler, associate professor of physical education and sport, was instrumental in organizing the event, which allowed area children with mental disabilities the chance to play games. Children with mental disabilities do not tend to get included, so this is the first time many of them have had a field day, she said. “All of the volunteers for the event were physical education majors and minors for teaching,” Chandler said.
Jason Upshaw, 11, runs underneath the lifted parachute during the Special Education Field Day Thursday afternoon at the Indoor Athletic Complex.
Hart junior Jena Schaner volunteered to work at the event, which brought in 109 students from Gratiot and Isabella counties. The students rotated between 12 activities: an obstacle course, scooter hockey, parachute, bowling, kickball, dance, hoppity hop/bunny, veggie station, think your drink, desert alternative, plan a meal and fruit and veggie mystery. The event took place from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Throughout the course of
students graduate that they should be able to organize and plan, with the help of administrators, an end of the year field day for the entire school,” Thorn said. Thorn contacted the regional education district of Gratiot and Isabella counties to find children with special needs to coordinate so the students could attend CMU’s special education field day. The event was planned to take place inside and outside, but because rain ev-
the day students would visit each station once, Schaner said. “I think it’s a great way to show a student with a mental disability that they don’t have to be treated differently,” she said. Jennifer Thorn, assistant professor of physical education, also helped organized the event. Student volunteers were crucial to the process and learned key skills through the experience, she said. “It’s important that when
erything was moved inside, Schaner said. The theme of the event was sports, so coordinators contacted the Detroit Lions, Red Wings and Pistons, she said. The Pistons donated a Tshirt for each participant, and a signed picture of Lions running back Jahvid Best was submitted for a silent auction held during the event. Proceeds will be toward next year’s event. metro@cm-life.com
Group amping for annual maple syrup fest Event planned this weekend in Shepherd By Perry Fish Staff Photographer
Shepherd resident and retired assistant professor Arnie Hammel has been volunteering his time for the Shepherd Sugar Bush for 20 years. Hammel helps make maple syrup for the annual Shepherd Maple Syrup Festival during the months of March and April with other volunteers from the area. They came together to collect sap from more than 1,600 trees, making more than 2,005 gallons of syrup
for this year’s festival, taking place from today to Sunday. Hammel came to CMU in 1965 to start his career as a math professor, and became involved in the Sugar Bush after moving to Shepherd in 1973. He thought he would take maple syrup and ice cream into class for his students to teach them about the ties between mathematics and the sugary tapping. “There are a lot of numbers associated with it,” Hammel said. Hammel said producing maple syrup involves equations which determine the sugar content and how many gallons of sap one tree will produce from one spigot. After retiring, Hammel
“It’s a miracle when you think about what that tree is giving.” Arnie Hammel, Shepherd resident
said he had more time to volunteer at the Sugar Bush and enjoy the process of making maple syrup. “It’s a miracle when you think about what that tree is giving,” said Hammel. He became interested in helping after seeing volunteers tubing the maple trees across from his house. Hammel said he enjoys working with the other volunteers at the Shepherd Sugar Bush.
“It’s a great group of guys,” he said. Shepherd resident Steve Sandel said he has been volunteering at the Sugar Bush for about ten years now. “We do it for the money,” Sandel joked. Shepherd resident Sue Sandy said her family has been involved in the event for 43 years. “I like picking up the sap,” Sandy said. “Actually, it’s good exercise.”
perry fish/staff photographer
Shepherd resident Arnie Hammel carries buckets full of maple tree sap to a holding tank for transport back to the Shepherd Sugar Bush March 31. Hammel has volunteered at the Shepherd Sugar Bush for twenty years. “It’s a miracle when you think about what this tree is giving,” Hammel said.
The money raised from the festival goes back to the Shepherd community through programs and the schools.
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“It’s a community-wide project — that’s for sure,” Sandy said. metro@cm-life.com