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Central Michigan Life
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Mount Pleasant, Mich.
[cm-life.com]
Office Pros start voting on new proposed pact Union president says membership doesn’t like deal By Amelia Eramya Staff Reporter
photos by Libby March/photo editor
Jan Pauquette, of Barryton, right, laughs and talks with her daughter, Shawn Schalm, of Clare, between customers at the farmers’ market Thursday at Island Park. Pauquette and Schalm have been coming to the market on Thursday mornings as part of Pauquette’s business, Nature’s Expressions, for more than 30 years.
Home grown
Locals persist raising, selling crops despite ailing economy By Joe Borlik | Senior Reporter
an Pauquette has attended Mount Pleasant’s farmers’ market for more than 30 years. The Isabella County resident grows and sells her own perennial flowers and herbs right out of her van. “Either I’m not very smart or it’s worthwhile,” Pauquette said. She said when she first started selling goods at the farmers’ market people didn’t know what perennials were. There were very few variations on perennials, the annually blooming flowers and herbs, she said. The economy has also hurt the business since she first started. “We’ve done probably about 60 or 70 percent of what we did last year, and that was a drop from the year before,” Pauquette said.
Despite suffering sales, Pauquette said gardening gives her a chance to create works of art. “I can express myself in a garden,” Pauquette said. She said wild daisies were the first thing she ever planted. She raised her daughter Shawn Schalm to garden. Schalm has known plants for as long as she can remember. The duo sell their goods together at the farmers’ market as a family business. “My mom is an excellent gardener,” Schalm said. “Any time I have a question on gardening, I always go to my mom.”
Members of the Office Professionals Union could have a new contract this week. Members met to discuss the tentative agreement made between Central Michigan University and the union Tuesday. “There isn’t an outcome,” said Kevin Smart, director of employee relations and human resources technology. “I really can’t discuss the details.” Members can vote today and results are expected in the afternoon. Karen Bellingar, president of Office Professionals and executive secretary of the school of engineering and technology, doesn’t expect members to ratify
Schalm said her mother designed all of her gardens which take up the majority of their yard. She is now raising her 7-yearold Dylan to plant gardens. Schalm said her husband works as a chef at the Woodland Hospice and uses herbs and vegetables from their gardens in his dishes. She said she enjoys planting bright and attractive flowers for hummingbirds. She has always enjoyed the farmers’ market, Pauquette said. “I think it’s excellent,” Pau-
quette said. “It gives me a chance to talk to a lot of gardeners. They’re great people.” Pauquette and her daughter are not the only ones that enjoy selling homegrown delicacies at the farmers’ market. Clare resident Katie Bugbee has been selling kettle corn and cider slushies for three seasons. “Corn is good,” she said. “Everybody’s recipe is a little different.” The markets are held every Thursday from June to October from 6 to 10 a.m. metro@cm-life.com
Other unions Out of the seven unions on campus, three are currently in negotiations with CMU administration since their contracts expired June 30. The Supervisory/Technical union began bargaining in March and have been meeting
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CMU could offer rental textbooks By Eric Dresden Editor in Chief
Shawn Schalm, of Clare, adjusts blooms at the farmers’ market Thursday at Island Park.
the tentative agreement. She said the tentative agreement was presented as a final offer rather than an indefinite offer. “Based on the meeting, they were in favor of voting it down,” Bellingar said. “It wasn’t agreed upon by (the Office Professional’s) bargaining unit.” Smart said if the tentative agreement is not ratified, CMU administration and the Office Professional’s bargaining unit will begin to bargain again. “We’ll get (the contracts) settled,” Smart said.
Textbook rentals could be a new option for Central Michigan University. Barry Waters, director of the CMU Bookstore, said they are considering a program with Nebraska Book Company which will begin on July 15. “Despite the fact we have had no push from anyone on our campus to begin a rental program, we are considering offering selected titles as rentals for fall,” Waters said in an e-mailed statement. Waters said the main reason the bookstore is considering offering the books is to give students alternatives. He said there will be a list supported by the rental programs but he is not sure what books will be offered yet. “Rental is the hot topic around the country but those schools doing rental are only doing a very small percentage of their titles as rental,” Waters said.
He said the cost savings for students won’t be known until the books offered are decided. Waters said used books still offer the better savings. “Used textbooks are still the best value and when sold back at the end of the term translate to a greater savings than rental,” Waters said. Waters said he does not foresee any savings for CMU with the contract. “No money savings, the only real cost to us will be time in learning the process with our wholesaler,” Waters said. Nanette Trottier, a Mikado senior said the idea is interesting but for her it depends on the importance of the book. “Some people might want to keep their books,” Trottier said. Cyprien Nanah, a Cameroon graduate student, said he can see it as a good idea but will not take advantage of it. “In the future I may need to go to those books again,” he said. “I’d rather buy books.” university@cm-life.com
New texting ban, tanning tax worry some students Both effective Thursday; get mixed reaction By Maria Leone Staff Reporter
Texters and tanners will have to face some major changes this week. Thursday, two new changes will come into effect: the law banning texting while
driving and a new 10 percent tax on tanning services. Some students are not excited about either of these changes. “My mom sent me an article about the new law as soon as she heard about it,” Mount Pleasant resident Alyssa Wilcox said. Wilcox said she likes to text while driving, but will try to be more careful. The ban on texting was signed into law by Gov. Jen-
nifer Granholm on April 30 and will cost $100 for a first offense and repeat offenses will cost $200. Lansing sophomore Kellie Eavey said the new law will not discourage her from texting while driving. “When I’m turning in the left turn lane, I’d rather be reckless driving than miss sending my text to my friends,” Eavey said. Eavey said sometimes if she gets too caught up in
messaging, people honk their horns at her. Even when she is talking on the phone, she puts her phone away if she sees a police officer. Nicky Van, a Portage senior, said he knows many people and often can’t avoid texting them back and answering their e-mails. “It’s a habit and I don’t think I will every really stop texting,” Van said. “I know too many people and I’m a
very busy guy, however I will be more cautious about it though.” Tanning tax Mike Lapoe, owner of BTan, 1620 S. Mission St., said people may start tanning less as a result of the 10 percent tax which will be added as a part of the health care bill, but he is not sure yet. “People need to understand that the 10 percent increase will go to the federal
government for the health reform bill and not to our salon,” Lapoe said Lapoe said summer is not the best time for sales, so he will probably notice the change when more people are in the city during the fall. Amanda Ouro, a senior from Sterling Heights, said she will continue to tan. “I still like to tan so I’m
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