cm-life.com | Catch students’ commentary as they return to CMU for a new semester
year in review, Test your knowledge of 2010 events, 1C
Monday, Jan. 10, 2011
CMU men’s basketball loses 63-56 in OT at Western Michigan, 1B
Central Michigan Life
Mount Pleasant, Mich.
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Ronan new ‘destination building’ for students sean proctor/staff photographer
Cracks begin to surface underneath the ice at a lake Sunday off of US-127 North in Mount Pleasant.
jake may/photo editor
Icicles form on the gutters of a wooden house on Packard Road on Sunday in Mount Pleasant.
welcoming winter
sean proctor/staff photographer
Five-year-old Ally Barnes, of Mount Pleasant, laughs with her mother Jessica Barnes, a CMU alumna, after climbing up the sledding hill Tuesday evening at Mission Creek Woodland Park, 1458 N. Harris Street. The two went sledding for about a hour with 4-year-old Emma Carlson. “It was kind of a surprise for them,” Barnes said.
PHOTO CONTEST: We want you to show us Mount Pleasant’s winter through your eyes. Please submit your winter-related photos digitally to photo@cm-life.com by Jan. 30. We will publish the winner in the newspaper and a full gallery online. l o c a l b u s i n e ss
City planners OK bar, nightclub Restaurant will be open 24 hours a day By Jake Bolitho Metro Editor
Editor’s note: A version of this story first appeared on cmlife.com Thursday. A new restaurant, bar and nightclub is coming to Mount Pleasant and could open as early as this summer. A special-use permit to convert the former R & R Laundromat into an upscale establishment named L-1 Bar & Grille was approved by the city’s Planning Commission Thursday. The proposed 24hour business will be attached to the Liquor One party store, in the 1700 block of South Mission Street. “On Thursday and Friday and Saturday, if you look at McDonald’s and you look at Lil’ Chef — you can’t get into the parking lot,” said Kerry Chahil, president and CEO of L-1, Inc., and the special-use
permit’s applicant. “At two o’clock in the morning, there is a huge need for people to go out and eat.” L-1 Bar & Grille will operate as a restaurant first and a bar second, Chahil said. It will be converted to a nightclub layout with a dance floor each night from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m., after which it will return to its restaurant layout with additional tables. The business will be required to make at least 50 percent of its sales from food, but Chahil said he hopes to stay around 60 percent. He estimated the establishment will hire 30 to 40 local employees. Some present at Thursday’s meeting, including Commissioner Minde Lux and two residents who live nearby the proposed business, expressed concern over noise and questioned what would be done to enforce the food sales stipulation. “The alcohol remains a concern to me,” Lux said. “I would want to ensure that this is going to be a 50 percent or more restaurant.”
There are no mandatory checks throughout the year that the city or state conducts for such establishments, said Jeff Gray, Mount Pleasant director of planning and community development. “We’re not going into those places on a periodic basis and asking to see the books,” Gray said. “We don’t go into the other places in the community unless we think there is a reason to.” Chahil said renovations to the building will include acoustics and sound barriers which will minimize noise to the outside environment. He said he hopes to commence operations by early summer, although a definitive date has not been set. The establishment is being aimed more toward upscale customers, he said. “I want people in this town to be able to go out with a blazer on and feel comfortable, and I believe there are a lot of students that want that too,” Chahil said. metro@cm-life.com
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Renovations now underway in UC By Ariel Black Senior Reporter
Renovations to the Bovee University Center will begin now that offices once housed there have relocated to the newly-renovated Ronan Hall. Dean of Students Bruce Roscoe said the goal was to make more space available in the UC for students to gather between classes and in the evening. “In order to accomplish this,” Roscoe said, “the decision was made to move student service units to another location.” The board of trustees decided to give the $5-million UC and $3.6-million Ronan renovations the green light in 2008. According to previously published reports the UC renovations were estimated to be completed in July 2011. Roscoe said the decision to move offices and renovate the UC was not prompted by a desire to better organize the delivery of student services. “Thousands of students walk through Bovee daily on their way to and from classes,” he said. “This made it very easy for students to stop by these offices for information and assistance.” Director of Career Services Julia Sherlock said the new location in Ronan could present challenges because of location, but the move came with benefits. “The high ceilings and new changes in Ronan give the building a more modern feel,” Sherlock said. “It better reflects the business culture of what we represent.” Michelle Howard, assistant dean and director of academic advising and assistance, said she is not worried about the new location. “It will take some time,” Howard said, “but in the future students should understand that we are another service center in addition to the UC and Warriner (Hall).”
A Ronan | 2A
New students, transfers spring to a start Maryellen Tighe Senior Reporter
Chelsea Botsford wasn’t quite ready to hit the college books after graduating from high school. The Perry freshman spent a semester working before starting classes at CMU. “I just wanted to wait, save up some money, work in my hometown,” she said. Botsford is a little nervous about moving into a residence hall halfway through the year. Tim Nessan, her stepfather, said he and his wife were having the same pre-college jitters as Botsford. The Nessans were more comfortable leaving their daughter at CMU since they live in Midland. This, and the reputation of the education program, were factors in Botsford’s decision. “(I’m looking forward to) taking art classes and just meeting new people,” she said. The reputation of CMU’s education program also drew Corey Cochrane, a transfer student from the University of Michigan-Dearborn. He is looking forward to getting more involved on campus at U-M Dearborn, he worked 40 hours a week and only took two
Sara winkler/assistant photo editor
Perry freshman Chelsea Botsford is a new incoming student at CMU. She decided to take off a semester after graduating high school in order to work in her hometown to make some more money.
days of classes. “I’d been wanting to get out of (U-M Dearborn) since I started there and decided if I didn’t do it this semester I wasn’t going to do it,” he said. He isn’t nervous about moving into an established room with set patterns. Saginaw senior Jessica Bosserdet is welcoming someone new to her room. She said she was optimistic about her new roommate, Battle Creek freshman Morgan Wilson, and said it isn’t very different from moving in at the be-
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ginning of the school year. “You don’t have as long to get to know them,” Bosserdet said, “but it’s easy to adapt because you are kind of starting over anyway.” Wilson finished her general education classes at a community college, but is looking forward to the college experience at CMU. “Now that I’m at CMU, I will be (taking classes I’m interested in) and I’m interested to see where that takes me,” she said.
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