Community Local church celebrates 125 years, 6A
Friday, Nov. 19, 2010
legacy Nick Bellore wraps up career at CMU, 1B
Central Michigan Life
Mount Pleasant, Mich.
[cm-life.com]
CMU begins academic prioritization process
LikeALittle a new social experience Website offers anonymous flirting
Medical school added after originally being exempt
By Ryan Taljonick Senior Reporter
were found on the third floor of Park Library in one of the study rooms. When officers confronted the students, they were dressed in trench coats and a black ski mask was on the table. “(The Office of Student Life) will review the information to see if there were any violations made to the student code of conduct,” Yeagley said. “Any disciplinary action will be done by the Office of Student
For some students, initiating a conversation with a stranger of the opposite sex can be intimidating. But thanks to a new social networking website, www.likealittle. com, students can anonymously flirt with one another in a Twitterlike format. Evan Reas, an alumnus of Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business, co-founded the website along with his partners, Shubham Mittal and Prasanna Sankaranarayanan. “Micro-flirting — that’s kind of the way we describe it right now,” Reas said. “It’s a very quick anonymous flirt with the people that are in your current location. You can communicate with people and flirt with people in ways you couldn’t do before online.” LikeALittle launched on Oct. 25 on Stanford University’s campus. Reas said social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter inspired the creation of LikeALittle. Eager to develop a new site focused on the sharing of real-time, location-based information — with an anonymous and positively flirtatious twist — Reas and his cofounders created the website. Once LikeALittle became a success with Stanford’s student population, Reas said, the site was expanded to other universities, including Central Michigan University, Michigan State University and the University of Michigan. “It’s been shocking and humbling actually to see how fast it’s been growing,” he said. LikeALittle has separate “Walls” for each university on which students post their current location, the gender and hair color of the person with whom they want to flirt, and a positive comment. The idea is anonymous comments can initiate conversation and possibly form actual relationships and friendships, Reas said. “I think it’s something that hadn’t been tried before,” he said. “There’s a lot of social situations where, if you can be anonymous, you can be a lot more open with the things you say. The fear of rejection, that barrier isn’t there anymore.” Reas said when a LikeALittle page is created for a university, a small team of administrators and moderators is formed to ensure negative comments (or comments that include a student’s actual name) are deleted. “We’re really spending a lot of time and energy trying to keep it really positive,” he said. “The community has full power over what is allowed to be written on that site, and we love that.” Fraser junior Cameron Hunt is
A toy | 2A
A likealittle | 5A
Editor’s note: Every Friday, CM Life will publish an in-depth piece, examining different issues. By Emily Pfund Senior Reporter
Faculty and staff are preparing to evaluate their programs, rank them and determine future funding. The provost’s office has initiated an academic prioritization process through which programs will be ranked in order of importance and need for funding. Provost Gary Shapiro said he has asked every academic department to review each of its programs and place them into one of five categories. “It will be a forced-choice process, so a department can’t put all of their programs into the top category,” Shapiro said. Departments will be asked to place 10 to 15 percent of their programs in the top category, 25 to 30 percent in each of the following three categories and 10 to 15 percent in the bottom category. Shapiro will host an open forum to discuss the process on Monday from 3:30 to 5 p.m. in the Charles V. Park auditorium. He will give a brief presentation about the process and answer questions. Those unable to attend can view the forum online. Each department will compile a report to send to Shapiro sometime in the spring semester. Shapiro and University President George Ross will evaluate the reports and decide on an action plan. Shapiro said he aims to have a draft of this plan finished by September. “There is a possibility that some (programs) might be eliminated. There is a possibility that some (programs) might operate with less support,” Shapiro said. The goal of the process is not to save the university money, Shapiro said, but to see where it can best utilize resources and target areas to invest in. Changes because of the final prioritization rankings will not be immediate. “Don’t expect a total revamping of the university in a month. It’s not going to happen that way,” Shapiro said. Students in low-priority programs slated to be phased out will be allowed to complete their degrees and graduate. “We’re not going to terminate that student and tell them they can’t graduate,” he said. “That would be unfair and unethical to the student.” Shapiro is uncertain which academic programs will be reduced or eliminated, but said the overall effect will be positive for the university. “We can’t have all programs be of equal priority and importance,” he said. A in-depth | 2A
[inside] NEWS w Four Loko, other alcoholic energy drinks could be banned nationally, 3A
sara winkler/staff photographer
Cameron D. Wassman, former sergeant and new lieutenant of CMU’s Police Department, has worked on the force since 2000 and is third in command, responsible for enhancing the department’s active shooter plan, an effort to increase safety on campus and within the community.
Emergency Preparedness CMU Police add new position, improve active shooter plan By Lonnie Allen Staff Reporter
A new administrative position has been added to the CMU Police Department to enhance safety
measures in the event of an active shooter on campus. Lt. Cameron Wassman was promoted on Nov. 1, and is now Police Chief Bill Yeagley’s third in command. His duties will include helping in the department’s administrative process and enhancing community protection against violent situations. “We’re going to need some time to plan and organize,” Wassman said. “Meeting with leaders on this campus will be very important to help us determine specifically the
Three face possible disciplinary action from university By Lonnie Allen Staff Reporter
Several police officers were called to the Charles V. Park Memorial Library Thursday afternoon after three students were spotted entering with toy guns.
They will face possible disciplinary action from the Office of Student Life. Police were called at 1:10 p.m. to investigate the situation. It was initially feared the guns were real, said CMU Police Chief Bill Yeagley. “Seven officers responded to this particular incident,” he said. “Not all seven were visible. Those unseen covered the exits and entrances to Park Library until we contained the situation.” Yeagley said the three students
VCU employees sign confidentiality agreements under Rao Former university president did same at CMU By Randi Shaffer Senior Reporter
sports w Men’s basketball plays at South Alabama Saturday, 1B
CM-LIFE.com w Check the website all weekend for updates on basketball and wrestling
w Partly Cloudy High 46/ Low 28
A police | 2A
Police called after students enter library with toy guns
w 42 student groups compete in research exhibition, 5A
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message we communicate.” Yeagley said his department is comfortable with what they are doing. He said they are doing enough internally to keep their skills up in the event of an active shooter on campus. An example of an active shooter situation would be the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre, in which gunman Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 people. However, the conversation has turned to what Wassman can do in
file photo
Virginia Commonwealth University president Michael Rao speaks at the announcement of his presidency Feb. 20, 2009.
Former University President Michael Rao required his Virginia Commonwealth University office employees to sign what in published reports has been deemed an “unusual” confidentiality agreement. On Wednesday, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported the ban bars employees from talking about what they observe of him and his family. According to the agreement, it covers interactions in Rao’s office and at his place of residence, banning dis-
cussion among Rao’s employees with office outsiders, including the family and friends of workers as well as media outlets. Rao did have a similar agreement while at CMU. Steve Smith, director of public relations, said the incident is strictly a VCU concern. “It’s a VCU story,” he said. “There were confidentiality agreements (at CMU), but if you want anymore we’re asking that you would file a (Freedom of Information Act) request.” The VCU agreement stated any office official found in violation of the confidentiality agreement would face discipline, including employment termination. Rao had been serving as CMU’s 12th president since 2000, when he took the job at
VCU in 2009. A portion of the agreement reads: “I further agree, without qualification, that I will maintain in strict confidence any and all such information to which I have or may have access and I promise and commit that I will not share or otherwise disclose any such personal and/or confidential information with any other person... I understand that I may be disciplined, up to and including termination, if I violate this agreement.” The Times-Dispatch reported several current or former employees of the president’s office at VCU confirmed they had been asked to sign the agreement. As one of those employees, Rao’s former scheduler at VCU, Kimberley Busch, said she had signed the agreement before