EVENTS CENTER 16 pages on many aspects of new facility, B SECTION
community Union Township completes collection of wind turbines, 9A
Central Michigan Life
Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2010
Mount Pleasant, Mich.
[cm-life.com]
New campus hotel on trustees’ agenda Facility would be attached to Kelly/Shorts By Carisa Seltz Senior Reporter
A hotel could be constructed on campus, after two years of discussion and litigation. A proposal to negotiate a land lease for a new hotel is
up for approval by the CMU Board of Trustees Thursday. The hotel would be connected by a glass atrium to new stadium suites built onto Kelly/Shorts Stadium. “This is going to give additional academic opportunities to students and tie into the Events Center,” said Steve Smith, director of public relations. He said both developments — the Events Center and the proposal — would
enhance each other. The board meets at 10:30 a.m. in the Presidential Conference Room of the Bovee University Center. If approved, the new project will be constructed in the football team’s practice field east of Kelly/Shorts Stadium. Smith said the project developer, Lodgco Management LLC, will make a full presentation to the board in which they will outline all
the benefits of the plan. The project, as it is currently designed, would include a national franchise hotel with approximately 150 rooms, indoor and outdoor pools, exercise facilities, business center, restaurant, conference space and other features. If approved, University President George Ross will be able to negotiate and execute a fair market value land lease with the project devel-
oper, negotiate and execute a lease of stadium suites from the project developer, grant easements necessary for any utilities or access and create a commercial park for the leased land if necessary. David Burdette, vice president of Finance and Administrative Service, was unavailable for comment. According to the new proposal, this particular project developed after a previous plan approved in July 2008
to build a Holiday Inn hotel and office building complex within the Center for Applied Research and Technology stalled because of a lawsuit with LaBelle Limited Partnership. LaBelle filed a lawsuit against the board in November 2008 over an alleged intentional breach of covenants when the board gave former University President
A trustees | 2A
Snyder will appoint new trustees by January Candidates to remain nameless until chosen By Carisa Seltz Senior Reporter
sara winkler/staff photographer
With the opening of the Events Center today, students, faculty and area residents are ready for CMU basketball. Since April, freshman guard Trey Zeigler has dominated the headlines and talk surrounding the program. In the team’s first home game against Temple, all eyes will be on Zeigler in his McGuirk Arena debut. For him, it is time to show what he can do in the new facility and how he plays with a young team and his father, Ernie, as coach. He leads the team in scoring through the Chippewas’ first five games, averaging 18.8 points per game.
time for trey By Aaron McMann | Sports Editor
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simple text message changed everything. Seantelle Zeigler was used to receiving frequent phone messages from her son Trey, but one last April caught her eye. As she and husband Ernie Zeigler made the drive south to watch their son play in the Kentucky Derby Classic, the decision of where young Trey would go to play college basketball loomed. “We all thought he made up his mind and was moving,” Seanetlle said. Less than a month before, his season and high school career at Mount Pleasant High School came to an abrupt end in the MHSAA state semifinals. Facing the biggest decision of his life, and Michigan, Michigan State and UCLA hot on his trail, Trey had told his parents he wanted to play at a major school. “I was OK with the decision,” Seantelle said. “I think Ernie was a little hurt because he figured he put the time in as a dad and coach.” But things changed that fateful day in April with a simple message to his mother. “I’m coming to CMU.”
Michigan
Earlier in the year, Trey and Ernie made an agreement to hold off on deciding schools during the early signing period and wait until his senior season ended. “We couldn’t control externally with people asking,” Ernie said. “Internally, I didn’t want him to have any of that pressure. After they got knocked out, we started thinking about the
The appointment of two new members to the CMU Board of Trustees remains at a standstill entering the final month of Stephanie Comai and Gail Torreano’s terms. Gov.-elect Rick Snyder will appoint new board members to replace the two current ones, who will be departing Dec. 31. The state Senate must approve Snyder’s appointments before they become effective. Ryan Kazmirzack, deputy director of communications for Snyder’s transition team, said the team is working through the process of making the new appointments. Names of potential appointees are not available at this time. He said he did not want to speculate on a time frame for making the appointments official but he isn’t worried about it being completed by Jan. 1. “When we make a selection we’ll announce it,” he said. “Really, we don’t announce stuff unless we actually have stuff to announce.” Kazmirzack said there are multiple appointments needing to be made around the state. “It’s not just CMU,” he said, “there are actually lots of appointments that need to get filled.” Steve Smith, director of public relations, said CMU plays no role in who is chosen. “It would actually be Rick Snyder’s new campaign group that will be making those decisions as to who he will appoint to fill those vacancies once they become available at the end of the year,” Smith said. “(Comai) and (Torreano) do serve through the end of the year and that’s when the vacancies become available.” Comai said the new appointees must understand how to continue to deliver services, but gain efficiencies where possible because of the state’s budget crisis. “President (George) Ross is undertaking a top-to-bottom review of the university of all its operations and how we deliver services to
A snyder | 2A file photo by jake may/photo editor
CMU men’s head basketball coach Ernie Zeigler places his hand on his son Trey’s shoulder in April after he signed his letter of intent to play at CMU. Trey was the No. 33 recruit in the nation, making him the highest-ranked recruit CMU has ever signed. “When you’re growing up and see all the big-time schools playing, you think it would be great to play in those situations,” he said in April. “They were all great schools, but I narrowed it down by where I felt more comfortable.. At the end of the day, I couldn’t leave dad.”
schools.” Once his prep career ended, public discussion picked up. Reports and message boards quickly became buzzed with rumors and pleas from diehard fans, begging Trey to come to their school. Some speculated that Zeigler would be a good fit in Ann Arbor, where Michigan was losing athletic big man DeShawn Sims to graduation. Head coach Jon Beilein had showed great interest in Trey since his sophomore year of high school. Little did he know, Zeigler was also eyeing the maize and blue uniform. “I was very close (to going to Michigan),” Trey said. “I was leaning toward Michigan for a while.” During the course of the recruiting period, Beilien attended several MPHS
practices and made a couple of surprise appearances to show his desperation and need for Zeigler. He showed up at CMU’s Mid-American Conference West Division-clinching game against Eastern Michigan. Eight days later, immediately following Michigan’s exit from the Big Ten tournament, Beilien took a plane from Columbus, Ohio, to Midland to watch Zeigler and MPHS play Bay City Western in a district title game. “I knew before that he wanted me bad,” Trey said. “They made that very clear through the whole process. He reinforced it as many times as he could, and those were some of the times he really tried to do it.” A trey | 12A
[inside] NEWS w Trustees could approve RFoC renovations 3A w First CHSBS dean has forum, 5A
sports w Freshman Taylor Johnson makes impact off bench, 12A
cm-life.com w Watch this week for video reaction of the Event Center and the latest episode of SportsLine w Join us at 6:30 p.m. tonight for a live chat of the basketball game