LIFE CENTRAL MICHIGAN
Bobby Shew caps Jazz Weekend with trumpet performance, 3A
Trustees to vote Thursday on athletic licensing By Aaron McMann University Editor
Central Michigan University
Wrestling opens its doors to Peter Sturgeon, 3B
| Monday, Feb. 13, 2012
[cm-life.com]
BOT Meeting
Central Michigan University athletics licensing is ready to go big-time. On Thursday, the university will ask its Board of Trustees to approve an agreement that would license CMU athletics properties to International Management Group, a major player in the world of collegiate multimedia, marketing and branding. IMG, a $450 million company, and its IMG College division holds multimedia rights to more than 70 institutions and collegiate conferences, including the University of Michigan, the University of Notre Dame and several Southeastern Conference schools. The new deal could put radio play-by-play of games, website and digital video, corporate sponsorships, venue signage and various other properties under one umbrella. The athletics department website, cmuchippewas. com, and digital content are currently produced by NeuLion, while many of the other properties are maintained in-
What: w Board of Trustees Formal Session When: w 9 a.m. Wednesday Where: w Bovee University Center, President’s Conference Room house. Terms of the agreement have not yet been made available but will likely be revealed Thursday. IMG College currently holds licenses for five Mid-American Conference schools. They also own the licensing for all 23 MAC championship events and radio rights for all broadcasted league championships. Northern Illinois University sparked a deal with IMG in 2009, licensing the company rights to its football and basketball game programs, in-game advertising for football, basketball, baseball and softball, along with radio and TV play-by-play.
PHoTos By BRooKE MayLE/StaFF photographer
Mark Ellis, owner of 4 Seasons Floral, located at 1218 South Mission Street, takes a moment with employee Vicki Begres to talk about the layout for their Valentine’s Day display. “I consider her to be my second wife,” Ellis said of Berges, a employee of more than 30 years.
A VOTE| 2A
Some concerned with Snyder’s funding based on performance By David Oltean Senior Reporter
Some university officials are still concerned about performance-based funding for Michigan public universities after Gov. Rick Snyder announced his budget plan with increased performance-based funding going to universities. Central Michigan University is expected to receive a 3.8-percent increase in funding equivalent to more than $2.5 million in 2013 after Snyder announced his planned budget and based educational allocations on a performance-based system for the first time in Michigan history. Though the system would send more funds to CMU than the statewide average in Gov. Rick Snyder’s proposed 2013 budget, some university employees are still concerned about per-
Owners of 4 Seasons Floral, Mark and Terri Ellis make extra bows for floral arrangements Saturday. “Terri has always been the bow expert of the store,” Mark said.
Mark Ellis, owner of 4 Seasons Floral, helps employee Meagan Mooney, a Waterford senior, take in Valentine’s Day orders Saturday afternoon.
THE PERFECT R SE
formance-based funding for Michigan public universities. Other teaching groups have vocalized their opinion against the system as well, including The American Federation of Teachers Michigan. Michigan is one of at least 17 states to use a performance-based funding system, though some states have abandoned similar programs in the past. CMU will receive more than $70.6 million of state and federal government funding in 2013 if Snyder’s budget is approved. The planned funding increase is based on four criteria, including growth in the number of undergraduate degrees, growth in degrees in critical skills areas, the number of Pell Grant recipients and compliance with tuition restraint.
Local florist prepares for Valentine’s Day
By Melissa Beauchamp | Senior Reporter
They are hand-picked by Ellis and arranged into different assortments. “This is our second Valentine’s Day here in this location, and we do more business than the store in Shepherd,” he said. “There’s a much bigger market here. For every college student, there’s a professor, who has a wife, who has a secretary. They all get flowers.” He said about half of the people coming in are college students on Valentine’s Day, mostly men. “I like getting my girlfriend flowers,” Rochester junior Cody Wilson said. “I think I’d
Mark Ellis has been the middleman in making many women happy on Valentine’s Day for 33 years. Valentine’s Day marks the busiest day of the year for Ellis, owner of Four Seasons Floral, 1218 S. Mission St. The store sells more than 2,000 roses for the week of Valentine’s Day, compared to the usual 200 roses a week. Much preparation goes into making it a success, he said. “We try to come up with special arrangements that we anticipate that will fit price-points and that everybody will like,” he said. “You can’t put red roses in everything, because you can’t get that many red roses.”
A BUDGET| 2A
Most of the flowers come from Colombia and Ecuador.
Vandals tag spots downtown with graffiti By Jordan spence Staff Reporter
ViCToRia zEGLER/StaFF photographer
The dumpster outside the The Bird Bar and Grill, 223 South Main Street was vandalized along with several places around town.
Some areas of downtown Mount Pleasant got an unwelcome paint job last week after graffiti artists tagged multiple locations. Mount Pleasant Police Department Public Information Officer Jeff Browne said the graffiti is all over the downtown area, including in the alley behind The Bird Bar & Grill , 223 S. Main St., on dumpsters near Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 302
vandals have used Bert and Ernie stickers or drawn Nirvana symbols, but Browne said the symbols don’t mean anything to anybody but the vandal. Browne said he thinks it’s possible it is the same vandals that have tagged the downtown area before. Businesses are held responsible for cleaning up. It’s expression, but it’s a cost to owners and their business, Browne said.
S. Kinney Ave., and on utility boxes and an old school administration office. The vandals struck the bar Tuesday night or Wednesday morning, tagging a brick wall and dumpster, Browne said. “There isn’t an estimate of how much the damage is total,” Browne said. “Each business involved has a couple hundred dollars in damages. This time, they have used pink paint. I don’t even know what the symbols are.” In previous incidents,
ATAG| 2A
rather write her something than just get her flowers, but I get her flowers every couple of weeks to feel loved and special.” Wilson, a wide receiver for the football team, said he usually gets her red roses. St. John senior Amanda Lesch said getting roses from her boyfriend always puts a smile on her face. “I love the smell,” she said. “It makes me feel special.” After 35 years of marriage to his wife, Terri, Ellis knows a thing or two about how to make Valentine’s Day special.
A ROSE | 2A
[ I N S I D E] w Olivieri Management planning to re-build two more houses, 3A w Kevin mays qualifies for NCAA championship, 3B
[CM-LIFE.COM] w Watch Champ and The Man Podcast on the web
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