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editorial | CMU’S $10 MILLION
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Central Michigan University
YOU WERE A CHIPPEWA?
What does CMU have to offer students?, 1B
| Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2012
What does CMU have to offer students?
[cm-life.com]
How have admissions been affected by FA Are students conflict? content with
A D M I N I S T R AT I O N By John Irwin Staff Reporter
The past year has been tumultuous for Central Michigan University, with a faculty strike, votes of no confidence and the ongoing medical school drama becoming big news. But Betty Wagner, director of admissions for CMU, said the recent contract negotiations between the Faculty Association and the administration have not had an effect on recruiting or the decision-making of prospective students. “I think in today’s world, parents and students understand negotiations,” Wagner said. “We’ve not really gotten any questions from par-
ents regarding that.” It has often been a concern among some in Mount Pleasant that last year’s contract negotiations would have impacted incoming classes of students. Indications, as of now, suggest otherwise. The elimination of the CMU Promise, a short-lived promise that guaranteed a flat tuition rate for five years that ended at the beginning of the recession in 2008, has not affected incoming classes much, either. Wagner said this is because of CMU’s competitive and elite academic programs and its appealing size. “We’re in the top 100 schools (in the country) size-wize, so that gives
us an advantage for students looking for a university that’s a midsized university in a classic college town.” Wagner touted a “wide array” of programs that CMU has to offer to potential students, including health-related programs, communications, fine arts, journalism, broadcasting, education and biomedical sciences, as elite. CMU was established in 1892 as a school for education, and it remains one of the elite education programs in the country. Most of the programs Wagner mentioned are also recognized nationally, making CMU an attractive destination for students.
$10 million to Events Center came from university George Ross acknowledges fundraising goal was missed By Lonnie Allen Staff Reporter
The $10 million given to the Events Center project was an allocation, University President George Ross told the Academic Senate Tuesday. “I don’t like the word donation,” Ross told the A-Senate during its meeting in Pearce
Hall 138. “It was not a donation — we need to be clear on this.” Ross said CMU paid $10 million from the university reserves, ultimately admitting fundraising goals fell short, and said it could be the same case for the College of Medicine. “Look, if we fall short in our fundraising for the medical school, we will probably use university reserves, (too),” Ross said. The debate became heated when senators pointed out the inconsistencies between what the administration was saying
and what was said in 2008 regarding the $21.5 million being raised privately. Approved for renovation in 2007, the tab for the facility was pegged at $21.5 million, with Director of Athletics Dave Heeke saying the university was committed to raising the funds privately. “We’re going to go out and ask alumni, friends and others to contribute to this project,” Heeke told Central Michigan Life in April 2008. As the discussion continued at the A-Senate meeting, questions continued toward Ross and Kathy Wilbur, vice president of development
and external relations. A senate member asked about the Events Center website, which has stated the project was to be fully funded by private donations. Senator and faculty member David Smith expanded on the same question and Wilbur responded that the information on the website was not correct and she did not know why it was wrong. “I don’t know,” Wilbur said. “If need be, we will go back, find out and correct it. It is an inaccurate statement.” Wilbur, trying to clear up the confusion of what has been reported, said the proof
building maintenance?
METRO
By Melissa Beauchamp Senior Reporter
By Catey Traylor Senior Reporter
Students experience the best of both worlds from the new and modern Events Center on south campus to the aged and “homey” feel of halls on north campus. “I think CMU does a good job of trying to update facilities,” said Cheboygan sophomore Tara Vancil. “It seems like every semester there’s a new project going on.” She said despite the frequent building maintenance, the focus of projects on campus should be changed. “I think they need to refocus what they’re updating,” Vancil said. “Focus on things that are going to be really important to students — like the place they live or making the classrooms better handicapped accessible — that should be a priority.” Warren freshman Amanda Lemerise said snow removal on the sidewalks is the biggest thing that should be improved on campus. “Snow removal here is ridiculous,” she said. “If they’d put out more salt before a snow storm or plow more after one that would help a lot.”
The biosciences building, if built, will cost $95 million University President George Ross said Tuesday during an Academic Senate meeting. “This will be the largest financial investment of this university,” he said. Ross said $30 million will come from the state, and Central Michigan University will be responsible for the remaining $65 million, together funding
A METRO | 2B
because of the size,” he said. “It would be difficult to drive around and not see someone you know.” Hoover said college is what you make it. Some people are only involved in the party-scene and everything outside of Mission Street is foreign to them, he said. “You can involve yourself in the community and see what the community has to offer,” he said. He said there is a disconnection between CMU and the
By Justin Hicks Staff Reporter
In recent years, Central Michigan University athletics has seen its ups and downs. After sitting atop the Mid-American Conference in the 2009-10 season in football, soccer, wrestling, gymnastics and baseball, multiple programs have moved into “rebuilding periods.” CMU’s football program won three MAC titles and appeared in four bowl games between 2006 and 2009. Since then, the team has recorded back-to-back 3-9 seasons. “For the most part, I would say CMU athletics are in a period of rebuilding, judging the major sports programs here,” said Dearborn senior Joe Hunter. “The men’s basketball and football teams have both struggled the last few years, but the future looks bright.” As the top grossing programs work to rebuild their winning name, CMU has had its share of success elsewhere. The wrestling team has finished 10 straight seasons as MAC champions, while the baseball team won back-to-back MAC West division titles. Volleyball won its first MAC championship in 2011, and both the soccer and gymnastics teams have won two consecutive MAC championships.
A ATHLETICS | 4B
A FACILITIES | 3B
ATTE N DA N C E
Football numbers 5,000 under mark By Matt Thompson Sports Editor
Mbaigoto’s layup. Just like that it was up to a 10-point lead with 7:53 remaining. EMU cut the lead down six, but could never get over the hump, giving the Eagles their fourth loss in five games.
The football attendance report to the NCAA from Central Michigan athletics was nearly 5,000 people short of the Division I benchmark needed once every two years. The CMU average attendance was 10,466 last season, while the average announced attendance at the game was 15,291. Only 4,473 of those people-per-game actually paid for tickets. The 5,993 average people that get in for free mostly consist of students and free tickets distributed to the public. “We’ve tried to pump those tickets out,” Athletics Director Heeke said two weeks ago. Near the end game against Ohio, CMU athletics announced an attendance of 12,127, but then reported to the NCAA that it was 4,336. The 7,791 difference between what CMU announced and reported to the NCAA was noticeable. Heeke said two weeks ago CMU took the clicker count (from at the gate), student groups (band, cheerleaders, working staff and possibly players) and tickets distributed to calculate the game-day announced attendance. Deputy Director of Athletics Derek van der Merwe said Monday, he and the ticket office are in charge of coming up with that number. But he said it was a “estimate,” that takes in account how many tickets were given out and 8,000 to 9,000 thousand students they expect to come per game. “That is what we’ve done historically and is the industry standard,” van der Merwe said. When asked how the “cite estimate” was calculated he responded, “unscientific.”
A BASKETBALL | 2A
A NCAA | 2A
jeff smith/staff photographer
Sophomore forward Jevon Harden holds up his arms and celebrates with the team after winning over EMU Tuesday evening at McGuirk Arena. CMU won 55-52, ending a nine-game long losing streak.
BACK IN THE BALL GAME By John Manzo | Senior Reporter
Too bad the Central Michigan men’s basketball team doesn’t play Eastern Michigan every game. A team that continuously approached the post game press conferences with disappointed faces had a reason to smile Tuesday night inside McGuirk Arena after beating EMU 55-52 in front of 1,043 fans. “I’m so happy that we ended this skid,” head coach Ernie Zeigler said. “Our guys did a heck of a job here, persevering and fighting through. We’ve been going through a really, really tough stretch. I told our guys to start this week, tough things don’t last, but tough guys do.” CMU (8-17, 3-9 in Mid American Conference) longed for a win amidst a nine-game losing streak that dates back to the team’s last win which was over EMU Jan. 11. Eight CMU players scored in the winning effort.
“It’s a great feeling,” freshman Austin McBroom said. “We have a lot of guys that can score and everybody came through tonight. It was a team win.” CMU held an 11-point lead with 11:09 left in the first half, only to see it dwindled down to as little
libby march/staff photographer
Freshman guard Austin McBroom leaps to take a shot during CMU’s game against EMU Tuesday night at McGuirk Arena.
as one after an Anthony Strickland 3-point basket with 11:54 remaining in the game. The run was halted when the game became the McBroom show. The point guard converted on three-straight jump shots after junior Olivier
Biosciences building expected to cost $95 million By Ariel Black Managing Editor
While Starrs said she feels everything is located on Mission Street, others know there is more to Mount Pleasant than just the busy road with fast food chains. Grand Rapids senior Michael Hoover said as a freshman, he didn’t know about the community. “I never even went to the downtown area,” he said. Gradually, he said he got more involved in the community as the years progressed, and he’s thankful he grasped that opportunity. “I really like Mount Pleasant
is in the documentation of the Events Center project. FA C I L I T I E S “We have been very clear mediately after the discusthat I was responsible for tak- sion, and by 5:30 p.m. a link ing those documents to the to the Frequently Asked QuesHow do state — it is called a uses and tions page, citing the universistudents feel finances document,” she said. ty’s refusal to use public funds about the “Any time there is a building to the project, on the Events Athletics on your campus, no matter Center page was taken down. Department? how it’s funded, you have to The page can still be viewed submit those documents. It online. Links to a PDF of the was very clear (in those docu- campaign brochure have also ments) that $11 million would been deleted. Screenshots of be raised privately and the the original statements from $10 million would come from the webpage before they were the university. I think we have changed can be viewed on given the history and the re- cm-life.com. cord of what happened on this project. We have documentaA ROSS | 2a
By David Oltean Senior Reporter
ACMED | 2A
How does Mount Pleasant tion to show youcontribute that.” to college imWilbur left the A T H Lmeeting ETICS ex-
Students may acknowledge and relish the small-town feel Mount Pleasant offers, but the heart of the community is largely ignored. “Mount Pleasant is small enough where I feel at home, but big enough where I can still spread my wings,” said Oakland senior Lindsay Da Silva. When deciding between Central Michigan University and Michigan State University, she said CMU had what she was looking for in a campus and community. “East Lansing was way too big,” she said. “I love Mount Pleasant, love the town, love the people.” For Linden freshman Danielle Starrs, Mount Pleasant had the small-town feel that reminded her of home. Being without a car, Starrs said she appreciates how everything she needs can be found on Mission Street. “Everything is here, so it makes it nice,” she said.
A-Senate to talk with trustees The executive board of Central Michigan University’s Academic Senate will meet with the board of trustees today to discuss problems with university governance. The meeting, which will be held privately from 4 to 5 p.m., will consist of the six members of the A-Senate’s executive board and the board of trustees. Following the meeting, the Trustee-Faculty Liason Committee will meet with the board of trustees from 5 to 6 p.m. Among the issues being discussed at the meeting, the two parties will share their views about shared governance, the College of Medicine, campus climate and the A-Senate’s vote of no confidence against University President George Ross and Provost Gary Shapiro. A-Senate Chairman Jim McDonald said the meeting will be an open dialogue for the parties to discuss current issues with university governance. “We were told that they would like a candid discussion,” McDonald said. “They want us to tell them what we think is going on on campus as far as transparency, communication, shared governance and what’s working and what isn’t working.” McDonald said one reason the meeting is being held is because of the Dec. 8 vote of no confidence against Ross and Shapiro, which has received endorsements from at least 10 different academic departments. “The beginning of this was in December when the TrusteeFaculty Liason Committee had an open discussion about the College of Medicine,” McDonald said. “Now, this is coming on the heels of all the faculties endorsing the vote of no confidence and the president and provost meeting with individual departments.”
A CMU | 4B
the building that will hold research, lab rooms and teaching facilities for biotechnology and medical classes. “$65 million will be dependent on university resources (and) how the fundraising goes,” he said. On Dec. 14, 2010, Central Michigan Life reported biosciences building was one of 23 college infrastructure projects approved by the Michigan Legislature in the capital outlay bill, originally set to cost $65 million total to build, with the $30 mil-
lion coming from state allocation. “We may also use university funds, but we really do not know the answer at this point,” said Vice President of Development and External Relations Kathy Wilbur in 2010, adding that the project had been in the works for three years. At that time, Wilbur said private fundraising would most likely finance the remaining costs of the building not covered by state funding, but an official funding source was yet to be de-
termined. The $30 million allocation was approved by former Gov. Jennifer Granholm, but plans changed when Gov. Rick Snyder took office. On April 1, 2011, a letter from Snyder’s office was sent to Ross stating the university was required to submit a preliminary design of the biosciences building by Nov. 4 to be considered for funding. CMU is currently awaiting approval from the state, to be determined in March, as report-
ed in January after an interview with Vice President of Facilities Management Steve Lawrence. Upon its approval, construction is estimated to take 28 months. If the biosciences building is not chosen for funding now, it may be chosen later because there is no set time for when capital outlay projects can be funded, Wilbur said. - Staff Reporter Lonnie Allen contributed to this report. university@cm-life.com
93 Years of Serving as Central Michigan University’s Independent Voice
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