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Central Michigan Life
Monday, March 21, 2011
Mount Pleasant, Mich.
[cm-life.com]
Increase in tuition slated to buffer state cuts
St. Paddy’s spurred normal weekend activity Mount Pleasant Police issues 27 alcohol citations
President George Ross: Raise will be ‘modest’
By Orrin Shawl Staff Reporter
By Carisa Seltz University Editor
CMU received the largest funding cut of any other state university in Gov. Snyder’s recent budget proposal, and university officials are ready to accommodate the financial blow. If state lawmakers approve the proposal as is, CMU will receive $61,431,100 in state appropriations for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 — a 23.3-percent cut in funding from the current fiscal year when CMU received $80,132,000. Snyder set aside $83 million of additional funding for universities that do not raise tuition above 7.1 percent as an incentive. “The cut is even for everyone at 15 percent,” said Kurt Weiss, spokesman for the state budget office. “Where the variation comes into play is if universities do not hold their tuition costs down.” CMU could qualify for an additional $6,677,800 from the tuition incentive grant. In an interview March 17 with the CM Life Editorial Board, University President George Ross said there is no possibility that tuition will be raised by 7.1 percent or more. “There will be an increase,” he said. “It will be modest.” Weiss said that cutoff of 7.1 percent was selected because it was the average five-year tuition increase at all public universities. If a university cannot keep tuition below that figure, Weiss said its cut becomes what the average tuition hike was at that school. He said CMU’s average tuition hike was 8.3 percent. When calculating CMU’s tuition hikes, Ross hypothesized the state budget office did not account for the CMU Promise, which froze tuition for incoming students from 2005 to the sumA tuition | 2A
If you go ... w What: University Budget Forum w When: 6 to 7:30 p.m., Tuesday w Where: Charles V. Park Library Auditorium w Sponsored by the Student Government Association
photos by sara winkler/assistant photo editor
Dexter sophomore Mike Baker, left, and Pewamo junior Chris Walker simulate a building breach during the active shooter activity on Sunday afternoon outside of Finch Fieldhouse. The simulation was part of the Citizen’s Police Academy held by the CMU Police over the weekend.
Police
in
practice
Academy sessions give students, community experiences of training By Orrin Shawl | Staff Reporter
S
uspects have the right to remain silent, but all citizens had the right to learn hands-on police work at the Second Annual Citizens Police Academy. The sessions took place Saturday and Sunday in and around Finch Fieldhouse for students and community members who wanted to experience what it is like to work in the police force. “The purpose of it is to give them a taste of what actual law enforcement is like and what the academy is like,” said Officer Laura Rico of CMU Police. “There’s certain people on the bubble, they don’t know if they want to do it or not, so we give them insight to see what actual law enforcement is like.” The course was slightly more hands-on this year compared to last year, Rico said. “This year we’re trying to get your adrenaline going and your blood pumping since you have got actual scenarios that you’re going through,” she said.
A faulty BB gun lays on the floor with other materials the CMU Police used during an active shooter simulation outside of Finch Fieldhouse. Around 20 people participated in the event, according to Sgt. Trent Case, who said the department’s goal was to reach out to students and the community to give them a better understanding of the duties of law enforcement.
The academy began with physical training. The cadets then ran through the Michigan Certified Officer Law Enforcement Standards test to show them the necessary training to become a police officer. After lunch, cadets went through firearms training and were broken up into four different groups to rotate through the stations: active shooter, precision driving, siren stop and crime scene investigation. CMU Police Sgt. Dave Coffman was in charge of the precision driving station. He said operating a police vehicle is more difficult than it appears. “We’ve been letting them
Deadline to withdraw from courses is Friday By Darnell Gardner Staff Reporter
Kyle Alexander plans to withdraw from ENG 262: Masterpieces of European Literature because he is changing his major and no longer needs the credit. The St. Charles sophomore will turn in one of about 2,000 individual course withdrawal cards expected to be submitted by 5 p.m. on Friday, when they are due. “I’m changing my major to entrepreneurship,” Alexander said. “That class is really hard. I don’t want it to lower my G.P.A.” Assistant Director of Records Kay Rice said the num-
ber is not unusual. “In the fall semester there were 2,304 withdrawals,” Rice said. “Normally in spring there are a few less.” To withdraw from a course, students must have their professors sign a withdrawal request card from the Student Services Court or Registrar’s Office. Cards must then be returned to either office. Amber Loomis, manager of the Student Service Court, emphasized the importance of students speaking with student services advisers before returning their cards. “It’s very important for a student to inquire as to what their financial aid implications are,” Loomis said. “If
they aren’t meeting satisfactory progress, they may go on financial aid probation.” Meeting satisfactory progress is necessary to receive most federal, state and university financial aid. She said satisfactory progress means completing 75 percent of credits attempted each year, fulfilling degree requirements within 150 percent of the minimum number of credit hours required to complete a program of study and maintaining the required cumulative grade point average set by that program of study. Students not meeting the standard are warned before their financial aid is affected.
“It’s not an automatic suspension,” Loomis said. Students receive no refund for individual withdrawals, and a “W” is placed on transcripts in place of a letter grade. “It shows that the class was attempted, but it does not affect their GPA,” she said. Rice said students should speak with their professors prior to deciding to withdraw. “We emphasize that they need to talk to their instructor,” she said. “They could work something out with the instructor to do extra credit to help with their grade.” university@cm-life.com
go back and forth and backing into the garage, and trying to show them some pointers on how to steer and how to get the car to go where they need it to go,” Coffman said. The number of cadets increased to 30 from 20 last year. First-time cadet Codee Sutton and second-time cadet Jessica Hessling found the academy very informative. “They did a really good job on showing us that glimpse of what they go through and how to become a police officer,” said Sutton, a Croswell freshman. “The crime A police | 2A
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More than 90 Years of Serving as Central Michigan University’s Independent Voice
St. Patrick’s Day was for the most part similar to a typical weekend for area police forces. Capt. Tom Forsberg of Mount Pleasant Police said behavior throughout the student population and community was mostly reflective of what he has seen in the past on St. Patrick’s Day. “We increased the number of officers for the shifts we had last night by about 40 percent,” Forsberg said. “We did that directly in relation to what we’ve seen in past years for the number of calls for service that we receive over the course of the evening.” MPPD issued 27 alcohol violations, including minor in possession and open intoxicant on a public highway. Police charged two people with resisting and obstructing police, two with malicious destruction of property, one with assault and seven with disorderly conduct. One larceny from a vehicle was reported. Isabella County Sheriff Leo Mioduszewski said St. Patrick’s Day was busier than usual, although he could not provide statistics this weekend. “Thursday, we double up anyway. St. Patrick’s Day just happened to fall on a Thursday this year,” Mioduszewski said. “We really didn’t have any different problems than what we’ve had before. For the most part, everybody was cooperative.” CMU Police Chief Bill Yeagley said campus police did not come across anything that he was not prepared for. Specific crime numbers had not released as of Saturday afternoon. “Compared to last year, it was a little bit less active, also compared to the other Thursday nights we’ve been having lately,” Yeagley said. “The weather was much nicer, so the folks celebrating St. Patrick’s Day (during the day) were active, but it was nothing earth-shattering.” Most students celebrating the holiday were respectful and cooperative toward police, he said. “There were a few people who were not that way and we had to take enforcement action,” Yeagley said, “but overall the people were very positive.” metro@cm-life.com
[ON THE WEB] CM-LIFE.com w FOLLOWS on Facebook: Let us know your views about the conflict in Libya w Check out our updated University Budget page at cm-life.com/budget w Want to know the latest about local crimes and accidents? Visit our Police Log under Extras w WEEK IN PHOTOS: Find it under slideshows for memorable images from last week