RAVE About 150 party in Woldt lobby, 5B
roller derby | Mount Pleasant team hits the rink, 3A
SPRING FOOTBALL After coaching Enos at MSU, Watts returns on his offense, 1B
Central Michigan Life
Monday, March 28, 2011
Mount Pleasant, Mich.
[cm-life.com]
Completion date for SAC facelift April 25
Residence life
RAs, MAs chosen for fall 2011 semester
Delay spurred by previous lead, asbestos problems
55-60 percent will return to positions
By Ariel Black Senior Reporter
Health-minded students will have a few more cramped weeks with the completion date for the Student Activity Center’s Fitness Center renovation pushed to April 25. Stan Shingles, assistant vice president of University Recreation, said the plan for construction and moving in equipment is now on track. The facility is getting finalized, he said, and equipment is being ordered. He said the project was delayed for four weeks because of the discovery of lead and asbestos in the facility in January. “Things have been going extremely well and moving the fitness center to a multi-activity center worked out better than we had expected,” Shingles said. “It helped because we weren’t forced to hurry with construction in any way. We could take the time that was needed.” Shingles said the construction has been a bit inconvenient, but things are coming together nicely. The floor will be finished this week, and all the equipment will be moved in the weekend of Easter, or April 24. Construction on the SAC and Rose pools has been underway for the majority of the school year, and several students have felt the impact of those renovations firsthand. “First semester was really tough when we had to practice in the SAC pool instead of Rose,” said Southfield sophomore J.D. Drain, president of the water polo club. “We had one-hour practices twice a week, which made us have to compact everything we needed to teach.” The completion date of the pools kept getting pushed back, and Events Center construction made the projects a low priority, Drain said. “However, when everything was done, I thought they had done a wonderful job,” he said. Davison senior Jessica Callis visits the fitness center often and said the construction has not been a huge inA SAC | 2A
By Randi Shaffer Senior Reporter
photos by Bethany Walter/staff photographer
University of Notre Dame junior Kim Julian, left, and Michigan State University junior Josh Goethals help fellow squad member and Michigan State University junior Frank Varner after he had been “injured” on a situation tactical exercise on Saturday morning at Fort Custer in Augusta, Mich. Varner was “shot” by a commanding military science senior who shouted “bang” and ordered Varner to fall. The military science students were participating in combative field training exercises.
Tactical Training
ROTC cadets exercise combat, land navigation skills in weekend retreat By Mike Nichols | Senior Reporter
The smell of gunpowder filled the frigid air at Fort Custer in Augusta this weekend. CMU’s ROTC joined 406 cadets from the University of Notre Dame, University of Michigan, Michigan State, Eastern Michigan, Western Michigan and Ferris State universities to take part in the Combative Field Training Exercise. The CFTX is a weekend-long series of drills divided into two parts: Land navigation and situation tactical exercises. Lt. Col. Aaron Kalloch, director of the ROTC program at CMU, said CFTX prepares military science cadets in their third year for the Leader Development and Assessment Course they will attend over the summer. Fourthyear students, who have already taken LDAC, plan the CFTX. “This event helps us be really successful as a group of schools at LDAC,” Kalloch said. “For us, it’s about 95 percent (that pass).” The cadets kicked off their training with nighttime land navigation in 19-degree weather. Lone cadets equipped with a compass and a map had four hours to find at least three out of five given points in a twomile long, two-mile wide wooded perimeter.
Grand Rapids sophomore Steve Scoles aims his gun as his squad prepares to attack an enemy camp on Saturday afternoon at Fort Custer in Augusta, Mich. The military science students were participating in combative field training exercises.
“This event helps us be really successful as a group of schools at LDAC. For us, it’s about 95 percent (that pass).” Lt. Col. Aaron Kalloch, director of ROTC at CMU Byron Nolde said the chilly nighttime stroll relaxed him. “I’ll just relax and munch on food while I walk,” the Metamora junior said. “I found four out of five which is pretty good. The LDAC terrain will be easy.” From 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, cadets undertook six different types of squadtactical exercise missions. Facing combat scenarios including attacking a bunker, ambushing a patrol and
a reconnaissance mission, cadets armed with M16 assault rifles fired blank rounds at fourth-year cadets playing the role of the opposing force. The senior students offered critique after the missions were completed. “Really we’re not grading the tactics,” said Bronson senior Emily Nolin. “We’re grading on their ability to A ROTC | 2A
CMU’s 22 residence halls are preparing to meet their new staff members. Assistant Director of Residence Life Kim Voisin said 69 new staff members have been hired to fill current resident assistant and multicultural adviser positions that will be available next fall. Though the office of Residence Life does not have a sophisticated software system to track the actual numbers, Voisin estimates between 55 and 60 percent of RAs and MAs return to their position for the following school year. “It varies from year to year,” she said. “Some years we end up hiring 60 people, some years we hire 80.” CMU has 146 RA positions and 22 MA positions each year. Voisin said each RA who chooses to leave their position does so for his or her own personal reason. “It’s actually pretty evenly spread,” she said. “Almost half of the people that don’t come back are graduating. Some leave to student teach, some leave because they have an internship and the other half, they want to live off campus.” White Lake senior Kevin Birkholz is part of that percentage of RAs who leave to
A RA | 2A
[inside] NEWS w EDITORIAL: Isabella County’s growth in Census a sign of improvement, 4A w Safety a concern after snow fell from Residence Hall last week, 6A
SPORTS w Baseball swept by Miami in first MAC series, 1B w RB Austin White fine with sitting out this season, 1B
cm-life.com w Check this today’s Week in Photos gallery!
Eminem a no-show at Yelawolf, Slaughterhouse concert About 450 wait outside Plachta By Brad Canze News Copy Chief
paige calamari/staff photographer
Port Huron junior Cody Bawol shakes the hand of Royce da 5’9” of Slaughterhouse on Friday night in Warriner Hall’s Plachta Auditorium. Bawol was one of the first people in line for Friday’s performances by Yelawolf and Slaughterhouse.
Although Eminem did not make a surprise appearance as rumored, about 450 attendants bounced enthusiastically to the hip hop of Yelawolf and Slaughterhouse Friday night. The doors to the concert at Warriner Hall’s Plachta Auditorium were scheduled to open at 7:30 p.m. Concert sponsor Plus One Entertainment postponed the show and did not open the doors until 8:08 p.m.
The crowd began to get restless, chanting “open up!” for about a minute. “I wanted to make sure I’m in the front row,” said Port Huron junior Cody Bawol, who was the first person in line in the Warriner lobby and waited more than 3 hours to get into Plachta. “I’m kind of pumped they came here to CMU.” The two acts were both recently signed to Eminem’s label Shady Records, and the night before their show in Plachta, Eminem joined Yelawolf and Slaughterhouse on stage in Royal Oak for an encore of their collaboration “2.0 Boys.” Rumors spread rapidly, unchecked by Plus
One and others involved, that the same would happen at CMU. “(My friend) said Eminem was going to be here and we went and bought tickets,” said Pinckney sophomore Sarah Deitert. Despite disappointment from Eminem’s absence, fans gave strong reactions to rapper Yelawolf and Slaughterhouse, a group consisting of veteran rappers Joe Budden, Crooked I and Joell Ortiz, and Detroit rapper Royce da 5’9”. Yelawolf performed for about 40 minutes and Slaughterhouse followed with a performance of more than an hour.
91 Years of Serving as Central Michigan University’s Independent Voice
“I did a huge college tour with Wiz Khalifa,” Yelawolf said in an interview before the show. “(College students) just want to have fun. I can’t wait to get out there.” Yelawolf said he was coming off the emotional high of performing with Slaughterhouse and Eminem the night before. “First night onstage with Slaughterhouse and Eminem? That was epic,” he said. “That was a pivotal point in my career. It was special, man.” Onstage, Royce da 5’9” said driving only two hours from Detroit for a show
A concert | 7A