Baseball opens mac tournament as no. 1 seed, 5a
Summer | Spray park keeps kids cool in the heat , 3A
Central Michigan Life
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Mount Pleasant, Mich.
[cm-life.com]
Ross’ goals to be put into action immediately Approved Monday at special Board of Trustee meeting By Eric Dresden Editor in Chief
About three months into his term University President George Ross has established his first plans for Central
Michigan University. In a special meeting of the Board of Trustees Monday, Ross explained his goals for 2010-2011. “What I want to do, as we start there and going forward, is make sure that our university mission ... will align with these desires and aspirations of various constituiant groups around campus,” Ross said. “First and
foremost we have to provide quality education, that’s part of the mission.” No trustees attended the meeting in person but all members were involved via a conference call said Mary Jane Flanagan, executive assistant to the president. No members of the public attended either. Ross focused on six goals he wanted CMU to improve
on: a strategic direction, student success, diversity and global goals, scholarships, research and public activity, partnership and public engagement and resources, infrastructure and culture. Several smaller actions under the main goals will begin immediately, Ross said. “We’re already starting
Goals for President Ross w w w w w w
Goal Goal Goal Goal Goal Goal
One: Strategic Direction For Central Michigan University Two: Student Success Three: Diversity And Global Four: Scholarship, Research And Creative Activity Five: Partnership And Public Engagement Six: Resources, Infrastructure And Culture
Check cm-life.com for the complete listing of Ross’ goals
A ross | 2A
Mount Pleasant man charged in weekend stabbing 20-year-old indicted on two felony counts By Eric Dresden Editor in Chief
photo illustration by libby march/staff photographer
Compute this CMU gets major upgrades with e-mail, blackboard and others By Connor Sheridan News Editor
Some departments at Central Michigan University can take the summer to recoup and refresh between semesters. This isn’t that kind of summer for Information Technology. Several changes intended to promote mobility and student success are being implemented or are planned for the coming summer months. These include the recent
change to iCentral as default online portal and upcoming reworking of the e-mail systems and Blackboard service. Roger Rehm, vice president of Information Technology, said he sees the multi-pronged initiative as a convergence of several factors. “It’s an intersection of a lot of needs and opportunities,” Rehm said. One concern is the need for a tighter budget as Michigan struggles with an economic depression.
The combined changes in the works save the university about $1.5 million, Rehm said. He said the total budgetary savings may be less as many activities could, for example, make each task performed take 1/16 less time per employee - a relatively small amount and difficult to pinpoint, but significant when considered at a universitywide scale. A tech | 2A
Tech Change Schedule w w w w w w
iCentral transition- May 15 E-mail service change- Late June for students, in the following weeks for faculty and staff New printing solution- End of June, beginning of summer II semester Lab management change- July 1, Grawn and Woldt computer labs will be officially operated by Information Technology Blackboard update- August, before fall semester begins Enforced password change- Late October and early November for students with unchanged passwords, will not occur for those who have recently changed
Geoffrey David Lauer, 20, of Mount Pleasant has been charged with two felonies after a stabbing incident in Island Park Saturday. Geoffrey David The incident hap- Lauer pened about 9:05 p.m. at Island Park during a wedding reception in a pavilion, the Mount Pleasant Police Department said. Witnesses say the suspect approached the party asking for beer and said he would provide a gift. After being asked to leave, an argument began and witnesses said an unknown individual pushed the suspect, police said. Public Information Officer Dave Sabuda said the suspect then pulled out a knife and pointed it at an individual at the party who proceeded to punch the suspect. “When he punched the suspect … he punched in self-defense,” Sabuda said. A 22-year old Weidman resident was stabbed after the suspect was struck and the suspect ran away, police said. Lauer was found soon after and arrested. The Wiedman resident was treated and released at Central Michigan Community Hospital. Sabuda said the suspect was intoxicated at the time of his arrest. “The suspect had been drinking,” Sabuda said. “Originally they put a minor in possession on the warrant.” Sabuda said he did not know why the MIP was taken off. After being arraigned on Sunday,
A stabbing | 2A
College of Medicine land reconveyed to CMU from state Construction began in early May By Amelia Eramya Staff Reporter
Central Michigan University officially owns the land to build the College of Medicine. The Board of Trustees approved a reconveyance of land back to CMU for the College of Medicine on Monday during a special session. The reconveyance was needed because the site for the College of Medicine was located on land set for the Health Professions Building.
“We have asked the state and they have granted approval to give back the land to CMU,” said Director of Public Relations Steve Smith. The State Building Authority, a Lansing agency that issues and sells bonds for acquisition and construction of state facilities and equipment on behalf of other state agencies, approved CMU’s request May 18. Burdette said the state of Michigan is conveying the land back to CMU because the university is paying for the College of Medicine. “Now CMU will construct the addition to the Health Profes-
sions Building which will house the College of Medicine,” Burdette said. Since the state of Michigan funded the Health Professions Building and is the lessee, CMU requested part of the vacant land to begin the addition of the building. “When (CMU) built the Health Professions Building, it was funded by state funds,” Smith said. “Once the bonds are paid off, that property becomes CMU’s.” He said CMU has been working on this process since the approval of the College of Medicine in 2009.
“We knew that right from the beginning,” Smith said. “It’s a procedural type of issue.” The state of Michigan and the State Building Authority had to look at the request administratively and politically, Burdette said. “In Lansing time, it went by quickly,” Burdette said. Construction started the week after commencement and is planned to be finished for the inaugural class of 2012, Smith said. -Senior Reporter Joe Borlick contributed to this report. Libby March/staff photographer
university@cm-life.com
Construction continues on the future site of the CMU College of Medicine, projected to be completed fall 2012.
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2A || Wednesday, May 26, 2010 || Central Michigan Life
EVENTS CALENDAR
tech | continued from 1A
Today
w A Special Olympics Fundraiser will take place at La Senorita Mexican Restaurant, 1516 S. Mission St. Twenty percent of sales will be donated to Special Olympics Michigan. w An hour-long educational session on retention at Central Michigan University will begin at 2 p.m. in the Education and Human Services Building room 315. w Carolynn Ashley Cosan’s soccer jersey will be retired at 5:45 p.m. at the Mount Pleasant High School soccer field. It is senior night for the MPHS soccer team.
Friday
w A new employee benefit and retirement orientation will take place at 8:30 a.m. in Foust Hall room 133. w Wheatland Traditional Arts weekend in Remus will begin and continue for three days. The event includes instruction and performances in dance, art and instruments.
Other changes He said the central element of the CMU experience for many students is its presence online - from its Mount Pleasant campus to any of its offcampus programs. The foundation of that experience is iCentral, a new portal which has been in testing for several months and became the new default on May 15. “(The transition) has not been as smooth as we would have liked,” Rehm said. He said long load times and trouble accessing iCentral’s services had plagued many users. IT is now working with Microsoft to solve these problems and increase speed and reliability. Rehm said the most noticeable change for students coming back in the fall will likely be in the e-mail system. “For any student familiar with any modern interface, Google, Yahoo, this will be like falling off a log,” Rehm said. He said the new Zimbrabased system, which costs just over $200,000 for its first year of use, will be much easier to
cm-life.com use and more in line with the “Web 2.0” movement of web design. But it will also contain greatly increased functionality, said Help Desk Manager Jeffrey McDowell. “There’s a lot more rich feature set,” he said. One new feature is the “My Briefcase” service which lets students use 10 gigabytes of storage to store, share and collaborate on documents with people inside and outside of the university system. Derek Leib, assistant manager at the Help Desk, said the service will allow much easier mobile phone support, including iPhones, Blackberry and Android devices, as well as support for Outlook and Mail on Macs. “There was extensive testing (on the service) done with various support groups,” Leib said. There will be a period of a few hours when students can not access e-mail while the transition is made at the end of June, though it will be done during a time of low usage, Rehm said. The university’s public labs will be converted to a print quota-based system at the end of June as the summer II semester begins.
The new system will give students $10 worth of prints, or about 250 black and white pages, for free and allow for more to be bought in $2 increments. Grawn Hall’s computer lab will no longer be the College of Business Administration’s responsibility and Information Technology will be in charge of the lab on July 1. Rehm said the lab will still be supported by the CBA and that bringing both it and Woldt Hall’s lab under one administration will make it easier to ensure at least one public lab is available as often as possible. CMU will also update to Blackboard 9.1 from version 8 before the fall semester begins. Rehm said the new version is a bottom-up redesign that includes several tools like integrated collaboration tools and blogs. Though CMU retained its license to use Blackboard at slightly over $90,000 annually, the decision was made to hold off on upgrading last year until any major problems with the new version were worked out. “We didn’t want to go live with something new, and I’m glad we didn’t in retrospect,” Rehm said.
He also had a smaller goal to work with the City of Mount Pleasant to create integrated roadways and bike paths. Ross’s contract includes a clause that states he will make 20 percent of his $350,000 annual salary as a bonus if he meets the goals. Trustees will determine if he is meeting the goals, Ross said. Ross said he spoke with several senior staff members about his plans. Kathy Wilbur, vice president of Government Relations and Public Affairs, said Ross’ goals were ideal. “I think they certainly focus on what our attention should be on and I think that’s very critical,” she said. “I think anytime, especially
when a new leader comes in, you really want to set out what your goals are, what the steps should be.” David Burdette, vice president of Finance and Administrative Services said he plans on meeting Ross’ goals by starting from the ground up. He said he will assemble a team first to focus on how they can meet them and then get to work. “(The goals) are aggressive, they are good and they are the right thing,” he said. “What I think they will help us do is guide the investment of where CMU’s dollars ought to go.”
CLYDESDALES |
Sean proctor/photo editor
Shepherd resident Karl Nitschke lifts his 5-year-old daughter, Sara, onto his shoulders so she can see the Budweiser Clydesdales as the ride by Thursday afternoon. The eighthorse team’s parade through a crowded downtown Mount Pleasant was arranged by Fabiano Brothers Inc. to celebrate its new beer and wine distribution center in Bay City and its 125th anniversary in business. Hundreds of people watched and cheered as the horses marched through the streets, with occasional stops to allow people to take pictures with the horses.
studentlife@cmlife.com
Saturday
w A Scottish heritage festival at Alma College will begin at 8 a.m. The festival of bagpipes and highland dancing will end Saturday at 5 p.m.
ross | continued from 1A
w Youth Baseball Memorial Weekend Tournament at the Union Township Complex. Entry is $325 per team.
Corrections Central Michigan Life has a long-standing commitment to fair and accurate reporting. It is our policy to correct factual errors. Please e-mail news@cm-life.com. © Central Michigan Life 2009 Volume 91, Number 86
these things,” he said. “The bigger pieces, we need a full complement (to get accomplished) … we’re preparing to aggressively go after a strategic plan.” One of the smaller actions under the diversity and global goal was to increase the number of student, faculty and research agreements with international universities by five percent by June of 2011. “Our total enrollment (of international students) is really low,” he said. “I thought that five percent was a modest stretch goal for this first year.”
stabbing |
WEATHER FORECAST Today High 87/Low 62 Partly Cloudy
Thursday High 83/Low 55 AM Showers
Friday High 79/Low 53 Sunny
university@cmlife.com
20 percent chance of precipitation
30 percent chance of precipitation
0 percent chance of precipitation
continued from 1A
Lauer had a two-count felony warrant issued against him and is charged with assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder and assault with a dangerous weapon (Felonious Assault). His bond was set at $8,000. Sabuda said the MPPD is still trying to recover the knife.
The Isabella County Dive Team was called in to try to locate it in the Chippewa River on Monday but could not find it, said Isabella County Sheriff Leo Mioduszewski. He said unless new information is gathered there are no plans to dive anywhere else to search for the knife. metro@cm-life.com
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[News/sports]
Central Michigan Life || Wednesday, May 26, 2010 || 3A
SUMMER FUN | Kids stay cool with the ground fountain in Island Park
Lara McDonald, of Mount Pleasant, holds her daughter Elise McDonald, 9 months, over a spray of water from a ground fountain Monday at Island Park spray park. Lara graduated from Central Michigan University and is currently working toward her nursing degree at Mid Michigan Community College.
Wyatt Miller, 5, enjoys water and community with children running and splashing through a summer evening Monday at Island Park Spray Park. Wyatt has high-functioning autism. “That is the face he makes when he’s in total bliss,” said his mother, April Miller, of Alma. “He has a connection to water that is absolutely primal.” April said her son’s whole body shakes with intense excitement when he makes this face. Currently homeschooled, Wyatt will attend Luce Road Elementary in Alma for kindergarten this fall.
photos by libby march/staff photographer
Michigan legislation could entice 80 to 100 at CMU to retire soon By Joe Borlik Senior Reporter
Reform for the Michigan Public School Employee Retirement System could encourage retirement for some at Central Michigan University. Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed legislation reforming the MPSERS into law Wednesday. Starting July 1, all active employees enrolled in MPSERS who do not choose to retire early will have a 3 percent pay deduction which goes toward retiree health costs.
About 200 CMU employees are eligible for early retirement, said Jacqueline Pridgeon, interim director of benefits and wellness. “It could mean early retirement for a lot of people,” Pridgeon said. She said people looking toward retirement next year may consider retiring this year depending on their individual situations. School employees have until June 11 to indicate whether or not they plan on retiring this summer. Pridgeon said of the approx-
imately 200 people at CMU eligible for early retirement, about 80 to 100 are expected to take advantage of the incentive. To be covered under MPSPERS, an employee must be considered a regular fulltime retiree. “It could effect any employee, group or regular staff,” Pridgeon said. “They have to meet the critera.” To meet the criteria, a retiree would have to be at least 60 years old with 10 years of service or 55 years old with 30 years of service.
Gov. Granholm said the retirement reforms are expected to save the state about $265 million in the 2011 fiscal year and $1.97 billion in the next 10 years. Granholm said the incentives will encourage about 47,000 people in the state to retire this year. “The reforms in this legislation will save state government and Michigan school districts hundreds of millions of dollars,” Granholm said in a press release. metro@cm-life.com
Assistant coach, player depart women’s basketball team By Aaron McMann Senior Reporter
Two more have left the Central Michigan women’s basketball team. Assistant coach Bill Ferrara has left CMU to become an assistant coach for the Hofstra women’s basketball team. CMU Athletic Director Dave Heeke confirmed the move over the weekend. “Bill had the opportunity to become a top assistant and recruiting coordinator at Hofstra and took it,” Heeke said. “Anyone who knows Bill knows he wants to become a head coach one day and this is just a natural step in the process.” Stephen Gorchov, associate director of athletics communications at Hofstra, would not confirm the signing when reached for comment on Tuesday, but did say an announcement is forthcoming. On May 18, Ferrara tweeted on the CMU women’s basketball Twitter account: “Thank
you CMU for 3 great years. Courtney and I will always cherish our time with all of you. Fire Up Chips!” Heeke said the interview process for a replacement assistant is set to begin this week. Ferrara spent three seasons as an assistant at CMU under head coach Sue Guevara. He joined the Chippewas in May 2007 after working as the video coordinator for the Auburn women’s basketball team, where Guevara served as an assistant. A big proponent of the runand-gun style of play, Ferrara was put in charge of the offense for the 2008-09 season. That year, CMU finished 1814 while averaging 78.3 points per game, good for fourth in the nation. He served as the team’s recruiting coordinator last season and helped land Crystal Bradford (Inkster High School) for the 2011 recruiting class. Bradford is ranked No. 29 in the nation according to espn.com. “We don’t see it negatively
impacting the recruiting process,” Heeke said. “He did have a big impact in that area but with Sue’s reputation as one of the best, we think we’ll be fine.” Guevara declined to comment until after the search for a replacement is over. Ferrara could not be reached for comment. ANOTHER PLAYER LEAVES Cheritee Green has also left the CMU women’s basketball team. The 6-foot-2 sophomore transferred to Saginaw Valley State University following last season. “The coaching staff is great, the school is great and my teammates were great,” Green said on Monday. “(I know) I did play, but I’m a hard worker and my coaches know I’m a hard worker. I just didn’t want to sit and wait until the end of a game to play.” Green averaged 8.3 minutes while playing in nine games as a redshirt freshman last season for the Chippewas. She scored two points,
grabbed seven rebounds and had two blocks in the team’s 84-75 upset win against Louisville on Dec. 2. Green said Guevara was very helpful in finding her another place to play, even calling SVSU head coach Shannon Baugh. “My thing was I wanted to go to another D-1 school, but I didn’t want to sit out another year,” Green said. “I really did enjoy my time at Central Michigan. I appreciate everything they did for me, but I’m ready to play.” She also considered Wayne State, Grand Valley State, Aquanis and Davenport. Green’s departure marks the third player to leave the team following the 2009-10 season. Central Michigan Life first reported last month that freshman guards Rachel and Stefanie Mauk, citing unhappiness, decided to leave CMU following the team’s exit from the Mid-American Conference tournament in March. sports@cm-life.com
voices Central Michigan Life
4A Wednesday, May 26, 2010
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” – The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
[cm-life.com/category/opinion]
Editorial Board: Eric Dresden, Editor
in
Chief | Connor Sheridan, News Editor | Aaron McMann, Senior Reporter
EDITORIAL | Nearly no notifications about Board meeting
Public comment?
I
n an ironic moment during Monday’s special Board of Trustees meeting, Chairwoman Stephanie Comai asked for public comment from anyone attending. There was one major problem: there was not a single member of the public in attendance. The room was filled with administrators listening to the board discuss the land for the College of Medicine as well as University President George Ross’ goals for the next academic year. CM Life was the only media in attendance. While Comai was attending
via conference call and therefore could not see the fact that no members of the public attended, this illuminates a major problem. The public was never directly notified. On Saturday morning, Central Michigan Life was informed of the
special session via e-mail. Despite the fact that CM Life was the only media source to tell anybody about the session, nothing was done by the university to inform anybody about the meeting. No e-mails were sent out to staff, faculty or students, it didn’t appear in an events calendar and did not appear on anything from CMU Public Relations. Yet, after the meeting, an e-mail was sent via the listserv detailing what the trustees approved. Translation: we didn’t want you at the meeting but we will tell you what happened. While it is summer and there is no doubt few people show up to a meeting announced at such short notice, the university must be
consistent in its announcements to everyone through an e-mail rather than assume they won’t attend. One thing used for budget meetings this year was live streaming video, which allowed those who could not typically attend budget meetings the ability to be involved in the ever-changing budget process. During live steams of the budget forum several hundred people could easily participate and watch the discussion as if they were there. This could be instituted during board meetings and would allow people to be involved as CMU’s governing board makes decisions that could change the entire face of this campus.
NATE BEELER [CARTOON]
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
City Manager details plans to cut spending By Kathie Grinzinger City Manager
It was impossible to watch Michigan’s economy and assume the City of Mt.Pleasant would miraculously escape without a few bumps and bruises. In fact, because we predicted that 2011 would be our local Waterloo, we have been reducing costs, shoring up our savings, and eliminating positions through attrition over the last five years. It now looks like we will need to make a $1 million change in 2011 to keep our expenses and revenues in line. The Mt. Pleasant City Commission has begun preparing options for the next fiscal year and is seeking feedback from residents. A Town Hall meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.on Tuesday at City Hall, 320 W. Broadway. Residents can alsoexamine the proposed plan and provide feedback online at www.mt-pleasant.org/budget. Creating an operating budget is a delicate balancing act of providing the right services and programs at the right cost. In the past decade,the scales have been tougher to keep steady. Since 2001, the City has lost more than $1.2 million in state-shared revenue alone. This income is the portion of sales tax that the Michigan Constitution says should be returned to communities to pay for mandatory services like police and fire protection. No municipality likes budget cuts or service reductions. When faced with financial downturns, cities try to trim carefully so residents feel as little impact as possible. When faced with a $1 million shortfall, however, there is no way to avoid the fact that everyone will experience some kind of an impact if we are to keep our community healthy and financially stable. The 2011 Budget Plan proposed by City officials offers a solution that does not increase the millage rate; raises a few fees; and closes the majority of the gap between revenues and expenditures by reducing services. The details of this plan, including the proposed fee increases and service changes, can be found online at www.mt-pleasant.org/budget. Please let us know your thoughts by joining us at the Town Hall meeting.If you are unable to attend, you can submit comments online through the City’s website, call us at 779-5322, or mail your thoughts to the City Manager’s Office in City Hall.
Time for reality TV to get a dose of reality Since May 16 it has been difficult to go to any major Detroit media source without any new information about the death of 7-year-old Aiyana Stanley-Jones. Personally, after being exposed to her family and friends grief through several pictures, it became hard to accept something so terrible happened to somebody who had not even finished the second grade. While her death is both mortifying and saddening, I hope it serves at least one purpose. To show TV show creators when enough is enough. Over the last week and a half there has been speculation as to whether a reality TV
Eric Dresden Editor in Cheif crew filming a show called “The First 48” caused the police team to be on edge as they were followed. After the events that ended with the death of Stanley-Jones, Detroit Mayor Dave Bing banned reality TV cameras from following Detroit police on raids. Hopefully this serves as an example for other cities around the country that things can get out of
hand if they are treated like exploitative Hollywood exposes. At some point all reality TV is doing is bypassing the truth and actually trying to create a more compelling, but fictional, truth. TV cameras do not belong in a police raid at all. At the rate TV reality shows are going it is safe to figure during the next presidential
election there will be some show training participants to run for the presidency. Nearly everybody acts a little different when on camera and networks are thriving on the quirky behaviors of people who know they are being filmed. But this one-upmanship between networks to try and create the most “real” show is going to cause some major problems. It is okay when someone’s hidden backstabbing tendencies are revealed on “Survivor,” but things could easily get out of hand when that person is about to charge into a house, gun in hand to catch a criminal.
C M Y ou | What are your thoughts on the Arizona immigration laws?
Aaron McMann Senior Reporter
Baseball team peaking at the right time
A
lmost three weeks ago the Central Michigan baseball team looked to be at a crossroads. After winning 10 of its first 12 games in the Mid-American Conference, CMU found itself on top of the MAC West division, a spot nobody predicted them to be in at the beginning of the season. As expected, though, tough times were ahead. The team lost its first series of the season in late April, at home against Ball State. Then Northern Illinois took two out of three from the Chippewas, thrusting them from their first place throne. A 9-8 loss in 11 innings on May 7 against Toledo seemed to put a damper on the team’s hopes of winning the West Division, its first of several goals set at the beginning of the season. Coach Steve Jaksa wouldn’t admit it at the time when I asked if the game the next day was a must win. If there’s one thing I’ve noticed while covering this team, Jaksa doesn’t like to put pressure on his players. But Saturday, after the team won its first MAC regular season title since 2004, he noted how important the 10-6 win on May 8 was. Looking back, it set off a streak of eight consecutive conference wins, including two pivotal series sweeps that putting Chippewas in a position to contend for a title. A big part of the end-of-theseason run has been the seniors. After sitting out most of last year because of injury, third baseman James Teas really turned it on down the stretch. He had a monster series at Toledo, going 10-for-14 with nine RBIs. Starting pitcher Jesse Hernandez, the ace of the rotation, rebounded from a loss and pair of no decisions to lead the team to series-opening wins against WMU and EMU. Billy Anderson, after struggling offensively and being moved from the leadoff hitter spot to fifth in the lineup, has begun to return to old form with the bat. Dale Cornstubble, third on the team in batting average (.327) and tied for second in RBIs (39), has been a consistent force in the lineup all season. Ricky Clark and Tyler Kipkee have also shown their veteran leadership, coming through when needed most. This group of individuals turned it on at the right time. Now, they must continue during the MAC tournament. A regular season conference title is nice, but the team should not be satisfied. Time to go out and win the real one.
Central Michigan Life Editorial Eric Dresden, Editor in Chief Connor Sheridan, News Editor Chelsea Kleven, Design Editor Sean Proctor, Photo Editor Aaron McMann, Joe Borlick Senior Reporters Advertising Paige Winans, Advertising Manager
“It substitutes race for justifiable cause. It’s grossly unconstitutional.”
Professional staff Rox Ann Petoskey, Production Leader Kathy Simon, Assistant Director of Student Media Neil C. Hopp, Adviser to Central Michigan Life
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Sam Easter,
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“I think it’s the same as if someone were pulled over just because they were black or because they’re younger and it’s night time. I think it’s unfair.”
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5A || Wednesday, May 26, 2010 || Central Michigan Life
cm-life.com/category/sports
[BASEBALL]
CMU opens MAC tournament today against Ohio Chippewas No. 1 seed after winning regular season MAC title By Aaron McMann Senior Reporter
Toward the end of practice Monday, coach Steve Jaksa sat in the dugout and made jokes to those around him about his pitchers as they took batting practice. It was quite evident that confidence is definitely high on the Central Michigan baseball team, which begins play today as the top seed in the MidAmerican Conference tournament after winning the regular season title on Saturday. The Chippewas open the double-elimination tournament against No. 8 seed Ohio at 7:30 p.m. at VA Memorial Stadium in Chillicothe, Ohio. “Everybody in this tournament we’ve played,” Jaksa said. “They’re going to know us and we’re going to know them.” Staying true to the rotation, senior Jesse Hernandez (8-2, 4.07 ERA) will get the start after throwing a six-hit shutout in CMU’s 6-0 win against Eastern
Michigan on Thursday. “I’m going to go out there and throw strikes and maybe get that first win,” Hernandez said. “We’re just trying to take it one game at a time – that’s the only way you can look at a two-game elimination tournament.” CMU clinched the MAC championship on Saturday with a 10-2 win and series sweep against Eastern Michigan. Before the series began, the Chippewas found themselves one game back of Ball State in the MAC West standings. A sweep and some help from Toledo in its series against the Cardinals was needed. They got it. On the final day of the regular season, CMU completed a sweep of EMU and Toledo scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to come from behind and beat Ball State 8-7 and win the series, giving the Chippewas sole possession of a MAC title. “We’ve just got to not think about the championship,” Hernandez said. “We know we have it, but we have to play the same baseball we’ve been playing all year and not try and do things we’re not capable of doing.” Ohio finished the season 20-33 overall and 13-14 in the conference, tied for second
in the MAC East with Miami (OH), after getting swept by the RedHawks in Oxford, Ohio, last weekend.
Wednesday’s MAC tournament schedule
OHIO TURNAROUND CMU played Ohio in April at Theunissen Stadium, sweeping the series and outscoring the Bobcats 26-12. Since then, OU has played above .500 in the conference, including pulling off sweeps against Western Michigan, Buffalo and Akron. Part of the reason for the Bobcats’ improvement has been changes made to the pitching rotation. Junior Jason Moulton has settled in to the No. 1 role while Seth Streich, who started the season as the ace of the staff, has moved to second in the rotation. Expect Moulton (3-4, 3.93 ERA) to get the start today for Ohio. “They’ve changed their pitching rotation a little bit to try and accommodate the changes they needed to make,” Jaksa said. “I’ve kind of looked at where they were at and looked at their numbers a little bit and for them the biggest thing was trying to figure out their pitching staff.” The Bobcats rank seventh in the MAC in hitting with a .299
w No. 4 Ball State vs. No. 5 BGSU, 9 a.m. w No. 3 Toledo vs. No. 6 Miami, 12:30 p.m. w No. 2 Kent State vs. No. 7 EMU, 4 p.m. w No. 1 CMU vs. No. 8 Ohio, 7:30 p.m. All games to be played at VA Memorial Stadium in Chillicothe, Ohio team batting average, just below CMU’s .303 average. They are led by junior Gauntlett Eldemire, who ranks fourth in the conference with a .391 batting average and .487 on base percentage. Junior Robert Maddox III, hitting .377 with a MAC-leading 20 home runs and 76 RBIs, sits 10th in the MAC. “We feel that they do have a good hitting team but, at the same time, we feel good about what we bring to the table,” Jaksa said. “Pitching and defense are always going to be a staple for us and we’re going to have to be ready to do those two things.” sports@cm-life.com
SEAN PROCTOR/PHOTO EDITOR
Sophomore Zach Cooper (4-2) pitched eight innings in Saturday’s 10-2 MAC title game, holding Eastern Michigan to one unearned run on four hits while striking out six.
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Track and field sending nine athletes on to NCAA East Prelims in Greensboro, N.C. on Thursday. West Virginia, four Big Ten teams highlight 2010 soccer schedule released last week. Follow CMU through the MAC baseball tournament.