LIFE CENTRAL MICHIGAN
[ I N S I D E] w CONSTRUCTION: Michigan Street
construction begins, to continue through August, 3
w RESIDENCE HALLS: Kitchen fire breaks out in Campbell Hall, 4 w BASKETBALL: Jackson, Harden not returning for men’s hoops, 5
Central Michigan University
| Wednesday, June 20, 2012
MAP KEY Parks
Hot Spot
Start
Finish
Wildlife
Bridge
Check out a handy, foldable map of the tubing route of the Chippewa River, 6
[cm-life.com]
F A C U LT Y A S S O C I AT I O N
UNIVERSITY
Suit filed against teachers’ union
Frey to stay on as president Continues duties for 2012-2013 academic year
By Brianna Owczarzak Staff Reporter Mike Nichols Managing Editor
By Orrin Shawl Staff Reporter
Laura Frey is returning to her role as the Faculty Association’s president. Library faculty member Krista Graham Laura Frey was originally president-elect but had to resign after taking a job at Georgia State University. In an email sent to FA members Monday and obtained by Central Michigan Life, Frey wrote “It was going to be my honor on June 30 to send you a communication to welcome Krista Graham into the role of FA President for the 2012-13 academic year. Instead, I regret to inform you that Krista has submitted her resignation, effective July 6.” Graham had served as the FA president-elect last year and has been a co-chair of the last two bargaining teams as part of her services on the last three bargaining teams. “What this immediately means for the FA is that I will continue the role of FA president as of July 1,” Frey wrote in the email. “This is because the FA Bylaws (Article IV, Section 2) provide that the FA presidentelect ‘Shall act in the absence or disability of the President.’” Frey was elected presidentelect in April for the 2012-13 academic year after Graham was expected to take over Frey’s role as president of the FA. The FA will hold an election for the new president-elect during the fall semester. Graham did not return calls seeking comment Tuesday. Tim Connors will fill the role of past president. Bylaws state when the office of the past president needs to be filled, the FA Board “may appoint any previous President of the Association to this position,” the email said. Frey was FA president when the union’s contract was not renewed last summer by Central Michigan University, resulting in one of the biggest conflicts in university history. Frey led the union on strike on the first day of fall semester classes before being ordered to return to classes by an Isabella County judge. The FA and CMU came to a tentative agreement on a three-year contract in December. Frey declined to comment when contacted.
KAITLIN THORNE/staff photographer
TOP: Charlevoix senior Jake Rankl dives into the Chippewa River Friday afternoon while his friends take a break from tubing to hang out at a popular sandbar along the river. LEFT: Mount Pleasant residents tube down the Chippewa River Friday afternoon. Tubing has become one of the most popular summer activities with many students and residents taking advantage of the summer weather. RIGHT: Mount Pleasant residents Chloe Huettig, 11, and Dallas McDonald, 11, tube down the rapids of the Chippewa River Friday afternoon at Nelson Park. Check out our map of the Chip River on page 6.
Ride of a lifetime Tubing the Chippewa River a summer must for locals By Justin Hicks l Staff Reporter
Summertime in Mount Pleasant goes hand in hand with riding down the calming Chippewa River year after year. One of the city’s most visited attractions, the 91.8-mile river gives locals a relaxing getaway during the season’s hottest days. Alpena senior Geoff Kowalski has been a regular tuber for the past three summers. Aside from being the main source of water for Mount Pleasant, the Chippewa River takes on the responsibility of entertaining the city’s inhabitants during the sweltering days of summer. “Tubing is always a blast, and I have yet to see someone on the Chip River who wasn’t smiling and having a great time,” Kowalski said. “The woods and nature scenery make it much more fun than being in a pool.” Free-floating tubing is the act of being carried down a body of water by the current, usually on an inflatable tube. Groups of tubers will often pull out a “beer raft,” designed to hold a cooler during the float down the
river. Chipp-A-Waters and Island Park are two of Mount Pleasant’s five parks along the river commonly used as entrance and exit points for tubers. The trip’s scenery might also include the city’s three other parks, as well as Isabella County’s three parks. Williamston senior Jacob Maran is an avid tuber in his second summer in Mount Pleasant. “Tubing is a Mount Pleasant must,” Maran said. “My favorite tubing memory was being flashed by three girls during one trip this year. Never has it happened before, and I have gone more than I should.”
Redondo Beach, Calif. senior Allison DevillingMiller said her first tubing experience was memorable, though not in an expected fashion. “Where I’m from, we have the ocean, which you stand and splash around at most if you’re not a surfer,” she said. “So, especially in my hometown, there were no nice, quiet rivers that you could just float down.”
Inside w Check out our map of the Chip River, 6 Devilling-Miller ripped her tube on a low-hanging branch minutes into her maiden voyage and was forced to share a tube for the remaining of the afternoon. A TUBING | 2
CHArlotte bodak/staff photographer
Mount Pleasant resident Steve Salamey moves his hands around in the water in an attempt to catch minnows in the Chippewa River while Beaverton resident Amanda Ranes stands alongside him, placing her toes in the water Monday evening at a popular launch to tube down the river at Chip-A-Waters Park.
The Union of Teaching Faculty at Central Michigan University is facing state prosecution for allegedly taking out illegal agency fee payments. Nancy Rusch, professor of accounting, claims UTF did not follow proper requirements while taking out agency fee payments from her. “They are deducting union dues from my paycheck without any explanation of what the calculation was,” Rusch said. “I should have been able to get a list of the types of clauses that they were going to be charging me with under this agency so I would have some time to be able to review them and make objections.” Rusch filed her charge with the Michigan Employment Relations Commission against UTF. She is being represented by the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. Rusch is a fixed-term faculty and falls under the category of public employees who are a part of UTF but not official members. “There are two types of union members: full members and service-fee payers,” said Matt Serra, executive director of faculty personnel services. “Each have different dues structures, and each have different opportunities and rights within the union.” Serra declined to comment on the case but referenced Article 5 of the latest contract agreement between CMU and UTF. The document says employees, union member or not, receive union benefits and must pay a service fee to the union. Employees can choose to not be a union member, because Michigan does not enforce the Right to Work Law. According to the document, “In cases where a deduction is made that duplicates a payment that an Employee already has made to the UNION, or where a deduction is not in conformity with the provisions of the UNION Constitution or Bylaws, refunds to the Employee will be made by the UNION.” According to UTF’s website, official union members are eligible to vote in elections, on referenda and to ratify collective agreements.
A UNION | 2
university@cm-life.com
Romney sharply criticizes Obama Tuesday in swing through Michigan By John Irwin Fall Elections Coordinator
Kaitlin Thorne/Staff Photographer
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney stopped in DeWitt Tuesday afternoon as part of a three-city tour across the state of Michigan. He spoke Tuesday morning in Frankenmuth and continued on to Holland later in the evening.
DEWITT — Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney Tuesday criticized President Barack Obama and detailed what he would if elected president. Romney, joined on stage by his wife Ann and Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette, said the upcoming election offers a distinct choice between two very different candidates. “I will take America in a very different direction (than Obama),” Romney said at Sweetie-licious Bakery Cafe, 108 N. Bridge Street. “I’m going to do almost the exact opposite of the president.” Romney spent much of his speech criticizing Obama for saying “the private sector is do-
ing fine” while answering a question from the White House Press Corps. Obama later took back the statement. “If there’s ever a president that isn’t good for the middle class, it’s this president,” Romney said. “This president does not understand how America works.” Though short on specifics, the former Massachusetts governor and Michigan native said he would work to get the private sector creating jobs at a faster pace if elected. “Job No. 1 for this president will be to create jobs for the American people,” Romney said. Romney again promised to repeal the Affordable Care Act and the Dodd-Frank financial reform law if elected president. He also pledged to balance the budget and lower taxes in an attempt to spur job growth.
Pro-Obama protesters, many of them holding signs reading “We Are the 99%” or “Romney for President of the 1%” gathered across the street from Romney, and they made their voices heard throughout his speech. Chants of “Four more years!” were heard while the former governor discussed Obama’s policies. Some Romney supporters responded with a chant of “Four more months!” Lansing mayor and 2010 Michigan Democratic gubernatorial candidate Virg Bernero was among the protesters. “When Michigan needed (Romney) most, he was not here,” Bernero said. “Meanwhile, President Obama saved the auto industry and saved the state.” Romney did not address the 2009 auto bailouts in his DeWitt speech. In 2008, Romney wrote
an editorial for the New York Times opposing the bailouts, titled “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt.” “Romney has to run away from his record, but President Obama can run on his record,” Bernero said. “Hopefully, we send Romney packing.” Romney was in DeWitt as part of a trip through three traditionally Republican Michigan towns Obama did well in four years ago. He visited Frankenmuth earlier in the day and was set to visit Holland later on. The Romney campaign hopes to reverse a trend in Michigan presidential politics. No Republican has won the state since George H. W. Bush in 1988. Obama won the state easily in 2008. metro@cm-life.com