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Central Michigan Life
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Mount Pleasant, Mich.
[cm-life.com]
Residence halls could room five starting in fall
‘I WANTED IT TO FEEL LIKE A VIDEO GAME’
Returning students, freshmen yield, lower cancellation listed as reasons By Eric Dresden Editor in Chief
Libby March/staff photographer
Mason Sterling, 15, of Breckenridge, aims up the stairs at Zach Dickerson, 29, during a game of IRcombat Sunday at Pine River Paintball in St. Louis, Mich.
weekend warfare Mount Pleasant man brings virtual shooters to real life By Eric Dresden | Editor in Chief
The game uses LED lasers to track shots fired at other competitors. All participants wear a hat which acknowledges if they are hit by the shot or not. Players’ hit points are depleted as they get hit, making it similar to a video game. He even created grenades with different effective ranges that can be tossed at entrenched enemies. “If you can’t aim, you aren’t going to win,” he said. He said he plays throughout the mid-Michigan area, but started the game primarily in Mount Pleasant. When he originally was testing the equipment in Chipp-AWaters Park someone called the police on him, he said. “I had run-ins with the Mount Pleasant Police ... The guns are fairly realistic looking,” he said. “I e-mailed the police and they told me to put a lot of bright orange on them.” On Saturday, Dickerson gathered a group of people
Z
ach Dickerson lives out video games on the weekends. The 29-year-old Mount Pleasant resident created his own real-life game called IRcombat. The game, which is a mixture of laser tag, paintball and class-based first person shooters, uses hollowed out airsoft guns filled with electronics and infrared sensors. “I wanted it to feel like a video game,” Dickerson said. About six months ago, he finished developing the game with different guns, power-ups and game types, he said. The guns even include sound effects that play when players fire or are hit. He said he’s invested about $6,000 into the game and about 600 hours of creation. “I used four weeks of vacation last year on it,” he said.
to play the game at Pine River Paintball inSt. Louis. Jan Oster, owner of Pine River Paintball said both times he has had groups together to play it has rained but that hasn’t stopped them from having a good time. Oster invited his nephews Mason Sterling, 15, and Andrew Sterling, 12, of Breckenridge, out to play the game. “I’ve really enjoyed it,” Oster said. “It’s for a younger generation. I think it’s a fun game.” Matt Cooper, an Alma resident and CMU alumnus, played for the first time on Saturday. He said the game delivers on what he expected. “It really is like a live-action video game,” he said. Dickerson’s sister Leigha said it was her first time playing and despite the rain she had a good time. “It’s pretty cool, I didn’t like A Combat | 2A
The rooms will be the same, but they may be a bit more crowded this fall. Shaun Holtgreive, associate director of Residence Life, said some residence halls will host five students, one more than the previous maximum. “They will be spread out throughout the campus,” he said. Holtgreive said there are three reasons some of the rooms will have a fifth person: The number of returning students to residence halls, the record number of incoming freshman and a lower cancellation rate. He said currently there are 2,313 students returning to
the residence halls, but that number could change as a result of an offer from residence life to returning students in the dorms. Residence Life sent out an e-mail offering students returning to residence halls the opportunity to leave without facing any penalty. “Until Friday, July 16, 2010, we are offering returning residence hall students an opportunity to break their contract and move to an off campus apartment or house, without a contract breakage/ cancellation penalty,” the e-mail stated. Holtgreive said another reason for more students in the residence halls is because a bigger percentage of freshmen are staying in the dorms. “Normally, we house 94 percent of freshmen that number is accurate to the historic marker,” he said. “Right
A Res hall| 2A
Home invasion, sexual assault suspect sought By Joe Borlik Senior Reporter
Police are investigating a home invasion that led to two people being sexual assaulted Tuesday in Union Township. An unknown male allegedly entered a home on Bertshire Lane through an unlocked bedroom window and inappropriately touched two individuals over their clothing while they slept, according to the Isabella County Sheriff’s Department. The police responded to the home invasion at about 1:35 a.m. “We don’t know who he is at this point,” said Sheriff Leo Mioduszewski. The suspect is described as white, about 6-feet tall and 1820 years old with a thin build and shaggy brown hair. He was seen wearing a bright green shirt, dark shorts
and high top tennis shoes that appeared white, according to police. Police said one of the residents scared the suspect away, who may have fled by bicycle. Mioduszewski said an individual reportedly saw the bike shortly before the incident occurred. After police received the call, within a three-minute time period, the bike was said to have disappeared, Mioduszewski said. The bike is described as a black mountain bicycle with silver handlebars with black tape. It has a shock style seat directly connected to its frame, as opposed to a seat that sat on top of a post. Mioduszewski said the victims included one adult
A assault | 2A
Hundreds honor Iva Joy Fuller Young woman’s murder still under investigation By Joe Borlik Senior Reporter
The pouring rain did not stop about 200 members of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribal community from marching down Broadway Street to honor Iva Joy Fuller. The group walked Monday
night from the gymnasium in the Saginaw Chippewa Tribal Operations building, 7070 E. Broadway St. to the Ojibway Drive home Iva Fuller lived in. “Iva was a loving, happy, peaceful and outgoing person,” said Iva’s cousin, Matt Sprague, a Mount Pleasant resident and member of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe. “She had a big heart.” Iva Fuller’s body was found at about 9 a.m. Saturday in a field off of W. Remus Road
near Nottawa Road in Deerfield Township on the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Reservation. Iva’s broth- Daniel L. Fuller er Daniel Lawrence Fuller, 29, is accused of her murder. Iva was 25. Fuller was paroled from the Michigan Department of Corrections on Tuesday, according to the departments
website. His criminal history includes assaulting/resisting/obstructing a police officer and unlawful use of an automobile. Murder charges have not yet been filed and, as of Tuesday evening, Daniel Fuller has yet to be arraigned. He remains held in Isabella County Jail on a parole violation. The FBI is leading the investigation, with assistance from the tribal police, A fuller | 2A
Libby March /Photo Editor
Cara Jean Isham leans into Nick Vasquez during a sacred fire for the death of Iva Joy Fuller Monday night at Iva’s former residence on Ojibway Street in Mount Pleasant. Iva’s body was found on Saturday. As part of a Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe tradition, a sacred fire burned for three days following her death. “She was my best friend,” Vasquez said.
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