Fashion | Find out what styles are ‘in’ this fall, 1B
Jake Ekkens commemorative Poster, 8A
Mount Pleasant, Mich.
Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2010
[cm-life.com]
State cuts $2.3 million from CMU funding Higher education spending bill OK’d by lawmakers By Carisa Seltz Senior Reporter
Higher education funding will be cut 2.8 percent following a compromise approved Tuesday by a joint
state Senate and House conference committee. State Rep. Bill Caul, RMount Pleasant, said CMU was allocated $80,132,000 for the 2010-11 school year — a loss of $2,304,000 from 2009-10. Caul said the legislature had a target to hit in order to balance the budget, but did not want to cut any more scholarship dollars.
“We were able to still meet the target which allowed us to pass the budget (in committee),” he said. The original proposed reduction for higher education funding was 3.1 percent, but was dropped to 2.8 percent after some negotiations, he said. The bill was passed by both the Senate and House separately only a few hours
after committee approval. It now must be signed by Gov. Jennifer Granholm. Granholm spokeswoman Liz Boyd said the legislature chose to protect tuition grants for students attending private colleges instead of cutting them to balance the budget. Granholm proposed a budget that did not cut university operations, but elim-
inated the tuition grants instead. “They obviously have a different position on the issue and we will simply be reviewing the budget when it comes to the governor’s desk,” she said. “The governor obviously would have preferred the legislature adopted her proposal.” CMU was prepared for at least a 3 percent cut in allo-
cated state funding for this year. Carol Haas, director of Financial Planning and Budgets, said CMU has been planning for budget cuts since last year, when Granholm proposed a budget reduction that brought the university down to the $80 million level.
A state | 2A
Piracy tracked on campus networks University warned 1,372 students last year By Mike Nichols Staff Reporter
photos by andrew kuhn/staff photographer
Fremont junior Allie Kooistra struggles to reach a frisbee from her wheelchair Tuesday afternoon outside of Finch Hall. Allie and classmates were required to spend six hours in a wheelchair for their RPL 210: Recreation for Diverse Populations class. The students were required to incorporate one hour of a recreational activity into their time in the chair. “I have a whole new respect for people in these,” Kooistra said.
Six Hours seated
Students in RPL course stay in wheelchairs for class By Amelia Eramya Staff Reporter
Allie Kooistra traded legs for wheels one day last week. For six consecutive hours on Sept. 22, the Fremont junior was required to use a wheelchair for transportation. She is just one of several students required to do so this semester in RPL 210: Recreation for Diverse Populations. The assignment was not quite what she expected. “It was a good experience,”
Kooistra said. “It was definitely something that opened my eyes to being in a wheelchair and how different life is walking.” Battle Creek sophomore Elise Trupiano did the assignment alongside Kooistra. “I did not think it was going to be as hard as it was,” she said. “It takes longer than you expect to move around.” Mary Lou Schilling, assistant professor of recreation parks and leisure services, said the assignment is a great learning experience
for students. Students are not allowed to use their legs at all during the six hours, Schilling said. Students are required to spend one of those hours doing a recreational activity. Trupiano and Kooistra played Frisbee. “It was stressful, just a lot more work,” Kooistra said. “After a few days, my shoulders are still sore.” Schilling said students feel uncoordinated while taking
RPL 210: Recreation for Diverse Populations students Elise Trupiano, Battle Creek sophomore, right, and Newaygo senior Kasey Stevens meet Tuesday in Finch Hall afternoon while spending six hours in a wheelchair for class.
A RPL | 2A
Anyone who thinks illegal downloading is a cheap entertainment alternative for a student on a budget should talk to Hannah Lankford. During her freshman year, the Ohio senior was fined $4,000 by the Recording Industry Association of America for illegal downloads conducted through her LimeWire peer-to-peer client. “I had no idea that it was illegal,” Lankford said. “I’ve never downloaded a song since.” Kole Taylor, technical writer for Information Technology, said colleges are watched more closely than other Internet service providers. Last year, CMU issued 1,372 of these warnings. However, no one was fined. “We provide Internet to anybody who’s on campus, meaning we are more targeted by watchdog groups,” Taylor said. “Students need to be aware that they’re more likely to be caught.” Taylor said statistics show illegal music and movie downloads make up the majority of online piracy. Usually a cease and desist order is e-mailed to any users caught using the CMU network to such ends. Lankford had used LimeWire, a program used to share files between its network of users, only for music. She said she had downloaded 200 songs at the most. When her friend was fined $1,250 for downloads, she removed all of the pirated materials, but later received an email informing her she had been fined for $3,000. “I thought it was a joke at first, so I deleted it,” Lankford said. “Then I got another one and they had raised the price.” The price was increased because she failed to reply to the RIAA e-mail. Her fine was made harsher because of the large amount downloaded, she said. “They showed that I’d downloaded hundreds of movies,” she said. “So they think someone must have stolen my IP address and used it and that’s how they caught me.” A Piracy | 2A
Double rainbow spans Mount Pleasant Students recall viral YouTube video By Ryan Taljonick Senior Reporter
Meghan Dondzila was enjoying a slice of meatloaf with her roommates when it happened. Suddenly, she said, a beautiful arrangement of light was visible through a window near the dinner table. It was a double rainbow.
She and her roommates quickly realized they were witnessing the phenomenon recently made popular by a viral YouTube video in which a man recorded his emphatic reaction to the sighting of such a rainbow. The Walled Lake junior said Monday night’s double rainbow was intense. “We were saying things like, ‘Oh, a double a rainbow, oh my god,’ using the over-excitement of the guy from the video,” Dondzila said. “We were all like, ‘What does this mean!?’ I feel
like everybody who saw the video probably did that.” She could hear people from the neighboring Deerfield Village apartments talking about the double rainbow from her apartment in Lexington Ridge. When it comes to the experience on a scale of one to 10, with 10 being absolutely life changing, Dondzila said her first double rainbow sighting was a seven or eight. The double rainbow stretched all the way across the sky, even visible from Nick Alsup’s Copper Beech apartment.
“It was majestic,” the Clio sophomore said. “It made me think that there would be two pots of gold on the other side.” While Alsup did not experience any sort of overwhelming emotional reaction to the rainbow, he said the rainbow itself was awesome. A lot of people at Copper Beech were talking and singing about the show in the sky, he said. “My neighbors were freaking out pretty bad,” he said. “From A rainbow | 2A
Jeff Smith/Staff Photographer
Mid Michigan Community College sophomore David Burkholder, a Mount Pleasant resident, takes a break from riding his bike to look at a double rainbow that formed Monday evening near Fabiano Hall.
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