LIFE Central Michigan University
| Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011
CENTRAL MICHIGAN
[ INSIDE ] w A couple shares experiences of living with third individual, 1B w Some fast food restaurants accept food assistance cards, 3A w Football team dealing with several injuries before facing MSU this weekend, 5A
[ cm-life.com ] w Visit the website for a livechat of CMU Board of Trustees meeting Thursday morning w Watch a video about an extreme-couponer who visited CMU Tuesday w Watch a Boyne City junior reflect about winning four beauty pageants, see page 3A for the full story
cm-life.com
CMU defending lawsuit seeking $75,000 in damages Grad student alleges she was unjustly dismissed from SLP program By Annie Harrison Senior Reporter
Central Michigan University and six faculty members and administrators face a lawsuit by a former-graduate student alleging she was “unjustly dismissed from the
program” in April 2009. Former graduate student Carrie Stephenson filed a complaint June 20 regarding ethical issues with the Speech-Language Pathology master’s program. Stephenson’s complaint stated she was dismissed after withdrawing from a class. The university responded to the complaint on Aug. 8 in U.S. Federal District Court in Bay City, stating Stephenson had withdrawn from the program permanently, not just for the semester.
board of trustees
$28.5 million grad student housing project up for vote $1.5 million Real Food Co. changes also on agenda By Theresa Clift University Editor
The Central Michigan Board of Trustees will consider spending $28.5 million for graduate student housing on Bellows Street at its meeting Thursday. CMU proposes the apartments to replace the loss of 128 Washington Court Apartments on campus, which are planned to be torn down. The new apartments would contain 94 units of one, two and four bedroom units, located west of the Carlin Alumni house. The project would be funded by Residences and Auxiliary Services and local bank financing. Trustees will also discuss
Stephenson requested a minimum of $75,000 in relief for reasons including tuition, loss of graduate school education and embarrassment. The Mount Pleasant resident is suing Kathryn Atkinson, clinical supervisor of the SLP department; Roger Coles, interim dean of the College of Graduate Studies; Jane Jack, clinical director of the SLP department; Sue Lea, SLP instructor; Renny Tatchell, SLP professor; and Suzanne Woods, SLP associate professor.
Stephenson sent an email to Jack on March 31, 2009, saying she sought to withdraw from the program because Roger Coles of family and work obligations, and concerns about inadequate supervision and patient care. “In addition, I am troubled by conduct I have experienced by certain professionals in the program,” Stephen-
son said in the email. “I do not feel I am able to continue participation based on what I feel very well could be ethical misconduct.” The ethical misconduct Stephenson referred to was a lack of supervision in the class she withdrew from. Stephenson didn’t comment, but her attorney, Nicholas Roumel, said it is “only 2 percent,” likely that the case will make it to trial on Sept. 25, 2012. He said similar cases are often settled outside of court or dismissed.
The class she withdrew from, CDO 749: Clinical Practicum in Speech-Language Pathology or Audiology, requires students to work with clients and document coursework. Roumel said Stephenson was concerned she was not receiving adequate supervision for her patients. He said the people primarily responsible for the medical relationship are the supervisors in the department, not the students.
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fostering
If you go... w What: Board of Trustees w Where: President’s conference room, room 300, in the Bovee UC w When: 9 a.m. a $1.5 million renovation to Real Food Co. in the Towers residence complex. The project would fund a new front entrance, energy-efficient lighting, new technology, three food station renovations and a new Mongolian-style grill. The project would be funded by Residences and Auxiliary Services. The meeting will take place at 9 a.m. in the President’s Conference Room, room 300, in the Bovee University Center. University President George E. Ross will also give a report, and Pamela Gates,
friends
A trustees | 2a
Biology dept. pushing for updated facilities CMU waiting on Biosciences building funds By Emily Pfund Staff Reporter
CMU may not receive the $30 million in state funding it was counting on to fund a new biosciences building. But university officials are still working on plans for the project, which they say is desperately needed by the biology department. “We have been having meetings quite a bit recently,” said Steve Lawrence, director of facilities management. Biology faculty say the department’s current facilities in Brooks Hall are outdated and do not have enough space for the grow-
ing program. The building opened in 1965, when space discovery exploration was just beginning and the structure of DNA was just being discovered, said Steve Roberts, department chairman. “We’ve been behind the ball for decades,” Roberts said. “The labs are just not set up for modern biological research and methods.” CMU will find out in April if the biosciences building will receive state funding. If they are not approved, they may reapply. John Scheide, associate professor of biology who served as the department chairman from 1999 to 2005, said the building is not suitable for the latest research equipment. The equipment requires significant temperature control A biosciences | 2a
file photo by jake may
Carpenter Mark Haynak assembles a ceiling on the second floor of Brooks Hall renovation in January 2010.
photos by erica kearns/staff photographer
Above: Eleanor Lopez, 74, of Mount Pleasant, looks up to the sky Tuesday to see what one of the children were pointing at during her time volunteering at Central Christian Academy, 2445 S. Lincoln Road. Lopez dedicates time each week to go into the day care and work with the kids. Top left: Lopez helps one of the toddlers put her shoe back on after it came off during the children’s time outside. Lopez sits on a toddler chair Tuesday inside the 3-year-old room at Central Christian Academy.
Senior citizens help students with special needs By Jessica Fecteau | Senior Reporter
Volunteering as a foster grandparent isn’t just about helping children learn how to read and write for Mount Pleasant resident Eleanor Lopez. The 74-year-old said she acts like a grandmother to the 3-year-olds she works with for five hours, five days a week. “I help them with what they need help with whether it be art work, reading or crafts,” Lopez said. “I give them hugs when they need them because they just want to be loved.” Isabella County’s Commission on Aging’s Foster Grandparent volunteer program is for seniors to work with children with special needs in a variety of settings, Program Director Mary Ann Mooradian said.
“The age group of the grandparents ranges from 60 to 92 years old,” she said. “They work in the classroom providing academic and emotional support for the children.” There are 47 volunteers that cover the Isabella, Clare and Gratiot counties, Mooradian said. Each grandparent goes through 40 hours of training before starting to volunteer. After retiring from the Central Michigan Community Hospital in 2003, Lopez began volunteering her time in March 2007 at the Central Christian Academy Church in Mount Pleasant. “While I was working at the hospital I would hear a lot of people talking about the program and I’ve always wanted to do it,” she said. Weidman resident Yvonne Obsorne is also a volunteer in her spare time. Osborne volunteers at Beal City Elementary working with first and third graders. “Seeing them make the smallest accomplishment just fills my
93 Years of Serving as Central Michigan University’s Independent Voice
heart,” she said. After her husband passed away, Osborne said she didn’t want to leave the house, but now she has the incentive to get out and help the children. “I can go home at the end of the day and feel good.” Osborne said. Isbaella County’s Commission on Aging was given a 2-percent funding grant last spring from the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe. Mooradian said this grant is helping sustain and maintain the number of volunteers. “It is protecting us from letting people go due to funding cuts at the state level,” she said. “The children wouldn’t receive the special attention and help they need in school without the grant.” She said the program keeps the grandparents active and gives them an opportunity to give back to the community. “It is a win-win situation for everyone involved,” she said. metro@cm-life.com