sept. 25, 2009
DESCRIPTION
CM Life E-editionTRANSCRIPT
By Connor SheridanStaff Reporter
Mary Brewer received an award fit to bring a general.
And that is exactly what hap-pened.
Brewer, a human resources technician at the Central Mich-igan University ROTC offices in Finch Fieldhouse, received the “Leadership Legacy Award,” and Maj. Gen. Arthur M. Bar-tell, a two-star general, came to CMU from Fort Monroe, Va., to
bestow the award with Brewer. Bartell is the Commanding
General of the United States Army Cadet Command and oversees the operations of 273 ROTC host colleges.
“The Leadership Legacy Award” was given to Brewer for her longtime service and guid-ance to the ROTC.
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Mount Pleasant, Mich.Central Michigan LifeCentral Michigan LifeCentral Michigan LifeCentral Michigan LifeCentral Michigan LifeCentral Michigan LifeCentral Michigan LifeCentral Michigan LifeCentral Michigan LifeCentral Michigan LifeCentral Michigan LifeCentral Michigan LifeCentral Michigan LifeFriday, Sept. 25, 2009
|redemptionMAC competition starts this Saturday at Kelly/Shorts, 1B
monster rush| Student enjoys
testing, collecting energy drinks, 3a
By Sherri KeatonSenior Reporter
A state House committee voted Thursday to add $120 million to the budget to re-store the Michigan Promise grants.
This reversed a decision by the state Senate and House conference committee to eliminate the grant Wednes-day.
State Rep. Bill Caul, R-
Mount Pleasant, said he sup-ports doing something that can fund the scholarship, but there is no indication where the money is coming from.
“It’s like having your check-book all gone and writing something you don’t have — there is no loose $120 million around,” Caul said.
The Michigan Promise grant was given to all high school graduates that passed
[inSide]
CM-LIFE.CoMw Go online for a video on the strongman students.
w Medical school update: one year later, 6A
w McNair research symposium today in Park Library, 7A
sportsw Sports Editor Andrew Sto-ver breaks down Saturday’s game against Akron, 3B
wEathErw Partly cloudyHigh 72/ Low 50
State flip-flops on Michigan PromiseCommittee reverses decision to ax scholarship
NEwsw Students celebrate end of summer outside Saxe, Herrig halls, 6A
InsIdew Students react to Promise reinstatement, 7A
chris bacarella/staff photographerDetroit resident 1st Lt. Tierney Williams hugs to congratulate Mary Brewer, Human Resource Technician in the ROTC department, after Brewer received the Leadership Legacy Award.
A ProMiSe | 2a
General bestows award on technician
A LeaderShiP award | 2a
a r m e d a n d r e a d y
neil blake/staff photographerNorth Adams senior Jake Webb trains for strongman competition on Thursday afternoon by flipping an 800-pound tire at JP’s Gym and Fitness Center, 4245 S. Lincoln Rd. Webb will compete in the North American Strongman Inc. national competition next month.
The top 15 will go to the Arnold Classic in Columbus, Ohio, in March.
“Bring your popcorn — Big Ron will be putting on a show in Louisiana,” Shock said.
Shock and Webb qualified for the nationals after placing in the top of their classes dur-ing the King of the Mountain Strongman contest in Mount Pleasant over the summer. Shock, who weighs 340 pounds, placed third in the heavyweight class and Webb, at 230 pounds, placed second in the 200- to 231-pound class.
GoinG proShock, also a bouncer at
Wayside Central, 2000 S. Mis-sion St., believes he will go pro.
He took second place at the Circle City Strongman contest in Indianapolis last May.
“I’m not going to say I’ll go pro this year but, in the next four or five years, I believe I can,” he said.
Shock trains at JP’s Gym and Fitness Center, 4245 S. Lincoln Road, and consumes up to 7,000 calories daily.
Students prepare for October strongman competition
By Joe Borlik | Senior Reporter
Two Central Michigan Univer-sity students are among the strongest men in the country.
Harbor Springs sophomore Ron Shock and North Adams senior Jake Webb are training for the North American Strongman Inc. national competition in Lafayette, La., begin-ning Oct. 10.
About 100 participants will square off in the competition and the top competitors in each weight class will become certified professionals, Shock said. A StrongMan | 7a
By Emily PfundStaff Reporter
David Burdette had no idea students would react the way they did toward CMU’s new tailgating policy.
The vice president of fi-nances and administrative services first approached former University President Michael Rao last academic year with some suggestions to change the way tailgating at Kelly/Shorts Stadium was run.
“I was very surprised about Saturday,” Burdette said. “We want students to have fun, but we just want it to be in a safe environ-ment.”
Changes to the Lot 63 tail-gating arrangement include a limit of six beers or one pint of liquor, food vendors, more water stations, rest-
rooms and garbage cans, a ban on external sound sys-tems and new emergency lanes.
“I understand (why they did it), it just sucks,” said Stanton sophomore Tommy Kain. “Maybe they should change it to a 12-pack limit instead of just six.”
Burdette said these chang-es were made solely for the safety of the students.
But now, students are go-ing to party on Main Street and drive drunk to the game, Kain said, which will cause more safety problems than the rules are fixing.
“I think a lot of people got hung up on the six-beers thing,” Burdette said. “But if you think about it, peo-ple are at the tailgating for an hour or two before the
By Sarah SchuchUniversity Editor
Two students looking to boost the gameday atmo-sphere at Central Michigan University are starting a “Chippewa March” on Sat-urday.
It is not to be taken as a protest against the tailgat-ing policy, however, said Monroe junior Jordan Mad-dux and Illinois junior Blake Buzard.
“This is about finding a common ground. This is trying to get the students to come together again,” Bu-zard said. “Just because we can’t be in (Lot 63) doesn’t mean we can’t be together.”
The plan is for students to dress in maroon and meet at 2:30 p.m. Saturday in front of the seal at Warriner Mall and walk through the campus to Kelly/Shorts Stadium.
A “Chippewa March” Fa-cebook group was created
and has more than 2,000 students as of 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Maddux said.
One of the selling points for CMU is the students and the student section, Maddux said. And that is something, he said, he does not want to see lost just because of the tailgating policy, which lim-its students to six beers or one pint of liquor each and bans external sound sys-tems.
But Buzard said his big-gest fear is it will turn into a protest.
“I don’t want 50 kids to ruin it for everyone else,” he said.
CMU Police Chief Bill Yea-gley wants to make sure ev-eryone is safe as well.
“Anything off campus, the city police would have to take care of it — that’s who has the authority,” he said. “However, the part that goes through campus, I want to know about it, where they’re marching and make some effort to ensure that those group of folks make it from point A to point B safely.”
ta i l g at e
March seeks to unite students Saturdayfor football gameSome Greeks say they willattend Lot 63
A unity MarCh | 2a
Vice president surprised, disappointed by turnout
A Student turnout | 2a
cm-life.comCheck the Web site for a video on the strongman students.
Today
w alpha Kappa psi will host the grand finalé of Career Day between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. in Finch Field-house Room 110.
w The CMU Surplus Sale will take place from noon to 2 p.m. in Lot 1 on the corner of Bellows and Douglas Streets.
w The Mcnair Scholars pro-gram will host a Fall Research Symposium from 1 to 4 p.m. in the Charles V. Park Library Audito-rium.
w CMU public radio and University Events will host a live performance of The Hot Club of Cowtown at 8 p.m. in Warriner Hall’s Plachta Auditorium.
w The department of art will begin to showcase the work of Chicago artist Michael Ferris. The exhibit will be open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the main gallery of the University Art Gallery.
w department of art is hosting an educational installation between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. in West Gallery of the University Art Gallery.
SaTUrday
w Tailgate Central is hosting CMU’s alcohol-free tailgate alterna-tive at 1:30 p.m. on Rose Arena’s lawn.
w World’s Largest Truck Convoy will take place all day ending at the Soaring Eagle Casino at 6800 Soaring Eagle Blvd.
SUnday
w program Board will show "The Hangover" at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. in Pearce Hall Room 128.
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2A || friday, sept. 25, 2009 || central Michigan life www.cm-life.com[NEwS]
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© Central Michigan Life 2009Volume 91, Number 15
Central Michigan Life has a long-standing commitment to fair and accurate reporting. It is our policy to correct factual errors. Please e-mail [email protected].
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VideoCheck the Web site for a video on the two strongman students.
the requirements beginning in 2007. The scholarship gives $4,000 to those attend-ing schools for postsecond-ary education in the form of $1,000 a year or $2,000 for a student’s last two years. Cen-tral Michigan University stu-dents were not awarded the Promise this year because the school decided to wait until the state budget was completed. The scholarship has been given to 2,792 stu-dents on campus.
He said the only way to fund the program would be to cut other programs’ bud-gets to make room for the
scholarship.“In some point in the fu-
ture, there might be another proposal to reinstate the scholarship but, right now, there is not,” he said. “We’re collecting fewer and fewer dollars each month and, if somebody is going to make a proposal, then we’ll have to identify what program we are cutting and there has been no discussion that this could oc-cur sometime in the future.”
Associate Director of Fi-nancial Aid Diane Fleming said the scholarship rein-statement is still undecided and she would like it to be available to the students im-mediately.
“I think this is still a very undecided situation if the legislature votes to eliminate the scholarship to balance the budget,” she said. “I think this situation is in a great deal of flux, and there is a lot to play out until anything is definitely known.”
Fleming also said the de-partment was told legislation will be introduced after Oct. 1 to reinstate the scholarship, but there is still a challenge.
“Where will they find the money for that scholarship? Because quite a few students at CMU were promised the money and they don’t have it. The state is not keeping its promise to students,” she said.
michigan promise|continued from 1A
Brewer, a Pennsylvania na-tive who lives in Bass Lake, has worked at CMU for 15 years and had worked for the De-partment of the Army for five years before that.
“This is a very prestigious award. It recognizes leadership over time,” Bartell said. “She has clearly demonstrated tre-mendous leadership.”
Bartell said Brewer deserved the award.
“It’s about taking care of people,” Bartell said. “The odds are, when you treat people with dignity and respect, you’ll get better results.”
HEr BiGGEST aWardBrewer was shocked about
receiving the award.“I’m speechless, I’m just as-
tounded. I’m grateful to the staff,” Brewer said. “This is the biggest award I’ve received.”
The award is granted an-nually to one member of the Army’s Accessions Command, the division of the Army which focuses on recruitment of of-ficers, warrant officers and en-listed soldiers.
Brewer was selected from more than 15,000 other candi-dates in Accessions Command.
Several ROTC cadets who have risen through the “Chip-pewa Battalion” were enthusi-astic about the impact she had upon them.
“Mary really takes care of ev-erything and everybody,” said Cadet Cpl. Nick VanDermoere, a Eaton Rapids freshman.
VanDermoere said Brewer’s house provided a temporary respite for the cadets during
the Rivalry Run midway be-tween Western Michigan Uni-versity and CMU one year.
“There was a ridiculous amount of food,” he said.
When Imlay City Cadet Capt. Alexeis Alexander encountered troubles over the summer re-sulting from attending two different trainings, Brewer was there to lend a hand.
“She saved me from every-thing,” the senior said. “She was the one to talk to from home. She’s like a mom.”
Lt. Col. Aaron Kalloch, direc-tor of the ROTC, agreed.
“She’s the de facto mom for 150 cadets for years,” he said.
Brewer graduated from CMU with a major in entrepre-neurship and a minor in busi-ness four years ago.
“(I plan to) just continue working here,” Brewer said. “I enjoy my job very much so.”
leadership award|continued from 1A
game, and are you really go-ing to drink six beers in one or two hours? If you’re going to drink that much, we don’t want you there.”
rEaCTionAnn Arbor freshman Corey
Charkowske said he does not agree with that statement.
“People have different tolerances for alcohol so, as long as you’re not obnox-ious, you should be able to drink as much as you want,” Charkowske said.
People thought they were going to be inspected, Bur-dette said.
“We’re not going to say, ‘You have five beers, you’re fine’ or ‘Oh no, you can’t have eight beers in here,’” he said. “We’re not going to
be the beer police. We just want people to be safe and have fun.”
Burdette said he wanted to emphasize the new regu-lations are only designed to make tailgating safer, not to limit the amount of fun stu-dents can have.
“We just don’t want any stupid behavior,” he said.
Burdette was a member of Delta Chi at the University of Florida, and said he was disappointed to see CMU’s Delta Chi fraternity spear-heading the tailgate boycott last Saturday.
“I’d like to see them leading everyone back to tailgating at the stadium,” Burdette said.
Delti Chi representatives declined to comment on the issue.
student turnout|continued from 1A
WHaT To ExpECTMaddux and Buzard hope
to have students chanting and are hoping for a little support from band mem-bers.
“It can be as big as peo-ple want it to be,” Buzard said.
Maddux said he feels stu-dents should use the nega-tive situation with tailgat-ing as an opportunity to try something new.
“You could tell something was missing (at Saturday’s game),” he said. “It’s our job to do something productive about it.”
This is a way to bring on-campus students, off-campus students, Greeks and everyone else together, Maddux said.
The walk could be a way to ensure that more stu-dents will walk to the game and not drive, Buzard said.
TaiLGaTinG aTTEndanCEAlthough the march fo-
cuses on students tailgat-ing away from Lot 63, some Greeks say they will tailgate in the lot.
Phi Kappa Tau President and Midland senior Chris Dutot said the fraternity participated in tailgating last Saturday and will con-tinue to do that.
“Despite of the rules, we aren’t against tailgating at all, and we’re showing support for football,” he said.
Sigma Alpha Epsilon also plans to show up at tailgat-ing Saturday, said President Patrick Fredricks.
“We have to all experience new rules before we start protesting them,” the Grand Haven senior said.
But Alpha Sigma Phi Pres-ident and Southgate sopho-more Randy Solis said he will be on Main Street.
“I’m holding off until ei-ther they change the rules or get more students in-volved,” he said. “I’m not against tailgate. The way that they went about mak-ing the rules is what I’m mad about.”
Sigma Tau Gamma Presi-dent and Richmond senior Carl Fraser said the frater-nity will not attend tailgate in protest of the new rules.
unity march |continued from 1A
Day 26 nets $20,000 for show
Rapper Day 26 was paid $18,000 by Program Board, On the Fly Productions and Minority Student Services as part of his performance with Fabolous on Sept. 18. Another $2,000 was sent to the International Creative Man-agement Talent and Literary Agen-cy, which represented Day 26.
Special Olympics truck convoy
The World’s Largest Truck Con-voy will take place at 9:45 a.m. Saturday at Petticoat Junction on M-46 and US-127 in Alma to raise money for the Special Olympics. It will convoy to the Sagamok Shell Station near the Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort, 6800 Soaring Eagle Blvd. “We encourage com-munity members to come out and watch the convoy. In addition to raising funds, it raises awareness for the Special Olympics,” said Special Olympics Public Relations Manager Kimberly Purdy. Follow-ing the convoy, there is a post-convoy lunch, meet-and-greet with athletes, auction items and entertainment, and some of our athletes. The annual event raised more than $643,000 in 2008.
Door-to-door solicitation
United Apartments is warning its tenants about door-to-door so-licitation by a company identified as Commerce Energy. According to an e-mail sent to tenants, the company is visiting residents and trying to scam them into signing a gas contract that would commit them for three to five years. This could be a problem for students who are only temporary residents, the e-mail stated. For a full story from Tuesday, visit cm-life.com.
Western swing concert
CMU Public Radio is hosting The Hot Club of Cowtown, a western swing band, as a part of the “Our Front Porch” concert series. It will perform at 8 p.m. Friday in Warri-ner Hall’s Plachta Auditorium. The band is one of the youngest to be inducted into the Texas Western Swing Hall of Fame and has been featured on “The Grand Ol’ Opry” and “A Prairie Home Companion.” Tickets are $20 for adults and $5 for students and can be purchased at the CMU Box Office.
Art exhibitionChicago Artist Michael Ferris
will exhibit his work at the Main Gallery of the University Art Gal-lery beginning Friday. He is an artist who sculpts wooden bust portraits from found and recycled wood. The exhibit also includes drawings that are studies on the sculpture. The exhibitions is done in cooperation with George Ad-ams Gallery in New York, Hope College in Holland and Edinboro University in Edinboro, Pa.
Memory Walk in Midland
Central Michigan University’s Gerontology Club will walk at 9 a.m. Saturday at the Alzheimer’s Memory Walk in Midland’s Chippe-wa Nature Center, 400 S. Badour Road. The event raises money and awareness for Alzheimer’s disease research, support and care. For more information, call 839-9910.
Another walkat Deerfield Park
The Chippewa Watershed Con-servancy, Isabella County Parks and Recreation and Art Reach of Mid-Michigan are hosting art dis-plays, poetry readings, live music and refreshments from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday at Deerfield Nature Park, 2425 W. Remus Road. The event is supporting county parks and pro-motes art and nature in Isabella county. Cost is $5 at the gate. For more information, contact Isabella County Parks and Recreation at 989-772-0911, ext. 234.
Voter registration deadline
The final day for people to register to vote in the city and school consolidated election is Oct. 5 at the Mount Pleasant City Clerk’s office, 320 W. Broadway St. The election is Nov. 3.
If you have an interesting item for Life in Brief,
let us know by e-mailing [email protected]
David Veselenak, Managing Editor | [email protected] | 989.774.4343
inside life3AFriday, Sept. 25, 2009
Central Michigan life
[LiFe in brieF]
By Tony WittkowskiStaff Reporter
All campus residence halls will be co-ed starting next fall when the all-female Sweeney Hall converts.
Sweeney Hall, part of south quad containing Beddow, Merrill and Thorpe halls, is the last remaining single-sex
hall at Central Michigan Uni-versity.
All four were same-sex halls several years ago. Merrill and Thorpe were all-male, while Beddow and Sweeney were all-female. Beddow and Thor-pe became co-ed in fall 2007, and Merrill made the switch this year.
“We have been looking at and evaluating the percentage of students choosing Sweeney Hall as their first or second choice as a housing assign-ment the last couple of years,” said Michelle Veith, the As-
sistant Director of Residence Life. “Each year, the number requesting Sweeney as a top choice has diminished with this year only 12 percent choos-ing it as their first choice.”
Ultimately, the choice to change the hall came from the students.
“We look at the trends with sign up and try to adjust what we offer accordingly when possible,” Veith said.
Around Michigan, all other colleges are entirely co-ed, with the exception of Michi-gan State University’s one all-
female hall, Veith said.“It reflects the change and
demand of our students.” said Faye Reber, Sweeney’s residence hall director. “There are mixed emotions, but a lot of people are welcoming the change.”
Shelby Miller, a White Lake freshman, is one of those stu-dents.
“I wish it was co-ed right now,” she said.
Others are still a bit hesitant on the change.
“I’m against it. I feel there should be something that al-
lows students to live how they live,” said Hudson sophomore Danielle Clark. “There are other girls who don’t want to live in a co-ed area.”
Many thought the transi-tion would have been easier if certain floors in Sweeney re-mained all-female. However, the change within the hall has a positive factor as well.
“All fill very quickly, and are a top choice for freshmen choosing their hall,” Veith said.
Low interest cited in changing all-female hall to coed
Sweeney Hall inviting male students next fall
By Mara KierenStaff Reporter
Dustin Smith knows a thing or two about monsters, red bulls and rock stars.
Everyone needs an energy boost at some point in their college career. And Smith, a Grand Blanc graduate student, might be able to offer advice on which energy drink works the best to get an energy fix.
He has tried more than 365 differ-ent energy drinks and shows no sign of stopping.
Smith began experimenting with various energy drinks at the end of his sophomore year in 2006. Soon after, he started work on his undergraduate and masters degrees and founding a Regis-tered Student Organization.
“I was putting on an extreme juggling act and energy drinks helped me do ev-erything,” Smith said.
The next thing he knew, it became hobby and obsession to taste and collect various different energy drinks.
EnErgEticSmith said he keeps trying different
energy drinks because it is part of his
persistent personality.“Everything that I am interested in
during my life, I pursue until the end,” he said. “I love energy drinks and the only way for me to pursue them all the way is to keep trying and collecting dif-ferent kinds.”
Smith began writing a blog in January to review drinks for energyfiend.com, a popular energy drink Web site. As the energy drink reviewer, he is sent two to three packages of about 20 cans of dif-ferent energy drinks each week.
“At first, I thought it was a little weird but, now, I think it’s cool because he gets a lot of free stuff through his blog and he really enjoys his creative writing with them,” said Smith’s girlfriend and Marine City junior Cheryl Vandenboss-che.
thE bEst?Smith said throughout his energy
drink taste-testing career, he thinks the best all-around energy drink is Rockstar Punched Citrus and the worst are the Vitamin Water energy drinks. He also is surprised how many students are walk-ing around with Red Bull which, he said, does not even taste good.
Though for some the constant sugar rush of an energy drink might be a little overwhelming, Smith said he does not think he will stop and Vandenbossche said she could not see it happening.
“I don’t think he will ever stop, be-cause there will always be more energy drinks to try and more to add to his col-lection,” Vandenbossche said.
Student makes habit of testing energy drinks
By Seth NieteringStaff Reporter
Many college students write about six to 10 pages for class term papers.
For Heather Kapusta, that is an introduction.
The Clinton Township senior has already published her first book, “Anonymous,” before her
junior year in college and is working on another one.
“I started the book my se-nior of high school,” Kapusta said, “It took about a year to write.”
Kapusta has shared an inter-est in writing for years with her longtime friend Megan Taylor.
“We’ve known each other since seventh grade,” said Tay-lor, the Clinton Township se-nior. “We became friends when we met in class and found we shared an interest in writing outside of class.”
Kapusta finds her inspiration
to write in many forms.“Stephen King is definitely a
great influence for me. He’s one of my favorite authors,” Kapus-ta said. “Music also helps get me into the mood for writing. I like to pick out certain songs that fit into the setting while I write.”
DEDication to hEr workKapusta did much of the
research for “Anonymous,” a romance-thriller inspired by real-life events.
Senior commits herself to writing, publishing novels
student inking her second book
libby March/staff photographerClinton Township senior Heather Kapusta is a self-published student author working on her second book, “Angel on My Doorstep.” A seCond book | 6A
nEil blakE/staff photographerGrand Blanc graduate student Dustin Smith has consumed more than 365 different types of energy drinks since the 2006-07 school year in order to keep up with his busy lifestyle. “I’ll be over 400 by Christmas,” Smith said.
A MONSTER RUSH
“everything that I am interested in during my life, I pursue until the end. I love energy drinks and
the only way for me to pursue them all the way is to keep trying and collecting different kinds.”
Dustin Smith, grand Blanc graduate student
By Jake BolithoSenior Reporter
College campuses are not usually associated with mas-sive crime waves.
But larcenies and breaking and enterings have become increasingly common.
The Central Michigan Uni-versity Police Department reported 615 criminal inves-tigations in 2008, 227 of them including burglaries and lar-cenies, according to an annual police report.
While violent acts such as homicide have been tradi-tionally rare at universities, students often take for grant-ed the possibility of their valu-ables being stolen.
“We ask everybody to lock your doors all the time, whether it’s cars, doors, wher-ever you’re living,” said CMU Police Chief Bill Yeagley. “The other part is to write down se-rial numbers and descriptions of your valuables.”
Other universities in Michi-gan are finding similar prob-lems year after year.
In the last issued annual re-port at Michigan State Universi-ty, 614 felonies were reported in 2007. Of that number, 509 were reported burglaries and larce-nies, more than twice as high as CMU’s amount a year later.
Sgt. Florene McGlothian-Taylor, public information officer for the MSU Police Department, said the popula-tion difference is often a factor when it comes to larger crime numbers compared to other universities.
“Our housing system on cam-pus is the largest in the nation,” she said. “Despite that, the cam-pus is overall pretty safe.”
off campusBreaking and enterings are
prevalent off campus as well. Despite the term, the crime does not necessarily have to mean forced entry, said Dave Sabuda, public information officer for the Mount Pleas-ant Police Department. It can simply be a matter of a door being left unlocked or open.
Bike thefts, unlocked doors present problems
larcenies, break-ins common crimes on campus
A CaMpus CriMe | 6A
voices[cm-life.com/category/voices]
4A
central Michigan Life
Friday, Sept. 25, 2009
It was one of several improvident statements Heeke made that day. Saturday was one of the most effective stands by CMU students in protesting CMU policy and how it was developed.
Upset mainly with the six-beer limit and the ban on external sound systems, among other excessive proce-dures, students were certainly unifying in boycotting Lot 63, a parking lot they packed for so many years, and tailgat-ing elsewhere.
They flocked to Main Street and other houses and apartment com-plexes to celebrate instead. That may continue Saturday before CMU kicks off against Akron at 3:30 p.m.
The protest is not necessarily about disagreeing with all of the policy. Inter-fraternity Council President Brandyn Lawson stated in his letter (on page 5A) that students also were misrepre-sented in drafting the policy.
We couldn’t agree more. Not only did the university draft a flawed policy addressing problems that don’t neces-sarily exist, it poorly communicated with the people directly affected by it.
MiscoMMunicationAfter Saturday’s boycott of Lot 63,
the university is staying firm on its tailgating policy and is now toying with the linguistics.
Now the committee is saying the rules are “expectations” rather than “regulations.”
Heeke said students should give “the new tailgating” a chance, and that the new rules they are upset with will not be strictly enforced.
Where was this “expectation” mes-sage in Heeke’s letter to the editor last week? Where was this message in Au-gust, when the 21-person committee finalized the tailgating policy? It was fairly evident students were upset with the policy when it was announced, was it not?
The university waited until Lot 63 tailgate dropped by thousands to finally send that message. And instead of accepting responsibility for a failure of miscommunication to the students, Heeke — trying to avoid a classic public relations blunder — shifted the blame on them, the media and Face-book for sensationalizing the policy.
Crafty.First of all, no one sensationalized
the policy. We reported on it com-pletely, accurately and fairly, and then gauged student reaction, which was overwhelmingly against it. We even
sought input from Derek van der Merwe, associate athletic director who also sits on the committee, immedi-ately following Saturday’s game.
And students never gave tailgating a chance? Why didn’t the university give its students a chance when drafting the policy?
Inviting just three students to represent thousands to a committee of 21 people is a desultory attempt at working with students and giving them a fair and thorough voice on this issue.
Give students more credit than that. It is asinine to assume they would be
unreasonable regarding a new tailgat-ing policy that would encourage safety and a great atmosphere.
I believe the students de-unified themselves.”
Those were the exact words of Athletics Director Dave Heeke on Tuesday, three days after thousands of Central Michigan Uni-
versity students rallied against the new tailgating procedures in Lot 63 outside Kelly/Shorts Stadium.
EDITORIAL | University should have communicated message more effectively
Now you tell us
E-mail | [email protected] | 436 Moore Hall
Mount Pleasant, MI 48859Fax | 989.774.7805
Central Michigan Life welcomes let-ters to the editor and commentary submissions. Only correspondence that includes a signature (e-mail excluded), address and phone number will be considered. Do not include attached documents via e-mail. Letters should be no longer than 300 words and commentary should not exceed 500 words. All submissions are subject to editing and may be published in print or on www.cm-life.com in the order they are received.
[letterS to the editor]
Give it a
chanceStudents should try out tailgating before
criticizing it
ASHLEY WEISS [CARTOON]
[our readers’ voice]
An aged sophomoreIt’s a feeling that cannot be
shaken easily. It overwhelms the thought process with big words, “I don’t belong.”
I believe it’s easier for a younger freshman to make the adjustment to college. I am a sophomore who is possibly double the age of most students on campus. It is not simple to adjust to, nor is making friends with people half your age.
I did not come to Central Michigan University because I need friends or as an outsider begging to be accepted. I came here for an education.
I chose this life I lead today because college was not what I wanted back then. I wanted to be in California so much, I escaped Michigan by joining the Marines.
I stayed there after the Marine Corps. I lived in the village of Carls-bad. It was a block from the Pacific Ocean. For the next six years of my life, I was living my dream. I cooked, waited tables and partied on the beach.
But that was not the dream I wanted. A lot of time passed and I came back to Michigan. I made the uneasy decision to go to college.
Today, I am the old dude that sits in class with many of you. Some-times, I feel out of place and feel like failure is upon me.
I just want what other students want at CMU: a college degree and the experience to become the person I dream of.
I feel the traditional student land-scape is changing. Older learners are on campus. Older learners seek belonging from fellow classmates. Each student is the same, choosing CMU or any other college to better ones self.
I’m afraid of failing, but I’ve decided that if I fail, it will be on my own terms.
central Michigan Life
“Michael Moore. (I want) to hear his
controversial opinions on
things.”Justin Coleman
Warren sophomore
C M Y O u | Who is the next speaker you’d like to see at CMU and why?
Kaitlin thorne/staff photographer
“Dane Cook. he’s a funny guy. We
need more comedians to come
to campus.”Melinda Diedrich
gregory senior
“ronnie Coleman. We’ve never had
a bodybuilder come to campus. It’d be something
different.”Joe Showerman
Webberville senior
“someone from the office. that show
is hilarious.”Sara Kenel
howell senior
“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
EDITORIAL Brian Manzullo, Editor in Chief
David Veselenak, Managing Editor
Matthew Stephens, Presentation EditorEric Dresden, Student Life Editor
Lindsay Knake, Metro Editor
Sarah Schuch, University EditorAndrew Stover, Sports Editor
Tim Ottusch, Assistant Sports EditorAshley Miller, Photo EditorWill Axford, Voices Editor
Caitlin Wixted, Lead Designer
ADVERTISINg Lindsey Reed, Katie Sidell
Advertising Managers
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PROfESSIONAL STAff Rox Ann Petoskey,
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Assistant Director of Student Media
Neil C. Hopp,Adviser to Central Michigan Life
Central Michigan Life is the independent voice of Central Michigan University and is ed-ited and published by students of Central Michigan University every Monday, Wednesday and Friday during the fall and spring semesters, and every Wednesday during the summer. The online edition (www.cm-life.com) contains all of the material published in print.
Central Michigan Life is is under the jurisdiction of the independent Student Media Board of Directors. Articles and opinions do not necessarily reflect the position or opinions
of CMU or its employees.Central Michigan Life is a member of the Michigan Press Association, the Michigan
Collegiate Press Association, the Associated Collegiate Press and the College Newspaper Business & Advertising Managers Association.
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to one copy. Each copy has an implied value of 75 cents.Non-university subscriptions are $1 per mailed edition. Copies of photographs published
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Central Michigan Life’s editorial and business offices are located at 436 Moore Hall, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI 48859, telephone 774-3493.
Brian Manzullo, Editor in ChiEf | Will Axford, VoiCEs Editor | Matthew Stephens, PrEsEntation Editor | Lindsay Knake, MEtro Editor | David Veselenak, Managing Editor
Nathan InksColumnist
Lonnie AllenColumnist
Over the past couple weeks, the CM Life newspaper and Web site have been filled with coverage and comments about the new tailgat-ing procedures. For the most part, the opinions of the new rules have leaned heavily toward the negative side.
But how many people actu-ally know why they are complain-ing? How many people actually tailgated on campus last weekend? And, most importantly, how many people actually read the new tailgat-ing policies?
Personally, I don’t understand how anybody can complain unless they were actually at the tailgate Saturday. Judging by the conversa-tions I’ve heard, this is most of the people complaining boycotted the tailgate.
What exactly is so horrible about the new rules? Are most tailgaters going to drink more than six beers or a pint of alcohol? Probably not. Six beers or a pint is plenty for most people. For those who want to drink more, find a friend who only plans on drinking a couple beers and have him take some extra for you. There is no limit on how much people can drink, only how much they can bring in.
Is the prohibition of glass con-tainers really going to kill your tail-gating experience? No. Is throwing garbage in receptacles going to ruin the fun? No. Are you going to die because your dog can’t accompany you? No.
There are misconceptions about the new rules, too. I heard people saying grills, coolers and music have all been banned, but this is just not true. If you really want to listen to music, turn the radio on in your vehicle. The new rules do not ban grills, they only limit them to small grills. So if you want to grill some food, bring a small grill. It’s not that complicated.
Instead of going to the tailgate and testing out the new rules, people began blowing things out of proportion.
While I stand behind the admin-istration in its decision to imple-ment these new rules, I am not arguing they are perfect. Personally, I would get rid of the prohibition of glass containers, animals and trail-ers, but these are minor problems with the rules.
One problem I have is the requirement that cars stay in the lot until the third quarter. I would encourage the administration to consider eliminating that rule.
Either way, instead of boycotting CMU tailgating and continuing to spread misconceptions and false-hoods about the new rules, those wishing to tailgate should calm down and rationally voice their criticisms with the administration.
If you skipped last weekend’s tailgate because of the new rules, tailgate at the Akron game Saturday. I am willing to bet that a lot of stu-dents will find the new rules are not as bad as people are making them out to be.
4thlargest says:I think that the administrators of
CMU are trying too hard to be a little school.
We’re not a little school, we are the 4th biggest university in this state and 44th in the country. Students are going to tailgate and, if the adminis-tration doesn’t want us to in Lot 63, so be it.
I’ll see the 20,000 students who do tailgate on Main Street this Saturday where cars are driving and there is a real potential for a “dead student.”
Lets be real, Heeke, you’re just causing more problems than you are fixing here. I support you most of the time, but this is just ridiculous.
kevin says:I think that the athletic director is
missing the whole point. He is the
one that has completely ruined the atmosphere for people at games.
The football program is heading to new heights and they come out with these new rules that completely slapped the student body in the face.
I have had teachers tell us that the rules are unneccessary and that just shows where everyone is coming from. The student body isn’t divid-ing to tell you the truth Mr. Athletic Director…. “You have brought us to-gether even more.” Thanks! Publish that for all faculity involved in this decision to see!
CMUgrad09 says:Really? You think because people
like to casually drink at tailgate means they are bad students. That’s probably one of the most irrational comments I have ever heard. May-be you didn’t like tailgate because you had no friends to tailgate with.
Alum 82 says:I am disappointed in Mr. Heeke’s
understanding of why people park in this lot. I have been attending CMU games since before Kelly/Shorts was built. I bring two 8-year-olds with me to the games. Our season tickets are closer to the south end of the stadium.
We come to the game at least two hours before the game to park in the handicapped parking closest to that end of the stadium and we tailgate without alcohol.
The tailgaters have always been courteous to us, and to the other older people in the handicapped parking area in that lot. The space roped off for tailgaters forced us to park farther from the entrance than it was previ-ously.
For older fans that have difficulty walking, that is a huge issue.
Once we were in the stadium, we were hearing similar complaints from longtime season ticket holders around us.
The current situation is not just alienating students, it is also upsetting long time patrons.
Comments from CM-Life.com:
Voice your concernsw dave Heeke, Athletics Director [email protected], 774-1711w derek van der Merwe, Assoc. AD [email protected], 774-6662w Bill Yeagley, CMU Police Chief [email protected], 774-3081w Kathy Wilbur, Interim Univ. President [email protected], 774-3131
“
www.cm-life.com[LetterS to the eDitor]
Central Michigan life || friday, sept. 25, 2009 || 5A
Note: this is an excerpt from a speech given by College Demo-crats President Brad O’Donnell during the Michigan Promise Rally.
When I was younger, my family’s finances weren’t always sound but, at the end if the day, I knew that because my parents worked hard and fulfilled their commitments ev-erything would work out fine.
But I’m one of the lucky ones because throughout college, both of my parents have been soundly employed and the Michigan Promise provided that extra bit of much needed help during my first two years of college.
For myself and 96,000 of my peers across the state, the Michigan Promise has provided critical assistance during this
time of economic uncertainty. Others have not been as lucky as myself. As Jobs have been and as our economy continues to worsen, the Promise has literally been the difference between attending and not at-tending college for many.
It’s a story that we’ve heard time and time again; a student whose parents have been laid off by our faltering auto in-dustry, the family struggling to make ends meet for multiple children. All the while hoping and praying, that their child’s dream of a college educa-tion, of a life more stable and prosperous than their own, is possible.
We need to ask our elected representatives to stay fast and stand strong for Michigan’s Promise. This is not a partisan issue, but a political one. Our
voice is an acknowledgment that we, the future leaders of our state, will not stand idly by as opportunity is abandoned. It us a commitment to the idea that the future value if our state is directly related to the value we place on education.
Now I have a promise from the students of Michi-gan to our elected leaders: any legislator that supports cutting the Promise scholar-ship will hear from the 96,000 whose education they have jeopardized, in their next election. It’s a promise we are making and it’s a promise we will keep.
Stephen JohnsonCollege Democrats at CMU: Communications DirectorNational Residence Hall Honorary
Michigan senate should approve PromiseCMU Students, Now is the time to take a stand against the
new tailgate policies. The results are clear and unequivocal – the game day atmosphere that was to be maintained has been decimated. Let me be clear. It is not the amount of regulation that we must stand united against; it is the sim-ple fact that the regulations were put into place with only cursory input from the student body. This facade of student involvement has allowed individuals to champion the fact that CMU students were involved in creating these rules, in an attempt to justify and legitimize them. Let me tell you now, we must not having any of it. We must not drink from their tainted well.
In a recent CM Life article, our esteemed athletics director was quoted as saying that “We’re [the students and administration] all in this together.” Additionally, in his letter to the editor he said that the “game day environment and experience should reflect the university’s mission and commitment to current and future students.” A bullet point in CMU’s mis-sion statement reads - Shared Governance, supporting the principles of communications, consultation and participatory decision-making. The wool has not been pulled over our eyes; these policies have not come about as a result of adhering to CMU’s mission statement or the mentality that we are in this together. Only three students were invited to participate on the committee. There were five representatives from law enforcement pres-ent. Even if you would like to believe that all three students were there at every meeting, this still doesn’t account for the complete lack of outside input from the student body. The only time students were actively sought out was once the protesting began.
Mr. Heeke has also made several other disconcerting comments recently. In Wednes-day’s edition of CM Life, he insinuated that the paper as well as the students who protested tailgating were using sensationalist tactics and de-unifying the student body. He then immediately goes on to say that there was a “very real chance that tailgating would not exist for students at all,” and that he would rather see an empty lot on the front page than a dead student. The only sensationalism being utilized in this conversation is by Mr. Heeke himself. No students have died, the very cre-ation of the committee shows that the removal of tailgate altogether was not an option, and the students have done nothing if not unify – just not in the way he would like. His appeal to fear is a logical fallacy, and is a juvenile tactic at best. Also, CM Life actually encouraged students to go to the game with an open mind. Continuing to shift the blame will not bring students back to tailgate.
In the Detroit News, Mr. Heeke was again quoted as saying, “I’m disappointed in the stu-dents. I fault them for not giving it a chance.” Really? It is not the fault of the oppressed that they do not succumb to the demands of the oppressor. CMU, we must fight back against this proverbial lash.
There are some who have reached out to the students on this matter. The new CMU police Chief, Bill Yeagley, stands out in my mind as one such individual. His open approach and candor with the student body lends me to believe that there is yet hope for the CMU administration to do the right thing. The problem is that his has only been an individ-ual approach. The hand of the students must remain a closed fist until the administration first extends their own open grip.
Students: do not go to tailgating. Have your fun elsewhere and then go support the foot-ball team. They deserve our support. I fear, however, that if the administration is unwill-ing to convene a new committee to change these asinine regulations, then our next move must be to boycott the games themselves. In any conflict there are casualties, and unfortu-nately for the hard working student-athletes on the football team, they may become one of the first in this struggle. This may be the only way to force the administration’s hand on the issue. Dave Heeke recently encouraged students to “hold the rope.” The situation is quickly reaching a point in which the students will need, instead, to let go of that rope, lest it strangle the tailgating tradition completely. Let us hope it does not come to this. Students, the ball is no longer in our court.
In his letter to the editor, Mr. Heeke said that, “Each and every university official and event employee is dedicated to assuring that we continue to provide you with one of the best game day experiences in the nation.” It is clear the game day experience has been destroyed. An unwillingness to convene a new committee now stands in direct opposition to this statement. I say that this statement is a lie. I hope the administration calls my bluff. We have certainly called theirs.
I have been told that ours is an unwinnable struggle. I have been told the administration will not budge. I have been told they care not for the will of the students. But, as students, struggle we must. As Reagan said, “Let us be sure that those who come after will say of us in our time, that in our time we did everything that could be done. We finished the race; we kept them free; we kept the faith.”
Respectfully,
Brandyn Lawson InterFraternity Council President
Students should keep up the fight
I’m not sure where to start….
Not only does your article make fantastic generaliza-tions, it insults the emo-tional intelligence of both parties involved: boys that are so naïve that they may fall “prey” to some lurking older woman waiting to pounce, and women that are so desperate (and old) that
they are hunting for a confi-dence boost like a vampire seeks blood.
You have turned these me-dia created labels into some-thing that sounds more like a sex offender-child encounter, something more suitable for the check-out lane.
I now envision CMU boys bar-hopping, shouting to their friends,
“Dude! That woman just tried to pick me up! She’s old enough to be my mom!” and an intervention ensuing, for safety’s sake, of course.
P.S. I am 35, not hunting young men, nor do I wear red, acrylic nails, animal print, or dye my hair blonde.
Gina Kotenko Mount Pleasant junior
I want to congratulate the many thousands of CMU stu-dent football fans who attended the CMU vs. Alcorn State Uni-versity football game last Satur-day.
What a great turnout by the students. Your numbers may well have been the largest student turnout for a season opening football game in many years!
As the football team embarks upon a tough MAC football schedule, Coach Jones, his staff, and your fine football team, who beat MSU (wasn’t that FUN!), will need your future
support more than ever.The recent “tailgating”
changes certainly did not prevent you from attending and enjoying the ASU game in great numbers! The end zone and the sections next to it on both sides of the field were full of Maroon clad students! It is a shame Central Michigan Life chose to ignore your great numbers inside the stadium! The only Central Michigan Life picture, I saw, inside the stadium was a picture of only a few students in the front row of the end zone.
CM Life chose to “con-
centrate” on the lack of great numbers in the former “tailgat-ing“ area rather than the great numbers of dedicated student football fans INSIDE the sta-dium! Through my many years, I have grown to expect CM Life to provide a more “even handed picture” when reporting on “is-sues” involving CMU students.
I am looking forward to see-ing all of you at Saturday’s CMU vs. Akron University football game.
FIRE UP CHIPS!
Walter r. Schneider, Ph.D.Professor Emeritus
‘cougars’ story is offensive, for both men and women
congratulations to cMU football fans
By Jake MaySenior Reporter
One year old and the medi-cal school is like any child in early development.
It has support from its par-ents, the university. It has fi-nancial support from other family, the Board of Trustees. The timeline of the school’s accomplishments to date is crawling, just starting to make strides in an effort to gain sup-port — accreditation.
Central Michigan Universi-ty’s Board of Trustees gave the go-ahead to former university president Michael Rao to be-gin the medical school project in September 2008.
His goal: to create a work-ing facility with a 100 students enrolled and attending classes by fall 2012.
Since the Board’s approval, the medical school has em-ployed an interim dean, Cam Enarson, to head the accredi-tation process. Enarson start-ed July 1.
“It is necessary to under-stand the importance of a dialogue, and Dr. Enarson has come through in spades for this project in that matter. He has been meeting with CMU, the Mount Pleasant commu-nity and off-site communities explaining the project. He has come through in spades,” said Trustee Chairwoman Gail Tor-reano.
ContributionsIn February, contributions
were up to $302,000. Rao and Sam Kottamasu,
vice chairman of the Board of Trustees and medical school committee chairman, each pledged $100,000. Rao has since paid in full, Kottamasu has paid $20,000, and will continue to pay in $20,000 in-stallments over the next four years.
Yet after Rao’s resignation, 1977 alumnus Todd Anson, a Mount Pleasant native, re-routed his $100,000 contri-bution to the renovation of Rose Arena, bringing the to-tal income for the school to $202,000.
On Aug. 5, the university sent in an application, along with $25,000, for accredita-tion to the Liaison Commit-tee on Medical Education in Chicago.
Enarson said the medical school cannot be fully accred-ited until fall 2016, after its first students graduate after a
four-year degree.
reCent DevelopmentsWith the approval of anoth-
er $22 million for an addition onto the Health Professions Building — a space that will house the medical school — the school marks its largest sum of funding since it was announced.
The expansion cannot ex-ceed $24 million, the total combined with the already approved $2 million.
“It’s important to note: that’s the maximum,” said Interim University President Kathy Wilbur. “It’s not the beginning. It’s the beginning and the end.”
Another step in the process to receive full accreditation was complete in the last few weeks, when the university finalized its first three affilia-tion agreements with Saginaw medical facilities: St. Mary’s of Michigan, Covenant Health-Care and Synergy Medical Education Alliance.
Each have signed contracts, Kottamasu said.
MidMichigan Health of Midland and Mount Pleas-ant’s Central Michigan Com-munity Hospital are also in talks with CMU, but have not yet confirmed any affiliation agreements.
Kottamasu said MidMichi-gan Health is expected to sign on in the next four to six weeks, but CMCH has not made any sign of commitment.
searCh for founDing Dean
The university has already opened a search for the found-ing dean of the medical school. Wilbur said the dean will be chosen by December and, fol-lowing, four associate deans will be recruited in January.
Enarson said four associate deans are required to meet accreditation standards.
Enarson said a develop-ment officer should be hired by the end of September and that person’s responsibility will be outreach to search for deans, faculty and staff.
He will speak at 7:30 p.m. to-day at Davenport University in Saginaw Township to discuss the procedures the school has planned to continue progres-sion on the medical school.
He said it is not something that is born overnight, but people need to see the big picture.
“It wasn’t just (last) Thurs-day’s approval of more money and now we can stop,” Enar-son said. “This is more akin to running a marathon than a sprint. We’re in the early part of the race, but we know what we need to do to get across the finish line.”
6A || Friday, Sept. 25, 2009 || Central Michigan Life www.cm-life.com[News]
One year old, making progresscm-life.com
Visit cm-life.com for a full version of this story.
By Lonnie AllenStaff Reporter
The evening weather was per-fect as nostalgic music played and set the mood of an early summer beach party from days past.
Saxe, Herrig and Celani hall council threw a “Last Sum-mer Splash” in the Saxe/Herrig courtyard Wednesday night. The Hall Council offered students a chance to tie-dye T-shirts or any item they brought, and offered volleyball, popcorn and cotton candy, said Lake City sopho-more Craig Johnson.
Marine City freshmen Jerrod Black and Woodland sopho-
more Kasey Flessner worked to-gether to put on the event.
“We pulled a lot of late nights going to Wal-Mart picking up supplies over the past few weeks,” Flessner said.
Black said they pulled several all-nighters.
“I am excited to see it happen tonight,” he said.
The event cost $275 and of-fered students the opportunity to raise money for future phi-lanthropy events.
Wixom freshman Cameron Gottschall hopes to have a series of events to raise awareness and money for Muscular Dystrophy, including one in April, where people will stand on their feet for 24 hours.
“I know that U-M has done this type of event for about 13 years and MSU started it last year,” Gottschall said. “We are hoping it will be a big event.”
Tie-dye was the most popular for students who lined up short-ly after 7 p.m. and the line con-tinued to grow as students from the halls came out with shirts or other items they wanted dyed.
Muskegon sophomore Thom-as Holcomb said he found out about the event around 6 p.m. and grabbed his own shirt so he would not miss out.
“I used all of the colors,” he said. “I guess I am kind of a hippie.”
Black said he was happy the event was a success and was impressed with the amount of people that came out for what they spent on it.
“It is not about the money but doing things for the students we just wanted to have a good time with everyone,” he said. “The weather turned out great and so did the night.”
A colorful celebration to end summerSaxe, Herrig, Celani halls wrap up the season
Livonia junior Brittany Smith tie- dyes a shirt at the
Saxe/Herrig/Celani Last Summer Bash
Wednesday night in the Saxe courtyard.
T-shirts were sold for $3 and proceeds
went to organizing a dance marathon,
tentatively in the spring, benefitting
Muscular Dystrophy awareness.
Sean ProCtor/
StaFF photographer
“There was a girl in my high school that was actually stalked on MySpace,” Kapusta said. “The girl in ‘Anonymous’ is in the same situation. It’s about how you don’t know the kind of people you’ll meet on the internet.”
While she did most of the revising and research on her own, she used the indepen-dent publishing company iUniverse to publicize her book.
“I used an independent company because it gave me more control over certain things, like the cover art and
such,” Kapusta said.Serious writing is a long pro-
cess, and it can be very easy for someone to lose interest in what they are doing.
Taylor said she attributes Kapusta’s success to her com-mitted personality.
“She is a very disciplined and organized person,” Taylor said. “She’s always got a posi-tive attitude.”
Fenton junior Jocelyn Wil-son said she helped Kapusta edit her book.
“She’s a very imaginative person. She’s very passion-ate and fun to be around,” she said. “(Her book) is really different compared to a lot of
books out there now.”
a ContinueD passionKapusta has not taken a
break from writing, however. She already began the editing process on her second book, “Angel at My Doorstep.” Tay-lor does not see her slowing down.
“She has already accom-plished a lot just by publishing her first book,” Taylor said. “She loves writing and has always wanted to be a great writer.”
“One day, I hope to be a well-known author. Maybe have one of my books turned into a movie,” Kapusta said. “Nothing is really going to slow me down.”
second book |continued from 3A
“It’s been happening a lot over the last few years,” Sabuda said. “These kinds of things can’t be solved by us alone.”
He said if such a crime occurs, the victim should immediately contact the police so they have a better chance of detaining the suspect rather than hesitating and waiting until later.
The problem with thefts is especially prevalent when it comes to bicycles, said CMU Community Police Officer Mike Sienkiewicz.
“Our number one crime con-tinues to be bike larcenies,” he said. “We are really trying to en-courage people to take it upon themselves to register their bikes.”
Yeagley said he hopes to eventually do an analysis of how CMU compares to other univer-sities when it comes to campus crimes, particularly ones of sim-ilar sizes.
“I have not done that yet, that’s part of the assessment,” he said. “But my experience tells me that we’re right on par.”
Local attorney Todd Levitt said he has been fortunate to see very few crimes against people’s safety on and off cam-pus during his time in Mount Pleasant.
“You don’t see any of the big type of cases that are identifi-able with big cities,” he said. “You don’t see the violent crimes on campus.”
campus crime |continued from 3A
But he doesn’t consider him-self a bodybuilder.
While bodybuilders focus on toning their bodies, Shock, who can deadlift 700 pounds, considers himself a “strong-man.”
Unlike bodybuilders, strong-men focus solely on building strength and not just looking good, he said.
“Strongmen and power lift-ers are like Mack trucks, while bodybuilders are like pea-cocks,” he said. “We’re the black sheep of the muscle world.”
going for funWebb has competed in five
shows prior to the nationals and said he hopes to place in the top 10.
Since his first show, a 2008 King of the Mountain compe-tition, he said he has fallen in love with strength building.
Webb said he will remain calm until the competition.
“I’m not really an all-too-excited person until I get down there,” he said. “Right now, I’m just going for fun.”
Two other Mount Pleasant natives are headed to the na-tionals — state trooper Chris
Pietrantonio of the Mount Pleasant post and Mount Pleas-ant resident Shawn Allen.
Allen said he will represent his religion while at the nation-als.
“I just want to go out there and represent Christ,” Allen said.
strongman |continued from 1A
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www.cm-life.com[News]
Central Michigan Life || Friday, Sept. 25, 2009 || 7A
By Joe MartinezStaff Reporter
Michigan high school seniors soon could have a new incen-tive playing the lottery — free college tuition.
Under the Michigan College Tuition Act, proposed by State Rep. Fred Durhal Jr., D-Detroit, qualifying high school seniors would receive free college tu-ition at no cost to state taxpay-ers.
“Here in Michigan, there is a serious need for a college edu-cation to be more accessible to all residents,” Durhal said in a statement. “We need to make sure that anyone who wants to continue learning beyond high school can do so.”
To qualify for the funding, the student would have to have lived in Michigan the previous five years before graduating high school, have a 2.5 grade point average and be accepted into any of Michigan’s public or private vocational and tech-nical schools, community col-leges or universities, according to a press release.
The funds would only cover tuition and room and board.
Books and meal plans would not be covered.
The student also must con-tribute one year of community service, including returning to their high school to mentor an “underachieving” senior.
Durhal plans to pay for the MCTA by holding three an-nual “super” lotteries, creating a check-box for contributions on income tax forms, corporate donations and endowments and contribution of 1 percent of all gross receipts from all Michigan casinos.
tribe may not DonateThe Saginaw Chippewa In-
dian Tribe is hesitant at the mo-ment to contribute anything to the state.
“We used to agree to donate 2 percent of tribal revenue on a provision of a twice-a-year audit,” said Frank Cloutier, in-terim public relations director for the Saginaw Chippewa In-dian Tribe.
Cloutier said the Tribe stopped donating that money when the state violated the ex-clusivity agreement the Tribe had by not providing any resis-tance to the casinos in down-town Detroit.
“The state keeps on challeng-ing the Indian tuition waiver, so donating our revenue to help out with statewide tuition is not something we’re very ac-
commodating to right now,” he said.
The three Detroit casinos generated $1.36 billion in rev-enue in 2008, according to a Detroit News article, and if they agree to Durhal’s proposal, would contribute $13.6 million to the MCTA.
About $13.6 million would cover more than 1,600 fresh-men taking 24 credits for an academic year under the uni-versity’s current freshman tu-ition rates.
The MCTA calls for creation of a “lock box,” which would keep all funding for the MCTA sepa-rate from being able to be allo-cated to fill state budget gaps or used for any other project.
The “lock box” would require amending the Michigan consti-tution, which requires a ballot initiative before the voters.
Lottery Commission spokes-woman Abbey Brewer said the amendment would bypass a state law that sends all lottery revenue to the school-aid fund.
Current high school seniors who might qualify should not expect the funds to come any-time soon. The ballot initiative constitutional amendment vote will not happen until at least the November 2010 mid-term elections.
Lottery pays for college tuition?Rep. Durhal seeks to increase education funding
By Ariel BlackStaff Reporter
Students in the McNair Scholars Program will pres-ent research projects in a symposium at 1 p.m. today in the Charles V. Park Library.
Many scholars present their personal research at conferences, giving them an advantage over students ad-vancing directly into gradu-ate school.
Warren senior Caitlin Dem-sky said she wanted to im-prove the setting of the work-place with her research.
“What I was trying to fig-ure out was characteristics of the workplace, such as anxiety and depression, that might lead to mental illness,” Demsky said. “I was looking at it from a specifically evo-lutionary view. I completed a survey for workers to take and sent it to 2,100 CMU alumni.”
The McNair program fo-cuses on students demon-strating their research with the help of a faculty member, who works as their men-tor. The scholars are taught groundwork for their futures in graduate school and are given the chance to travel and receive financial aid, said Lynn Curry, director of the McNair Scholars Pro-gram.
According to the program’s Web site, the three main portions of the program are to attend a research writ-ing seminar in the spring, participate in the Summer Research Institute and pres-ent research and complete graduate school applications in the fall.
“Students gain confidence in themselves,” Curry said. “This program is important to students who fit the crite-ria because we can help them get a step up and understand that through hard work and motivation, they can achieve a Ph.D.”
other projeCtsOther projects presented
will include Monstrosity in Horror Literature, A Search for Non-invasive Methods: Determining Age At Death and Comparing Intra-racial and Inter-racial Dialogue: A Qualitative Approach, among others.
Students also feel they are more confident in entering graduate school after com-pleting the program.
“Getting a Ph.D. is a very important educational goal to have,” Demsky said. “Mc-Nair is a wonderful, amaz-ing resource to get students to graduate school and gives them a step up on the com-petition.”
The program, established at CMU in 1999, benefits stu-dents interested in many dif-ferent fields of study and pro-motes educating students on research work and preparing them for graduate school.
“The program is an awe-some opportunity to gain re-search experience and meet scholars and students who have the same interests in go-ing to graduate school,” said Detroit senior Kayana Sand-ers.
Sanders, who focused on multicultural environment in the psychology department, agrees.
“I have a lot of confidence in what I want to do and who I am as a person,” Sanders said. “I have grown tremen-dously since last October. Through the McNair pro-gram, my confidence has also grown and I am able to say that proudly.”
interesteD?The program is taking ap-
plications for the 2010 co-horts. For more information on the McNair Scholars pro-gram, attend the Symposium or visit the Web site, mcnair.cmich.edu.
“We work with low income and first generation college students and underrepre-sented students and prepare them to pursue Ph.D.’s,” Cur-ry said.
McNair scholars present researchSymposium featuring studies on mental illness
If you go
w What : McNair research symposiumw When: 1 p.m. todayw Where: Charles V. Park Library
Flag Football | ‘Wolfpack’ practices for game
By Amelia eramyaStaff Reporter
Fort Gratiot junior Megan Fredendall is still waiting to receive her Michigan Prom-ise Scholarship.
“I talked to Receivable Accounting and they said they don’t even know if I’m going to get it or not,” she said.
The Student Govern-ment Association’s Legisla-tive Affairs committee held Promise Day Thursday for students greatly affected by Michigan’s deficit. More than 800 students request-ed their State Senators con-tact information during the event.
More than 3,000 Central Michigan University incom-ing and returning students were not awarded their earned scholarship for the fall.
The Michigan Promise is a $4,000 scholarship funded by the state of Michigan that started in 2007 and is re-warded to high school grad-uates who received valid test scores on their Michigan Merit Exam.
The decision to eliminate the grant took a turn in the State House and Senate. The State House voted Thursday to add a $120 million to the budget to restore the Michi-gan Promise, which reversed
Wednesday’s decision from a State House and Senate con-ference committee to elimi-nate the grant.
“I’m very glad that some students are willing to par-ticipate and demand that the scholarship is not elimi-nated,” said Brighton fresh-man Colleen McNeely, chair-woman of SGA’s Legislative Affairs Committee. “I’m glad the committee has reversed their decision.”
But students still do not know if they will receive their money.
frustrations risingLivonia freshman Kris-
tin Turbiak is frustrated her scholarship was taken away.
“We worked hard to take that test (MME) and, now, it’s out the window,” she said.
When Turbiak’s mother, an elementary schoolteach-er, found out the bad news through an e-mail from Cen-tral Michigan University, she immediately wrote a letter to the state.
“You make a promise, you keep it,” Turbiak said.
Turbiak and her mother awaited a reply, but never re-ceived the letter.
Turbiak said she called State Sen. Glenn Anderson, D-Westland, but was unable to speak directly with him. However, Turbiak spoke to
Anderson’s secretary and learned she was working hard to keep the Michigan Promise Scholarship.
“I voiced my concern and shared some personal expe-riences relating to the schol-arship,” Turbiak said.
Romulus freshman James McGlynn chose to attend a university in Michigan par-tially because he was receiv-ing the scholarship.
“It was one of the reasons why I stayed in Michigan,” he said.
Allen Park junior Ellen Trudell was concerned when finding out she would no longer receive the scholar-ship.
“I can’t believe the hypoc-risy of it,” Trudell said. “I don’t understand how they expect us to stay in Michigan and provide to the economy when they won’t even aid us in going to school.”
McNeely also is a recipient of the scholarship, but she is not sure if she will ever see the rewards of it.
“It’s great news that the House voted to restore the Promise grants,” McNeely said. “However, we are still awaiting on action to be taken on a tax bill to en-sure that the scholarship is awarded.”
Promise Day gives students a voice
Durand freshman Josh Roddy snaps
the ball to his quar-terback Tuesday
evening in the field between Broomfield
and West Campus Drive. Roddy and
the rest of his team, the ‘Wolfpack,’ were
practicing for their flag football league.
Matthew StePhenS/
preSentation editor
Road to
Redemption
Akron Zips (sept. 26) 2008: 5-7, 3-5 MAC: 4th in MAC East2009 start: 1-2; Beat Morgan State, lost to No. 9 Penn State and IndianaKey players: WR Deryn Bowser; DL Almondo SewellCoach: J.D. Brookhart (6th year)Offense: Multi-spreadDefense: 3-4Notes: The Zips recently dismissed prized quarterback Chris Jacquemain, who ranks fourth on Akron’s all-time passing list, after he violated team rules. Dual-threat sophomore quarter-back Matt Rodgers is now at the helm.
The Zips bring back four senior wide receivers for their four-wide set they use most often. Akron also brings back four start-ing offensive linemen from last season, all juniors or seniors.
Defensively, the Zips rank first in the conference in run defense through three games after changing from a 3-3-5 defense to a 3-4 front.
BuffAlo Bulls (oct. 3) 2008: 8-6, 5-3 MAC: 1st in MAC East2009 start: 1-2; Beat UTEP, lost to Pittsburgh and Central FloridaKey players: WR Naaman Roosevelt; SS Davonte ShannonCoach: Turner Gill (4th year)Offense: Multiple (pro-style and spread sets)Defense: 4-3Notes: After losing starting quarterback Drew Willy to gradua-tion, the Buffalo offense took another hit. Senior running back James Starks, who ran for 1,333 yards and 16 touchdowns last year, tore his left shoulder and is out for the year. Sophomore quarterback Zach Maynard will team with senior wide receiver Naaman Roosevelt to form one of the most dan-gerous duos in the conference.
Defensively, junior strong safety Davonte Shannon will anchor the unit. Shannon had more than 120 tackles in his first two years, and has a combined four interceptions.
eAstern MichigAn eAgles (oct. 10) 2008: 3-9, 2-6 MAC: 5th in MAC West2009 start: 0-3; Lost to Army, Northwestern, No. 25 MichiganKey players: WR Jacory Stone; RB Dwayne PriestCoach: Ron English (1st year)Offense: Pro-styleDefense: 4-3Notes: Ron English’s transition to a head coaching position just got more difficult. Now, the Eagles will miss one of its few bright spots after senior quarterback Andy Schmitt tore his ACL this week, leaving the reins of the team to freshman Alex Gillett.
The offense has changed from the spread to a pro-style attack. Defensively, English is in the midst of trying to morph a defense which gave up 408 yards per game and more than 35 points per game into a formidable unit.
fire up chips?w Assistant Sports Editor Tim Ottusch talks about the tailgating issue, 3B
Different lookw Akron runs a different defensive system than most MAC schools, 2B
Game previeww Akron comes into Sat-urday’s game with a few off-field issues, 3B
Game BreakDownw Sports Editor Andrew Stover breaks down Saturday’s game against Akron, 3B
live chat!w Go to cm-life.com for the live chat during Saturday’s game against Akron.
Friday, September 25, 2009 | Section B
Central Michigan Life
SportS WeekendCM-life.CoM | Check the Web site for weekend previews of field hockey, soccer and volleyball
For the Chippewas, it all starts Saturday.
After back-to-back Mid-American Conference Championships in 2006
and 2007, CMU lost its crown in 2008.
This year, the MAC may be better than ever. In the second week of conference play, CMU will
visit the defending champions Buffalo. Senior wide receiver Naaman Roosevelt is
showing it does not matter who throws him the ball. He is a playmaker.
The next test could be the biggest. CMU heads to Kalamazoo to play Tim Hiller and the Western
Michigan Broncos on Oct. 17. But the in-state rivalry cannot overshadow
the following week’s game against Bowling Green who fought, but narrowly lost to No.
25 Missouri (27-20).
And it will all culminate in the final conference game. By all accounts, Northern
Illinois is back. After losing to Wisconsin by a touchdown, NIU beat Purdue last week.
The Huskies are for real.
The eight-game grind is endured for one reason. Senior quarterback Dan LeFevour
knows it. The juniors and seniors obtained it before as well.
It’s all about winning the Mid-American Conference Championship.
MaC preview
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2B || Friday, Sept. 25, 2009 || Central Michigan Life cm-life.com/category/sports[footBall]
You always have to be conscientious of where he is, but you can’t let one person dictate to you.”
Quotable Comment .....
Zips OffensePos.No. Name ClassQB 5 MattRodgers So.RB 10 AlexAllen Sr. 3 DaleMartin So.WR 1 DerynBowser Sr. 21 AndreJones Sr. 12 JeremyBruce Sr. 7 DashanMiller Sr.TE 84 ThyneLadrach RFr.LT 75 CoreyWoods Jr.LG 71 MikeWard Jr.C 51 ElliotBates Sr.RG 78 ZachAnderson Sr.RT 73 JakeAnderson So.
DefensePos.No. Name ClassDE 97 JamesHarvey So.DT 56 AlmondoSewell Jr.NT 60 DanMarcoux So.MLB 34 BrianWagner RFr.SLB 24 AaronWilliams So.OLB 20 MikeThomas Jr.Rov 23 SeanFobbs Jr.CB 6 ManleyWaller So.CB 11 MiguelGraham Sr.FS 27 WayneCobham Sr.SS 48 TylerCampbell Jr.
SpecialistsPos.No. Name ClassP 38 JohnStec Sr.K 45 IgorIveljic Jr.PR 12 JeremyBruce Sr.KR 7 DashanMiller Sr.
OffensePos.No. Name ClassQB 13 DanLeFevour Sr.RB 6 ParisCotton So. 29 CarlVolny Jr.WR 27 AntonioBrown Jr. 7 BryanAnderson Sr. 1 KitoPoblah Jr.TE 82 DavidBlackburn So.LT 73 JakeOlson Fr.LG 66 JeffMaddux Jr.C 63 ColinMiller Jr.RG 64 AllenOllenburger Sr.RT 78 RockyWeaver So.
DefensePos.No. Name ClassDE 98 FrankZombo Sr.DE 95 LarryKnight Sr.DT 54 SeanMurnane Jr.DT 94 JohnWilliams So.MLB 46 MattBerning Jr.OLB 43 NickBellore Jr.OLB 17 TimBrazzel Sr.CB 19 JoshGordy Sr.CB 31 KirkstonEdwards Sr. 14 TommyMama Sr.S 9 BobbySeay So.S 12 EricFraser Sr. 44 DannieBolden So. 40 JohnCarr So.
SpecialistsPos.No. Name ClassP 96 BrettHartmann So.K 36 AndrewAguila Jr.PR 27 AntonioBrown So.KR 27 AntonioBrown So.LS 92 JakeEkkens So.
P l a y e r s t o W at c h
a k r o n Z i P sAlmondo Sewell- DT Deryn Bowser- WR Brian Wagner- MLB
c e n t r a l M i c h i g a n c h i P P e W a sBryan Anderson- WR Josh Gordy- WR Paris Cotton- RB
Chippewas
CMU INSIDE |||||||||||| game 4
Head Coach Butch Jones on Akron defensive end Almondo Sewell
ProfileSewell is the
anchor of Ak-ron’s defensive line, which ranks as the MAC’s best rushing de-fense.
Why to WatchThe Zips run a 3-4 defense,
so Sewell’s job will be more about taking on blocks and get-ting penetration in the back-field than getting pressure on the quarterback.
ProfileBowser has
nearly triple the yardage of any other Akron receiver (235 yards).
Why to WatchCMU coach Butch Jones
called Bowser one of the best wide receivers in the confer-ence. He has scored at least a touchdown in every game this year, including games against Penn State and Indiana.
ProfileWagner leads
the Zips in tack-les despite being new to the start-ing lineup this year.
Why to WatchOffensive guard Allen Ol-
lenburger said Wagner was the key player on Akron’s defense, a unit very good against the run. Against CMU, the Akron line-backers will have to be nearly as good in pass coverage.
ProfileQuietly, An-
derson leads the Chippewas in receiving yards with 147.
Why to WatchAkron’s start-
ing corners, Manley Waller and Miguel Graham, are both 5 feet 9 inches or shorter. Anderson is 6 feet 5 inches. This is a mis-match the Chippewas would be wise to exploit.
ProfileGordy has
been the cover-age ace of the secondary. He has the lone CMU intercep-tion this year.
Why to WatchOut of the spread, Akron
starts four senior wide receiv-ers. Gordy will likely be head-to-head with Bowser, but Andre Jones was third-team All-MAC last year as well.
ProfileCotton would
lead the team in rushing yards if not for Carl Volny’s role in the Alcorn State blowout.
Why to WatchWith sophomore Bryan
Schroeder and freshman Tim Phillips both game-time deci-sions, Cotton will be leaned on heavily in the backfield against a stingy Akron run defense.
Akronusesuncommon3-4defenseBy andrew StoverSports Editor
The football team will see a different wrinkle it will not see anywhere else when it faces the Akron defense.
Against every other team on CMU’s schedule, the defense aligns with four down line-men. Akron only uses three down linemen in most situa-tions.
“The difficulty with (Akron) is they do both (alignments),” said coach Butch Jones. “There just not a three-down football team or what some people re-fer to as an odd front.”
Jones said because of differ-ent blitz schemes and patterns Akron uses, the pass protec-tion is forced to be mentally sharp.
Along the defensive line is junior defensive end Almon-do Sewell (6’1”, 280 pounds). Sewell had 62 tackles, two sacks and six tackles for loss last year.
“You always have to be conscientious of where he is, but you can’t let one person dictate to you,” Jones said. “That’s why it’s going to be critical that we do some differ-ent things offensively in terms of schemes.”
Senior offensive guard Allen Ollenburger said Akron tends to blitz more than other de-fenses.
“They bring a little bit more pressure than most teams do with the four linebackers so you just have to be a little bit more technically sound,” he said.
The 3-4 front is more preva-lent in the National Football League than at the collegiate
level. The standard 3-4 front uses big-ger defensive linemen to take on dou-ble teams and allow the four l i n e b a c k e r s to make plays freely. The defensive ends are more like defensive tackles in a 4-3, where outside lineback-ers can be used to rush the passer like a prototypical de-fensive end or they can drop back into coverage.
Senior quarterback Dan LeFevour said he has to recog-nize the amount of people in coverage.
“They have the capacity to drop another guy into cover-age more often,” he said. “It makes running the ball a little bit difficult (too).”
The key to beating a 3-4 front is shedding the defen-sive linemen and blocking the linebackers. Ollenburger said CMU will use its athleticism to its advantage.
“You have to put a little emphasis on getting to the second level,” he said. “We do pretty well already getting to the second level because we are smaller and faster.”
Redshirt freshman Brian Wagner leads the team in tackles through three games with 30. He earned the atten-tion of CMU’s offensive line.
“He flies around, he really gets to the ball,” Ollenburg-er said. “He reminds me a lot of (CMU junior linebacker) Nick Bellore. He has a nose for the football and when he brings his blitzes, he really comes hard.”
Making the sWitchBefore 2009, Akron imple-
mented an even more unusual defensive front — the 3-3-5. In this scheme, the three down linemen occupied the same roles, but there were only three true linebackers.
“There’s a lot of similarities, it’s a little bit different,” Jones said. “I think it’s evolved a little bit more to probably be a little bit more multiple.”
Along with the two corner-backs and two safeties, Akron used a rover, which is a safety/linebacker hybrid. Junior out-side linebacker Mike Thomas filled the role last year. Thomas is an undersized linebacker in the new scheme, at 5’11”, 215 pounds.
“(He’s) all over the place,” Jones said. “He’s just a football player. He’s got great instincts. You can tell a player who has great instincts because they’re always around the football.”
Allen Ollenburger
“
cm-life.com/category/sports[football]
Central Michigan Life || Friday, Sept. 25, 2009 || 3b
by Dave JonesSenior Reporter
With most of the non-con-ference schedule behind the football team, sophomore running back Paris Cotton and the rest of the Chippe-was are ready for what lies ahead.
The next step is their pursuit of a Mid-American Conference Championship and, with the first confer-ence game against Akron at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Kelly/Shorts Stadium, expecta-tions are high.
“If we stick together, no one can beat us. Period,” Cotton said. “We work day in and day out and, as we work harder, we get stronger. (Ak-ron’s) going to come to play us, so we have to come to play — we come hard and they come hard and the best team wins.”
The Zips have uncertainty surrounding the quarter-back position. Senior Chris Jacquemain was dismissed from the team this week be-cause of a violation of team rules. It leaves sophomore Matt Rodgers as the starter.
Akron left with a 38-21 loss to the Hoosiers, but Rodgers ended the day com-pleting 14-of-23 passes for
165 yards, a t o u c h d o w n and a rushing touchdown. He also was i n t e rc e p t e d four times.
“ R o d g e r s brings an-other ele-ment in that he’s a dual threat,” Jones said. “He’s re-ally dangerous with the ball in his hands in running the football and making his own reads.”
The Zips’ offense also fea-tures wide receiver Deryn Bowser, who ranks second in the MAC in scoring, catch-ing five touchdowns (of the team’s seven total) in his 14 receptions.
“He is as talented as a re-ceiver as there is in our con-ference,” Jones said.
Along with Bowser, the Zips bring back three other senior wide receivers, including 2008 All-MAC wide receiver Andre Jones, who will start in the spread formation.
TalenT in The TrenchesAlong the offensive line,
Akron returns four starters, all juniors and seniors.
“(The) offensive line has a lot of experience — they’re big and physical,” Jones said.
Akron only has one start-ing offensive lineman less than 300 pounds.
Akron’s defense, which ranks at the top of the con-ference in stopping the run, runs a 3-4 front (three down linemen, four linebackers).
In three games, freshman Brian Wagner leads the Zips in tackles (18 solo tackles and 12 assists) and has had two pass break-ups.
“Considering the two sce-narios they’ve been given the first few weeks, to even be where they’re at defen-sively is pretty shocking be-cause they’ve played a lot of football,” said Akron coach J.D. Brookhart. “They’ve been put in some very un-fair positions, so I’m pleased with them.”
injury updaTeSophomore running back
Bryan Schroeder and fresh-man Tim Phillips are ruled as game-time decisions for Sat-urday’s conference opener.
Schroeder did not dress for the team’s 48-0 win against Alcorn State last Saturday, while Phillips went down in the first half with an injury after rushing for 40 yards on six carries.
G a m e P r e v i e w
Akron makes change at quarterbackSports Editor Andrew Stover
breaks down the football team’s 3:30 p.m. game against Akron at Kelly/Shorts Stadium.
QuarTerbacks:After the dismissal of senior
quarterback Chris Jacquemain, sophomore Matt Rodgers is making just his second start Saturday against CMU. In his first start, he did not fare well — he threw four interceptions in Akron’s 38-21 loss to Indiana. On the flip side, CMU senior quarterback Dan LeFevour completed 10-of-12 passes in his final tune-up game last week against Alcorn State be-fore being taken out in the sec-ond quarter.
Advantage: CMU. The quar-terback position at Akron went from a positive to a relative uncertainty last week. Rodgers was supposed to represent the future, but the dual-threat quarterback was thrust into ac-tion. It is a tough draw to face CMU in your first Mid-Ameri-can Conference game.
running backs:Nothing will help an inex-
perienced quarterback more than a steady running game. Unfortunately for the Zips, se-nior running back Alex Allen is averaging just 2.6 yards per carry. CMU was able to get the running game going last week against Alcorn State but, in the previous two games, sopho-more running backs Paris Cot-ton and Bryan Schroeder were held in check.
Advantage: CMU. The Chip-pewas have the slight advan-tage only because their backs are used in the passing game-with Schroeder and Cotton excelling as receivers out of the backfield.
cMu offensive line vs. akron fronT seven
CMU’s offensive line has meshed better than expected in the early going. Despite two new offensive tackles to start the year, LeFevour has had adequate time to make the necessary throws (he has been sacked six times, however). Ak-ron will bring a new wrinkle on
defense the Chippewas have yet to see. Instead of more common 4-3 front seven most collegiate teams use, the Zips use a 3-4, with three down line-men and four linebackers.
Defensive end Almondo Sewell is the anchor of the de-fensive line, and freshman line-backer Brian Wagner leads the team in tackles, and has earned the attention of the CMU of-fensive line.
Advantage: Akron. The Zips lead the Mid-American Confer-ence in rush defense through three games. The 3-4 front can be difficult to scheme around, so Akron will hold a slight ad-vantage.
akron offensive line vs. cMu fronT seven
Akron returns four starters along the offensive line from 2008, and they are all juniors and seniors. Every starter but one weighs more than 300 pounds, and the lone lineman who does not reach that plateau is 295. CMU employs a smaller de-fensive line, but defensive tackles Sean Murnane (Jr.) and John Wil-liams (So.) have played well, espe-cially in generating an interior pass rush. Senior defensive end Frank Zombo is one of the big-gest edge threats in the MAC.
Advantage: Akron. CMU’s front seven has made plays at critical times this year — espe-cially against Michigan State. However, Akron has one of the best offensive lines in the MAC, maybe the best. Rodgers will need all the time he can get.
cMu wide receivers vs. akron secondary
Senior wide receiver Bryan Anderson had a huge game against Michigan State, and he was taken out before doing damage against Alcorn State. Junior wide receiver Antonio Brown did enough on punt re-turns to dispose of Alcorn State alone — three punt returns for
113 yards and one touch-down. Akron’s two start-ing corners, Manly Waller and Miguel Graham are shorter than 5 feet 10 inch-es. Anderson is listed at 6 feet 5 inches. Expect CMU to stretch the field with its vertical pass-ing game.
Advantage: CMU. Whether it attacks with a vertical passing game or short and quick passes and screens, the Chippewas are too talented to contain in this area.
akron wide receivers vs. cMu secondary
Probably the most im-proved area of the team this year, CMU’s secondary looks night-and-day better than last year. Akron, however, has four senior wide receivers that will start out of the spread offense it uses, including All-MAC re-ceivers Deryn Bowser and An-dre Jones.
Advantage: Even. It will be depth against depth, and it is tough to distinguish who has the edge.
coaching: Both coaches have MAC
championships on their re-sume, but Jones has sustained success since coming to CMU. Akron’s J.D. Brookhart is 15-24 since the MAC championship game in 2005.
Advantage: CMU. Akron has experience across the board, but Brookhart will have to out-coach Jones for the Zips to win this game.
predicTion:Usually, the team with the
advantage on the offensive and defensive line will win the game. In this case, Akron’s ad-vantage is so slim, it may not even be noteworthy. The true test will be on Akron’s second-ary to slow down CMU’s wide receivers. That is highly un-likely.
CMU 31, Akron 16
B r e a k d o w n
Skill positions give Chippewas edge
Off the field issues could damper bright season
Butch Jones
Every football team has its question marks going into a season.
This season for CMU, those question marks centered on if the defense would improve, how the offensive line would hold up and if senior quar-terback Dan LeFevour would return to the form he showed in 2007.
Thus far, those question marks have been answered.
An argument could be made that the defense has been the team’s strong point. The team held Arizona to just 19 points, defeated MSU and avoided its hangover game against Alcorn State, contain-ing duel-threat quarterback Tim Buckley.
Offensively, CMU has looked sharp, particularly in the past two weeks.
And as the team heads into Mid-American Conference play, it has the opportunity to have one of the greatest seasons in team history.
With its major question marks already answered, a new question has recently emerged: Will anyone be there to see it?
TailgaTing conTroversyLast Saturday, as I headed
into Lot 63 to work at the Central Michigan Life tent, I braced myself for a half-hour search through tons of people to find it. Surprisingly, I found it within seconds. Because barely anyone was there.
CMU enforced a Lot 63
tailgating policy this year that limits each student to six beers or one pint of liquor and bans external sound sys-tems, among other rules.
Most people there held signs protesting the new set-up. However, I was surprised so many fans made the trek from their respective apart-ment complexes and from Main Street to see the game.
Now, I wonder, will anyone bother making that trip again?
The unity among students, and even now alumni, has grown, and protest groups have formed to not only boy-cott tailgating, but also the game itself.
The problem is both sides have totally different view-points and goals. And, really, each side’s differences have set up CMU to fail.
repercussionsIf students fail to show up,
it will make the university look bad on a few ends.
Saturday is CMU and You Day. Many perspective students will be on campus checking out what it is like
and if they want to come here.
But will perspective stu-dents want to come if the student environment is dead? Or will parents want their children to come here if they see the student body walk-ing from Main Street through the campus to the stadium a drunken mess?
Another area they are set-ting themselves up to fail is on Nov. 11, when the team faces Toledo on ESPN2 on a Wednesday night. Everything is about image and athletics is a university’s biggest market-ing tool. It does not do well for the university if its football team is in a conference title race and there is no student attendance with the game on national television.
And honestly, boycotting the tailgate from the students end really just tells everyone we care more about drinking than the big picture of why exactly there is tailgating in the first place.
Perhaps some town hall meetings are in order to work this out between the two sides. Perhaps pride and ego should be put aside for a while and let cooler heads prevail.
It would be a shame if this is the year the team cracks the Top 25 and wins the MAC, and the biggest storyline is some-thing that had nothing to do with the play on the field.
Tim OttuschAssistant Sports Editor
“If we stick together, no one can beat us. Period. We work day in and day out and, as we work harder, we get stronger.”
Paris Cotton, sophomore running back
Sean Murnane
Antonio Brown
4b || Friday, Sept. 25, 2009 || Central Michigan Life cm-life.com/category/sports[football]
wesTern Michigan (ocT. 17) 2008: 9-4, 6-2 MAC; T-2nd MAC West2009 start: 1-2, 1-0 MAC; Beat Miami (OH), lost to Indiana and Michigankey players: QB Tim Hiller; LB Austin PritchardCoach: Bill Cubit (5th year)offense: Multi -spreadDefense: 4-3notes: Senior quarterback Tim Hiller, who threw for 3,725 yards and 36 touchdowns last year, leads the offense. Senior running back Brandon West is the most dangerous backfield threat, and junior wide receiver Juan Nunez is Hiller’s go-to tar-get. The Broncos return four of five starting offensive l inemen from last year. WMU uses the shotgun formation frequently, but Hiller will l ine up under center also. Defensively, Western Michigan employs an athletic, but under-sized front seven. The Broncos also lose three of four start-ers in the secondary, including second round draft pick Louis Delmas, who led the team in tackles and interceptions.
bowling green (ocT. 24) 2008: 6-6, 4-4 MAC; T-2nd in MAC East2009 start: 1-2; Beat Troy, lost to No. 25 Missouri and Marshallkey players: QB Tyler Sheehan; WR Freddie BarnesCoach: Dave Clawson (1st year)offense: Multi -spreadDefense: 4-3notes: Statistically, Bowling Green had the MAC’s second best defense last year, but the Falcons will undergo some major turnover. The defensive l ine will have four new starters, and three of them weigh less than 260 pounds. Safety P.J. Mahone is the leader of the defense. Offensively, the Falcons return senior quarterback Tyler Sheehan. Sheehan will look to a healthy Freddie Barnes at the perimeter, and Clawson is expected to implement more of a downfield passing attack. BGSU will sti ll run a spread offense, but it will implement more use of the tight end, full back and under-center snaps as well.
Toledo (nov. 11) 2008: 3-9, 2-6 MAC; T-5th in MAC West2009 start: 1-2; Beat Colorado, lost to Purdue and No. 11 Ohio Statekey players: S Barry Church, QB Aaron OpeltCoach: Tim Beckman (1st year)offense: SpreadDefense: 4-2-5notes: Offensively, senior quarterback Aaron Opelt has the experience and the weapons at his expense to get a lot of production out of Toledo’s fast-attacking spread offense. Defensively, senior safety Barry Church will l ine up in mult iple posit ions. He will be the best Toledo player in pass coverage, but he also will rush the passer and play the run. In Toledo’s 4-2-5 defense, Church will serve as a rover, asked to make plays across the field.
ball sTaTe (nov. 18) 2008: 12-2, 8-0 MAC; 1st in MAC West2009 start: 0-3; Lost to North Texas, New Hampshire and Armykey players: WR Deryn Bowser; DL Almondo SowellCoach: Stan Parrish (1st year)offense: Multi -spreadDefense: 4-3notes: Redshirt freshman Kelly Page has yet to produce like former quarterback Nate Davis. In fact, Page is completing just 45.7 percent of his passes. Because of the inexperience behind center, the Cardinals will lean heavi ly on senior running back Mi-Quale Lewis, but defenses accounted for that. Lewis has been held to 3.4 yards per carry through the fi rst three games. Defensively, the most productive part may be the defensive l ine, which includes two defensive ends who had productive seasons last year. Senior defensive end Brandon Crawford and junior defensive end Robert Eddins combined for eight sacks last season.
norThern illinois (nov. 27)2008: 6-7, 5-3 MAC; 4th in MAC West2009 start: 2-1; Western Ill inois and Purdue, lost to Wisconsinkey players: QB Chandler Harnish; SS Tracy WilsonCoach: Jerry Kill (2nd year)offense: Pro-styleDefense: 4-3notes: Sophomore quarterback Chandler Harnish has completed more than 60 percent of his passes in 2009 after showing promise his freshman year. Running backs Me’co Brown and Chad Spann have combined for 481 yards in the first three games. Defensively, the Huskies figure to lean on senior defensive end Brandon Bice, who recorded 6.5 sacks last season. In the early going, sophomore strong safety Tracy Wilson has emerged as the leading tackler, with 11 more tackles than the next clos-est teammate in three games.
MAC Team Previews oUTSide THe LineS | Meet Freshman Kyle Zelinskyby Dave JonesSenior Reporter
After coming off the bench and leading the team in tack-les against Alcorn State, true freshman linebacker Kyle Ze-linsky spoke to senior reporter Dave Jones about college life, the field and his favorite shirt.
Dave Jones: This is your first year up here. What’s the transition been like for you?
Kyle Ze-linsky: Defi-nitely time m a n a g e -ment. Just coming in here and doing every-thing you have to do for football,
while keeping your grades up. Also the practices are a lot more intense, especially compared to high school.
DJ: How about transition-
ing to college-level classes?NZ: It’s not too bad. I took
a couple of courses that were kind of challenging in high school, but it’s still hard be-cause the teachers don’t get on a personal level, so it’s all up to you to get your work done.
DJ: You come in here and you have guys like Nick Bel-lore and Matt Berning. How’s it been working and learning from them?
KZ: It’s amazing. I’ve been doing everything I could to learn as much as I can, especially from Nick and Matt. They’ve taught me so many things and it’s been re-ally good having them, espe-cially with Nick playing my position and Matt playing it
before that. So they just both teach me everything I’ve got to know.
DJ: You say you have a lot of time management stuff. What do you do when you have time?
KZ: (laughs) What do I do when I have time? We don’t really have too much time, but I like swimming. We try to fit that in with a few of the guys; we go swimming. And we like watching a few TV shows. That’s what we do; we really don’t have a lot of time.
DJ: Does it ever get tedious for you?
KZ: It makes for longer days, but no; I like keeping busy. If I had a bunch of time to just sit around, I’d go nuts. So I like it.
DJ: How about game day. How do you get yourself pre-pared?
KZ: Definitely taking a lot of ice baths (laughs). I like doing that. But I have a shirt that I have and I listen to pretty much the same songs.
DJ: What do you mean you ‘have a shirt?’
KZ: It’s like a compression shirt that we get and I like it. I’ve been wearing it for a while. It’s just a white com-pression shirt that I’ve wore for the past couple of years. I always have that for every practice and every game.
DJ: Is it like a tradition or a superstitious kind of thing?
KZ: It could be, but I don’t think it is. It’s just keeping comfortable. That’s what I would say (laughs).
Kyle Zelinsky
ohio2008: 4-8, 3-5 MAC; T-4th in MAC East2009 start: 2-1; Lost to Connecticut, beat North Texas and Cal PolyKey Players: MLB Noah Keller, QB Boo JacksonCoach: Frank Solich (5th year)
kenT sTaTe2008: 4-8, 3-5 MAC; T-4th in MAC East2009 start: 1-2; Beat Coastal Carolina, lost to Boston College and Iowa StateKey Players: FS Brian Lainhart, RB Andre Flowers Coach: Doug Martin (6th year)
TeMple2008: 5-7, 4-4 MAC; T-2nd in MAC East2009 start: 0-2; Lost to Villanova and No. 5 Penn StateKey Players: NT Andre Neblett, LB Alex JosephCoach: Al Golden (4th year)
MiaMi (ohio)2008: 2-10, 1-7 MAC; 7th in MAC East2009 start: 0-3, 0-1 MAC; Lost to Kentucky, No. 12 Boise State and Western MichiganKey Players: WR Chris Givens, LB Caleb BosticCoach: Mike Haywood (1st year)
Teams off the schedule ...