feb. 26, 2010
DESCRIPTION
Feb. 26, 2010TRANSCRIPT
Guard duo rise as unlikely starters, 1B
[cm-life.com]
Students prep for spring break
with workouts, 3A
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, Feb. 26, 2010
photos by jeff smith/staff photographerComstock Park sophomore Alastair Watt leads a warm-up with his jazz dance class Wednesday evening at The Vision Studio of Performing Arts, 131 E. Broadway St. Watt, who has been dancing for 11 years, teaches the group of girls Monday through Thursday evenings in one- and two-hour sessions.
Comstock Park sophomore Alastair Watt leads a dance with his jazz dance class Wednes-day evening. For Watt, teaching improves his own dancing skills. “When you dance by yourself, you don’t really see what it looks like,” he said.
TransiTion in Power
Today is interim University President Kathy Wilbur’s last day in her current position. On Monday, President- designate George Ross will take over the position.
ediTorialw Wilbur’s time aspresident had its positives, negatives, 4a
sTay Tunedw CM Life will feature an interview Monday with Wilbur about her presidency.
By Ryan CzachorskiSenior Reporter
Employees working out of Charles V. Park Library room 428 are now answering their
phones a little differently.The office, formerly
known as the Affirmative Action Office, changed its name Thursday to the Office of Civil Rights and Institu-tional Equity.
The name was changed to better illustrate the ser-vices employees provide, said Matthew J. Olovson, assistant affirmative action
officer.“(We changed it) to be
more acceptable, to be better understood as the office to handle discrimination and harassment complaints,” he said.
China sophomore Yanyan Fu thinks the name change met its stated goals.
“I think it’s great. Affirma-tive Action is an older-fash-
ioned name,” Fu said. “It’s more clear. People can tell the function of this office.”
The change had nothing to do with the law passed in 2006 involving affirmative action in the state of Michi-gan, Olovson said. The ini-tiative stated programs that receive state funding could not use that funding for af-firmative action programs.
Olovson said there are still federal laws in favor of affir-mative action, and the office can still provide affirmative action services with those funds.
“We receive federal fund-ing. We still have affirmative action programs,” he said.
A longer processWhile the name change
came suddenly to Central Michigan University stu-dents, discussions of a mod-ification have been ongoing among university officials for about 10 months.
A proposal to change the name was submitted to the senior officers, and has just now been approved. The of-
Affirmative Action Office changes its name Title now Office of Civil Rights and Institutional Equity
A CiviL rights| 2A
Sherry Wohlscheid of Mount Pleasant said her daughter Alexa, 5, always looks forward to King’s ballet class.
“Alexa loves Shanna,” Wohlscheid said. “I think she does a wonderful job.”
King leads the future bal-lerinas with stretching exer-cises at the start of each class.
On this night, smiles spread across each pupil’s face as she praised their improvement.
“You work so hard to help the kids learn,” King said. “When you finally see the light go on, it’s so rewarding.”
shAre the tAlentKing has been dancing
since she was three and is ea-
ger to pass her skills to others. One day, she hopes to teach kids with disabilities to enjoy dance as much as she does.
“Dancing is what I love to do, so why not share my tal-ent with others?” King said. “I love to see other people learn.”
Comstock Park sophomore Alastair Watt has spent the
past 11 years perfecting his own dancing and dreams of one day performing in the movies.
He teaches classes at the studio five days a week.
For Watt, the real prize is watching the children turn into great dancers.
Daring to DanceStudent teachers find experience rewarding
By Heather Hillman | Staff Reporter
Squeals of anticipation filled the main lobby of The Vision Studio of Performing Arts on Wednesday evening.
A group of girls bounced around the room, unable to contain their excitement. But this was not the entrance to a Jonas Brothers concert. The girls — dressed in pink tutus — were waiting for their ballet instructor, Grand Rapids junior Shanna King, to begin class.
A DanCe | 2A
Pair will interview for CCFa associate dean positionBy Darnell Gardner Staff Reporter
The College of Commu-nications and Fine Arts is preparing open forums next week for the position of asso-ciate dean.
Randi L’Hommedieu and Shelly Hinck will interview. The associate dean’s normal duties include leading pro-gram and curriculum devel-opment, assisting with stu-
dent recruitment and helping faculty by promoting grant writing and new teaching methods.
Hinck, a professor of com-munication and dramatic arts, hosts a forum at 2:30 p.m. Monday in Moore Hall 211. L’Hommedieu, chairman of the School of Music, will host one at 2:30 p.m. Wednes-day in Moore Hall 211.
L’Hommedieu said he sees the position as an opportuni-
ty to be involved in important decisions the college will be making in the future.
“I think there are challenges that we’re going to face in this budget climate and the deci-sions will rest in the dean’s office, and I’d like to have an opportunity to participate in those decisions and help steer the colleges and depart-ments,” he said.
L’Hommiedieu has been di-rector of the School of Music
for eleven years. He said his experience with accrediting
organizations such as the Na-tional Association of Schools of Music has given him a background in curriculum and institutional standards and guidelines.
In addition to assisting the dean, L’Hommedieu said he wants to work with diversity initiatives and encourage student involvement in study abroad programs, creative projects and research activi-ties.
Hinck, who was unavail-able for comment, has been a faculty member since 1988.
Jane Matty, chair of the as-sociate dean search commit-tee and associate dean of the College of Science and Tech-nology, said Hinck has pro-moted service learning at the university.
“She’s been involved in the honor’s program and she’s
If you go...
w Associate dean of College of Communications and Fine Arts open forumsw Shelly Hinck: 2:30 p.m. Monday in Moore Hall 211w Randi L’Hommedieu: 2:30 p.m. Wednesday in Moore Hall 211
A Dean | 6A
SHOWING HOW IT’S DONE
Staff Reports
Some suggestions for cutting the 2010-11 Central Michigan University budget are now online along with responses.
Interim University President Kathy Wilbur said at a budget discussion Tuesday that the sug-gestions sent to the Senior Staff Budget Advisory Group last fall would be online Friday on the CMU Portal.
For example, 20 responses sug-gested CMU not build the Col-lege of Medicine. The SSBAG’s response: “Board of Trustees au-thorized the start of the College of Medicine in 2009.”
Six responses suggested charg-ing students for sporting events. SSBAG’s response: “Under con-sideration. The Athletics Depart-ment is reviewing the feasibility of this suggestion.”
Ten responses suggested offer-ing retirement incentives for buy-outs. SSBAG’s response: “This is already an option.”
At the meeting, Interim Provost
Gary Shapiro said more than 150 suggestions were submitted since the Web site has been up.
Central Michigan Life sent a Freedom of Information Act re-quest to CMU for the suggestions earlier this month and was reject-ed. The letter said the records were exempt under Section 13(1)(m) of the Act, which states communica-tions and notes within a public body or between public bodies of an advisory nature, to the extent that they cover other than purely factual materials, are preliminary to a final agency determination of policy or action.
Anticipating a budget shortfall, Wilbur asked for each budget cen-ter to submit a proposal for a 3, 6 and 9 percent budget cut plan. She received the plans Feb. 15.
Wilbur said Tuesday that more budget forums will be held to keep the campus community up-dated.
ssBag results available todayAnswers to some budget suggestions on the CMU Portal
See the budgetsuggestions
w Log in: ssl.cmich.edu/ssbag/
2A || friday, feb. 26, 2010 || Central michigan Life cm-life.com
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Adults $3. Children under 16 FREE if accompanied by an adult.Advance tickets available for $2 at the HBA office at 2026 Independence Dr.,
Mt. Pleasant, Mission Lumber & Ric’s Food Center in Mt. Pleasant,Witbeck's in Clare, Weidman Pro Hardware & McCarther Insurance Agency
in Weidman, Out of Bounds Pizzeria & Citgo Station & Glen's in Alma
FRIDAYMarch 125pm-9pm
SATURDAYMarch 13
10am-8pm
SUNDAYMarch 14
11am-4pm
MISSIONLUMBER &
HOME CENTER
Official Sponsors
The Home Builders Association of Central Michigan presents
2010201020102010
Located at
CMU IndoorAthletic Facility
Mt. Pleasant
todAyw A social work program orientation starts at 11 a.m. in Anspach Hall 257.
w “Bowling for Memories,” a Sigma Kappa philanthropy event, takes place from 3 to 7 p.m. at ULanes in the Student Activity Center. Tickets are $5 and all proceeds go toward Alzheimer’s Disease Resarch.
w “Family Adventure night,” an event with climbing and ziplining, takes place from 5 to 9 p.m. at the rock wall in Finch Fieldhouse 112. The event costs $10 for each family.
w the discussion “Black history and the Movement: Across the diaspora” takes place from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in the Bovee University Center Auditorium.
sAturdAyw cMu’s Mens Basketball team takes on Western Michigan at 12 p.m. in Rose Arena.
w “up All night,” an event with food, music and activities, takes place from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. at the Student Activity Center. Admission is free for CMU students and $5 for the public.
sundAyw A choral concert takes place 2 to 3:30 p.m. in the Music Building’s Staples Family Concert Hall. The concert is free and open to the public.
w the film “8 Femmes,” a musical comedy, plays at 6 p.m. in Pearce Hall 327. The film is free for students and the public.
Corrections
© Central Michigan Life 2010Volume 91, Number 62
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].
EVENTS CALENDAR
WEATHER FORECAST70 percent chance of precipitation
30 percent chance of precipitation
30 percent chance of precipitation
todAy High 32/Low 25 Snow/Wind
sAturdAyHigh 36/Low 25 Snow Showers
sundAyHigh 36/Low 26Flurries
fice wanted to make clear it provides help to any victim of discrimination of any na-ture.
Comparable university offices have changed their names or have had different names to illustrate similar points.
Western Michigan Univer-sity’s office is the Office of Institutional Equity, while Wayne State University’s is the Office of Equal Oppor-tunity.
"It’s a trend,” Olovson said. “I think a lot of other insti-tutions that had affirmative action offices have already changed.”
Despite the change, em-ployees will provide the same services to students.
Trenton freshman Adrian Dahlquist thinks the name will not make a difference to most students.
“It doesn’t really matter to me,” she said. “It’s the name of a building.”
civil rights |continued from 1A
“Everyone has a limit where they want to give up,” Watt said. “I want to get them over that and make them want it.”
King and Watt are members of Orchesis Dance Theatre and perform as part of the University Theatre series.
Teaching not only benefits their students, but also is a way to improve the duo’s own skills.
“When you dance by yourself you don’t really see what it looks like,” Watt said. “By fixing them, you fix some of the things that you do.”
A chAllengeAmy Perschbacher of Mount
Pleasant owns the studio at 115 South Mission St. and said she looks for teachers with a passion for dance that will inspire her students.
King has worked with Persch-bacher for two years, while Watt just started last month.
Perschbacher said both are
a joy.“I always want to bring in
something that’s going to chal-lenge the students; something that they may not get anywhere else,” Perchbacher said.
At the end of class, King is al-ways reluctant to say good-bye to her young students.
She cannot help but smile with pride at their accomplish-ments.
“There’s no better job than doing what you love to do,” King said.
dance |continued from 1A
PHOTO OF THE DAY
NathaN kostegiaN/staff photographerMike Posner performs to a sold-out crowd Thursday night in Warriner Hall’s Plachta Auditorium. Tickets for the show with Big Sean have been sold out since January. Posner was about an hour late and did not take the stage until about 9:40 p.m. About 1,200 people attended the sold-out show. “I didn’t know who he was until tonight, and he’s better than I expected,” said Lansing sophomore Ivanna Rogers. For the full story, see cm-life.com.
By Ralph Vartabedian and Ken BensingerLos Angeles Times
WASHINGTON — Apologiz-ing for Toyota’s missteps in deal-ing with defects blamed in doz-ens of fatalities, a contrite Akio Toyoda told members of Con-gress his company was “not per-fect” and that its rapid growth had “confused” the priority it places on safety.
“Quite frankly, I fear the pace at which we have grown may have been too quick,” the presi-dent of Toyota Motor Corp. said during more than three hours of testimony. “I regret that this has resulted in the safety issues described in the recalls we face today, and I am deeply sorry for any accidents that Toyota driv-
ers have experienced.”Toyoda, grandson of the
company founder, had initially planned to skip Wednesday’s appearance before the House Oversight and Government Re-form Committee.
He changed his mind amid escalating investigations into Toyota’s handling of the sudden acceleration problem, including probes by Congress, a New York federal grand jury, the Transpor-tation Department and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Com-mission.
Speaking in halting but pro-ficient English, Toyoda told the House panel he became aware of the sudden acceleration issue late last year, despite the com-pany’s 2007 recall in the U.S. market to replace floor mats
that could cause sudden accel-eration in two models.
Members of the House com-mittee raised a wide range of broader concerns about the company’s secrecy, its practice of making all of its safety deci-sions in Japan and the compa-ny’s insular corporate culture.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in testimony that preceded Toyoda’s that the company was “safety deaf,” a problem he laid on the compa-ny’s failure to communicate ad-equately between its headquar-ters in Japan and its corporate staff in North America.
The company wasn’t taking the current safety problems se-riously, LaHood noted, until he dispatched a senior aid to Japan late last year.
Toyota president apologizes at House hearing Wednesday
ON CM-LIFE.COMw Mike Posner and Big Sean perform Thursday
to sold-out Plachta Auditorium crowd.
Minor injuries in single-vehicle accident
Two people were taken by ambulance to Central Michigan Community Hospital following a single-vehicle accident Thursday in Chippewa Township. Accord-ing to Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribal Police Sgt. Jerry Smith, a GMC Yukon was tracking east-bound on Broomfield Road just past Leaton Road when it slid into a ditch around 6:45 p.m. The vehicle’s two female occupants received minor injuries and were taken to CMCH, Smith said. He did not believe alcohol or speed were factors in the crash. “There were just icy road conditions,” Smith said. The Isabella County Sher-iff’s Department responded along with Tribal Police.
Surplus saleThe Central Michigan Universi-
ty Surplus Sale takes place from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. today in Lot 1, near the corner of Bellows and Doug-las streets. Items for sale include office furniture and equipment and household furniture. All sales are final. For more information go to purchasing.cmich.edu or call University Stores at 774-3917.
Advanced materials seminar
A discussion on polymer sci-ence takes place from 1 to 2 p.m. today in Dow 107. Dr. Petar Dvornic, senior research scien-tist and professor of polymer science from the Michigan In-stitute in Midland, will lead the discussion. For more informa-tion, contact Jessica Lapp at [email protected] or at 774-2221.
Charity gameThe Third Annual Rowdie and
Friends Mascot Charity Basket-ball Game takes place at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Rose Arena. Admission is free, but donations will be accepted. All proceeds from the game go to the Ameri-can Lung Association. The charity game follows the Central Michi-gan University men’s basketball game against Western Michigan University. There will be a silent auction, giveaways, free food and photo opportunities with mas-cots. For more information, con-tact Don Helinski at 745-6134.
Governor candidate discussion
Former Governor of New Mex-ico, Gary Johnson, hosts an open discussion from 9 to 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Big Boy Restaurant, 1623 S. Mission St. The breakfast is hosted by Central Michigan Uni-versity’s Campus Conservatives and is open to the public. For more information, contact Cam-pus Conservatives at [email protected].
Vote for student art
The 2010 Annual Juried Stu-dent Art Exhibition opens today and runs through March 27. The University Art Gallery will be open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. today and from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Sat-urday. The gallery will take votes for the Public Choice Award dur-ing the reception from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday. For more information, contact Gallery Director Anne Gochenour at 774-7457 or e-mail [email protected].
The Chicago Gypsies
The play “The Chicago Gyp-sies” will perform Friday, Satur-day and Sunday in Moore Hall’s Bush Theatre. Showtimes are 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Friday and Sat-urday, and tickets are $5.50 for students and seniors and $7.50 for others. The performance runs from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday with ad-mission at $5 for students and $7 general admission. The story is based on a family of actors out of work during the Great Depres-sion, traveling a long distance from their Chicago home. For tickets, call University Central Box Office at 774-3000 or go to centralboxoffice.cmich.edu. For more information, contact Jim Hickerson at 774-3874.
If you have an interesting item for Life in Brief,
let us know by e-mailing [email protected].
Heidi Fenton, Managing Editor | [email protected] | 989.774.4343
inside life3AFriday, Feb. 26, 2010
Central Michigan life
[LiFe in brieF]
By Ryan TaljonickStaff Reporter
Valerie Raiss loves a good Jägerbomb on a night of relax-ation.
“I usually buy them when I’m out at a bar,” the Lake Ange-lus junior said. “I really like the taste.”
She is not alone.Despite health concerns,
beverages combining alcohol
and energy drinks have grown in popularity within the past three years, said Chad Miller, a manager at The Cabin, 930 W. Broomfield St.
“The energy drink shots seem to be the most common types of shots we sell,” Miller said. “We usually only use energy drinks for Jägerbombs.”
Miller said many alcoholic beverages that contain energy drinks require students to lay down some extra cash.
“They’re expensive because you have to pay for an entire Red Bull in the price of the drink,” Miller said.
Good for you?But the popular drinks may
pose health risks.Becky Wang, substance abuse
prevention coordinator for the Ten Sixteen Recovery Network in Isabella County, said the combi-nation of energy drinks and al-cohol can be dangerous.
Wang said it is unhealthy to combine alcohol, a central ner-vous system depressant, with caffeine, a stimulant.
“When you combine the two, often times people don’t neces-sarily feel intoxicated,” she said. “When you add caffeine in the mix, it sort of tricks your body into thinking that you’re not as drunk as you really are.”
She said mixing the two
Alcoholic energy drinks can be health risksOfficial: Depressant with stimulant combination can be ‘unhealthy’
Libby March/staff photographerBartender Erin Essex, 29, of Midland makes a Jägerbomb on Wednesday at Coco Joe’s Beach House, 4855 E. Blue Grass Road. Ingredients in a Jägerbomb include Red Bull and Jägermeister.
photos by sEan proctor/staff photographerWayland junior Rikki Jo Holmes strengthens her quadricep muscles while doing a wall sit at the ACT program workout session Thursday in Kulhavi Hall 145. There were 15 different stations and each repetition was 45 seconds long.
Wayland junior Rikki Jo Holmes runs down the Kulhavi Hall stairs at the ACT program workout session Thursday in Kulhavi Hall 145. She ran up five flights of stairs, across the hallway and down five flights back to the workout, where she went through the 15 stations again.
A drinks | 6A
By Maryellen TigheSenior Reporter
Two downtown development authorities could close doors in Union Township by next month as part of a money-saving effort.
Debate stemmed from the method of funding for DDAs — capturing taxes. Some local groups disagree with the funds allocated by Union Town-ship to the East and West DDAs because other pro-grams are strapped for financing.
DDAs are funded with a percentage of tax in-creases in areas where the DDA operates. Several groups would otherwise receive those tax dollars. Among them are the Commission on Aging, Isa-bella County Transportation Commission, Chip-pewa River District Library and Mount Pleasant Public Schools.
Several people voiced their dissent to keeping the DDAs at Wednesday’s township board meet-ing.
“This DDA capture is a burden,” said Tom Delia, Chippewa River District Library board president.
More than $4.4 million was captured from 2004 through 2008.
The DDAs were established in 1985 to increase the area’s tax base, township Supervisor John Bark-er said, and most communities close DDAs after this goal is accomplished.
Stay or Go?The township plans to make a decision by March
on whether to discontinue the authorities, but of-ficials are still in the process of gathering informa-tion.
Mount Pleasant Public Schools has been one of the areas hardest hit by the diversion of money to the DDAs. The school district is beginning to make cuts that will affect class work of the students, Su-perintendent Joe Pius said Wednesday, noting the state could cut another $255 per student.
“Right now, we are looking at cutting almost 3 million out of our budget,” he said. “We are looking at changes at the top and all the way through the entire program.”
But Jim Zalud, treasurer of the West DDA, be-lieves the authorities should stay intact.
“The only taxes we capture are for the increase of growth in our area,” he said. “When these things were conceived years ago, there was some fair-ness.”
The DDAs were forced to downsize by hard eco-nomic times in the mid-’90s and have already cut most of the fluff from their organizations, said Mike Brehm, East DDA chairman.
“We’re a very efficient organization, we’re all vol-unteers, we’re all unpaid,” he said. “Ninety-six cents of every dollar that we bring in is used for projects, how do you get more efficient than that?”
No matter the decision, the township will still have to pay off the bonds of the West DDA, Barker said, and each group — the Commission on Aging, ICTC and others — would likely still have part of their taxes captured to help pay that off.
u n i o n t o w n s h i p
Officials could end ddAs by next monthFunding concerns voiced Wednesday at board meeting
“It’s basically a small training program,” said Angie Dalton, Resi-dence Life coordinator of fitness, facilities and wellness.
Dalton said the pro-gram had more than 100 participants with seven personal trainers instructing courses held
at different times of the day.
“Everyone sets indi-vidual goals,” she said. “We make sure their goals are reasonable, safe and healthy.”
Participants in Thurs-day morning’s workout rotated between differ-ent stations, working on
toning muscles and los-ing weight.
Stations included basic exercises such as sit-ups, jumping rope, push-ups and wall sits. Between rounds of ex-ercise in the classroom, participants took breaks to run throughout the Kulhavi Hall staircases.
Holmes said cost was a major influence on her decision to participate in the Act Program.
“It’s free, which is a big benefit,” she said.
For Macomb Town-ship freshman and Kul-havi resident Katelyn
Spring break
steppin’Students work out, get ready for midterm hiatus
By Randi Shaffer | Staff Reporter
Nothing puts a spring in one’s step like spring break.
The upcoming recess from school prompted Rikki Jo Holmes to take up a work-out regimen. She grabbed a drink from her clear plastic water bottle at the conclusion of an hour-long workout Thursday in Kulhavi Hall 145.
“I feel really, really good,” the Wayland ju-nior said. “I’m really proud of myself. I wanted to get fit for spring break.”
Holmes was one of five girls to participate in the Thursday morning session of the Act Program, a six-week fitness course sponsored by Residence Life and University Recreation that ends this week.
A ACT | 6A
City Commissioner looking to alter purchasing policyJoslin: Purchasesshould ‘have tostay in your state’By David VeselenakOnline Editor
City Commissioner Jon Joslin wants to keep city dollars local by looking into a new purchas-ing policy for Mount Pleasant.
Motivation for further re-search came Monday from the City Commission’s decision to award a $154,750 sewer relining bid to Insituform Technologies
USA from Chesterfield, Mo. Joslin argued that for an ad-
ditional $150, the city could contract with a Michigan-based company, Utility Services Au-thority in Belleville, and keep the city’s money in the state.
“If you can buy it locally... (then) I think it should be man-dated we do that,” he said. “Ulti-mately, you have to stay in your state.”
Joslin motioned to award the bid to Utility Services Authority, but the proposal did not receive a second. Joslin was the only dis-senter in the vote for Insituform Technologies USA.
Commissioner David McGuire said he has no prob-lem supporting local business, but Utility Services Authority is not in the mid-Michigan area. Belleville is in Wayne County.
“If this was somewhere within 30 miles, I’d be all over this,” he said. “The fact that it is that far away does not do anything for me.”
Mayor Jim Holton said the city has a 2 percent local prefer-ence policy — that if a local busi-ness’ bid is second lowest and is within 2 percent, the city has the option to contract with the local company. Currently, only items
that are bid out are subject to the local preference policy. Ev-eryday items, such as pens and paper, are not included. Joslin said he would like to have a poli-cy in place for everyday items.
With the sewer relining is-sue, he said the city was well below the proposed budget of $249,000. Because all the bids given to the city were much low-er than budgeted, he said, the commission should try to keep money in Michigan.
Holton said although he tries to keep purchases local, he votes with taxpayers’ money in mind.
“If we can buy something
cheaper not within our com-munity, we have to look at that as well,” he said. “Is it good for our economy? No doubt about it. Is it good stewardship for our taxpayer’s dollar? I don’t know if that’s true or not.”
Joslin said he will report back to the City Commission in a few meetings with his findings.
Holton said he would expect an agenda item regarding the city’s purchasing policy this summer, as the city is going to start focusing on the 2011 bud-get and other pressing issues.
voices[cm-life.com/category/voices]
4A
central Michigan Life
Friday, Feb. 26, 2010
Wilbur’s biggest strength as president was her visibility. From visiting students in residence halls to participating in fo-rums, Wilbur has been more accessible to the CMU community than previous president Michael Rao.
Her willingness to approach students was a fresh change, considering Rao hardly met with students prior to
leaving for Virginia Commonwealth University last year.
Rao likely wouldn’t have held a budget forum that addressed students and faculty. President-designate George Ross should make it a point to be just as accessible as Wilbur was, especially when there is so much uncertainty on campus.
Wilbur is not without her faults, however.
Failing to update the public about budget cuts during the last Board of Trustees meeting was a disappoint-ment.
Weeks before the meeting, Wilbur said she would reveal budget cut sug-gestions at the meeting. On one hand, it is understandable that there are many people besides Wilbur involved with budget cuts and she is not entirely to blame. But the lesson learned is not to speak of something if you can’t deliver it, especially with a subject that impacts so many people.
Another bump during Wilbur’s term was the denial of Freedom of Informa-tion Act requests. Central Michigan Life filed 14 FOIAs in February concerning the revealing of budget cut suggestions, and all of them were initially denied.
But voila! Today, some budget cut suggestions sent to the Senior Staff Bud-get Advisory Group were posted to the Web, which begs the question: Why was
the FOIA asking for them rejected?While this is not all on Wilbur, we
would like to see more transparency with issues that impact thousands of people involved with the university, and we would like to see a president that advocates that.
Wilbur, despite lacking a Ph.D., became interim president because of her role as a lobbyist and her familiarity with pushing CMU’s interests forward.
Becoming president so quickly and running a university is no easy feat, especially with state appropriations dwindling and Michigan’s economy struggling.
The insider perspective and knowl-edge of what it takes to be a leader at CMU should help Wilbur be even more effective when working with government officials on the part of the university.
Hopefully, she will remember the pressure of tackling the university’s problems and fight in the interest of the students.
Kathy Wilbur’s term as interim president of Central Michigan University is coming to a close.
Wilbur has achieved and faltered in a few areas in her 8-month stint as president. Hopefully, she will take her experiences from this position and apply it as she returns to her role as vice president of Gov-ernmental Relations and Public Affairs at CMU.
EDITORIAL | Wilbur had her ups and downs during 8-month presidency
An end to a term
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]
CHRIS TAMLYN [CENTRAL SQUARE]
[Our reader’s vOice]
Cooking at home
central Michigan Life
“More things about interesting
people, not budget meetings.”
Sarah Dwones, Westphila
senior
CM YOu|What whould you like to see covered more in CM Life?
SEan proctor/staff photographer
“I would like more diversity issues. I like mainstream,
but covering (unknown)
groups would be beneficial.”
Henry Hammond, Detroit senior
“More crossword puzzles.”
Emily Seymour, goodrich
junior
“Local government issues. that is something
that is important and often
overlooked.”Jake Neher,
Bloomfield township senior
EDIToRIAL Brian Manzullo, Editor in Chief Heidi Fenton, Managing Editor
Joe Borlik, Student Life EditorJackie Smith, Metro Editor
Eric Dresden, University EditorAndrew Stover, Sports Editor Ashley Miller, Photo EditorWill Axford, Voices Editor
David Veselenak, Online EditorChelsea Kleven, Lead Designer
ADVERTISINg
Lindsey Reed, Katie SidellAdvertising Managers
Carly Schafer, Shawn WrightMulti-Media Marketing Coordinators
PRoFESSIoNAL STAFF Rox Ann Petoskey,
Production Leader Kathy Simon,
Assistant Director of Student Media
Neil C. Hopp,Adviser to Central Michigan Life
“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
As chair of the Central Michigan University Board of Trustees, I must challenge the factual errors and tone of the Feb. 19 CM Life editorial calling for the resigna-tion of Trustee Gail Torreano.
Being a member of the CMU Board of Trustees is an honor and responsibility that every member takes seriously.
We serve because we all have a deep commitment to the univer-sity’s students, faculty and staff.
While trustees are most vis-ible to the campus community at board meetings, their responsi-bilities extend far beyond that.
Trustees regularly represent CMU at events, participate in fundraising activities, make financial contributions of their own, meet with university stake-holders, handle a variety of board communications on behalf of CMU and attend commencement ceremonies.
All have board committee as-signments that require additional
time and attention, and those who serve as chair or co chairs of the Board of Trustees have extra responsibilities.
It also is not uncommon for board members to serve on other university boards and commit-tees.
Your editorial incorrectly states that Trustee Torreano has missed two of the last four board meet-ings.
Factually, this is the first meet-ing she has missed since July 2009, participating in meetings in September, October and Decem-ber. Since February 2009, she has attended six of the eight board meetings held.
Trustee Torreano’s service to CMU and her devotion to the suc-cess of the university’s students surpass her role as a member of the Board of Trustees.
She has served as a member of the President’s Advisory Board, the Development Board and, as board chair, appointed the
presidential screening commit-tee and participated fully in all the presidential search activities with the rest of the board once the Screening Committee had made its recommendations.
In addition, Trustee Torreano has assisted with securing finan-cial gifts from AT&T, where she serves as a senior vice president. She also has personally made significant financial contributions to the university.
Few alumni remain as dedi-cated and connected to their alma mater as Gail Torreano.
CM Life needs to be factual when they decide to malign the reputation of a person so devoted to CMU and recognize the per-sonal sacrifice and professional responsibilities of those who give so much back in the interest of the university’s students, faculty and staff.
Stephanie ComaiChairwoman, CMU Board of Trustees
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.
Central Michigan Life’s operations are totally funded from revenues through advertising sales. Editions are distributed free throughout the community and individuals are entitled
to one copy. Each copy has an implied value of 75 cents.Non-university subscriptions are $1 per mailed edition. Copies of photographs published
in Central Michigan Life or its online edition (www.cm-life.com) are available for purchase at http://reprints.cm-life.com
Central Michigan Life’s editorial and business offices are located at 436 Moore Hall, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI 48859, telephone 774-3493.
Brad CanzeColumnist
Brian Manzullo, Editor in ChiEf | Will Axford, VoiCEs Editor | Heidi Fenton, Managing Editor | Eric Dresden, UniVErsity Editor | Jackie Smith, MEtro Editor
Many college students become dependent on fast food, eating out and ordering take-out for their meals.
One of my roommates, who claims to not have the time or the inclination to cook for himself, almost never goes a day without drive-thru burgers or pizza delivery.
And while the convenience and time-saving aspects of this kind of lifestyle are without question, cook-ing at home can be beneficial for financial, health and social reasons.
Obviously, cooking at home is a money-saver. Several weeks ago, I deep-fried popcorn shrimp and baked cheddar biscuits, spending roughly half of what it would cost to get the same meal at a Red Lobster.
Of course, there’s also the advan-tage of actually knowing what is be-ing eaten. Cooking at home affords the advantage of choosing what is being consumed and what is not. While this does not always translate to a more healthy diet, it does give more control over nutrition.
But the most important thing, from the perspective of a college student, is the social advantages.
It is difficult to cook amounts small enough for just one person, so I often end up inviting friends over as well.
Once somebody gets good enough at cooking and learns their way around a kitchen, eventually friends and roommates will start to request that they have meals cooked for them which, of course, affords favors or brownie points to the cook.
And of course, as a college-aged guy, being able to cook a good meal is a great quality to impress women with as well.
While it may seem like a silly thing to put such importance on, taking a little extra time and effort to cook at home now, while in col-lege, will result in small changes in savings and health that will eventually compound into a huge difference.
And who knows? Cooking one good meal may just net you the significant other of your dreams.
Trustee Torreano should be given more credit
Lonnie AllenStaff Reporter
Farming addiction
FarmVille easy to consume life
Addictions are typically associ-ated with drugs, alcohol and sex.
I have to confess mine is farm-ing.
It is an addiction that has slowly worked its way into my everyday life. Farming begins when I get up in the morning. I need to gather eggs and milk the cows. I need to visit and fertilize my neighbors’ farms, and it all has to be done before my first class starts.
Yes, my addiction is FarmVille, a virtual farm, but it is definitely an obsession I cannot go a day without. Sure, this addiction of mine isn’t harming me physically. However, it has changed the way my day is conducted.
Instead checking my e-mail and reading some news in the morn-ing, I am farming.
I farm even before I go to bed. It takes me an hour to visit all my neighbors on FarmVille. It is ridiculous to spend an hour fertil-izing virtual farms, but I don’t stop. I have to keep going.
I might be lying to myself if I say FarmVille hasn’t affected my classes. I haven’t missed due dates for assignments, though I have pushed the envelope so I could harvest crops.
This addiction has affected my daily chores. Dirty laundry is piled high and dirty dishes may stink up the kitchen — but my farm looks great. Visiting family on the weekends has taken a backseat to scaring away gophers and crows.
In the past, I would have been afraid to announce publicly I am farming on Facebook. But today I can admit to my addiction on FarmVille.
I gathered some information from the Zynga game network and read an article on CNN.com on FarmVille. I was astounded with the report.
An estimated 75 million people each month play FarmVille, which is roughly equal to the numbers who have played the classic arcade and desktop game Tetris during its entire existence.
The report also said FarmVille has had, to date, up to 118 million installs. It has more monthly users than the population of France. I was shocked yet relieved at once.
Could anyone have imagined technology and social networking sites leading to millions farming?
Computers make jobs easier while information is only a click away. Cell phones make commu-nication instantaneous, with some practically handheld computers, making it hard for a junkie like myself.
These technological improve-ments are supposed to make our lives easier, but may have introduced some serious conse-quences.
If people don’t relate to my confession and believe this is something to ignore, I must warn you that there are other entice-ments on Facebook waiting.
Accepting just one of these in-vitations from a friend could lure you into a virtual need — the need of completing just one more task.
www.cm-life.com[News]
Central Michigan Life || Friday, Feb. 26, 2010 || 5A
By Connor sheridanSenior Reporter
Could Google Buzz be the next social networking hit?
The new tool from Google combines several applica-tions such as Google Reader and Picasa with Twitter or Facebook-like functionality.
The service was unveiled Feb. 9 and is accessible with a Google account from its e-mail service, Gmail.
“All my contacts are right there,” said Joshua Trimble, a Central Michigan Univer-sity alumnus. “It’s my ideal internet platform.”
Trimble, 27, is an IT Ser-vice and repairman at Car-men-Ainsworth Community Schools who resides in Flint.
His favorite feature of Google Buzz is how it incor-porates all his Google ser-vices into one easily shared location.
He said he enjoyed that he could take a picture with
his Motorola Droid phone, upload it to Google’s Picasa Web Albums and have his Web Albums account auto-matically sync with his Buzz account and notify all the users following him.
Trimble also appreciates Buzz’s synchronization with his Google Reader account, as it allows him to share an article over Buzz with his followers and take part in a dialogue about it, all from his Gmail inbox.
“Google is really expand-ing, and I’m thoroughly en-joying it,” Trimble said.
InformatIon overload?That rapid expansion is
a concern for some people uncomfortable with the amount of information peo-ple readily feed into Google’s databases.
One blogger has already voiced her dissatisfaction that her abusive ex-boy-friend and his friends were made to automatically follow her Google Buzz account, which had her location and employment listed, accord-ing to a report by Business Insider.
Google released an update which revised Buzz’s auto-matic following features, though privacy issues re-main a concern.
Associate Professor of So-ciology Alan Rudy quoted University of Texas professor Clay Spinuzzi’s Twitter Ac-count.
“Buzz follows Google’s strategy of rapid innovation, rapid controlled failure, in-ternal competition, disrupt-ing competitors,” Spinuzzi said.
Rudy is an active user of several social networking sites and tools such as Twit-ter and Digsby, which he uses personally and profes-sionally.
“My basic sense, at this point, is that students who use (Facebook) for status updates, (instant message) through (Facebook), AIM or some other software, and text regularly on their phone aren’t going to have much more use for Buzz than they have for Twitter,” Rudy said in an e-mailed statement.
Google a buzz with new social networking functionFeature combines popular sites on Gmail platform
By Maryellen Tighe Senior Reporter
Downtown Mount Pleasant’s art scene is reaching out.
Art Reach on Broadway, 111 E. Broadway St., will expand into an adjacent property, 115 E. Broadway St., in July. The Cobbler Shop will consolidate to its Alma location, according to a sign on the building.
Owners of the shoe estab-lishment declined to comment this week.
“The opportunity just kind of fell into our lap,” said Kim Bigard, gift shop and gallery coordinator. “When (the Cob-bler Shop) made the decision to close down they came and offered it to us, and we jumped at it because it really is perfect for our needs.”
The space will give Art Reach room for more 3-D presenta-tions and art installations, Big-ard said. Currently, such art is limited to a wall of the store. Officials already have all exhib-its planned for the rest of the year, but 3-D exhibits should go up in 2011.
Art Reach is moving its ad-
ministrative and classroom portions into the expanded Broadway Street space. Art Reach Center of Mid Michigan, 319 S. University St., will close.
“The idea was that we want-ed to be under one roof,” said Art Reach Executive Director Kathy Hill. “We chose to keep it downtown so that we can have the same presence at the store.”
Rick Stevens, an Art Reach volunteer, said the move should decrease the confusion between the two stores and in-crease cohesion.
“We’re going to be all togeth-er. We always felt like this has been a long-distance romance between us and the headquar-ters,” he said. “Now, we’re all going to be in one building like one big happy family.”
fascInatIon wIth artRenovations and the addi-
tion of new artists are planned with the expansion. Art Reach on Broadway currently serves as a co-signment shop where local artists are able to present and sell their work.
All artists with work in Art
Reach have Michigan ties, Big-ard said. The establishment has even displayed students’ work through the years.
“You get to meet a wonderful group of people who are really fascinated by the arts,” Stevens said. “There’s always the per-son that says, ‘You know, I do art,’ and you get their artwork in here and it starts doing well and they get more involved in the artist community.”
Building an artistic commu-nity is a goal of Art Reach, he said.
There are many people who come into the store to buy gifts for family or friends; others come to pick up some of the culture of Mount Pleas-ant.
“It’s a bright spot of culture in a town that isn’t famous for that big town culture feel,” Mount Pleasant resident Mar-sha Biggs said.
Art Reach Center of Mid-Michigan opened in 1981 on University Street and expand-ed to Art Reach on Broadway in 1999.
paige CaLaMari/staFF photographerMount Pleasant resident Liz Dealing looks at art pieces Tuesday morning at the Art Reach Gift Shop and Gallery, 111 E. Broadway St. Art Reach plans to expand the gift shop and gallery into the former location of The Cobbler Shop Shoes by July.
Art Reach on Broadway expands to new location
By Amelia eramyaSenior Reporter
Southfield sophomore Robert Donald never relat-ed to just one group — gay, black or athletic.
Donald, Gay Straight Alli-ance ambassador, wants to educate people about the process of coming out and how to handle the differ-ences people may have with their orientation.
“The biggest thing is to educate people on terms and issues, and show people we are people too,” he said.
A panel of five LGBT com-munity members spoke ca-sually with a group of about 40 people Thursday evening in Merrill Hall during an event called “Gay Elephant in the Room.”
Donald came out to his friends in the eighth grade, when he was 13 years old. At 15, he came out to his family.
Donald said it was a com-plete relief to know he can truly be himself around his friends and family, which lead him to start a series of forums to educate and in-
form people of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Trans-gender communities.
The idea of the forum is to reach out to residence halls, Donald said.
“Education is a powerful thing,” he said. “If we come to them in their residence halls, it would make things easier.”
The panel consisted of Holt senior Matt Darling, also GSA president, Howell senior Stasi Russell, GSA pride co-chair, and Detroit junior Arielle Watts, public relations for GSA. The panel told their coming-out sto-ries and their experiences with the LGBT community.
They talked about dating, religion, name-calling and how to approach friends and family.
The crowd asked ques-tions and talked about their personal stories as well.
Aly Jarosz, a Traverse City sophomore, attended the forum to learn more about the LGBT community.
“I’m straight,” she said. “But I wanted to learn more about the gay community.”
Jarosz learned how many
people struggle with the coming out process and was mostly shocked people are actually scared to come out to friends and family.
Overall, she felt she had become an advocate for the LGBT community.
“I have a huge prejudice with the people that are against gays,” she said.
As a panelist, Darling ca-sually spoke to the crowd and expressed his senti-ment for those still dealing with identity concerns. He wanted the attendees to get comfortable and see the fo-rum as conversation rather than a presentation.
During his coming-out process, Darling said he was scared, but realized it was the best thing he could have done for himself.
“I came out and experi-enced a lot of support and love instead,” he said.
Donald said this was the first forum of the series. He plans to continue the se-ries and hopes to host it in Kulhavi hall at the end of March.
LGBT attempts to reach residencehalls with Thursday night forum
6A || Friday, Feb. 26, 2010 || Central Michigan Life www.cm-life.com[News]
By Kevin DrescherStaff Reporter
Many people do not realize there are questions employers cannot ask when signing off on a job application.
Though it may seem each application asks nearly the same questions, tiny differ-ences can set a question apart as illegal.
Julia Sherlock, Central Mich-igan University’s Career Servic-es director, warns students to be careful as illegal questions can lead to job discrimination.
“Anything of a personal nature that’s out of the basic qualifications that they say you need for the job is typically out
of bounds,” she said.Sherlock said, however, that
illegal questions are not as common today as they may have been years ago.
“I can’t even believe, espe-cially in these days, that any-thing illegal would be on an application. There is very little mistakes on the employers’ ends,” she said. “It’s not a per-fect world, but it’s certainly not acceptable.”
Boise State University Career Center has listed some illegal questions that specifically can-not be asked.
For example, employers can-not specifically ask “Are you a U.S. Citizen?,” “How old are you?,” “What is your marital status?,” “Do you need an ac-commodation to perform the job?,” or “Have you ever been arrested?”
Brian Partie, associate direc-tor of CMU’s Career Services,
said students should do some background research before setting out on a job hunt.
“We always encourage stu-dents to thoroughly investigate what the job is that they’re ap-plying for,” he said. “The truth is we haven’t had too many situations with students.”
On many applications em-ployers ask people to fill out in-formation regarding their race for filling purposes only. Though most say that it is optional, ap-plicants are never legally obliged to do it, Sherlock said.
Mount Pleasant senior Kath-leen Sheahan-Stahl said she did not realize certain questions are off-limits, but sometimes still on applications.
“They’re trying to just make you fill it out without having to make you do it,” she said. “They’re being very tricky.”
What questions can employers ask?Students alerted to be wary of illegal queries
greatly increases the chances of alcohol-related risks.
Prepackaged alcoholic en-ergy drinks, such as Sparks, Tilt and Joose are available in stores.
These alcoholic beverages are offered in a variety of fla-vors, such as orange, tropical and cranberry. They typically have between 6 to 9 percent
alcohol by volume.Aaron DeLaRosa drinks
Sparks on occasion.DeLaRosa said he does
not notice an energy boost from the drinks, but enjoys the flavor.
“I only drink Sparks when I start drinking early on in the day as a starter drink,” the Lexington senior said. “They don’t really have an alcohol taste — they remind me more of sweet tarts.”
drinks |continued from 3A
been involved in a variety of extra-curricular and stu-dent learning initiatives,” Matty said.
Matty said both candi-dates will go through a day-long interview process next week in which they will meet with department chairs, the search committee, the dean and the provost.
Candidates also will have a chance to interact with the campus community in their own open forums, she said.
“The purpose of the open forum is to allow other peo-ple who are interested in the candidates to meet them and listen to their answers to questions, and give them an opportunity to provide input on the candidates relative to the conditions,” Matty said.
dean |continued from 3A
Coates, the location was only one factor in her deci-sion to participate.
“I love exercise and I want-ed to get in shape for spring break,” she said.
Coates plans to participate in future programs similar to the Act Program if she has the opportunity.
reachIng a goalIn addition to the recent
Act Program, Holmes has participated in past events with Student Recreation such as Butts and Guts, Boot Camp and Turbo Kick programs.
Dalton said in addition to the Act Program, everything Student Recreation hosts is free, ranging from student programs to fitness classes.
“I thought it was awesome and I needed the motiva-tion,” Coates said of the Act Program. “It was great.”
By Alethia KasbenStaff Reporter
One of Michigan’s largest
bicycling events will return to Mount Pleasant this summer with a few minor changes.
Le Tour de Mont Pleasant is set for June 11-13. It will be the second time the event has taken place in Mount Pleas-ant.
Last June, more than 500 cy-clists participated. This year, the event will include a com-muters’ race and a family fun ride, the proceeds of which will go to a local charity.
The Mount Pleasant Area Chamber of Commerce puts on the event. Robert Stout, chairman of the chamber’s board of directors, said the changes were made to make the event more spectator friendly.
“We aren’t making any ma-jor changes because all re-views of the event have been positive,” he said. “We’re just trying to fine-tune and im-prove the event by tying in businesses and family.”
Le Tour consists of three different European-style races for men and women. Racers are split up into categories numbered one through five based on skill level — one being the most professional and five being amateur.
On June 12, there will be a
one mile race held in down-town Mount Pleasant for all registered cyclists. There will be two races the following day — a 110-mile race for male cyclists on levels one or two through all of Isabella County and a 50-mile race for all cyclists levels three through five.
This year, the event’s “Race Central” section will be more consolidated to an area between Broadway and Michigan streets, where the winner’s podium, registra-tion tent and results posting will be.
wIll It go on?Chamber officials hope
the event will continue after this year. But Lisa Hadden, the chamber’s president and CEO, said it takes an “enor-mous amount of work” to gain a permit for the event through USA Cycling.
Criteria for the Tour in-cludes having medical atten-tion present, law enforcement at intersections and special transportation for the racers, and hiring professional race timers, judges and referees.
“I think the cycling com-munity was watching us to see how we would do last year since it was our first race,” Hadden said. “I think we demonstrated that we were more than capable of hosting a first class race and this year
will be bigger and better.”The bike shop Motorless
Motion, 121 S. Main St. will provide mechanical support for the racers. Shop Manager Allison Quast said the busi-ness participates to raise awareness about cycling and give community members a new outlook.
“It is excellent to get in-volved as both a volunteer or racer as it gives economic de-velopment to the community by bringing in people from outside areas,” she said.
Le Tour brings a lot of traf-fic to downtown because each racer brings family or other team members, and hundreds of spectators come. Stout said he does not have hard data to prove the community eco-nomically benefited from the event.
“But the hotels fill up and the restaurants are busy, and that’s a good sign,” he said.
More participants are ex-pected to return this year. All registration will take place at sportsbaseonline.com, after the permit is granted.
Cost is between $25 and $30. Children’s registration forms will be sent home from local schools with students, or parents can register at the chamber.
For more information, visit mt-pleasant.net/tour.htm.
Tour de Mont Pleasant returns with changes fiLe photo by josh kodis
Bikers ride through downtown streets during the first “Le Tour de Mont Pleasant.” More than 500 cylists participated in the 3-day event, which challenged people to bike various long distance routes.
act |continued from 3A
www.cm-life.com (989) 774-3493 Central Michigan Life
sublets • roommates • lost & found • for sale • books • bikes • furniture • pets
Friday, February 26, 2010 | Section B
Central Michigan Life
SportS WeekendMac chaMpionships | Track teams host their conference meet today and tomorrow, 2B
West Division Team MAC OverallBall St. 8-6 15-12WMU 7-7 15-13CMU 7-7 13-14EMU 7-7 15-13NIU 5-9 9-18Toledo 0-14 3-26
East DivisionTeam MAC OverallAkron 11-3 21-8Kent St. 11-3 21-8Buffalo 8-6 16-10Miami (OH) 8-6 12-16Ohio 6-8 16-13BGSU 6-8 14-13
Saturday GamesCMUvs. WMUAkronvs. BGSU KentSt.vs. Miami (OH) Ohio vs. BuffaloBallSt. vs ToledoEMU vs. NIU
*Home teams in bold
West Division Team MAC OverallToledo 11-3 21-6EMU 9-5 19-7CMU 8-6 11-15Ball St. 6-8 12-15NIU 4-10 10-15WMU 2-12 7-20
East DivisionTeam MAC OverallBGSU 12-2 22-6Kent St. 11-3 18-8Akron 9-5 15-12Miami (OH) 6-8 8-19Buffalo 3-11 7-20Ohio 3-11 7-20
Saturday’s GamesWMU vs. CMUToledo vs. Ball St.Akron vs. Miami (OH)Ohio vs. BuffaloBGSU vs. Kent St.NIUvs. EMU
*Home teams in bold
PointsPlayer (team) PPG
w David Kool (WMU) 20.8w Xavier Silas (NIU) 19.5w Rodney Pierce (Buffalo) 18.9 w Brandon Bowdry (EMU) 16.6 w Carlos Medlock (EMU) 15.6w Armon Bassett (Ohio) 15.2wRobbieHarman(CMU) 14.6wJordanBitzer(CMU) 14.6w Kenny Hayes (Miami OH) 14.5w Justin Greene (Kent St.) 14.0
ReboundsPlayer (team) RPG
w Brandon Bowdry (EMU) 9.8w Calvin Betts (Buffalo) 7.7w Jarrod Jones (Ball St.) 7.5w Donald Lawson (WMU) 7.5w Otis Polk (BGSU) 7.4
Field Goal PercentagePlayer (team) %
w Justin Dobbins (EMU) 62.3w Sean Kowal (NIU) 56.3w Justin Greene (Kent St.) 53.8w Erik Marschall (BGSU) 52.7w Brandon Bowdry (EMU) 51.0
Free Throw PercentagePlayer (team) %
w David Kool (WMU) 88.8w JordanBitzer(CMU) 88.4w Tommy Freeman (Ohio) 85.1w Armon Bassett (Ohio) 82.6w Max Boudreau (Buffalo) 82.3
Men’s MAC Leaders
Women’s MAC Standings
Men’s MAC Standings
BasketballWeekend
matthew stephens/senior photographerSenior guards Robbie Harman (left) and Jordan Bitzer play their final home game at noon Saturday against Western Michigan. The duo is one of the top back-courts in the Mid-American Conference after low expectations to start their careers.
Guard duo earns status at cMu
Setting a standard
Zeigler: pride at stake in WMU game
M e n ’ s b a s k e t b a l l
CMU hopes to reboundfrom heartbreaking loss
Jordan Bitzer and Robbie Harman still have to prove themselves.
Not on the court — each is a 1,000-point career scorer and has started the
last 49 games for the Central Michigan men’s basketball team.
But the pair of senior guards can’t seem to get past Rose Arena’s stringent security force before games.
“Chris (Kellermann) and them just walk right in because they’re tall — not us,” Harman said. “We get stopped and questioned. My picture’s even right there on the wall.”
Parking can be an issue, too. “I’ll tell them I’m a player and they don’t
believe me,” Harman said. “I’ve had to park way out in the lot before.”
That Bitzer and Harman aren’t immediately recognized as athletic stars on the CMU cam-pus might not seem fair given their outstand-
ing play in the past four years. But they don’t seem too bothered by it.
Their journey has been a long struggle for Division I recognition dating back to their high school days.
Lost in transition‘You can’t play here.’The words stung the 18-year-old Bitzer as
he began his collegiate career. He had com-mitted to CMU thanks to the confidence of former coach Jay Smith, who recruited the small town kid from Michigan’s Thumb. Then Smith resigned the job on May 11, 2006.
As Bitzer began to make plans to move to campus, he was confident he could impress the new coach. Afterall, he was the Thumb’s main attraction at Unionville-Sebewaing Area High School. He led the school to a
By Daniel Monson | Senior Reporter
A guardS | 3b
Senior night w Men’s basketball team plays its final home game at Rose Arena before it is remodeled, 3B
reBoundw Women’s basketball team looks for bounce-back game after Toledo loss, 4B
Expected to do little, senior backcourt revives program
1,000careerpoints1. Melvin McLaughlin (1980-83) 2,07119.JordanBitzer1,10327.RobbieHarman1,002
Career3-pointersmade1.RobbieHarman2212. Giordan Watson (2004-08) 1993.JordanBitzer 189
Careersteals1. Giordan Watson 2034.JordanBitzer 1685.RobbieHarman158
Season3-pointersmade1.RobbieHarman93 Tommie Johnson (1987-88) 939.JordanBitzer 65
The Legacy
file photo by ashley millerHarman excelled at Traverse City Central High School, the same high school as CMU great Dan Majerle.
file photo by matthew stephensJordan Bitzer is a native of Unionville, a town of about 500 in Michigan’s Thumb area.
By Daniel MonsonSenior Reporter
Coach Ernie Zeigler said his team’s pride will be tested at noon Saturday against Western Michigan.
The final home game for the CMU men’s basketball team comes three days after it lost an 18-point lead in the second half at Northern Illinois. The loss sent the Chippewas into a second-place tie with WMU and Eastern Michigan at 7-7 in the Mid-American Conference West Division.
Zeigler gave the team Thursday off from practice to regroup. The Chip-pewas are 1-5 in the MAC since start-ing 6-2.
“The true test of a man’s character and in this case a team, is how you respond at your lowest moments,” Zeigler said. “(Thursday) was a day to reflect on that for our guys. We’re going to regather (today) and see who responds.”
To defend their West Division title, the Chippewas need to win their final two games and Ball State (8-6 MAC) to lose its final two (Satur-day at Toledo and Thursday at West-ern Michigan). A tiebreaker would go to the Cardinals, who hold the ad-vantage because of their wins against the East Division’s top teams.
“We definitely missed an op-portunity last night to gain a win in our league,” said senior forward Chris Kellermann. “The important thing for us is we can’t dwell on it for too long.”
rebounding woesThe Chippewas played Thursday
without leading rebounder Jalin Thomas, who sat out because of a back injury he suffered on a hard foul in CMU’s win against Tennes-see State on Feb. 20. The result was a 34-21 rebounding disadvantage.
“We need him desperately,” said Zeigler. “As badly as we need his toughness and his will to fight through, this is a kid that’s fought through and kept concussion-like symptoms to himself. I’m going to be very cognizant of not just putting him out there just to put him out there.”
The Huskies, who snapped a 10-game losing streak, grabbed 17 offensive rebounds. CMU’s play-ers at the power forward and center positions collected one rebound.
“We’ve had some tough losses,” Zeigler said. “It was probably one of the most frustrating ones because of our lack of toughness. There was nothing tough about our team, par-ticularly up front with our front-court players.”
Thomas, who averages 5.3 re-bounds per game, said he is feeling better and will try to play Saturday.
“I’ve still got a lot of the tightness all over my back,” Thomas said. “A lot of it’s in the lower back area. I can’t push off of stuff and jump as well as I
A WMu | 3b
Separation w Gymnasts can separate themselves from NIU in MAC standings, 3B
w Won every competition she has competed in this year in the high jump.w Won her only appear-ance in the women’s pentathlon, will compete in both events at MAC Championships.w Leads the conference in the high jump (5 feet 11 1/2 inches).w Won the high jump at the 2009 MAC Championships (5 feet 7 3/4 inches).w Selected to the All-MAC Academic Team in 2009.
436 Moore Hall • CMU • Mt Pleasant
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2B || friday, feb. 26, 2010 || Central michigan life cm-life.com/category/sports[SportS]
file photo by sean proCtorFreshman Kevin Bacon leads the MAC in the long jump after jumping a distance of 24-1 1/2 last Friday at the Jack Skoog Open at the Jack Skoog Indoor Track in the Indoor Athletic Complex.
t r a c k a n d f i e l d c h a M p i o n s h i p s
Greg Pilling — Thrower Erika Schroll — High jumper
By Josh BerenterStaff Reporter
Willie Randolph said he took the track and field and cross country coaching position at CMU specifically for weekends such as this one.
The CMU men’s and wom-en’s teams host the Mid-Amer-ican Conference Champion-ships starting at 10 a.m. today at the Jack Skoog Track in the Indoor Athletic Complex. The championships will conclude Saturday.
“We’re going to go in there and put our best foot for-ward,” Randolph said, “and be competitive like we’ve been preaching all year long. This is a championship culture and a championship situation.”
The MAC Championships is a team-scored competi-tion with points awarded in the men’s competition to the top six finishers in each event ranging from 10 points to one. The women’s competition awards points to the top eight finishers.
With every team from the MAC competing this weekend, Randolph said there is not one specific opponent to focus on, but Akron will be difficult to prepare for because CMU has not faced it this season.
Senior thrower Greg Pilling said he also expects a lot of competition from the Zips.
“Akron is one of the stronger teams (in the conference),” he said. “(They are) emotionally and psychologically strong, but we are up to the challenge to fight for the No. 1 spot.”
Athletes such as Pilling and senior jumper Erika Schroll, who will compete in their last indoor MAC Championships, said this weekend will be bit-tersweet.
“This is a wonderful oppor-tunity to be able to compete in front of a home audience,” Pilling said. “But, at the same time, it’s sad. This is the last time I’m going to compete in-doors.”
Schroll said she relishes the home atmosphere to conclude the indoor season.
“It hasn’t sunk it yet that I’m a senior,” Schroll said. “It’s a significant thing going into a MAC meet at home and as a senior, so it’s pretty cool too.”
Besides the senior leader-ship, Randolph said he expects several younger athletes to step up.
The biggest underclass-man contribution for CMU has been freshman Renaldo Powell. Powell has won the 60-meter hurdles twice this sea-son, and Randolph has rising expectations for the freshman.
“He’s acting like a junior or senior now,” Randolph said. “He’s definitely one of the most consistent younger athletes
we’ve had. Let’s see how he re-ally holds his own.”
The women’s team has not won the MAC indoor title since 2004, while the men won it in 2005.
notesHeading into the champi-
onships, senior Riak Mabil has the best time in the MAC in the 5,000-meter run (14 minutes, 26.10 seconds) and freshman Kevin Bacon leads the MAC in the long jump (24-1 1/2). Senior Marcus Breidinger is second in the pole vault (17-4 1/2).
For the women, Schroll has paced the MAC in the high jump (5-11 1/2) and junior Shanaye Carr is first in the 60 hurdles (8.53). Senior Cara Dukes is third in the MAC in the 400 (55.76).
CMU prepares for conference meetRandolph readies for competitionat Jack Skoog
w Received All-American honors for the discus in 2009.w Broke the school record in the discus (197 feet 2 inches) at the 2009 NCAA Mideast Regional.w Scored at the 2009 MAC Indoor Championship in the weight throw (58 feet 5 1/4 inches).w Competed with the Canadian National Team last summer.w Selected to the All-MAC Academic Team in 2009.
t w o t o k n o w
MenWomen
1.KSU Akron2.EMU KSU3.Akron Miami (OH)*4.CMU Buffalo*5.UB WMU6.- UB7.- CMU8.- Ohio9.- EMU10.- Toledo11.- BGSU12.- NIU
2009 Results
Division 7 state championship in football and appeared in three state title games in football and basketball.
But that didn’t matter to new CMU coach Ernie Zeigler, who was hired at the end of June 2006. All Zeigler heard from oth-er coaches was that Bitzer might not make it on the Division I level. Zeigler, faced with devel-oping a program that had gone 4-24 in 2004-05, did not have the luxury of giving scholarships to players who might develop; he needed players immediately.
Mark Gainforth, Bitzer’s high school coach and close family friend, accompanied Scott and Kim Bitzer to a meeting with Zeigler to discuss their son’s fu-ture. Gainforth tried to calm the fears of the apprehensive Bitz-ers, who did not have a positive feeling about the meeting.
“I was wrong, because when they walked out, I said, ‘Hey, how’d it go?’ They all kind of looked up at the same time and I could tell there had been tears in their eyes,” Gainforth said. “They were right — that’s not the kind of meeting you want to have with your incoming coach.”
Said Bitzer: “They basically tried to take my scholarship away. We got to the parking lot and my mom just bawled.”
Because of NCAA rules, Bitzer had a choice to play for at least one year before his scholarship could be rescinded. The Bitzers had a decision to make.
“He had his heart set on play-ing at Central,” said Scott Bitzer, Jordan’s father. “It was kind of like somebody just took his dream away.”
Jordan called Zeigler a few days later.
“I told him, ‘I want to prove myself to you,’” Jordan said.
out of shapeBitzer was a frequent visi-
tor to garbage cans inside Rose Arena to vomit in the middle of Zeigler’s draining workouts.
“I was huffing and puffing and gasping for air — it was not a fun time,” Bitzer said. “I was telling people, ‘This is not how I envisioned basketball to be.’ ”
But Scott Bitzer said quitting was not an option for Jordan before or during the season. Jor-dan also felt some responsibility to continue for his small town.
“I definitely didn’t want to be known as a quitter, that’s for sure,” he said. “That was definitely running through my mind.”
Bitzer gradually worked his way into shape, but a stress frac-ture in his foot kept him out of the team’s first two games.
On Nov. 19, 2006, however, his fortune changed. CMU trailed 42-26 late in the first half against Missouri-Kansas City. Desper-ately, Zeigler turned to Bitzer on the bench.
After missing his first 3-point attempt, Bitzer made five of his next six shots — including a 3-pointer that gave CMU its first lead of the game. His 17 points led to CMU’s 85-68 win — Zeigler’s first home victory. Bitz-er was a starter six games later.
“It probably was one of the more special moments for he and I as a player and a coach — the beginning of a lot of special moments,” Zeigler said.
deveLoping trustFour years later, Zeigler says
he has since “profusely apolo-gized” to the Bitzers and Gain-forth for initially being reluctant to keep him at CMU.
“I use Jordan Bitzer as a mo-tivational discussion piece,” Zeigler said. “I’ve had guys that I’ve brought in that were so soft that they left because they couldn’t stand competing against Jordan Bitzer. I’m just truly blessed to have the op-portunity to coach him.”
Said Jordan: “After it was all said and done, he kind of came up and apologized and I thanked him for giving me the opportunity. Ever since then, our relationship has grown each and every year.”
Zeigler fought to keep him enrolled after academic prob-lems near the end of his soph-omore season caused him to be ineligible for CMU’s first eight games.
After getting back on track, Bitzer was eligible by the end of December.
“It made me look in the mir-ror and re-evalute myself,” Bitz-er said. “It made me cherish the things I have. I just really was just lazy and didn’t do the stuff I needed to do in the classroom.”
robbie, get up!Lynette Harman was a mom,
coach and motivator to her five children as they grew up in Tra-verse City. As a single mother in charge of raising three girls and two boys, Lynette had a special
bond with her children through athletics — but she was not about to take it easy on them — espe-cially Robbie, her oldest son.
“I never wanted to baby him,” she said. “I knew that was go-ing to be important not to do. You can’t raise strong men if you baby them.
Lynette coached Robbie and David, her youngest son who now is a walk-on kicker on CMU’s football team, until they reached middle school. She coached her daughters for 12 years. When she wasn’t coach-ing, she made her presence felt from the bleachers.
“A lot of people laughed at me sitting in the stands at basketball games or football games. He’d be down on the floor and I’d say, ‘Robbie, get up!’ ”
Said Zeigler: “Lynette is really a free spirit — very emotional and caring. Robbie plays with a lot of that emotion he’s been able to ascertain from his mom.”
Because Robbie’s three older sisters played basketball, he was around high school athletes his whole life. One time, he wan-dered onto the court during one of their games and started shooting baskets on the other end. The game was halted, but Robbie didn’t want to stop.
Robbie developed a tough-ness that later would help him embody Zeigler’s “think tough, be tough” philosophy. After hurting his shoulder during his junior year of football, Robbie shook it off and practiced for three more days, catching pass-es against his chest. After the pain didn’t subside, Lynette took him to the hospital for X-rays. He had a broken collarbone.
Robbie’s mental toughness also was tested during his high school years. His father, Tom Harman, lived near St. Ignace in the Upper Penin-sula throughout his child-hood because he and Lynette divorced when Robbie was in elementary school. In 2002, Tom decided to move back to Traverse City to be closer to his children. But only a year later, he went to the hospital with what he thought was pneumonia. It wasn’t. He was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer. He died only a few months later — right before Robbie’s sophomore high school basketball season.
“Basketball tryouts were just about to start when my dad passed away and it was a good place for me to go — I could just go play basketball and just
not think about it,” Robbie said. “That was a real big part of me getting through it so well.”
As Tom was in the hospital dying with Lynette by his side, he told her Robbie would be successful — and she would have a role in that.
a perfect fitHarman was not heav-
ily recruited at the Divi-sion I level, even though at Traverse City Central High School, where he was a Class A all-state selection in base-ball, basketball and football, leading each of those teams to conference titles.
“I wanted to prove everybody wrong, so I reached out to Jay Smith and self-recruited myself here,” he said.
Harman’s early role in prac-tice as a walk-on was to pass the ball to teammate and All-MAC point guard Giordan Watson.
“Coach Zeigler told me later, it didn’t take him long to figure out that Robbie was the hardest worker on the team,” Lynette Harman said.
He went from what he called an “expendable” walk-on to someone Zeigler used to exem-plify his coaching philosophy.
“When he got to Central, all he knew was just to work hard,” said Watson, who now plays professionally in Germany. “To sort of see him grow up is kind of cool that he’s having this suc-cess now. It’s just a testament to where hard work will get you.”
After his sophomore season, he was rewarded with a scholar-ship that Lynette had pushed for when Zeigler was hired.
“After he earned his schol-arship, he did not become sat-isfied — he still kept getting better,” Zeigler said. “Now, he’s one of the top players in our conference.”
finaL shotZeigler credits Bitzer and Har-
man with getting CMU basket-ball back to respectability in the MAC.
“In year one, we were just try-ing not to be the laughing stock of the league anymore,” he said. “Bitzer and Robbie and those guys came in when there was zero respect for Central Michi-gan.”
One or the other has led CMU in scoring in 22 of the team’s 27 games this season. And their re-lationship with their head coach has never been stronger.
“It’s weird looking back on it now because we feel we have a really good relationship with him now — we love him, he loves us,” Harman said. “In fact, I know he loves us — this year he screamed it out in practice.”
The duo’s slow-developing relationship has turned into a friendship that translates to their unselfishness on the court. Ask either who the bet-ter 3-point shooter is, and they point to the other.
“I don’t know if we got along the best when we first got here,” Harman said. “I thought he was weird and he thought I was weird.”
Four years later, they have an unmatched chemistry in the backcourt and off the court.
“I think they’re best friends at this point,” said Scott Bitzer, Jordan’s father. “There are times out on the court when I think they play like they’ve been play-ing their whole lives together.”
Zeigler chooses not to think about what life will be like with-out the duo in the backcourt.
“I don’t want to think about it right now,” he said.
cm-life.com/category/sports[SportS]
Central michigan life || friday, feb. 26, 2010 || 3B
Guards | continued from 1B Seniors to play last game at Rose
By Daniel MonsonSenior Reporter
Four seniors will close their home careers and play the final regular-season basket-ball game Saturday at Rose Arena against their arch-rival.
Jordan Bitzer (Unionville), Brandon Ford (Petrolia, On-tario), Robbie Harman (Tra-verse City) and Chris Keller-mann (O’Fallon, Ill.) likely will get the start at noon against Western Michigan. Because of Wednesday night’s 67-65 loss at Northern Illinois, Zeigler said he has not yet decided on the starting lineup.
“It’s going to be filled with a lot of the emotion, especially with it being the last game in the gym,” Kellermann said. “That’s where we go, that’s where we pretty much made ourselves as players. It’s go-ing to mean a lot to get that win, especially against our rival on our home court. I know our seniors our going to be pumped up for it.”
CMU still could host a first-round tournament game at Rose if it does not win the Mid-American Conference West Division, but construction already has begun on CMU’s new Events Center, scheduled to be ready for basketball in November.
“I’m very excited about the new events center next sea-son,” said junior forward Jalin Thomas. “I think it’s going to
bring in a lot of people.”
bumpy journeyKellermann and Ford are
in their fifth seasons. The pair experienced CMU’s 4-24 overall season in 2005-06 un-der former coach Jay Smith, which in-cluded a 1-17 MAC record and no home conference wins. Smith resigned in May 2006 and Ernie Zeigler was hired a month later.
Zeigler led CMU to a 13-18 record in his first season and a tie for third in the MAC West Division with a 7-9 record. In 2007-08, they improved to 8-8 in the MAC and 14-17 overall to tie for second in the division. Last season, Zeigler and the Chippewas tied for first place in the division with a 7-9 record and 12-19 overall mark.
At 13-14 and 7-7 this season, the Chippewas have a chance to finish with their first winning record since 2003-04 if they win their final two games.
“They represent the ups and downs we’ve been through in past four years,” Zeigler said. “Hopefully the culmination of that will allow of us to be able to reflect on all of these times we’ve had and feel good about what they’ve been able to ac-complish.”
senior supportAll of the seniors are expect-
ing a sizeable group of friends and family to make the trip
to Mount Pleasant, with the largest contingent likely to be Bitzer’s group of supporters from the Unionville-Sebewaing Thumb area.
“Bitzer’s probably got his whole town coming,” said Kellermann, who expects 15-20 people to make the trip.
Mark Gainforth, Bitzer’s high school coach, said it will be an emotional moment — espe-cially because of the amount of people who followed Bitzer’s career in the Thumb.
“The feel that he gave the community — we can say, ‘Hey, we’re from Unionville, Michigan,” Gainforth said. “We all became a part of his success. Jordan carried the weight in a such a way that was maturity beyond his years.
“He had the attention of the entire Thumb and sometimes that attention draws the nega-tivity out of a person. That’s why I think he has such a fol-lowing — always appreciative, always took time to talk to the people who would stay after games.”
Lynette Harman, Robbie’s mother, said it will be a sad occasion. She said two of Rob-bie’s older sisters who will not be able to make it are getting a group of 25 people together to watch the game at a bar in southern California.
“I’ll cry,” Lynette said. “I’ve had a lot of senior walks with Robbie. I’ve walked out on high school senior football games, baseball games, basketball games. It’s an emotional time because another chapter of the book is over.”
Arena’s finale before offseasonmakeover
Chris Kellermann
M e n ’ s b a s k e t b a l l
wMu | continued from 1B
usually can. Sitting out was just too tough. Even if I’m not 100 percent, which I may not be, I still plan on playing re-gardless.”
the rematchThe Broncos (15-13) beat
Toledo 61-41 on the road Wednesday led by 6-foot-5 senior guard Martelle Mc-Lemore, who scored 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting. He made four 3-pointers and took the scoring load from senior guard David Kool, whose 20.8 average leads the MAC. Kool had two points on 1-of-4 shooting against Toledo, but scored 17 when WMU beat CMU 70-61 on
Jan. 16 in Kalamazoo.“A lot of their role play-
ers stepped up last game,” Thomas said. “As long as we can shut them down, that will prove well for us. If (Kool)’s got to do all the scoring, then we can live with that. We’ve just got to make sure the rest of the guys are held in check.”
file photo by matthew stephensSenior forward Jordan Bitzer scored 12 points in CMU’s 53-38 win on Jan. 13 against Ball State at Rose Arena.
Born:Sept. 6, 1987
Careerhighs Points: 28 vs. EMU, Jan. 20, 2010Rebounds: 10, twiceAssists: 4, 10 timesSteals:6 vs. Ball State, Jan. 17, 20093-pointersmade: 6 vs. Niagara, Dec. 23, 2006
Jordan Bitzer
Born:Feb. 4, 1988
Careerhighs Points: 31 at Ohio, Feb. 11Rebounds: 6 vs. WMU, Feb. 14, 2007Assists: 7 at Marquette, Dec. 2, 2008Steals:7 vs. Ferris State, Nov. 16, 20093-pointersmade: 10 at Ohio, Feb. 11, 2010
Robbie Harman
4B || friday, feb. 26, 2010 || Central michigan life cm-life.com/category/sports[SportS]
Women look to rebound after Toledo loss
matthew stephens/senior photographerSenior forward Britni Houghton scored 17 points in Wednesday’s loss against Toledo at Rose Arena. She is now tied for second place in the CMU all-time scoring list (1,539).
By Aaron McMannStaff Reporter
The CMU women’s bas-ketball team travels to Kala-mazoo at noon Saturday to play rival Western Michigan, hoping to rebound from Wednesday’s deflating loss against Toledo.
CMU (11-15, 8-6 MAC) beat WMU 74-65 in the teams’ first meeting Jan. 16 at Rose Arena. Senior guard Britni Houghton led the team with a game-high 23 points, while junior guard Shonda Long added 17.
WMU (7-20, 2-12 MAC) comes off a 65-52 loss Wednesday at Eastern Mich-igan. The Broncos have lost four consecutive and 15 of their last 17 games.
“We have to regroup and get some momentum go-ing into the (MAC) tourna-ment,” said coach Sue Gue-vara. “This team has come a long way and it is very resil-ient.”
The Broncos are led by sophomore Miame Giden, who averages 14.4 points per game.
Junior forward Ebony Cleary had one of her best games of the season against CMU in the teams’ previous meeting, scoring 19 points and grabbing 12 rebounds.
“Rebounding and defend-ing Ebony Cleary is going to be really big,” Guevara said. “Knowing where their shooters are and getting out and contesting wide-open 3-pointers — that’s what we really have to focus on for Saturday.”
defLating LossCMU saw its division title
hopes fade after a 77-68 loss Wednesday against Toledo at Rose Arena.
The loss snapped a nine-game home winning streak and moved the Chippewas into third place in the West Division. As it currently stands, CMU will still host a first-round game in the con-ference tournament.
Breakdowns in perimeter defense halted CMU’s mo-mentum, leaving shooters open and allowing Toledo to hit back-to-back 3-point-ers twice late in the second half.
“We got lost on getting out for the shooters,” said ju-nior forward Kaihla Szunko. “(There were) a couple con-fusions that really hurt us.
We just struggled.”After CMU took a 52-48
lead with 7:43 remaining, its biggest lead of the game, Toledo fought back and took a 62-56 lead with 3-pointers on consecutive possessions from Clare Aubry and Jes-sica Williams.
“It was a game of mo-m e n t u m , ” Guevara said. “And Toledo had more momentum. We couldn’t get anything going.”
T o l e d o opened leads of eight and nine points early in the game and CMU responded with a defensive flurry, forc-ing turnovers and keeping the game close before trail-ing 28-27 at halftime.
Houghton scored 17 points, tying Carla Sterk for second place all-time in points scored at CMU with 1,539.
Toledo went 11-of-22 from beyond the 3-point line and shot 55.1 percent for the
game, compared to CMU’s 41.8.
Tanika Mays scored a game-high 23 points on 7-of-8 shooting, including 4-of-5 from 3-point range.
“It’s a disappointment and everyone is pretty up-set about it, but we can’t let it affect us,” Szunko said. “We’re too close to the end of the season to let it affect our game.”
Chippewas travel to Kalamazooas season unwinds
Kaihla Szunko
By Nick ConklinStaff Reporter
The CMU gymnastics team has not been at the same level as Northern Illinois since Jan. 15.
The Huskies (6-3, 2-2 Mid-American Conference), just one meet behind CMU (8-2, 2-1 MAC) in the standings, peaked last week at 192.775 in a tri-meet at Kent State. Meanwhile, CMU has beaten that score in five consecutive weeks, scoring more than a point better in four of those five.
It looks to continue that trend when it travels to Northern Illi-nois at 3 p.m. Sunday in DeKalb, Ill.
The in-creases are part of what CMU coach Jerry Reighard calls a progressive program — constantly get-ting better within the year and from season to season.
“That’s the reputation we have here,” he said. “In the collegiate world, you’re either a maintenance program or progressive program.”
The team improved from a 191.65 in the first meet of the season and a 192.275 in the second.
the matchup The Chippewas have com-
piled a 31-8 all-time record against NIU. Their two MAC victories came against West-ern Michigan and Ball State. Previously this season, CMU beat WMU twice. The team competes against Ball State on March 13.
The Huskies rely on ju-nior Holly Reichard, who posted three scores of 9.7 or higher in the team’s last meet against Kent State and Rut-gers. She sits in sixth place in the all-around category in the league with a high score of 39.0 against Ball State. She ranks fourth in the MAC on the balance beam after a 9.825 effort against BSU.
CMU has been inconsis-tent on the balance beam. It averages 47.793 and scored as low as 47.250 (Kent State), but peaked at 48.775 (State of Michigan Classic).
Following a three-fall rota-tion against Kent State, the lineup rebounded last week-end at home and posted a 48.525 on the event. Senior Katie Simon and freshman Britney Taylor led the team with matching scores of 9.8. Taylor said her focus against NIU will be on the small de-tails and having a well-round-ed routine.
“I want to be more consis-tent on everything and not
take anything for granted,” she said.
The team swept all four events last weekend, includ-ing season-highs on the floor exercise (48.975) and on the vault (48.925). Sophomore Kristin Teubner finished in second place on the vault with a 9.85. Her 9.875 on the floor exercise helped propel the Chippewas to victory in the rotation. She said the floor is one event she feels can be a continued success for the team.
But the main goal for the upcoming weekend is hitting the score of 196.
“We’re going to keep focus-ing on getting a tenth better, and getting to that 196 score,” Teubner said.
senior success Simon was recently named
to the American Athletic Award Ballot, which honors the best senior gymnast in the nation. As one of 18 national nominees, she is the only CMU gymnast to have been named to the ballot. The vot-ing will commence in March behind a panel of six NCAA judges.
Simon holds the MAC lead on the vault (9.875), while placing second on the uneven bars (9.9) an fourth in the all-around (39.175).
postseasonThe top 35 programs in the
national earn a bid for their regional tournaments.
Central sits in the 27th slot, behind a regional qualifying score of 193.605, ranking first in the MAC.
freshmenThe team now has three
freshmen in every lineup except the balance beam, which has two. Taylor com-petes as an all-arounder, while Emily LaFontaine and Kari Dieffenderfer are in two lineups. Bailey Brumbach is a specialist on the floor ex-ercise and Darrian Tissen-baum is a specialist on the vault.
Brumbach, who has been in and out of the floor exercise lineup, scored a 9.7 last week against WMU.
CMU looks to separate from Huskies in MACTeams have similar records despite widedifferential in scores
G y M n a s t i c s
Britney Taylor
Upnext:3 p.m. Sunday at Northern Illinois
Who’shot:Senior Katie Simon won the all-around last week with a 38.85, scoring a 9.8 or higher in all but one rotation.
Notes:The balance beam lineup recorded just one fall against WMU, compared to three the week before.
What’s on tap
Upnext:Saturday at Western Michigan
Who’shot:Senior forward Britni Houghton scored 17 points in the team’s loss against Toledo. She is now tied for second place on the CMU all-time scoring list with 1,539.
Notes:The team shot 50 percent from 3-point range against Toledo.However, it was out-rebounded 31-25 by the Broncos.
What’s on tapcm-life.comStaff Reporter John Evans thinks the team can turn the Toledo loss into a positive.