cm-life.com
Central Michigan Life || Monday, Feb. 11, 2013 || 5A
[NEWS]
Law-abiding children of illegal immigrants to be issued driver’s licenses, IDs Feb. 19 By Brianna Owczarzak Staff Reporter
KAITLIN THORESEN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Participants in the Freakin’ Freezing Challenge army-crawl through snow under low ropes Saturday morning at Island Park. The event was a 5k obstacle course with challenges including a creek jump, tire trap and off-road course.
More than 300 take part in first Mount Pleasant Freakin’ Freezing Challenge By Elizabeth Benson Staff Reporter
Students and community members bundled up for subzero temperatures Saturday to take part in Mount Pleasant’s first Freakin’ Freezing Challenge. More than 300 people registered for the 5k obstacle course spanning the city’s park system that included obstacles such as an icy pit, an army crawl, a creek jump, a forceful wind tunnel and iced-over cars to climb over. “It’s a fun run, so there are no times or anything. It’s just for a good time,” said Chris Rowley, executive director at the Mount Pleasant Area Convention and Visitor’s Bureau. The idea stemmed from Mount Pleasant’s CVB plan to create a unique event that would draw visitors into the
city during winter. “It’s just for fun and to get physically active in the winter months when everything slows down,” Rowley said. Rowley said the rising popularity of another popular nationwide event, Warrior Dashes, sparked the idea for the Freakin’ Freezing Challenge. “It’s like the Warrior Dashes with all the obstacles, but it’s in the winter time, which has never been done before,” Rowley said. “We’re hoping to make it an annual event and to expand it in the years to come.” Central Michigan University students were among the more than 300 in attendance. “It seemed like a good idea at the time, and, hey, they promised free beer at the end,” Grand Blanc senior Laura Eickhoff said. Not everyone was enthusiastic to participate. Canton senior
Justin Congdon said he did not want to take part initially. “My friends made me,” he said. It wasn’t just all fun and games. CVB used the event as a springboard to give back to the community. Rowley said a portion of the registration fees for each team or person are going back into the park systems. In addition to the event, there was also a high-carb dinner Friday to help participants beef up and prepare for the race that benefited the Humane Animal Treatment Society of Mount Pleasant. The after party at Mountain Town Station benefitted the Mount Pleasant Jaycees, and there was also a coat drive at the event that benefitted the American Red Cross.
Michigan charter school laws rank 15th in the nation, according to a recent study by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. The criteria used for the study includes whether state law caps the growth of charter schools, whether multiple authorizers are available and the quality and accountability of the charter. “We’re pleased the National Alliance recognizes the strength and performance of the ‘Michigan Model’ of charter schools,” said Cynthia Schumacher, executive director for The Governor John Engler Center for Charter Schools at Central Michigan University. Michigan ranked 15th out of the 42 states that have laws that allow for charter public schools in 2013, dropping five spots from 10th in 2012. Schumacher said the fivestate drop is due more to the passage of some aggressive procharter laws in other states than anything negative happening in Michigan. “We’re told that if Michigan were to address both funding equity and access to facilities that we’d move into the top-five of this ranking,” she said. There are 134,896 students attending the 280 public charter schools in Michigan,
according to the NAPCS. Michigan did not make any major changes in its charter school laws last year. Although Michigan’s ranking is down from a year prior, its overall score increased from 126 to 138 out of a possible 228. CMU plays a significant role in the charter schools, Schumacher said. “CMU, as the nation’s first and a leading university
authorizer of charter schools, has been setting the bar for academic, financial and operational success in our schools since the mid-1990s,” she said. “The university is proud of the role it has played in transforming public education.” CMU has charters for 59 schools throughout the state of Michigan.
license requirement. There are also 37 states, including Michigan, that require the driver’s license to expire with the immigrant’s authorized stay in the U.S. Spring Lake freshman Rebecca Hochhuth thinks the program makes the system more just. “I don’t think it’s fair if we denied (those people) rights because their parents broke the law,” Hochhuth said. “It technically isn’t the child’s fault.” The new cards will be limited-term and will expire when the license holder’s legal presence expires. “I feel like it’s wrong, because they weren’t born here, so I don’t think they should have any of our privileges,” Bay City junior Rebecca Conger said. “If they want to come over here, they should do it the right way.” Essexville junior Seth Meyer said exceptions should not be made for the children of illegal immi-
grants. “I feel that they should go through the same requirements that we go through as legal citizens,” Meyer said. “They should apply for citizenship before they should be allowed to (get driver’s licenses.)” Vassar freshman Tim Palmer does not agree with the driver’s license announcement either. “I don’t think they should receive issued licenses from us if they aren’t even citizens here,” Palmer said. Johnson also said the new identification cards will help county clerks decide if a person is a qualified voter at the polls. “This is another tool to help clerks ensure that only qualified residents cast a ballot on Election Day,” Johnson said in the statement. State driver’s license requirements for immigrants vary by state. university@cm-life.com
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A Play By Sandra Seaton As we mark the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War, The Will dramatizes the human consequences of the war as experienced by the Websters, an African American family in a small town in Tennessee.
Ash
Tickets
General Public: $8.00 Students: $5.00
Get Your
CMU Box Office CMU Events Center 989-774-3000 cbotix@cmich.edu Tickets are available online at http://centralboxoffice.cmich.edu.
IN ChurCh
Ash WednesdAy
Writing The Will: dramatizing the african american Past
Services: 12 Noon 5 pm 7 pm 9 pm
Rebecca Hochhuth, Spring Lake freshman
metro@cm-life.com
Michigan charter school laws ranked 15th in nation, down from 10th By Justin Hicks Senior Reporter
Michigan Secretary of State Ruth Johnson announced Feb. 1 that Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals students would be able to apply for driver’s licenses and identification cards starting Feb. 19. The DACA program was implemented last June by President Barack Obama and is designed to protect young illegal immigrants who were brought into the United States as children by their parents from being deported if they otherwise abide by the law. In a statement released Feb. 1 by the Secretary of State, Johnson said only individuals who are here legally will be issued driver’s licenses. “The Feds now say they consider these young people to be lawfully present while they participate in the DACA program, so we are required to issue driver’s licenses and identification cards. I will continue to follow the law,” Johnson said in the statement. The National Immigration Law Center says there are 28 states, including Michigan, that list lawful presence as a driver’s
“I don’t think it’s fair if we denied (those people) rights because their parents broke the law,”
Mass Mass Evening Prayer Mass
Discussion
Presented by Sandra Seaton
Thursday, Feb. 14 10:00 a.m. Park Library Auditorium Free and open to the public This event is presented by CMU Libraries
St. Mary’s catholic Church
- Lent 2013 -
CMU Campus • Next to Anspach
by
Sara Clarity Photography
Sponsored by University Events, CMU Library’s, King Chavez Parks Visiting Speakers Series, and College of Communications and Fine Arts