LIFE CENTRAL MICHIGAN
ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL? Your complete guide to the 2014 Central Michigan University football team and season »INSIDE
WEDNESday, AUG. 27, 2014 | MOUNT PLEASANT, MICH. | ISSUE NO. 3 VOL. 96
Lansing opposes pot proposal SAMRC and Safer Michigan Coalition energized despite opposition from Snyder By Ben Solis Editor-in-chief
Life in brief CRIME Police arrest man who assaulted woman outside Winchester Towers
In the face of opposition from two of Michigan’s highest elected officials, Ian Elliot remains steadfast in his belief that come November, marijuana decriminalization will be enacted in Mount Pleasant. “These letters change nothing,” said Elliot, president of Student
Advocates for Medical/Recreational Use of Marijuana. “The mission stays the same.” The latest battle over decriminalization centers around a Nov. 4 ballot proposal put forth by Elliot’s group and the Safer Michigan Coalition. The proposal aims to amend the city’s charter, effectively decriminalizing marijuana within city limits. Both Gov. Rick Snyder and At-
torney General Bill Schuette sent letters to Mount Pleasant’s city commissioner care of City Clerk Jeremy Howard denouncing the proposal, which is slated to be on the Nov. 4 ballot. The proposal, spearheaded by marijuana advocacy groups on and off campus, would effectively make the use, possession and transfer of less than one ounce of marijuana legal in the city.
In their letters, both men wrote that they would not approve the charter amendment if passed due to its inconsistency with state laws prohibiting marijuana consumption, possession and sale. “Whether or not the proposed amendment is approved by the voters, marijuana will remain a controlled substance under state and federal law,” Snyder wrote. w marijuana | 2
P R O J E C T P ER U
A 54-year old Belding man was arrested Tuesday outside Winchester Towers after witnesses called 911 reporting a domestic assault, police said. Officers were called to the retirement community on E. Broomfield Street around 6:30 p.m., police said, in response to a bystander call of a man assaulting a woman outside the building. The man was taken into custody by Isabella County Sheriffs and will be arraigned tomorrow afternoon. In the state of Michigan, there is a mandatory 20 hour cool down period after a domestic assault is reported, police said. All domestic violence cases are required to be arraigned before a judge. Isabella County Sheriffs were assisted by the Mount Pleasant Police and Michigan State Police. No other suspect information was available. Nathan Clark, Senior Reporter
join us CM Life looking for editorial board members Central Michigan Life invites students to apply and join our Editorial Board staff. CM Life is committed to reporting fair and balanced stories that affect students lives and the surrounding community. This includes our editorial page. We need members of the student body, not just our own staff, to help shape the opinion of CM Life. We are currently looking for columnists and contributors to our editorial staff. If you’re interested in working for the student-run publication on campus, come to our office in Moore 436 and fill out an application. For more information on CM Life, visit our newly redesigned website at cm-life.com.
join us CM Life to hold first all-staff meeting Central Michigan Life will be holding its first all-staff meeting of the year at 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 10 in Moore 436. Meet our editorial staff and learn more about the work we do on campus. We are looking for staff reporters, graphic designers and photographers. You do not have to be a journalism majors but training from journalism classes is encouraged. CM Life gives students hands-on experience as journalists. We are committed to reporting fair and balanced stories that affect students’ lives. Katherine Ranzenberger, News Editor
LIFE INSIDE How to beat the freshmen 15 »PAGE 7A Restaurants welcome students during hectic “swell week” »PAGE 8A
Senior Taylor Ballek visited the Plaza De Armas in Cusco, Peru on May 18 during her photography class this summer.
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Courtesy Photo | Taylor Ballek
Administrator pay makes up 34 percent of payroll budget By Nathan Clark Senior Reporter
Administrator pay makes up more than a third of all the pay budgeted to Central Michigan University employees, according to CMU’s 2013 operating budget and the 2013 Salary List. How much more administrators may be earning this year is unknown until the new salary list is released at the beginning of the new year. According to the approved 2014-15 operating budget, CMU is spending $6 million more on salaries compared to last year. Of the $165 million budgeted for
salaries in CMU’s operating budget last year, 34 percent of that amount went to administrators. Administration and senior administration staff make up 891 of the more than 3,000 people employed at CMU. Adding up administrator salaries in the CMU 2013 Salary List, administration positions received $55.9 million from last year’s budget. Among the administration staff, 29 make more than $100,000. Head football coach Dan Enos makes the most at $292,125, followed by College of Medicine Associate Dean of education Joel Lanphear with $234,814 and head men’s bas-
ketball coach Keno Davis at $230,625. Excluding the senior administrator positions, women’s basketball coach Susan Guevara is the fourth highest paid administrator earning $194,500, 25 percent less than the average salary between Enos and Davis. Founding Dean of the College of Medicine Ernest Yoder was the highest paid senior administrator, contracted at $403,504, until his abrupt resignation in June. CMU President George Ross retains the highest contracted earnings at $364,000, followed by Sean Kesterson, associate dean of clinical education at the College of Medicine, with $340,620.
Vice President of Financial and Administrative Services Barrie Wilkes has said in the past that the budget is set up so that funds are spent on the academic centers first along with budgeting salaries. “Funds generated from tuition and state funding go toward the academic centers first,” Wilkes said. Without state aid and investment revenue, administrator salaries would eat up 19 percent of funds generated by tuition and housing, 57 percent for all salaries. Check back with cm-life.com for more budget stories.
Multiple CMU administration positions still vacant By Nathan Clark Senior Reporter
Several high-ranking positions at Central Michigan University still remain open, though there has been progress on a few of the searches. The positions for Director of Integrated Marketing, Director of the Faculty Center for Innovative Teaching, Dean of the College of Medicine and Dean of the College of Communication and Fine Arts still remain empty at the start of the 2014 fall semester. Only one position has been “filled,” the First Year Experience Coordinator. The position and its duties were not filled by a person but by various CMU employees managing the jobs duties. “It is more accurate to say that the duties of the Director of the First Year Experience were assumed by other current employees,” Interim Vice Provost Claudia Douglass said in an email response. Since the resignation of founding dean of the College of Medicine Ernest Yoder in June 2014, the position has remained unfilled. University Communications Director Steven Smith said a search committee for the new CMED dean has been assembled, and the uni-
Photo Illustration by Meagan Dullack | Photo Editor Many important positions within various colleges, remain vacant.
versity is still taking applications. Head of the committee, College of Science and Technology Dean Ian Davison, was unable to be reached for comment regarding the status of the search. The College of Communication and Fine Arts’ previous Dean, Salma Ghanem, left CMU after five years of service in July to be DePaul University’s dean for its College of Communication in Chicago.
Finding someone to fill the position is still in the beginning process as a search committee is still being formed. The search for a Director of Integrated Marketing has shown the most progress as the application process has been closed and candidates have been selected and are now in the interview process. Smith said several candidates have been chosen but was unable to
say exactly how many. The position for Director of the Faculty Center for Innovative Teaching, who oversees the development of new teaching methods with new technology and educates professors on how best to use them, was posted Aug. 1 and is still accepting applications. Check back with cm-life.com for more on this story.