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WedneSdAY, SePt. 11, 2013 | mount PLeASAnt, micH. | iSSue no. 8 VoL. 95
WHAT'S INSIDE REMEMBERING 9/11
MAN OF MANY WORDS From rural Michigan to Internet fame — graduate Steve Roggenbuck finds success in online poetry By Kate Woodruff Staff Reporter
H
e’s a poet. And he knows it.
The Mary Ellen Brandell Volunteer Center is hosting a variety of events today in remembrance of the tragic 9/11 attacks that took place 12 years ago. Among the events, there will be a movie screening of “Social Justice Film Series: From the Ground Up,” which will be playing throughout the afternoon and into the evening today in the Bovee University Center Student Lounge. Other events include Foster Care Fleece Blanket Making, Healthy Snack Pack Kit Stuffing and the Local Emergency Responders’ Recognition, where Central Michigan University President George Ross will be speaking to recognize local emergency responders for their dedicated service to the community. All events are listed on cmich.orgsync.com. Questions can be directed to the volunteer center at 989-774-7685.
UNIVERSITY
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As cliché as this might sound, it applies to 25-year-old Ruth native and Central Michigan University graduate Steve Roggenbuck. “A poem can change somebody’s life,” Roggenbuck said in a personal video on his YouTube channel. “The point for me is changing people’s lives.” The Internet sensation has spread his poetry all over the country, and the world, through his use of various social media, including YouTube, Vine and Twitter and live streaming through Spreecast. Other than his profession as an Internet poet and blogger, there is another level of uniqueness that comes with Roggenbuck, who identifies himself as a vegan, Buddhist and a firm believer in feminism. His blog site, “Live My Lief,” is a compilation of videos, images and pages from his print book that are all quirky representations of his unique personality. His videos are a collection of different scenes that make up a video blog, where he depicts real life in an unusual way, always encouraging people to avoid negativity and enjoy that they are alive and breathing. His occupation on Facebook is even posted as “Boosting the World.” “’Boost the World’ is another way to say ‘make the world a better place.’ It
means boosting individual people by saying nice things to them, and it means helping with social/political efforts that reshape our whole world for good,” Roggenbuck said. Roggenbuck disagrees with the notion that one has to be born with a passion for poetry in order to enjoy it. “Most poetry bored me until I read E.E. Cummings my senior year of high school. I loved it for how playful, visual, funny and rebellious it was,” he said. “The first weekend I got to CMU, I checked out two E.E. Cummings books from the library. I started writing a lot of poetry influenced by him, and gradually, I found other poets I liked, too.”
Since then, many people have been affected by his work. Roggenbuck has more than 5,000 subscribers on YouTube, 80,000 views on one video and more than 12,000 followers on Twitter. Day by day, his fan base grows as his poetry travels through cyberspace. Roggenbuck has been recognized by outlets as influential and large as the New York Times Style Magazine, which praised Roggenbuck as “the first 21st century poet.” When asked how he felt in regards to this recognition, he modestly said it made him happy, because it made his mom proud. “The (New York Times) article was cool because my mom was proud of me. I feel like before that she maybe didn’t believe that I would be successful as an ‘Internet poet,’” he said. As with many successful artists, Roggenbuck pursued a traditional college education, and it didn’t work out as planned. After attending CMU and receiving his undergraduate degree, he attended Columbia College Chicago to pursue an masters degree in poetry. He soon dropped out after stern program requirements restricted his ability to express the creative work he was passionate about.
w POET | 2A
University mourns graduate student By Adrian Hedden Staff Reporter
The photographs that covered the walls of James Gasco’s Washington Court apartment expressed his love for his tribe and the desire to help his fellow man. Recent Central Michigan University graduate Jeffrey Smith remembers the late nights working James Gasco on projects with Gasco, which were mostly inspired early on in that very same apartment. They were partners during Smith’s first few journalism classes at CMU. When Gasco was found dead in his apartment on Monday, Smith and others at CMU were shocked by the death of a student who seemed to have a lot to offer his community as both a writer and a photographer. w DEATH | 2A
eHS down $1 million from last year By Jackson Seedott Staff Reporter
This is the second story in a series that will outline the impacts of low enrollment and the budget deficit on each of CMU’s academic colleges.
FREE FALLING Two CMU employees seek thrills at 13,000 feet w 5A
INSTAVIBE
TASTY What are you eating? Check to see if your #Instafood made the cut w 1B
Courtesy | Steve Roggenbuck
FOOTBALL
UNDERDOGS CMU is heading to Las Vegas this weekend as a 7-point underdog, despite UNLV’s poor record w 6A
Life inside A-Senate axes fSA programs, Jrn focuses »PAGE 3A SGA elects new branch leaders, 15 senators at first meeting »PAGE 3A Kaitlyn mcintyre provides strength for volleyball »PAGE 7A Student drops 50 pounds, credits diet and exercise »PAGE 3B
The College of Education and Human Services’ operating budget has been slashed by $1 million when compared to the 2012-13 academic school year. Despite the deficit, largely the result of a projected 5-7 percent drop in on-campus undergraduate enrollment, college officials are optimistic about what the upcoming school year will hold. EHS Coordinator of Business Services Nel Boose said the college has been anticipating this decline in enrollment and has adjusted its budget accordingly. “Overall, the (EHS) is down roughly 1,000 credit hours of student enrollment from last fall,” Boose said. “Our on-campus fall student credit hour numbers however are actually maintaining, if not exceeding, our projections for this fall.” EHS Dean Dale-Elizabeth Pehrsson said these numbers only include on-campus enrollment. When off-campus enrollment is taken into account, the college has exceeded its enrollment projection. “Our college is the largest producer of off-campus student credit hours,” she said. “When we combine on and off-campus enrollment, we are actually exceeding our projections by about 400 credit hours.” w EHS | 2A
Obama presents his case for strikes in Syria By John Irwin Managing Editor
President Barack Obama laid out his case for military action in Syria in a primetime White House address on Tuesday, but said he would first explore a diplomatic solution out of the crisis. From the East Room of the White House, Obama took his case for action to a war-weary American public, calling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime a “danger to security” and century-long international norms. “When dictators commit atrocities, they depend upon the world to look the other way until those horrifying pictures (of chemical weapons use) fade from memory,” the president said. The Assad regime, according to American and British intelligence reports, authorized the use of sarin
gas on anti-Assad protesters in August, killing hundreds and crossing Obama’s two-year-old “red line” against chemical weapons use. Obama called the actions the military is set to undertake, should Congress approve, limited but effective. “Let me make something clear: The U.S. military doesn’t do pinpricks,” Obama said. “Even a limited strike will send a message to Assad that no other nation can deliver,” he said, referring to criticisms that the proposed actions would do little or nothing. He addressed both liberal and conservative critics of the proposed action and rejected the idea of the U.S. being the “world’s policeman,” assuring Americans the U.S. would not get involved beyond limited missile strikes. w OBAMA | 2A
MCT | Olivier Douliery President Barack Obama looks down at the end of a meeting with senators at the Capitol in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 10.