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WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 4, 2013 | MOUNT PLEASANT, MICH. | ISSUE NO. 5 VOL. 95
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CMU shuts down Delta Chi until 2017
WHAT'S INSIDE FOOTBALL
By Nathan Clark Staff Reporter
STEPPING UP After losing out on the starting job, Alex Niznak has his shot to keep it for good after Cody Kater went down at Michigan. w 6A
UNIVERSITY MONEY MATTERS Where in Michigan does CMU focus its marketing efforts? See if your home county made the cut. w 3A
CAMPUS
Photos by Adrian Hedden | Staff Reporter Kyle Gulgoci, 15, of Shepherd, sits in the driver’s seat of his stock car before a heat, Friday at the Mount Pleasant Speedway on River Road. His father, Todd, is a CMU graduate and has been racing for 30 years.
Tearing up the track CMU alum continues a family legacy of fun, friction and racing By Adrian Hedden Staff Reporter
FACELIFT Grawn Hall, CMU’s oldest building on campus, is under construction. What to expect? Bathroom renovations among other changes. w 3A
THEATER
TWO FACED Good guy goes bad when he’s cast as Mr. Hyde in CMU Theater’s production of ‘Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.’ w 5A
HOT WHEELS
A
s he looked out onto the dirt track of the Mount Pleasant Speedway, Todd Gulgoci was nervous. Back when he was a stock car racer in his youth, the 1996 Central Michigan University graduate saw little to fear. When his children eagerly took up his motorized mantle, the Shepherd native worried for their safety at speeds of 70 to 100 miles per hour along the 1/3-mile track. “When I was driving, I wasn’t nervous at all,” Gulgoci said. “When I see my son driving, I’m always nervous. (Racing) is part of our family, so I spend a lot of time and money on safety to make sure it’ll keep going.” Racers at the Mount Pleasant Speedway on River Road are outfitted with fire-proof clothes, helmets and a six-point harness to keep them safe. Seat belts must be no more than three years old to be up to standard. As a 30-year veteran of the track’s numerous high-speed races, which run from April to late August, Gulgoci said he used to pay for his groceries with his winnings, while earning a bachelor’s degree in business administration at CMU. He has a father,
Check out video from behind the wheel on cm-life.com
brother, nephew and son who also take to the track in hopes of bringing home the bacon, which can be as much as $10,000. His son, Kyle, remembers one of his first races, when a crash sent his car airborne. The 15-year-old drives a Stock Four car and said his class is “very competitive.” He’s been racing for more than two years. “I like the speed,” Kyle said. “The challenge is getting (the car) set up for the track on race day. They’re always different. Sometimes (the tracks) can be slippery or sticky. (The crash) was pretty scary, but I’ve won the last couple races.” The Speedway has been active since
1952. Since 1987, it has been owned by Betty Crook of Clare. She said managing the track and its sponsors, including the Soaring Eagle Casino and Mac Tools, is a “full-time job.” “Basically, you love it or you hate it,” Crook said of the track. “A few people don’t like the noise, but we get a lot of spectators and racers from around the area. The biggest challenge is the weather. If it rains, you can’t race.” On the last day of races this year, Aug. 30, slight rain forced many events in the area, including the nearby Tri-City Motor Speedway in Auburn, to be cancelled. Crook was happy to host several visiting cars from Muskegon, Cherry and even outof-state guests from Ohio and Indiana. At the final race, the stands were filled with about 200 spectators. Crook said the races depend on support from fans. Tickets for the events can range from $5 for students to $11 for adults. “We need spectators to pay for it,” she said. “If you don’t have a good crowd, you have to pay out-of-pocket.” With a wider dirt track than most speedways, cars were able to race two or three abreast. Crook said this makes the events more competitive. The track hosts several models for competition including late models, modified w RACES | 2A
Kyle Gulgoci, 15, of Shepherd, sits in on the roof of his stock car before a heat, Friday at the Mount Pleasant Speedway on River Road.
‘YOU SEE THE ENTIRE COUNTRY ON TWO THIN WHEELS’ Rockwood senior bikes across country for charity. w 5A
SOCCER DEJA VU The women’s soccer team loses two games and another player to injury this weekend. w 6A
INSTAVIBE
DID YOUR PHOTO MAKE THE CUT? Check out photos from various musical festivals. w 1B
Central Michigan University’s chapter of the Delta Chi fraternity received a four-year suspension by the Office of Student Activities and Involvement this weekend, effectively halting all of the fraternity’s activities for the next four academic years. The suspension was the result of several university code of conduct violations that occurred at a party held by the fraternity on April 19. According to Tony Voisin, assistant vice president of Student Affairs, the fraternity was suspended for violating, among other policies, section 3.2.13, which prohibits illegal alcoholic possession, consumption and distribution. “There was a code of conduct investigation done over the summer, and it was determined w DELTA CHI | 2A
Student found dead at West Campus Village apts. By Ben Solis Staff Reporter
A Holland senior was found dead in her West Campus Village apartment Tuesday morning. The cause of death is unknown, but no foul play is suspected, according to a news release issued by Central Michigan University Communications. The woman was found by her roommates, who called emergency services. Fire and police officials received the call at 9:17 a.m., Sgt. Michael Dunham of the Mount Pleasant Fire Department said. Fire officials arrived at the apartments, located at 1116 W. Campus Dr., at 9:21 a.m., with emergency technicians and CMU Police arriving shortly after. Upon arrival, emergency technicians found the student was unresponsive. “We did everything in our power and within county guidelines to resuscitate (her),” Dunham said. Officers from the Mount Pleasant Police Department released a statement about the discovery of the student. w DEATH | 2A
Fewer students living on campus — and that’s OK with CMU By Malachi Barrett Staff Reporter
Far fewer students are living in on-campus housing this semester, and Central Michigan University officials are convinced that is a good thing. About 10 percent fewer students, 5,330 this semester compared to 5,926 last year, are living in residence halls as a direct result of a projected 5 to 7-percent drop in on-campus undergraduate enrollment. That means 596 fewer students are paying for room and board and meal plans. Several of the Towers residential halls experienced drastic drops in residents, including Wheeler Hall (down 110 students from last year), Cobb Hall (down 70 students) and Carey Hall (down 82 students). Only three students are living in many Towers rooms, a far cry from the four or even five roommates new freshmen had to experience in years past. “Obviously we have space, our numbers are down from last year,” Executive Director of Campus Life Shaun Holtgreive said. “But one of
the benefits of this is we’ve always had a goal of reducing the number of students who live in the Towers rooms from four students to three down to two, and this year we were able to get those rooms down to three.” Other residence halls that experienced significant declines included Barnes Hall (down 54 students), Calkins Hall (down 52 students) and Robinson Hall (down 61 students). Seventeen of CMU’s 22 residence halls have fewer students than last year, and the five that hold more students (Beddow, Campbell, Celani, Fabiano and Kesseler halls) have a combined total of just 42 more students. Ironically, this is something that Holtgreive and his staff have been striving for and has been made much easier to realize with lower enrollment numbers. Holtgreive says fewer students better suits the size of the rooms, especially in the Towers. “Our goal was to fill as many of the rooms with a two bedroom divided by a common area as possible before adding a fourth in the Towers,” Holtgreive said. “We were
Katy Kildee | Assistant Photo Editor Wheeler Hall and Kulhavi Hall are seen from the 8th floor of Carey Hall.
able to keep that fourth bed empty, excluding where people specifically requested to live with three others.” In anticipation of the lower enrollment, a software block was placed in May that prevented students from signing up for the fourth bed in the Towers. The highest concentration of vacancies are in original Towers
buildings, Cobb, Carey and Troutman halls. This was done purposely to give students more space. This has a number of consequences, many of which are seen as benefits. “We haven’t waited to make adjustments until there is a crisis, and I don’t think there is a crisis,” w HOUSING | 2A