CM Life file photo by Information Services

Advancements in technology have brought Central Michigan Life a long way from the 1970s.

The computers that rest on the desks in the office were non-existent at that time. Instead, there were typewriters.

“A reporter would sit down and take a sheet of yellow paper, put a carbon on top and another sheet of yellow paper – kind of like a sandwich – and put it into a typewriter and start typing,” said Jerry Morlock, 1979 to 1980 editor in chief, now city editor at the Muskegon Chronicle.

“If you wanted to insert a paragraph, you would have to type it on a separate piece of paper and paste the two together,” he said.

As a CM Life reporter, Morlock recalled working out of a “cave-like,” windowless room in the basement of Anspach Hall. There was a “clakity” old machine that constantly spat out Associated Press wire stories.

“It was in a room by itself. When you were in that room, it was so loud you couldn’t think,” Morlock said.

The lack of technology back then made reporting a bit different from how students do it today, but members of the ’70s staff agree that CM Life was an exciting and cutting-edge experience.

“We still had the same kind of editorial independence; the students still ran the show,” Morlock said.

Steve Morse, editor in chief from 1975 to 1976 and a sports reporter in the ’70s, remembers covering football in what was then Perry Shorts Stadium.

One of his first stories as a freshman was a profile of the man behind the stadium’s name. It was a big story, Morse said, one that the editors at the time were hesitant to put in the hands of a beginner.

“That was the story that motivated me to become a journalist,” he said. “It made me realize that I could do it right, and up until then, I wasn’t sure. I think everyone has a moment in life when they catch on to what they are doing, and that was mine.”

Morse recalled the resignation of University President Bill Boyd in September 1974, and how CM Life put out a special edition on the occurrence.

The newspaper also covered the International Special Olympics, which drew a host of celebrities, including CBS television star Sally Struthers and American actor, writer and director Billy Hayes, to CMU’s campus in 1975, he said.

Outside of work, the ’70s staff socialized at many of the same locations students frequent in Mount Pleasant today. Morse remembered going out for drinks at The Bird Bar & Grill, Sir Richard’s Pub (now the Blue Gator) and Wayside Central.

“We shared a lot of good times, not only in the basement of Anspach (Hall) but also a various ‘watering pools,’” he said, in a humorous tone. “We tended to socialize a lot together.”

Staff members also had many fun times while in the office, working together to get the issue to press. Hard work was commonplace, but could not happen without a little mischievousness.

Darryl Sczepanski, a previous CM Life sports writer, said he met his wife, formerly Nancy Frahm, while working at the newspaper in fall 1970.

“The guys on the Life staff would get bored in the basement of Anspach at night, and they’d pick people up and put them in these big garbage cans full of paper scraps and shove them in the elevator,” he said.

“(Nancy) put up the worst fight in the world and would not go in,” Sczepanski said.

All of the staff, Sczepanski said, had great aspirations for their future journalistic careers.

These aspirations are what set CM Life apart from other college newspapers, because the writers took a stand for quality writing, he said.

“You need to have serious faculty and serious students. (At CM Life) you get a nice mix of all kinds of students, but you have a core group of students who take writing seriously,” Sczepanski said.

HEADLINES IN THE 1970s

“Building starts in October”
Sept. 25, 1970
The Board of Trustees
approves a $1.44 million bid for a new married student housing development (now Kwadin Village Apartments).

“Committee OK’s major in anthropology”
April 7, 1971
The University Curriculum Committee approves a new anthropology major for CMU students. Eight new classes are created for students in the program.

news@cm-life.com

E-mail the author: Heidi Fenton