Here is an overview of news that occurred since the last time Central Michigan Life published. All content was first published on cm-life.com.

Provost a finalist

Central Michigan University Provost Julia Wallace is a finalist for another university in its provost search. Wallace was announced as one of three finalists for provost at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and was on its campus May 11 for a series of interviews with faculty, staff and students. Wallace also interviewed April 27-28 for a provost position at the St. Cloud State University in Minnesota.

GSU becomes official

The Graduate Student Union at Central Michigan University had a majority ‘yes’ vote May 12 to make the union official. With a 152-21 vote, the union received 88 percent of the vote. “This is a tremendous success,” said Mike Hoerger, a Midland graduate student. “We were very excited to see a lot of (graduate assistants) show up during exam week.” Hoerger said CMU had a 40 percent turnout.

Transformer fire

A transformer caught fire May 1 in the basement of Grawn Hall, Facilities Management officials said. “What we think it (was the transformer) got water saturated,” said Jay Kahn, director of facilities operations. “What we think is that water ran down the side of the tunnel.” The transformer, which is about two feet long and two feet wide, most likely had water infiltrate it and caused the transformer to begin smoking, said Mike LeMay, supervisor of electric and maintenance mechanics.

Oak Street bridge

The Mount Pleasant City Commission met May 11, making several decisions. A decision to make repairs to the Oak Street Bridge due to its instability and the plan is to restructure the bridge. Another decision made was to issue four one-day liquor licenses as well as two firework display permits for the Summer Festival from June 25-28.

Senate talk

Director of the Michigan Senate Fiscal Agency Gary Olson visited CMU May 5 to discuss the state’s financial forecast as well as the funding for state appropriations for the higher education institutes. According to a report he provided, the state lost 2.7 million jobs in the last four months, the second-largest four-month decline in history. Olson also discussed several losses of tax revenue including the 40 percent film tax credit, Olson said it will take $130 million out of the general fund revenue base in 2009-10.

-Compiled by Senior Reporter Eric Dresden.

E-mail the author: Eric Dresden