The pathway opens June 26 and will extend from Chipp-A-Waters Park one mile south of Central Michigan University.

Some of the trails amenities include wheelchair accessible benches and picnic tables, textured kiosks and signage displaying GPS location coordinates.

The Access Adventure Trail bridge will be eight feet wide and 150 feet long.

Kathy Beebe, the coordinator from the Mount Pleasant Community Foundation, presented the project during a Soup and Substance discussion Thursday in the Bovee University Center.

Beebe said the goal of the project is inclusion.

“Everyone can use it,” she said. “It doesn’t matter how disabled you are. It’s flexible.”

There are approximately 8,613 people living Isabella County with a disability, and the new adventure trail is considerate of people with cognitive and physical disabilities, Beebe said.

Equal access in recreation is not something siblings Emily and Andrew Clairmont have previously thought about.

Livonia sophomore Andrew Clairmont said people usually try to make sure access is available in buildings like supermarkets, but not parks.

The trail is made possible by a $419,000 grant from W.K. Kellogg Foundation to the Mount Pleasant Area Community Foundation in partnership with the City of Mount Pleasant Parks and Recreation Department.

The City of Mount Pleasant contributed $200,000.

Beebe said CMU is doing its part to spread awareness about the trail and the importance of inclusion.

The university is creating a virtual tour of the trail for potential visitors to plan their visit, and members of the Volunteer Center’s David Garcia Project are presenting for local elementary schools.

Every second grader in Isabella County also will receive a copy of “Bear’s Friends Find a Way,” book written part of the Access to Recreation program, to promote awareness and empathy for people living with disabilities.

The grand opening will include a ribbon cutting, races, food and giveaways.

The seven girls cleaned the Alpha Gamma Delta Sorority house Saturday on Main Street as part of a Greek housecleaning effort.

“We like to go out and show it’s not just a random group of people who meet for church,” said Howell sophomore Megan Hutchings of His House. “This is what we’re called to do.”

Hutchings was the service team leader for the church’s service weekend. She said members dedicate one weekend every semester to “sharing God’s love” by volunteering across the community.

Squeaky clean

Though the group’s good intentions were there, the cleaning project got off to a bit of a rough start.

Three fraternities turned them down, including one where a member said the house was just too dirty to let anyone inside.

The group was about to write off number four when a car pulled into the Alpha Gamma Delta driveway.

Remus junior Summer DuBois, right, reacts as Howell sophomore Megan Hutchings tells her a story while cleaning dishes at the Alpha Gamma sorority house on Main Street in an effort for His House to clean Greek houses on Saturday afternoon. "We were very purposeful today," she said. "We got to share God's love, whether through doing dishes, sweeping, washing windows ... love is love." (Jake May/Staff Photographer)

Traci Greenhalgh, an Alpha Gamma Delta member and South Rockwood senior, said she saw the group come into the driveway and decided to see what they wanted.

The house got a free cleaning because of it.

“(Sunday) is parent’s day, so our house will be fabulous,” she said.

Greenhalgh said there are nine girls living in the house.

The group washed dishes, cleaned bathrooms and counter tops, and swept up before heading back to the church on Broomfield Road.

“It was a lot of fun, and we had a good time doing it,” Hutchings said. “They seemed appreciative.”

Hutchings swept the living room, dining room and kitchen floors, while other volunteers washed and stacked dishes.

Okemos senior Cara Yeager was in charge of cleaning the bathroom, including washing the sinks, counter tops and mirrors.

She said she felt they accomplished what they set out to do.

Hutchings agreed, although she questioned whether the spring football game may have hindered their efforts to make contact at more Greek houses.

“We cleaned and showed people love,” she said.

A crowd of 70 people listened to members of the Asian Cultural Organization and Men About Change dispel popular myths about Asian men Thursday in the Charles V. Park Library Auditorium.

“I have no idea how to use chopsticks,” said Greenville freshman Mark Gustin. “I don’t fit those stereotypes.”

Gustin was adopted from Korea by white parents when he was an infant, and said social sites are more his focus than learning Karate moves.

“I know how to use Facebook and that’s all that really matters to me,” he said.

Panelists discussed the prejudice they have confronted from their Asian heritage, including people complementing how well they speak English and being called slurs like “chopsticks.”

Gustin admitted tackling a stranger who called him “Captain Soy Sauce” in a mall.

However, most of the panelists said they ignore the offensive remarks, or politely correct the speaker.

Lansing senior David Vang said Central Michigan University and ACO offer both Asian and non-Asian students an opportunity to explore diversity.

Vang is Hmong, a member of a nomadic ethnicity originating in Laos.

He said coming to CMU has exposed him to a variety of Asian cultures.

The panel also discussed values in the Asian community.

Mount Pleasant senior Nick Paik said his values coincide with those of mainstream America.

“If it wasn’t for how I look, I might as well perceive myself as white,” Paik said.

Audience members questioned panelists about interracial dating, career choices and how they separate themselves from media stereotypes.

Auburn senior Nou Her criticized some panelists who said they ignore racially insensitive jokes from their friends, saying it only encourages their friends to repeat those jokes to other Asian Americans.

She prefaced her comment by relaying how a grade school teacher made her take English fluency classes because her parents were immigrants and did not speak English, even though she is American.

The panel discussion concluded Asian Pacific Heritage Month at CMU.

However, the solution to this problem reaches far beyond South Africa.

The issue of HIV/AIDS and other diseases is a problem for the global community, said Mandisa Mbali, a Yale postdoctoral associate.

Mbali said everyone has a role in making sure quality affordable healthcare is available.

“Nationality is an accident of birth,” she said. “We’re all human beings.”

Mbali spoke on several issues involving global health before a crowd of about 65 students and faculty Monday night in the Education and Human Services Building’s French Auditorium.

She said affordable treatment, increased medical personnel and a heightened political push, will help contain the epidemic.
Mbali is a South African Rhodes Scholar who has published many scholarly articles focusing on South African AIDS activism. She has seen the effects of the disease within her own family.

One of Mbali’s relatives is living with AIDS, and another died from the disease and left behind two children.

“It’s a critical social issue we’re talking about,” she said. “It’s about intellectual partnership, social partnership and cultural exchange.”

Mbali said countries also need to improve the work environment for physicians.

In countries such as Malawi, the ratio of doctors for patients is one to 60,000, Mbali said.

“Our government needs to pay health workers more,” she said. “They need to make sure drugs are in the pharmacy.”

Throughout her presentation, Mbali showed clips of the film “Patient Abuse,” available on YouTube.

Greenville sophomore Molly Martin said she attended the speech to raise her own awareness on the AIDS/HIV issue.

She said it is something that affects people of all nationalities.

“There are students out there who have HIV/AIDS,” Martin said. “It takes a group to help them.”

The program’s termination is a byproduct of budget cuts, Public Relations Chairwoman Amanda Rippin said at a meeting Sunday.

“It’s going to be hard, but we had a great run,” the Macomb senior said.

On The Fly was created in spring 1996 with the goal of providing free, non-alcohol related entertainment on campus.

Rippin has been a member of OTF for four years, and said she will miss the students’ reactions to OTF’s programs.

“The energy from the shows is amazing,” she said. “Everyone’s always so pumped from the entertainment.”

Detroit sophomore Darryl Maxwell has been a member of OTF for three years and said he is not sure what he is going to do when it ends.

“I’m saddened by the news,” he said. “I had high expectations for the program coming into my senior year.”

Rippin said some members have indicated they will join Program Board after OTF ends.

Big Sean and Mike Posner

One of the organization’s last acts before it dissolves will bring hip hop artist Big Sean and singer Mike Posner to Central Michigan University’s Plachta Auditorium on Feb. 25 at 8 p.m. Tickets went on sale Jan. 13 and, already, the show is sold out.

Music Chairman Eric Steiner said there are no bigger venues the event can be moved to.

Steiner, a Niles sophomore, said the decision to bring Posner and Big Sean to CMU came following students’ suggestions. A Facebook group “Bring Mike Posner to CMU” was started and, to date, has more than 1,100 members.

Maxwell said he once met Big Sean and was impressed by his humility and the fact he was successful despite his upbringing in Detroit.

“Detroit is a pretty rough city,” Maxwell said. “To see a dude who made it from nothing become something (is inspirational).”

Despite the excitement about Big Sean and Mike Posner, Rippin said she will miss the work On the Fly does.

“I love programming and bringing entertainment to students,” she said. “I feel like students really appreciate what we do.”

Rippin said a formal press release announcing OTF’s cut will be released in the coming week. However, there are still events planned for the spring semester.

The program’s termination is a byproduct of budget cuts, said Public Relations Chair Amanda Rippin at a meeting Sunday.

“It’s going to be hard, but we had a great run,” she said.

Rippin has been a member of OTF for four years and said she will miss the students’ reactions to entertainment. The organization has been around Central Michigan University for more than 10 years.

“The energy from the shows is amazing,” she said. “Everyone’s always so pumped from the entertainment.”

One of the organization’s last acts before it dissolves will bring artists Big Sean and Mike Posner to Warriner Hall’s Plachta Auditorium on Feb. 25. Tickets went on sale Jan. 13 and are sold out.

“The thing that is going to sustain our position in the world is not the ability to shoot 25 jump shots. It’s the ability to solve a quadric equation,” he said.

Carson stood before a nearly-full Plachta Auditorium to deliver a message of hope through his speech, “Gifted Hands.”

In 1987, Carson gained worldwide recognition for leading a team in the successful separation of conjoined twins. The 22-hour surgery was the first of its kind to separate twins joined at the head without fatalities to either infant.

Now the director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Md., Carson is a philanthropist and 2008 recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Detroit freshman Amanda Johnson was brought to tears during the question-and-answer portion of Carson’s speech.

“I’ve known of his story since sixth grade,” Johnson said. “He’s been an inspiration to me.”

Johnson said many of Carson’s obstacles growing up in Detroit paralleled her own. She also is from a single-parent home and admits she was never looked at as the smart kid in early elementary.

Just as Carson’s mother was a defining influence in his education, Johnson said it was her mother’s decision to transfer her daughter to a better school with more supportive, hands-on teachers that encouraged her to excel.

‘Be nice’

During his speech, Carson focused on education, God, health care reform and the importance of being nice.

He asked to audience to take a ‘Nice Pledge’ for the next two weeks. Men will be chivalrous, and women will not curse men out for pulling out chairs. Carson told audience members to smile at the people they walk by, and converse on elevators.

“Be nice,” he said.

Carson later addressed questions about health care reform, stem cell usage, and even answered questions from a child who wondered what books he read growing up.

“He has a very compelling story that I believe touches a lot of different people in different ways,” said Denise Green, associate vice president for institutional diversity.

The Office of Institutional Diversity is one of many offices and organizations that worked together to bring Carson to campus.

Carson left attendees with the call to think big, and allow talent, God, knowledge and compassion to lead them.

“It’s very difficult to make progress without taking risks,” he said. “You have to do it in an intelligent way.”

That, and her desire to increase her awareness about social issues, inspired the Metamora junior to sign up for an Alternative Break, a program offered by CMU for students to
take weekends or even spring break to volunteer around the state, country or the world.

Trombly said she enjoyed her experience doing civil rights work in Tuskegee, Ala., so much, she decided to sign-up for another break. Her second service project took her across the globe to Poland and Germany.

She and her site mates found themselves restoring barracks in Auschwitz and other Holocaust concentration camps. The camps now operate as museums that educate people about the Holocaust.

Trombly said her volunteer experiences were empowering.

“I feel like now I can go out and educate people all the time,” she said.

Making an impact

Sign-up for domestic Alternative Winter Breaks and the International Alternative Spring Break starts at 7:30 a.m. Monday on the Volunteer Center Web site, volunteer.cmich.edu.

Alternative Breaks Advisory Board Chairwoman Danielle Schmutz said service projects give students the opportunity to become better citizens.

“In every action they do, they are taking into consideration its impact on their community,” the Rockford senior said.

Although students will have a variety of issues to choose from, including civil rights, youth and hunger and homelessness issues, they will not be notified of their break destination until sign-up ends.

Schmutz said the Volunteer Center does this to ensure students volunteer care about the issue and do not view alternative breaks as a vacation.

“It’s not about the location you are traveling to,” Schmutz said. “It’s about the service you are providing to the community and impact you’ll have.”

Paw Paw senior and Volunteer Center student staff Brooke Willis said participating in Alternative Breaks has made her more open-minded about different issues.

“You can help people better if you get to know them personally, rather than just as a group,” she said.

‘A lifetime trip’

Willis has participated in at least five Alternative Breaks, helping with at-risk youth, immigration and border control and elderly issues.

Willis, leading an alternative break to Belize this year, said the experience taught her that every day is an opportunity to perform a kind deed.

“Act as if every single day is a service trip,” she said. “Make it a lifetime trip.”

The 2009-10 Alternative Breaks will include new issues such as rural poverty, LGBT issues, prison reform, Native American issues and women’s issues.

“We look at what students are interested in, what are pertinent issues right now,” Schmutz said. “It’s going to be a meaningful way (for students) to spend their break.”

As residents begin moving out, many items that are still in good order are being left for charities through the Residence Hall Charity Drive.

Though the Residence Hall Charity Drive doesn’t officially begin until May 1, donations are already pouring in said Calkins Residence Hall Director Cathy Warner.

“We have eliminated I bet about 85 to 90 percent of stuff that would have been thrown away,” Warner said.

Donations will be collected and distributed through Community Compassion Network. Local charities including Goodwill, Commission on Aging, Women’s Aid Services and Habitat for Humanity will receive items. Donations will also be distributed internationally to Orphanage Outreach. Orphanage Outreach serves the people of Monte Cristi and Jaibon, Dominican Republican.

Students are encouraged to donate nonperishable food, appliances, furniture and household items.

“Half eaten box of cereal, we can’t do anything with it,” Warner said. “Go feed it to the squirrels.”

However, individually packaged foods, such as bags of popcorn or granola bars, are okay.

Detroit sophomore Henry Hammond said the charity drive is a great chance to unload unneeded clothes while helping a good cause.

“It’s better that someone get some use out of it, instead of them sitting in my closet and dry rotting,” he said.

Barnes Hall Director Luanne Goffnett said Campus Dining helped along with Residence Life.

Residence Life provides transportation of the items to Mount Pleasant Community Church, where the items will be sorted and distributed.

“I’m just really proud to be a part of a community that cares bout these kinds of things, ” Goffnett said.

She said the idea the underprivileged are disadvantaged by choice is completely untrue.

“Anybody that will humble themselves to come to one of our events has a need,” she said.

Students interested in volunteering with the charity drive can sign up at volunteer.cmich.edu or by visiting the Community Compassion Network Web site: ccnhome.org.

For those interested in donating large items, such as carpet, furniture or lofts, pick up will begin Tuesday through May 9. Starting at 9 a.m. until 6 p.m., large items can be picked up by calling in advance 989-773-0043 or 989-506-2320.

For north and south campus residence, donate items to the lobby. For East Campus donate items to the shared lobby. For the Towers, donate to the Troutman Hall lounge.

studentlife@cm-life.com

Haubenstricker decided to join Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity after attending one of the group’s pancake breakfasts. He said the friendly atmosphere and fraternity’s commitment to giving back impressed him.

“Greek groups, especially Sigma Alpha Epsilon, can have morals,” Haubenstricker said. “It’s not all about Animal House.”

The public can put Haubenstricker’s opinion to the test at Sigma Alpha Epsilon’s annual pancake breakfast beginning at 11 p.m. Thursday in Powers Hall 136.

Proceeds from the event will benefit the Children’s Miracle Network. CMN is a non-profit organization that funds medical care, research and education for sick and injured kids.

The fraternity hopes to raise $1,000 this year to help them meet their 2013 goal of donating $15,000 to CMN, said philanthropy chair and Coopersville junior Doug Booth.

As added entertainment, Chris Cakes will cater the event again. Cakes is notorious for tossing pancakes to hungry participants.

“They (will) have to catch pancakes if they’re going to eat,” Booth said.

The social organization employed several new publicity tactics this year, including purchasingn Facebook and radio advertisements.

By increasing their promotion tactics, Sigma Alpha Epsilon hopes to draw a larger crowd and collect more than the $600 the last pancake breakfast drew.

Haubenstricker said the breakfast also is an opportunity to recruit new members.

“It’s a great way to meet brothers, and help them learn more about our group, as well,” he said.

Tickets cost $5 if purchased prior to the event from a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon. Admission is $6 at the door.

studentlife@cm-life.com