Yet, even after five years, it is so difficult to believe it’s all about to end.

Next week, I will join a few thousand others at Kelly/Shorts Stadium in donning the black cap and gown as a tired but proud graduate of this university.

Just a few weeks ago, I handed in my application to work at CM Life, then sent an e-mail to then-editor Chad Livengood, now a political reporter at the Springfield News-Leader in Missouri, telling him I am dedicated to making his newspaper better.

And when I say ‘a few weeks,’ I mean four-and-a-half years.

But it sure doesn’t seem that long ago.

A time of change

Since fall 2005, two residence halls were built, the football team won three Mid-American Conference championships, a medical college was approved and tuition increased 57.7 percent.

That last item is particularly striking to me.

I was among the first students to receive the CMU Promise’s fixed tuition guarantee for my entire college stay. But because the state went deeper into recession and the university could only raise tuition for freshmen, CMU turned into one of the most expensive of Michigan’s 15 public universities.

I chose this place mostly for its cheap tuition (at the time). And I’m not the only one.

Now it costs $339 per credit hour, plus the inevitable July increase for 2010-11 students, to take classes here. Combine that with department cuts and wear and tear of the facilities, and you have what realistically is a devalued college experience.

Central Michigan Life, thankfully, helped pad my résumé in ways a classroom never would have. But most students don’t have the opportunity of gaining work experience across the hall. Most have to maintain Summa Cum Laude grades and cross their fingers to get a call back from an internship coordinator.

This is why I worry greatly for this university. It needs to keep its eyes wide and its money closer to the chest. Building a $25-million medical college, to me, is a slap in the face to other prestigious programs on campus that desperately need money to move forward.

goodbye to the community

Almost every day, I hear a CMU student criticize Mount Pleasant — not enough places to shop. No big attractions. It’s in the middle of nowhere.

Let’s face it — Mount Pleasant is not an ideal career destination for most, unless you’re good at dealing cards or serving drinks. But to say any of that is looking at the city in the wrong context.

The true beauty of attending college is crashing into people from all walks of life and making connections you never dreamed possible. Besides — it’s easy to call a town of 23,000 boring on an idle Monday night, but there are a ton of well-kept secrets here, if you look for them.

To every professor, student, adviser and colleague I’ve come in contact with the last five years — thank you.

I may be turning to a new page in my life, but I certainly won’t forget this one.

We’ve installed Disqus into our site to introduce discussion through a variety of platforms, encourage a consistent identity from those who comment and to better moderate the comments submitted. You can find it under each story and blog post, including this one.

My favorite feature of the new system is the ability to log in using your Facebook or Twitter account. By clicking Facebook Connect or the Twitter icon, you can link your account to your identity on the CM Life site, including your avatar (your profile picture). You also can use your Yahoo! account to log in.

This allows for you to put a face to your comments and for you to easily “build a profile,” so to speak, on the Web site. If you have Facebook or Twitter, all you have to do is log in (don’t worry — only your name and avatar are visible if you wish to keep your profile private).

Using a consistent identity also lets you view comments you’ve previously made. While those who wish to continue using a screen name can do so, we hope this encourages as many readers as possible to use an authentic or consistent identity when commenting. We’d rather see a healthy conversation on our site than a comments section littered with attacks from unknown sources.

Other things you can do with the Disqus system:

• Share your comment on Facebook or Twitter.
• Subscribe to the comments section of a post by e-mail or RSS.
• View others’ profile and comment history.
• Flag comments you might find offensive/distasteful/unrelated to discussion.

Don’t stop there

One goal for Central Michigan Life is to keep people talking about issues that matter most to them.

One thing our Web site can do that our print edition cannot is get readers involved in the conversation. One way to do that is through reader comments. We also offer Facebook and Twitter for you to connect to us. We know we aren’t the only eyes and ears of Central Michigan University and the Mount Pleasant community — we want you to be involved and for you to tell us what news matters to you.

Be sure to let us know how else we can improve your experience on cm-life.com and on our social media platforms!

Or, in the case of an organization and its activities, “open to public scrutiny.”

The latter definition of this word has virtually packed its bags and left the Central Michigan University playbook.

Last week, CM Life submitted 14 Freedom of Information Act requests for the 3, 6 and 9 percent budget reduction recommendations for various CMU offices, colleges and units. These recommendations were sent to interim University President Kathy Wilbur for her consideration.

All of them were rejected in one e-mail over the weekend.

The university claimed these records were exempt under Section 13(1)(m) of the FOIA, as “communications and notes within a public body … of an advisory nature to the extent they cover other than purely factual materials and are preliminary to a final agency determination of policy or action.”

CMU also gave the same language it provided last week in rejecting our FOIA request for the budget reduction suggestions sent to the Senior Staff Budget Advisory Group over the last few months: “Disclosing records of those communications would prevent University officials and employees from meaningfully engaging in challenging and deliberate discussions on a complex issue.”

It is as if, somehow, the idea of putting information in the open for students, faculty and staff to see was thrown out a fourth-story window.

The CMU budget is the big story of the semester, and these cuts for the coming fiscal year will affect every person affiliated with this university, especially the little guys (the students).

Some parts of the discussion are touchy and understandably kept quiet (namely possible layoffs). But it is irresponsible for CMU to attempt to completely close the door on these talks and let the higher-ups decide what isn’t important enough.

These are the same sort of people that, early last fall, paid $500,000 for practice turf in the Indoor Athletic Complex (a decision that affects hundreds) and cut $80,000 by shaving computer lab hours in Grawn and Woldt halls (a decision that affects only thousands).

Other landmark Trustees decisions — namely the approval of the $24-million medical school and President-designate George Ross — were left off meeting agendas and announced as if they were pulled from a magician’s hat.

The gap between administration and students needs to close and the lack of transparency needs to stop. CMU should spend more time listening to the people it will greatly affect in the coming months: the students. The ones that fund roughly two-thirds of the university’s operating budget.

Giving Internet users a chance to submit budget suggestions late last semester wasn’t enough. Tell the public what eliminations are being considered and give people a chance to sway your decision.

Even the little guys.

The Mid-American Conference Champions will face the Sun Belt Conference Champion Troy Trojans (9-3 overall, 8-0 Sun Belt) at 8 p.m. Jan. 6 in the GMAC Bowl in Mobile, Ala.

The game will be televised on ESPN.

It is No. 25 CMU’s fourth consecutive bowl-bound season after playing the last three at Ford Field in Detroit for the Motor City Bowl. The last out-of-state bowl game for Central was at the Las Vegas Bowl in 1994, where CMU lost to UNLV 52-24.

“We’re excited to represent Central Michigan University and the Mid-American Conference in the GMAC Bowl and would like to thank the GMAC Bowl for inviting us to compete in their great event,” said coach Butch Jones. “It’s another opportunity for our university and our football program to be in the national spotlight. I’m excited for our 13 seniors who will be participating in their fourth consecutive bowl game and have one more opportunity to represent the ‘C’ of Central Michigan.”

Troy, from Troy, Ala., also went undefeated in its conference, losing to the MAC’s Bowling Green (31-14) and the Southeastern Conference’s No. 5 Florida (56-6) and Arkansas (56-20).

The Trojans rank third in the Football Bowl Subdivision in total offense with 478.5 yards per game and fourth in passing offense with 331 yards per game.

Their quarterback, Levi Brown, has thrown for 3,828 yards, 22 touchdowns and nine interceptions this season.

Troy’s defense, however, ranks 100th out of 120 FBS teams, giving up 417.9 yards per game. It gives up 277.8 passing yards per game, 117th in the nation.

Senior quarterback Dan LeFevour said the team is excited to play in a fourth consecutive bowl game.

“This is something that’s never been done at CMU, so I think that is pretty impressive,” he said. “For our senior class, it’s another opportunity to spend some time together and play football. We know this is the last time that we’ll get that opportunity together.”

Ohio and Marshall will play in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl on Dec. 26 at Ford Field in Detroit. It is the first year since 2005 the bowl game, formerly named the Motor City Bowl, will not feature CMU.

Check cm-life.com for more coverage.

Central clinched the spot after winning 11 of the last 12 games, including 20-10 Friday over Ohio to earn its third Mid-American Conference Championship in four seasons.

The Chippewas (63 votes) also finished one spot out of the USA Today Coaches’ Top 25, behind No. 25 Houston (106), which lost to East Carolina 38-32 in the Conference USA Championship game on Saturday.

The team came close to both Top 25 polls earlier this season. It finished one spot out of the coaches’ poll and No. 27 in the AP poll earlier this season before losing 31-10 to Boston College on Oct. 31.

Check cm-life.com for more updates today, as we follow the football team’s bowl destination and possible Bowl Championship Series ranking.

Northern Illinois lost 38-31 to Ohio on Saturday, giving the Huskies a 5-2 record in MAC play, behind CMU’s 7-0 record. The two teams play at 1 p.m. Friday at Kelly/Shorts Stadium in their season finale.

The Chippewas won their third MAC West title in four years. In 2006 and 2007, they clinched with wins over Western Michigan. CMU won the MAC Championship both years.

This year, the team will face the winner of Friday’s game between Temple (9-2 overall, 7-0 MAC) and Ohio (8-3, 6-1), both of which are playing for the MAC East championship. The two teams kick off at 11 a.m.

See cm-life.com and Monday’s print edition for more on this story.

Chat begins at around 7:30 p.m. Use #CMUToledo on Twitter to join the conversation!

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It earned 61 votes in the poll, behind No. 25 Notre Dame’s 82, following Saturday’s 24-10 win at Bowling Green.

The Chippewas also earned 76 votes in the Associated Press Top 25, ranking No. 27 behind No. 25 Notre Dame (133) and Brigham Young (80).

The Bowl Championship Series standings will be released this afternoon.

Check cm-life.com for more updates.