Henry Clark, Dean for Academic Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University, candidate for Dean of College of Education and Human Services presents his campaign to faculty and staff on Monday in EHS 315. (Brooke Mayle/Staff Photographer)

Henry Clark said if you ask any of his faculty, they will tell you the door to his office is open anytime he is there.

Clark, senior associate dean for academic affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University, responded to questions from faculty and members of the community Monday as part of an open forum. Clark is one of three candidates running for dean of the College of Education and Human Services.

Clark said his relationship with faculty is transparent.

“Transparency, I think, is one of the critical parts of the relationship between dean and faculty,” he said. “You don’t have to always agree, but the process has to be transparent.”

Clark spoke of comparisons between VCU and Central Michigan University, while also noting differences between the two universities.

Clark brought up a conversation he had with Provost Gary Shapiro, where Shapiro informed him he wanted the new dean to increase the research profile from the college. As a dean, he said he would advocate and push faculty to do this.

“Part of the reason I brought that up was because I don’t think changing the expectation is realistic in the absence of changing modes, and I don’t think changing modes is realistic is the absence of the resources to make that happen,” Clark said.

During the hour-long open forum, Clark used personal examples from his past and explained how he would handle funding issues, faculty positions, diversity and international programs, although admitting a lack of expertise in the latter.

“I work with faculty in a lot of cultural backgrounds,” he said. “But VCU doesn’t have a lot of investment in international programs. We are just getting into that venture.”

He said he is familiar with CMU’s international programs within EHS and said they are all wonderful opportunities, to the point he has encouraged his own faculty at VCU to follow suit.

The final EHS dean candidate will be evaluated on Tuesday. Dale-Elizabeth Pehrsson, associate dean of the College of Education at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, will hold a forum from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. in EHS 315.

All candidate forums are open to the public.

Lonnie Allen/Staff Reporter

Game day has passed and the parties are over. Fans snacked before kickoff, through halftime and to the trophy presentation.

Feeding their nerves and celebrating the great plays with subs, nachos, wings, pizza, ribs, chips and dips and what seems to be a never-ending supply of beer.

The National Chicken Council estimated 1.25 billion pounds of wings was devoured during Super Bowl Sunday. Sports parties and food are a marriage that last in harmony.

This week on Munchies I am preparing three quick dishes for any upcoming playoff game. Whether it be the coveted March Madness, or the race for Lord Stanley’s Cup, be prepared for any scenario by cooking one of these tasty snacks to satisfy a multitude of partygoers.

First up is my favorite; little smoked sausages wrapped in bacon. I call them little smoked blankets. This variation of pigs in blanket is simple, quick and satisfying.

Pigs in a blanket are also known as devils on horsebacks, kilted sausages and wiener winks. Basically, pigs in a blanket are different sausage-based snacks.

The type I am preparing originated in the United Kingdom, where small sausages, or chipolatas, are wrapped up in bacon and baked. In America, a pig in a blanket often refers to hot dogs, Vienna sausages, or breakfast sausages wrapped in biscuit dough, croissant dough or a pancake, and then baked. I am adding my own twist by taking the pigs and smothering them in some spicy barbeque sauce.

Ingredients and Preparation:
•    24 cocktail sausages
•    8 slices streaky bacon
•    Heat toaster oven or oven to 400 degrees
•    Using the back of a knife, stretch each bacon slice, then cut into three equal pieces.
•    Tightly wrap each sausage with a piece of bacon. Lay side by side on a baking tray.
•    Cook in the preheated oven for 15 minutes or until crisp and golden.

The next snack is my focaccia pizza. Pizza is always great at any party, and why shouldn’t it be? It is easy to pick up and eat, it is mobile and parties require movement to be social. Focaccia bread is sometimes a bit much for bread, but getting it from the day-old rack is a good way to save a bit of money and end up with a perfect crust.

Ingredients and Preparation:
•    Small jar of pizza sauce
•    Pepperoni
•    Sausage
•    Beef
•    Onion
•    Cheese
•    Heat toaster oven or oven to 400 degrees, spread sauce on bread, add cheese and top with favorite toppings. Cook in preheated oven until cheese is melted and edges are brown.

The next snack is a buffalo chicken wrap. This sandwich is probably little more than a snack, but it is easy to make and tastes great. I use a breaded, frozen chicken patty, follow preparation instructions for patty and dip it in a buffalo sauce. It is the same sauce I used when I prepared the chicken wings. I use a sundried tomato flour wrap, bleu cheese dressing, tomato, shredded cheese (your choice) and chopped romaine.

Ingredients and Preparation:
•    ¼ cup of bleu chees dressing
•    2 frozen chicken patties
•    1 diced roma tomato
•    1 ½ cups of chopped romaine
•    ½ cup of shredded cheese
•    ¼ cup of onion
•    2 wraps
•    Heat toaster oven or oven to 400 degrees and bake patties 12 minutes. When done, dip patty in sauce, cut in half and place on wrap. Add ½ cup dressing, cheese and romaine. Sprinkle onion and tomato with amount of choice. Wrap and eat.

In 2010-11, 553 students chose to use the option, an increase from the 485 during 2009-10. The number, however, has been on a steady decline since 2002-03, when the number was more than 2,300. When credit/no credit was introduced in 1994-95, 3,873 students took advantage of it, and it rose to 4,870 in 1995-96.

From 1995-96 to 1996-97, the number dropped from more than 4,800 students using credit/no credit to more than 1,800. Registrar Karen Hutslar said she was surprised when she looked at those numbers and could not explain the drastic drop.

“The numbers have gone down as enrollment went up,” she said. “I would have expected them to rise as our student population has risen.”

Credit/no credit gives students an option to take a course and not worry about it affecting their grade point average. A grade of C or better gives credit and C- and below gives no credit, and Hutslar said it gives students a chance to explore classes outside their field of knowledge.

Not all departments have this option for majors. Chemistry, biology, journalism and marketing are among the departments that do not allow it, Hutslar said.

“This policy was in place before I came here,” Hutslar said. “From what I heard, they wanted to have this grading option, and it would really enable students to maybe explore and take courses and not have this fear of getting a bad grade and impact their GPA.”

Hutslar said students today are not finding the option as appealing.

“If a students gets a D, it’s (no credit),” she said. “Sure, a D is a bad grade, but at least they receive credit for the letter grade.”

West Branch senior Sarah Fox is taking her first credit/no credit class and said she contemplated taking two, but was advised against it. Fox said credit/no credit isn’t an option many students know about. When she talked to other students in her classes, she said they were surprised to hear about it and asked her how it worked.

“Honestly, I really don’t know how I found out about it,” she said. “I think it was last semester when I was researching all my options for the semester. I knew I had to take 18 credits and I thought maybe I should utilize that so I wouldn’t be too overwhelmed my final semester.”

Michelle Howard, director of academic advising and assistance, said academic advisers are reporting the credit/no credit grade option and related questions are more common among students who have been here for several semesters.

“Graduating seniors who elect credit/no credit during their last semester need to be careful that the C grade or higher is earned, or they risk receiving no credit for a required class for graduation,” Howard said. “It is important that students electing the credit/no credit option take the class seriously, as grades lower than C will result in no credit.”

Fox, a psychology major, said she wanted to take a class topic she didn’t know much about that would challenge her intellectually and fit into her schedule. But now she said she is realizing all that is required, and admits slacking off isn’t an option.

“I’ve never gotten below a B- in college ever, so I thought this option wouldn’t be a big deal,” she said. “I definitely need to stay on top of this class, because if I get (no credit) and don’t graduate, that will definitely be a big issue for me.”

Lonnie Allen/Staff Reporter

Munchies in Minutes will be a weekly feature highlighting snacking and cooking made easy.

I am Lonnie Allen, an aspiring journalist. Writing is a passion of mine, along with my love for cooking.

I am hoping to combine these two passions into a weekly delectable dish for the reader and the hungry in print and online a cm-life.com.

Every Wednesday, I will write about food topics relating to what I am preparing that day.

The snack I figured I would tackle this first week on Munchies is the chicken wing. What better to snack on than deep-fried appendages of a nice, fat chicken?

Of course, our ancestors used all parts of the chicken. Usually the wings, back and neck were used to flavor soups and stocks.

It was the modernization of the poultry market and the ability to refrigerate that permitted us chicken lovers to pick our favorite parts of the bird — breast, thigh and leg portions — so chicken wings fell a bit out of favor. It was Oct. 30, 1964 when an enterprising restaurateur created a chicken wing recipe that would take America by storm.

The most information I can find seems to credit the creation date for buffalo wings to Anchor bar owner Teressa Bellissimo, who was faced with feeding her son and his friends a late snack. Having an excess of chicken wings on hand, she fried up the wings.

It is said she dipped them in a buttered, spicy chile sauce, and to cut the heat as a dipping sauce, she served them with celery and blue cheese dressing. The rest, I guess, is wing history. Of course there are disputes about who was the first to serve buffalo wings, but people can research that all by themselves.

Now, let’s make some wings.

Today I am making three versions of wings: Garlic herb, spicy BBQ and original.

Here is what we need:

12 wings, frozen or fresh.

½ cup of garlic herb marinade

½ cup of BBQ sauce

1 cup of red-hot sauce (I use Frank’s)

¼ cup of melted butter

1/4 tsp of crushed red pepper

½ cup of bleu cheese dressing

4 celery sticks, washed and cut into quarters

Bake the wings at 400 degrees for 35 minutes, and while the wings are cooking, assemble your sauces.

Place the garlic sauce in a bowl, add crushed red pepper to BBQ sauce, mix well and place in the bowl. Take melted butter and hot sauce, mix together and set aside for wings.

When wings are done and still hot, mix them with your favorite sauces, plate up with celery and dipping sauce and serve.

Enjoy, you all.

*Note you can bake wings a day ahead or par boil wings and pan fry wings until crisp and still do the same as baked recipe above. 

Vice President for Information Technology Roger Rehm said the purpose of the redesigned website is to target individual audiences instead of flooding them with unnecessary information.

ICentral, launched in summer 2010 to replace the former CMU portal, will be replaced with Central Link for student use. The new cmich.edu will be redesigned to serve as a public tool for resources and information on the university, Rehm said.

“We are proposing to rebuild the cmich.edu site so it’s specifically for the public,” he said. “Also to build and replace iCentral with a much-broader Central Link site so that it is really constructed specifically for the CMU community.”

Renee Walker, associate vice president of public relations and marketing, said a new website has been one of the university’s goals since University President George Ross’ transition to president in 2010. The new site, a $550,000 project, will provide a central location to gather and communicate information that is specific for the user.

“There is information the public really wants to know, and we should provide that user experience to get the information they need,” Walker said. “Internally, there is information folks need to know, and we should give them that opportunity to have a good web experience and get the information they need to be successful.”

She said most content located on cmich.edu and iCentral, as it stands today, doesn’t hold content in a way that can be used easily. When the new cmich.edu debuts, the iCentral address will be replaced.

“Central Link will be something entirely new,” Rehm said. “The primary focus of the project is to put us in a position where we can clarify that message, so we can start to target individual audiences and make sure we are telling them the things they need to hear, and presenting them with services they need to find.”

While cmich.edu will be focused on the public, only the new Central Link will know if someone is a student, faculty or staff member when they’re logged in.

“Central Link will become the only place that anybody at CMU with a portal login needs to go to get information,” Rehm said.

Students will be able to personalize the system to their major, with access to grades and scheduling.

Mary Jane Flanagan, executive assistant to the president, said Central Link will give people new opportunities that iCentral wasn’t capable of.

“There will be some really cool tools that will give each of us (the ability) to personalize the site to fit our needs,” Flanagan said. “It will be more clear what the potential of the site is when it rolls out.”

The main reason for the delay, Rehm said, was because more than 50,000 pages needed to be migrated to the new server. That phase of the project is now finished, he said.

“(Currently) the site is open to those people who are maintaining the content of their pages,” Rehm said. “They are cleaning up those pages before the launch.”

Rehm said a launch date has not been set, but an announcement should be coming soon.

CMU decided to partner with Blue Chip Consulting Group in Ohio for the website redesign, primarily because there was more work to be done than could be achieved through campus resources. CM Life reported in November the redesign will cost the university $550,000, to be paid over six installments, plus travel expenses.

“(The redesign) was a whole host of projects and technologies work that needed to be done,” said Blue Chip Managing Partner Jim Teelman.

CMU students and faculty will have a whole lot more control over its website, not just University Communications, Rehm said.

The protestors were staying in the plaza in front of Oakland’s City Hall. They had been camping there for about two weeks. The city officials defended the use of police by citing health and safety concerns among the reasons for clearing the plaza.

Oakland is just another in the long list of cities following the example of Occupy Wall Street, where protesters have been camping out at Zuccotti Park for more than 30 days now.

I understand the frustration from the protesters. Corporate greed, bank bailouts, a huge wealth gap and high student loan debt are just some of the problems. The country’s unemployment rate isn’t promising either, especially to a graduating student with loans. How does a person pay off debt if they are not working? They can’t.

So people utilize the First Amendment right to peaceably assemble and protest the perceived injustices.

The government has failed the people. Look at tax revenues, which are at the lowest point in half a century, with tax rates below what they were under Eisenhower.

The only redistribution of wealth I see happening is the money going straight to the top 1 percent. Something does need to be done and the “Occupy” movement is on the right path.

But some local businesses are tired of the protestors in New York. There have been complaints about petty theft and damage to private property.

That doesn’t help the cause and it brings into question the right to protest around the clock. Does allowing people to occupy a protest trump cities’ basic administrative rights and their responsibilities to local taxpayers? No.

I don’t think this is a court argument that could be won under the protection of the First Amendment. I believe assembling peaceably includes respecting city laws.

I do believe the Occupy movement has every right to be in the parks every day, all day. But, I think in most cities, protesters who assemble at a public park in the morning and go home at dusk probably wouldn’t face a challenge to their presence.

However, the word “Occupy” conveys the message of a constant presence and a commitment to not leave the premises.

I guess as the “Occupy” movement grows, there will be more conflicts over how long protesters can stay in public parks that usually close at dusk. I just hope we don’t see more Oakland-style park clearings.

I want to be authentic in my entire life. However, it’s tough and troubling.

To be honest with myself, I have to ask questions about my behavior, about who I am as a person and what I believe defines me.

One thing I’m good at is telling it like I see it. Recently, I went through a breakup. I was crying like an infant child.

This emotional mess played out a bit on Facebook. My friend, Pat, told me that is part of my authenticity and what she loves about me.

Whenever I’m dealing with something tough in my life I let it all out, she said. I let the world see me transparently and vulnerably with nothing to hide. She said she loves the authenticity in my faith and my ability to stand up and own what I am dealing with.

It is almost never pretty. Most times my shadows are dark and hard to accept.

One question I constantly deal with, especially when professing my faith, is can a gay man be a Christian too? I know the passages in the Bible that say, no way, especially the passages that call me an abomination to God.

I have done all I could do to reconcile this one difference in my life and faith.

I see my faith as being between God and me.

I will not walk away from Christianity just because I have the desire to get my groove on with some dude. It is the only solid foundation in my life.

I will not hide how I feel to be accepted by the church. I have hidden so many times in my past and hiding destroyed me. Hiding led to drugs, parties and self-destructive behavior. I will not go back when I have come so far.

I started this tough journey in 2004. I was watching TV, and God got my attention and my life changed from that day forward.

I know the experience I had and it was of God. I know for a fact that Jesus Christ is part of my life.

So, I will not hide the fact I trust Christ as my Lord and savior and I will not hide that I am gay, too.

My authenticity starts with my honesty. Being honest allows me to realize I don’t have answers to this revelation. I cannot debate, defend or deny this position.

All I can offer is my story that is still being told today. It is a story that relies on forgiveness, mercy, love, grace and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

That’s how I try to live authentically.

I’ve screwed up every relationship I’ve ever been in, and it all started when I left Becky.

Becky and I were engaged for three years while I was in the U.S. Marine Corps, and I left her one week before our wedding. I told her I would never be faithful.

I am horrible at being in a committed, monogamous relationship. I act on the urge to sample the greener grass. Whether female or male, none of my relationships have lasted much more than three years.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed every moment I shared with women in my life, but I discovered in my 20s I liked men.

No matter the gender, I reached a time where I had to ask myself what dating meant to me. It’s exclusive, where you think about the future, which often times includes marriage. I wasn’t ready to do that.

But my sexy days are behind me, and dating for me isn’t what it used to be.

Meeting someone at my age isn’t easy at Central Michigan University, in addition to my past full of negative experiences. If I were to go to Wayside, order a drink, walk around the dance floor attempting eye-contact with a patron of either sex, the instant reaction from people is to assume I’m a creeper.

This leads me to another point — not only is age a factor, but there is a clear double standard.

Older women are cougars and older men are creepers.

The idea of a younger man with an older woman is harmlessly portrayed in movies like “The Graduate,” “Prime,” and “Harold and Maude,” but relationships between older men dating younger women is seen in a different light.

Depending on which state they reside in and the age difference, an older man dating a younger woman can lead to criminal prosecution. An older woman dating a younger man is still subject to ridicule, but often times it’s not taken seriously.

In my opinion, when an older man dates someone with a considerable age difference between him or her, they’re bound somewhere down the road to not sync. However, if those people choose to take that chance, it’s really nobody else’s business.

At present time, I am very happy with my relationship. I date people younger than myself because I can. Judgement will not change who I date. Shoot, I came out of the closet in my late 20s and ridicule is nothing new for me.

In the end, I may screw up in relationships, but at least I attempt to share my life with some one, despite my faults.

The acronym is becoming detrimental to my life in the LGBT community.

That’s right, I said it — LGBT with nothing else added. I like my LGBT simple, like my coffee, not all fancied up like a Starbucks Frappuccino.

LGBTQWXYZ, or whatever the next letter, has gotten out of control. As a gay man, I swear if I see this acronym change again I am through with it all. I’m done. It is time to revoke my gay membership. I’m fed up with a community of prima donnas.

This is way out of hand.

If I understand it right, the Q that has been recently added represents the words “Queer” or “Questioning.” Let me break this down in two parts so I don’t lose all my girlfriends out there sipping mimosas. Starting with the word “Queer” — does anyone else out there realize this makes no sense? Gay and lesbian to me already means I’m queer. LGBTQ has my panties in a bunch and I will not stand for it anymore. I just hate bunched panties.

Good lord, it is embarrassing to have an ever-changing acronym in this community, especially the “questioning” part. If someone is questioning, then he or she is in college, or had too many beers last night and wanted to get some action. When did one-nighters become so complicated? Honey, the last person who ‘questioned’ when I was around knew within the hour what they wanted and they left screaming “Hallelujah!” … that’s right, Tyrone, I’m dishing business, boyfriend.

Please, I’m begging the community to stop. Adding to the acronym is a waste of words and energy, which I could be using on my next afternoon brunch.

This has me hopping mad. Almost as mad as I was when I found out Milli Vanilli was lip-syncing songs. “Girl you know it’s true.”

Nothing gets this old girl going like this issue. I’m telling you I don’t know why we just didn’t call ourselves “Rainbows” — the LGBT flag displays it all. To me, the flag is a spectrum of people who love acronyms, shrubberies and cupcake shops.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I love the community. I just hate the idea that we need a label like we are some kind of explorer on a safari discovering a new species of gay.

Keep it simple, end the label. Let’s be happy as the queers we are. Good lord, we need more time to plan the next fabulous function anyway.