Today we see the once dubbed “great unifier” has predictably discarded that manufactured image. Obama has reverted to the manipulative and divisive politics of class warfare, blame-shifting and shameless distortions.

Sal Lewinsky would be proud. During the first half of his reign, Obama’s Democrat party owned a super majority in both houses of Congress. With the GOP on the sidelines, the keys to the kingdom were his. Subsequently the president now finds he cannot run on his rancid record of crony capitalism, deceptive Obamacare or squandered stimulus packages.

Keep in mind, it’s not Gingrich, Santorum or Romney responsible for $5 trillion in new debt these last three years, or the worst housing market in United States history, coupled with “unofficial” unemployment soaring to 17 percent (CBO estimates).

Neither is the rejection of the Canadian Keystone pipeline with its’ ensuing 20,000 new jobs.

It is Barack Obama.

His entire presidency centers around the distorted ideology that only continued governmental intrusion into the private sector coupled with a citizenry largely dependent upon entitlement programs can create “balance“ and thus a fair, utopian society.

In short, we too can stupidly become Greece and Spain.

Ironically, our wealthy president persistently rails against the alleged unfairness of a prosperous American Capitalist system. However GE (which paid zero taxes last year) was his biggest campaign contributor.

So much for “Republicans for the Rich.” Obama has brazenly proclaimed that “we all gotta have skin in the game.”

So exactly where is Mr. Obama’s sacrifice? Perhaps it lies within his frequent multimillion dollar, taxpayer funded vacations?

Maybe “sacrifice” equates to throwing 171 lavish White House parties (complete with $100 a pound steak) or going on 90 golf outings in 2011? Let them eat cake indeed!

Someone once wrote: “You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.”

Wise words lost on Obama.

Bob Golm,
Durand resident, CMU alumnus

Over time this erosion of city streets and freeways causes wear and tear on vehicles that ends up costing drivers a lot of money.

We joke about the orange barrels, but the truth is, we need to invest in fixing our roads, and we need to invest in putting Michigan’s construction workers back on the job. Fixing our crumbling infrastructure will make our state more attractive to new business, and it creates good-paying jobs right here at home.

We need to convince elected officials in Lansing to stop their partisan antics and make this a priority. Actually, some bills are under consideration now there that would more realistically fund road and other infrastructure construction and repair. This is way overdue. We need it ASAP.

James S. Moreno

Mount Pleasant

A place where every student should No. 16: Run from the police, a blatantly illegal act. Where people of all faiths or creeds can No. 95: Get a “Jesus Dog” @ His House on Bellows, while being pressured to follow their faith. Who wouldn’t want to No. 67/68: Make out with a boy/girl from every Fraternity/Sorority, considering the fact that STD rates at CMU are among the highest in the state? Even unpopular suggestions such as No. 69: Sit in a lecture class that you are NOT TAKING, demonstrate that this publication has no respect for the academic integrity of the institution. At least by pointing out the idiocy of some of the suggestions on this list, I can cross off No. 116.

Andrew Brown

Delta College sophomore

Roger L. Kesseler

I have been following with great interest the progress being made by Central Michigan University in establishing the College of Medicine. The idea of a school of medicine focusing on training primary care physicians was being discussed during the last months of my tenure as a member of the board of trustees. Having accomplished so much in such a short period of time under the leadership of Chairman Dr. Sam Kottamasu, Dean Ernest Yoder, Provost E. Gary Shapiro and University President George Ross, is truly remarkable.

I understand medical students will be enrolled the summer of 2013 and the new $20+ million facility is complete and will soon be available for occupancy.

My wife Phyllis and I were both born and raised in Grayling, Michigan and we are acutely aware of the shortage of doctors in the northern rural areas of Michigan. We currently maintain a seasonal residence in the Traverse City area and have a vested interest in seeing quality medical care maintained in the Upper and Northern Lower Peninsula.

Addressing the projected shortage of 800 physicians in mid- and northern-Michigan and a total shortage of 6,000 physicians in Michigan by 2020 will be an important responsibility of higher education in the state, and having CMU leading the effort makes me proud to be a CMU graduate.

I am excited about the benefits of having a medical school at CMU. It may transform the academic mission of the University for decades to come. The synergy and expanded research capabilities brought by the College of Medicine will impact all of CMU.

My wife and I will continue to support the College of Medicine with our time and treasure and truly believe esablishing the College of Medicine is a “win-win” for the students, faculty and administration.

We look forward to seeing continuing visionary progress at CMU.

Roger L. Kesseler, 

Class of 1958, former trustee

Nor, is it peculiar to see small schools qualify for the national tournament and gain national media exposure valuable to both the school’s overall notoriety and vital for players who aspire to play in the big city lights of the NBA.

The performance that was on display last Wednesday was simply unacceptable for a team that still has the potential to put Central Michigan University sports on the national stage, a stage we
miss, a stage where CMU can, and needs to be.

Thomas Myers

Grosse Ile junior

After five years attending CMU, the removal of ice and snow continues to remain an issue on campus. For some reason it seems as though the University has little to no concern about the safety of students while they are driving on campus as well as walking on campus.

For five years now I have slipped and fallen while walking on campus and slipped while driving on campus and have almost gone through intersections due to the failure to salt and plow roads and sidewalks properly.

The first week of the major snowfall this season I was parking at the EHS building and the parking lot was nearly 3 inches think of solid ice and I slid while parking my car.

When I went to meter my car I slipped and bashed my knee on the side of my car and I am still in pain today. I blame this injury on the failure to keep the campus safe by facilities management.

Tonight I was driving on campus and I slid around a corner because the roads were not salted. I feel as though the University puts snow and ice removal on the back burner when it comes to deciding what they need to accomplish in any given day.

I feel as though, like every other person, that the University knows that the snow is coming and they fail to take precautions to make sure that campus is safe to drive on and walk through.

From the lack of proper snow and ice removal I believe that CMU has no care as to whether or not students are safe while they are on campus. So I ask when will campus be safe in the winter?

A response from facilities management or the administration would be greatly appreciated.

Tanner Parmentier,

Commerce Township senior

I am writing as a student to express my grave concern over Central Michigan University’s future. I am also writing to revisit the CMU Academic Senate’s no confidence vote against University President George Ross and Provost Gary Shapiro. I also question whether CMED in its current form should be a part of that future.

The no confidence resolution against Ross and Shapiro was introduced before the CMU A-Senate and was passed on Dec. 6, 2011. Bear in mind that: (1) the resolution remains in force; and (2) the vote shows that CMU faculty and students have no faith in Ross and Shapiro. Allowing them to continue at CMU undermines shared governance and will further erode morale within the CMU community. The no confidence vote also serves as a referendum on the CMU Board of Trustees.

I addressed you at your Dec. 8, 2011 meeting, reminding you of your fiduciary and legal responsibility to CMU. I urged you to deal with this no confidence vote with the seriousness it deserves. To my dismay, the board did not discuss this issue. Instead, Chairwoman Sarah Opperman swept the matter aside, expressing hope that CMU would experience “healing” after the difficult events of 2011. Such a view is a fundamental misapprehension of the situation. “Healing” at CMU will begin only when President Ross and Provost Shapiro are removed because of incompetence with regard to CMED and their inveterate disregard for shared governance.

I would like now to illustrate how the board of trustees has failed in its fiduciary responsibility to the CMU community. This failure relates directly to the current CMED initiative. According to Dean Ernest Yoder’s own PowerPoint presentation before the A-Senate on Dec. 6, 2011, the CMED initiative entails many more fiscal uncertainties than certainties. According to Yoder, the overall cost of CMED’s East Campus at Saginaw is a complete unknown. That the projected cost of the CMED East Campus is a complete unknown is but one example of the financial uncertainty that surrounds CMED. As CMU trustees who have a fiduciary duty to oversee CMU’s financial affairs, how is this acceptable? In my view, this is not acceptable.

The CMED initiative should be terminated because funding it means diverting resources from proven departments and programs, many of which have attained national prominence. Continuing with this ill-conceived plan jeopardizes the ideal of excellence at CMU. Because of their continued support of CMED, Ross and  Shapiro should be removed. Do you really want the failure of CMU, and the failure that Ross and Shapiro are enabling, to be part of your legacy? I would hope not. Please recognize that now is the time for a course correction at CMU. Please do the right thing.

Yours in good faith,

Christopher J. Benison

Central Michigan University class of 2013

Central Michigan Life’s recent editorial touting the idea that parking permits issued should never exceed the number of available parking spaces on campus is simply wasteful for the reasons given by CMU’s parking services spokesperson. Busing services are the primary methodology used by universities across the country to make the best use of available parking resources.

Additionally, the question of where would a parking structure be built on campus arises. That depends on who you ask and will get you a half dozen or more responses. Cost estimates for building “up,” as opposed to surface parking lots, are close to eight times more expensive, with many recent estimates as high as $30,000 per parking space. Then there is the need for staffing and policing of an enclosed, tight area like a parking structure to prevent theft, and for personal safety issues, add another $150/month/parking space.

If students are complaining now about parking passes, what will be the complaint when more expensive permits for covered parking are not available to all who want them, or when they do arrive to find the ramp is full?

The permanent solution to CMU’s parking problem is already in place! Movement around campus, and from the peripheral parking lots as well as along Main and Washington streets as far as downtown Mount Pleasant is currently available every half hour from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m., Monday through Friday and can be used without charge from many of these locations.

Has there been no recognition, especially here in Michigan, of how we have come to the economy of our state through the singular approach to mobility, where we all feel the need to drive ourselves and the need for a parking space for every car on the road? What about the future for graduates of CMU? When they find employment, likely in any urban area, are they properly prepared with an attitude that they are going to drive their personal vehicle into the urban center and then complain that there is not a parking space for every person working in Manhattan, Chicago, Los Angeles, Denver, Dallas or Phoenix?

Parking ramps may have a place in the long-term future of CMU, but to offer them as an inexpensive and simple answer to parking issues at CMU is just wrong. Current shuttle services could be expanded to meet even greater needs on, and off campus, but to suggest that bus transportation is not an immediate answer, and that somehow spending huge sums of money to build a parking structure is, places CM Life editorial staff in exactly the position they accuse the administration of being in, wasteful!

Dennis M. Adams

ICTC Director of Marketing and Public Relations

dadams@ictcbus.com

For this reason, while we realize that Associate Professor of Journalism Timothy Boudreau had the right to bring controversial Rev. Terry Jones to campus to illustrate the importance of freedom of speech in our country, we are strongly opposed to hate messages that undermine the core values that we are trying so hard to create through the study of other languages and cultural perspectives.

On the third floor of Pearce Hall — the same floor where Terry Jones was interviewed — we have been offering Arabic classes for the last three years.

Additionally, our department, along with the departments of history, religion and political science are working on a minor in Middle East and Islamic Studies. Our classes and programs have as their goal not only the acquisition of languages, but also enlightenment about other cultures. They also intend to foster CMU’s core values of “integrity, respect, compassion, inclusiveness (and) social responsibility.”

The Central Michigan Life article entitled “Local Muslims Say Quran-Burner Terry Jones Is Wrong about Islam” (Nov. 14) raises an important question: How can you condemn Islam without having studied it?

While freedom of speech is one of the founding principles of our country, speech based on lack of facts or prejudice does nothing to foster global understanding or global peace. For these and other reasons, the Department of Foreign Languages, Literatures and Cultures would like to extend an open invitation to all members of the CMU and Mount Pleasant communities to learn about our global society. Take classes in our department or others, talk to your professors and peers about these issues, and join us in our campus-wide discussions that aim to understand and value cultures and traditions within and outside the U.S.

Department of Foreign Languages, Literatures and Cultures

According to www.mlive.com, Terry Jones was invited by Associate Professor of Journalism Tim Boudreau to speak about his First Amendment right to ridicule Muslims. For those of you who don’t know, Jones is the Florida pastor that’s gained world recognition for burning the Quran, the Muslim bible. According to the Washington Post, this burning “incited a riot in Afghanistan resulting in a raid on a United Nations compound that left seven employees dead and protests in Kandahar that left nine dead and 90 more wounded.” Jones admits that he had considered the possibility that burning the text might elicit a violent response and that innocent people might be killed, but he still renounces any responsibility for the deaths.

The Washington Post and the Daily Caller both cite that, “Terry Jones was informed, by the FBI, that the terrorist group ‘Hezbollah’ has placed a $2.4 million bounty on his head.” In effect, we have welcomed a terrorist target to our campus for the purpose of slandering an entire religion and spreading intolerance in a higher education establishment that publicly claims to encourage tolerance and diversity.

My assignment was to write about a social policy, but perhaps we should establish a policy before we try to analyze it. Perhaps the administration here at CMU will consider the safety of its students and faculty when doing so and encourage people who preach intolerance to practice their First Amendment rights somewhere else.

Christopher J. Hubbell
Midland junior