Central Michigan Life » Nu YangLIFE Staff Writer

Festival to highlight maple syrup, fun

Nu YangLIFE Staff Writer — Fri, 26 Apr 2002 00:00:00 +0000

The 44th Maple Syrup Festival will take place throughout the weekend in Shepherd.

The three-day festival includes activities for everyone. Each day will highlight a different activity.

On Friday, a garden tractor pull will start at noon in the Little Salt River Park. A variety night also will take place at 7 p.m. and an Emergency Vehicle Parade will take place at dusk.

On Saturday, a classic-car display will take place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. At 7 p.m., the CMU concert band will perform with the Flint Symphonic Band. A senior citizens dance also will take place from 7:15 to 10 p.m.

Sunday will showcase a bed race at noon, followed by a parade at 2:30 p.m.

Pancake, maple syrup and sausage meals will be served the entire weekend. Meals cost $5 for adults, children ages 5 through 12 are $3 and children under 5 are free.

Amusement park rides will operate on both Friday and Saturday. The cost is $14 to ride all day.

The Maple Syrup Festival started in 1958 as a one-day festival. Now it is a three-day festival where people from all over attend, said Kathy Shepard, publicity chair for the festival.

Shepard said she has received phone calls from people interested in attending from Detroit and as far away as Colorado.

“There has been a lot of publicity put into this,” she said.

The proceeds from the festival go to a fund to provide recreational activities for the children of Shepherd.

“It helps maintain things like the Salt River Park and the swimming pool,” Shepard said.

The programers plan the next festival as soon as current festival ends.

“We meet the following week after the festival is done to discuss what went right and what went wrong,” she said.

Student cruises though presentation

Nu YangLIFE Staff Writer — Fri, 19 Apr 2002 00:00:00 +0000

Instead of doing a PowerPoint presentation for his MKT 310: Marketing Communications class, David Moliterno used a Ford automobile.

The Mount Pleasant senior wanted to do something different for his class presentation on a Ford case study assignment.

Moliterno’s presentation will take place at 11:30 a.m. today between Smith and Grawn halls.

“I went and talked to Tom Krapohl (owner of Krapohl Ford Lincoln Mercury, 1415 E. Pickard St.), and told him about the assignment,” Moliterno said.

Krapohl allowed Moliterno to borrow a Ford truck for his presentation as a visual display on the product history of the trucks.

“I wanted to do something that was refreshing to see,” she said.

Moliterno described his presentation as a display that will paint a picture of an outdoor ad.

“There will be a tent and a Ford truck outside Grawn Hall,” he said. “Students will be curious.”

He said his presentation would show the good relations between the school and community.

“It shows the students there are endless resources available to them in the Mount Pleasant area, but they are not aware of them,” Moliterno said.

Moliterno expects about 30 people to attend.

“I’m doing this for the school,” he said. “I want to spark creativity in the student body on what they can do for class presentations.”

CMU hosts three-day diversity workshop at Tribe’s Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort

Nu YangLIFE Staff Writer — Wed, 10 Apr 2002 00:00:00 +0000

A statewide conference today through Friday, titled “Weaving Threads of Colors into Higher Education,” will encourage diversity in higher education.

“It’s dedicated to addressing academic success with minorities,” said Ulana Klymyshyn, Multicultural Education Center director.

The three-day event at the Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort, 6800 Soaring Eagle Blvd., provides diversity training through many sessions and workshops.

Klymyshyn said there are 23 sessions on topics including American-Indian issues, diversity in school curricula and statistics of minorities in college.

One of the main issues is the GEAR UP! Project.

“It’s a program that encourages middle and high school minority students to attend college,” Klymyshyn said.

The schedule also includes an opening session and keynote address by William B. Harvey, vice president and director of the Office of Minorities in Higher Education at the American Council on Education.

Harvey focuses his research on the cultural and social factors that affect unrepresented populations, with particular emphasis on college and university settings, according to Equity in the Classroom Conference XII Web site.

Harvey also has served on committees focusing on higher education, such as the governmental relations committee of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education and the governmental relations committee of the Association of Deans of Colleges of Education at Land Grant Universities.

Stanford University Psychology Professor Claude Steele will give the closing keynote address titled, “Stereotyped Vulnerability: The Effect of Stereotyping on Academic Success.”

Steele’s career in psychology has centered in the processes of how people cope with self-image threats and how group stereotypes can influence intellectual performance and academic identities, according to the Web site.

Steele’s address will discuss the effects of stereotyping and how much of an impact it can make on students.

Klymyshyn encourages students and faculty members to attend the conference.

“It’s a chance to meet people around the state, see how others are doing in diversity, and learn from the individual sessions,” she said.

Klymyshyn said 260 people made reservations to attend the conference.

For more information, go to the Equity in the Classroom Conference XII Web site at http://www.cel.cmich.edu/equity or call Klymyshyn at 774-7318.

Lupus tricky to diagnose

Nu YangLIFE Staff Writer — Wed, 03 Apr 2002 00:00:00 +0000

Mike Dzikowski

Maria Laynes said lupus is a difficult disease because not many people are aware of it.

Laynes, a licensed rheumatologist, spoke in the Bovee University Center Auditorium Tuesday night as part of Lupus Awareness Week, sponsored by the Organization for Black Unity.

Lupus is an auto-immune disease that causes inflammation in the joints and skin rashes.

An auto-immune disease cannot tell the difference between the cells in the body that are healthy and unhealthy when attacking illness.

“It’s like the body is fighting against itself,” she said.

Laynes said 90 percent of people diagnosed with lupus are women.

Minorities also comprise a large amount of lupus patients.

“Lupus is three times more common in African-Americans,” she said.

The cause of lupus is unknown, but symptoms may include skin rashes, dryness in the mouth and eyes, arthritis, photosensitivity and several disorders with the organs.

It mainly targets the joints, skin and internal organs, Laynes said.

There is no known cure for lupus, but medication can cause the disease to go into remission.

Laynes said the types of medication could range from Advil to something as strong as steroids.

“There are injections and creams that patients can use also,” she said.

One member of the audience reacted positively to the speech.

“I thought it was very informative and I’m glad she broke down the medical terms for us to understand,” said Ketwana Wilson-McCormick, Mount Pleasant junior.

Laynes said she wanted to educate students about lupus, so they can diagnose the symptoms before the disease runs its course.

“It is better to get an early diagnosis than to find out late,” she said.

A rheumatologist is an internist or pediatrician who is qualified by additional training and experience in the diagnosis and treatment of arthritis and other diseases of the joints, muscles and bones, according to www.rheumatology.org.

Theater marketing director to address classes

Nu YangLIFE Staff Writer — Wed, 27 Mar 2002 00:00:00 +0000

Students will have a chance to find out where their money goes when they go to the movies.

Ron VanTimmeren, Loek’s Theater marketing director, will speak Thursday in two sections of BIS 100: Introduction to Business. The first session will take place at 11 a.m. in the Industrial and Engineering Technology room 216 and the second at 3:30 p.m. in Moore Hall 105.

“He will discuss how business operates in the entertainment industry,” said J.D. Mackin, business information systems instructor.

Mackin said he expects VanTimmeren to give an entertaining speech in his classes.

“Rumor has it that Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman will show up,” Mackin joked.

VanTimmeren also will focus on the movie industry, the Academy Awards and various business topics, such as manufacturing and digital technology in entertainment, he said.

The sessions are open to the public and Mackin said he expects about 100 students to attend.

Ex-Corning CEO says company not at fault for silicone implants

Nu YangLIFE Staff Writer — Fri, 22 Mar 2002 00:00:00 +0000

Chris McCarty

Former Dow Corning Co. CEO Richard Hazleton kept about 100 students “abreast” of the silicone breast implant controversy Wednesday.

The event, part of the College of Business Administration’s “Executive in the Residence” program, took place in the Bovee University Center Auditorium.

In the 1960s, two scientists approached Dow Corning about the idea of breast implants, Hazleton said.

“Silicone offered hope,” he said. “It was a part of reconstructive surgery.”

Medical information surfaced that breast implants caused diseases, such as lupus, in the 1980s.

A wave of lawsuits hit Dow Corning in the 1990s, Hazleton said. In 1991, more than 100 lawsuits were filed. It increased to 3,500 a year later, and in 1995 the number was 19,000.

“We used $3.2 billion to settle the lawsuits,” Hazleton said.

The settlement caused Dow Corning to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

He said it was less expensive to settle than to fight and solve the issues.

Medical journals, along with the Food and Drug Administration, later reported there was not substantial evidence that breast implants caused diseases, Hazleton said.

“We needed an understanding from everyone,” he said.

The company dealt with moral and ethical issues at the time as it tried to resolve its financial complications, Hazleton said.

“The whole time we were trying to do the right thing.”

Dow Corning debated if it should withdraw from playing a role in the silicone implant product, he said.

Hazleton said the company had moral responsibilities to women who needed breast implants for reconstructive surgery.

The breast implant controversy had its pros and cons, he said.

“There were lessons learned,” Hazleton said.

It changed how Dow Corning tested new products, he said.

Corning also is now working on the maintenance of the company and its relationships.

“I thought the speech was very informative,” said Cassidy Hardy, Marlette sophomore.

Hazleton, who retired in March 2001, worked at Dow Corning for 36 years. In 1993, he was appointed to CEO and in 1994, he became chairman of the board.

He is a director of the Chemical Bank & Trust Company and a member of the Charles J. Strosacker Foundation board of trustees in Midland.

High school students get JRN scoop

Nu YangLIFE Staff Writer — Fri, 15 Mar 2002 00:00:00 +0000

Chris McCarty

Nearly 200 prospective students attended CMU’s High School Journalism Career Day Wednesday.

The second-annual event attracted high school students from all over Michigan.

Keynote speaker Rich Perlberg, Michigan Press Association president, spoke to students about the importance of journalism.

Perlberg, vice president and general manager of Hometown newspapers and publisher of the Livingston County Daily Press and Argus, said he was “born into the field of journalism.”

Perlberg said young journalists should receive more recognition and high school newspapers have shown significant improvement.

“Most of them allow the students to have complete editorial control and they are published more during the week,” Perlberg said.

He also addressed the importance of being accurate when writing a story.

“Journalists tell stories, but they have to tell them in an accurate way. Mistakes have consequences,” Perlberg said. “Accuracy is the No. 1 thing in a newspaper.”

Perlberg said journalists need knowledge, good writing skills and the desire to know and tell what happened.

“If you can tell a story, then journalism is for you,” he said.

Four workshops focusing on advertising, sports writing, photojournalism and news editorial were offered to the students.

Anna Demro, Mattawan High School junior, said she enjoyed the photojournalism workshop.

“I want to learn to take pictures that tell a story,” she said.

Lori Fulton, Mattawan High School teacher and yearbook adviser, said she wanted her students to learn new things from the workshops and apply them to the classroom.

“Our school doesn’t have a newspaper, so we use the yearbook as a way to communicate,” she said.

Fulton also said many of the students were interested in majoring in journalism and attending the event helped them learn first-hand what journalism was about.

The journalism department, along with the Michigan Press Association, sponsored the activity.

Seven students from JRN 556: Public Relations Seminar helped plan the event.

“We received the assignment on the first day of class and we’ve been planning ever since,” said Ashley Newman, Flint senior.

Newman volunteered her time during the event, assisting with registration and giving directions.

She said High School Journalism Career Day helps recruit students and it lets them know the benefits of journalism as a career.

“Many students are now interested in public relations, but they should still consider a career in journalism,” Newman said.

Native activist shares life, spirituality

Nu YangLIFE Staff Writer — Thu, 15 Nov 2001 00:00:00 +0000

Greg Burghardt

Adam Fortunate Eagle mixed humor with spirituality during his speech in the Bovee University Center Rotunda.

About 130 people listened to American Indian rights activist Fortunate Eagle, an Ojibway sculptor and religious traditionalist, speak Wednesday about his experiences.

“Native Americans still have a long way to go,” he said. “We will always be fighting for our civil rights.”

Fortunate Eagle was introduced to the audience by Joseph Sowmick, a Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe member. Sowmick said Fortunate Eagle is a survivor and has a warrior spirit.

“I am compelled to tell the truth,” Fortunate Eagle said. “An open heart and mind will lead to peace in the country and the world.”

Fortunate Eagle’s presentation focused on the fight for land on Alcatraz Island.

American Indians occupied the island in 1969 and declared it as sacred land. They occupied the island for 19 months, then settled with the U.S. government to vacate the island.

The incident was mainly activist/public relations stunt to bring attention to the American Indian cause.

“It was a quest for liberty and freedom,” he said.

Some students were surprised with the information he presented.

“I didn’t know about the Alcatraz incident,” said Traci Eister, Durand sophomore. “I found it pretty shocking the way Native Americans were being treated.”

Fortunate Eagle also discussed America’s “hidden war.” By 1969, 109 American Indian reservations were destroyed, relocating nearly 2,000 American Indians to the cities. By the 1980s, 89,000 reservations were gone.

He remained optimistic, and said he believes people can learn to live together.

“My faith will carry me through the tough times,” he said. “I believe the good hearts of people will come to a realization on how Native Americans are mistreated.”

He said he hoped the people in attendance would gain an understanding on American Indians and learn to be compassionate.

Members of the North American Indian Student Organization said they enjoyed his presentation.

“I wanted people to be moved from their seats as they held their bellies with laughter,” said NAISO President Jessica Kota, Kimball sophomore.

The event was sponsored by the Multicultural Education Center, Native American Programs, the Office for Institutional Diversity and the King/Chavez/Parks Visiting Professor Program.

“I wanted people to see all the sides of Native Americans,” said Lisa Tiger, Native Americans Programs director.

“He is engaging,” Tiger said of Fortunate Eagle. “He has a good spirit.”

Four workshops to highlight workplace violence

Nu YangLIFE Staff Writer — Wed, 07 Nov 2001 00:00:00 +0000

Students and faculty members can learn how to recognize workplace violence this week.

The Human Resources Department at CMU will sponsor four workshops Thursday and Friday.

The workshops will take place from 9 to 11 a.m. and 2 to 4 p.m. in the Bovee University Center Auditorium. Students and faculty members may choose which session to attend.

“The workshop is to show awareness of violence in the workplace,” said Shannon Rodriguez, professional and career development training assistant.

Presenters will give warning signs, emphasize the importance of reporting violence and give tips on minimizing conflicts in the work environment, Rodriguez said.

The two-part workshop will include a presentation by the Chicago-based theater group, SST, which will perform skits to show examples of violence.

SST has visited CMU’s campus before and Rodriguez said she is looking forward to seeing them perform again.

The second half is a panel discussion. Various department personnel will answer questions from the audience. They will also discuss the new policy CMU established regarding violence prevention.

“We are encouraging everyone to come to the workshop,” Rodriguez said. “We expect about 60 attendees at each session.”

Listening Ear lends an ear for therapy

Nu YangLIFE Staff Writer — Fri, 12 Oct 2001 00:00:00 +0000

Students have a confidential therapy resource in the Mount Pleasant community.

Listening Ear is a private, nonprofit agency focused on helping others. Mount
Pleasant Mayor Al Kaufmann is the director of Child and Family Services at Listening
Ear.

“We work with out-of-home placement of children, runaway services, child
sexual abuse services and a foster care program,” he said.

The facility also offers Residential Services, which provide in-home assistance
to individuals with disabilities; the Wararound program, which focuses on reducing
the out-of-home placement with children; Runaway Youth Services, which helps with
crisis intervention and counseling; the Foster Care Program, which helps children
emotionally and medically; and the Crisis Center, where anyone who needs to talk
to someone can call 24 hours a day. Walk-in services are available from 9 a.m.
to 4 p.m. weekdays.

“We use an empathy model, where we don’t give advice, but just listen,”
said Mahrah Jensen, Community Services director and Crisis Center coordinator.
“The calls are confidential.”

Listening Ear also refers individuals to professionals.

“We work with the Red Cross and the Salvation Army,” Jensen said.

Many CMU students volunteer at the Crisis Center as phone operators.

“We have about 10 to 20 volunteers,” Kaufmann said.

Phone operators go through extensive training before handling calls.

“There is one-on-one training,” Kaufmann said. “Plus, there is
about 40 hours of on-going training provided to the students.”

Listening Ear is an important service to the community, Kaufmann said.

“There is only one in the county and it helps improve the quality of life,”
he said.

Individuals can contact Listening Ear at 772-2918, or visit the office at 107
E. Illinois.