Sandy Burkhardt had an interest in Sibs Weekend as soon as she arrived on campus her freshman year.

“I had an interest in the program because I had never experienced it before … I knew that it was such a huge event on campus,” said the St. Clair Shores senior, who is helping to plan the 46th annual event.

Sibs Weekend, which will be from Feb. 6 to Feb. 8, has a theme of “Out of this World.” Registration for the weekend begins today at stulife.cmich.edu or at the Office of Student Life. Committees will meet at 2 p.m. Friday in Powers Hall Room 136.

Burkhardt knew about the program because she had an older sister and cousins who came to CMU, but was never a participant in Sibs Weekend.

So she decided to get involved to see what it was about. She joined the general committee and then joined the registration committee her freshman year.

She helped with entering the correct information for each participant and helping out the day of registration.

After that first experience, Burkhardt decided to help out in following years. She worked her way up to becoming a registration chair, surpassing juniors and seniors who also applied for the position.

“It was a lot of work, but it was very rewarding,” Burkhardt said.

After her successful experience as registration chair, Burkhardt decided her junior year to aim high and apply to become a co-chair of Sibs Weekend. After multiple interviews she received the position.

“It was kind of overwhelming at first, but I think we did a good job … it tested me to see how far I could go and see how much I could handle,” Burkhardt said.

Last year, the Sibs Weekend chairwomen, Burkhardt and Sterling Heights senior Carolyn Seppey, received a letter from Dean of Students Bruce Roscoe congratulating them on a job well done.

“They (Burkhardt and Seppey) were brought back because of the great job that they did,” said Damon Brown, coordinator of student activities. “They have great leadership, good skills and communication abilities.”

The Core Committee consists of CMU students who are focused on certain areas to help bring Sibs Weekend to life. From entertainment to logistics to special events, these committees work to make the event a success.

“Sibs Weekend is one of CMU’s oldest traditions,” Brown said. “It connects siblings with students … and it’s fun for everyone.”

Sibs Weekend is something that Burkhardt loves to do, which is why she stays involved.

“I didn’t join Sibs or want to be the co-chair for the recognition or for the title. I did it because I enjoy working with people and planning events,” she said. “I think the weekend is a great time and a great thing to have on campus.”

Burkhardt is a graduating senior with a degree in Integrated Public Relations and Communications and minors in journalism and leadership.

Burkhardt also is finding time in her busy schedule to work part-time at Masonic Pathways, a senior living center in Alma.

However, Burkhardt is famous for one thing only.

“Everyone knows me as the Sibs person,” Burkhardt said. “It’s good to be associated with something that people have a positive image about.”

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The Organization for Black Unity sponsored “Mock Grammy Night” Saturday in Pearce Hall Room 127, where students were able to dress up like their favorite celebrity and perform a song or present a mock award.

Imitated celebrities ranged from Marvin Sapp to the band Dream. Presenters included mocks of Danity Kane, Bow Wow and everything in between.

“We have had a great turnout,” said Shaney Lawson, a senior from Detroit and vice president of the Organization for Black Unity.

Southfield junior John Sherrod kept the show rolling and the audience entertained with his comedy.

Proceeds benefited the Lupus Foundation of America and the ninth annual Fashion and Hair show, which the organization is hosting in February.

“We have had a great turnout. It’s our first year doing this, and we have had lots of good performers,” said Sabreen Sharrief, an Inkster junior and president of Organization for Black Unity.

Mock awards were given out in categories including “best female dancer who can’t sing,” “wackiest rapper” and “most annoying celebrity.” The winners included performers such as Ciara, Gucci Mane and Sean “P Diddy” Combs.

Throughout the night, DJ Ray kept the crowd entertained with his music.

But Grammy Night would not be complete without hit performances by today’s favorite singers.

The first mock performance was by “Ashanti.”

“My favorite performance was Marvin Sapp,” Lawson said.

Another performance was by the mock group “Danity Kane.” They also presented the award for “worst show that everybody watches.”

The night ended with a crowd-pleasing performance by “Young Gunz.”

“My favorite performance was by Dream. The falsetto was good,” said Keith Barlett, a Detroit resident.

“Mock Grammy Night” was not done after the awards. Like true Grammy fashion, there was an after party for those who attended the show and those who presented or sung.

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Bessheen Baker from the Naturopathic Institute of Therapies and Education believes that this mantra is true.

Baker came to speak at CMU five years ago and has returned for a third time to speak on naturopathy, said Pat Cwiek, the director of the Health Professions Residential College.

This event, sponsored by the Health Professions Residential College, was one that sparked many peoples interest, she said.

“We expected to see more people,” Cwiek said. “We did a better job in advertising, but I know there were conflicts with class times.”

In order to become a naturopathic doctor, students have to participate all four years and then pass a test to become a certified naturopathic doctor, said Angela Bollini, a Clarkston sophomore and second-year student at the Institute.

The Institute is one of only nine schools in the country.

“Sadly, it is not offered at many universities … I don’t really know any other place that can teach you about herbs and the natural way of getting the body healthier so it can heal itself,” Bollini said.

The Naturopathic Institute along with Herbs Etc., 503 E. Broadway St., offers many different classes and services such as detoxing, yoga, sound therapy and healthy cooking.

“The whole study of naturopathy shifts our focus from creating synthetic medications and giving them to people … for more natural healing,” Cwiek said.

Through assessments such as muscle testing and looking into a patient’s eyes, a naturopathy doctor is able to do a full body analysis without any invasive procedures.

In order to become healthy, people need to know what is toxic to their body and what they can do to improve it, Baker said.

There are many things in the world that have influence on the human body, she said.

Baker told audience members they should be careful and take care of their bodies.

“Make the best choices that are available … when all else fails, manifest with your heart and your mind,” Baker said.

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“Some weeks we get one or two, and we’ll go several weeks and not get any,” said Duane Kleinhardt, manager of Information Technology Communications. “It’s really hard to tell because sometimes we will find out about phishing attempts, and sometimes people may just be getting them and deleting them.”

Another phishing scam e-mail occurred on campus last week.

The scam was sent out as an e-mail format by a false credit union, said Eric Lorenz, director of infrastructure and security in Information Technology. The e-mail asked for the recipients to call a telephone number to verify their account. When the telephone number was called, an automated message played and personal information was requested.

The scam from last week is now under investigation by the FBI, Kleinhardt said.

The private information that is most commonly asked for is students’ global identification, password and social security number.

If anybody asks for personal information, it is most likely a phishing scam, Kleinhardt said.

There are a few ways to prevent becoming a victim of a phishing scam, Kleinhardt said. The first and most effective way to prevent scams is to not give out any private information and passwords, he said.

Lorenz said that another way to prevent a scam is by contacting the CMU Help Desk or abuse@cmich.edu.

For more information on phishing scams, the federal government offers a Web site, onguardonline.gov. This Web site explains what phishing is and how to take action to prevent scamming, Kleinhardt said.

“It’s a good way to educate yourself on how to recognize not only phishing scams, but other scams for your personal information,” Kleinhardt said.

The Help Desk, located in the Charles V. Park Library, can help students, faculty and staff identify possible scams and other computer concerns.

“As soon as we know there is a phishing scam, we disable the ability to reply to the e-mail address … that way students can’t reply from on campus,” Kleinhardt said.

The best way to defend against phishing scams is to do research on it, Kleinhardt said.

“Learn everything you can about phishing,” he said.

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Homecoming Village, the second event of Homecoming week, is designed to get campus excited for Homecoming.

Homecoming Village was and free event to celebrate the beginning of Homecoming week. From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., the Homecoming committee, partnered with On the Fly Productions and Program Board, gave out free hot dogs and drinks. People who were able to sing CMU’s fight song were rewarded with Homecoming T-shirts.

Dance Dance Revolution and 95.3 WCFX-FM provided music and entertainment to get everyone excited for the upcoming week of festivities.

“The Homecoming committee is working really hard to make Homecoming bigger and better than previous years. Everyone is really excited for it,” said Krista Casey, a Concord senior and a co-chair of the Homecoming committee.

Homecoming Village has been a tradition of Homecoming, but it seemed to have attracted more attention from the students and faculty this year, Jenny Zuzelsk said.

“We always get a big turnout,” said the Muskegon junior and public relations co-chair for On the Fly Productions.

Campus chalking and campus-wide advertisements helped this event attract more people, she said.

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