“I’ve been here about a year and a half now,” said Ross, who was accompanied by his wife. “I’ve always tried to come to the dining halls whenever I can, but with how busy I am this semester, I have to be more deliberate with my planning.”

The dinner was the second of four this semester where Ross talked one-on-one with students.

Ross shared his desire to boost the academic reputation of Central Michigan University.

“We (the staff) have to be more engaged,” he said. “I want to be known as a university that takes studies very seriously and always puts academics first.”

A major point of discussion was the four-year plans distributed to Honors students to plan their academic careers.

“It’d be really helpful to have one,” said Southfield junior Josh Finn. “I think it’s an awesome resource and should be available to all students.”

In addition to four-year plans, the presence of academic advisers on campus was discussed. Students recommended that more advisors be hired, especially during times close to registration.

“I believe if we hired a few additional people around registration time who are qualified in planning schedules, it would be a big help,” Ross said.

The president also emphasized the future of CMU depends on not only the staff, but current students and alumni as well.

“I use thoughts from students, alumni, faculty and staff when making decisions,” he said. “As we go through changes, I want to listen to everyone.”

Shelby freshman Emily White was happy with the relaxed environment.

“This was a great opportunity to see someone of authority represent the campus outside of press conferences,” White said.

As the dinner wound down, Ross encouraged students to speak up and voice their opinions about the university.

“I think it’s important that I capture the hopes and dreams of everyone involved with this university. In order to do that, it’s important that we’re all on the same page,” Ross said. “This includes students. I want to hear your voices.”

There will also be dinners at 6 p.m. Nov. 1 at Fresh Food Co. and 6 p.m. Nov. 8 at Robinson Residential Restaurant.

Their projects began with Carey and Merrill Halls, which were completed about a month ago. Central Michigan University will save $4,300 a year from Carey Hall and another $10,000 a year from Merrill Hall on manual operating costs, said Mike Walton, director of energy consumption.

“There’s a bigger payback because energy costs are so high all over the U.S.,” Walton said.

Next on the list for the technicians is Robinson Residential Restaurant, said Steve Lawrence, associate vice president of Facilities Management.

“By doing this, we bring back the initial design of the equipment being used,” Walton said. “We’re finding out there’s a lot of equipment that hasn’t been looked over since it was first installed.”

The two men, Brian Spangler and Phil McCrory, were hired July 1.

Spangler has worked with the university for over a decade now and was hired internally. McCrory came in with experience, having done retro-commissions for firms across the U.S.

They’re pretty much energy commandos, Walton said.

“It’s something I noticed would benefit the university,” Walton said. “I’ve done a lot of research over the years and have also been talking with other universities. It’s been a fairly good investment.”

The University of Michigan and Michigan State University are a few of the in-state universities that have been active in retro-commissioning, Walton said.

“Retro-commissioning has taken off in other universities over the years,” Walton said. “It is something that is not very new, but hasn’t been around for long either.”

In the future, Walton said he hopes to get some students involved as well to assist with retro-commissioning.

“Our lights are on a lot, except during quiet hours,” said Chesterfield sophomore Floyd Foster, who lives in Merrill. “I think it’s a good step toward saving energy.”

Tyler Belote helped with crowd control during CMU’s first official rave, Electrify CMU, and said students would love the atmosphere once they entered.

“It’s set up just like a rave,” the Oakland freshman said, “so it’s going to be fun for students.”

Port Huron sophomore Kierstin DeWitt helped organize the event and said all 350 wrist bands were given out, but that attendance exceeded that number.

“We had just under 500 people show up,” she said.

The inception of Electrify CMU came with Northville senior Jesse Ozimek’s experiences with electronic music in Metro Detroit. The Merrill Hall resident assistant said she wanted to bring what she loves about the genre to Central Michigan University.

“I’m an electronic freak so I decided to put this event into action. I’ve been to so many different electronic events in Detroit it makes it feel as if electronic music is unknown on campus,” she said. “This is my way of showing CMU students what the electronic scene is and what it has to offer.”

Lake Orion resident Brad Lawrence trekked from Detroit to Mount Pleasant so he could sell glowing t-shirts and show off colorful paintings.

“I’m here today to spread color to the show,” he said. “I know people who are here so I came out to bring visually stimulating paintings under black light.”

Several disc jockeys took turns spinning different kinds of electronic music during the night, each with a different feel.

Emily Waddill, a Swartz Creek sophomore, said she was excited to attend Electrify CMU.

“I’ve never been to a rave before so I didn’t know what to expect,” she said. “This was awesome and it shows that CMU has some pretty cool school events.”

Waddill was surprised to see how much went on during the night.

“The best part about this event is we’re selling glow sticks and water bottles, they are going to a charity called The Go Effect,” Belote said.

Members of the the charity are scheduled to head to Africa and build a hospital.

All of the money raised at Electrify CMU was donated to helping their efforts.

“I’m glad I could help bring this (event) to CMU,” Ozimek said. “Hopefully everyone learned about something they may not have otherwise known, like what a cool culture electronic really is.”

They call themselves the Merrill Men at Arms and the campus of Central Michigan University is their battlefield to clash across.

Grand Haven sophomore Nick DeWitt started the assembly of homemade swords, spears and arrows his freshman year.

Macomb freshman Katie Freeman flinches while being attacked with a foam weapon Friday during a Merrill Men at Arms battle outside of Merrill Hall. (Jeff Smith/Staff Photographer)

“I started doing stuff like this in high school and when I got here other people were interested in it too, and it just grew from there,” DeWitt said.

The group was created to provide anyone with an opportunity to battle to the death, only temporarily of course.

Kevin Meyer’s weapon of choice is the bow and arrow.

“I played with swords last year and didn’t do so great,” the Holland sophomore said. “I had these arrows at home that I made when I was in cub scouts, so I decided to switch to archery.”

Girls game

This year, Merrill Men at Arms integrated females when the hall went co-ed, said Chesaning junior Jesse Lorencz.

Macomb freshman Katie Freeman is their newest female member.

“I’ve been doing this for eight years,” Freeman said. “At home though, we really get into it. We dress up and go to renaissance festivals.”

Freeman says she classifies herself as a live action role player, or LARPer. Although Freeman is one of a few girls out on the battlefield, she has no problem keeping up with the guys.

“Yeah, Katie kills me all the time,” said Alto sophomore Kevin Wilder.

Their epic battles aren’t just free-for-alls; there are rules to the game, Lorencz said. If you lose two limbs, you’re dead, while a hit in the torso or back is a called a “one-hit death.” The person who makes the kill cannot make the call, he said.

“The person being hit decides if they were hit or not,” Lorencz said, “This works out pretty good because knowing this rule often stops arguments mid-game.”

Freeman said people don’t worry about the rules too much.

She said even after people die, they can play ghost by, “following people around poking them saying ‘ghost.’”

There are a few variations of the game, Freeman said.

Most often, they have two captains and pick teams, but sometimes they play a game called “general.” In general, the game starts out as a free-for-all, where the players collect team members by killing people.

“If you kill someone, then they’re on your team. If you have really skilled players, it can last forever,” Freeman said.

Roscommon junior David Bradley doesn’t worry about winning.

“I’m notorious for my kamikaze moves,” Bradley said. “Sometimes I just go in for a cool move even though I know I’m going to die.”

Bradley said he loves participating in battle for the stress relief and the workout.

“We’re just out here to have fun,” he said.

Shaun Holtgreive, associate director of Residence Life, said 49 cameras were installed in Merrill, Sweeney, Beddow and Thorpe halls. Upgrades were implemented to the cameras in Saxe, Herrig, Celani and Fabiano halls, as well as the Towers residence halls.

“It gives us the ability to monitor doors and respond to unauthorized doors being propped open,” Holtgreive said.

The cameras on the exterior of the residence halls are next to entrances and side doors, as well as in the main areas of the floors. Holtgreive said the cameras on top of buildings did not provide the quality of picture he was looking for.

He said the parking lots and building perimeters of campus will be left up to Central Michigan University Police, not Residence Life.

“We have got the areas of concern for us (covered),” Holtgreive said.

Cost: $150,000

The cost for the cameras’ wiring and software for Merrill, Sweeney, Beddow and Thorpe halls was $150,000, Holtgreive said. The upgrades to the Towers area, along with Fabiano, Saxe, Herrig, and Celani halls did not cost Residence Life because it was equipment they already had, said Coordinator of Residential Security Ben Witt.

CMU Police Chief Bill Yeagley said there are more than 300 cameras on campus. He anticipates more cameras will be installed in parking lots and on buildings throughout the campus as remodels and money permits.

He said CMU Police has regular meetings on safety and security for the campus.

“Lighting, the design of the building and cameras are all discussed,” Yeagley said. “Whenever there is a renovation done to a building on campus, we give our input on where cameras should be installed.”

CMU Community Police Officer Mike Sienkiewicz said the cameras are used for mostly after-the-fact situations. It is a tool of review if needed. However, there is some live monitoring, he said.

“I have it set up in my office so, if I need to, I can watch the main areas where people move the most,” Sienkiewicz said.

Those include the main entrances of the halls and the stairwells, he said, which, in the past, have had incidences of vandalism and crime.

Witt said the cameras enhance safety and improve on current systems that work in residential security.

“They are an invaluable resource,” Witt said. “We also have a change in philosophy by adding security to the perimeter instead of only concentrating on the interior.”

North Campus residence halls are older buildings, and camera installation is yet to be determined, Holtgreive said.

“We are still evaluating to upgrade or replace those facilities,” he said. “Once that decision is made, we will then know where we stand on camera installation.”