Feb05-Contest1_centr..

The ups and downs
of rebuilding a program
Rowley: Being informed
about government is smart
Students voice concerns
about overnight parking
STORY, 3A
STORY, 7A
SPORTS, 1B
86 Years of Serving the CMU Community
Friday, February 11, 2005
Mount Pleasant, MI, 48859
CMU’s immediate cut $1.4M
Gov. Granholm puts Charter schools,
minority scholarships on chopping block
By CHAD LIVENGOOD
Life News Editor
Gov. Jennifer Granholm broke a
promise Thursday to not cut higher
education this year if CMU agreed to
restrain its annual tuition increase to
2.8 percent.
The Democratic governor proposed
a $2.1 million reduction in state fund-
ing to CMU and its related programs
Thursday.
Granholm’s executive order cut calls
for a $1.4 million immediate reduction
from CMU in this year’s budget. By
law, Granholm must make an executive order cut to resolve the current
$382 million shortfall in the state budget. The executive order cut includes a
total of $30 million to Michigan’s universities.
CMU could get $4.89 million back
from the state next year if it agrees to
hold tuition increases at 5 percent or
$307, whichever is greater.
But since Granholm is switching her
position on this year’s tuition agreement, a lobbyist for all 15 public institutions says it’s unlikely universities
will take the bait again.
See HIGHER ED page 2A
Accident
sends 3
to hospital
Cuts proposed
u This year: $1.4 million
u Next year: $500,000 from
National Charter Schools Institute,
$210,000 from King/Chavez/Park
graduate scholarship
u Total: $2.1 Million
Lynch gives
one ‘lick’ of a
performance
By CRYSTAL GARCIA
Central Michigan Life
Three people were sent to Central
Hospital
Michigan
Community
Thursday evening after a minivan collided with a car at the corner of Pickard
Avenue and Brown Street near Ruby
Tuesday, 1015 E. Pickard St.
Sgt. Shawn Paull of the Mount
Pleasant Police Department said the car
was driving east on Pickard when the
minivan heading west ran a red light and
crashed into the side of the car.
Police were dispatched at 8:29 p.m.
and when Paull arrived the minivan was
in the intersection.
“It was serious enough to send three
people to the hospital.” he said.
Paull said the injured people were
conscious when he arrived at the scene.
Police did not know the names of the
victims at press time.
The driver and passenger of the minivan, as well as the driver of the car, were
rushed to the hospital.
Paull said those injured were transported to CMCH. An employee at CMCH
hung up the phone refusing to confirm
the information with Central Michigan
Life.
No citations have been issued as
police are still investigating the accident,
Paull said.
Guitar-wheeling comedian
plays favorites, new songs
By ROBBIE SGRO
Central Michigan Life
Comedian Stephen Lynch left no stone unturned
while entertaining a packed crowd Wednesday
night at Finch Fieldhouse.
Lynch’s songs ranged from a problem with an
anatomical deficiency, his ugly baby, foreign New
York City taxi cab drivers, Jesus’ little-known brother Craig Christ to an unpleasant sexual experience
with a Catholic priest.
”He was hilarious,” Lowell freshman Andrew
Benedict said. “I liked him on Comedy Central so I
wanted to see him live.”
Onsted freshman Shannon Schultz also cited
Lynch’s appearance on Comedy Central as the reason she came.
“He was awesome, I really liked his new songs,”
she said.
Armed with his acoustic guitar, Lynch wasted little time in getting the crowd in stitches.
While singing about fictitious superheroes, the
Saginaw-raised native told the crowd to say no to
drugs and, much to his delight, received some
boos.
“It was great because he did the superhero song
for about 20 minutes,” Clare freshman Jared Seibt
said.
Josh Sneed, who has opened for the Blue Collar
Comedy Tour, started the night off with some
stand-up, including a joke that hit home for Seibt.
“The Clare joke he made was great,” he said.
Lynch returned to CMU by popular demand after
his show last year, said Cristina D’Aristotile, On The
Fly Productions co-chair and Sterling Heights
sophomore.
“He was really popular last year ... everyone on
campus loved him,” she said. “Last year the event
was free and we didn’t have enough seating available, so this year we charged people, moved to a
bigger venue and doubled the amount of people.”
Falmouth sophomore Bryan Carr said it was the
second time he had seen Lynch live.
“He was funnier the first time,” he said. “He was
still funny, but this time he tried to work in a lot of
new stuff.”
ABOVE: Comedian
Stephen Lynch licks
the microphone during his show in Finch
Fieldhouse
Wednesday.
RIGHT: The Finch
Fieldhouse audience
applauds Stephen
Lynch during his comedy performance
Wednesday.
JEFFREY IRWIN • LIFE SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
Three people were rushed to Central
Michigan Community Hospital Thursday night
after a minivan collided with a car at Pickard
Avenue and Brown Street.
PHOTOS BY VICTOR
FITZSIMONS • LIFE
SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
O’Kelly’s named 10th best sports bar by SIOC
By ALEX PIAZZA
Top 10 Bars
Central Michigan Life
Norm Smith, co-owner of O’Kelly’s Sports
Bar & Grill, is excited that his establishment
was named one of the top 10 college town
sports bars in the country.
The campus watering hole was ranked
No. 10 by Sports Illustrated on Campus.
“I was obviously very excited when I
heard the news,” said Smith, who also is coowner of The Wayside Central. “We were
originally a nightclub business, but we all
put our heads together and jumped into
the sports bar business.”
SI on Campus made a list of the top 10
sports bars in college towns from the 86
schools with SIOC.
O’Kelly’s, located at 2000 S. Mission St.,
has seen an increase in popularity since it
INSIDE
1. The Houndstooth, Tuscaloosa, AL
2. Harpo’s, Columbia, MO
3. Eskimo Joe’s, Stillwater, OK
4. State Street Brats, Madison, WI
5. Bear’s Lair Pub, Berkeley, CA
6. McDuffy’s Sports Bar, Tempe, AZ
7. Esso Club, Clemson, SC
8. The Swamp, Gainesville, FL
9. Scorekeepers, Ann Arbor
10. O’Kelly’s, Mount Pleasant
opened just three years ago.
The sports bar features 48 televisions, six
of which are big-screens. Each table has a
personal sound system that allows customers to listen to the game they are watching. A VIP section is located above the
Classifieds.......5B
Sports.........1B
Inside Life......3A
Voices.........6A
Volume 86, Number 56
©2005 Central Michigan Life
restaurant to reflect
a different atmosphere.
“We actually had
Uncle Kracker here
last week playing
up in the VIP
room,” Smith said.
O’Kelly’s
was
voted the No. 1 bar
in Mount Pleasant
Inside
by Central Michigan
Life readers last year.
“It is just a lot more fun here,” said Mark
Gladwin, a frequent customer of O’Kelly’s.
“There are a lot of 18- to 25-year-olds that
come here, so the atmosphere is good
when you are around people your own age.
Most of the time, we just grab some food
here, then head next door to the Wayside.”
LINSEY WUEPPER • LIFE SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
South Lyon senior Randy Lundquist and Flint senior Troy
Adamson finish up their beers after eating a meal while they
watch the Detroit Pistons game at O'Kelly's Sports Bar & Grill,
2000 S. Mission St., Thursday.
Check out www.cm-life.com
for more stories
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