SVSU has appoin

ted attorn

ey

John Decker t

o the n

ewly-cre

ated

position of a

ssociate vice pre

sident

and general c

ounsel.

The universi

ty has

had th

e

position

listed

for

quite so

me

time,

and M

r.

Decker

was

widely

viewed

thro

ughout th

e

halls

of th

ird-

floor

Wickes

as th

e natura

l

choice to fi

ll the

role.

Mr. D

ecker

comes to

SVSU

from th

e law fi

rm B

raun K

endrick,

where h

e was a

partn

er and h

ad

worked fo

r 34 y

ears, in

cludin

g 12

years as m

anaging partn

er.

“We

conducted a

national

searc

h and determin

ed that J

ohn’s

impre

ssive legal

experience and

long-term

commitment

to SVSU

made him

an id

eal candid

ate for

this

role,

” said

James G

. Muladore

,

SVSU executiv

e vice

presid

ent

for

administ

ratio

n and business

affairs

. “Given th

e ever incre

asing

complexity

of

university

operatio

ns, I

am confid

ent SVSU

will benefit

greatly

from John’s

skill

s and experie

nce.”

Mr.

Muladore

led th

e searc

h to

fill th

e position and consu

lted w

ith

SVSU presid

ent Donald Bachand

before

making a fin

al decisi

on,

SVSU spokesm

an J.J.

Boehm told

The Saginaw Valley Journal.

Mr.

Decker, whose

starti

ng salary

has not y

et been d

etermin

ed, will

report

to M

r. Muladore

.

Mr.

Decker has

repre

sented

SVSU on n

umerous l

egal matte

rs

over the years,

and in re

cent years

serv

ed as outsi

de general c

ounsel.

In additi

on to his

legal dutie

s,

SVSU names

Decker

as

associ

ate V.P.,

chief

lawyer

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inaw Va

lley J

ourn

al Lim

ited

Liabilit

y Co.

All rights

rese

rved. T

he S

agina

w Valle

y

Jour

nal a

nd re

lated

mar

ks an

d logos

are l

icens

ed

tradem

arks

of S

terlin

g, Hoff

man &

Co.,

L.L.C

.

Form

er SVSU pre

sident E

ric R

. Gilb

ertson (l

eft), fl

anke

d by Boar

d of Contro

l chair

man

Jeff

Mar

tin an

d SVSU

presid

ent Donald

Bac

hand, u

nveils

the new

‘Gilb

ertson H

all’ s

ign on the fo

rmer R

egional Educa

tion C

enter.

JUSTIN C

. KOKKIN

IS /

THE SAGINAW

VALLEY JOURNAL

771947588005

9

$3.5

0 U.S

.

09047

INDEX

CLASSIFIEDS . .

. . . .

. . . .

.

SPORTS . . . .

. . . .

. . . .

. . .

LETTERS . . . .

. . . .

. . . .

. .

75

2

LETTERS: Rea

ders re

act

to A.J.

Hoffman

’s Studen

t

Associa

tion op-ed

.

PAGE 2

See G

ILBERTSON on page 6

Police c

apture

two

susp

ects

in alleg

ed T-D

ubs

shootin

g last

month.

PAGE 3

Servi

ng th

e cam

pus c

ommun

ity at

Sagin

aw Va

lley S

tate U

nivers

ity si

nce 20

09$3.50

Vol. X N

o. 52

www.SaginawValleyJournal.com

ADD’L C

OPIES

THE SAGINAW VALLEY JOURNAL.

© 2014 T

he Saginaw

Valley Journ

al Co.

««««

UNIVERSIT

Y CENTER, M

ICH.

FIRST C

OPY FREE

MONDAY, O

CTOBER 20, 2014

By Mic

hael Westendorf

Student

Associa

tion ap

pointed

20 new re

prese

ntatives e

arlie

r this

month,

capping off

a mar

athon

meeting which

included a

week-

long re

cess.

The

asso

ciatio

n

rejecte

d 15 ap

plican

ts, fiv

e of whom

did not show up.

Appointed were

: M

elissa

Whitf

ord, Billi

e Deshone,

Rachel

Aguirre,

Kyle Hull,

Jaleah

Hawth

orne,

Charlie

Fere

ns,

Ryan Arn

tz, Alyssa W

right,

Zach

Mendoza,

Sabrin

a Clar

k, Rac

hel

Cahill,

Leslie Smith

, Ron Biswas

,

Jere

my Flood, C

hi Weng, S

hannon

Rusell,

D’Onna

Camero

n, Tay

lor

Fisher,

Drew M

ojica,

and Shan

e

Carter.

The as

socia

tion

decided

to

create

a ‘yes s

late’ a

nd a ‘no sl

ate,’

adding ap

plican

ts to

a par

ticular

slate durin

g discussi

on. Typically

,

applic

ants

are judged far

more

harsh

ly th

an

their

elected

counterp

arts,

and th

at tre

nd held

up during th

e meetin

g.

“I know

who I

don’t wan

t

better

than

who I

do w

ant,”

said

asso

ciatio

n legisl

ative

directo

r

Brandon E

rrer.

No applic

ant r

equested th

at th

e

asso

ciatio

n enter into

an ex

ecutiv

e

sessi

on—one close

d to th

e public

—

to d

iscuss

any o

f the a

pplicati

ons.

The asso

ciatio

n voted to ac

cept t

he

‘yes slat

e’ at t

he end of the m

eeting

to av

oid losin

g a quoru

m by voting

each

succ

essful

candidate

into

office

separ

ately.

The asso

ciatio

n was lim

ited to

acce

pting 21

applic

ants

due to

a ru

le which lim

its as

socia

tion

membership to

.5 percent

of the

number of t

otal SVSU st

udents.

“She is

one o

f the m

ost devoted

individuals I’v

e ever met,”

Mr. E

rrer

said of B

illie D

eShone, ad

ding that

she w

as “o

ne of the best

[legisl

ation

Student

Associa

tion

appoints 20

new stu

dents

By Mic

hael Westendorf

Gilbert

son’s L

egacy

Last

Monday

, a

cere

mony

followed by a r

eceptio

n held in th

e

parking lo

t in fr

ont the b

uilding

formerly

known a

s the R

egional

Educatio

n Center mar

ked the

renam

ing of the build

ing in honor

of former

SVSU presid

ent Eric

R. Gilberts

on. Last

August, th

e

SVSU Boar

d of C

ontrol v

oted to

renam

e the b

uilding in

honor o

f

Mr. G

ilberts

on, who re

tired fr

om

the p

resid

ency in

Febru

ary af

ter

holding the posit

ion for more

than

24 years.

The event was

attended by

severa

l key universi

ty faculty

members an

d ad

ministra

tors.

The presid

ents of M

ing Chuan

University of

Taiwan

and th

e

University

Of Suwon,

South

Korea:

Chuan

Lee an

d In

-

Soo Lee, re

specti

vely, were

in

attendan

ce.

Several

legislato

rs

either

attended or

sent

staff

By Justin C

. Kokkin

is

members to

the event.

Jeff

Mar

tin,

chair

man

of

the Boar

d of Control se

rved as

the mas

ter of

cere

monies. M

r.

Mar

tin sp

oke at le

ngth ab

out Mr.

Gilberts

on’s impac

t on SVSU.

“Now, E

ric, a

nd I’m ab

solutely

certa

in about t

his, w

ill vigoro

usly

object to

being listed in an

y

category

that

puts him

in hist

ory,”

he added,

promptin

g laughter

from th

e crowd. “

He’ll just

have

to deal

with th

at.”

“Durin

g his tim

e he focuse

d

on regionali

sm, th

e importa

nce

of mak

ing SVSU a

neutra

l plac

e

to b

e begin k

ey disc

ussions.

He

partn

ered

SVSU with

se

veral

countri

es, Fra

nce, G

uyana,

China,

Korea a

nd India

in ord

er to give

students

a global

perspecti

ve on

their

chose

n care

ers, h

e affecte

d

thousa

nds of s

tudents

during h

is

time,”

Jero

me Yantz, a

member o

f

the B

oard o

f Contro

l, sa

id about

Mr. G

ilberts

on’s legac

y of serv

ice.

When M

r. Gilb

ertson ar

rived

in 1989,

SVSU’s enro

llment s

tood

at 5,915

students;

it incr

eased

to 10

,245 at t

he time h

e retir

ed.

The number of s

tudents

living on

campus r

ose m

ore th

an fo

urfold,

from 616

resid

ents in 19

96 to

more th

an 2,700 in

rece

nt year

s.

“Under

his lead

ership SVSU

and

Ming

Chuan

University

achieved a

stable re

lationsh

ip

since

2002. We offe

r our h

eartfe

lt

congra

tulat

ions to

Dr.

and M

rs.

Eric G

ilberts

on for t

he dedicatio

n

of Gilberts

on Hall,”

Mr.

Chuan

Lee said.

SVSU alumnus

and cu

rrent

resid

ent dire

ctor

Elyse

Ledy

spoke ab

out the im

pact t

hat M

r.

Gilberts

on had on her.

“I feel e

xtremely p

rivile

ged to

be a par

t of t

his dedica

tion. H

e’s

been an insp

iring ro

le model

of lead

ership.

As a

student,

I

Building offi

cially

renamed

after 3

rd pres

ident

John

Dec

ker

See D

ECKER on page 6

See A

SSOCIATIO

N on page 6

T.K.E

. paintb

all event r

aises over $2K for St. J

ude’s

Throughout

the

day,

the

teams were

pitt

ed

against

each oth

er, with

objectives

changing,

such

as contro

lling

a certa

in

base,

the

oppositions

headquarters,

captu

ring th

e

flag a

nd findin

g a c

ardin

al,

which was r

eprese

nted by a

Over 80 people gath

ered

on Satu

rday,

Oct. 11

to p

lay

paintb

all in

th

e wooded

area near

Pine Gro

ve. The

unprecedented fu

nd raise

r

raise

d over $2,000 fo

r St.

Jude Child

ren’s

Researc

h

Hospita

l. 110

people had

signed up.

Particip

ants were

divid

ed

into

two teams,

Red and

Gray as t

hose w

ere th

e two

availa

ble t-s

hirt

colors.

For $15

one could re

nt a

paintb

all mark

er complete

with

500 ro

unds, ammo

containers,

face mask and

received a t-

shirt

. While

the

Red team h

eld th

e card

inal

at the e

nd, The G

rey te

am

won by a slight

margin

of

nearly 300 p

oints.

The fi

nal

score

was 4500-4

280. The

event was

the re

alizatio

n

of over

eight month

s of

planning by fra

ternity

Tau

Kappa Epsil

on.

By Justin C

. Kokkin

is

red st

uffed ‘A

ngry B

ird.’

Paintb

all equip

ment was

raffl

ed off, su

ch as pain

tball

ammo, ammo

containers,

and mark

ers.

After

lunch,

where

particip

ants could

purc

hase

two sli

ces of

pizza and a

soft

drink fo

r $5, t

he battl

e

continued with

objectives

such as

“kill

(take down)

50 on the opposin

g team,”

control tw

o of the fo

ur base

s

and ulti

mately, c

apture

the

cardin

al and hold

it until

time ra

n out.

Rick Harris,

a political

science m

ajor and a m

ember

of T.K

.E.,

spoke with

The

Saginaw Valley Journal.

“I got i

t fin

anced, planned

it. Bro

ught it

to lif

e. Jon

Brenner

helped

me 50

percent

of th

e way. M

y

favorit

e part

of the event i

s

havin

g it be so

successf

ul.

We had 80 people atte

nd,

and made over a

n estimated

$2,000 – $2,500, all o

f which

will g

o dire

ctly to

St.

Jude

Childre

n’s Hosp

ital,”

he said

.

Brennan F

errilla

, a sp

orts

marketin

g major,

also sp

oke

about the game.

“My ro

le is to

help

set u

p,

put up haysta

cks, call p

eople

and recru

it. T

he game w

as

intense

, I

got tw

o take-

downs,” he sa

id.

Mr F

errilla

’s fath

er, Bria

n,

also to

ok part in

the game.

“It w

as an a

wesome fi

rst

paintb

all event,

it work

ed

out great,

it was

very well

done and it’s

for

a great

cause,

St. Jude Child

ren’s

Hospita

l,” he sa

id.

The event attr

acted people

rangin

g fro

m fir

st tim

e

paint-b

allers

to vetera

ns of

the game.

“I had a lo

t of fu

n, I won an

ammo pack a

nd belt,

I was

pumped about th

at. I

feel

pretty

good about it,

they

had trouble balancin

g out

Tau K

appa E

psilon held a

paintb

all ev

ent near

Pine Gro

ve in

order t

o help raise

funds f

or St. J

ude

Childre

n’s Hosp

ital. T

he event h

elped to ra

ise ove

r $2,0

00, T.K

.E. offi

cials

say.

JUSTIN C

. KOKKIN

IS /

THE SAGINAW

VALLEY JOURNAL

See PAIN

TBALL on page 6

See D

AVENPORT on page 6

Trans p

rofesso

r launches c

ampaign

Charin D

aven

port is

set t

o

make

history

as M

ichigan

’s

first

openly

transg

ender

electe

d officia

l. She i

s alre

ady

well known in M

ichigan

’s

LGBTQ co

mmunities

for

her

civil

rights

advoca

cy.

Earlie

r this

year,

she w

as th

e

princip

al sp

okesper

son for

efforts

to ad

opt pro

posed non-

discrim

ination o

rdinan

ces i

n

Bay County an

d Saginaw

—

both of

which fai

led aft

er

harden

ed

and

vitriolic

opposition.

Undaunted

by

thes

e setb

acks,

she i

s see

king

electi

on as a

truste

e for t

he

Delta

College

community

colle

ge dist

rict.

Her

connec

tion

with

the

colle

ge is

alrea

dy well-

estab

lished

. She has

serv

ed

as an

adjunct

profes

sor

of

English fo

r Delt

a Colle

ge and

also SVSU. I

n both ca

ses,

she

is th

e firs

t open

ly tran

sgen

der

faculty

member.

The Delt

a

College

community

colle

ge

distric

t inclu

des

three

countie

s in

east-

centra

l

Mich

igan—Bay

, M

idland,

and Sag

inaw—with

a total

population of n

early

390,000.

“That’

s sig

nifica

nt,”

says

Daven

port.

“In

terms

of

population,

that

is more

Davenport

files

as writ

e-in ca

ndidate for

Delt

a College

board

than

half

of a

Congres

sional

distric

t,” sh

e ad

ds. “T

here is

a diver

sity of

communiti

es

within th

e dist

rict t

hat nee

d

an ad

vocate.

”

“I beli

eve

educa

tion

is

a human

rights

issue,

and

I am

passio

nate when

it

comes

to h

uman ri

ghts!” M

s.

Daven

port sa

ys. “I

have b

een

an ed

ucator f

or 12 ye

ars,

and

there

is n

ot a d

ay th

at goes

by when

I don’t f

eel lu

cky to

work for

my studen

ts,”

she

adds. “

As the f

irst tr

ansg

ender

Charin D

avenport

THE SAGINAW VALLEY JOURNAL.

SalarySupplement

R

2014-2015

Saginaw Valley State University

As a matter of principle, The Saginaw Valley Journal does not accept funding from students, the university, or Michigan tax-payers.

Michael Westendorfexecutive editor

A.J. Hoffmanmanaging editor

Justin C. Kokkinisdeputy managing editor

telephone: (989) 493-0151business: (810) 280-9183

e-mail: letters@saginawvalleyjournal.com

© 2014, The Saginaw Valley Journal Limited Liability Company. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited unless permitted by law. The Saginaw Valley Journal and related marks and logos are licensed trademarks of Sterling, Hoffman & Co., L.L.C. The Saginaw Valley Journal (issn 1947-5888) is published in print monthly at Saginaw Valley State University by The Saginaw Valley Journal Limited Liability Company. The print issue is a digest of the news found 24/7 on our website: saginawvalleyjournal.com. Company Headquarters: 414 Walter Ct., Midland, Mich. 48642. For advertising inquiries, please call (810) 280-9183. Letters to the Editor may be sent to: letters@saginawvalleyjournal.com.

/saginaw@SVSUnews

Daniel Chapmanchairman

Nicholas Byardchief executive officer

Justin C. KokkinisA.J. Hoffman

Michael WestendorfSterling, Hoffman & Co., L.L.C.

Company Headquarters414 Walter Ct.

Midland, Mich. 48642

The Saginaw Valley JournalLIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY

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2009 2014

@TheSVJCo /TheSVJCo

THE SAGINAW VALLEY JOURNAL.