TechAlum News, February 6, 2006

February 6 , 2006 (Vol. 12, No. 35)

A weekly electronic newsletter for alumni and friends of Michigan Technological University

Edited by Dennis Walikainen (MS ’92), Director, Web Development, University Marketing and Communications
dkwalika@mtu.edu

For past issues, see our archives.

In this issue:

Carnival Week
At Tech
Tech Sports
Around Town
From the E-mailbag
E-mail Updates/Welcome to new subscribers
Alumni Chapter Events
Job Opportunities

Carnival Week

It's our favorite event of the school year. The students love it most of all because they get two days off of classes (according to my freshman son). The community is excited because it's a riot of activity, and there are extra special events this year to get everyone involved.

You probably remember the Alan Parsons Project from the 1970s and 1980s. Parsons was a recording engineer with the Beatles and Pink Floyd before starting his own band. Songs like "Games People Play" and "Eye in the Sky" were part of the soundtrack of those times. The Alan Parson Live Project is performing here Friday and Saturday nights with the Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra. Of interest is the fact that Parson's lead singer is P. J. Olsson, whose dad, Milt, chair of the Department of Fine Arts, will be conducting the orchestra. (Milt's other son, Stef, runs our alumni relations office.)

Also new this year, we will be attempting to break three Guinness World Records: largest snowball, largest snowball fight (even bigger than those alleged 1980s fights up here), and most snow angels. It all takes place at Sherman Field and should be a blast.

We'll have the usual fare, including hosting those Gophers in hockey, and downtown businesses are even sprucing up their window displays. We saw some over the weekend, and they are very nice.

So, you'll be glad to know we are carrying on the best Tech tradition, and, in the immortal words of Pink Floyd, "wish you were here."

Snowfall Update
(Website http://www.admin.mtu.edu/alumni/snowfall/)
As of February 4, 2006

Snowfall to Date, On the Ground

This Week: 147" 24.5"

Last Week: 137.5" 20"

Last Year: 103" 28 "

ALUMNI BULLETIN BOARD: Remember the alumni bulletin board for you to use for discussions related to this newsletter, Tech sports, or anything else: <http://www.admin.mtu.edu/pps-cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl>

At Tech

CARNIVAL OVERTAKES CAMPUS, COMMUNITY: "Cartoon Art for the Young at Heart" is the theme for this year's Winter Carnival which was officially kicked off Saturday night with the crowning of Marta Loman as queen. Thousands of visitors are expected to flock to the Keweenaw to tour the statues, catch the hockey and basketball games, and take in many of the special events that make up Tech's one-of-a-kind celebration of winter. For all the Carnival information, including broomball and statue webcams, visit http://www.carnival.mtu.edu or simply click the logo on the top of the Tech homepage.

ALUM TO APPEAR ON ABC'S "RODNEY" TUESDAY: Curtis Fortier, a '91 and '94 ME graduate, will appear on the ABC TV show "Rodney" Tuesday night, February 7, at 8:30 p.m. EST. Fortier, who was featured in a recent article in the Grand Rapids Press, has become a stand-up comedian and actor. After gaining his master's from Tech Fortier worked briefly for GM, before moving to Los Angeles to focus on his comedy and acting. According to the Press article, he has starred in a Nokia commercial and various short independent films. He has opened for Weird Al Yankovic and has also toured Iraq as part of the Comedy on Duty World Tour.

REORGANIZATION ANNOUNCED: Michigan Tech has taken several actions to spur fundraising growth and generate increased public awareness. A collaboration among the Michigan Tech Fund (MTF), the Board of Control, and the administration clarifies the roles of those groups as Tech prepares for an ambitious fundraising campaign. Responsibility for fundraising moves from the MTF to the University. The Board of Trustees of the MTF will provide volunteer support to fundraising and retain its role in managing charitable gift assets, including the endowment. As announced several weeks ago, fundraising is now linked with Alumni Relations and University Marketing and Communications under the leadership of Shea McGrew, vice president for advancement. McGrew will also serve as president of the Michigan Tech Fund. "These changes will enable us to integrate our marketing and constituent relations efforts," said President Glenn D. Mroz. "Greater recognition of Tech's quality programs and research will benefit us in student recruitment, national rankings and fundraising. The upcoming campaign is critical to achieving our strategic plan goals." Bonnie Gorman has been named executive director of marketing and communications. Previously serving as associate vice president for student life, Gorman joined Michigan Tech in 1996. In her new capacity, Gorman will direct and manage Tech's communications functions as well as its efforts to market effectively to strategically important constituencies "Bonnie brings exceptional talent and broad experience to the table," remarked President Mroz. "In today's marketplace, we need high-impact marketing aimed at our key audiences. Bonnie is the right person to lead us in making that happen." Corporate Services has been divided into two administrative areas, Corporate Relations and Technology and Economic Development. Corporate Relations, with a focus on seeking private gift support from corporations, will be joined with other fundraising functions under the new Advancement division. Foundation Relations will also be part of Advancement. Technology and Economic Development, under the leadership of Jim Baker, will report to Vice President for Research David Reed. Both groups will remain in the ATDC and will work together to manage relationships between Michigan Tech and the corporate sector.

Tech Sports

CARNIVAL WEEK IS HERE! The best collegiate winter festival in the nation is Michigan Tech's Winter Carnival, and it commences this week on the Tech campus. Six home athletic events--two each in hockey, women's basketball, and men's basketball--fill the week's schedule. Highlighting the weekend is Tech's hockey series against nationally ranked Minnesota. The team with the most combined goals in the two games will be awarded the John MacInnes Memorial Cup as Winter Carnival champion. The Huskies seek their second straight Winter Carnival title after defeating Minnesota State Mankato a year ago.

ICERS SPLIT SERIES AT MANKATO: The Michigan Tech hockey team earned a split in last weekend's (Feb. 3-4) series at Minnesota State Mankato. The Huskies triumphed, 3-2, in Saturday night's game to split the series after MSU had won, 4-0, Friday night. Goaltender Michael-Lee Teslak had another strong weekend in net for Tech, stopping 78 shots (40 on Friday and another 38 Saturday) for a saves percentage of 92.9.

LADIES SWEEP GLIAC SOUTH DIVISION: The Michigan Tech women's basketball team completed a season sweep of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference South Division with wins at Gannon last Thursday (Feb. 2) and at Mercyhurst last Saturday (Feb. 4). The Huskies improved to 15-5 overall and 11-2 in the league with the two victories. Tech is now 29-5 in its last 34 conference games.

RICHARDSON POURS IN 33 POINTS: Junior Radayl Richardson shattered his career high with 33 points at Gannon last Thursday (Feb. 2) at Gannon. The 6-3 guard scored the Huskies' first 10 and last nine points in the game. He made 12-of-16 field goals including seven-of-nine three-pointers to best his old career mark of 25 points. Richardson averages 14.2 points per game.

For up-to-date standings, go to the following links:

Hockey: http://www.collegehockeystats.net/standings/wcham

Women's Basketball: http://gliac.org/womens/basketball/default.asp

Men's Basketball: http://gliac.org/mens/basketball/default.asp

Around Town

CHANGES PLANNED FOR HOUGHTON: More downtown activities. Two-way traffic on Shelden Avenue. And brighten up those parking decks. Ideas flew fast and furious at a public forum on improving downtown Houghton's streetscape Wednesday night. The meeting, put on by U.P. Engineers & Architects and the City of Houghton, was part of a process to develop a revamped plan for the city's streetscape. Much of the downtown's future look will be determined by the fate of U.S. Highway 41, said UPEA president Pat Coleman. The Michigan Department of Transportation has discussed giving Shelden Avenue back to the city and turning Montezuma Avenue into a two-way highway. "This is really a major change ... I think it would have implications at the bridge and all over the place," he said. That change could create a more pleasant downtown experience, but might also lead motorists to bypass it entirely, Coleman said. If U.S. Highway 41 shifts over entirely to Montezuma, it could be possible for Shelden to become a two-way, Coleman said. That, he said, would create opportunities for more sidewalk seating, as well as angled parking. In that case, Coleman said, the Yooper Loop could potentially be replaced with a roundabout, which are becoming more common.

BOND FALLS LAND CONTROVERSY: Quiet contention over the sale of land at Bond Falls continued Thursday evening in the Ewen-Trout Creek School Gymnasium, where local residents gathered for a public hearing by companies involved in the controversial transactions. Attendees voiced questions and concerns to representatives from the Upper Peninsula Power Co. and Naterra Land Inc. The Upper Peninsula Power Co. sold about 900 acres adjacent to their perimeter project lands around Bond Lake to the private Minnesota-based developers in December. The transaction left local residents and lake visitors concerned that lands to be developed would consequently be left out of regulation by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, potentially impacting public access, scenery and habitat at the flowages.

SNOWMOBILE THEFT IN HANCOCK: It's a 1998 Polaris 600 XC snowmobile, and whoever is riding it is the wrong person. The first stolen snowmobile of the season has been reported to the Hancock Police Department. An Illinois man parked his white Polaris with purple and blue decals in the Ramada Inn parking lot Friday night and woke Saturday morning to find it gone, according to Lt. Randy Mayra of the Hancock P.D."It was driven away from the parking lot," said Mayra, adding that the man was visiting Hancock from North Brook, Ill. "So much for his vacation." Although older models are relatively easy to steal because they can be started by the ignition without a key or by using the pull-start, the Michigan Snowmobile Association said that only about 20-30 are reported stolen to the state police each year.

From the E-mailbag

Dennis,
How about "Snow Scoops Revisited"? I was skiing last week in Utah (Alta)and as I got off the lift, I noticed the lift operator pushing a VERY familiar-looking snow scoop around. I skied over and asked if I could make a close inspection of the unit. Sure enough: Kaufman Sheet Metal Works, Ironwood, Michigan! I recognized that nice white epoxy paint finish from quite a ways off. They had two Kaufman scoops, one with a kick bar and one without. The one without was pretty well dented, so there's a testimony to the value of that $5 extra. It's impressive to me that a place that gets 500-700 inches of snow per year goes all the way to Ironwood to get their snow scoops!

Kerry Irons '72

***

Dennis,
I believe our President handled the response to our friends and admirers at the Free Press very professionally...We certainly do have some areas to improve, but that said, the ultimate audit is how many of our graduates are getting job offers. When that number turns South, I'd be very concerned.... An article like that begs a response, but I would limit it to just one, and no more, regardless of what they say next. A very wise VP of Corporate Communications gave me some advise many years ago, when I wanted to respond to a very unfair and factually inaccurate article about our Company in the local paper...He said, "Never get in an essay contest with someone who buys their ink in 55 gallon drums!" Well done President Mroz!

Pat Parker '75

***

Dennis:
Although it may seem like a lot of money, the curves on M-26 have seen many problems over the years and its time for them to be made safer. Nov. 1979, @ 10 am, just a few days before Thanksgiving, a driver paying attention to her child and not driving, mis-judges the middle curve and plows into a Tech student car heading south. Tech car totaled and two students slightly hurt, 26 years later, the injuries still linger. Cost to repair...26 years to late. I know the money could be used for lots of good things, but I also know what the cost was for those in the car, because I was in the passengers seat. It's time.

Jeff P. 1993

TechAlum Subscriber Stats

We currently have 7,282 subscribers. Changes to your TechAlum newsletter subscription should be made via commands to majordomo(at)mtu.edu. Questions? Contact Dennis Walikainen (dkwalika(at)mtu.edu).

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1960 Robert H. Wieber bookie(at)up.net

1967 John E. Beard beardj(at)ihcinc.net

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1974 Douglas E. Wozniak douglas.wozniak(at)arkemagroup.com

1976 Roy V. Norell rdnorell(at)comcast.net

1979 Scott L. Davis sdavis2(at)bcbsm.com

1979 Barbara A. Bonefeld bbonefeld(at)aol.com

1985 Rizvon Shakir atlanticra(at)yahoo.com

1987 David C. Harvey dharvey(at)fveng.com

1991 Martin J. Beem martinbeem1(at)yahoo.com

1991 D. Brad Reinke david.reinke(at)us.army.mil

1991 James P. Titulaer james.titulaer(at)navy.mil

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1995 Jennifer R. Seog (Spurgess) jennseog(at)verizon.net

1996 Daniel E. Knoll dan.knoll(at)tema.toyota.com

1996 Michele M. Vaughn (Wood) michele_vaughn(at)hotmail.com

1996 Robert E. McNight robert.mcknight(at)durrusa.com

1998 Laura L. Higgens (Wiltgen) chris(at)higgynet.net

1999 William H. Morris wmorris(at)macae.oilfield.slb.com

2001 Stephanie A. Young styoung_2001(at)yahoo.com

2002 Nathan S. Shirey nathan.shirey(at)littlerock.af.mil

2002 Melissa A. Nelson melmis36(at)hotmail.com

2003 Jason A. Copenhaver jacopenh(at)mtu.edu

You can update your information at: http://www.mtf.mtu.edu/update

Alumni Association Programs

CHAPTER EVENTS: For more information on alumni chapter events,
e-mail mtu_alumni at mtu.edu or see the alumni chapter site on the web.

February 8-12 Winter Carnival: Michigan Tech vs. Minnesota Hockey

February 11 Ann Arbor: Tasting Event: Arbor Brewing Co., Washington St., Call Cynthia at 734-426-4940

February 12 Atlanta: National College Fair

February 15 Cincinnati: Presidential Reception

February 16 Atlanta: Presidential Reception

February 16 Grand Rapids: Men's/Women's B-Ball vs. GVSU

February 23-24 Pittsburgh: National College Fair

February 27 Tampa: Presidential Reception

February 28 Orlando: Presidential Reception

http://www.admin.mtu.edu/alumni/new/events.htm

Job Opportunities This Week

ON CAMPUS: Complete job descriptions are available by e-mailing jobs at mtu.edu

No job postings this week.

OFF CAMPUS: For off-campus positions, visit the alumni section of the career center's web site ( http://www.career.mtu.edu/alumni.php)