Coach John MacInnes at the Dee Stadium

An email from Jerry MacInnes (in the Email Bag below) got me thinking about legendary hockey coach John MacInnes.

Some people you just never forget, even if you didn't really know them very well. My closest contact with John MacInnes came in Sault Ste. Marie many years ago. I was just beginning my newspaper career and covered the Lake Superior State-Tech series. The Lakers were coached by Rick Yeo '62 who would become athletic director here at Tech. On the second night in a very physical series, John pulled the Huskies off the ice for a "timeout" because he perceived the action taking place to be dangerous to his players' health.

Being the cub reporter I was, I dashed down to the opponent's locker room and assistant coach Jim Nahrgang came out to greet me. He told me the Huskies were returning to the ice and Coach MacInnes would talk to me after the game.

When I returned to the locker room door after the game, I had one of those brief conversations that you never forget.

"Coach, I'm from the Sault Evening News."

"You are? Write this down!"

He proceeded to explain, in sometimes colorful language, that he would not bring the Huskies back to the Sault without WCHA refs and that the game was a travesty.

I wrote very fast.

"Thanks, Coach."

"You're welcome!

Of course I learned more about Coach MacInnes after returning to the Keweenaw and hearing the stories—the incredible graduation rate of his players because they didn't want to let him down, starting the GLI to expose the metro Detroit area to college hockey, insisting that the word "student" remain in the name of the ice arena after it was named for him, since the students paid for it to be built. I remember former Huskies goalie Jim Warden talking about how being asked to be an assistant coach with Coach MacInnes was one of the highlights of his life. And Jerry's letter below is another example of the high esteem in which the Coach was held.

The list could go on, and I'd like to hear any stories about Coach MacInnes you might have.

Dennis '92

***

Snowfall Totals (40 straight days at the airport!)
Total 117.5"
On the ground 32.5 "

Last Week
Total 95"
On the ground 25"

Last Year
Total 89" (on 1/21/08)
On the ground 23"

Lesley Lovett-Doust, provost and vice president for academic affairs at Michigan Technological University, has accepted the presidency and vice chancellorship of Nipissing University in North Bay, Ontario. She will be leaving Michigan Tech at the end of June. "We’re very happy for Lesley,” said Michigan Tech President Glenn D. Mroz. "She’s an exceptionally talented administrator and professor, and we think she will make an excellent university president." More

There is a lot of fun being sandwiched around some serious business at the Ford Forestry Center in Alberta this week. The occasion: LeaderShape, where 52 students are gathered to wrestle with what it takes to be a leader with integrity. One of the lessons: "Do what's right, even when no one is looking," says Lt. Col. Kerry Beaghan, head of Air Force ROTC, who participated on Wednesday. The prevailing attitude: "I want to be incredibly good at that I do," avows Megan Heinlein, a second-year student in biological sciences from Negaunee. More

The research on ultra-high-energy cosmic rays at the Pierre Auger Observatory, including work done by David Nitz, professor of physics at Michigan Tech, and his colleagues, was named one of the Top 10 Physics Stories of 2008 by the American Institute of Physics and the American Physical Society. Using data-gathering equipment designed and tested at Michigan Tech, scientists from 17 countries worked collaboratively at the Auger Observatory in Argentina to identify Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) containing massive black holes as the most likely source of the highest-energy cosmic rays. More

Kevin McClellan, operations manager at Mont Ripley, lost his home and all of his possessions in a fire last Sunday night. Employees of Mont Ripley raised over $1,500 Monday to help Kevin with his immediate needs. Fortunately, no one was injured, and McClellan is staying with relatives for the time being. Sports and Recreation has established an account at the Michigan Tech Employees Credit Union to receive funds for Kevin. Anyone who would like to donate any amount to help Kevin start over can contact the credit union. If you are a member, you can call the credit union at (906) 482-5005 and ask them to transfer a donation from your account into the Kevin McClellan benefit account.

After missing Denver in last year's hockey schedule, Colorado K-Day returned to Denver with more than 100 lucky Husky family and friends eating pasties and going to the sold out game against the Denver Pioneers. The Nelson family, Dave '79, Ellen '79, Scott '09, and Becca, longtime Denver Chapter leaders, welcomed guests to the Denver University campus.

President Glenn Mroz was on hand to thank alumni and share some highlights of how Michigan Tech is well positioned to Create The Future. The Huskies ending up losing two close games to a great Denver team, but the home team crowd left the rink with their ears ringing with Husky chants from the energized alumni group.

Scottsdale

Through a new Michigan Tech Connect initiative, alumnus Bill Jackson '58, and his wife Gloria (pictured left) recently hosted an alumni event in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Approximately forty alumni and guests turned out to hear President Glenn Mroz give a campus update and Alex Mayer, professor of geological and environmental engineering, talk about the impact of human activities on water availability and quality in the Great Lakes and globally.

 

 

 

Tuscon

A similar event took place in Tucson the following afternoon where approximately twenty-five alumni guests gathered, including president emeritus Ray Smith and his wife.

Professor Mayer is shown presenting his talk on water resources.

 

January 2005 broomball action. Recognize anyone? Email me.

Youth Programs is looking for your stories! Whether you were a counselor or a participant, we want to hear about your experiences in Women in Engineering, Explorations in Engineering, American Indian Workshop, Women in Computer Science, our flagship Summer Youth Programs, or any of the other summer programming you attended at Michigan Tech. As we build for the future, we need to use the past as our guide. We encourage you to guide us with your experiences.

Send e-mails to rmmartel@mtu.edu

Junior forward Katie Wysocky

The Michigan Tech women’s basketball team held serve against Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference newcomer Tiffin today with an 83-59 victory at the SDC Gym. Junior forward Katie Wysocky scored a game-high 21 points including the 1,000th of her career to help the No. 16-ranked Huskies remain undefeated in the league at 8-0 and improve to 11-2 overall.

Junior Danae Danen added 18 points and two others reached double figures in a balanced Tech scoring attack.

More

Five different Huskies scored at least nine points led by Robby Springborn and Mike Hojnacki with 18 apiece in Michigan Tech’s 84-53 men’s basketball win over Tiffin today at the SDC Gym. The hosts improved to 8-5 overall and 5-3 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with the victory while the Dragons fell to 1-12 overall and 0-8 in the league. More

Sophomore Marc Cheverie made 31 saves on 32 shots to lift No. 5 Denver to a 3-1 victory over Michigan Tech in a WCHA match-up in front of a crowd of 6,030 at Magness Arena Saturday night. Senior Rob Nolan made 35 saves on 37 shots for the Huskies. “I thought we played a solid 60 minutes tonight,” said head coach Jamie Russell. “We did a good job on special teams keeping them off the scoreboard and scoring a power play goal of our own.” More

Michigan Tech freshman Nordic skier Christina Mischica finished third in the “B” final of the women’s junior/Under-23 classic sprint at the US National Championships in Anchorage, Alaska Thursday (Jan. 8). She finished second among college racers and ninth overall. Freshman Petter Sjulstad posted the best ever finish by a Michigan Tech male skier after he finished fourth in the “B” final of the men’s senior classic sprint. He was the fourth collegiate skier across the line and finished 11th overall. More

In Washington, D.C., if an introduced bill doesn't get acted on during one congressional session, it often gets introduced again in the next Congress, and that's the case for proposed legislation concerning the Keweenaw National Historical Park. More

The Canal Crossing Condominiums were made available in May 2008, and three of the 21 units are filled, but the building developers are confident the remainder will be filled, also. Kevin Geshel, director of development for Moyle Real Estate & Development, said the three occupied units are on the first floor, which is finished. More

Cliffs Natural Resources officials have confirmed more than 300 employees at the Tilden and Empire mines will be laid off on Sunday. Cliffs spokesman Dale Hemmila said an additional 70 employees are scheduled to be laid off in March. The affected employees were given a Worker Adjustment Retraining Notification this week. A mandatory 60-day notification period is required under terms of the U.S. Department of Labor's WARN Act. More

Craig Winters was working on his snowmobile outside the Ramada Inn in Hancock Saturday trying to figure out why the machine cut out on him at one point while he was riding at 50 miles an hour Friday. More

Photo courtesy of John Baker.

I remember that my late husband, John MacInnes, received a call the evening of the protest. He and Harold Meese (pictured here) were asked to address the students at the Memorial Union. They felt the students would listen to them as well respected faculty on campus. If I remember correctly, John spent most of the night there in dialogue with the students. Afterward he commented that he had learned a lot from them and respected their points of view. It lead to many discussions regarding the Vietnam War around our dinner table with our own teenagers.

Jerry MacInnes

***

With the articles of the Vietnam war protests, I recall having to go downtown Houghton to register for the draft on my 18th birthday. It was a little room in and upstairs office, maybe one desk. I filled out a form and was done.

I also recall the night of the draft lottery, February 2, 1972. Everyone in the dorm was listening to the radio as they drew the birth dates. Mine was 325 but I remember another in our House whose number was 15…I think he went to the bar that night. I don’t think I know anyone who was actually drafted though.

What a time.

Don Beyer 76
Tampa, Fl

Hi Dennis,

Happy New Year!

I thought the TechAlum audience might be interested in this op-ed piece on manufacturing, written by Mark C. Tomlinson, executive director and general manager of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (yes, my employer). It has appeared so far in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette and St. Louis Dispatch.

U.S. Manufacturing is Much More than Making Cars

The dire headlines about the Detroit car companies may have many people thinking that manufacturing in America is coming to an end. However, it is important to note that the auto industry is just a single component of the $1.6 trillion that manufacturing adds to our national economy. MORE

I have always liked the clear-cut way that the importance of manufacturing was once stated by an SME president: Things in the world are either grown, mined, or manufactured. Michigan, and Michigan Tech, are certainly involved in the continuous improvement of all three!

Cheers,
Ellen J. Kehoe ‘80

Dennis
I enjoyed the piece on Jim Gale. I took 3 classes that he taught in the mid 70's, he was awesome!
His insight and humor made class enjoyable, and his sayings made them memorable. He explained the time preference of money as the difference between a beer in your hand today vs the promise of a beer next Thursday. Something I could relate to at the time! I'd like to thank him for his contribution to my education and wish him well in the future!
Doug Hiltunen '78

Hi Dennis,
I have lived in Colorado for 15 years, and the predictions are for another snowy winter like we got two years ago---where it snowed nearly every weekend. So, this fall, I asked my parents to check on prices for a Yooper Scooper. (They still live in Rapid River, down by Escanaba.) Well, dad checked prices and asked me what size I wanted (30" wide)---he bought it and shipped it out here!

It's already been used twice, and the snowfall after those two times wasn't enough to use it! I live in Castle Rock, CO which is about 25 miles due south of Denver. Lately, the mountains have been getting all the snow---we haven't been getting any in the metro area.

Hope you're staying warm back there! My flight was cancelled for my Christmas trip and more snow in the forecast on Christmas Eve/Day, so didn't make it home for Christmas this year. :-(

-Jill A. Larson
class of '87
p.s. My dad, James A. Larson, is also an MTU alum. :-)

Hi Dennis,
In your "Alumni at GLI" article today you mentioned "Huskies of all ages from as far away as California enjoyed the 44th annual Great lakes Invitational tournament last weekend." I'd like to correct this statement because I know that there were at least 2 alumni from even further away
that attended the GLI. Those 2 alumni being my daughter, Aimee Rathbun (Fairbanks, Alaska) and her friend, Brian Dow (Anchorage, Alaska). Of course, they were visiting family in Michigan for the holiday, but they took time to travel to Detroit and join fellow alumni at the GLI!

Thanks!
Shawn Rathbun '82

Michigan Tech alumni are in high demand by employers throughout the US. Alumni can take advantage of a wide range of services including:

• Post your resume, search for jobs online using NACElink.

• Attend resume and interviewing seminars, Michigan Tech Career fairs, and company information meetings.

• Utilize the video and career library. Visit www.career.mtu.edu/alumni or contact the Career Center (906) 487-2313 career@mtu.edu for more information.

***

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