Coach Kearly and Coach Klein (in white) celebrate.

Sometimes four minutes can last for an hour. That's what it seemed like Saturday, as the football Huskies were holding back Grand Valley State, the number one team in the nation, after they scored to pull within 20-17.

By this time, we had moved to where we could stand and watch, too nervous to sit anymore. "And they keep adding time to the clock," laughed one veteran fan at the referee's "clock-management."

An excellent Grand Valley team kept throwing down field, causing our hearts to be lodged somewhere high in our throats, time and again.

We didn't need to worry.

The Huskies smothering defense sacked their quarterback, and turned the ball over the offense deep inside the Lakers' territory. Running back Phil Milbrath, who ran for 293 yards total, secured one more first down, and they had sealed the deal.

In an ultimate show of class, the Huskies did not attempt another touchdown from inside the five-yard line, choosing to kneel instead.

And we all went nuts.

In the annals of football victories, this one ranks way up there: the first time defeating the Lakers since 1984, a possible playoff berth (with two more wins), the defense holding them to sixteen yards rushing, and 2,000 fans bursting with joy. They even did the Gatorade bath.

"Best feeling I've ever had," said Head Coach Tom Kearly.

I know his dad, Ted, former head football coach and athletic director was full of pride, as were we all.

"This was no David versus Goliath," coach Kearly said after the game. "We told them all week: we can do this."

And they did.

Dennis '92, '09

***

You can share your football stories through the 125th anniversary website or the Alumni Association Facebook page. You can send me your memories, too, of course.

The new Seaman Mineral Museum will make a world-class collection more accessible to the public and bring more people to Michigan Technological University, President Glenn D. Mroz told the crowd assembled Oct. 27 for the groundbreaking of a new museum building. More

Cue the bats and spooky music. We are about to delve into one of Michigan’s most alluring mysteries. It’s so alluring, in fact, that it draws a steady stream of pilgrims of the paranormal to the dot-in-the-road town of Paulding all summer long, and into the winter too, just to hang out on the edge of the woods to watch and wait. More

Watch for a Blizzard in Florida next week. Blizzard T. Husky, that is. Mascot to the Huskies of Michigan Technological University, Blizzard is going to see a space shuttle launch at Cape Kennedy on Monday, November 1. On Tuesday, he hopes to tour the Kennedy Space Center and visit Ron Jon’s Surf Shop in Cocoa Beach. Living in the snowy Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Blizzard has never gone surfing, so he’s very excited. More

Michigan Technological University’s Physics Department sees itself poised on the brink of greatness. Richard and Elizabeth Henes agree. Longtime and generous supporters of Michigan Tech, the couple has donated another $700,000 to the University to upgrade research facilities in Fisher Hall, including infrastructure improvements. More

Michigan Tech's 15th annual Spirit of the Harvest Powwow may have been its biggest yet. "There were a lot more people here than what I've ever seen - a lot of professors, a lot of faculty, staff and community," said Lori Muhlig, event organizer and coordinator for Native American and women's outreach at Tech. More

Over sixty alumni from nine chapters throughout the nation joined more than 500 (on campus) students in the most encompassing national day of helping others. Chapter leaders answered the call by organizing volunteer opportunities for alumni and friends with local non-profit charities and groups. Activities ranged from helping out at an animal rescue shelter and cleaning local beaches, to supporting clothing and blood drives. Visit http://apps.alumni.mtu.edu/make-a-difference-day/2010/recap/ to see the photos. Plan now to join fellow alumni and friends for make a Difference Day 2011!

Registration for the Tech MBA® Online 2010–2011 webinar schedule is now open! Our virtual events discuss topics such as paying for your MBA (and getting your employer to help), choosing the right program, and specifics including how engineers and women benefit from getting MBA degrees. Here is the link to our webinar schedule: http://www.mtu.edu/business/mba/online/webinars/

Michigan Tech alums who are interested in pursuing a career as a mathematics or science teacher in secondary schools are eligible for one-year fellowships, under a new Tech program funded by the National Science Foundation for the next 5 years. Anyone with a degree in engineering, science, or mathematics can apply for these $18,000 awards to study at Michigan Tech for one year. Recipients will take courses in teacher education that lead to student teaching and teacher certification in math or science. The deadline to apply for the spring 2011 semester is November 1 and for the 2011-12 academic year is March 1.

Further information and an application is available at the program website. Or interested individuals can contact the Michigan Tech Division of Teacher Education (Brad Baltensperger, chair 906-487-2425, or Judy Anderson, certification officer 906-487-3570).

Ever do the ski swap? This is from 2005. Email me.

I know some of you can name these buildings. Email me.

Michigan Tech pulled the upset! Phil Milbrath rushed for 293 yards on 33 carries to lift Michigan Tech to a 20-17 win over No. 1-ranked Grand Valley State today at Sherman Field. The Huskies (6-2, 6-2 GLIAC) totaled 368 yards of total offense and held the Lakers (8-1, 7-1 GLIAC) to just 16 rushing yards in beating GVSU for the first time since 1984. More

What’s Happening This Week

Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2010
Huskies Drive Time, 7:30-8 a.m. on WKMJ Mix 93.5 FM
Women’s Basketball at Notre Dame, 7 p.m. (Live Radio, WKMJ Mix 93.5 FM)

Friday, Nov. 5, 2010
Volleyball at Wayne State, 7 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 6, 2010
Cross Country at GLIAC Championships (Hillsdale, Mich.), 11 a.m.
Football at Ferris State, 2 p.m. (Live Radio, WKMJ Mix 93.5 FM)
Volleyball at Findlay, 4 p.m.

Sunday, Nov. 7, 2010
Volleyball at Hillsdale, 2 p.m.

All times Eastern. • Home events in bold.

Last Week’s Results

Hockey (3-2-2, 1-2-1 WCHA)
10/29 — at Wisconsin 5, Michigan Tech 2
10/30 — at Wisconsin 4, Michigan Tech 1

Football (6-2, 6-2 GLIAC)
10/30 — at Michigan Tech 20, No. 1 Grand Valley State 17

Volleyball (5-18, 3-13 GLIAC)
10/29 — Michigan Tech 3, at Lake Superior State 0
10/30 — at Northwood 3, Michigan Tech 0

Women’s Soccer (7-10, 5-10 GLIAC)
10/30 — Northern MIchigan 2, Michigan Tech 1, OT

Cross Country
Did not compete

Top News of the Week

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL HEADS TO NOTRE DAME
The Michigan Tech women’s basketball program will begin a new chapter under first-year head coach Kim Cameron on Wednesday (Nov. 3). The Huskies travel to South Bend, Ind., to play an exhibition at Notre Dame. Tech has faced other Division I foes UW-Green Bay, DePaul and UW-Milwaukee in preseason games over the last four years.

A former potato farm is now a classroom for the study of wetlands ecosystems for students at Hancock Middle School, and the teacher of the program is very grateful to have access to the property. More

Crews with the Upper Peninsula Power Co. have taken care of more than 99 percent of the problem areas in the Copper Country in the last day. Just less than 3,000 customers were affected by the high winds over the past two days, but now there are just six customers still in the dark. More

The Houghton City Council discussed possible ways to fill the former Lode Theater building during Monday's City Council meeting. Rogers Cinema, which operated the Lode, closed the theater in August. City Manager Scott MacInnes said Rogers is willing to sell, but would not allow another first-run movie theater. Rogers is asking about $100,000 for the building, MacInnes said. More

That room looks just like the room I had in Wads in ’70.

Did they have a lifetime supply of those built in desks?

Michael Binder
BSEE 75

***

Hi Dennis,

The 1956 dorm room picture in the Newsletter is quite familiar. I arrived in 1956 and lived in DHH.
We had two desks(back to back), two dressers, a closet, and bunk beds. Plenty of room and quite comfortable.

Rick Noyes '59

***

They mention the Douglas Tech House, maybe Douglas Houghton Hall? We had four person rooms on the inside corners in the center part of the building. The rooms hadn't changed much from 1956 to 1972.

Part of the deal for arranging a room for the next year was first to make a deal with campus housing for the room and then make a deal with the previous occupant for the loft. In those days, if you were coming back to the room or making other arrangements, the lofts could stay up for the summer.

With the beds up out of the way, there was plenty of room for a couch, fridge, and stereo. DHH had tall ceilings on the first two floors so there was plenty of height for the loft.

When did the lofts in DHH start? Pre 1972 for sure.

Find a copy of the 1973 or 74, I forget which, MTU yearbook. Inside leaf of the front page is a new Eric Forman type freshman arriving in a bare dorm room with his suitcase. Inside leaf of the back page is a senior with the full beard, long hair, and the full loft treatment in the room.

Bruce Kettunen, '76

Gene is pictured here in a 2003 photo, from the forestry website, with (L to R) Jim Schimierer, Glenn Mroz, and David Flaspohler. Blog is here.

Dennis,
I was a Forestry student back in 1961-65 and Gene was head of the dept at that time. One of my great memories is attending summer camp at Ford Forestry Center in L'Anse.

We were all young guys and hungry all the time. Meals were served in the cafeteria and there was no other food unless you bought it yourself. Some of the more enterprising students noticed that the dumb waiter used to bring the food up from the kitchen area was left open at night.

We found the smallest guy we could and put him in the dumb waiter. We lowered him down, he unlocked the kitchen door from the inside, and a group of us got to eat what we could find - a lot of ice cream got consumed!

We thought we were pretty clever and didn't do it all the time. Obviously, the food shortage was noticed by the cooks who couldn't figure out how anyone could get into the locked kitchen.

I don't know to this day if Gene figured it out or just knew that if some students were getting into the kitchen then one should just wait in the kitchen. We snuck in one night and got the surprise of our life! Gene had taken to sleeping on a cot in an area of the kitchen where he wouldn't be noticed. We were deep into our illegal food when he showed himself. It was just a matter of time until we young food thieves would show up. He never told us how many days he had to sleep there

Typical Gene he never raised his voice or threatened expulsion, just explained that there was a food budget for the camp and when it ran out, so would the food - leaving us and our fellow classmates pretty darn hungry with a bunch of classmates who probably wouldn't see the humor in the situation.

He was truly a great guy - mentor, teacher, friend. I'm glad the Forestry building is named after him as that is a great testament to his love of Michigan Tech and especially the Forestry program.

Bill Avery
Class of 1965

***

I have many fond memories of Gene back when he was one of the four person faculty in the forestry dept. I was riding in Gene's car on two track when he spotted a dead stub of a tree with a large nest on top. He stopped and got out a set of climbing irons from the trunk and proceeded to climb the stub which was perhaps 20ft high. As he got higher mama hawk took exception and repeatedly buzzed him, coming ever closer the higher he got. He made it to where he could see and count the eggs in the nest in spite of the frantic bird.

Larry Watson 51

Regarding the Mailbag article about Fisher 135: Yes, Dave Chimino was the prof who could draw perfect circles. I had him for Physics. Doc Berry's chemistry classes were also held there. His last lecture of the year was always an event with pyrotechnics and stage tricks. People who didn't even have that class would watch from the back of the room.

I also used to go to the cheap movies in 135. They showed Rocky Horror Picture Show there in 1978, shortly after it first came out. Many of the students knew about the various audience responses, such as shooting squirt guns during rainy scenes, throwing toast, and shouting responses when certain events happened. However, the staff running the movie thought we were just being rowdy. They stopped the movie, and threatened to call the police. Fun times.

Bob Wright
STC, Class of '82

***

I believe that we started the movie tradition for Alpha Phi Omega in the 1957 time frame. I can't remember where we first began showing the films - probably in a building that doesn't exist anymore. We only had one projector so there was always some comments from the crowd while we
changed reels. The sound was pretty good using a tube amplifier which I see have made a come-back for the purists. I believe we only had one showing initially and that was enough to cause a bit of a flap from the "downtown" theaters for loss of business. We always were a bit nervous
whether the film would arrive in time but I think we only had one late delivery in the dead of winter. But we forged on and I'm glad the process continues.

Pete Rankin '59
APO President 58-59

***

Dennis, I saw the posts about Fisher 135. When at Tech, I worked in the inventory department for school expenses and spending money. I was one of a couple of guys who tagged every equipment item in the new Math/Physics Building when it was opened. Just happened that I was also getting a math degree and frequently visited that building.

This particular lecture hall was also useful when on rare occasion there was nothing to tag. It was a nice place to sneak into when it was not in use to contemplate Tech challenges and life in general, when it was dark and my eyes were closed in thought.

Jerry Davison '66 Math

***

For a group of us Wadsworth freshmen and Friday and/or Saturday activity was a move and the one we chose most often was shown in 135. When the fare was not to our liking, we would walk as far a the Pic in Hancock. Not everything shown in 135 was appreciated, but the most popular were the Road Runner cartoons, anything else was often booed. Sometimes the movie was as well, but this was a reflection of the students rather than the movie. One of the best shown in my time was Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. The laughter and heckling got so loud and boisterous that Joe Kirkish stopped the movie, went to the stage, and asked those who did not appreciate the movie for its artistry to leave. Some did, but the rest of the picture was enjoyed by those of us do love musicals. I've seen it several times since, and the scene with Joe has been cut out of every showing. It's also one of my favorites.

Greg Switek

***

Dennis,
Though not a member of APO, I assisted my roommate, Jim Lind (BSEE '69), in showing those movies every Friday and Saturday night in Fisher 135. We played loud music "Devil With the Blue Dress On" and "Good Vibrations" among many others through the best sound system on campus. During one movie showing, the projector take up reel came off the spindle, fell through the projection room window to the aisle below and rolled to the stage trailing film. I frantically retrieved it winding it onto the reel all the while the movie played without missing a frame. All of our male viewers would have been upset if we had missed seeing Ann Margaret or Matt Helm (Dean Martin) in a vital scene.

James G. Balazer, P.E.
BSEE '71

Dennis,
I wanted to congratulate everyone at Michigan Tech for the great job they did with Freshman Orientation in August. I apologize that it has taken me so long to write. Our daughter, Kerstin Cleveland is a freshman this year at Tech. Everything was well organized and designed to get the new students and parents engaged in their new lives. I was particularly impressed that President Glen Mroz, Provost Max Seel, and Vice President for Student Affairs Les Cook were all present during the freshman registration. It is a far cry from 1979 when my parents pulled up behind west coed, unloaded my belongs on the sidewalk, gave me a hug and then drove off!

Only issue I saw during the whole visit, was the sign at Subway (above). They might want to evaluate their sentence construction

Best regards,
Michael Cleveland

I was in the band and we did play the Blue Skirt Waltz at all the home hockey games in 54 and 55. Band use to play from the west end of Dee up in the balcony. All the Tech students stood up and sang the song.

It took me many years before I could enjoy watching a hockey game from another view.

Bruce Karinen, Class of 55.

Dennis,
What are the chances? Two winners in the Houghton/Hancock area in such a short time? There must be something in the water up in Copper Country! :-)

http://cartalk.com/content/puzzler/transcripts/201041/answer.html

Dave

***

From: Dave Clark <yooper63@yahoo.com>
To: Dennis Walikainen <dkwalika@mtu.edu>
Sent: Tue, June 22, 2010 10:10:09 AM
Subject: Interesting Houghton Mention

Dennis,

I regularly read the "Car Talk" Puzzler (http://cartalk.com/content/puzzler/) and send in my answer. This week's winner happens to be from Houghton, MI! Congratulations to Jim Foss! I'm not sure if he's an Alumni Newsletter subscriber, but if he is, I hope he sees this. I wonder how he'll spend his $26 prize. :-)

David Clark '84

Show your Michigan Tech Pride with Tech Gear: http://www.mtu.edu/alumni/products/gear/

Coordinator of Orientation, COMPASS—Center for Orientation, Mentoring, Parents, and Academic Student Success

Complete Job Descriptions are available on the Human Resources website.

Off Campus

GS Engineering Inc. (GSE), the inaugural Michigan Tech SmartZone tenant, continues to expand after their graduation from the SmartZone. GSE has immediate positions available for Mechanical Engineers with 2+ years experience, Mechanical Designers with 5+ years experience as well as a Quality Engineer position. Interested candidates are encouraged to apply at http://www.gsengineering.com/careers.html

In support of new program growth GSE also is currently recruiting additional Senior Mechanical Engineers/Senior Program Managers who are capable of managing programs and client relationships in GSE core business area of Engineering Services. Glen Simula, President of GSE, is forecasting continued growth well into 2011 that will allow for an approximate ten additional new hires and has found great success utilizing Michigan Technological University graduates.

GSE since its incorporation in 2001 has enjoyed stable business growth and provides a secure place of employment within the Copper Country.

Other local jobs:

http://www.keweenawprofessionaljobs.com/