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1. Former Biological Sciences Faculty Member Dies |
William Sottile of Rockford, Ill., formerly on the faculty of the biological sciences department, passed away Sunday, July 15, at Loyola University Medical Center in Chicago as a result of a cardiac event.
He had fought pulmonary fibrosis for four years and had recently undergone a successful lung transplant.
From 1987 to 2005, he was the UP regional lab director for the Michigan Department of Community Health in Houghton and an adjunct professor at Michigan Tech.
“Bill was a wonderful, warm-hearted person,” said John Adler, biological sciences chair. “He instructed in medical bacteriology for us and was very good with the students.”
Adler credited Sottile for helping to relocate the state laboratory from the second floor of the Annex Building, on the main campus, to Michigan Tech’s Advanced Technology Development Campus. “It provided more space on campus and a better facility at the ATDC,” he said.
Sottile was born in Miami in 1942. After serving in the US Army from 1962 to 1965, he received a BS from Florida State University in 1969 and a PhD in Microbiology from the University of Georgia in 1974.
He was a diplomate of the American Academy of Microbiology. His professional pursuits included public health, education and the environment; his personal passions were his family and Trinity Episcopal Church.
He is survived by his wife, Margaret of Rockford; daughter Caroline Sottile (Kevin Davis) and son Richard Sottile (Jaime) of Grand Rapids; sister Joan Hawkins of Georgia; and brother William Smoak (Jill) of Florida.
He was predeceased by his sister, Cynthia Wepsala.
“He was a good friend, a good person, good with the students and always willing to help when you needed some assistance,” Adler said. “I realize that it may seem trite to say this, but he truly will be missed.”
A memorial service is scheduled for Saturday, July 21, at noon at Trinity Episcopal Church in Houghton.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Coalition for Pulmonary Fibrosis, Suite F, #227, 1659 Branham Lane, San Jose, CA 95118-5226. |
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2. Tech Makes a Splash on iTunes U |
It’s free. It’s easy. It’s even fun (though it’s not quite as intuitive as Apple claims).
It’s iTunes U, and Michigan Tech is part of it in a big way. Students—and anyone else, for that matter—can download Robert Nemiroff’s introductory astronomy course and Faith Morrison’s lectures on polymer rheology, along with the latest Smashing Pumpkins album. The difference is, you don’t have to pay a dime to learn the basics of cosmology, whereas “Zeitgeist” will cost you $11.99.
Michigan Tech is one of 16 universities nationwide that have posted courses on iTunes U; see http://itunes.mtu.edu . Educational Technology Services records the lectures in a special classroom that features an overhead camera and jazzed-up computer connections. The lectures can also be dressed up with graphics and music.
“Students from the Net generation get music and videos from iTunes,” says Patty Lins, director of educational technology and online learning. “Now they can get their courses at the iTunes store.”
Again, for free. Which begs the question: why do it? According to Lins, MIT will offer 1,800 classes free on the Internet “because it’s the best way to advance education throughout the world.”
“It’s also a great recruiting and retention tool,” she adds. “Prospective students check out our iTunes classes, and they’ll want to come to Michigan Tech.”
Michigan Tech does iTunes U so well that its classes are regularly featured on Apple’s site; go to www.apple.com/education/itunesu/ and click on the link at the bottom of the page.
“Michigan Tech is highlighted because of the quality of the classes, the faculty and the production,” Lins says.
Though anyone can play, perhaps the most important iTunes U audience is students who are taking the class.
Walter Milligan, a professor of materials science and engineering and the university’s CIO, offered Mechanical Properties of Materials on iTunes U for the first time in spring 2007. The benefit for at least one student was enormous.
“He wouldn’t have been able to enroll in the course because of a schedule conflict, even though it was required,” says Milligan. “He couldn’t enter the senior year of our program without it. Having the lectures available online saved him a year of his life.”
Typically, students came to Milligan’s lectures in person and then replayed them later at iTunes U, where they could also pause, rewind and fast-forward. “One student said it’s so much more convenient to lay on the couch and watch me on TV,” Milligan said.
“Also, in the studio, the technology makes it easier to prepare lectures,” he says. In particular, the overhead camera allows the teacher to show examples and experiments on a small scale that would be almost impossible in a typical lecture hall.
“I think it helped the majority of my students learn better,” Milligan said. “And here’s the real whopper for next year. I’m not going to lecture; I’m going to use the videos from last year, and the time I spent lecturing will be used for interactive learning—lab experiments, open-ended problems, all kinds of stuff wouldn’t be considered making progress on a lecture series, but is better for learning.
“One of the critiques of online learning is that instructors never meet students in person, and this hybrid model attempts to address that.”
Physics professor Robert Nemiroff’s astronomy lectures have been on iTunes U since last year and are the second-most-downloaded, just after MIT’s intro to psychology and ahead of Steve Jobs’ commencement address at Stanford.
It’s pretty stellar company, and Nemiroff thinks his popularity may be due to the title of his first lecture, “A Grand Tour of the Universe,” or perhaps some level of name recognition associated with his books and his popular website, “Astronomy Picture of the Day.”
But also, the course, with its images of spiraling galaxies and other cosmic phenomena, lends itself to online viewing. As for concerns that iTunes U makes an expensive college education available for free, Nemiroff is skeptical. “The information is already out there,” he notes. “You could always go to the library or the web. If you want the degree, you have to go to school somewhere.”
And, says Lins, that somewhere doesn’t always have to have four walls. “We are creating learning spaces, which are what we used to call the classroom,” she says. “You can listen to a lecture on a treadmill, in your car, on the bus to an away hockey game . . .
“This doesn’t take the place of students coming together in class,” she stresses. “This is simply a different space.” |
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3. Golf Outing Aug. 4 |
The Keweenaw Chapter of the Alumni Association is holding a golf outing Saturday, Aug. 4 in conjuction with Alumni Reunion.
Members of the Michigan Tech community are invited to a day of golf, lunch and prizes with other alumni and friends from the area.
The outing includes continental breakfast, nine holes of golf, a golf clinic, lunch and beverages on the course.
Tee off is at 8:30 a.m. (scramble or stroke format) at Portage Lake Golf Course and its new Par & Grill. The practice range will be available ahead of time at a cost of $3 per bag.
The cost of the outing is $30 a person, $20 for the clinic and lunch only. Golf carts may be rented for $10. Lunch includes burgers, brats, chips, soda and coffee. Please sign up by Wednesday, Aug. 1, by visiting www.huskylink.mtu.edu and clicking on "Keweenaw Chapter Golf Outing." |
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4. New Funding |
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Terry McNinch (LTAP) has received $18,963 from the Michigan Department of Transportation for "Review of A-Injury Crashes in Michigan 2007." |
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