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1. Homecoming Parade Route Change |
The Homecoming Parade begins at 4 p.m. today, Oct. 9, in Lot 27, the pay parking lot between the Administration Building and the Memorial Union. The route runs through center campus and ends in Lot 9, the Rozsa Center parking lot.
A pep rally follows immediately, and the hockey game against Northern Michigan University begins at 7:07 p.m. |
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2. Philanthropy Continues to Benefit Tech |
Fundraising has become a particular challenge due to economic conditions, but philanthropic support for the University continues to be strong, the Board of Control heard at its meeting on campus Thursday.
Alumnus David House presented a $1-million check to fund a third House Professorship at the University, as well as a check to do renovations to the Electrical Energy Resources Center.
The new professorship will be in computer engineering. The chair of Michigan Tech's national campaign committee, House is a former Intel executive and current chairman of Brocade Communications Systems. The House Family Foundation already has endowed two professorships at the University. One is held by Tim Schulz, dean of the College of Engineering. The other will be named in conjunction with the Michigan Tech Research Institute in Ann Arbor.
Pat Nelson, a longtime donor from Kingsford, has also given a gift to establish a varsity women’s soccer program. (See related story.)
Other recent gifts include the Dyke Memorial Scholarship in computer science, in honor of the late Erick Dyke, a 1991 alumnus; the Rozsa Art Gallery, funded by the estate of 1971 alumna Eileen J. Niva; the Marshall Family Endowed Scholarship Fund for engineering students, donated by Robert, Rex and Paul Marshall; and support for an expanded and enhanced seminar room in the Minerals and Materials Engineering building, from gifts from John and Virginia Towers, Charles McArthur and several corporations. Towers and McArthur are Michigan Tech alumni.
Russell Gronevelt, chair of the Board of Control, called Michigan Tech "fortunate to have so many successful individuals who are willing to give so much of their time, energy and resources to help support the University. Philanthropy is becoming an increasingly important factor in Michigan Tech's future, and it's a tough time for any organization that relies on philanthropic support. Through it all, our supporters have remained loyal, and, with their help, we are finding others who are generously stepping up to contribute."
The Board also gave Michigan Tech President Glenn Mroz high marks in his annual performance review.
"The Board is very proud of Glenn and the job that he is doing," said Chair Gronevelt. "He has been able to keep the University's strategic initiatives in focus while grappling with the challenge of managing, despite a shortfall in state support.
"Glenn and his administration have acted in the best interests of Michigan Tech's future, ensuring that students continue to get full value from their education."
The Board rated Mroz on 10 criteria derived from Michigan Tech's strategic plan, four University metrics--the incoming ACT scores of entering first-year students, the number of PhDs awarded, new research grants and endowment value--and current priorities.
"I am honored by the Board's expression of belief in me and our leadership team at Michigan Tech," said Mroz. "These are challenging times, and the Board's unwavering support for our strategic direction is vital and encouraging."
In other business, the Board
* Approved 2011 capital outlay project requests, totaling more than $130 million, to complete phase two of the College of Sciences and Arts' Center for Integrated Learning and Information Technology (phase one was completed in 2005); renovation and expansion of Dillman Hall for the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering; renovation of the Academic Office Building for the School of Business and Economics; and an addition to the ME-EM building to house a Manufacturing Research Center.
* Learned from David Reed, vice president for research, that research awards at Michigan Tech topped $53 million in fiscal year 2009, a 28 percent increase over fiscal year 2008.
* Approved emeritus rank for five retiring professors: Richard Brown and John Williams, Chemistry; John Lowther, Computer Science; Randall Friesinger, Humanities; and Edward Nadgorny, Physics.
* Approved granting of honorary doctorates in business to George J. Butvilas and David J. Brule Sr. Butvilas is chair of the Michigan Tech Fund and keynote speaker at the University’s December 2009 Midyear Commencement. Brule is a Michigan Tech alumnus, a former member and chair of the Board of Control, and is president and CEO of Northern Star Industries, which he founded.
* Extended the current capital campaign to at least June 30, 2013, due to economic and market downturns and to the fundraising staff's continuing development of new and promising prospects. |
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3. Varsity Women's Soccer Comes to Campus |
by Wes Frahm, director of athletic communications and marketing
The University is adding women’s soccer to its varsity athletic program and will begin competition as a member of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference next fall.
Support for the new program comes from Pat Nelson of Kingsford, a longtime supporter of Michigan Tech. She and her late husband, Tech alumnus Charles Nelson, have supported numerous initiatives across campus, including the rowing team, the Outdoor Adventures Program, EcoCAR, the Summer Reading program and the Peace Corps Masters International program.
"I like helping the students at Michigan Tech, especially the women," said Nelson. "They’re already getting a great education. They should have some fun, too."
Nelson donated all of the costs associated with starting up the new program, including initial costs for equipment, locker room renovation and first-year coaching salaries.
President Glenn Mroz called the addition of women's soccer "a strategic decision" for the University. "It will bolster the number of women on campus and increase the number of student-athletes, who have proven themselves to be great leaders and students here," he said.
"When I spoke to Pat about the opportunity to support women's soccer at Michigan Tech," Mroz continued, "I told her she would be the mother of women's soccer here. She corrected me, saying that she would be the grandmother of women's soccer."
Varsity sports now number 14—seven women’s and seven men’s teams.
"This is a great step for the University and the athletic department," said Suzanne Sanregret, athletic director. "It has been one of my goals to add women's soccer. It's an up-and-coming sport and a natural fit in the GLIAC."
Typical roster size for women's soccer is 25 student-athletes. NCAA regulations call for a maximum of 20 regular season contests to begin no earlier than the Thursday prior to Aug. 30 (which is Aug. 26 in 2010). The GLIAC tournament, for which Tech would be eligible immediately, is played in early November.
Michigan Tech's home soccer facility will be Sherman Field, which was set up for soccer when the synthetic turf was installed in 2008.
Michigan Tech will post the head coaching vacancy in early November, hoping to bring someone on board by Jan. 1, 2010. A part-time assistant may also be hired. Scholarships will be available for women's soccer student-athletes, and a tryout will be held for current Tech students to fill out the roster for the first season.
Tech's 2010 soccer schedule is still being finalized, but there will be at least 14 GLIAC games, with seven of those at Sherman Field.
Women’s soccer is the first sport to be added to the varsity lineup since Nordic skiing was bumped up from club status in 1989-90. |
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4. Federal Stimulus Funds a Boon for Sustainability Studies at Michigan Tech, Part 1 |
by Marcia Goodrich, senior writer
Michigan Tech is receiving over $3 million in federal funds from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, courtesy of the National Science Foundation. All four grants address sustainability issues, from preserving water resources to storing hydrogen. In the first part of a two-part series, we look at the three research projects made possible by federal stimulus funds. Monday, we address a new fellowship program that will improve doctoral students' communication skills and bring research into middle-school classrooms.
Solving the Problem of Hydrogen Storage
One of the biggest problems posed by hydrogen fuel is storage. Pressurized hydrogen gas can be kept in industrial-strength tanks, but those tanks are heavy and not easy to refill. Another storage strategy traps hydrogen gas on the surface of a solid material. Keeping it there is the difficulty: at temperatures higher than minus-198 Celcius, the hydrogen escapes.
The reason for that, says Assistant Professor Yun Hang Hu (MSE), is that hydrogen gas usually exists in its molecular form, H2, which consists of two hydrogen atoms. H2 is attracted to the surface of these special high-surface-area materials, but weakly. The much rarer atomic form of hydrogen, H, sticks to these surfaces like glue.
With a $303,000 grant, Hu hopes to take advantage of H's stickiness. "We'd like to transform molecular hydrogen to atomic hydrogen," he says. "Atomic hydrogen is several times more attractive to the framework than molecular hydrogen, so the system would work at room temperature, and it would have 10 times the capacity."
Hu and his team aim to develop a catalyst and incorporate it directly onto a metal-organic framework, which is a type of high- surface-area material. Under pressure, the catalyst can transform molecular hydrogen into atomic hydrogen and essentially give a fill-up to the metal-organic framework. Then, when pressure is reduced, the catalyst turns the atomic hydrogen back into molecular hydrogen and is released to power a fuel cell.
Hu and his team are also going to characterize the process, measuring it against other methods of storing hydrogen on high-surface area materials and determining how many times the material can be loaded until the system wears out.
In addition to providing fundamental knowledge about catalysis, Hu's work could help make hydrogen-powered vehicles cheaper and more convenient, lowering their cost and helping to reduce dependence on petroleum.
Whey Cool: Making Hydrogen from Lactose
Joe Holles, an assistant professor of chemical engineering, has received $300,000 to use a watery byproduct of cheese production to generate hydrogen gas. While whey is an ingredient in many processed foods, US dairy farmers produce way more than is needed, and disposal is expensive.
Whey is mainly water—about 95 percent—plus small amounts of solids, including 3 percent lactose, or milk sugar. Dairies traditionally got rid of their excess whey by spraying it on agricultural land. The water irrigated crops and pasture, but the lactose leached into the local watershed, where it sucked oxygen from lakes and streams, killing fish and collapsing the ecosystem.
Using a catalyst made of cobalt or nickel coated with a layer of platinum, Holles devised a process to break down lactose dissolved in water, turning it into hydrogen gas and carbon dioxide. With the NSF grant, he will further characterize that process and investigate the performance of other catalysts.
Most hydrogen is made from natural gas, a nonsustainable fossil fuel. By comparison, lactose offers a big environmental advantage. "All the carbon dioxide generated is from plant material," Holles said. "We're generating hydrogen in a carbon-neutral way, through the cows."
Driving Hard on Your Hard Drive: Turning Plastics into Pavement
Perhaps the plastics from all our old computers could one day help make asphalt pavements that better weather the assaults of northern winters.
Zhanping You, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering and director of the Center for Excellence in Transportation Materials, has received $29,000 to recycle plastic from electronic waste into pavement.
"In asphalt, we add modifier materials to improve performance," You said. "Specifically, we add plastic polymers to improve the rutting resistance in summer, and add rubber polymers with plastic polymers to improve low-temperature performance and to reduce cracking. Of course, the chemical compatibility shall be considered."
Those polymers would come from the ground-up plastic parts of e-waste in this study, such as computers, monitors, cell phones, cameras, and keyboards. You plans to mix the plastic powder into the liquid asphalt before the aggregate is added and then test how well the resulting pavement holds up to stress under winter and summer temperatures.
He also thinks roads may be able to absorb bigger pieces of e-waste. "I've been talking with other researchers who focus on sustainability of infrastructure, and they think we might be able to use the larger particles to replace some of the aggregate. The environmental impact shall be investigated if e-waste material is used in roads, and I am looking for further research ideas to address this issue," he said.
If You does improve the strength and flexibility of asphalt, especially in winter, highways and streets could become a safe, sustainable place to bury some of the world's mounting accumulation of e-waste. |
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5. Homecoming Stages Fun and Games at Prince's Point |
by John Gagnon, promotional writer
About 150 students gathered Thursday night at Prince's Point, a cozy fringe of beach with a backdrop of moving water and turning leaves. Natalie Noha, a fourth-year student from Menominee, summed up the goings-on: "Things fun and different," she said.
She was talking about several new homecoming activities this year, four of which were at Prince's Point: a tug of war, sand castles, a relay race, and a bonfire. The sand castles were autumn's snow statues.
The festivities began at five o'clock in the soft glow of the evening sun, which proved fleeting. Soon the sun died and the chill air had people hunching and putting their hands inside their long sleeves. The boys of Delta Sigma Phi built a small, half-hearted fire. "For warmth," one said. "We’re hoboes."
The tug of war was loud and boisterous. The boys from Theta Tau were strong, and they learned the ropes quickly--kicking footholds in the dirt before a match.
The sand castle work was more subdued and intent. One tall young man came on the scene and said, "I came to build a sand castle. I've got knives and spoons. Is that legal?" No, he was told. The rule: use anything natural on the beach. Each team had a plot and a bucket and the charge: display Husky pride and be in good taste. Thirty-six groups participated. There were castles, moats, drawbridges, and tunnels; palisades of twigs and rock and sand; as well as forests of ferns and grasses and weeds.
"We have no game plan," one group reported. "We're just doing whatever. It's a work in progress. It's called 'please-God-stay-up.'" As we spoke it collapsed under the weight of a new bucket of wet sand.
Marc Starnes, a fifth-year student from Kingsford, loves Tech, loves the location, and loves these doings. Homecoming is his favorite campus event, especially the new events this year. High on his list of enjoyment: the community service component. He worked Wednesday at the Little Huskies Child Care Center. The next evening's cold didn't dampen his enthusiasm. "I keep moving, keep busy, and keep warm thoughts," he said.
Rachel Wussow, of Student Activities, had her hands full Thursday night, directing all the helpers, answering questions, and keeping events moving along so they were done by dusk. Wussow loves working with students. She said that these guidelines underscored the overall homecoming effort: "No risk involved and keep it fair." She has the attitude of a servant. "They pay my salary," she said of the students.
Just before dark there was a three-part relay race:
* Transfer water from a full bucket to an empty bucket, 15 feet apart, with big sponges.
* Transfer a tennis ball, tucked under the chin, from one person to the next, no hands. It was a cozy affair.
* And pull a small sled on skis for a hundred feet, with a passenger, Blizzard T. Husky, sitting on a chair with no legs. He weighs 200 pounds.
Blizzard was a part of a sand castle fashioned by Chelsea Garceau, a third-year student from Negaunee, and her partner. They presaged the outcome of the football game Saturday against the Findlay Oilers. Their sand castle depicted a knocked-down oil tank and a clue about how it was done: Blizzard's telltale paw prints in the sand. |
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6. Reminder: Fidelity Investments on Campus |
Fidelity Investments will be on campus to conduct one-on-one consultations Oct. 12 and 13. Appointments are still available. Call 800-642-7131 or visit www.fidelity.com/atwork/reservations .
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7. Information on Alcohol and Drug Abuse is Distributed |
As part of a federal program, the campus community is being alerted about principles, laws and policies regarding drug and alcohol use on campus.
Human Resources is circulating a brochure, "Policy and Procedure Concerning Alcohol and Drugs," as part of a national effort to prevent illicit use of drugs and alcohol by students and employees.
This information, required by the Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act, includes in part:
* standards of conduct on school property
* local, state, and federal laws
* health risks
* programs for counseling, treatment or rehabilitation
* sanctions against violators
The program is mandatory to gain federal funding. For more information, contact Anita Quinn at 487-2281 or aquinn@mtu.edu |
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8. Blue Line Club Starts a New Season |
The Blue Line Club will host the first of its luncheons at noon, today, at the Begg Conference Center. Coach Jamie Russell will comment on this weekend's games. The menu will include Minnesota wild rice soup, chicken breast salad, pasta salad, fruit tray, dessert and coffee, ice tea and water. Cost is $8 for club members and $8.50 for the general public.
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9. Library Offers Convenient Copying Service |
Use your Tech ID to print and photocopy in the library.
Print stations, on the first and second floors, and photocopiers, on the garden and first floors, accept Express Cash using your Tech ID.
You must have at least $1 available to pay with your Tech ID. (Photocopiers on the second and third floors still accept coins.) You may add Express Cash to your Tech ID card using a credit or debit card. Use this link: http://www.aux.mtu.edu/techx/ . Then, click on “Card Holder Online System” in the menu on the left, log in, and follow the instructions |
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10. Transplanted Liver Cells Hold Hope for Treating Inherited Diseases |
by Marcia Goodrich, senior writer
Mike Gibson, chair of the Department of Biological Sciences, has spent most of his professional life trying to better understand genetic metabolic disorders that arise in children. With that knowledge, he is working to develop treatments in mice--including liver-cell transplants--that could one day be used to treat a variety of liver-based illnesses in people.
The genetic diseases Gibson studies are often dizzyingly complex, involving a cascade of biochemical reactions that go awry. While the knowledge gained by studying a single disease could help researchers develop a better treatment, it may also expand our fundamental understanding of physiology and be applied in the search for treatments of other hereditary maladies.
One of the conditions Gibson researches is maple syrup urine disease. People with the disease are unable to break down and metabolize three important amino acids, the building blocks of protein and essential for health. Urine in persons with this condition can smell like maple syrup.
For more about Gibson's work on inherited metabolic diseases, click here. |
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11. Achieving a Diverse Faculty is Subject of NSF Presentation |
A presentation by two scholars on attaining a more diverse campus is scheduled for 12:30 to 2:30 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 15, in the Memorial Union Ballroom A2.
The session, "Bias Literacy and Intervention on Campus," is sponsored by the National Science Foundation.
Daryl Chubin, of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and Ruta Sevo, of NSF, will address bias and discrimination in the workplace and what higher education can do to create a welcoming climate and diversify the faculty.
After a joint presentation, there will be two breakout sessions.
Sevo will address the experience of minorities and women in higher education, as well as the characteristics of departments that have been successful in increasing diversity.
Chubin will address the training of faculty in inclusive search, recruitment, review, and hiring practices that promote diversity.
Persons who will attend the breakout sessions are invited to send ideas or questions to Eddie Jean Johnson beforehand: eddie@mtu.edu . |
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12. Teaching at Tech: Why Don’t Students Like School? Part Four |
by William Kennedy, director, Center for Teaching, Learning and Faculty Development
Daniel Willingham in his great little book “Why Don’t Students Like School?” argues that students are likely to think more deeply about what they are learning if they frequently experience a pleasurable sensation--such as that which accompanies successfully solving a problem.
However, if students have learned that such an internal reward is unlikely, they are more prone to become disinterested in digging into a subsequent challenge.
Most people are curious, Willingham says, but they will sustain their curiosity only if they believe that a reward is within reach. If the challenge is just right, the students will pursue it. Too easy, or too hard? Interest wanes.
(It makes me think of the art of the video game designer. How hard is hard? How often must the players be rewarded to keep on playing and, then, to encourage their friends to buy their own copy of the game?)
Willingham argues that, through most of the day, we do very little real thinking. Usually, we depend on the fact that most days are like most other days. We walk or drive to work relying on stored memories, rather than actively processing information. We go through our routine tasks by "replaying the tapes" that our brains have stored away from past exposures to similar circumstances.
Another consistent message coming from Willingham, as well as a host of other educational researchers, is that we must respect the cognitive limitations of our students, who, by definition, lack the vast storehouse of background knowledge that teachers rely upon to interpret their own experiences.
References to past or even current events are often lost on contemporary students because they don’t have the data and the mental constructs to support a rich and varied stream of new ideas. Teachers often violate students’ working memory capacity by ignoring the fact that their own knowledge and experience allow them to juggle enormous clusters (chunks) of information in their working memory stores.
Students, meanwhile, find the torrent of incoming information falling off the edges of their mental desktops while they struggle to follow along. All too soon, the attention wanes and the eyes glaze over. Game over!
All college instructors worth their salt realize that not all students come to class with the same repository of past experience. There is a trap here--using mindless, simplistic labels such as "bright” or “sharp" for our students. Rather, we should recognize that we can productively divide students into groups based upon their level of mastery and assign them tasks that are within their capabilities.
In every section that we teach, there are students who need remedial work and there are those who are way ahead of the learning curve. To treat students all the same, in terms of their capacity to learn, is to disadvantage most.
But getting their attention and keeping it are two different things. Willingham says teachers should vary the pace of classes and change the activity from time to time to help students stay tuned in.
He suggests that instructors keep a journal of each section that they teach, jotting down exercises and experiences that engaged students and those that didn't.
Otherwise, he says, we run the risk of repeating the same mistakes term after term and missing out on instructional strategies that really engage whole groups of our students.
Einstein observed that, "Imagination is more important than knowledge." Willingham counters that knowledge is the raw material of which imagination is made. He says that factual knowledge--
1) is essential for reading comprehension.
2) leads to the formation of cognitive skills which require frequent retrievals from memory stores.
3) improves the storage and retrieval of incoming memories.
Rote memorization may not be the best way to charge our memory stores, but having no mental stores retards future progress.
What sort of knowledge, then, is essential for future learning? Willingham writes: "...Students must learn the concepts that come up again and again--the unifying ideas of each discipline."
He is in accord with those educators who argue that "...a limited number of ideas should be taught in great depth, beginning in the early grades and carrying through the curriculum for years, as different topics are taken up and ideas viewed and stored."
There is a great body of evidence and a host of educational researchers who support these ideas. Tying it all together and putting it into real practice is the trick. |
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13. Giveaways-- |
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Information Technology is giving away several four-drawer file cabinets, Steelcase desks, seven-foot-tall bookcases, wall partitions, modular office furniture, two-door cabinet, metal shelves and tables. These are located in the hallway of the EERC basement. If you see something you'd like, alert Telcom Customer Service; they'll mark it "taken." For more information, contact Diane Koskela at 487-0076 or at diane@mtu.edu . |
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