Sue McDaniel, Tech Topics, editorial assistant, 906-487-2343

You can reach us via e-mail at ttopics@mtu.edu The deadline for submitting information for Tech Topics is 5:00 p.m. the Friday before anticipated publication.

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LODE WINS 2002 MPA AWARD FOR GENERAL EXCELLENCE

The Michigan Press Association/Michigan Collegiate Press Association has announced that the Michigan Tech Lode is the recipient of the 2002 Award for General Excellence in Division II (papers publishing weekly). In announcing this award, the MPA/PCPA commends the Lode for "Strong news coverage, excellent sports coverage, good student information. Good use of opinion/views pages. An enjoyable paper to read--well rounded paper."

This year's first place General Excellence Winners will be awarded plaques at the President's Luncheon during the 2002 MPA Winter Convention on Feb. 1 at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel in Grand Rapids.

The Lode also received the following awards in this state wide contest:

*Best Deadline Story: third place (Jana Jones, "Northern Exposure")

*Best Editorial: second place (Editorial Board "Senate Hold on 14/15 Change a Good Thing")

*Best News Graphic: first place (Paul Blodgett, "Enrollment at Michigan Tech")

*Best Overall Design: first place

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UNITED WAY CAMPAIGN COMES TO A CLOSE

The Michigan Tech United Way Campaign for 2002-03 has officially ended. Of the 1,208 forms distributed to MTU faculty and staff, 365 were returned with donations, making a 30 percent participation rate. In all, $35,580 was donated to this year's Copper Country United Way campaign by MTU. Campaign chair Ted Soldan (Fine Arts) was happy with the results. "While we didn't quite reach our goal of $40,000 this year, we came mighty close, and the participation rate is up, meaning more people are choosing to become involved," he said.

This year for the first time MTU employees were able to contribute using their credit cards. "Over $1,000 was donated using this new method, which is great for our first year," Soldan said.

Soldan went on to express his gratitude for the departmental solicitors. "These folks do a tremendous job distributing forms, collecting

donations, reminding folks and adding it all up at the end," he said. "Without them, none of this would be possible."

There is still time to give to the United Way. Just send your donation via campus mail to Ted Soldan, Fine Arts, and he will see it gets credited to this year's campaign.

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SONS AND DAUGHTERS SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE

MTU Employee Sons and Daughters Scholarships valued at $100 each will be available for the 2003-04 academic year. Applicants must be full-time MTU undergraduates in their first four years of study or high school students planning to enroll in fall 2003, and the sons or daughters of Michigan Tech employees. Applications are available in the Financial Aid Office, Administration 160. Deadline for application submission is Feb. 21.

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CELEBRATE CHINESE NEW YEAR

The Daniell Heights Residents' Council is sponsoring a Chinese New Year Celebration for the benefit of Huojin Cheng, an MTU graduate student, suffering from a life-threatening, blood-related cancer, multiple myeloma. The benefit will be held on Saturday, Feb. 1, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., in the St. Albert's University Parish dining hall.

Besides the freshly hand-made dumplings (pot-stickers), egg rolls and sweet rice balls will also be on sale. And if you want to learn how to make dumplings, they will be more than happy to teach you.

The cost is $2.50 for one plate of 12 non-vegetarian dumplings or $3.00 for vegetarian dumplings.

Everyone is welcome. Members of the council ask that you come out, show your support and have fun.

Any donation will be appreciated. Checks should be made out to "Huojin Cheng Fund."

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BOB AWARDS LUNCHEON FEB. 6

Staff Council invites everyone to join them in honoring the nominees for the BOB Awards (Best Of the Best of Michigan Tech staff) at a luncheon at noon on Thursday, Feb. 6, in the Memorial Union. All the nominees will be recognized and presented with certificates at the luncheon. Award recipients will be announced and presented with framed certificates.

Over 75 nominations have been received in categories such as Best Customer Service, Cleanest Building, Spark Plug, and Best Supervisor. Employees from the following departments were nominated: Accounting Services, Building Custodial Services (Academic Office Building, M&M Building, Forestry, SDC), Campus Store, Central Ticket Office, Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, College of Engineering, Center for Teaching, Learning and Faculty Development, Daniell Heights, DHH Residential Services Facilities, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Human Resources, Instructional Resource Services, Information Technology (Administration Building), Internal Audit, ME-EM, Memorial Union, Mont Ripley, Purchasing, Recreation, Rozsa Center, SDC, Student Affairs, Student Records and Registration and University Relations.

Tickets for the luncheon are $6 and can be purchased from any Staff Council representative or alternate, or you can contact Becky Christianson at 487-2416 or rwchrist@mtu.edu. Tickets must be purchased by 5 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 3. No tickets will be sold at the door. The luncheon will feature the MUB's Mexican buffet.

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BIGFOOT SNOWSHOE EVENT 2003 FEB. 8

The Bigfoot Snowshoe event will be held on Saturday, Feb. 8. The event is sponsored by MTU POWER, a student division of Counseling Services whose primary function is to lead workshops and give presentations to student groups on topics such as alcohol abuse, time management, stress management, depression and date rape.

This year's event will begin in the SDC lobby. There will be 2K, 4K and 6K courses for snowshoers of all ability levels, as well as trail guides from the Arnold Air Society. Demo shoes will be available for those with little or no experience. Registration for the 6K trail begins at 9 a.m. and registration for the 2K and 4K begins at 10 a.m. It will be held in conjunction with the grand opening of the permanent snowshoe trails that MTU will be maintaining throughout the winter.

There will be snacks and drinks available for participants both before and after the event, as well as a raffle at the end of the event, which is free to all participants. Some prizes include several pairs of new snowshoes and other snowshoe accessories, outdoor gear, gift certificates to area businesses and much more. The raffle will be held at noon, and participants must be present to win. Each participant will also receive a long sleeved t-shirt included in the price of registration.

Pre-registration fees are $8 for adults and $5 for MTU students and children. Registration the day of the event is $10 for adults and $7 for MTU students and children.

"We encourage you to get outside and enjoy the beauty of the outdoors with us for at least one beautiful Saturday morning," said Dan Hicks, MTU POWER student

To request a registration form or for more information, call MTU POWER at 487-2538 or e-mail power@mtu.edu.

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PORTAGE HEALTH TO HOST BLOOD DRIVE

Portage Health System will be hosting a blood drive on Monday, Feb. 10 from 2 to 5 p.m. in the Portage Health Conference Center.

The blood drive is held in cooperation with the Upper Peninsula Regional Blood Center at Marquette General Health System. People

with rare blood types are encouraged to donate, but all blood types will be accepted. Appointments are encouraged, but walk-in donors are welcome. Blood donated through this drive will be kept in the U.P.

For more information or to schedule an appointment to donate blood, call Tammy Hendra at 483-1566.

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FACULTY RECEIVE FUNDING

Professor Michael Roggemann (Electrical and Computer Engineering) has received $280,794 for the first year of a potential three-year project totaling $1,110,107 from UCLA for his project, "Atmospheric Propagation of High Energy Lasers: Modeling, Simulation, Tracking and Control."

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MTU PRESCHOOL HAS OPENINGS

The MTU Preschool currently has openings for winter and spring terms. Children ages 3-5 are eligible to enroll. MTU Preschool is a community preschool open to the general public and located in the Daniell Heights Community Center. For more information, call 483-4067 or 487-2720.

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TEACHING AT TECH:  ENRICHED INSTRUCTION?

by William Kennedy, Director

Center for Teaching, Learning and Faculty Development

Proponents of the idea that students have widely varying preferred learning styles usually wind up suggesting that teachers utilize a variety of instructional and assessment modes to level the playing field. Slave to logic that I am, this approach doesn't make much sense to me. Assume that preferred learning types (a la Kolb, Meyers-Briggs, Felder/Silverman or Hermann Brain Dominance model) are reasonably well-distributed in any given class. Periodically hopping from one instructional modality to another to better meet the needs of one subset of students while disadvantaging students with other preferred learning styles probably results in a zero sum gain, at best. If a significant majority of students has one preferred learning mode, which might likely be the case in some of the technical degree areas, then hopping about might actually result in reduced learning.

The same argument could be made against using multiple testing modalities to better meet the needs of diverse test takers. Although using a variety of teaching and testing modes might make these activities somewhat less tedious, it seems to me that simply "mixing it up" doesn't make much sense in the grand scheme of things.

Instead, I would argue for course design, delivery and testing methods that thoughtfully incorporate multiple, overlapping learning modalities through in- and out-of-class assignments and activities. My idea is to provide every student with multiple ways and means of mastering the ideas, learning the skills and wrestling with the values associated with what I teach. My emerging approach is to provide and reinforce key course concepts and ideas in many formats, most commonly including 1) shorter lecture/Socratic dialogues intended to raise questions and foster thinking rather than dump information, 2) concept maps to provide visual representations of new ideas, 3) targeted reading assignments presenting alternative points of view followed by required written responses with subsequent feedback from me, 4) case studies to provide contextual understanding and real-world applications, and 5) student presentations followed by constructive criticism from me and other students to test the rigor of a student's understanding and to develop critical skills. Some like it, most are willing to tolerate it, a few despise it, but most seem to be learning more robustly and deeply.

Large class sizes and time constraints make some of these modes more difficult, or even impossible, to apply in all classes. The underlying idea, however, is that not every student has to utilize each of these experiential learning modes for individual or aggregate class learning to increase. Try them all, do well in some, and let the rest go.

Similarly, I am trying to allow students to demonstrate mastery in a number of ways. Some students seem to learn best when they are required to write a brief essay on an issue; others do better when they are given the opportunity to explain the concept to other students in a report or presentation; still others only get truly engaged when they are forced to defend their position in a debate or discussion.

Over the last few years, more and more instructors are complaining to me about the increasing percentage of unmotivated, unfocused students in their classes, students who seem unwilling or unable to put forth the effort necessary to master course concepts. These complaints often come from faculty members who have demonstrated a commitment to quality teaching over the years. Quite honestly, I must admit that I find myself having to work harder and harder to connect with many of my students and to get and keep them excited and interested in the ideas in the courses that I teach. I find myself scrambling, term after term, to create a classroom atmosphere where most, if not all, of the students are actively engaged and enthusiastic about learning.

The classroom experience and the opportunity to relate to professors and other students are the primary things that separate a residential college experience from distance education. Capitalize on these opportunities and use your class time creatively!

ECO-LIT PRESENTATION FEATURES MICHIPICOTEN ISLAND

The February Eco-Lit meeting with feature a multimedia presentation by David Whyte, "An Introduction to Michipicoten Island: Lake Superior's Wild Heart," on Monday, Feb. 3, at 7 p.m. in Dow 642.

Whyte's presentation will feature his explorations of Lake Superior's other large island wilderness. Michipicoten Island is located in the northeast corner of Lake Superior and is an Ontario Provincial Park. This rugged, obscure and isolated island is the second-largest island in Lake Superior and holds the distinction of being the least visited park in all of North America. It is rich in history and legend featuring abandoned mines and fisheries, shipwrecks, historic lighthouses, spectacular scenery, unusual plants and wildlife, including a large herd of woodland caribou. Michipicoten Island is surrounded by the vast imposing wild expanse of Lake Superior.

Whyte is an insatiable outdoor enthusiast. His accomplishments include spending a northern Manitoba winter under canvas, and travelling 1400 kilometers by canoe and portage through the Canadian sub-arctic from Yellowknife to the Arctic Ocean. Currently, he is an environmental planner based in the Lake Simcoe region of southern Ontario. He remains preoccupied with the beauty and history of Canada's less populated regions. His other works include the 1997 journal, "The Hummingbird from Resolute: Memoirs of a Journey to the Polar Sea."

Everyone is welcome, and books are available at Northwind Books. Mention that you are with Eco-Lit and you will receive a 20 percent discount on your purchase.

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DETROIT JAZZ TRUMPETER PERFORMING AT MTU

submitted by Fine Arts

One of Detroit's leading jazz musicians, trumpeter Marcus Belgrave, brings his world-class sound and down-home style to the Rozsa Center on Friday, Feb. 7, at 8 p.m., when he performs with the Jazz Lab Band in Michigan Tech's annual Black History Month jazz concert. Belgrave's virtuosity, soulful tone, improvisational creativity and the warmth and joy of his music-making have made him one of America's premiere performers since the '60s.

Belgrave's career includes tours and recording sessions with virtually all the jazz greats of his time, from the Ray Charles Orchestra to Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. After working in New York with Charles Mingus, Eric Dolphy, Max Roach and others, he moved to Detroit in the mid-'60s to join Motown Records, where he played with the finest artists in America and became a fixture in the Detroit jazz scene. His recordings encompass the whole history of jazz musical styles, from early New Orleans to swing, bebop and on to the latest contemporary sounds.

In Detroit, Belgrave has worked actively with young musicians, becoming the original faculty member of the Oakland University jazz studies program, co-founding jazz studies at the Detroit Metro Arts Complex, founding the Jazz Development Workshop in Detroit and teaching at the Oberlin Conservatory. This is his second visit to Michigan Tech, where he works with students in MTU's jazz studies program, directed by Associate Professor Mike Irish (Fine Arts).

"This is a great experience for our students," said Milton Olsson, the Department of Fine Arts, who worked with Belgrave in the '60s in Detroit. "We are thrilled to bring Marcus back to Michigan Tech for this concert. He's a wonderful performer, and brings a personal warmth to his concerts that I can only compare to Louis Armstrong. It's a rare chance for all of us to experience jazz in this great tradition."

Tickets for the concert are available from Rozsa Center Ticketing Services (487-3200 or http://www.tickets.mtu.edu) for $10 general, $5 students. More information about the concert is available from the Department of Fine Arts, 487-2067.

MEEM GRADUATE SEMINAR JAN. 30

Jeffrey A. Allen of the National Center for Microgravity Research on Fluids and Combustion at the NASA John H. Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field will present a seminar, "Measurement of Small Contact Angles and Analysis of Gas-Liquid Flow in Capillaries," on Thursday, Jan. 30, 3-4 p.m. in MEEM 112.

IN PRINT

Associate Professor Barry Solomon (Social Sciences) recently published three journal articles: "Local Emissions Trading in Developing Countries as a Transitional Strategy toward International Greenhouse Gas Trading: A Beijing Example," in the International Journal of Environment and Pollution, Vol. 18, No. 6 (2002); "Environmental Equity in Michigan," in the The Pennsylvania Geographer, Vol. 40, No. 2 (Fall/Winter 2002); and "Eco-Labeling for Energy Efficiency and Sustainability: A Meta-Evaluation of US Programs," in Energy Policy, Vol. 31, No. 2 (January 2003). The first paper was co-authored with Qingsong Ji and the others with Abhijit Banerjee (M.S., Environmental Policy, 2001).

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ON THE ROAD

Professor Patrick Martin (Social Sciences) presented a paper, "The Archaeology of Industrialization," at the Society for Historical Archaeology annual meeting in Providence, R.I., on Jan. 16.

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CALENDAR: FEBRUARY

1          Saturday

            6:30-9:30 p.m.--Benefit for Huojin Cheng/Chinese New Year Celebration--St. Albert dining hall

            7:05 p.m.--Hockey, St. Cloud State at MTU--SDC

            8 p.m.--Fred Winters and Christopher Carter--Rozsa Center

2          Sunday

            7 p.m.--Sam Bush--Rozsa Center

3          Monday

            7 p.m.--Eco-Lit Meeting/Presentation, "An Introduction to Michipicoten Island"--Dow 642

6          Thursday

            Noon--BOB Awards Luncheon--Memorial Union

            7:30 p.m.--Men's Basketball, Saginaw Valley State at MTU--SDC Gym

7          Friday

            8 p.m.--trumpeter Marcus Belgrave with the Jazz Lab Band--Rozsa Center

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MICHIGAN TECH POSITIONS AVAILABLE

Job descriptions will be available at 1 p.m. on Friday, or by e-mail at <JOBS@MTU.EDU>.

The following positions will be posted Friday, January 31, 2003, at 1 p.m. through noon, Friday, February 7, 2003, in the Human Resources Office or at http://www.admin.mtu.edu/hro/postings/

Staff Assistant (N6)--Department of Computer Science (UAW internal posting only)

Research Engineer/Scientist II--School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science

Office Assistant 3--Center for International Education (Regular, part-time position; 20 hours per week; UAW internal and external posting)

Staff Assistant (N6)--Center for International Education (UAW internal posting only)

University employees are reminded to apply in writing prior to noon, Friday, February 7, 2003, to be considered as internal candidates for bargaining unit positions only. Applicants from the recall pool will be given first consideration for non-bargaining-unit positions only. Vacancy announcements are normally posted every Friday at 1 p.m. in the Human Resources Office. Complete job descriptions are available in the Human Resources Office or by calling 487-2280. More information regarding employment opportunities is available by calling the Job Line at 487-2895. Michigan Technological University is an equal opportunity educational institution/equal opportunity employer.

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