Megan Gilge, Tech Topics editorial assistant, 906-487-2343

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MICHIGAN TECH ANNOUNCES FINAL TUITION NUMBERS

submitted by the News Bureau

Michigan Tech's tuition will increase by 12.9 percent for the 2003-04 academic year. To maintain access for qualified students, the university will also increase financial aid by $2.9 million, or 24.7 percent.

Michigan Tech has overhauled its tuition and fee structure, moving to a per-credit charge. In previous years, students taking 12-18 credits paid a flat tuition rate, with freshmen and sophomores paying less than juniors and seniors.

For 2003-04, students will pay $227 per credit. Some students will see a reduction in tuition. Juniors and seniors taking 12 credits, for example, will see a 9.6 percent decrease.

A student taking 15 credits per semester, which the state uses to define full-time status, will pay $6,810 in tuition for the year. For 2002-03, freshmen and sophomores paid $5,782, while juniors and seniors paid $6,054.

Engineering and computer science students, except for freshmen, will pay an additional $400 per semester.

"We are trying to implement a fairer system," said President Curt Tompkins. "Providing a top-quality education in engineering and computer science is very expensive. It costs significantly less to provide a similar quality education to students in other fields."

The university will also adopt a one-price structure for graduate students. Beginning this fall, graduate students will pay $398 per credit. Grad students in engineering and computer science will also pay the surcharge.

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PECK CHO HONORED FOR SERVICE

Peck Cho, Michigan Tech's unofficial ambassador to Korea, has been selected to receive the 2003 Distinguished Service Award.

Since 1996, Cho has created a virtual highway between Michigan Tech and his native South Korea. Thanks to his efforts, hundreds of students have come here for study and research, from graduate students to high schoolers enrolling in Summer Youth. He has organized an ongoing summer teaching workshop for Korean high school teachers and arranged for dozens of MTU faculty and students to work and study in Korea. Michigan Tech's SAE Mini-Baja team will compete in Korea this year, due in no small part to Cho's efforts in finding a $7,000 gift from a Korean sponsor.

"Our students and faculty have been offered unique experiences, job opportunities, partners and collaborators for research, and travel adventures the likes of which would never have come our way without Peck," said Shalini Suryanarayana, associate director of educational opportunity, who nominated Cho for the Distinguished Service Award. "For this effort, we are all in your debt."

"He's always generous with his time and support," she said later. In addition to organizing exchange programs with Korea, he helps other students navigate MTU's waters.

"He's mentored a number of students working in our program," she said. "He has been tireless, without any expectation of reward.

"That kind of person really deserves notice."

According to Cho, it was not always thus. "It started after I came here," he says. "Before that, everything I did was to establish myself or support my family. Then I came here, and my wife, Christine, and I met so many people who were simply serving the community."

The Chos were so impressed that they considered writing a book about the area's culture of caring. "Why would they be doing this? Then I realized it was the lifestyle; it was just how they lived," he says. "It was amazing."

So Cho tried it himself, along with his family. "I was trying to emulate them," he says. "I had the opportunity to go back to Korea, and it just happened."

"But it's not really just the Korean thing," he adds. "It's more of a part of larger changes I wanted to incorporate in my lifestyle."

Suryanarayana credits Cho's family in part for his dedication to service. "His whole family is supportive, including Christina, his wife," she says. "Together, they have given a lot."

William Predebon, chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics, says Cho's program with Korea is just part of the service he brings to the university.

"He has a passion for teaching, to be innovative in the classroom," Predebon says. He has helped develop teaching materials for graduate students, as well as adding a teaching component to new faculty orientation.

Cho, a professor in the MEEM department, has received Michigan Tech's Distinguished Teaching Award twice, in both the assistant professor and the associate professor/professor categories. With his wife, he coauthored "Seven Reasons for Korean Revival: Educational Reform," which has become a leading how-to book for Koreans on improving their educational system. This year, he received the annual Parting of the Waters Award from the Black Students Association for his mentoring efforts.

Plus, he serves as the university's ombudsperson, attempting to broker solutions for conflicts throughout MTU. "That requires someone who can be objective and compassionate," Predebon said.

Outside of MTU, Cho is a member of the Lions and Rotary clubs, and his family is involved with two children, a boy and a girl, through Big Brothers/Big Sisters.

Yet he still feels he has lessons to learn. "It was the people of this Houghton community that awakened us to this lifestyle of service," he says. "I cannot say I understand them yet. I emulate them, but it hasn't become me, not yet. Maybe one day, I'll fully become one of them."

Cho will receive a cash prize of $2,500 and be honored at President's Convocation, on Sept. 17.

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MTU FUTURETRUCK TEAM TAKES A BRONZE

Michigan Tech has again finished among the top teams in FutureTruck, taking third place and $4,000 in the annual competition that challenges college students to build a better SUV. There was just one minor setback.

"We had to change the whole engine configuration at the last minute," said the team's advisor, Associate Professor John Beard (ME-EM).

At Ford Motor Company's proving grounds in Romeo, students were testing their Ford Explorer in preparation for the towing event when bad things started to happen.

"We got a phone call saying come back to the pits, the engine is blowing up," Beard said.

By the time he reached the dying vehicle, the students were already engineering its resurrection. Instead of using this year's new design to transfer power to the wheels, they reverted to the 2002 configuration. As they made the switch, they discovered the problem: a supporting part had failed, starting a chain reaction that snapped the drive shaft.

In less than 90 minutes, Michigan Tech's Explorer was back on the road. "Our team did really well," Beard said.

In FutureTruck, student teams take a conventional Ford Explorer and reengineer it to lower emissions and increase fuel economy without sacrificing performance, utility, safety and affordability. The event, sponsored by Ford and the Department of Energy, brings together teams from 15 top universities across North America.

The MTU Explorer was powered by a hybrid gas-electric engine, with the four-cylinder gas engine charging a bank of batteries. While Tech has yet to win the prestigious, invitation-only competition, it is traditionally one of a handful of schools to beat.

"It has a lot to do with the people involved, having the right people in the right spot on your team," said team captain Nick Manor, a senior in computer engineering. "We are one of the teams that build the truck to win. Those teams know how to talk to the judges, give the good presentations, write the good reports. Those are the teams at the top."

These teams also build on existing technologies, working to refine and improve them every year. "We shaved 300 pounds off the stock truck, which made us 50 pounds lighter than Wisconsin's truck," Manor said with a smile. "They embrace aluminum, but we did it with steel."

This year, FutureTruck was held in concert with Ford's centennial celebration. Thousands of spectators walked through the exhibit showcasing the FutureTruck entries.

Unlike in past years, MTU did not win any special awards, with one small exception

"On one of the down days, the staff got a little push scooter and had one representative from each team run the handling course," Manor said. "One of our guys, Brian Bartley, beat the times of seven of the trucks on foot.

"They painted the scooter to match our truck and gave it to us at the sponsor dinner. That was fun."

The University of Wisconsin-Madison finished first in 2003 FutureTruck, with the University of California at Davis taking second. Other participating schools were California Polytechnic State University, Cornell University, Georgia Tech, Ohio State University, Pennsylvania State University, Texas Tech, the University of Alberta, the University of Idaho, the University of Maryland, the University of Tennessee, Virginia Tech and West Virginia University.

For more information on FutureTruck, visit http://www.futuretruck.org . To learn more about Michigan Tech's team, including the advanced technologies it uses on its Explorer, visit http://www.me.mtu.edu/~fcc/

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POWER OUTAGES PLANNED FOR THIS MONTH

Facilities Management is holding a number of scheduled power outages this month as part of its upgrading of MTU's power grid.

They include the following:

ROTC AND ACADEMIC OFFICE BUILDINGS--Thursday, July 10, 5-7 a.m.

ANNEX BUILDING--Tuesday, July 15, 7-10 a.m.

ALUMNI HOUSE--Thursday, July 17, 5-7 a.m.

If you have questions or concerns, please contact Ozzie Klein or Bill McKilligan at 487-2711.

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ROGERS LOSES 240 POUNDS, FINDS HIS INNER HEALTH

HIS SECRETS: MOVE MORE, EAT LESS

Tony Rogers may be the first person ever to bring a doctor's note to Weight Watchers.

"They were going to kick me out," says Rogers, an associate professor of chemical engineering. "They said it was dangerous to lose weight this fast."

With his physician's blessing, he got back into Weight Watchers, kept losing weight, and so far he's doing just fine. In a year's time, Rogers has dropped about 240 pounds. In addition, his blood pressure has plummeted, he has the heart rate of an athlete, and his sleep apnea has disappeared.

Rogers' journey from size 60 to size 31 pants began in September 2001, with a trip to the Mayo Clinic. "There wasn't a crisis yet, but it was coming," he said. He suffered from congestive heart failure, chronic leg infections, edema and gout, and when he walked, "everything hurt." At 41, Rogers sensed, he would soon be a pretty good candidate for sudden death.

The Mayo Clinic agreed, and offered him one solution: gastric bypass surgery. He's still mad about that. "This cost Michigan Tech over $3,000!" Rogers says, holding up a fat medical report full of depressing numbers and one drastic treatment.

He was particularly disturbed that the clinic seemed to brush off his willingness to replace his unhealthy lifestyle with a lifetime of good habits. "I considered it a challenge," he says.

So, when he got home, instead of calling a surgeon, Rogers decided to apply ancient weight-loss wisdom: eat less, exercise more. And he did it according to his own personal philosophy: "Anything worth doing is worth overdoing."

First, with the support of his physician, Rogers signed up for medically supervised rehabilitation with Portage Health System. "I was one of several grossly overweight people they thought would never be back," he remembers.

They were wrong. He kept coming back, graduating from supervised therapy to daily visits at the Fitness Connection in the SDC. He joined under MTU's TechFit program, which helps Tech employees cover the cost of gym memberships. Soon he was walking the treadmill for 90 minutes at a crack and then doing an hour of resistance training with weights.

Meanwhile, he enrolled in Michigan Tech's Weight Watchers at Work program, lead by Nancy Bykkonen (Human Resources). Plus, he signed up with NutriSystem, which mails meals to its clientele, cutting his food intake down to about 1,000-1,200 calories. "I did that for portion control," said Rogers, who figures that, on his previous regimen of all pizza, all the time, he was probably taking in at least three times that much.

After about a year, he turned to regular grocery-store food, and now relies on Dinty Moore American Classics. While the microwave entrees aren't billed as diet dishes, they are moderate in calories and fat and provide that all-important portion control. Plus, they're easy.

"Just poke a hole in the top and shove them in the microwave."

His secrets? There aren't any you haven't heard before. He snacks on low-fat fare such as air-popped popcorn and grits (Rogers is from South Carolina) and, no chef himself, eats canned mixed vegetables for nutrition's sake. He uses mustard instead of mayonnaise, watches fat and calories and tries to eat plenty of fiber. His biggest vice now is diet pop. "I learned what everybody else already learned," he said.

It's not always easy. He admits to never feeling quite full. "And there are all kinds of subtle pressures to eat, every place you go," Rogers says. "Everything seems to revolve around food. But if you overindulge in it, it will get you into trouble."

Rogers wasn't heavy as a child. His serious weight gain began in 1984, when he started a sedentary career in academia, spending most of his time in the lab and the office. "It crept on year by year."

He places the blame squarely on his own shoulders. "I get so tired of people making excuses, saying they have emotional or eating problems," he says. "I was the cause of it. Nobody bent my elbow; that was my choice."

He may have gained weight slowly, but he lost it at the breakneck speed of nearly five pounds a week. After a few months, he was almost unrecognizable.

"I've had students who graduated a couple years ago stick their head in my office and ask me, 'Is Dr. Rogers around?' They don't recognize me."

Though a fraction of his former size, Rogers still has most of his size 60 skin. He's planning surgery to remove some of the extra around his middle, but there's the matter of the rest of him. While he may feel 20 years younger, sometimes people misjudge his age a little on the high side.

It's not always a disadvantage. "The clerks at the grocery store automatically give me the senior discount," he smiles.

Ironically, Rogers is probably the only person who still sees the old Tony.

"I still think of myself as overweight," he says. "My image of myself hasn't changed." Recently, after hearing that airlines would be assessing a surcharge on overweight passengers, he mentioned to his mother that he might have to pay extra to fly. She had to remind him that he no longer weighed 400 pounds.

Nevertheless, the change has been dramatic. His body fat was recently measured at 9.9 percent, not much higher than Michael Jordan's. His blood pressure has dropped from 176/94 in August 2001 to an average of about 94/60. His heart rate is around 54 beats per minute. He's off all the prescription drugs he was taking to combat the side effects of his unhealthy lifestyle. Even a bunion has disappeared.

Once, "everything hurt." Now, he has energy to burn and and can walk for miles. Plus, he's calmer, and his stress levels have plummeted, a particular benefit for a member of the University Senate. "I feel more prepared to come to work," Rogers said. "I think exercise does that in general."

If he has any advice, it's to take responsibility for your own health. And don't wait so long to do it.

"I tell my students that the time to address these issues is when you're 20, so you won't find yourself in the situation I was in," Rogers says.

Tony's Weight-Loss Tips for Those with a Lot to Lose

1) See a doctor to get a medical referral for physical therapy.

2) Begin supervised exercise.

3) See a nutritionist.

4) Join Weight Watchers for support and education.

5) Enroll with Nutri/System or use equivalent pre-packaged meals.

6) Join a gym when discharged from physical therapy.

7) Keep going!

"Doesn't sound so hard, eh?" says Rogers. "Michigan Tech's insurance is generous in this regard for supervised physical therapy, as long as a medical diagnosis of morbid obesity comes from the physician."

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MINERAL MUSEUM OPEN SATURDAYS

The Seaman Mineral Museum will be open to the public on Saturdays from noon to 4 p.m. through Sept. 27.

Visitors will see new displays of datolite, Lake Superior agate, greenstone, and calcite with copper inside in the Keweenaw Gallery.

The museum gift shop will be open, carrying distinctive gift items for anyone from the serious mineral collector to the "hard to buy for."

So, on free summer Saturday afternoons, tell your friends, relatives and out-of-town-guests: "Meet me at the museum!"

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MTU STUDENTS TO HELP FIGHT ALIEN INVASION ON MACKINAC ISLAND

by Laura Walikainen, student writer

Michigan Tech students are helping Mackinac Island residents address an invasion by a big, green exotic species.

The Mackinac Island Community Foundation came to University faculty members last fall with concerns about the proliferation of Norway maples, which are popping up in native forests around population centers on the island. While these European maples have been widely planted on the island and throughout the eastern United States as shade trees, they may pose a serious threat to native plant communities.

In addition to out-competing native plants such as sugar maples for sunlight and nutrients, Norway maple trees can spread aggressively into native forests.

The School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science is sending a team of forestry and applied ecology students to the island's rescue. They will research the degree of the invasion of the Norway maples on the island and then create a management plan with suggestions on controlling the problem.

Beginning this summer, one to two teams of students each year will be evaluating 240-acre tracts of the island's forests as part of a senior capstone course. At that rate, it will take about five years to finish their study of the 2,000-acre island. They will report on everything from land use and local history to all the trees and vegetation in the area.

"It's really a unique opportunity," said Assistant Professor Christopher Webster, who teaches the course. "Usually when we do an assessment close to Tech, there is a rich local history, but it's hard to pinpoint events that occurred on a particular tract of land. Mackinac Island is not only a culturally significant area, but there seems to be quite an amazing history on just about every square inch of the island."

Students will begin their research with a town meeting of sorts, discussing the island's issues with representatives from the State Park Commission and the community foundation.

"This will enable them to gain some great insights into the complex and multifaceted management issues that natural resource managers often face," Webster said. "This is more that just an academic exercise. These students will be encountering real management issues and real people."

ALIENS AMONG US

NORWAY MAPLES COMMON IN COPPER COUNTRY

"Norway maple trees are very common in this area also, especially around town," said Webster. They are available in gardening catalogues; one popular variety is Crimson King. According to the Mackinac Island Community Foundation, several key differences distinguish the exotic Norway maple from our native sugar maple:

Norway Maple

*Milky sap (break a leaf stem and see)

*Wings of seeds diverge widely

*Leaves 5- to 7-lobed

*Large, flat leaves, 5 to 7 inches wide

*Buds are rounded, few bud scales

*Bark more or less smooth

*Bark brown/gray

Sugar Maple

*Watery sap

*Wings of seeds almost at right angles

*Leaves 3- to 5-lobed

*Smaller leaves, 3 to 6 inches wide

*Buds are pointed, many scales

*Bark deeply furrowed on older trunks

*Bark dark gray

CLASSIC WESTERN NEXT CLUB INDIGO FEATURE

by Joe Kirkish

Mu Beta Psi music fraternity presents "High Noon" as July's Club Indigo, the monthly food-and-film event at the Calumet Theatre. The date is Friday, July 11.

"High Noon" is the definitive Hollywood western, renowned for many reasons. It is the first to feature a duel in the streets; it stars a stellar cast of Hollywood's best, including Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly; and it has been mounted with tight, suspenseful direction by Fred Zinneman. It also features Dmitri Tiomkin's classic "Do Not Forsake Me, O My Darlin,'" and, if that is not enough, it won a passel of Oscars in 1952--best actor, best musical score, best director, best editing. It also received acclaim from the American Film Institute for all of the above as well as best supporting actress (Katie Jurado), best original score, best picture and best original screenplay.

The plot is Western simplicity in itself. Cooper is a marshal in the small town of Hadleyville who faces four professional killers alone, after being abandoned by the townspeople who profess to admire him. Cooper is the ultimate hero figure; his sheer presence is overwhelming. Kelly, as his peace-loving bride, adds to the conflict because of her Quaker beliefs.

The fourth of the killers is to arrive on the noon train, to join the other three and face the marshal in the streets of the town. The film is shown in near-real time, as the hour approaches and everyone tensely awaits the precise moment when the shoot-out will occur. No western since has been able to explode on the screen with such suspenseful drama.

As additional interest, the short film "The Great Train Robbery" also will be shown. Movie begins at 7:15 p.m. in the theater for $3.50. Preceding the movie at 6 p.m., chef Erik Karvonen of the Eagle River Fitzgerald Restaurant will repeat his all-western buffet--including his famous outdoor barbequed steaks, southwestern style. Buffet and movie are still $13.

Reservations should be made for the buffet at the theater box office at 337-2610. Due to the nature of the meal, a limit of 120 servings will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis.

This Club Indigo is sponsored by the Isle Royale Queen III of Copper Harbor.

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LECTURE TO EXAMINE MICHIGAN LINKS TO ARIZONA MINING TOWNS

The impact of Michigan's mining industry on mines and mining communities in Arizona will be the focus of a public presentation at 4 p.m. on Thursday, July 17, in the reading room of the Michigan Tech Archives.

Katherine Benton-Cohen will report on her research into the Arizona mining industry's midwestern roots. Benton-Cohen is assistant professor of history at Louisiana State University, where she teaches U.S. women's history and the history of the American West. An Arizona native, she is a graduate of Princeton University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

In the early 20th century, men and women of Michigan and Minnesota's mining elite brought their visions for industrial social order to new copper mines in southeastern Arizona. Benton-Cohen will discuss the connections between the communities and corporations of the Upper Great Lakes and Bisbee, Ariz. In particular, she will explore the influences of midwestern town planning ideas and women's club work in the efforts of mine managers to create "ideal Americans" from a diverse workforce from nearly 40 countries.

Benton-Cohen's visit is sponsored through a travel grant from the Friends of the Van Pelt Library. She plans to use the resources of the Michigan Tech Archives to examine local connections to mines and communities in the Bisbee area.

This presentation is part of Michigan Tech's Archival Speakers Series, which highlights current research using the Archives' collections. The presentation is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be provided by the Friends of the Van Pelt Library.

For further information, contact the MTU Archives at 487-2505 or via e-mail at copper@mtu.edu.

.

NEW STAFF

Kari Kerkhoff has joined the Athletic Department staff as the assistant women's basketball coach. She was previously the graduate assistant coach at the University of Wisconsin-Stout. Kerkhoff has a BS in Physical/Health Education from the University of Nebraska, Omaha.

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FACULTY AND STAFF RECEIVE FUNDING

Associate Professor Ulrich Hansmann (Physics) has received $148,467 of a potential $599,137 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services--National Institutes of Health for his project, "Folding and Structural Transitions in Small Proteins."

Department Chair Theodore J. Bornhorst (GMES) has received $231,163 from Tennessee Technological University for his project, "Teachers Earth Science Institute."

Professor Kurt Pregitzer (SFRES) has received $38,000 from the U.S. Forest Service--North Central Research Station for his project, "Woody Plants, Carbon Allocation and Fine Roots."

Professor Martin Jurgensen (SFRES) has received $40,000 from the U. S. Forest Service--North Central Research Station for his project, "Retention and Recruitment of Coarse Woody Debris in High and Low Gradient Streams in Managed and Old Growth Forests."

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ON THE ROAD

Professor Emeritus Anton J. Pintar (Chemical Engineering) attended the 2003 Annual Conference of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) in Nashville June 22-25. He served as program chair for the Mathematics Division and co-chaired an ASEE Mathematics Division session, "Integrating Math into the Mechanical Engineering Curriculum." At the business meeting of the ASEE Mathematics Division, he was elected ASEE Mathematics Division chair for 2003-04. Also at the conference, Professor Emerita Phyllis Boutilier (Mathematical Sciences) received the 2003 ASEE Mathematics Division Distinguished Educator and Service Award at the Mathematics Division Luncheon. Lecturers Amy Monte and Gretchen Hein (Engineering Fundamentals) presented a paper, "Using Engineering Courses to Improve Precalculus Students' Success," at the Mathematics Division session, "Integrating Math, Science, and Engineering." The paper was nominated for the Best Paper Award.

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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 position will be posted Friday, July 11, 2003, at 1 p.m. through noon, Monday, July 18, 2003, in the Human Resources Office or at http://www.admin.mtu.edu/hro/postings/

Academic Advisor--Electrical and Computer Engineering

User Support Specialist--West Engineering Computing Network

System Administrator--Information Technology

Laboratory Supervisor--Biological Sciences

Data Analyst--Admissions

Assistant Research Accountant--Research Accounting

System Administrator--Auxiliary Technologies

Assistant to the Dean--Graduate School

Windows Application Specialist--West Engineering Computing Network

University employees are reminded to apply in writing prior to noon, Friday, July 18, 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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