1. MTU BIOTECH RESEARCHERS RECEIVE $2.1 MILLION NSF GRANT

Michigan Tech researchers have been awarded a $2.1 million grant to study a critical mechanism for trees' survival that may also stunt their growth.

Since the time of Hippocrates, people have chewed on willow leaves and bark to alleviate pain. About 2,000 years later, they began manufacturing aspirin from a compound extracted from the tree. As it turns out, that family of compounds, called phenolic glycosides, also plays a key role in plant health, making many plants tough and disease-resistant.

However, plants spend a lot of energy producing phenolic glycosides, energy they could use to grow bigger. In the wild, that's not a problem. But in plantations, where trees are grown for lumber and pulp, size does matter.

With the backing of a Plant Genome Research grant from the National Science Foundation, a team of researchers led by Associate Professor Chung-Jui Tsai (SFRES) will investigate the genetic underpinnings of phenolic glycoside production and how it relates to plant growth.

"Our goal isn't to produce new trees," said Tsai, director of the Biotechnology Research Center. "It's to identify the genes that control the balance between growth and fitness."

The team will study various species and hybrids within the Populus genus, which includes quaking aspen and black cottonwood. Like their cousin the willow, these species are unusually high in phenolic glycosides. Despite this, they are among the fastest-growing trees in nature, so the researchers suspect that they have somehow evolved a way to compensate for the high energy cost of phenolic glycoside production.

And, because the Populus genome was recently sequenced, the researchers have the DNA blueprint they need to begin fishing out the pertinent genes.

The researchers will study trees and cell cultures representing a variety of natural Populus species. Using microarray technology, the team aims to pinpoint which genes relate to phenolic glycoside production and growth.

They will also examine whether some hybrids can turn on production of the protective compounds when they are under stress and turn off production when the stress is eliminated.

Identifying this mechanism could help tree growers develop hybrids that produce more commercial wood products in less space. "Ideally, you'd want 'smart trees' that produce phenolic glycosides only when and where they are needed," said Research Assistant Professor Scott Harding (SFRES), a co-principal investigator on the project.

Because the research requires high-end mathematical analysis and database development, the team includes scientists from a number of disciplines. Other co-principal investigators on the project are Research Scientist I Hongying Jiang (SFRES), who specializes in bioinformatics; Associate Professor Shuanglin Zhang (Mathematical Sciences); and Mark Davis, of the Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory, in Golden, Colo. In addition, the project will support one postdoc and three graduate students, one in math and two in forest biotechnology.

The four-year research project also includes education and outreach components developed by Valorie Troesch, director of development for research and the graduate school. The team plans to start a Summer Youth Exploration on biotechnology, including scholarships for participants. In addition, it expects to host a professional microarray workshop for tree biologists from around the country.

The project was made possible in part by a 2001 Michigan Life Sciences Corridor grant that funded the microarray facility at Michigan Tech and other resources used for functional genomics research.

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2. SKI SWAP COMING UP

It's time to get rid of your old ski equipment and shop for some new stuff. The Copper Country Alpine Ski Club is holding its annual ski swap at Mont Ripley on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 29-30.

Sales of new and second-hand downhill, cross-country and snowboarding equipment, as well as clothing and accessories, will be from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 30, at the ski hill. In addition to two ski shops, Salomon and Fisher ski companies will be selling new equipment this year.

If you want to sell your old equipment, bring it to the hill Friday, Oct. 29, between 6 and 8 p.m. or on Saturday between 8 and 10 a.m. You can pick up your sales revenues (or unsold equipment) after Saturday's sale, between 2 and 3 p.m.

A 20 percent commission is charged on items sold, which benefits the Copper Country Alpine Ski Club youth racing programs.

Season passes and locker rentals will also be available. Mt. Ripley's target date for the start of ski season is the weekend after Thanksgiving.

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3. VACATION MESSAGE SERVICE AVAILABLE

Information Technology Distributed Computing Services has added automatic e-mail response to the campus central e-mail system. If you are in need of this service, you may access it from the "E-Mail at Michigan Tech" web page (http://email.mtu.edu).

1. Select "Set Up Vacation Message."
2. Choose the time period during which the message should run.
3. Specify the message content.
4. Click "Submit Settings."

The vacation autoresponder will now send your specified message in reply to your incoming e-mail. It will not reply to bulk or list mail, and it keeps track of who it has responded to so will send only one notice to each correspondent.

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4. MICHALEK RE-ELECTED CAC CHAIR

Associate Professor Donna Michalek (MEEM) was recently re-elected as chair of the Computer Advisory Committee (CAC). This will be Michalek’s second two-year term as Chair. The CAC provides a forum for discussion of computer-related issues and makes recommendations to the Computer Executive (CEX) Committee on computing policies, procedures, initiatives and directions.

All members of the campus community are encouraged to contact the CAC regarding any such issues. For more information on the CAC and its membership, see http://www.it.mtu.edu/cac

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5. KCF FRENZY THURSDAY, OCT. 28

Wear your favorite team jersey or apparel to represent who and what you're for in the Keweenaw. Live and silent auctions, raffles, music, theMTU Pep Band and a pig roast plus fabulous food and special guests will be part of the celebration benefitting the Keweenaw Community Foundation Thursday, Oct. 28 from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. in the MUB Ballroom.

Join the KCF FRENZY Honorary Co-Chair team MTU sports coaches Bernie Anderson, Kevin Luke, John Barnes, Krista Mikesch, and Jamie Russell.

Live and silent auction items include signed sports memorabilia, vacation packages, gorgeous jewelry, stunning artwork, fishing trips, a sailboat cruise, an ethnic dinner, theater packages, MTU coach for a day, family entertainment, pampered women's/spoiled man's/spoil-your-spouse packages, an extreme room makeover, college and professional game tickets, a Super Bowl party, an extreme makeover and so much more.

Since 1999 the Keweenaw Community Foundation has met diverse community needs in Houghton and Keweenaw counties. KCF grant awards totaling over $850,000 have been given to nonprofit organizations that promote the arts, local history, natural preservation and programs to support youth, seniors and health services.

KCF offers a variety of ways to give at maximum tax benefit. They provide professional assistance to donors for creating endowment funds and persoanl legacies for the causes they care about most.

Tickets are available at teh Memorial Union, Portage Health System, WMPL, Edward Jones Investments-Hancock and WOLV, or by calling the KCF at 482-9673.

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6. TRICK-OR-TREAT ON COLLEGE AVENUE

 The MTU Greeks are hosting their second annual trick-or-treat at participating fraternity and sorority houses on College Avenue on Oct. 31 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. There will be big pumpkin signs in front of the yards of the houses participating.

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7. DELTA SIGMA PHI RECEIVES NATIONAL AWARD

The Delta Sigma Phi fraternity chapter on Michigan Tech’s campus received the Pyramid of Excellence Award, the highest award presented by their fraternity headquarters. This award recognizes those chapters that have been judged the most outstanding in all areas of chapter operations and programming. The chapter averaged a 2.83 GPA in fall 2003, the highest fraternity GPA for that semester on the MTU campus. They also participated in several philanthropies including March of Dimes’ Walk America and Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly.

Chapter President Robert Hicks said, “We are extremely proud to win this award. Delta Sigma Phi strives to be better men and winning this award encourages the members to strive for excellence.”

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8. TEACHING AT TECH--SMART COOKIE?

by William Kennedy, director of the Center for Teaching, Learning and Faculty Development

On the first day of class, I tell my students that my goal is to help them to learn as much as they possibly can. I tell them that if they choose to work hard and to take the course seriously, they will find the experience rewarding and valuable. I tell them that nothing would please me more than if they all earned As in the course. I assure them that earning an A is a choice that each of them can make.

Perhaps some students are smarter than others. I frequently hear teachers use thinly sanitized terms such as "bright" and "sharp" to identify students that they deem above average in intelligence. I will reserve comment on the hubris required to deem another human being as "bright."

Intelligence seems a benign notion on its face. However, when it is associated with genetics, it always takes on a more ominous tone. Psychologist Gustav Le Bon wrote in 1879 that women represent "the most inferior form of human evolution and that they are closer to children and savages than to an adult civilized man." Le Bon said that providing women with the same education as men is a "dangerous chimera."* Adolf Hitler taught that the descendants of the Aryans possessed, among a host of other desirable genetic traits, superior intellects. The social agenda that grew out of these beliefs remains fresh in our collective memory. Hernstein and Murray's 1994 work, The Bell Curve, concluded that success in life is correlated with cognitive ability and ignited a firestorm by asserting that intelligence testing demonstrates that genetically influenced cognitive abilities may be associated with race.** Critics from a variety of disciplines cried "foul" and scrambled to attack The Bell Curve and its methodology.

Linda Gottfredson, Professor of Education and co-director of the Delaware-Johns Hopkins Project for the Study of Intelligence and Society, writes that regardless of the clamor and venom arising from those "Bell Curve" findings, the evidence stands that genetically-based disparities are "real, important, and enduring" and that demonstrable performance gaps persist in spite of well-meaning attempts to eliminate them through preschool interventions and other programmatic palliatives.*** Gottfredson says those who deny genetically-based disparities do so by putting forth one or more of seven falsehoods: 1) intelligence doesn't exist, 2) if it does exist, it can't be measured, 3) if it can be measured, it can't be measured fairly, 4) even if it can be measured fairly, it doesn't matter, 5) even if it matters, it represents only a single measure of one of the many desirable attributes a person might possess, 6) such measures are, when all is said and done, are artifacts of privilege rather than authentic measures of something heritable, and 7) even if these are measures of something heritable, the traits being measured are highly malleable.***

Gottfredson boldly proffers the validity and utility of a general measure of cognitive ability (termed "G") which can be determined by a battery of various tests and IQ measures. According to Gottfredson, this G factor correlates strongly with many life outcomes including socioeconomic success and even longevity. The sorts of abilities that make up one's G score include measures of reading decoding, closure speed, ideational fluency, memory for sound patterns, verbal ability, spatial aptitude and short-term memory. Gottfredson says that an objective look at the data related to G demonstrates, among other things, that institutions that employ preferential admission policies to address past inequities are fooling themselves by pretending that students of lesser ability will be able to compete effectively with students with higher Gs. Such institutional meddlings, according to Gottfredson, ultimately result in schools lowering their standards to accommodate the needs of students with lesser intellectual abilities, thus sacrificing the progress of high-G fast learners. Instead, she says, lower-G students need "ability-appropriate instruction, not identical instruction, race-specific curricula, or patronizing pretense. In concrete terms, lower-G students require more complete and concrete instruction in smaller increments with more scaffolding…" ****

With the specter of eugenics still fresh in the air, I prefer to pattern my teaching practice after that of the hopeful farmer using the seed that I have been given, laboring under uncertain skies, to bring in the very best crop that the ever-changing conditions will allow. If I expect to see a bell curve, I will probably find one. If I expect an unusually abundant harvest, I find that I am more likely to realize one, as well.

* Kirszner & Mandell, The Blair Reader, Prentice Hall, 1996.
** New York: The Free Press
*** Implications of Cognitive Differences for Schooling within Diverse Societies, in Frisby & Reynolds, Comprehensive Handbook of Multicultural School Psychology, New York, in press, Wiley
****"Do Smarts Rule?" The Wilson Quarterly, Summer 2004.

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9. CELLIST ROSS HARBAUGH TO APPEAR WITH KEWEENAW SYMPHONY

Cellist Ross Harbaugh of the Bergonzi String Quartet will perform with the Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra on Saturday, Oct. 23, at 7:30 p.m. in the Rozsa Center, playing the cello concerto by Edward Elgar. Harbaugh is well-known in the Keweenaw as a member of the Bergonzi Quartet, which appears in the Pine Mountain Music Festival each summer, and from concert appearances at Michigan Tech dating back to 1977.

In addition to the Elgar concerto, the orchestra will feature Beethoven's Symphony No. 1. Milton Olsson, KSO music director and chair of the Department of Fine Arts, will also conduct one of his own works, "Konzertstück: Waldkreiburg 1998."  Tickets for the concert are available from the Rozsa Center Box Office (487-3200 and http://www.tickets.mtu.edu) for $15 general, $5 students.

Harbaugh first performed at Michigan Tech with the DeVos Quartet, composed of musicians from the Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra, in early 1977. He returned several times with the acclaimed New World Quartet, which he helped found, and as a soloist with the KSO. In addition to playing with the popular Bergonzi, he currently teaches at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Flo. He has appeared as soloist with numerous orchestras including the Atlanta, Cincinnati and Grand Rapids Symphonies, and has recorded for the Vox, MCI Classics, IMP Masters, CRI, Centaur, Golden Crest, and Musical Heritage labels. His distinguished teachers include Janos Starker and Leonard Rose in the U.S. and Andre Navarra at the Paris Conservatory.

Harbaugh's appearance with the KSO is supported by a grant from the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs. 

Olsson notes that all three pieces on Saturday's program are favorites of audiences and evoke strong emotions. Elgar's cello concerto, written in the aftermath of World War I, has always stirred listeners. In a different vein, Beethoven's first symphony is a "happy, ebullient kind of piece, positive and upbeat," combining elements of the classical tradition with early examples of Beethoven's distinctive style. Olssen's Konzertstück ("Concert Piece") combines traditional harmonies with elements of 12-tone composition in a satisfying synthesis which highlights the range of musical colors in the orchestra.

This concert introduces the KSO's new concertmaster, Jubal Fulks, who recently moved to the Keweenaw from New York. After earning bachelor's and master's degrees at the North Carolina School of the Arts, Fulks received the DMA degree from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He is an accomplished recitalist and teacher.

More information about this concert and upcoming KSO events, including Handel's "Messiah" on Dec. 4 and Mozart's "Sinfonia Concertante" on Feb. 26 with Glenn Basham, violin, and Pamela McConnell, viola, is available from the Department of Fine Arts, 487-2067.

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10. “NIGHT OF THE HUNTER" AT CLUB INDIGO

"Night of the Hunter" is the one and only film directed by actor Charles Laughton, who mounted the film as a juicy allegory of evil, greed and innocence. It shocked audiences in the 1950s and it still shocks today. You can see for yourself when the Mu Beta Psi music fraternity sponsors it on Friday, Oct. 22 at the next Calumet Theatre Club Indigo.

Set in the Deep South during the Great Depression of the 930s, Robert Mitchum gives what has been called "one of cinema's greatest performances as a demented man--part preacher, part murderer, totally determined to track down a stash of stolen money in the possession of two little kids." He follows the kids to a farm owned by a wise old farm lady (played with a mix of tenderness and gutsy determination by silent screen actress Lillian Gish), where he haunts them day and night with every chilling, devious device in his evil repertoire. The climactic moments of the film are startling even now, packed with eerie thrills, suspense and just a dash of absurdity. As Mitchum runs away with his role as murderer in saintly garb, Gish proves herself still a master of ironic humor when at a church picnic, she says, with the voice of purity, "My whole body's just a-quiverin' with clean-ness," while she looks about like a bulldog in heat.

This pre-Halloween film takes place at 7:15 p.m. in the theater, preceded by an all-Southern gourmet buffet in the adjacent ballroom at 6 p.m. Chef Eric Karvonen, no stranger to Southern cooking, plans a feast of foods in his buffet that are reminiscent of the Deep South. With tongue in cheek, he says, to celebrate the season he just might include a few things in Halloween fashion.

For limited seating, reservations should be made for the buffet by calling the theater at 337-2610. No reservation is necessary for the movie alone. The combination of food and film is $15, the film alone, $3.50.

Jody of North Station, Copper Harbor, sponsors "Night of the Hunter," claiming it to be her all time favorite from the 1950s. North Station is open through the fall and returns for the pre-Christmas season to the Copper Country Mall.

SEMINARS AND WORKSHOPS News  |  Entertainment & Enrichment  |  Seminars and Workshops   |  Regular Features  |  Calendar

11. CHEATING WORKSHOP THURSDAY, OCT. 28

The Center for Teaching, Learning, and Faculty Development is conducting a workshop titled "Cheating Crisis?" on Thursday, Oct. 28, from noon to 1 p.m. Lunch will be available at 11:45 a.m. to those who register by Monday, Oct. 25.

Nationwide, incidents of cheating and plagiarism are on the increase. Some educators suggest that the increase in the number of cases of academic dishonesty reflects changing cultural mores. Join us as Patricia A. Gotschalk, Director of Student Judicial Affairs, explores strategies for promoting academic integrity at Michigan Tech.

To register for this workshop, please contact the CTLFD, 487-2046, or e-mail Marlene Brown (mbrown@mtu.edu) by Monday, Oct. 25.

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12. PETROLEUM EXPLORATION SEMINAR FRIDAY

Lori Summa, American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) Distinguished Lecturer, will be presenting a seminar about petroleum exploration in the Niger Delta on Friday, Oct. 22, from noon to 1 p.m. in Dillman 320. The seminar is titled "Issues and Approaches for Integrated Hydrocarbon Systems Analysis in Tertiary Deltas--What We have Learned: Examples from Deep Water Nigeria."  Sponsors of the seminar are the Department of Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences and AAPG.

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13. PHYSICS COLLOQUIUM THURSDAY

Professor Marc J. Madou of the University of California, Irvine, will present a physics colloquium, "From MEMS to NEMS with Carbon," Thursday, Oct. 21, at 4 p.m., in Fisher 139. In this talk, applications of carbon MEMS for smart switchable microbattery arrays, and DNA microarrays will be discussed. Madou is the Chancellor's Professor at UCI and the author of several books including the popular "Fundamentals of Microfabrication," an introduction to MEMS which has become known as the bible of micromachining. For more information, contact Yoke Khin Yap, ykyap@mtu.edu, 487-2900.

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14. COMPUTER SCIENCE SEMINAR FRIDAY

Friday, Oct. 22, Associate Professor Dave Poplawski (Computer Science) will present "A JAVA Overview and Tutorial" in Fisher 139, at 3 p.m. Java has been taking over as the language of choice for the early programming courses in universities around the world. MTU's CS department
started using it in 1999 ,switching from C++. Java has also become a mature language and is being used extensively in real-life commercial, engineering and industrial applications.

Since there is much more to Java than can be covered in one hour, this seminar will be a tutorial of its more interesting features. Poplawski will contrast Java with C++, and to some extent C. The presentation style will be a mix of static overhead slides and demonstrations of executing Java programs. The seminar will be conducted in an interractive style, with the audience providing ideas and direction.

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15. GEOLOGY PRESENTATION THURSDAY

The Copper Country Rock and Mineral Society will be hosting Buddy Wylie and some of his students who made a trip to Labrador and Newfoundland this summer. The title of the presentation will be "To the Mantle and Back--A Field and Mineral Collecting Excursion Through Labrador and Newfoundland with Extra Stops in Maine, New Hampshire, and Quebec." The talk will take place Thursday, Oct. 21 in EERC 103 at 8 p.m.

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16. MECHANICAL ENGINEERING SEMINAR THURSDAY

The Department of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics will host a graduate seminar presented by Professor Krishnaswamy Ravi-Chandar of the University of Texas-Austin. The title of presentation will be "Mechanical Behavior of Stents and Stented Arteries,” and it will take place Thursday, Oct. 21, at 3 p.m. in MEEM 112.

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17. BIOLOGY SEMINAR THURSDAY

The Department of Biological Sciences presents a seminar by Joel Graber, “More Than Just Transcription: Computational Studies of Post-Transcriptional Gene Regulation,” on Thursday, Oct. 21, at 4 p.m. in Dow 641. Refreshments will be served.

Gene regulation, the activation/deactivation of specific genes, is a complex phenomenon controlled at many levels. Most studies of gene
expression and regulation focus primarily on transcriptional control; however, any step in the progression from DNA to RNA to protein is a potential point of regulation. Much of the talk will focus on the role of post-transcriptional processes in early animal development.

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18. MATH COLLOQUIUM FRIDAY

The Department of Mathematical Sciences will be presenting a colloquium Friday, Oct. 29, at 1:05 p.m. in Fisher Hall 329. The speaker will be Charles Groetsch, from the Department of Mathematics, University of Cincinnati. The title of his colloquium will be "Inverse Problems for the Classroom."

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19. CHEMISTRY COLLOQUIUM FRIDAY

Assistant Professor Ramakrishna Wusirika (Biological Sciences) will present a chemistry colloquium, "Comparative Analysis of Plant Genes and Genomes," Friday, Oct. 22, at 3 p.m. in Chem Sci 101. For more information, contact Haiying Liu, hyliu@mtu.edu, 487-3451.

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20. FOURTH THURSDAY IN HISTORY--RESEARCHING YOUR HISTORIC PROPERTY

If you live in a historic house, own a historic commercial property or are interested in acquiring either, chances are you'll benefit from some help on how best to tackle the variety of maintenance and repair challenges. With this in mind, the Calumet Public Library has joined forces with Calumet Main Street to establish a new collection of preservation handbooks and references that are available to the public.

John Rosemurgy, Historical Architect with Keweenaw National Historical Park, will provide information on sources for researching historic properties. He will also explore how to read a building's physical evidence for clues on how best to determine and implement historically appropriate repairs and improvements. Deb Oyler, Director of the Calumet Public School Library, will unveil the publications available through the library's new preservation collection. The event will take place at 7 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 28 in the Calumet Public School Library located in Calumet High School near the corner of US-41 and Red Jacket Road in Calumet. The presentation is free and open to the public.

This presentation is part of the "Fourth Thursday in History" program jointly sponsored by Keweenaw National Historical Park and the MTU Archives and Copper Country Historical Collections. Additional support for this event is provided by the Calumet Public School Library.

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21. DEVELOPING YOUR PERSONAL BRAND: LEARN HOW OCT. 28

Richard Schalter (BS BA ‘77), president of Spartan Motors Chassis, will give a talk Thursday, Oct. 28, on one of the most important and elusive keys to success in business: personal branding.

Schalter will present "Personal Brand: Everything's Riding on It" at 1:15 p.m. in Dow 641.

Since 2002, Schalter has been president and CEO of Spartan Motors Chassis, a leading manufacturer of custom fire, rescue and recreational chassis. The Charlotte-based company is a subsidiary of Spartan Motors, which has annual sales in excess of $200 million.

Many professionals begin their careers relying on a full array of technical skills while neglecting their personal brand, a critical component of success. Your personal brand includes those character traits that set you apart from your peers and make you stand out in the crowd. Schalter will describe how he established his personal brand while positioning Spartan Motors Chassis into its current role as a world leader in the custom chassis manufacturing industry.

He will discuss how to establish your personal brand, build professional development skills, and cultivate the characteristics sought by corporate employers.

Schalter joined Spartan Motors in 1996, serving as its chief financial officer and secretary-treasurer of the board of directors before being named president of Spartan Motors Chassis. Prior to joining Spartan, Schalter served as treasurer and director of finance and administration of Great Lakes Hybrids, an international distributor of agricultural products. He also serves as treasurer and financial administrator for Martin Systems, Inc., a global supplier of electrical controls and machine operating systems.

Schalter's visit is sponsored by the School of Business and Economics. For more information, contact Don Savera, djsavera@mtu.edu, 487-2063.