April 27, 2001, Vol. 33, No. 32
Two Named to Board of Control
Senate Approves Bioinformatics Program
Bowen Leaving for Bucknell
Faculty Needed for Academic Integrity Committee
Summer Hours Start May 13
Nominees Sought for Employee Excellence Awards, Committee Named
Tech Teams Earn First and Third Place Honors in ASME Regionals
Sick Leave Pool Reminder
Employee Health and Fitness Day May 9
Retirement Reception for Richard Goldstein
Retirement Luncheon and Reception for John Johnson, Suryanarayana
Adams Keynote Speaker at First HAANA Banquet
Teaching at Tech: Iceberg Dead Ahead?
Correction
Jazz Bands Present Spring Showcase
Expert on Gender Issues in Academia Here May 9
Lights of the Great Lakes at Tea Time
April 28: The Adventures of an International Mineral Collector
Forestry Symposium April 27
Four Geo Seminars April 27&30
Workshop for Gen Ed Faculty May 10
MTU Notables
In Print
On the Road
Calendar
Job Postings
Bill Curnow, director, University Relations
Marcia Goodrich, Tech Topics editor
Gail Sweeting, electronic marketing assistant
Information to be included in Tech Topics should be submitted to the Tech Topics editor in one of the following ways:
By electronic mail--send information to ttopics@mtu.edu
By interdepartmental mail--send double-spaced, typed copies to the attention of Tech Topics editor, University Relations.
Each week, the deadline for submitting information is Friday at 5:00 p.m. for the following Friday distribution.
News (Back to Contents)
Starting Sunday, May 13, the University shifts to its summer schedule. The general hours of operation will be 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and all offices must be staffed during those hours.
Employees are expected to fulfill their usual full-time or part-time obligations. Regular office hours resume on August 18.
Nominees Sought for
Employee Excellence Awards, Committee Named
Staff Council is seeking nominees for the Employee Excellence Award, which recognizes exemplary staff in three job categories. Nomination forms are available at the Staff Council Web site, http://www.admin.mtu.edu/staff_council/nomination. Nominations can either be submitted at the site or by printing out a copy of the form and returning it through campus mail. The deadline for submitting nominations is Monday, May 7. If you have any questions, contact Bev Auel at 487-3539 or blauel@mtu.edu.
The Staff Council constituency has elected three new members of the Employee Excellence Award Selection Committee. Building Mechanic Jim Gentry (Memorial Union) was chosen from the Crafts/Maintenance/Food Service/Technical category. Secretary II Ruth Koivu (Information Technology) was elected in the Clerical/Secretarial category, and Auditor Sharon Haapala (Internal Audit) was selected in the Administrative/Professional category.
Employee Health and Fitness Day May 9
The Wellness Program is marking National Health and Fitness Day, Wednesday, May 9, from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., with a variety of health-related events in the ROTC Gym. Among the offerings are a heart health screening, including total cholesterol, HDL, blood pressure, diabetes assessment, and health risk appraisal. During the next twenty weeks, employees will be tested again to determine if their numbers have improved.
In addition, a Rockport walking test will be offered along with other free health-related benefits. All events will be free to employees and spouses, and more information will be available later. For more information, contact Erin Carter, 487-2172, ejcarter@mtu.edu.
If you'd like to join the Voluntary Sick Leave Pool and you haven't already, the deadline for submitting forms is Monday, April 30. In exchange for three days of sick leave, the VSLP gives employees up to 100 days of additional leave in the event of a catastrophic illness or injury to themselves or a close family member. If you have any questions, call 487-2517 or e-mail mawilcox@mtu.edu
Tech Teams Earn First and Third Place Honors in ASME Regionals
By Anna Swartz
Two Michigan Tech teams walked away with first- and third-place honors recently at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) regional competition held at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The first place team is now eligible for the International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition to be held in New York this coming November.
Michigan Tech competed against seven other teams in the regionals. Members of the first-place team were Adam Loukis, Brian Galbraith, Bradd Ripley, and Kirsten Rollay, with Andrea Dreyer, Jennifer Huffman, and Chris Dehlin competing in the third-place team. Their advisor is Associate Professor Ghatu Subhash (ME-EM).
This is the first year Michigan Tech has participated in the ASME competition, which was an outgrowth of their senior design project. "Every year ASME will be incorporated into senior design," says Subhash. "It's turned out to be a great way to have fun and earn credit."
This year's competition called for students to design a "sip and puff" fishing pole technology that could be used by quadriplegics. The design would allow a fishing pole to be cast with the touch of a button. The teams were judged on their ability to make casts at three different targets.
The project did not come without challenges.
"You can design anything on a computer, but that doesn't mean it will work when you build it," says Loukis.
"Everything had to work and be smooth, plus we had a time constraint," Rollay added.
Students agreed that incorporating the senior design project with ASME competition added an extra incentive.
"If you are a senior and are just working for a grade, you are probably not going to work as hard," says Rollay. "In the competition, we are representing MTU. It gave us the push to do a lot of extra stuff."
For more information, contact Subhash at 487-3161, subhash@mtu.edu.
Retirement Reception for Richard Goldstein
The Department of Fine Arts will host a reception honoring Richard M. Goldstein, who retires this semester after thirty-seven years on the MTU faculty, on Friday, May 4, from 3:00-5:00 p.m. in the Rozsa Center lobby. All are welcome.
A specialist in theater history, Goldstein is best known for his classes and research on American theater and musical theater. He has also taught speech, acting, and film history, and directed more than eighty plays--dramas, comedies, and musicals--for MTU and local theater groups. His recent productions at Michigan Tech include this year's Guys and Dolls, The Diary of Anne Frank, Man of La Mancha, and the hit comedies Noises Off and Sylvia. Goldstein has also directed musicals for the Calumet Players for the last sixteen years, and has worked with students of the Copper Country Intermediate School District on area-wide productions. His plans include acting, directing, and part-time teaching during retirement in Florida.
Retirement Luncheon and Reception for John Johnson, Suryanarayana
The ME-EM department invites the Michigan Tech community to join them in paying tribute to retiring faculty members Presidential Professor John Johnson and Professor Narasipur Suryanarayana.
The cost per person for the luncheon for anyone outside of the department is $9 per person. It will be held Wednesday, May 9, from noon to 1:30 p.m. at Steamer's Grill. A complimentary reception for the community will follow in ME-EM 1021 from 2:30 to 4:00 p.m.
If you would like to attend the luncheon, please RSVP to Jo Anne Stimac by May 2 at 487-2551, or by e-mail at jstimac@mtu.edu.
Adams Keynote Speaker at First HAANA Banquet
Stephanie G. Adams, assistant professor of industrial and management systems engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, will be the keynote speaker for the first MTU HAANA Awards Banquet, to be held at Northern Lights Restaurant on Friday, April 27, at 6:00 p.m.
HAANA stands for Hispanic, African American and Native American. Outreach and Multiethnic Programs, of Educational Opportunity, is sponsoring the event for underrepresented students, with a contribution from Dow Chemical Company. The Dow Percy Julian Award will be presented also during the night.
Betty Chavis, outreach and multiethnic programs coordinator, will emcee the event. The dinner is by invitation only. For more information, contact Elizabeth Sandoval, ersandov@mtu.edu
Teaching at Tech: Iceberg Dead Ahead?
by William Kennedy, director, Center for Teaching, Learning, and Faculty Development
What can we do to encourage some of our incoming students to act more responsibly from the beginning of their programs so that they might be more successful in their studies? It's a question I have heard more and more frequently of late. Although the jury is still out in terms of hard evidence, concerns about the lack of student engagement, undeveloped study skills, lapses in civility, sporadic class attendance, and poor work habits from across the academy seem to be increasing on our campus, as well.
What evidence I have to substantiate these claims at MTU is clearly anecdotal. It is not unusual, for example, when I observe a class at MTU, for less than half of the students registered to be present in a typical class section. Several instructors from across campus have confided in me that such a decline in attendance is an increasing problem in their sections, as well.
I am told that a substantial proportion of the increasing numbers of students on academic probation tend to blame their academic failures solely on external circumstances and are unwilling to take any responsibility for their academic plight. We've already dismissed 5 percent of the freshman class; 60 students who made virtually no forward progress during their first term at Tech. Upon being dismissed, these students either failed to write a letter of appeal for readmission or failed to take a significant measure of personal responsibility for their lack of progress in making their appeal. Dean Martha Janners describes this increasing tendency to blame everything or everybody else for one's own behavioral failures as "external attribution."
I am hearing reports that the Counseling Center is busier than ever and is dealing with more and more serious counseling issues for more and more students all the time. Last fall, several students arrived on campus already in need of personal counseling for issues light years beyond homesickness or missing friends.
In the fall 2000 semester, 38 percent of the students filling out end-of-term course evaluations indicated that they had been either ambivalent about or negatively predisposed toward taking the courses they were evaluating. By the end of the term, 44 percent of our students indicated that their interest in the subject had not changed or had actually diminished as a result of taking the course that they were evaluating.
What's going on? After teaching for nearly a quarter of a century, it seems pretty clear to me that some part of what we are encountering is a generation of students who are, very generally speaking, somewhat less aggressive, sometimes less focused, and somewhat less driven than the cohorts of first-year students of ten or fifteen years ago. Although a higher percentage of MTU students may come from stable home environments than college students on average, many of our students surely come to us as emotionally and developmentally needy post-adolescents, truly needing some personal adult supervision and consistent encouragement.
A senior Tech professor, an accomplished researcher and a recipient of MTU's Distinguished Teaching Award, recently confided in me that he is devoting more and more of his class time to motivating, encouraging, and attempting to connect with his students before he launches forward into the course material. I asked how much time he could afford to spend on motivation and engagement without sacrificing the coverage of the course material. He answered, "as much as necessary, because without that, there's not much point in moving ahead by yourself."
For years, MTU was the kind of place where you could say to the students, "Look to your left and look to your right, only one of you is likely to graduate from Tech; which one will it be?" But being tough and acting tough are two quite different things. Building character and determination takes time and some good role models inside and outside of the classroom. Remember that every little effort that you and I make to go the extra mile, to encourage a student to work hard, or simply to lend them a hand or a word of encouragement when they are faltering, may pay substantial dividends well into our common future.
Entertainment and Enrichment (Back to Contents)
Jazz Bands Present Spring Showcase
Submitted by the Department of Fine Arts
Michigan Tech's jazz bands celebrate thirty-four years of jazz studies at MTU with two concerts, the Spring Jazz Showcase and Alumni Reunion, on Friday and Saturday, April 27 and 28, at 8:00 p.m. in the Rozsa Center. Friday's program features Momentum Jazz and the Research and Development Big Band, with the Jazz Lab Band, Jaztec, and the Alumni Jazz Band taking the stage on Saturday. All are conducted by Mike Irish, director of jazz studies.
The founder of MTU's jazz program, Don Keranen, returns to play sax in the Alumni Jazz Band along with twenty other musical alums. Composer/arranger/jazz pianist Ron Caviani and vocalist Matt Wright will be featured guest artists in Saturday's concert.
Graduating seniors giving their final performances at Michigan Tech include Jamie Roell (sax), Andy Grevstad (trombone), and Ben Hankins (sax). Irish promises two lively, entertaining evenings with MTU's bands at the peak of their form. Both concerts will feature a variety of jazz: blues, classic swing, funk, ballads, jazz standards, and hot Latin arrangements.
Tickets for the Jazz Showcase concerts are available from MTU box offices (487-3200) for $8 general, $4 students ($1 more at the door), or at http://www.tickets.mtu.edu.
Expert on Gender Issues in Academia Here May 9
"Leaders of nine top research universities signed a pledge last week to promote the more equitable treatment of female faculty members in science and engineering, and to consider 'potentially significant changes in university policies to accomplish that goal.'"
This announcement from the February 9, 2001, issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education marks the beginning of efforts at the first rank of American universities to address gender inequities in academia. These inequities were brought to light in 1999 by the release of a report from MIT, "A Study on the Status of Women Faculty in Science at MIT" (web.mit.edu/fnl/women/women.html), in which MIT acknowledged unintended gender bias in the treatment of women faculty at that institution (Chronicle, Dec. 3, 1999).
The MTU community will have a chance to learn more about this issue during a visit to campus during finals week by Virginia Valian, professor of psychology at Hunter College, CUNY. Valian will make a presentation on Wednesday, May 9, from noon to 1:00 p.m. in Memorial Union Ballroom A, "The Advancement of Women in Science and Engineering: Why So Slow?" Valian will discuss the effects of gender schema on the advancement of women in professional fields. Gender schema are nonconscious ideas all people have about what it means to be a man or a woman. Valian will also speak about the effects of accumulation of advantage, which is the process by which mountains are made from molehills. All members of the community are invited to attend; this is a brown bag lunch with beverage and dessert provided.
Valian's presentation, sponsored by the Presidential Commission for Women and the Visiting Women's Lecturers Series with additional funding from the Affirmative Programs Office, was organized by Faith Morrison (Chemical Engineering), Pushpa Murthy (Chemistry), and Chris Anderson (Educational Opportunity). "Faith and I had the opportunity to hear Dr. Valian speak last year," Murthy says. "Her presentation is full of important, fact-based information on how perceptions related to gender can have significant and detrimental effects on the advancement of women."
"After the workshop in March 2000, I came home and read her book, Why So Slow: The Advancement of Women, and then bought ten copies and sent them to friends," Morrison adds. "It really opened my eyes, and I think in a technological university it is important for all faculty, staff, and administrators to see Dr. Valian's data. We are all mentors, whether of students, colleagues, or of our own children, and the effects of gender schema touch all our lives."
Valian will also be conducting a workshop for MTU administrators from 7:45 to 10:45 a.m. on May 9, and will be meeting with the Women in Science and Engineering group and with University researchers interested in issues surrounding gender in contemporary society. For more information about any of these programs, contact Morrison (fmorriso@mtu.edu), Murthy (ppmurthy@mtu.edu), or Anderson (ythcande@mtu.edu).
Lights of the Great Lakes at Tea Time
Submitted by University Cultural Enrichment
Phillip Block is a native of the Great Lakes area who loves the woods and waters along its shores. He is an accomplished outdoor photographer, solo canoeist, fly fisherman, and dedicated wilderness enthusiast, and he is particularly interested in Great Lakes lighthouses. The guest at Tech Tea Time on Wednesday, May 2, at 4:00 p.m. in the Memorial Union Alumni Lounge, he'll present "Lights of the Lakes," a slide/talk program featuring his lighthouse photography. Tech Tea Time is free and open to the public.
Block's program is a celebration of the picturesque beauty of our remote Great Lakes lighthouses, situated on the shores and islands of Lakes Michigan and Superior, captured in many different settings and in all seasons. It is accompanied by music and sound effects and consists of about 160 slides, including spectacular portraits of 50 different Great Lakes lighthouses. Other images include shipwrecks and historical subjects depicting iron and copper mining and lumbering activities in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Block concludes the program with a tribute to the mysterious shipwreck of the Great Lakes ore carrier Edmund Fitzgerald.
A member of the Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association, Block examines why the lighthouses were originally built and their historical significance for shipping. He'll also outline the threats to their existence, and discuss lighthouse technology, both past and present, and shipwrecks that occurred when the technology failed. In addition to lighthouse fans, the program is also of special interest to devotees of Great Lakes maritime history, shipwrecks, and even recreational boating and sailing.
Originally raised in the Detroit area, Block now resides in Port Washington, Wisconsin, where he works as a consultant for a Milwaukee area data processing firm. He is a former U.S. Army officer and a graduate of Michigan Tech.
Tech Tea Time is coordinated by University Cultural Enrichment. For further information, or to propose a topic for future programs, call 487-2844.
April 28: The Adventures of an International Mineral Collector
Rock Currier, the proprietor of Jewel Tunnel Imports, will give a lecture, "Trying to Collect Minerals in All the Wrong Places," on Saturday, April 28, at 8:00 p.m. in Dow 642. A reception precedes his talk at 7:00 p.m. in the Seaman Mineral Museum.
Currier is a well-known importer of minerals, gems, and lapidary materials from all over the world. He has personally collected minerals in more than 100 countries and is famous for some of his stories about his collecting adventures. In this slide lecture, he will share pictures and stories about collecting minerals in Zaire and Madagascar.
The reception and lecture are free, and the public is encouraged to attend. Currier's visit is sponsored by the Seaman Mineral Museum Society.
Seminars and Workshops (Back to Contents)
The Michigan Tech chapter of Xi Sigma Pi, the National Forestry Honor Society, is hosting a symposium, "Forestry in the Public Eye," on Friday, April 27, at 12:30 p.m. in Hesterberg Hall G002 (the new part of the Noblet Building). All interested persons are invited.
The speakers, their topics, and their times will be Bernard Hubbard (Michigan DNR), "Public Influence on Forest Management," 12:30 p.m.; Jim Ferris (International Paper), "Industrial Forest Management," 1:20 p.m.; and Catherine Mater (Mater Engineering), "Forest Certification's Role in Management," 2:15 p.m.
The Department of Geological Engineering and Sciences is presenting four seminars on Friday and Monday, April 27 and 30.
Ian Parsons, a professor of mineralogy at the University of Edinburg, will discuss "Self-Organization in Crystals, Feldspar Weathering and the Origin of Life" on Friday, April 27, at 1:00 p.m. in Dow 610. Parsons suggests that life may have originally evolved in feldspar micro-reactors.
Parsons will also give the seminar "Twelve Orders of Magnitude: How Nanoscale Features of Minerals Solve Problems on the Kilometer Scale: the Kolkken Intrusion, South Greenland" on Friday at 4:00 p.m. in Dow 642. He will describe laser and electron microscopy techniques applied to study micrometer-size samples of feldspar and how this information helps to interpret a strange, four-by-three kilometer igneous intrusion in Greenland.
Bruce Bevan, of Geosight, will present "Quantitative Interpretation of Magnetic Anomalies" on Friday at 3:00 p.m. in Dow 610. He will discuss ways to estimate the depth of magnetized material at archaeological sites. Among his publications, he is the author of the report Geophysical Exploration for Archaeology: An Introduction to Geophysical Exploration, and papers such as "The Search for Graves, Geophysical Search Techniques for Distinguishing Shipwrecks from Trash," and "Environmental Effects on Ground-Penetrating Radar."
At noon on Monday, Bevan will give a brown bag seminar, "Seasonal Effects on General Geophysical Surveys at Archaeological Sites," in the Archaeology Lab, located on the west end of the first floor of the Academic Office Building annex (the red brick building just north of the Academic Office Building). For a geophysical survey to detect something, there must be a contrast in physical properties. Radar and resistivity methods are heavily dependent on the difference in the water content of the soil and the archaeological artifact, which is in turn dependent on the season of the year when the survey is conducted. Bevan will illustrate the varying contrast of anomalies according to the season, to help avoid doing surveys at the worst possible time.
Workshop for Gen Ed Faculty May 10
The General Education Executive Council has scheduled a workshop for faculty connected to the four core courses (Perspectives on Inquiry, World Cultures, Revisions, Institutions) for Thursday, May 10, from 1:00 to 4:30 p.m., in Memorial Union Ballroom A.
The purpose of the workshop is to discuss how the first year of the new General Education program has gone and to identify issues of concern, especially the integration and coherence of the courses for students, assessment, grading, and portfolios.
Beverages and snacks will be provided.
Regular Features (Back to Contents)
Junior Nicholas E. Nanninga (Materials Science and Engineering) received a travel grant valued at approximately $2,000 from the Foundry Association of Michigan to attend the American Foundry Society 2001 Metalcasting Industry Government Affairs Conference, held April 1-3 in Washington DC. The association annually selects a student from a Michigan university with a metalcasting program to be a guest at the conference.
Associate Professor Vernon Dorweiler (SBE) published "The Science of the Biotechnology Industry" in the Proceedings of the 8th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Business and Behavioral Sciences, held in February in Las Vegas.
Assistant Professor Douglas Swenson (MSE) gave the invited seminar "Thermodynamics of Metallic Glass Formation" at Johns Hopkins University on April 18.
April
Fair Housing Month
| 25 | Wednesday |
| 8:00 p.m.--Douglas Adams, "Living in a Virtual World"--Rozsa Center | |
| 26 | Thursday |
| all day--UP SME Section conference and auction--Memorial Union Ballroom | |
| all day--Take Our Daughters to Work Day | |
| 12:05-12:55 p.m.--Open mike poetry readings--Library Friends' Lounge | |
| 7:30&9:30 p.m.--Hypnotist Fred Winters--Rozsa Center | |
| 27 | Friday |
| noon--Xi Sigma Phi forestry symposium, "Forestry in the Public Eye"--Hesterberg G002 | |
| 1:00 p.m.--Ian Parsons, "Self-Organization in Crystals, Feldspar Weathering and the Origin of Life"--Dow 610 | |
| 12:05-12:55 p.m.--Open mike poetry readings--Library Friends' Lounge | |
| 1:00-4:30 p.m.--Open house for Federal Depository--Library Government Documents Section | |
| 3:00 p.m.--Bruce Bevan, "Quantitative Interpretation of Magnetic Anomalies"--Dow 610 | |
| 4:00 p.m.--Ian Parsons, "Twelve Orders of Magnitude: How Nanoscale Features of Minerals Solve Problems on the Kilometer Scale: the Kolkken Intrusion, South Greenland"--Dow 642 | |
| 8:00 p.m.--Spring Jazz Showcase and Alumni Reunion--Rozsa Center | |
| 28 | Saturday |
| 7:00/8:00 p.m.--Reception/Lecture: Rock Currier, "Trying to Collect Minerals in All the Wrong Places"--Seaman Mineral Museum/Dow 642 | |
| 8:00 p.m.--Spring Jazz Showcase and Alumni Reunion--Rozsa Center | |
| 29 | Sunday |
| 7:00 p.m.--Parsons Dance Company--Rozsa Center | |
| 30 | Monday |
| noon--Bruce Bevan, "Seasonal Effects on General Geophysical Surveys at Archaeological Sites"--Archaeology Lab, Academic Office Building Annex | |
| May | |
| 2 | Wednesday |
| 4:00 p.m.--Phillip Block, "Lights of the Lakes"--Memorial Union Alumni Lounge | |
| 4 | Friday |
| 3:00-5:00 p.m.--Retirement reception for Richard Goldstein--Rozsa Center lobby | |
| 9 | Wednesday |
| noon--Virginia Valian, "The Advancement of Women in Science and Engineering: Why So Slow?"--Memorial Union Ballroom A | |
| 7:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.--Employee Health and Fitness Day--ROTC Gym | |
| 2:30-4:30 p.m.--Retirement reception for Narasipur Suryanarayana and John Johnson--ME-EM 1021 | |
| 13 | Sunday |
| Summer hours start | |
Job descriptions will be available at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, or by e-mail at <JOBS@MTU.EDU>. For a complete listing of available jobs, visit http://www.admin.mtu.edu/hro/postings/index.shtml
The following positions will be posted Friday, April 27, 2001, at 1:00 p.m. through noon, Friday, May 4, 2001, in the Human Resources Office.
Senior Clerk N2--Air Force ROTC (Regular, ten-month, part-time position; thirty hours per week; UAW internal and external posting)
Secretary N3--Air Force ROTC (Regular, full-time, nine-month position; UAW internal and external posting)
Equipment Operator I--Facilities Management (AFSCME internal posting only)
Public Safety Officer--Public Safety
University employees are reminded to apply in writing prior to noon, Friday, May 4, 2001, 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 1:00 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.
Two Named to Michigan Tech Board of Control
Submitted by the News Bureau
Governor John Engler this week appointed David J. Brule, Sr. and Michael C. Henricksen to the Michigan Tech Board of Control. Brule and Henricksen will replace Dr. Kenneth Rowe of Calumet and Allen (Rick) Berquist of Menominee, whose terms have expired.
Brule, of Iron Mountain, is president and CEO of M.J. Electric, Inc. His term will expire December 31, 2008. Henricksen, of Au Train, is CEO of Satellite Services, Inc. and will serve on the Board until December 31, 2006.
A native of Norway, MI and graduate of Kingsford High School, Brule received a B.S. degree in electrical engineering from Michigan Tech in 1972 and began his career as a division engineer with Wisconsin Public Service in Green Bay. In 1973 he joined M.J. Electric as a project engineer and over the next several years received several management and administrative promotions, which culminated with his appointment as president and CEO in 1991. He continued as president of the company after it was acquired by Exelon Infrastructure Services, Inc. in 2000.
M.J. Electric started as a small town contractor in 1959 and is now ranked as one of the top 25 electrical contractors in the nation with sales of about $220 million annually. In 1997 the company was named Business of the Year by the Dickinson County Chamber of Commerce.
Brule and his wife, Elsa have two sons and two daughters and have been active supporters of Michigan Tech. He is a lifetime member of the MTU Alumni Association, was elected to the University's Electrical Engineering Academy in 1996, and through M.J. Electric, has provided more than $50,000 in scholarships and summer internships to MTU students. He has also been an active member of his community, serving with Friends of Handicapped People, the Interlochen Arts Academy Presidents Council, the Dickinson Area Catholic School Board, and the Iron Mountain-Kingsford Rotary Club. He has also served on the Board of Directors of the First National Bank of Iron Mountain and as director of the U.P. Construction Labor-Management Council.
Henricksen is a native of Marquette and received his B.S. degree in forestry from Michigan Tech in 1964. He began his career as a woodlands manager with Champion International, Inc. in Gaylord, then became co-owner of Lake States Wood Preserving Inc. of Wetmore until 1981 when he became co-owner of Satellite Services. In 1983 he founded Superior Hiawatha Log Homes, Inc. of Munising, which he sold in 1996.
Satellite Services provides temporary office/facility support and aircraft services and supplies base support services and contracted training for the U.S. government. The company's headquarters is in Marquette, with branches in Alabama, Georgia, Maryland, Missouri, New York, and Idaho.
Henricksen has served on the North Country Financial Corporation Board of Directors since 1988 and has been chairman of the Board since 1997. He is also a member of the First Northern Bank & Trust Board of Directors and is the founder and past president of the Michigan Association of Timbermen. He has also served on the Michigan State Board of Foresters, the Governor's Wood Resources Development Task Force, the Forestry Committee of the Michigan Manufacturers Association, the State Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, and the Governor's Small Business Advisory Council. In addition, he is a Grand Island Lodge Mason and has served as an Au Train volunteer fireman (1984) and as Au Train Onota School Board Treasurer.
He is a life member of the MTU Alumni Association and a member of the University's Second Century Society. He has also served the University as a member of the Forestry Building Expansion Steering Committee, as a member of the Advisory Committee to the Institute of Wood Research, and as a Century II Campaign volunteer.
Henricksen and his wife, Judith, have three daughters and a son.
Senate Approves Bioinformatics Program
The University Senate gave its approval April 25 to two new degree programs and OK'd a proposal that would increase University contributions to TIAA-CREF accounts.
The BS program in Bioinformatics, while based in the Department of Biological Sciences, would also draw its coursework from computer science and forestry. It "couples the fundamental biochemistry of organisms with computational analysis, thus providing a vast new insight into biological processes and organisms," according to the proposal.
RPI has the only undergraduate bioinformatics program in the US, with two under development at Penn State and UC Santa Cruz. Biological sciences chair John Adler cited the April 26 Newsweek article "Wanted: Hot Industry Seeks SuperGeeks," which describes the huge demand for this new class of biologists trained in computational methods. Bioinformatics professionals are coveted by the health-care industry, where they are mining the newly mapped human genome in hopes of finding cures for genetic diseases.
Some senators questioned whether the program would be adequately funded. Senator Bruce Barna (Chemical Engineering), chair of the Senate Finance Committee, said that the program's projected 150 students would require five to seven more faculty lines, significantly more than the anticipated two. He also questioned where the additional funding, about $115,000 for software and $50,000 to update labs, would come from, and if computing facilities would be adequate. Students would use computing facilities currently maintained by biological sciences and geological engineering and sciences. The provost supports the program but hasn't guaranteed funding, Barna said, and the issue should be addressed. Senator Steve Siedel (Computer Science) questioned whether the computing facilities would be adequate for the computer science work that would be required of bioinformatics students.
Biological sciences chair John Adler said that the department was seeking outside funding for the program's start-up costs, including a $50,000 NSF grant, as well as asking for support from the College of Sciences and Arts. Regarding computer facilities, "We have the system administration support," he said, as well as some of the required software. "We hope to generate some partnerships with some of the major players in the field," he said.
Bioinformatics would require three new courses, which are set to begin next fall, he said. "We don't envision starting with 150 students," he noted.
"To get undergraduates, we need attractive programs," Dean of Sciences and Arts Max Seel said. At this early stage, funding even two faculty lines is unrealistic. But the program can begin in the fall with a graduate student and an adjunct faculty member. "It's the overall program area that's important," he said. "It draws on our strengths in biology, forestry, and computer science."
Senator Christ Ftaclas (Physics) said the proposal should include a schedule of support. "Somebody has to take responsibility for this," he said. Otherwise, existing faculty could bear the burden of teaching courses for newly added programs.
"I've been involved in this for years," said Senator Tom Snyder (Biological Sciences), who chairs the Curricular Policy Committee, which recommended approval of the bioinformatics program. "The Senate controls programs. It doesn't control positions. . . . This is just reality."
Seel agreed. "Nobody can promise faculty lines," he said. Those depend on state appropriations, he said.
Senate Secretary Jim Pickens (SFWP) noted that the applied ecology program had called for additional faculty that were not forthcoming, despite the fact that the program has attracted many majors. "It was in the proposal, and we should plan," he said. "But the senate doesn't have the teeth to make it happen."
"If Michigan Tech had stuck with only mining, we wouldn't have Michigan Tech now," Seel said. "Students follow important programs," and bioinformatics is an important program, he said.
"Maybe the senate shouldn't pass new programs until the existing programs are funded," Senator Carl Vilmann (Civil and Environmental Engineering) said.
If the measure is sent back to committee for reworking, the program couldn't begin next fall. "We lose a year by that action," Snyder said.
"There's no question the University should have this program," Senator Wayne Pennington (Geological Engineering and Sciences) said. "I don't think we should hold it hostage for a year because of arguments that some of us, maybe all of us, have with the administration."
The proposal passed overwhelmingly on a voice vote. The BS in Bioinformatics is subject to Board of Control approval.
A proposed PhD in Engineering Physics passed with minimal debate. The program is a spinoff from the PhD in Physics and is the only one of its kind in the state.
The senate voted to support Proposal 10-01, Supplemental Contribution to Eligible TIAA-CREF Employees. The proposal asks the administration to make supplemental contributions to the TIAA-CREF accounts of employees who make more than $50,000 a year and who are unlikely to accumulate enough in their retirement accounts through the University's share of the 2-plus-2 program to fund their retirement health care costs. It also asks MTU to increase its contributions to TIAA-CREF accounts by 0.45 percent (from 12.55 percent to 13 percent). And it would limit the increases in the Medigap premiums paid by retirees to the rate used to determine the supplemental contributions to the TIAA-CREF accounts. The measure passed 28-2 on a secret ballot.
In other business, the senate
voted to change the search committees for University administrators by adding one professional staff person, who would be appointed by the University Senate. The measure is subject to Board of Control approval.
For more information on senate proposals, visit http://www.sas.it.mtu.edu/usenate/prop.html.
Bowen Announces Move to Bucknell
Stephen H. Bowen, vice provost for instruction and dean of distance learning, has announced his resignation. He is leaving to become the academic vice president and provost at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.
Bowen's career at Michigan Tech spans twenty-one years. He joined the faculty in 1978 as an assistant professor of biology, then served as head of the Department of Biological Sciences from 1986 though 1995. He was named associate dean of the College of Sciences and Arts in 1995, then was appointed to the newly created position of vice provost for instruction in 1997.
As vice provost, Bowen was responsible for planning and managing the massive effort of moving the University to a semester calendar. He led the University task force that developed Michigan Tech's new general education curriculum, and the task force on assessment of student academic success.
Bowen also served as interim provost for seven months, until Provost Kent Wray joined the University at the beginning of the 2000-01 academic year. The rapidly expanding area of distance learning was recently added to his responsibilities, when he was named dean of distance learning. He has been a strong advocate for international education for Michigan Tech students.
"Michigan Tech has been very good to me over the years," Bowen said. "I've enjoyed the camaraderie and support of many wonderful colleagues in teaching, research and university leadership. Michigan Tech students are a very rewarding group to work with, and I'll miss the friendships and the community."
"Steve has been such a valuable asset to Michigan Tech over the years," said Wray. "He led the conversion to semesters, was instrumental in developing our new general education program, and has been a catalyst in organizing our approach to distance learning. We will certainly miss his leadership."
The date of the general education faculty workshop was incorrect in the April 27 Tech Topics. The workshop will be held May 10.
Faculty Needed to Serve on Academic Integrity Committee
Faculty nominees are needed to serve on the University Academic Integrity Committee.
The committee member will be elected to a three-year term by the University Senate May 2. Nominations should be sent to Jeanne Meyers jemeyers@mtu.edu by noon on May 2. Questions about the Academic Integrity Committee may be directed to Vice Provost and Dean for Student Affairs Marty Janners, 487-2212.