June 8, 2009

The DigestWhat’s Happening at KVCC

What’s below in this edition

Diversity speakers (Pages 1/2) National ‘pub’ (Pages 8/9) Kudos from D.C. (Page 2) Solons at ACC (Page 9) ‘Emergency Tuesday’ (Pages 2/3) KAFI ‘kamps’ (Pages 9-11) KVCC in finals (Page 3) Special spas (Page 11) Dean on TV (Page 3) A piece of excellence (P-11/13) Animal Tech (Pages 3/4) ‘Cougar Town’ (Page 13) Swap Meet (Pages 4/5) Health-care leader (Page 13) Honors 4 (Page 5) ‘The Living Planet’ (P-14/16) Sustainability (Pages 5/6) Oral histories (Pages 16/17) Hospitality III (Page 6) Paper chase (Pages 17/18) Auto Academy (Pages 6/7) And Finally (Pages 16/17)

☻☻☻☻☻☻Some air time for Diversity Conference speakers

The remarks and commentaries of the two main speakers at KVCC's sixth annual Diversity Conference have been booked for televising by the Public Media Network this month.

Jane Tallim, co-executive director of the Media Awareness Network, spoke about the clout of the media in shaping perceptions while David Pilgrim, chief diversity officer at Ferris State University, enlightened a packed audience in Dale Lake Auditorium about the not-so-subtle messages that enhance negative stereotyping.

Here is the schedule for Tallim's airings on PMN's Channel 22 on the Charter Communications system: Sunday (June 7) at 9 p.m.; Wednesday (June 10) at 9 p.m.; and Sunday, June 21, at 9 p.m.

Pilgrim's presentation will be viewable on Channel 22 -- with all starting at 9 p.m. as well -- on Sunday, June 14; and Wednesday June 17.

Tallim discussed the influence of the media in shaping a person’s thoughts, feelings and behaviors about members of both genders, gays and lesbians, racial and cultural groups and persons with disabilities.

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In Pilgrim's “Not So Subtle Message,” he believes that Martin Luther King, Jr. was right when he said, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere," and that diversity is more than a racial issue.

Pilgrim traced these messages from posters advertising the sale of slaves, to caricatures in cartoons to portrayals of Barak Obama as a monkey in his candidacy for the presidential nomination of the Democratic Party.

U. S. Energy Department lauds wind effortsKVCC’s initiatives in wind energy and their workforce-development

ramifications have again gained some notice in Washington. The U. S. Department of Energy distributed on its news-and-information webpage

an article headlined “Community College Begins Windsmith Certification.”It reported that KVCC’s Wind Energy Center, based at the M-TEC, is already

moving toward national leadership in wind turbine-related training since becoming fully operational last January.

Beginning in October, the department stated, the center will provide the only certification program in the United States for wind-turbine technicians, also known as "windsmiths,” who are trained to work on the enormous, utility-sized units that are clustered on wind farms.

The 26-week academy is based on a German program that is recognized as the international standard in the training of technicians to work on these huge turbines located around the world.

The KVCC center has also signed a two-year agreement to become the sole provider of training on turbine installation, commissioning, operations and maintenance for Entegrity Wind Systems, Inc., a major North American manufacturer of commercial wind turbines, like the one in operation on the Texas Township Campus.

These initiatives complement the college’s for-credit, one-year certification program that is under way, with the targeted turbine-training courses set to be offered in the fall semester.

Campus to host emergency responders on TuesdayTo successfully cope with a disaster, catastrophe and all levels of emergencies, a

well-thought-out reaction plan is required to turn chaos into relative calm.On Tuesday (June 9), a large number of emergency vehicles and personnel will

gather on the Texas Township Campus from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. to continue to prepare themselves for all kinds of emergencies.

Among the groups gathered in the northwest corner of the parking lot will be bomb squads, SWAT teams, fire and rescue units, paramedics and other genres of emergency providers. This will be a function of the 5th District Medical Response Coalition, a diverse group of hospitals and public-health, emergency-management, EMS, public-safety, and human-service organizations from nine Southwest Michigan counties. This event will include demonstrations, joint training activities, and displays. Recently, this organization and Southwest Michigan was designated by the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as a "Model Community for Emergency Preparedness."

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"This event is notable for health-care students, fire science, law enforcement and others," said Jim Taylor said. "Members of the college community are invited to stop by."

Taylor can be contacted for more information at extension 4208 or jtaylor@kvcc.edu.Wind Energy Center in line for magazine’s state award

KVCC’s foray into the arena of alternative-energy production via its Wind Energy Center based at the M-TEC has been included in the first round of finalists for Michigan Business Review magazine’s annual Innovation Michigan awards for 2009.

Expanding the event to include entries from across the state, magazine staff members weaned the field to 26 finalists. A second phase of will be announced later this month, including all statewide finalists.

Innovation Michigan winners will be announced during the exposition and awards event Thursday, July 16, at Grand Valley State University's Pew Campus in Grand Rapids scheduled for 4:30 to 9 p.m. The exposition will include displays of finalists' innovations.

Dean’s presentation booked for 4 airings on PMNHoward Dean’s remarks at the Kalamazoo Valley Community College

Foundation’s annual fund-raising dinner for scholarships in May will be broadcast four times by the Public Media Network this month. The first airing is slated for Sunday (June 7) at 10:30 p.m. on Channel 22, one of PMN’s five stations on the Charter Communications cable system.

The other broadcasts – all three of them on Channel 22 – are set for Wednesday (June 10) at 8:30 p.m., Sunday, June 14, at 8:30 p.m., and Wednesday, June 17, at 10:30 p.m.

Dean, the former governor of Vermont and one-time frontrunner for the Democratic Party’s 2004 presidential nomination, was named his party’s national chairman. He fashioned the 50-state strategy that many political pundits said paved the way for the political success of Barack Obama in his 2008 campaign against Hillary Clinton and then John McCain.

Commenting on that “political earthquake,” Dean said: “The last election changed America in a way many people don’t understand yet. For the first time in my life, more people voted who were under the age of 35 than those over the age of 65.”

He said politicians of his generation have been more confrontational in their actions. He believes the younger cadre of voters is more pragmatic, less ideological, and less likely to affiliate with a party. In other words, they want more action in Washington and less clamoring in uncooperative ways.

In that light, Dean expressed his support for President Obama’s health-care plan, but no matter what its final form, something must be done because too many Americans are vulnerable. It is reminiscent of President Dwight Eisenhower’s approach to issues. He brought in the leaders of both parties and basically told them – “I don’t care where or from whom the answers come from. Just give me some.”

Animal Tech Academy to debut Sept. 8The training of technicians who care for animals used in research is next in the

stable of Kalamazoo Valley Community College’s workforce-development academies.

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Slated to begin in late February but delayed because of the economic doldrums that affected the biotech and research industries in Southwest Michigan, the first Animal Technician Academy has been rescheduled to begin Sept. 8 and produce its first graduates on Oct. 16.

The Animal Technician Academy is designed to provide pre-employment training to students interested in entering this phase of medical and bio-technology research.

This initial class is limited to 15 enrollees.“While we already have received 15 applications,” said Lesa Strausbaugh,

director of career academies at KVCC, “people can still apply until the Aug. 14 deadline because academy selection is a competitive process.”

Over the six-week period, enrollees will learn the basic skills and knowledge associated with the care of animals in research laboratories.

The training will cover career paths in the industry, veterinarian terminology, animal health and behavior, medical recordkeeping, sanitation and disinfection, standard operating procedures in a lab, knowledge of animals, data collection and analysis, species anatomy and physiology, animal welfare, the ethical care and use of animals, and critical-thinking and communication skills.

“Successful completion of the academy,” Strausbaugh said, “prepares students for an entry-level position as a lab-animal caretaker within a research or laboratory facility. And, of course, it can serve as a springboard to additional training and a college degree.”

Classes will be held Tuesday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the M-TEC of KVCC located on the Groves Campus, while the lab training will be based at the Western Michigan University Research Laboratory in partnership with the university’s department of psychology.

Acceptance into the growing number of KVCC workforce-development academies is competitive and is based on a written application, feedback from references, and interviews. The interview phase is slated for the end of August.

Those who complete the animal-tech academy requirements will receive certification of competencies in the field. Infused in each program are components provided by the KVCC Student Success Center that enhances job-search and employability skills.

The fee is $900. Financial assistance is available through Michigan Works!’ “No Worker Left Behind” initiative.

Entry-level wages can range from $19,000 to $25,000 annually. An experienced animal technician can earn from $25,000 to $41,000 per year.

For details about applications and other information, call (269) 353-1282, e-mail careeracademies@kvcc.edu or go to this website: www.kvcc.edu/training.

Think of ‘Swap Meet’ as college’s ‘garage sale’The Office of Human Resources’ web page contains a want-ad system to link

KVCC folks with their colleagues in the sharing of talent, knowledge, skills, goods and services.

The “KVCC Swap Meet” provides a forum to barter goods (made or grown) and to post information about services that can be provided -- painting, sewing, computer assistance, etc.

It can also be used to post an announcement about services or goods that are being sought.

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There are four categories on the site: Services for Hire, Goods Wanted, Goods for Sale, and Miscellaneous. This site is for KVCC employees only and is intended as a way for employees to network with each other for trade or sale purposes.

KVCC will not be responsible for any transactions or the satisfaction of either party, and will not enter into dispute resolution. “KVCC Swap Meet” is housed on the Human Resources website under Quick Links.

To post a service or item, just click Post Ad, select the appropriate category, complete the online form and click submit.

Co-workers will be able to view the posting by the next business day. It is requested that the postings be made during non-working hours.

Among the currently posted “swaps” are resealing asphalt driveways, providing music for events, dog training, sewing, home-maintenance and landscaping projects, dog boarding, carpet cleaning, residential painting, staining and drywall repairs, and baseball and softball lessons for youths.

For sale are a set of crutches and a walker, German shepherd puppies and a bike rack, while summer cottages can also be rented. “Wanted” are a tank for a pet lizard and a heavy-duty snow blower.

4 Honors Program grads seek additional honorsFour KVCC Honors Program students have chosen their transfer destinations for

the fall semester, according to director Stephen Louisell. Aaron Cook, who has served with the 10th Mountain Division in both Iraq and

Afghanistan, is headed for the psychology department at Western MichiganUniversity. He plans to pursue his interest in post-traumatic-stress disorder at WMU and is currently working as a teaching assistant for Louisell in child psychology.

Anthony Saucedo is also bound for WMU’s program in psychology and serving as a teaching assistant in child psychology. He may pursue a dual major in philosophy.

Jenna Wyatt will major in theatre at WMU. Wyatt served as a teaching assistant for Louisell in introductory psychology. She was homeschooled until her transfer to Portage Northern High School for the 11th and 12th grades.

Kalamazoo College will be home for Jessica Zwalua, whose interests include ancient languages and theatre. She served as a teaching assistant for Scott Myers in a course on modern culture and the arts. Zwalua becomes the second KVCC student in two years to be accepted at K-College where she may play softball for the Hornets.

College part of ‘sustainability’ accordKVCC has aligned itself with an umbrella organization dedicated to an improved

quality of life in this part of the state through actions and collaborations that promote environmental, economic and social responsibility.

It is among the 17 pioneer signees of what is called the “Southwest Michigan Regional Sustainability Covenant” that has been in the works since a Feb. 26 gathering initiated by Western Michigan University President John Dunn.

Other covenant originators include the cities of Kalamazoo, Battle Creek and Portage, Kalamazoo College, Borgess and Bronson hospitals, the Kalamazoo Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Kalamazoo Community Foundation, the Kalamazoo and

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Portage school districts, the Kalamazoo Regional Educational Service Agency, the Kalamazoo Nature Center, and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.

A key component in improving the quality of life for future generations is the concept of sharing ideas and innovations regarding recycling, energy conservation, and purchasing agreements that address economic, environmental and social issues.

The idea is to share programs and projects that work instead of each of the members trying to re-invent the wheel.

The first step is the spread the word about the covenant so that area residents and businesses can get involved. That will lead to the group blueprinting an organizational structure that identifies sustainability issues, the methods for monitoring progress, and how to share “best practices.”

There is no timetable to reach these accomplishments, other than to get started and open the door to future signees.

July 7 deadline for Hospitality Academy IIIThe third edition of KVCC’s academy to train personnel for the hospitality

industry is scheduled to begin on Aug. 3 in Anna Whitten Hall at the college’s Arcadia Commons Campus.

Lesa Strausbaugh, director of career academies, reports that 15 students will be enrolled in the academy. The application deadline is July 7

The hospitality-training sessions will be held Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. through Sept. 4 at KVCC’s downtown-Kalamazoo campus. The fee is $800.

During 157 hours of instruction, students learn the workings of the rooms division and food-and-beverage division in hospitality, which includes front-desk management, reservations, housekeeping, bells services, restaurant service, and banquet organization. A major component will be job shadowing and an in-the-field training practicum.

Those who complete the academy receive a certificate in hospitality from KVCC and a globally recognized certificate from the American Hotel and Lodging Association.

“It’s been proven that certificates and diplomas from the educational institute of the association open doors to graduates looking for careers in the lodging industry,” Strausbaugh said. “We’re excited to offer students this opportunity.”

Infused in the five-week academy are components provided by the KVCC Student Success Center that enhances job-search skills, resume development and interviewing.

According to a 2006 survey conducted by WageWatch Inc., the median salaries for personnel throughout the industry include: front-desk associate, $20,300; reservations associate, $25,000; executive housekeeper, $45,000; front-office manager, $40,000; sales manager, $38,500; chief engineer, $61,000; catering sales manager, $65,800; executive chef, $65,300; personnel director, $61,600; controller, $73,800; sales and marketing director, $80,400; and general manager, $100,000.

Strausbaugh can be contacted at 353-1253 or lstrausbaugh@kvcc.edu for more information.

A dozen slots open for Auto Academy III Just like the high-tech vehicles that it trains prospective mechanics to maintain, the third edition of the KVCC Automotive Academy is being fine-tuned.

The minimally retooled training program will be shorter in duration, smaller in size, and slightly redesigned in instructional format.

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The application process, which is under way now for the academy that begins Nov. 2, has been altered and the brunt of the training will be staged in the KVCC M-TEC, located on the college’s Groves Campus off 9th Street along I-94, instead of at the Texas Township Campus’ automotive facilities.

“There will be no textbook either,” said Cindy Buckley, director of training and development at the M-TEC. “Instead, each student will have access to a laptop computer that they can use to surf the Internet for the online maintenance services offered by automotive manufacturers and suppliers.”

Under lead instructor Hector Orlandi, there will also be a shift in instructional format. The first two academies, which ran for 42 weeks, featured a third segment that had enrollees, in effect, running their own repair shop under the guidance of their instructors.

“The new format,” Buckley said about the switch to a 33-week program, “will, instead of a separate auto clinic per se, have that kind of training integrated throughout the instructions. When the students are being trained in brake work, that’s the kind of repairs they will be making right then and there instead of waiting to the end.

“Hector believes that will be a more effective and hands-on way of learning and training,” she said, “because the students will be applying that knowledge quickly instead of waiting until later when there could be a tendency to forget.”

Instead of a peak enrollment of 17, the third academy will be limited to 12 enrollees on a first-come, first-interviewed, first-selected basis.

Those who applied by May 29 will be subjected to first-round interviews conducted by academy staff and automotive employers. If a dozen have not been selected by then, a second round of interviews will be scheduled for those applicants who submit their materials by June 30.

Among the selection criteria in the competitive process are the quality of the written applications, a “documented work ethic,” interest in and knowledge of automotive technology, letters of recommendation, and driving records.

Within five days of submitting an application, a prospective enrollee will be notified as to whether he/she has met the basic eligibility criteria and be scheduled for an interview. Notification of acceptance into the academy will also be within a five-day period.

The fee for the third academy, which will run through June 28, 2010, is $9,500. This includes uniforms valued at $300 and $7,000 in high-tech tools that automotive technicians need to function.

“The automotive academy is like a job,” said Orlandi, who has more than 25 years of global experience as an automotive-service technical engineer. “We look for students who can make a full-time commitment, not somebody who will skip a class here and there.”

Beginning on Nov. 2, the enrollees will be in class or in the lab from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Mondays through Fridays. Stressed will be the eight automotive-knowledge areas that are certified by the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence and preparing students to reach those standards.

Financial aid is available, and scholarship funds awardable through the Kalamazoo Promise also qualify for the KVCC Automotive Academy.

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A complete description and application can be downloaded at www.kvcc.edu/training. Then click on “Automotive Technician Academy.” Information is also available by calling (269) 353-1282.

Wrench’s photos nationally showcasedThomas Wrench, who spoke for students at the college’s April 26 graduation and

whose artistic creations earned an Art Hop exhibition in downtown Kalamazoo, is now a published photographer.

Based on the recommendation of the Chip Forelli Studio in Damascus, Pa., examples of Wrench’s creativity with a camera are featured in the June edition of CMYK magazine, which is based in Sausalito, Calif.

The monthly publication with a circulation of 70,000 is billed as being full of “fresh ideas” when it comes to photography, print advertising, product packaging, logs, posters and illustrations.

According to editor/president Curtis Clarkson, CMYK “is where aspiring creatives showcase their talents to an industry driven by inspiration and new ways of creative problem-solving.” It is also a resource used by creative directors, advertising agencies and art buyers to recruit prospective employees and talent.

The publication sponsors a quarterly invitation for emerging practitioners in art direction, copywriting, design, photography and illustration to have their creations showcased.

Wrench believes his generation should exude a sense of volunteerism, adopt an attitude of giving something back to the community, and a have commitment to make things better for people.

The 2005 graduate of Plainwell High School doesn’t just preach this philosophy – he illustrates it in his graphic designs and photographs.

How good is his work?Here’s what veteran instructor Karen Matson says: “Tom is the best student I've ever seen go through our graphic-design program.

Phenomenally talented, professional, and articulate. He also works as a lab tech in our practice lab at the Center for New Media.”

Now a Kalamazoo resident, Wrench celebrated his graduation from high school with a six-month stay in California, followed by another six months in Spain, Germany, Italy, Austria, The Netherlands and other places European that could be sampled by a 40-day backpacking adventure with two high school friends.

Back he came to Southwest Michigan and, although not thinking specifically about college, established a residence in the Vine Neighborhood.

“I had worked on the student newspaper in high school,” he said, “doing page design with computer graphics and I took several journalism courses. It’s what I really liked about high school, but, again, I never thought about it in college terms.”

Call it fate or harmonic convergence, but Wrench walked into the Center for New Media – walking distance from his pad – and everything seemed to fit. “It felt like I was meant to be here,” he said.

Starting courses in the fall of 2006 as a graphic-design major, Wrench believes he’s been steered to wanting to assist nonprofits in their various missions that deal with real-life, human situation by instructors Andrea Stork, Thomas Mills and Matson.

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He’s considering launching an enterprise with Mills that would focus on the missions of nonprofits initially in Southwest Michigan, and then maybe nationally. “I think my generation has a huge responsibility to work for the good of others and to improve their communities,” Wrench said.

The 22-year-old Wrench inherited a sense of comfort and creativity in working with the electronic wizards of this age from his father, who is a computer analyst. “I grew up with them,” he said. “I had always done well in art in elementary and middle school, so it was an easy shift for me to be creative with a computer.”

State House committees convene at ACCAnna Whitten Hall was scheduled to host a joint session of the Michigan House

of Representatives' Commerce Committee and its New Economy and Quality of Life Committee on Friday (June 5).

Economic-development factors relevant to the Kalamazoo region and development opportunities available in the community were to be the focus when Rep. Robert Jones (D-Kalamazoo), chairman of the House Commerce Committee, convened the session on KVCC’s Arcadia Commons Campus.

Southwest Michigan First, which is participating in the session, reported that the Commerce Committee is composed of 19 state representatives. The House New Economy and Quality of Life Committee has 11 members.

"We are both honored and excited that the leadership of Rep. Jones is bringing these two critically important committees to our region in this time of difficulty in governmental budgets and economics," said Ron Kitchens, chief executive officer of Southwest Michigan First. "This session reinforces that Kalamazoo is once again being held up as the economic-development standard for the state and the nation."

Among those scheduled to speak are:(1) Jim Schultz, managing partner of Open Prairie Ventures of Effingham, Ill., to

address the advantages of bringing additional venture capital into the community.

(2) Bob Miller, associate vice president for community outreach at Western Michigan University, to talk about successes enjoyed by the WMU Business Technology and Research Park and prospects to expand technology-based businesses in partnership with the university.

(3) Kitchens to talk about high-technology companies and opportunities for the area to support the growth of fast-moving companies in the future.

(4) Jill Bland, vice president of Southwest Michigan First, to talk about the redevelopment of obsolete industrial sites "and how lessons learned from Kalamazoo can be used throughout the state of Michigan."

Camps for future animators, video-game designersElementary, middle-school and high-school students who were energized by the

creative medium of animation that was showcased at the fifth Kalamazoo Animation Festival International (KAFI) and by the lure of video games can sign up for “do-it-yourself” workshops this summer.

Designed for interests and skills of children as young as 9 and through the upper teens, the 13 KAFI Academy workshops will all be held in the KVCC Center for New Media in downtown Kalamazoo beginning June 22.

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Costs for the multi-day series of instructions and hands-on activities range from $150 to $275.

Here’s the summer-camp schedule: ● Audio Lab – June 22-25, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., ages 9 and up. This will teach the

skills to manipulate audio, create podcasts and make music.● Graphic Novel and Comic Art Foundations I – June 22-25 from 1 to 5 p.m.,

ages 13 and up. Students will develop characters, create storylines and prepare ideas for production.

● Graphic Novel and Comic Art Production II – June 29-July 2, from 1 to 5 p.m., ages 13 and up.

● Character and Comic Lab – June 29-July 2, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., ages 9 and up. This workshop will take a look at what makes a good video game, movie and comic strip, with participants giving life to their imaginations.

● Introduction to Video Game Development – June 29-July 2, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., for ages 14 and up.

● Guerilla Filmmaking – July 6-9, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., ages 11 and up. Learning the basics of shooting and editing for the screen.

● Squash and Stretch Lab: The Magic of the Bouncing Ball – July 6-9, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., ages 9 and up. Participants will learn how animation works and how to create it starting with the basics.

● Animation I: Fundamentals – July 13-16, noon to 5 p.m., ages 14 and up.● Animation II: Production – July 20-23, noon to 5 p.m., ages 14 and up.● Animation III: Putting It Together – July 27-30, noon to 5 p.m., ages 14 and

up.● Claymation Creation Lab – July 13-16, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., ages 9 and up.

Participants will learn how to construct characters in clay and animate them. ● Stop Motion Lab – July 20-23, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., ages 9 and up. For

young animators who like to “think out of the box” and explore different modes and forms of animation.

● Filmmaking: The Cutting-Room Floor – July 27-30, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., ages 11 and up. This session explores advanced shooting, lighting and editing skills.

All of the workshops are project-based, and each participant will leave with a finished product to take home.

The week-long workshops are structured to allow participants to continue their efforts at home if they have the required computer software.

For more information and details about each workshop, or to register, call (269) 373-7934 or go to the KAFI web site at www.gokafi.com and click on “events” and “summer academy.”

Sharing the instructional duties will be: Tom Ludwig, who teaches film and video production in the Education for the

Arts program. Aubrey Jewel Hardaway, a full-time instructor of animation at the Center for

New Media and a graduate of the Columbus College of Art and Design. Kenjji Marshall, who has taught cartooning and caricature at the College for

Creative Studies in Detroit and has had his work featured in the New York Times and the Japan Times.

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Joe Sparks, a faculty member at the Center for New Media and a graduate of the Savannah College of Art and Design in computer animation.

John Wagner, a major in digital cinema at Northern Michigan University who manages the technology lab for Education for the Arts.

Famed local resorts featured in museum’s TV showKalamazoo County’s heyday as a hotbed of summer resorts, amusement parks,

fairs and festivals is the June installment of the Kalamazoo Valley Museum’s TV show.Featuring Tom Dietz, the curator of research at the museum, the episode will

chronicle the major attractions from 1850 through 1950 and will be aired by the Public Media Network (formerly the Community Access Center) on Channel 22 on the Charter cable system at 7 p.m. on Sundays, 6:30 p.m. on Tuesdays, 6:30 p.m. on Fridays, and 11 a.m. on Saturdays.

A century ago, Gull Lake was filled with resorts, dance halls, hotels, and vacation cottages for rent. Steamboats offered relaxing cruises, often with bands providing musical entertainment in the evening. Dietz will trace some of the early enterprises, including 25-cent rides on the steamboat Michigan.

Vacationers were transported on the interurban light-rail system from both Kalamazoo and Battle Creek and by 1905 more than a dozen resorts lined Gull Lake.

Automobiles as well as the interurban, while providing more people with access to Gull Lake, hastened the end of the public resorts. The construction of private homes replaced both the resorts and cottage associations that offered vacation rentals.

Sherman Lake offered another option for those looking for summer relaxation. In the 1930s, Jesse Graine of Kalamazoo and George Hill of Battle Creek opened Silver Beach for African-Americans on the north shore near today’s public-access site.

In southern Kalamazoo County, Indian Lake was also the site of summer resorts beginning in the 1890s with Lemon Park that in time had its own stop on the Chicago and Grand Trunk railroad.

Lemon Park remained popular until the 1940s as did Adams Park and Munn’s Knoll that opened in the early 20th century.

Within what are now the city limits of Kalamazoo, Woods Lake offered summer recreational opportunities. Oakwood Park was a full amusement attraction with a roller coaster, skating rink, dance hall, penny arcade, concession stand, and band shell.

Originally known as Lake View, it opened on July 5, 1893, and for more than 30 years Oakwood Park was the “Coney Island” of Kalamazoo.

The Oakland Avenue street-car line brought visitors to the entrance on Parkview Avenue. During the park’s heyday, street cars arrived and departed every 10 minutes. Extra cars were added for special events.

In July 1912, for example, the traveling “Pilbeam’s Great Historical Show” staged a re-creation of the Civil War battle between the Monitor and the Merrimac for five consecutive nights. The show was so popular that the Orcutt Post of the Grand Army of the Republic changed its annual picnic date so that members could attend the program. Oakwood Park closed in 1925.

Challenger HQ organization lauded for ‘excellence’

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The umbrella organization for the Kalamazoo Valley Museum’s Challenger Learning Center has been presented the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Foundation’s 2009 award for excellence.

The award honors the Challenger Center for Space Science Education, which is based in Alexandria, Va., for its “two decades of inspiration and fostering interest in careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.”

Past recipients have included John Glenn, Gen. Tommy Franks, John Travolta, Gen. John Shalikashvili, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The institute and its foundation constitute the world’s largest technical organization dedicated to the global aerospace profession.

With more than 35,000 members, it brings together industry, academia and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space and defense.

Thanks to the generosity of Kalamazooans James and Mary Tyler, the Challenger Learning Center, with its adrenalin rush of an educational adventure in outer space, was built for the Kalamazoo Valley Museum in 1993.

The Challenger concept evolved from the national tragedy on Jan. 28, 1986, when seven American astronauts, including civilian teacher Christa McAuliffe, were killed when their shuttle made its fiery fall from the skies over Florida only 73 seconds after liftoff.

The astronauts' families, seeking ways to carry on the teaching and educational objectives of the shuttle's doomed mission, agreed to establish the Challenger Center.

The center went about creating realistic and exciting computerized scenarios in which students and educators work in teams to solve authentic math, science and technology problems during a space-flight simulation.

In the process, positive experiences raise students' expectations of success and inspire them to pursue careers in math, science and applied technology.

Kalamazoo’s was the 16th Challenger Learning Center on the North American continent and the first to link to a community college.

The Kalamazoo museum is home to Michigan's lone CLC. There are now 46 in existence in 27 states, the District of Columbia, Great Britain, and Canada.

They are housed or operated by four-year universities, K-12 schools, aviation and space museums, and museums of science, technology and industry. Four, including KVCC’s, have a variety of relationships to a community college.

CLC expeditions into “The Final Frontier” are geared for middle-school students, and not just those who may be already interested in science.

Their teachers undergo preliminary training so they can integrate the lessons into existing math and science curricula.

One aspect of the cross-discipline exercise is that students fill out job applications for the mission's teams, of which there are eight -- medical, isolation, probe, communications, life support, remote, navigation and data.

The full-mission simulations take place in three settings -- a space station replicating the experience of working in orbit; a mission control similar to the one used by NASA at the Johnson Space Center; and a Mars station, a projection of NASA plans for future human presence on the surface of that planet.

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No particular expertise in science and math is necessary, and one doesn't have to be a computer guru. The only requirements are basic reading and math skills, and a sense of adventure.

What CLC mission participants learn is that science, math and high-tech skills are far from being boring. The almost-like-real space missions and exercises illustrate the practical and technological applications of math and science principles, as well as communication skills, in meaningful, relevant ways.

Among the inventory of CLC missions are a rendezvous with a comet, a probe to build a research base on the moon, a look at the Earth's fragile environment from deep space, and the mission to Mars.

Kalamazoo’s is one of few CLCs to offer all four missions.The Tylers were energized in the wake of the Challenger disaster when the

families of the seven astronauts came together under a common cause to use the spirit of space discovery as a vehicle for meaningfully teaching science and math.

Mary Tyler became aware of the crew’s revived educational mission when she saw June Scobee, the widow of the crew’s commander, interviewed on television.

She was fascinated by the concept and set about to attract one of those learning centers to Kalamazoo.

When the campaign to build a new museum splashed down on the local scene in 1991, it was the perfect time and the perfect place.

Kalamazoo’s CLC was designed to fit in the former museum on the second floor of the Kalamazoo Public Library and staged its first missions in the fall of 1993.

When the Kalamazoo Valley Museum was ready for visitors in February of 1996, the Tylers’ gift easily made the transition.

‘Cougar Town’ gets air time in the fallLook for “Cougar Town” next fall on network television.But this version will not be about the life and times of students, staff and faculty

members at KVCC.It’s the name of one of ABC-TV’s new “sit-coms” that will debut on Wednesday

nights with the coming 2009-10 season. Former “Friends” actress Courteney Cox will headline the series, playing a newly

single woman who must relearn the rules of dating and how to apply them in contemporary, youth-obsessed society.

KVCC grad cited as health-care leaderA KVCC alumna was designated as one of the “Top Women in Health Care” in a

recent edition of Business Review West Michigan news magazine.One of 20 so listed, Sally Berglin is vice president of Bronson Lakeview

Operations that is part of the Kalamazoo-based Bronson Healthcare Group.Former president and chief executive officer of Lakeview Community Hospital in

Paw Paw, Berglin earned an associate degree in nursing at KVCC.She later added to her educational resume a bachelor’s in business administration

at the former Nazareth College, and a master’s in public administration at Grand Valley State College.

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Berglin was acknowledged for the transitioning of the Lakeview health-care enterprise into becoming affiliated with the Bronson network, managing multiple renovations and new-building projects in the process.

The Business Review editorial staff made their 20 selections based on the women’s leadership, educational roles and medical capacities in organizations throughout this part of the state.

Exploring your planet at the museum You can spend about five hours on a Sunday afternoon with the menagerie of

amazing creatures and life forms that share this planet called Earth.This summer’s free showings of documentaries at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum

will offer the 12 episodes of David Attenborough’s “The Living Planet” beginning on Sunday, June 21.

The triple-headers will be shown on four Sundays through Aug. 16 in the museum’s Mary Jane Stryker Theater at 1:30, 3 and 4 p.m., respectively.

Called the “ultimate guided tour of planet earth” and led by one of the world's foremost natural scientists, the series takes viewers into a hibernating bear's den, wading with piranhas, and crawling across glaciers as complicated concepts are explained simply.

The opening segments on June 21 are “The Building of the Earth” (at 1:30 p.m.), “The Frozen Earth” (at 3 p.m.), and “The Northern Forests” (at 4 p.m.)

"The Building of the Earth” explains the enormous forces that have shaped the planet and serves as an introduction to the diverse plant and animal life, including humankind, that have adapted to varying physical and biological conditions above and beneath the land and the sea.

Viewers gain a global perspective on the earth sciences and a number of associated ecological concepts. This episode begins in the world’s deepest valley: that of the Kali Gandaki River in the Himalayas. Its temperatures range from those of the tropics in its lower reaches to that of the poles higher up, which shows how creatures become adapted to living in certain environments.

The higher that Attenborough travels, the more bleak and mountainous is the terrain, and the more suited to it are the animals that live there. However, such adaptations are comparatively recent. These mountains were formed from the sea bed some 65 million years ago.

To show the force of nature responsible for this, Attenborough stands in front of an erupting volcano in Iceland. The Icelandic volcanoes represent the northern end of a fissure that is mostly underwater and runs down one side of the globe, forming volcanic islands en route where it is above sea level.

It is such activity, known as plate tectonics, from deep within the Earth that pulled apart Africa and South America and created the Atlantic Ocean. Footage of the eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980 shows what decimation it caused. However, this pales in comparison to the destruction caused by Krakatoa in 1883, which Attenborough relates in detail. When such pressure beneath the Earth shifts, it results in hot springs and caverns — which themselves support life.

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"The Frozen World" describes the inhospitable habitats of snow and ice. Mount Rainier in America is an example of such a place: there is no vegetation, therefore no herbivores and thus no carnivores.

However, beneath its frosty surface, algae grow and some insects, such as ladybirds visit the slopes. Africa’s mountains are permanently snow-covered, and beneath peaks such as Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya, there are communities of plants and animals.

However, they endure extremes of temperature within 24 hours like no other. At night they are in danger of freezing solid, and during the day they may be robbed of moisture. Lobelias combat this by either producing pectin or insulating themselves with an abundance of leaves analogous to a fur coat.

The Andes run the length of South America and are surrounded by the altiplano. On these high plains, there is a large and varied population of animals.

Antarctica is bigger than the whole of Europe and is for the most part devoid of life. However, its shores and waters are fertile and are home to fur seals, their main food (krill), and several species of penguin.

By contrast, because of its connection to more temperate regions, the Arctic has been colonized by a large variety of species. They include arctic foxes, polar bears, lemmings, snowy owls, and the region’s most powerful hunter, the Inuit. It is also a temporary home to migratory animals, such as the caribou and snow goose.

The 4 p.m. feature, "The Northern Forests,” examines the northern coniferous forests, beginning in northern Norway, 500 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle. There is only just enough light for the pine trees to survive, but it is extremely cold during the winter.

Pine-cone seeds provide one of the few foods available in winter, and large herbivores such as moose must also rely on their fat reserves. However, there are predators, including lynxes, wolverines and eagle owls.

The coniferous forest grows in a belt right around the globe, some 1,900 kilometers across at its widest. On each continent, many migratory animals arrive in the spring, and even more during the summer.

In years when the vole population is high, the numbers of their main predator, the owls, increase correspondingly and spread out. Further south, the warmer climate sees the pine trees give way to broad-leaved species, such as the oak and beech.

More birds occupy the forest canopy during the summer than at any other time of year, feeding on a myriad of insects. At the onset of winter, many animals in these forests hibernate, and in America, Attenborough uncovers the den of a black bear, which can be asleep for six months at a time.

Further south, Attenborough shows the effects of forest fires, which are not so destructive as they appear — the areas affected rejuvenate themselves within a couple of months, with more flowers than before.

"Our planet, the Earth, is, as far as we know, unique in the universe,” Attenborough said in the opening segment. “It contains life. Even in its most barren stretches, there are animals. Around the equator, where those two essentials for life -- sunshine and moisture -- are most abundant, great forests grow. And here plants and animals proliferate in such numbers that we still have not even named all the different species.

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“Animals and plants, insects and birds, mammals and man live together in intimate and complex communities, each dependent on one another,” he said. “Two-thirds of the surface of this unique planet is covered by water, and it was here indeed that life began. From the oceans, it has spread even to the summits of the highest mountains as animals and plants have responded to the changing face of the Earth."

Here’s the remainder of the showings:July 12 – “Jungle,” “Seas of Grass,” and “The Baking Deserts.”July 26 – “The Sky Above,” “Sweet Fresh Water,” and “The Margins of the

Land.”Aug. 16 – “Worlds Apart,” “The Open Ocean,” and “New Worlds.”

Capturing oral histories to learn about the pastTwo women with KVCC connections played major roles in a six-week oral-

history project that involved about 60 seventh-graders attending Kalamazoo’s Maple Street Magnet School for the Arts.

The program was led by the Southwest Michigan Black History Society of which Donna Odom, a staff member at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum, is an officer and project director.

The program’s coordinator was Demarra Gardner, a May 2003 graduate of Kalamazoo Valley Community College who in the fall of 2007 organized a rally in Kalamazoo’s Bronson Park to build local awareness about the deadly turmoil in the western Sudan region of Darfur.

Focused on capturing oral accounts of the history of Kalamazoo’s African-American community, the project trained the Maple Street students to conduct interviews with 15 people who lived through and made this history.

Odom’s organization brought in experts in the fields of history, communications and technology for training, inspiration and guidance.

Gardner said the program was intended “to bridge the gap” and give the students the experience of working with older people in capturing their stories. The mission, he said, was “to understand the importance of history and to understand the rich, complex stories of African-Americans in this community. “

The students were schooled in how to listen effectively, how to prepare for an interview, and how to engage in the pleasant art of conversation so that people will share the stories of their lives.

Regarding the Darfur rally, Gardner says she was spurred into action while attending an event in Battle Creek that focused on what was happening in that area in north central Africa that is southwest of Egypt and borders Libya, Chad and the Central African Republic.

About the size of Texas and located on the eastern edge of the Sahara Desert, Darfur, with its population of about six million, has been a land of subsistence farming and nomadic herding. But since 2003, it has become the African version of Cambodia’s “The Killing Fields” involving the Sudanese government, rebel groups that oppose its rule, tribal militias, and rival ethnic groups.

Despite the efforts of some peace-keeping forces, the United Nations has estimated that 400,000 Darfurians have been killed in attacks and another two million have been driven from their homes. Entire villages have been wiped out, while food and

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water supplies have been destroyed as part of a scorched-earth policy that is spreading disease and famine.

“The Sudanese military,” Gardner said, “paints many of its attack aircraft white, which is the same color as United Nations humanitarian aircraft. That’s a violation of international law. When a plane approaches, villagers do not know whether it is on a mission to help them or to bomb them.”

An elementary-education major at KVCC, she attended Western Michigan University for a year while working in the nonprofit sector for Kalamazoo Neighborhood Housing Services Inc. Because of that work that spanned more than four years, she transferred to Spring Arbor University to pursue a degree in family-life education.

With that degree in hand in May of 2006, Gardner joined the National Resource Center for the Healing of Racism. She planned to apply for admission to the WMU graduate program in counseling psychology.

No tossin’ -- recycle those paper productsWith thoughts of cleaning out the office as spring break approaches, don’t just

dump those papers. Keep those recyclable resources in the mainstream.Think about what you are doing and don’t be lazy in doing it.The college’s commitment to recycling the mountains of paper required for daily

operations is still strong. The losers for not maintaining that strength are the landfills of Southwest

Michigan, and the trees that help replenish the planet with the stuff we all breathe.Hammered through all of us in many a science class is that trees eat what we

exhale and what comes out of our vehicles’ exhausts. Each time a tree is saved through the use of recycled paper, so is an oxygen generator.

It’s not that tough to do. All that is required is a little patience and a sense that one is doing the right thing.

The same goes with metal and plastic products that touch our lives and, without any consideration, end up in trash containers. What good is it to down a plastic bottle of that good, clear, clean water, and then relegate the containers to the landfills?

Just about every ilk of paper product that comes our way can be recycled. In one KVCC study, it was concluded that 80 percent of what the college

incinerates doesn’t have to be destroyed that way.Print out this list of “recyclables” and post it just above your blue bin: Newspapers Business cards Hard-cover books Copy paper Index cards Trade journals and magazines Cardboard Fax paper Junk mail Notebook paper Paper bags Envelopes without plastic windows (Think about cutting out the plastic

windows)

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Business forms Computer printouts File folders Maps Post-it notes StationeryIt is not necessary to remove staples or other forms of bindings from the paper

items to be recycled. Obviously, paper clips can be easily salvaged before launching the paper

materials into the blue bin. However, if the above materials are soiled by excessive dirt, food, grease or other

forms of gook, send them to the incinerator. Most of this applies to what we do in our homes, too. By taking the time to

recycle paper, plastic, metal and glass products, the amount of trash, debris and garbage bound for the landfill can be drastically reduced.

If possible, establish a compost pile in your yard. That can accomplish at least three goals – create your own fertilizer, build up a personal supply of worms if you are an angler, and greatly reduce the amount of trash you put out along the roadside for pickup, thus reducing your costs.

Need more convincing? It is estimated that it takes a plastic container 50,000 years to decompose. Think about that the next time you chuck away that empty water

bottle that cost you at least a buck. And finally. . .

Students in science and health courses from K-12 through college write the darnedest things on test papers and essays as they “learn” about the mysteries and marvels of life and nature. The spelling has not been changed “to protect the innocent.”

"When you breath, you inspire. When you do not breath, you expire." "To collect fumes of sulphur, hold a deacon over a flame in a test tube." "When you smell an oderless gas, it is probably carbon monoxide." "Water is composed of two gins -- oxygin and hydrogin. Oxygin is pure gin.

Hydrogin is gin and water." "Three kinds of blood vessels are arteries, vanes and caterpillars." "Blood flows down one leg and up the other." "Respiration is composed of two acts -- first inspiration, and then

expectoration." "The moon is a planet just like the earth, only it is even deader." "Dew is formed on leaves when the sun shines down on them and makes

them perspire." "A super-saturated solution is one that holds more than it can hold."

"Mushrooms always grow in damp places, which is why they look like umbrellas."

"The body consists of three parts- the brainium, the borax and the abominable cavity. The brainium contains the brain, the borax contains the heart

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and lungs, and the abominable cavity contains the bowls, of which there are five - a, e, i, o, and u."

"The pistol of a flower is its only protection against insects." "The alimentary canal is located in the northern part of Indiana." "The skeleton is what is left after the insides have been taken out and the

outsides have been taken off. The purpose of the skeleton is something to hitch meat to." "A permanent set of teeth consists of eight canines, eight cuspids, two molars, and eight cuspidors."

"The tides are a fight between the Earth and moon. All water tends towards the moon, because there is no water on the moon, and nature abhors a vacuum. I forget where the sun joins in this fight."

"A fossil is an extinct animal. The older it is, the more extinct it is." "Equator: a managerie lion running around the Earth through Africa." "Germinate: To become a naturalized German." "Liter: A nest of young puppies." "Magnet: Something you find crawling all over a dead cat." "Momentum: What you give a person when they are going away." "Planet: A body of Earth surrounded by sky." "Rhubarb: A kind of celery gone bloodshot." "Vacumm: A large, empty space where the pope lives." "Before giving a blood transfusion, find out if the blood is affirmative or

negative." "To remove dust from the eye, pull the eye down over the nose."

"For a nosebleed: Put the nose much lower than the body until the heart stops."

"For fainting: Rub the person's chest or, if a lady, rub her arm above the hand instead. Or put the head between the knees of the nearest medical doctor." "For a dog bite: put the dog away for several days. If he has not recovered, then kill it."

"For asphyxiation: Apply artificial respiration until the patient is dead." "For a head cold: use an agonizer to spray the nose until it drops in your

throat." "To keep milk from turning sour: Keep it in the cow."

☻☻☻☻☻☻

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