April 27, 2009

The DigestWhat’s Happening at KVCC

What’s below in this edition

Digistar 4 (Pages 1-3) ‘Green Revolution’ (P-14/15) Miller Time (Page 3) Baseball legacy (Pages 15/16) May 11 (Page 4) Relay for Life (Pages 16/17)) Wind update (Pages 4/5) Sunday Series (Page 17) KVCC on Capitol Hill (Pages 5/6) Training for KAFI (Pages 17/18) Howard Dean (Pages 6-8) ‘Bridges’ deadline (Pages 18/19) Hispanic College Day (Pages 8/9) ‘The Violin’ (Page 19) KAFI screenings (Pages 9-11) Wellness checks (Pages 19/20) Night at Museum (Page 11) Music/animation (Pages 20/21) Animation’s uses (Pages 11/12) Dead batteries (Pages 21/22) Swap Meet (Pages 12/13) KVCC’ers in the news (P-22/23) ‘Dave Alvin Duo (Pages 13/14) Our STARs (Page 23) Who Hit John (Page 14) And Finally (Page 23)

☻☻☻☻☻☻Planetarium update on horizon this summer

The next generation of planetarium experiences is scheduled to sit down on the Kalamazoo landscape when Digistar 4 Laser arrives at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum in the fall.

As with its predecessor Digistar II, which was among the attractions when the downtown-Kalamazoo museum opened its doors in February of 1996, the newest $1.3 million version will be among the handful in operation around the world with its first public programs slated for Saturday, Sept. 18.

“According to my research,” said planetarium coordinator Eric Schreur, “this new Digistar system will be one of a dozen digital planetariums in the world that use a laser beam to cover the full screen with video imagery. It becomes even rarer when considering the interactive features that we have – probably one of six in the world. And we certainly will be among the smallest venues to have a Digistar 4 Laser.”

“The Digistar 4 opens a whole new world of educational possibilities for Southwest Michigan,” said museum director Patrick Norris. “Full-dome, full-color digital video images take visitors to the depths of space and back in time.”

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Digistar is the trademark name for the computer-projection system of Evans & Sutherland based in Salt Lake City. It uses digital-graphics technology to create three-dimensional scenes on the 109-seat Kalamazoo planetarium’s 50-foot dome.

“There are two differences between the new system and the older one,” said Schreur, who has been presenting and producing planetarium shows in Kalamazoo since his days as a museum volunteer in 1969. “First, and most apparent to the audience, will be the change in projection technology. The Digistar II was a black-and-white video display projected on the dome through a fish-eye lens.

“It was supplemented,” he said, “by four video projectors fixed on different parts of the screen, dozens of slide projectors, and dozens of special-effect projectors – all very functional and all very exciting.

“The Digistar 4 Laser is a single projector that will do the work of all of those in the earlier system,” said Schreur, who has held his current position at the museum since 1985. “It fills the dome with images projected by a colored laser beam.”

Schreur said the second difference will be out of the view of audiences and be behind the scenes where the shows are created. New computer software is used to assemble electronic images and digital audio into shows. “Gone forever are the slide films and recording tapes used in the past,” he said.

The museum’s inventory of planetarium offerings has grown to more than 50 shows since the opening 14 years ago. Schreur is in the process of upgrading the best of them – about 15 -- to be Digistar 4 Laser ready when the planetarium theater goes back into action in September.

The purchase price includes five programs produced by Evans & Sutherland for the updated planetarium. They are “Ice Worlds,” “Invaders of Mars,” “New Horizons,” “Secrets of the Sun,” and “Stars of the Pharaohs.” Two others – “Secret of the Cardboard Rocket” and one featuring the music of U2 – are being purchased from another source.

After a feasibility study by community leaders, Kalamazoo Valley Community College in July of 1991 assumed the governance of the Kalamazoo Public Museum.

Voters in the college's 10 K-12 school districts also approved a charter millage to fund the museum's operations in perpetuity. Part of its annual budgeting process is to build up a capital-improvement fund for such projects as the Digistar 4 Laser.

In response to that mandate from voters, community leaders launched a $20-million capital campaign to build a new museum in downtown Kalamazoo. Since its opening, the museum has attracted 1.5 million visitors.

“At the end of the first ‘Star Trek’ movie,” said President Marilyn Schlack, “Capt. Kirk is asked ‘Where to, captain?’ Sitting in the captain's chair on the bridge of the Starship Enterprise, Kirk, like a wide-eyed child experiencing that first meaningful Christmas, looks toward deep space and says, ‘Out there.’

“Well, ‘Out There’ has been right here and now it’s going to be even more exciting,” she said. “But the experience is not limited to treks to and through stars, solar systems, galaxies and black holes.

“Up on that dome,” Schlack said, “there can be trips into inner space, the inner sanctum of a sea shell, the genetic maze of DNA, and whatever else the naked eye can't see. We are blessed that our generous communities have provided such an exceptional and wondrous learning tool.”

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It was possible with the Digistar II "to fly" the audience to any of the 9,000 stars in its data base and look back to this solar system from their locations in the universe. Schreur reports the new data base is much larger and the “trips” are no longer limited to stars or black-and-white experiences.

“It will be safe to say,” Schreur said, “that people in Southwest Michigan would have to travel great distances to get the same experience that we will be able to offer beginning in September.”

He reports that the planetarium in the Kingman Museum in Battle Creek is in the process of upgrading to a Digistar 4 SP2-HD (which stands for “Small Planetarium 2 Projectors High Definition).

“The Kingman will be capable of running any show we can,” Schreur said, “just on a smaller screen with lower resolution. It also doesn’t feature the interactive keypads in the seats that audience members can use to influence the programs.”

A month after Kalamazoo’s opening, Delta College, located in University City equi-distant from Saginaw, Midland and Bay City, is scheduled to bring its Digistar 4 Laser on line. The Delta planetarium theater is located in Bay City.

“It will be almost identical to ours,” Schreur said. “Delta opened its planetarium with a Digistar II about a year after we did. Now its upgrade will be coming on the heels of ours.”

63rd graduation is Sunday, April 26, in MillerThe college’s 63rd commencement ceremony is set for Sunday (April 26) in

Miller Auditorium on the Western Michigan University campus.Those who have been assigned specific roles for the event should report to the

auditorium by 3 p.m., an hour before the program is to begin. Among those faculty and staff members involved in the ritual are Dwight

Coblentz, Doug Martin, Rod Albrecht, Marie Rogers, Patricia Niewoonder, Lois Baldwin, Delynne Andres and Carol Orr.

The faculty speaker will be respiratory care instructor Al Moss, while the student speaker is still to be selected. Moss, director of the respiratory care program at KVCC and a faculty member since 1982, was named the top instructor in his field in Michigan in 2007.

He was honored as the Educator of the Year in respiratory care at the two-day annual “Trends” conference of the Michigan Occupational Deans Administrative Council in Grand Rapids.

The diploma-day celebration will be broadcast live by the Public Media Network (formerly the Community Access Center) for viewing at 4 p.m. on its Channel 22 in the Charter lineup. It will be rebroadcast several times with the dates and times to be announced.

Also scheduled to make remarks is Jeff Patton, chairman of the KVCC Board of Trustees, and graduate Thomas Wrench, who is earning a degree in graphic arts and was featured in the March installment of the Art Hop in downtown Kalamazoo.

His photographs and artwork are still on display at the Public Media Network on the top floor of the Epic Center.

Providing the music will be the KVCC Choir, directed by Michelle Bauman, and the KVCC Campus Band with conductor Chris Garrett.

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Summer hours to begin May 11From May 11 through Aug. 28, KVCC will be operating under “summer hours.”On Monday through Thursday, the work week will be from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

with a 30-minute break for lunch. And on Fridays during that period, the college will shut down at noon. Work

hours will be from 8 to noon with no lunch break.With the arrival of summer hours, The Digest will also shift into an every-other-

week format until just before the start of the fall semester. Those operations of the colleges with special, evening and weekend hours - -

facilities services, information technologies, the M-TEC, some offices, and the museum — will be adjusting their individual schedules to ensure coverage.

The KVCC Office of Human Resources reports that employees will be paid for 40 hours on the job even though the work week will be reduced to 36 hours during that 16-week period.

The KVCC Cabinet reviews the summer-work schedule annually to determine whether core hours will be adjusted.

Certificate program in wind energy begins in fallKVCC will launch its program to train the coming generation of wind-energy

technicians in the fall, with students able to get a jumpstart by enrolling in pre-requisite courses during the summer semester.

To earn a one-year certificate in the emerging field, students will complete 35 credit hours of classroom instructions and lab experiences designed to teach them how to install, maintain and service modern wind-energy turbines.

While they can prepare for this curriculum by enrolling in summer courses that begin May 18 and run through Aug. 10, the classes that apply directly to wind-energy technology will begin with KVCC’s fall semester scheduled to start on Sept. 8.

Among the chief instructional tools will be the 145-foot, 50-kilowatt, commercial-sized wind turbine that towers over the college’s technical wing on the Texas Township Campus and a 1.8-kilowatt model that is designed for residential purposes. A wind-turbine lab in KVCC’s nearby M-TEC will also be part of the learning equation.

Through courses in applied electricity, electrical machines, programmable logic controllers, fluid power, the operations, maintenance and repair of wind turbines, the mechanical systems in these turbines, and the generation and distribution of power, students will be introduced to the technical standards in the industry.

They will learn about the generation of electrical power, safety in the workplace, mechanical devices, electrical, pneumatic and hydraulic systems, computer controls and communications. They will learn the skills needed to connect locally generated power into the grid systems used by utilities.

The curriculum will be rounded out by an overview of renewable energies, including solar energy, wind power, hydropower, geothermal energy, and alternatives to petroleum-based products. They will learn the basic principles of each technology to understand their natures, their limits and their potential.

A grant awarded to KVCC instructor Bill Wangler will do more than just make it easier for these future wind-energy technicians to work on residential-sized, electricity-producing turbines.

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It will result in a multi-disciplinary project that will involve KVCC students enrolled in computer-aided design, welding, machine tool, manufacturing and electrical-technology classes.

The $1,500 grant from the MEEMIC Insurance Co.’s foundation will pay for the components and materials needed to build a mobile testing-and-measurement cart that can be used in the training of technicians who will be working on wind-turbine systems designed for residences.

A previous state grant was used by KVCC to purchase the 1.8-kilowatt wind turbine, said Wangler, who joined the college’s full-time faculty as an instructor in electrical technology in 2001. “The typical application is that it be mounted at the top of a mast – typically 33 to 50 feet in height – to expose the turbine to the prevailing winds.”

That’s great for producing electricity, but being 10 to 15 yards in the air makes it more than a bit difficult to be used as a “hands-on” instructional tool, says Wangler, who has a degree in electrical engineering from Bradley University and a master’s in business administration from Northern Illinois University.

The grant from the MEEMIC Foundation for the Future of Education will handle that.

“To make our residential wind turbine employable as a classroom and laboratory instruction tool,” said Wangler, who has experience in industry as an engineer. The unit – without its 12-foot blades, will be mounted on a holding fixture on the mobile cart, along with all of the required mechanical and electrical connections and equipment, and the necessary instrumentation.

“The entire system can then be used by students as a test bed with which to conduct lab projects such as measuring the turbine’s electrical output under simulated varying wind and weather conditions,” Wangler said. The mobile approach allows it to move to any location on the campus to fit the needs of any course.

That will be the end product of a multidisciplinary collaboration. To begin the process, the drafting students will design the cart and its

components, machine-tool students will fabricate the pieces and instrumental panels, the welding students will do the assembly, and the electrical-tech students will get it operational.

“Students will benefit,” Wangler said, “because they will be working on a real-world project as a member of a multidisciplinary project team similar to what they experience in industry.

He estimated the design and fabrication phase will take an academic year. Once completed and with normal maintenance, the mobile cart should be effective for many years as a learning resource.

MEEMIC Insurance Co. is based in Auburn Hills, Mich. Founded in 1950 by seven teachers, it targets education employees for its variety of coverages.

Wind-energy program gets airtime on Capitol Hill As the House Energy and Commerce Committee entered its third day of

proceedings examining proposed climate-change legislation, Congressman Fred Upton highlighted KVCC’s new wind-certificate program as the nation seeks to expand use of renewable sources of energy to combat climate change.

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Upton, the top Republican on the Energy and Environment Subcommittee, is a strong supporter of renewable sources of energy including wind and solar, and believes that they are an important part of the solution to reduce carbon emissions.

Upton is a leading advocate for KVCC’s wind-energy curriculum, and is seeking congressional funding to boost the program that will help create jobs in Southwest Michigan.

“I applaud KVCC moving forward with its wind-energy-technician curriculum, allowing students to get a jumpstart on their studies in wind energy in a matter of weeks,” Upton said. “Soon we’ll have fully-qualified, homegrown wind technicians ready to help boost our economy and protect the environment with emissions-free energy.

“Climate change is a serious problem that necessitates serious solutions,” the St. Joseph Republican said. “Everything must be on the table – particularly renewable sources of energy like wind and solar, nuclear power and clean-coal technologies. The potential for renewable wind energy in Southwest Michigan is great – not only for our local energy supply, but for our local economy as well. Wind turbines throughout Southwest Michigan will not only power our communities, they will help power our local economic engine and create jobs.”

KVCC will launch its program to train the coming generation of wind-energy technicians in the fall, with students able to get a jumpstart by enrolling in prerequisite courses during the summer semester. While they can prepare for this curriculum by enrolling in summer courses that begin May 18 and run through Aug. 10, the classes that apply directly to wind-energy technology will begin with KVCC’s fall semester scheduled to start on Sept. 8.

Among the chief instructional tools will be the 145-foot, 50-kilowatt, commercial-sized wind turbine that towers over the college’s technical wing on the Texas Township Campus and a 1.8-kilowatt model that is designed for residential purposes. A wind-turbine lab in KVCC’s nearby M-TEC will also be part of the learning equation.

Through courses in applied electricity, electrical machines, programmable logic controllers, fluid power, the operations, maintenance and repair of wind turbines, the mechanical systems in these turbines, and the generation and distribution of power, students will be introduced to the technical standards in the industry.

Upton is also a strong supporter of KVCC and WMU’s collaboration in developing a Wind Energy Center to help create jobs and foster the creation of start-up businesses involved in various aspects of producing energy from wind, including manufacturers, designers, distributors, and repair companies.

Dean at scholarship fund-raiser on May 20Howard Dean, a onetime front-running presidential candidate who is credited

with sowing the political seeds that sprouted into the 2008 election of Barack Obama, will keynote the KVCC Foundation’s fifth annual Opportunities for Education (OFE) fund-raiser on Wednesday, May 20.

The banquet, designed to raise scholarship dollars and underwritten by National City Bank, will begin at 6 p.m. at the Radisson Plaza Hotel and Suites in downtown Kalamazoo.

Dean, a physician advocate of health-care reform, parlayed a dozen years as the governor of Vermont from 1991 to 2003 into the early lead for the Democratic Party’s

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presidential nomination in 2004 that eventually went to Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts.

One of the fruits of his candidacy, which sought the support of America’s younger population through the Internet, was to be appointed the chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), a post that he held for four years beginning in 2005.

His “50-State Strategy” was designed to make his party competitive in each state, including those in which Democrats had fared poorly, and ignore the “red-blue” factors in past presidential elections.

Shortly after announcing that he would be seeking the Democratic Party’s nomination and opposing the supposedly shoe-in Hillary Clinton, Obama and his political camp began taking advantage of the party infrastructure that Dean had built. Working with DNC organizers in all 50 states, the Obama campaign gained momentum in the primaries, was nominated, and went on to win the “red” states of Virginia, North Carolina and Indiana last November of his way to the White House.

He actually began his professional life as Dr. Howard Dean, having earned his medical degree from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City in 1978. After completing his residency in a medical center in Vermont, he began his internal-medicine practice in Shelburne, Vt.

In the early 1980s, Dr. Dean began his path to becoming Gov. Dean. After chairing his county’s Democratic Party in the early 1980s, he was elected to the Vermont House of Representatives. That led to a trio of two-year terms as lieutenant governor. When the sitting governor died, Dean was elevated to the state’s chief executive and subsequently was elected to five two-year terms.

His gubernatorial tenure was marked by Vermont getting out of debt and building a $100-million surplus, a health-care plan that provided coverage to 96 percent of the state’s children, prescription-drug assistance for Medicare recipients, and a statewide learning network that wired almost of Vermont’s high schools.

He and his wife, Dr. Judy Steinberg, are the parents of two grown children.Supporters were hoping that Dean would be appointed Obama’s secretary of

health and human services in the cabinet and he has expressed his disappointment that the post, after a false start or two, went to Gov. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas. But that did not stop him from favorable comments about the new president’s health-care initiatives that he believes will get “get rid of the socialized medicine stuff.”

“The budget was an important first step,” Dean told The Huffington Post, “and now the question is the substance of the bill. . .President Obama is not proposing a new plan that the American people won’t understand. What he is proposing is if you want what you have, you can keep it. If you want to have private insurance, you can. If you want to have Medicare, you can have that, too. There is no boogeyman in this plan.”

The KVCC Foundation was formed in 1980 and has accumulated $7 million in assets. Its mission is to enhance educational opportunities and the learning environment at the college by supporting the academic, literary and scientific activities of KVCC students and faculty. Its assists the college’s Honors Program, minority enrollees and non-traditional students through scholarships and awards grants that promote innovative approaches to learning.

“Because KVCC’s tuition is among the lowest of the state’s 28 community colleges and fees are practically non-existent,” said Steve Doherty, executive director of

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the KVCC Foundation, “scholarship dollars take students a very, very long way toward their goals. We want to help even more in the coming years, now that state and federal sources of scholarships are either drying up or are in jeopardy because of budget cuts.”

In a typical semester, the foundation is able to assist about 250 students, with scholarship and grant assistance averaging around $350,000 an academic year for tuition, fees, books and supplies, as well as for the child-care and transportation costs that students face in pursuing a degree or a new career.

“That represents a minimal fraction of the dollar value of scholarships that are available through the KVCC Office of Financial Aid,” Doherty said. “That type of assistance has federal and state sources that carry restrictions. So do some of those scholarships established by organizations or individuals. And all of those are very important.

“Ours, however, are more open-ended, less restrictive, and available to a broader representation of students who choose to attend KVCC,” Doherty said. “They are what our ‘Opportunities for Education’ event is all about.”

While the unprecedented, nationally recognized gift to this community that is The Kalamazoo Promise is a blessing to families living in the Kalamazoo Public Schools district, Doherty said, during a typical semester no more than 15 percent of KVCC’s enrollment are Kalamazoo graduates.

That means a large segment of the other 85 percent still need various levels of scholarship assistance.

Tickets for Opportunities for Education are $125 per person. A corporate sponsorship for a table of eight is available for $1,500.

About 80 percent of the cost is tax-deductible. For more information about Opportunities for Education, how far scholarship

dollars go at KVCC, and tickets for spending an evening with one of the nation’s most effective politicians, contact Doherty or Denise Baker.

Co-sponsoring the event is AM 590 WKZO and Paw Paw Wine Distributors.

Hispanic College Day coming back to KVCC

Acquainting Hispanic-American high schoolers with the opportunities available to them after their senior years is the focus of Hispanic College Day that will be hosted by Kalamazoo Valley Community College on Friday (May 1).

An estimated 500 freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors from high schools throughout Southwest Michigan are expected to come to the Texas Township Campus event.

KVCC organizes the annual program in conjunction with Western Michigan University, Lake Michigan College, Kalamazoo College, and Andrews University.Also involved in the planning process are the Kalamazoo and Hartford public schools, along with the Van Buren Intermediate School District.

Invited to take part are Hispanic-American students attending high schools in Kalamazoo, Allegan, Barry, Van Buren, Cass, Calhoun, St. Joseph and Berrien counties.

From 8 a.m. through 1 p.m., different activities will be targeted for specific age groups. There will be career presentations for ninth-graders and a survey of college and

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career options for 10th graders. Presentations on financial-aid, college readiness, and selecting a college will be directed toward juniors and seniors.

The keynote speaker at 9:25 a.m. will be Dr. Luis H. Toledo, director of research at the Michigan State University Kalamazoo Center for Medical Studies. Participants will be able to choose either of two panel discussions – one featuring Latinos who are currently enrolled in higher education and the other featuring Hispanics enjoying success in a variety of professions and trades.

To be eligible, students must be carrying at least a 2.0 grade-point average, have demonstrated an interest in higher education or extended career training, have maintained a credible attendance record, and have demonstrated solid interpersonal skills in the classroom.

“This will be a great opportunity for these students to experience a campus visit,” says Matt Dennis, KVCC’s admissions representative who serves as the college’s representative on the Hispanic College Day planning committee. “They will be introduced to career exploration, the academic and vocational options available after graduation from high school, the criteria for selecting a college, how to pay for a college education, and the nuts and bolts of the college experience.”

Other sessions will explore career options, “Bilingual Benefits,” selecting a college, preparing for college, and paying for higher education.

Introductory remarks will be made by Mike Collins, KVCC’s vice president for college and student relations.

The students will be treated to a free lunch and the music of Los Banditos. There will also be prizes for “Seniors in Action,” those 12th-grade students who have completed an application to any two- or four-year institution.

The events will be held in the Dale Lake Auditorium and the Student Commons on KVCC’s Texas Township Campus.

Serving as session facilitators during the five-hour event will be Pedro Martinez, Julie Devers, Tonda Boothby, Matt Dennis, Diane Vandenberg, Erin Rosen, Erasmo Salinas, and Laura Wilbur.

Screenings of KAFI finalists bookedFive screenings have been scheduled to showcase the essence of the 2009

Kalamazoo Animation Festival International (KAFI) - the best of the animated films that have been submitted by artists from around the world.

Of the finalists selected by a trio of judges, 44 hail from the United States, including six from Michigan, and the balance are from 14 other nations. They are competing for $15,000 in prize money in the May 14-17 festival.

Ranging from one hour to 90 minutes in time and intended for adult audiences, the KAFI screenings in downtown Kalamazoo are set for:

• Thursday, May 14, at 8:30 p.m. in the Kalamazoo Valley Museum’s Mary Jane Stryker Theater.

• Friday, May 15, at 5:30 p.m. in the Stryker Theater.• Friday, May 15, at 8 p.m. in the State Theater. This screening will include

showings of the animated films, accented by scores of original music, that were created for one of the 2009 festival’s new attractions.

• Saturday, May 16, at 11 a.m. in the State Theater.

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• Saturday, May 16, at 8 p.m. in the State Theater. This will also include showings of the 10 animated shorts created by teams of students in the festival’s benchmark event, the Cartoon Challenge. Members of the viewing audience will pick the winner of one of the competition’s two top awards.

This is the fifth KAFI. As with the other four organized by Kalamazoo Valley Community College, the prime financial supporter is the Irving S. Gilmore Foundation of Kalamazoo.

The Michigan finalists are Brad Yarhouse of Grand Rapids, Olivia and Chris Allen-Wickler of Lake Leelanau, the Detroit area’s Sean Athey and Jon Bowling, and Zachary Watson of Traverse City.

Other U.S. finalists are from California, New York, Massachusetts, Ohio, Minnesota, Texas, Oregon, Georgia, Illinois and Florida. The first two states led the field with 12 and 11 finalists, respectively.

Proving KAFI’s global lure, animators from France, Germany, Canada, Portugal, Mexico, Australia, Russia, Israel, Japan, Great Britain, Korea, Bulgaria, Sweden and The Netherlands made the cut as determined by the three judges - Bill Dennis, one of the top animators in India; Deanna Morse, a professor of communications at Grand Valley State University and an independent film maker; and Gary Schwartz, an Oscar-nominated animator.

The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony for festival attendees slated for Sunday in Anna Whitten Hall.

Ten teams from animation programs spanning the North America will be engaging in a “24/4” cartoon-creating competition prior to the convening of the 2009 KAFI.Earning spots in the competition for the 2009 “Cartoon Challenge” are four- and five-person teams from:

● San Jose State University in California.● College for Creative Studies in Detroit.● Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia.● South Dakota State University.● Bowling Green State University in Ohio.● California State University of Long Beach● Kendall College of Art and Design in Grand Rapids.● Ferris State University in Grand Rapids.● University of St. Francis in Fort Wayne, Ind.● Humber College in Toronto, Ontario.The 10 teams will arrive at the Center for New Media on the Sunday preceding

festival week and bivouac there. Beginning on the morning of Monday, May 11, their objective will be to conceive, script, design and produce up to a 30-second animated feature on a public-service topic over the next four days with the competition ending at 5 p.m. that Thursday as the festival begins

The teams won’t know the topic until the competition begins. All of the materials, computers, software programs, and production equipment will be furnished at the Center for New Media. KVCC will provide resting stations and food to the teams that will choose their own work schedules to produce their 30-second animated spot. What they produce will debut at the Saturday-evening screening.

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Two Emmy winners, a PBS executive involved in children’s programming, a producer for Disney and Hanna Barbera studios, and an Academy Award nominee will be among the nearly 50 presenters at the four-day festival.

Pegged for Saturday will be free activities targeted for families and children, including a pair of showings of some classic vintage cartoons, such as Tom and Jerry, Rocky and His Friends, The Bullwinkle Show, and Mutt and Jeff, that have been popular for decades.

The special attractions this year will include a presentation on “forensic animation” and how this creative medium is used in the courtroom in cases ranging from accident reconstruction to medical malpractice.

Similarly, Dale Myers, an Emmy winner for his computer-animated recreation of the assassination of President John Kennedy, will speak about his role in the special report aired by ABC-TV’s Peter Jennings to mark the 40th anniversary of that fateful day in Dallas.

The cost of a full-festival pass is $145 and $75 for students. This entitles holders to take part in all events, including a picnic gathering at Bell’s Brewery on Saturday night. Tickets for individual events - such as the five screenings -- range from free to $15, with discounts available for students.

Nuts and bolts information about all KAFI activities, presentations, workshops, panel discussions -- date, time, location and cost - are available at this webpage -- www.goKAFI.com -- or by calling Maggie Noteboom at the festival office at (269) 373-7934.

Preview new exhibit at ‘Night at the Museum’To help preview the opening of the next nationally touring exhibition about Japan,

its culture and art forms, the Kalamazoo Valley Museum is hosting its third annual “Night at the Museum” on Friday, May 8.

Beginning at 6 p.m, the free event will include informal classes for people who want to learn basic animation and “manga” (the Japanese version of comic-book art), a guided tour, and a pre-opening look at “Jump to Japan: Discovering Culture Through Popular Art.”

Activities will run through 9 p.m. “Jump to Japan” will begin a four-month stay at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum

on Saturday, May 9.Jointly developed by the Minnesota Children’s Museum and The Children’s

Museum in Seattle, “Jump to Japan” showcases that nation’s amazing culture through activities based on animation, manga, woodblock prints and traditional scrolls.

Animation as legal, crime-scene tool exploredAs a legal strategy or tool for crime-scene recreation, animation as a training,

information and educational resource will complement its entertainment value as part of the special attractions planned for the 2009 Kalamazoo Animation Festival International (KAFI).

Among the four presentations at the May 14-17 festival in downtown Kalamazoo will be “Animation in the Courtroom” and how the creative medium was used in recreating the assassination of President John F. Kennedy as part of an anniversary observance.

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Rounding out the quartet of discussions on how the fantasy of animation can be used to bring out the reality of a situation are segments on “Animation and Reality” and “Mountains, Canyons and Cattle Brands.”

Emmy-winning animator Dale Myers will explain the computer-animation techniques he used in recreating the 1963 shooting in Dallas that was part of a 2003 ABC News special, “Peter Jennings Reporting: The Kennedy Assassination - Beyond Conspiracy.”

In his presentation at 11 a.m. on Sunday (May 17) in the Kalamazoo Valley Museum’s Mary Jane Stryker Theater, Myers uses the wizardry of computer animation to examine the assassination’s single-bullet and lone-gunman theories.

From accident restoration to medical malpractice, forensic animation is becoming an important tool in litigation in courtrooms around the nation. While this form of communication is changing how some cases are tried, there are issues and Chuck Wilson will cover them at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday (May 16) in the Center for New Media.

Wilson, a graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology who lives in Lansing, recreates vehicle accidents and product failures for Investigative Mechanics Inc. whose clients include police departments, attorneys and insurance companies. .

Myers, a Detroit-area resident, joins forces with Sharon Katz and Grand Valley State University instructor Deanna Morse at 3:30 p.m. on Friday (May 15) in the Center for New Media for “Animation and Reality” as they show the spectrum of evolving real-world uses of the art form, from animated documentaries to animated forensics. Katz is a visual artist who works with digitally created images.

“Mountains, Canyons and Cattle Brands” feature co-presenters Karen Aqua, a “Sesame Street” producer, and Ken Fields, who has performed at the Kennedy Center, on Friday (May 15) at 3:30 p.m. in the Center for New Media. They have blended their talents as an animator and a musician to create films used in teaching about urban life, Native American mythology, cattle, canyons and mountain ranges.

The cost of a full-festival pass is $145 and $75 for students. This entitles holders to take part in all events, including a picnic gathering at Bell’s Brewery on Saturday night. Tickets for individual events - such as these four special attractions -- range from free to $15, with discounts available for students.

Nuts and bolts information about all KAFI activities, presentations, workshops, panel discussions -- date, time, location and cost - are available at this webpage -- www.goKAFI.com -- or by calling Maggie Noteboom at the festival office at (269) 373-7934.

Think of ‘Swap Meet’ when doing your spring cleaningThe 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. Check out English instructor Denise Miller’s request that is now posted.

There are four categories on the site: Services Needed, Services for Hire, Goods Needed, and Goods for Sale.

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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, and carpet cleaning.

A canoe-kayak carrier for a car is for sale, as are a 1991 Mercury Marquis, a 2003 Harley-Davidson, tables made of cherry wood, poodle and German shepherd puppies, audio books, and maple syrup. Renting a lakefront cottage is also listed.

Alvin duo ends Artists Forum tonightFrom musical influences as diffuse as The Beach Boys, Hank Williams and T-

Bone Walker, Dave Alvin has forged his own musical sound and it will be on display Friday (April 24) as the Artists Forum series wraps up its 2008-09 season.

The Dave Alvin Duo will perform at 7:30 p.m. in the Dale Lake Auditorium. Tickets are $15 and are on sale at the KVCC Bookstore, the Kalamazoo Valley Museum, and at the Lake ticket booth the night of the performance.

Co-sponsored by KVCC and the Irving S. Gilmore Foundation, Artists Forum’s last of a quartet of bookings features the 53-year-old Alvin, who splashed on the entertainment scene at the dawning of the 1980s as a member of the California-based Blasters that included his brother Phil.

The Alvins belong in the “team photo” of the ultimate representatives of what American Roots music is all about, while The Blasters can lay credit to being the best-ever “rock 'n’ roll/rockabilly/rhythm ‘n’ blues revival" outfit there has ever been.

Through the first half of the 1980s, the combo, as members came and went, produced about five albums and also appeared in the movie, “Streets of Fire.”

Alvin left in 1986, having already branched out in 1983 with a group called The Knitters and later with X. He went solo in 1987, producing an album with saxophonist Steve Berlin, now with Los Lobos. The Blasters, meanwhile, enjoyed a hiatus of its own as Phil Alvin pursued a master’s in mathematics. He, too, has traveled the solo route.

The Alvins were raised in a working-class suburb of Los Angeles. Their father earned his paychecks at a factory and was also an organizer of a steelworkers’ union. Their home community of Downey was a center of the surf-music explosion of the early 1960s.

But there were other musical influences in the region, which was a hot bed for post-war, West Coast rhythm and blues, while the sounds of rockabilly and country also had their followers. The Alvins tended to blend a little of each into their repertoire.

The Alvins shopped at pawnshops and thrift stores to buy old blues 45s and 78s during the 1960s, listening to the styles that had preceded their pending arrival on the

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musical scene. They frequented bars and lounges to hear live performances as part of their musical indoctrination.

As early as 1970, older brother Phil had formed a blues combo. By 1979, it was time for The Blasters. The group took its name from West Coast blues guitarist Jimmy “Cracklin' Blues” Blasters and rose to the top of the Los Angeles scene with its powerful brand of rockabilly music. Adding a pianist and two saxophone players, The Blasters toured with Queen.

By 1986, Alvin and The Blasters parted company and he embarked on a career as a solo performer. While he did keep his feet in his musical origins, producing a tribute to Bill Haley, for example, his repertoire began to evolve.

In 1994, Dave released an acoustic project called "King Of California" where he played a mix of Blasters covers, old country, and blues mainly on acoustic guitar. Another country-blues-based album in 1998, "Blackjack David,” earned a Grammy Award as best folk album of the year. "Public Domain", a collection of old folk song from the turn of the century, brought a second Grammy in 2000.

Alvin, who is also a published poet, recorded his latest album in Austin, Texas, with an all-female band. Scheduled to be released in May, it is titled “Dave Alvin and the Guilty Women.”

For more information about this concert and others in the Artists Forum series, contact Dave Posther at extension 4476 or dposther@kvcc.edu.

Learn ‘Who Hit John’ at the museumA mandolin, guitars, a banjo, a fiddle, a harmonica, a kazoo, a jaw harp, and an

upright bass all will come into play when a Kalamazoo Valley Museum audience gathers to find out “Who Hit John” on May 7.

The quintet will wrap up the museum’s 2008-09 series of Thursday-night concerts with a performance of its styles of bluegrass and folk music beginning at 7:30 p.m. in the Mary Jane Stryker Theater.

Tickets are $5 and seating is limited in the Stryker Theater.“Who Hit John” has been performing and jamming around Southwest Michigan

since 2006 in bars, basements, street corners, and concert halls. The group is starting to branch out, with upcoming gigs at the Haymarket House in Chicago, the Fennville Summer Concert in Allegan County, the Ann Arbor Art Fair, and the Green Food Bluegrass Festival in Holland.

The band was formed by Nick "Hamdog" Vander Vliet on mandolin, Kris "Will DoLittle" Kehn on guitar, and Daniel "Catfish" McCartney on banjo and slide guitar. Shortly thereafter, Nathan "Django Watley" Dannison joined on fiddle, harmonica and jaw harp. The fresh-faced foursome went through a slew of bass players, before meeting recording engineer Ian "Dr. Hoot" Gorman while mixing its debut CD, “Old Gray Road.” More information about events, attractions and tickets is available by checking the museum’s web site at www.kalamazoomuseum.org or by calling 373-7990.

‘Green Revolution’ breaks out here May 9A “Green Revolution” will break out on the Texas Township Campus, and the

college’s Phi Theta Kappa chapter wants staff, faculty and students to help it succeed.Slated for Saturday, May 9, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., this “revolution” is targeted

for families to educate children about recycling, about expanding the planet’s sources of

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energy, and about not only conserving resources but replenishing them. It is free and open to the public.

“We would like KVCC employees to be involved,” said Natalie Patchell, the PTK chapter adviser. “We would love for folks to volunteer to help us the day of the event by working in the various areas of activities.

“We are also looking for organization who might like to have a booth,” she said. “This could also be a great recruiting tool for our college programs.”

She can be contacted at extension 4362 or in her office in Room 7365“By collaborating with community and national organizations for the promotion

of green alternatives,” Patchell said, “we hope to enhance community awareness of recycling and renewable resources by hosting this family fair on campus. Our target audience will be elementary-aged children, but we hope to provide valuable information for participants of all ages.”

With a “green lifestyle” theme, the event will include arts and crafts, carnival-style games, musicians, speakers, and booths run by students, organizations, and vendors.

Among the speakers so far are: Biology instructor Wil Reding, who will talk about recognizing the

alternatives that are available for sustainable-energy options; Kathy Johnson, the director of the KVCC Wind Energy Center based in the M-TEC; and Dan Alway, who will cover solar energy.

A representative of Manitou Arbor Ecovillage will make a presentation while musician Joe Riley will perform.

Another feature will be some of the student speakers who took part in the recent “Going Green” competition organized by the KVCC Communications Department. Commentaries covered electric, “green gardening,” the benefits of hybrids, and “buying local foods.”

“Our goal is to promote change in the perception of what individuals can do for the environment and ultimately encourage action,” Patchell said. The “Green Revolution” will be held in the space near the KVCC athletic fields on the Texas Township Campus.

Participating vendors and organizations will be provided with a 6-foot table and two chairs. They will have the option of having stage time for a 15-minute presentation. Kalamazoo’s baseball legacy is PMN feature this month

The offering in April on the Kalamazoo Valley Museum’s TV show traces the community’s connection to America’s pastime and its many links to Major League baseball.

“Baseball in Kalamazoo” with Tom Dietz, the curator of research at the museum, is being 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. The featured artifact in the segment will be some vintage household appliances to illustrate the impact of rural electrification in Kalamazoo County in the 1930s.

The earliest reference to baseball in Kalamazoo appears in the April 20, 1859, edition of The Kalamazoo Telegraph in an article encouraging local boys and men to organize teams. Some games, using earlier rules, were played in Bronson Park.

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In 1862, President Latham Hull led the way for the Kalamazoo Village Council to prohibit games there for fear of damaging the trees.

From that beginning, the Kalamazoo region has had a fascinating baseball history, according to Dietz. From minor league teams in the late 1880s to community and company teams, Kalamazoo shared a passion for the national pastime.

The first College World Series was played at Hyames Field on the campus of Western Michigan College in 1947.

One team featured a left-handed first baseman, George H. W. Bush, but the University of California would defeat the future president and his Yale teammates.

The Kalamazoo Lassies would represent the city in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, winning the championship in 1954, the final year of the league’s existence.

Today minor-league baseball in the form of the Kalamazoo Kings, former champions of the Frontier League, is still a popular summer recreation.

The Kalamazoo area has sent several native sons to the major leagues, including Mike Squires, Leon Roberts, Neil Berry, Charlie “Paw Paw” Maxwell, and, of course, the New York Yankees future Hall of Famer, shortstop Derek Jeter. Many who played their college baseball at Western Michigan University also made it to “the show.”

Dietz has been working with the PMN and its video productions coordinator Katie Reid to film monthly episodes that showcase an episode of Southwest Michigan history and the artifacts that help tell the story of this part of Michigan.

Relay for Life cancer-whipping team seeks membersKVCC will be participating in the 2009 Relay for Life, the annual fund-raiser of

the Kalamazoo County Chapter of the American Cancer Society, and the Cougar team is looking for at least 60 staff, faculty and students to take part in the quest to raise $3,500.

This year’s event will be staged on Saturday and Sunday, May 30-31, over a 24-hour period from 11 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Kalamazoo County Fairgrounds, which will be open for the entire duration of the event.

KVCC’ers, along with their friends and family, can camp on the grounds and take turns walking or running the track over the 24-hour period.

Co-captains Mary Johnson, Lynne Morrison and Ruth Baker are also coordinating a returnable-can/container collection as part of the fund-raiser.

Team members so far include Morrison and family, Johnson and family. Marylan Hightree and family, Ruth Baker and family, Cynthia and Mark Schauer, Kim Ameluxen, Sue Commissaris, and Robert Sutton.

Receptacles for the 10-centers are located in the Texas Township Campus cafeteria, the technical wing, the Student Commons and the faculty lounge.

While the teams are coming together for a very serious issue - - the fight against cancer - - there is a great deal of fun and camaraderie for teams of family, friends and co-workers who choose to camp out for the entire event.

“Each team is asked to have a representative on the track at all times as a reminder that cancer never sleeps,” Johnson said.

There is entertainment and family activities, plus the victory lap by survivors and the luminaria ceremony at dusk that remembers those that have faced cancer.

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To sign up as a participant and walk with Team KVCC or pick up a donation packet, contact Johnson at extension 4182 or stop by her office in the Student Commons. Morrison can be reached at 4164 and Baker at 4492.

The walking times can be viewed online at http://classes.kvcc.edu/relay.The Relay for Life supports those who have lost a loved one, offers

encouragement to those who are currently battling the disease, and celebrates life with those who have survived.

But most of all, it is an inspiration to all who participate. All dollars raised go toward supporting services for cancer patients and their

families, providing education and early-detection programs, and funding cancer research.Kalamazoo is one of more than 4,000 communities across the continent that stage

Relay for Life events in the fight against cancer. More than $1 billion has been raised. ‘Sunday Series’ – local strike that made national news

The final installment of the Kalamazoo Valley Museum’s “Sunday Series” for the 2008-09 academic year will relive an ugly chapter in the community’s history when a violent strike made national news because of the ramifications of the Cold War.

“Red Terror in Kalamazoo: The 1948 Shakespeare Strike” is the April 26 topic for Tom Dietz, the museum’s curator of research.

The presentation is set for 1:30 p.m. in the Mary Jane Stryker Theater. All “Sunday Series” programs are free and open to the public.

Members of the United Steelworkers of America union struck the Shakespeare Co. at its plant on Kalamazoo Avenue in the city’s eastern downtown in September. It turned vicious when a “flying squadron” of union sympathizers from Detroit came in December to show support for the Kalamazoo strikers.

Some perceived the disturbance as evidence of communist terrorism, and newspaper headlines reflected that.

“The incident and the ensuing trial attracted national attention,” Dietz said. “In the context of the Cold War and the developing ‘Red Scare’ in the United States, many saw the labor violence as an example of Communist-inspired terrorism.

“In the eyes of many Americans, alarmed by the rapid rise of unions during the late 1930s,” he said, “the events at the Shakespeare factory raised questions about the state of labor relations in the United States.”

For more information, contact Dietz at 373-7990 or visit the museum’s website at www.kalamazoomuseum.org.

Tuesday first training session for KAFI volunteers With some 90 events planned for the fifth Kalamazoo Animation Festival

International, the college is looking for a cadre of faculty, staff and students to serve as volunteers and help make the four-day event in downtown Kalamazoo a success.

Slated for May 14-17, the festival has attracted 555 submissions of animation from 42 countries in the competition for $15,000 in prize money. The finalists will be viewable in a series of screenings during the festival, while professional animators from the major production studios and networks will be leading workshops and seminars.

“This is a great opportunity for any person interested in animation, film or any aspect of creative work,” says Anna Barnhart, the festival’s volunteer coordinator.

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“Volunteers will witness a major industry event taking shape as well as meet many big players in the expanding field of animation.”

Those who volunteer will act as greeters, runners, ticket takers, workshop monitors, gallery guides, and special-event helpers, Barnhart said. They will receive a free ticket to attend a seminar, screening or panel discussion for each four hours that they work.

Students must be at least 16 to become a volunteer. The four-hour time slots on that Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday are 8 a.m. to noon, noon to 4 p.m., 4 to 8 p.m. and 8 p.m. to midnight.

Orientation sessions in Anna Whitten Hall are scheduled for Tuesday (April 28) from 6:30 to 8 p.m. and Monday, May 4, at the same time. The deadline to sign up as volunteer is April 20.

For more information and an application form, visit: www.gokafi.com, or contact Barnhart or Nikki Unterkircher at kafi@kvcc.edu, or by phone at (269) 373-7934. ‘Bridges’ deadline is April 30 for summer-science stints

Instructors should be alerting their minority students about taking advantage of an opportunity to sample careers in science this summer.

The application deadline is Thursday (April 30). Admission decisions are made on a first-come, first-served basis

Five KVCC minority students took advantage of an opportunity to sample careers in science during the summer of 2008.

They were among a larger student contingent taking part in the 2008-09 National Institutes of Health’s “Bridges to the Baccalaureate Program” through the Western Michigan University Department of Biological Sciences.

In addition to the 30 hours of experience that will pay $11 per hour during the spring and summer months, students could also be assigned up to 15 hours per week during the 2009-10 academic year.

The mission of “Bridges” is to offer minorities enrolled in community colleges the opportunity to relevantly explore scientific fields, enhance their academic accomplishments in science courses, and smooth the path toward a degree in a science field at a four-year university.

Taking part in this kind of endeavor teaches higher-order thinking skills, which is an important component of anyone’s education. “Bridges,” which promotes institutional collaborations between community colleges and four-year universities, is a function of the National Institute of General Medical Studies, one of the National Institutes of Health.

Joining KVCC in taking part in the NIH Michigan Bridges to the Baccalaureate Program at WMU are Grand Rapids Community College, Henry Ford Community College, Kellogg Community College, and Lake Michigan College in Benton Harbor.

The WMU experience focuses on careers as biomedical and behavioral scientists who would spend their working years seeking the causes of diabetes, cancer, heart disease, mental illness, and other biologically impacted maladies.

“Bridges” seeks to nurture minority students to consider careers in these fields because of the growing need for trained scientists in one of the fastest-growing industries in the U. S. economy. Similar programs in Michigan are based at Wayne State University and the Van Andel Research Institute in Grand Rapids.

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The program liaisons at KVCC are chemistry instructors Robert Sutton and Charissa Oliphant.

Application information and directions are available by contacting Sutton at extension 4175 or rsutton@kvcc.edu or Oliphant at extension 4402 or coliphant@kvcc.edu.

There are a limited number of positions available so applicants are advised to take prompt action. An application can be downloaded from: http://www.wmich.edu/bios/bridges.index.html.

KVCC applicants should submit their completed documents to either Sutton or Oliphant.

Music, guerilla warfare this week’s film feature “The Violin,” a Mexican film that won three of its nation’s version of the

Academy Awards, is this week’s offering in the Kalamazoo Valley Museum’s Thursday-night series of international and independent films.

It will be shown at 7:30 p.m. in the Mary Jane Stryker Theater. There is a $3 admission fee. Financial support for the series is provided by the KVCC Foundation.

A man, his son and grandson live double lives – humble farmers who are talented musically and members of a peasant guerilla-warfare band that mounts armed attacks against a government it considers as oppressive.

When the military seizes the trio’s village, the rebels flee to the hills, forced to leave behind their stock of ammunition. While the guerillas organize a counter-attack, the grandfather executes his own plan.

He plays up his appearance as a harmless violin player to return to the village and recover the ammunition hidden his corn field. His violin playing charms the army captain, who orders the elderly gentleman to come back daily. Arms and music play a tenuous game of cat-and-mouse that ultimately results in painful betrayal.

The 2008-09 series ends on May 21 with a showing of the Canadian film, “Marion Bridge.”

Monday is last shot at wellness assessments Sue Avery, a registered nurse who is the new wellness coach and coordinator for

Holtyn and Associates, is available for one final round of free wellness screenings and counseling for full-time KVCC employees and their spouses who are both new to the college’s program or continuing participants.

The last slots are Monday (April 27) at 1, 1:30, 3:30 and 5 p.m.Contact Avery at averysue@gmail.com or (269) 267-3712.Beginning with the 2008-09 initiative, two key changes have gone into effect:● KVCC’ers and spouses can book their own appointments through their own

computer instead of making a telephone call. This can be done by going to the Holtyn website: www.holtynhpc.com. and following the directions.

● Appointments now span 30 minutes instead of 20, meaning the available time slots are on the hour and half hour.

While payoffs in the past have focused on one’s personal and individual health, it is now starting to pay off in the pay checks of employees.

The one-on-one appointments include a glucose analysis, an HDL and cholesterol evaluation, a blood-pressure check, a body-composition reading, an assessment of cardio-

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respiratory fitness, an overall health survey, an individual fitness assessment, and a personal consultation.

The 30-minute screenings can be done on work time. For more information, contact Blake Glass, manager of the college’s Employee Wellness Program, at extension 4177 or bglass@kvcc.edu.

All full-time staff, faculty and administrators – and their spouses -- are encouraged to sign up for this college-sponsored program, even if previous screenings had not identified any health risks.

Participants should wear comfortable, loosely fitting clothing. Short-sleeve tops are recommended. Fasting is not required, but it is advised not to consume caffeinated beverages two hours prior to the assessment and to refrain from smoking.

The testing is paid for by the college.“Our employee-wellness program has been successful in helping to control

health-care costs for the college and in assisting staff members achieve their personal goals,” Glass said.

Music’s key role in animation is festival themeMusic and how it shapes animated films, a harmony that can be traced backed to

Walt Disney’s 1940 “Fantasia,” will be in the spotlight for the 2009 Kalamazoo Animation Festival International (KAFI).

Taking a cue from the biennial event’s prime financial supporter, the Irving S. Gilmore Foundation that brings an international keyboard festival to Southwest Michigan every other year, KAFI planners have booked a half dozen presentations and workshops that focus on this blending of art forms.

These sessions in downtown Kalamazoo on the interaction of animation and music augments one of the May 14-17 festival’s new initiatives – a competition in which Kalamazoo Valley Community College and Western Michigan University students majoring in those fields compose original scores and set them to film.

Called the Kalamazoo Animation And Music Competition (KAAMC) and a first-of-its-kind partnership between WMU and KVCC, animation and music students have formed teams. The task is to produce a finished film that is no longer than six minutes, two-thirds of which must feature the musical composition. No previously created material can be used for this competition.

Judges will award $2,500 to a team for best animation and $2,500 for best musical composition with the possibility that the same team could win both awards.

Their creations will be part of five special screenings during the festival, this one on Friday night, with the winners announced at the festival’s wrap-up event on May 17.

Here is the schedule of workshops and presentations: “Music and Animation: The Dynamic Connection” – Saturday, May 16,

at 11 a.m. in KVCC’s Anna Whitten Hall. Animators and composers will explore the facets of this creative relationship.

“Mountains, Canyons & Cattle Brands” – Friday, May 15, at 1:30 p.m. in the Center for New Media. These two art forms have been combined to tell the stories of cattle brands, geographical formations, Native American mythology, and other topics.

“Music for Animation: Past and Present” – Friday, May 15, at 1:30 p.m. in the Kalamazoo Valley Museum’s Mary Jane Stryker Theater. This is

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an overview of the history of music for animated films and the role that music plays in a soundtrack in what is today a highly specialized craft.

“Experimental Digital Audio and Animation” – Saturday, May 16, at 9 a.m. in the Center for New Media. Showcased will be a variety of contemporary animations produced by animator/composer teams.

“Making Music for Animation” – Sunday, May 17, at 9:30 a.m. in the Center for New Media. Top-quality collaborations will be shown and discussed.

“Sound Effects for Animation and Film” – Sunday, May, 17, at 11 a.m. in the Center for New Media. Music isn’t the only component that can make or break an animated film as detailed in a publication called “The Sound Effects Bible.”

Among the presenters from both fields will be Janet Perlman, Judith Gruber-Stitzer, Karen Aqua, Ken Field, Richard Reeves, Bonnie Mitchell, Ric Viers, and Elainie Lillios.

For the KAAMC, music compositions may either use computer-generated or processed sound as a major component, or consist of sound created on an electric musical instrument, such as a synthesizer or sampler. Compositions that combine acoustic instruments and/or electric or computer sound must be quality recorded/mixed/produced as part of the film. Animation may use any software application or style.

Among the criteria to be judged will be: quality and design of the finished piece; transitions from one idea to the next; musical and visual innovation used; integration of the two art forms; degree that music enhances the animation; and degree that animation enhances the music. The idea for the music-animation collaboration was developed during a brainstorming session between KAFI staff and the Gilmore Foundation. The mission is to advance the appreciation of the two art forms in the visual and audio world, to enrich the artistic talents of students and educators in the Kalamazoo area, and to create a blended masterpiece of animation and music.

Given a successful inaugural, the plan is to extend it regionally for students in middle and high schools, and then on a national/global level to the world of professional animators and musicians for future KAFIs.

Don’t dump those old batteriesIn cleaning out your office and workspace as the winter semester winds down,

remember this – ● the KVCC initiative to recycle used and unused rechargeable and alkaline

batteries, which keeps them out of landfills where their assets will be lost forever.Recycling boxes for both rechargeable batteries as well as alkaline batteries are

located in the following areas: the M-TEC Facility Shop; the Arcadia Commons Campus Facility Shop; Texas Township Campus Facility Services; the museum’s carpentry shop; the college’s audio-visual department; the automotive-technology and heating-ventilation-air conditioning labs; and in Computer Services.

The lead-acid batteries used in cars, trucks, motorcycles, boats, and other motorized equipment can be recycled by taking them to the Household Hazardous Waste

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Center operated by Kalamazoo County Health and Community Services at 1301 Lamont Ave.

This drop-off center is on the edge of the county fairgrounds. Information about what else can be deposited there is available by calling 383-

8742.The recycling containers for dead batteries generated by on-the-job use at KVCC

are provided by the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corp. (RBRC). RBRC's Charge Up to Recycle!® program is designed to keep rechargeable

batteries out of the solid-waste stream, adhering to the federal and state laws requiring the proper disposal of some types of used rechargeable batteries.

This program offers community and public agencies the tools to implement a simple, no-cost recycling plan.

These batteries are commonly found in cordless power tools, cellular and cordless phones, laptop computers, camcorders, digital cameras, and remote-control toys.

KVCC’ers in the news as candidates, news sources With the May 5 school elections looming, candidates abound who have

connections to KVCC as students or staff members.In the race for a single four-year term on the Kalamazoo Board of Education, 37-

year-old Paula Norder is on the ballot facing Ervin Armstrong. Norder, the mother of a third-grader, is attending KVCC while working as a claims representative for State Farm Insurance.

Diane Vandenberg, assistant director of the Student Success Center, was appointed to a vacancy on the Paw Paw Board of Education late last year. The Mattawan-area resident is one of five candidates on the ballot seeking a pair of four-year terms.

In the Bangor school election, Margaret McCabe, 67, is one of a quintet of candidates running for a single trusteeship. The retired administrative assistant for the Michigan Department of Corrections has taken classes at KVCC.

Among the six running for two four-year terms on the Bloomingdale Board of Education is Duane Cooley, 63, a Grand Junction resident. The retired electrician and former surveyor for the city of Kalamazoo earned degrees in electrical technology at KVCC.

Another five-candidate field is facing voters in the Lawrence School District. Seeking one of two four-year terms is Sally Norg, 32, who is a paraprofessional for the Van Buren Intermediate School District. Armed with a KVCC associate degree, she is now attending Western Michigan University.

In Otsego, Paul Vanderhoff is one of five hopefuls in the hunt for a single four-year term on the school board. He’s a service director for the Jim Koestner auto dealership in Plainwell and is attending KVCC.

In the hotly contested eight-candidate campaign for two four-terms terms on the Plainwell Board of Education, which has been under fire in recent months because of a controversy involving the wrestling team, Amy Blades, 36, is on the ballot. The homemaker/volunteer has completed pre-nursing studies at KVCC.

The college garnered front-page coverage in the March 26 edition of The Kalamazoo Gazette as reporter Ben Jones captured the essence of the idea to combine

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two annual events on the Texas Township Campus – the Employment Expo and the Volunteer and Community Service Fair.

In the Kalamazoo daily’s Sunday, April 12, business section, the lead story was headlined “Financial mess drives home economic concepts.” The photo accompanying the text featured KVCC economics instructor Philipp Jonas, who was also quoted in the news story.

And just this past week, in the wake of the announcement of the college’s new certificate program for training wind-energy technicians, Dean Deborah Dawson was interviewed by WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids.

STAR show’s KVCC connectionsThe 2009 STAR (Sharing Time And Resources) Awards, which annually salutes

this community’s deep reservoir of volunteers, put the spotlight on folks with KVCC connections.

Leading the way as the “College Volunteer of the Year” was Lateshia Agnew, who is a graduate of KVCC’s Focus Program. She was nominated by John Davis, community resource coordinator for the Michigan Department of Human Services, and logged in excess of 300 hours as a volunteer for a number of agencies, particularly those dedicated to stemming youth violence.

Isabella Wu was selected as the “Youth Volunteer of the Year” for her 175 hours of donated time. One of the beneficiaries of her service was the Kalamazoo Valley Museum. The museum also listed as one of the community organizations helped by the “Youth Volunteer Group of the Years,” Andrea, Jermaine and Carmela Harris, who was nominated by their mother, Pamela Haymon, for their cumulative 300 hours of volunteering.

The STAR program is jointly sponsored by The Kalamazoo Gazette and the Volunteer Center of Greater Kalamazoo. All of the winners and nominees were honored at a ceremony stated at the Radisson Plaza Hotel and Suites. Each of the major winners is also to be featured in upcoming news stories. One of the nominees is Coleen Slosberg, a part-time faculty member who also organizes the college’s Urban Plunge and Alternative Spring Break initiatives.

And finally. . . Decades ago, "The Green Revolution" was ballyhooed as something that

would save much of the world's population from want, but there have been unanticipated consequences.

With high-yield seeds and major irrigation efforts, India has increased its food production by a thousand fold, and more. Now the wells are running dry, literally.

Add that to those who some consider dwell among the world's lowest forms of life -- lenders who rip off their clients with usurious interest rates - and India has a disaster.

And being unable to pay in India is a big deal. How big?Some 1,500 farmers committed suicide recently in less than a month's time. More

than 180,000 farmers, the vast majority deeply in debt, have committed suicide since 1997.

And we have problems?

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☻☻☻☻☻☻

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