May 4, 2009

The DigestWhat’s Happening at KVCC

What’s below in this edition

Africa bound (Pages 1/2) 1935-36 (Pages 10/11) Summer hours (Page 2) Intern update (Pages 11/12)

KAFI’s family fun (Pages 2-4) Who Hit John (Page 13) Turbine talk (Pages 4/5) Green Day (Pages 13/14) KAFI films (Pages 5-7) Sport of Kings (Pages 14/15) ‘Jump to Japan’ (Pages 7/8) Relay for Life (Pages 15/16) ‘Green jobs’ (Pages 8/9) KAFI ‘vols’ (Page 16) KVCC’er in mag (Pages 9/10) Music and ‘toons’ (Pages 16-18

Our poets (Page 10) May 5 election (Page 18) And Finally (Pages 18/19)

☻☻☻☻☻☻From KVCC to Tunisia

A summer in Tunisia studying Arabic is what is in store for KVCC spring graduate Anthony Chase, who recently received the $5,000-per-year University of Michigan Community College Scholar Award as well.

The home-schooled Chase has been awarded a U. S. Department of State Critical Language Scholarship to spend the summer of 2009 in the North African nation flanked by Algeria and Libya.

According to Julia Phelan Sylla, assistant director of the Critical Language Scholarship Program in the department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the scholarship program was established in 2006 to increase the opportunities for American students to be trained in critically needed languages overseas.

Chase will be among more than 500 Americans studying Arabic, Indic, Turkic, Chinese, Persian, Korean and Russian languages. Chosen from 5,400 applicants, they will spend seven to 10 weeks in a dozen nations and be involved in intensive linguistic training.

“The program is part of a wider U. S. government effort to dramatically expand the number of Americans studying and mastering critical-need languages,” Sylla said.

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Chase, who will be admitted into the University of Michigan’s Residential College in the fall, is planning a career in the foreign service with an emphasis on the Middle East. He is a graduate of the KVCC Honors Program.

He’s getting some practical knowledge about that part of the world and the Arabic language by working part time at the Tiffany Party Store, which is owned by Iraqi-American brothers and is located at the top of West Main Hill in central Kalamazoo.

For more than 60 years, the state department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs has funded and supported exchange programs that promote mutual understanding and respect between American and the citizens of other nations.

KVCC Honors Program Director Stephen Louisell also reports that Erin Johnson has received two academic scholarships to complete her bachelor’s in chemistry at Ferris State University. She plans to join three otherrecent Honors Program graduates in FSU's School of Pharmacy upon completion of her degree.

“Erin was a member of a strong group of Portage Northern High School graduates who entered the Honors Program in 2004,” he says.

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. The May 11 Digest will be the last weekly edition. The next will be dated May 25.

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.

Animation festival features free events for familiesEvents targeting children and their families - and many of them free - are in the

Saturday-Sunday spotlight at the four-day Kalamazoo Animation Festival International (KAFI) in downtown Kalamazoo May 14-17.

Leading the no-cost way will be showings of classic vintage cartoons, an opportunity for youngsters to flex their artistic muscles, and engaging in a bit of science that is credited with being the roots of animation.

Other presentations, such as a look at what kind of children’s programming is on tap on PBS and an insider’s perspective on the creation on a “Wonder Pets” episode titled “Kalamazoo” require purchased tickets.

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On Saturday, May 16, Steve Stanchfield from Ann Arbor will be sharing part of his collection. “Animated Buddies: A Century of Cartoon Friendships” is set for 1:30 p.m. in the Kalamazoo Valley Museum’s Mary Jane Stryker Theater.

With a theme of friendship running through the free showing, Stanchfield will present both early and contemporary cartoon favorites, including Rocky and Bullwinkle, Mutt and Jeff, Tom and Jerry, and Sponge Bob.

The downtown-Kalamazoo museum will also be the site of a host of other free activities on Saturday, including:

• “Flip Book Bonanza,” 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. - Youngsters and parents can draw images on each page of a book and, when flipped through, it creates the illusion of motion in a throwback to animation’s early days.

• “Mile of Art,” 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. - Budding Rembrandts, Picassos and cartoonists will be able to add their artistic two cents’ worth to what will seem like a never-ending roll of drawing paper. The finished “masterpiece” will displayed for a spell after the festival in the Kalamazoo Valley Community College Center for New Media’s Arcus Gallery along the Kalamazoo Mall.

• “Thaumatropes Gone Wild,” 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. - Even before flip books and way, way before computers, a thaumatrope was a contraption that could create the impression of animation in the early 19th century. Participants of all ages will build the vintage optical toy, which consisted of a disc that is attached to two pieces of string. When twirled, the images on each side of the disc appear animated.

• Balloon “animals” will be made and youngsters can get temporary tattoos from 10 a.m. to noon.

• Face painting and more balloon art are set from 1 to 4 p.m.While at the museum, families can visit the latest nationally touring exhibition on

the third floor. “Jump to Japan: Discovering Culture Through Popular Art” explores the country and its culture through four venues of creativity -- animation, manga (comic-book art), woodblock prints and traditional scrolls.

From 1 to 4 p.m. in the museum, an award-winning illustrator with 15 years of experience will do caricatures of children. The fee will range from $5 to $10.

Two free activities will be based in the Center for New Media. “Inhabitants: Installation Art” will allow participants to explore the abstract influences that consciously, unconsciously, purposefully or accidentally act upon people’s lives. They can be experienced from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to noon on Sunday.

Most of the Sunday events require tickets to be purchased.“New Directions at PBS Kids” is the topic of Linda Simensky, a senior director

who also spent nine years at Nickelodeon along with a stint for the Cartoon Network. Her presentation will feature clips from “The Electric Company,” “Sid the Science Kid,” and “Dinosaur Train,” which will be premiering in September.

She’ll talk about how new series are conceived and produced, and the next steps in the advancement of educational television on Saturday at 11 a.m. in the Stryker Theater.

Prior to that Jennifer Oxley, a creative director for Nick Jr. and an Emmy winner for her series, “Little Bill,” will break down the process for writing, researching, creating music, casting, directing, storyboarding, and animating her “Kalamazoo” episode for “Wonder Pets.”

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That session will begin at 9 a.m. in the Stryker Theater. It will be followed by Oxley signing copies of her three books, “Flyboat Adventures,” “Let’s Count Baby Animals,” and “Let’s Find Colors,” in the adjacent World Works Room at the museum. Copies will be available for purchase.

On the Sunday ticketed agenda is Heather Kenyon and her presentation of “Backstage Stories: How TV Pilots Get Made.” Kenyon, another former Cartoon Network animator, shares behind-the-scenes perspectives about the year or two prep work that often is required to get a show on the air. She’ll speak at 9:30 a.m. in the Stryker Theater.

Shifting to the Center for New Media, Battle Creek’s Jim Middleton will chart the evolution of the animation of animals from the Silent Screen era to the so-called “Golden Era” of the 1930s.

Tracing how a dozen species were transformed from primitive sketches to creatures with personalities, Middleton will cover this history on Sunday at 9:30 a.m. in the Center for New Media.

For the final family-oriented event, he’ll be followed by Stanchfield, who will flash back to that “Golden Era” in his “Technicolor Dreams” slated for 12:30 p.m. Stanchfield will be showing a collection of celluloid gems produced in the 1930s and 1940s, taking the art form from a black-and-white format to all of the colors of the rainbow.

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 some of these family-oriented events -- 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.

Second how-to seminar on wind turbines in JuneWith a sold-out inaugural “So You Want to Install a Wind Turbine?” seminar

under its belt, Kalamazoo Valley Community College has booked a second to share its experience in planning, installing and commissioning one of the energy producers.

It is slated for Wednesday, June 3, from 9 a.m. to noon in the college’s Michigan Technical Education Center located in the KVCC Groves Campus. The fee is $99.

The three-hour case study, to be presented by Jim DeHaven, vice president for economic and business development, is targeted for businesses, educational entities, and community organizations that are considering the installation of a commercial-sized wind turbine, similar to the 145-foot, 50-kilowatt unit now in operation at the west end of the college’s nearly Texas Township Campus.

Prospective turbine investors should consider a variety of topics regarding the process and procedures for converting wind into electrical energy, and Johnson will cover them all:

● Wind resources in Michigan● The best site for a wind turbine● Potential neighborhood issues● How to use the electricity that is produced by a wind turbine

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● Zoning requirements● Site preparation and the installation process● Components for a successful wind-energy projectWith Gov. Jennifer Granholm's challenge for 10 percent of the state's power to

come from renewable energy by 2015, the emphasis on alternative and renewable energy has come to the forefront.

Time willing, seminar participants will be able to inspect the college’s wind turbine that was erected in late January. KVCC Groves Campus is located at 7107 Elm Valley Drive off of Ninth Street along I-94.

For more information, to download a flier, or to register online, visit the M-TEC’s website at www.mteckvcc.com. Click on “Training” and then “Current Offerings.” The telephone number is (269) 353-1253.

KAFI’s best of 2009 to be screenedFive 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. • 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

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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.

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

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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.

‘Jump to Japan’ preview is Friday nightTwo happenings this month will turn Kalamazoo into “The Animation Capital of

the Midwest.”“Jump to Japan: Discovering Culture through Popular Art” – with one of those

forms of creativity being animation -- will begin a four-month stay at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum on Saturday (May 9).

The interactive, hands-on exhibit will be well in place by the time the fifth Kalamazoo Animation Festival International (KAFI) sweeps into the downtown on May 14 for a four-day salute to this evolving art form

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 (comics), woodblock prints and traditional scrolls.

The public is invited to a sneak preview on Friday (May 8) from 6 to 9 p.m. for the third annual “Night at the Museum” gathering. Part of the attraction will be creating animation and comics.

The exhibit, which will be in Kalamazoo through Sept. 7, is the result of a collaboration with the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka and the movie studio that produced the animated film, “My Neighbor Totoro.” The animator, Hayao Miyazaki, won the 2003 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film.

Japanese animation and manga have become very popular among American youth as illustrated by the broad acceptance of the phenomenon known as Pokemon.

But the three-part exhibit is designed to entertain people of all ages. In addition to creating their own manga drawings and animation at a pair of art stations, visitors can take off their shoes and step into a traditional tatami room for a tea party, try on a kimono and other traditional Japanese clothing, and play the ancient card game known as katura.

They’ll learn the fundamentals of woodblock printing and how the Japanese tell stories through scrolls. They’ll shop at a Japanese store and learn to use that nation’s coin of the realm.

The four art forms are linked in a variety of ways. In “Jump to Japan,” the dominant link between animation, manga and woodblock prints is that they all are -- or were -- popular art forms. And from them, visitors can experience the complexity of Japanese culture (traditional and contemporary, rural and urban, and realistic and fantasy).

Through scenes and characters from “My Neighbor Totoro,” visitors will explore how animated films are brainstormed, designed and created, and try their hand at the magic of making one-dimensional images come to life.

“My Neighbor Totoro” is full of fantasy, joy and adventure. Set in 1950s Japan, the family film tells of two girls and their friendship with the magical Totoro, who can be seen only by children who love him.

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Adults and children can match background paintings from the animated film to photos in two “picture scroll” windows. By juxtaposing artistic renderings with corresponding photos, they discover how an animator’s inspiration comes from real places, things and events.

“Jump to Japan” offers the chance to choose from a variety of backgrounds, foreground elements, cultural icons and characters to create animation.

One section explores the prevalence and influence of manga in Japanese culture. Shelves hold a variety of manga books and magazines for browsing.

Everyone in Japan reads manga; the average person can read 16 pages of per minute. An oversized “book” shows how manga is read differently than comics in the United States. Puzzles demonstrate how manga is read -- right to left and top to bottom.

Visitors can sit at a light table and create manga by choosing elements from transparencies featuring faces, eyes, hair and bodies drawn manga-style.

Inside the manga shop, visitors role-play customer and shopkeeper at a sales counter using authentic Japanese objects. At the cashier’s counter, visitors use Japanese money, hear and say basic Japanese words and numbers and incorporate Japanese words into dramatic play. They can push the buttons on a sound box and hear a voice say the number in Japanese.

Another feature is to take a trip to Japan without leaving Kalamazoo. Visitors can move a shinkansen (bullet train) along a track embedded in a map of Japan and into slots corresponding to locations. Backlit photos depict the place or activity and location name.

Japan’s people, places and things are depicted in nine woodblock prints that relate to Japanese clothing, festivals, foods, children’s games and stories. Visitors can enter a Japanese home modeled after details shown in the woodblock prints and learn how these art forms are made.

An ancient picture scroll is complemented by a panel containing “seek-and-find” questions that call attention to details in the scroll. Visitors see similarities between ancient scrolls, woodblock prints and the contemporary art forms of manga and animation.

Green jobs confab in Lansing will have KVCC tintCindy Buckley, the director of training and development at the M-TEC, is booked

for a presentation at “Green Today, Jobs Tomorrow,” an all-day conference orchestrated by Gov. Jennifer Granholm as part of her “Michigan Green Jobs Initiative.”

Scheduled for Monday, May 11, at the Lansing Center, it will opened by remarks from U. S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Michigan).

In a 1:45 p.m. segment titled “Generating Wind and Jobs,” Johnson will be sharing lectern duty with a representative from Dowding Industries that has transitioned its manufacturing capabilities to machine parts for wind turbines.

Organizers of “Green Today, Jobs Tomorrow” say the United States has gotten the message that the nation has to switch to renewable energy and other sustainable technologies to remain economically viable and protect the environment.

The governor’s initiative is designed to help make certain the emerging industries and “green” economy have the trained workers they need to grow and prosper.

Among the topics will be the construction techniques and workforce needed to build “green,” the role that Michigan agriculture can play in growing energy-yielding

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crops, and how alternative energy is being produced from a municipality’s wastewater-treatment plant,

Wrench’s photos to be 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 about to become a published photographer.

Based on the recommendation of the Chip Forelli Studio in Damascus, Pa., examples of Wrench’s creativity with a camera will be 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.

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

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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.”

4 English instructors wrap up Poetry FeastReadings by four KVCC instructors put the finishing touches on the Friends of

Poetry’s last installment of its 2008-09 Poetry Feast on April 22.Rob Haight, Denise Miller, Sara Rivara and Bob Post provided the words and

thoughts at the Kalamazoo Public Library. Haight was described as a poet who specializes in fly fishing and environmental

topics, often singing a tune as part of his presentation. Miller is the founder of Fire, an arts venue based in a former fire station on Portage Street at Washington Square.

Rivara was billed as a mezzo-soprano who performs with the Aspire ensemble while Post is a recently elected member of the governing board of the Friends of Poetry.

When Detroit was sports capital of the nationAs far down in the economic doldrums that Detroit is now, that’s how high its

euphoria was in the world of sports in the mid-1930s.The story of Detroit’s magnificent 1935-36 season – when the Tigers, the Lions

and the Red Wings, along with a few individual performers, reigned supreme in their chosen athletic endeavors – is told in “Detroit City of Champions,” a book written and published by Charles Avison, who attended KVCC from August of 1996 through May of 1998.

The graduate of Hackett Catholic Central High School hatched the book idea after thumbing through a Tigers’ media guide and spotted one of those “didjaknows” – “Did you know that in the 1935-36 season, the Tigers, the Lions and the Red Wings all won their first national championships?” The light went on.

Avison, who parlayed his associate’s into a Western Michigan University degree in liberal history in 2005, concluded that this amazing fact was an untold story.

It was such a big deal 73 years ago that a communitywide celebration and dinner was held while Gov. Frank Fitzgerald proclaimed April 18 as “Champions Day” and a state holiday.

Team sports in Detroit weren’t the only winners at the time – Joe Louis was regarded as the “uncrowned” heavyweight champion of the world and would add the formal title in 1937; Gar Wood was the most famous man on water; Eddie Tolan was the fastest sprinter in the world; golfing legend Walter Hagen ruled his sport and captained the Ryder Cup team; and even the world’s checkers champion had a Detroit address.

Two weeks after Louis battered Max Baer, the former champion, the Tigers, led by Hank Greenberg, brought home the city’s first World Series championship by beating the Chicago Cubs 4 games to 2. Hard to believe that in all of his great years, Ty Cobb and his Tigers never won No. 1.

In the third National Football League national title game, the Lions knocked off the defending New York Giants, capping off an astonishing comeback in the final weeks of the regular season.

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Detroit fans by then should have realized that something was in the air or in the water. The Red Wings, on the way to their first Stanley Cup, took part in the longest game in playoff history, winning 1-0 in almost nine periods – the equivalent of about three games in one night.

And because there was even more – tennis, distance-running, softball, weight-lifting, swimming, bowling, fencing, billiards and diving champions – the city joined forces with the now-defunct Detroit Times to sponsor a banquet – “The Greatest Gathering of Champions Under a Single Roof.”

That roof happened to be over the Detroit Masonic Temple, and almost all of the athletic achievers showed up.

“The city and the country were mired in the horrendous economic conditions of the Great Depression,” writes Avison, who also studied abroad in Scotland and now lives in the Port Huron area.

“While everyone across the nation was downtrodden and more than a little depressed,” he said, “Detroit and the people of Michigan were celebrating a ‘City of Champions.’”

Now would be the time for history to repeat itself. Avison’s web page is http://detroitcityofchamps.com.

New internship venture placing studentsKVCC’s Community Partners Internship Program, launched in January, is off and

running.Funded for a three-year period by the KVCC Foundation, the $100,000 project

seeks to place at least 55 students over a three-year period with enterprises interested in a grow-your-own-workforce alliance.

The bulk of the grant funds is being used to pay up to 50 percent of the wages for each intern, with the companies they work for providing the balance. The program will last through December of 2011.

Salary terms are established on a case-by-case basis and agreed upon prior to the commencement of the internship. The pay can range from the minimum wage of $7.40 to $12 per hour.

An internship usually lasts 15 weeks, but students can apply at any time and be assigned year round.

The placements for the 2009 winter semester are: Becky Celeski, a graphic-design major applying her skills at Golf Cart

Ads Inc; accounting major Abigail Kooyers, who has been balancing books for the Southwest Michigan Council of the Boy Scouts of America; Kassidy Anderson, a marketing major working at West Colony Graphics and Printing; and Dylan Short, another graphic-design major who is working at Option Energy.

With five others in the works, three KVCC students will be serving internships this summer: Luis Rodriquez (business administration) and Bethani Bradshaw (graphic design) at Front Door Promotions, and Lindsay Richie (administrative assistant) at the Allegan Area Chamber of Commerce.

Lois Brinson-Ropes, the internship coordinator for the center’s Student Employment Services unit, said the initiative is targeting enterprises involved in bio-

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medical services, alternative energy, and the digital arts, but companies involved in other sectors of the regional economy are also invited to take part.

“We see this internship program as the college’s wish to join forces with Southwest Michigan employers to produce and retain a highly talented and trained workforce,” Vandenberg said.

For many enterprises -- and not just those in emerging businesses -- the No. 1 factor for achieving success is finding the right people to fit the right jobs.  Internships are tried-and-true ways to “grow your own” and identify prospects with high potential.           

It’s the classic win-win equation:  great experience for those who are selected as interns and a no-strings-attached arrangement on the part of the employer because internships are basically akin to temporary jobs.           

The employer gets essentially a low-cost look at a potential permanent employee who could either be somebody who would not be a good fit or somebody who has “the right stuff” to be a future leader.           

In order to find that out, interns -- while supervised and operating within a structured work environment – can be given enough autonomy and enough leeway to determine their own direction. 

That allows the employer to evaluate the person’s judgment, how he or she works with other people, and work habits.  Few one-on-one interviews provide those types of measurements.

“This gives students a strong foundation of work experience,” said Diane Vandenberg, assistant director of the KVCC Student Success Center, “while providing an opportunity to cultivate professional networks that could jumpstart their careers with businesses in our part of the state.

“Because of financial constraints,” she said, “many students have not been able to participate in an unpaid internship program. KVCC will be able to attract more students in more career paths because of these paid internships.

“This connection with local businesses will allow students to practically apply what they have been learning in the classroom,” Vandenberg said. “Better yet, they will bring back that experience to our classrooms and help the college continue to provide relevant training and instructions.”

KVCC students can apply when they have achieved the skills and education required by the company offering the internship, and when they have completed 50 percent of the course work in their respective majors.

They will also be required to complete pre-employment-skills training provided by the center’s Student Employment Services.

This training will include resume writing, effective cover letters, interviewing skills, professional attire, personal hygiene, promptness and dependability, communication skills, and non-verbal behavior.

Each company can request an intern based on the area of study, skills needed, duties expected, hours of work, and when the person is needed on the job. Each will select an intern based on the organization’s existing hiring methods and criteria.

According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, nearly 70 percent of interns receive full-time positions from their employers. This ratio has increased 13 percent since 2001.

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

To help pull the event off, the PTK chapter is looking for donations that can be used as prizes for the games, events and activities being planned. Volunteers are also still needed.

Here’s what is needed: One- and two-liter empty pop bottles, empty plastic pop-can rings unbroken,

paper-towel or toilet-paper rolls, sidewalk chalk, bubbles (any size), re-useable grocery bags, a box of Dixie cups, a bag of potting soil or dirt, markers, crayons, beads, string, face paint, brown-paper lunch bags, coffee filters (unused), clothes pins, and small toys for prizes.

“We would like KVCC employees to be involved,” said Natalie Patchell, the PTK chapter adviser who can be contacted for details about volunteering and where to drop off donations. “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

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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 horse-racing legacy is PMN feature this month

Horse racing, Kalamazoo’s first organized sport, will be traced from its origins to its current trappings in the May segment of the Kalamazoo Valley Museum’s TV show.

Featuring Tom Dietz, the curator of research at the museum, it 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.

For a century or so, Kalamazoo and Kalamazoo County was a hotbed of horse-racing enthusiasm. The pioneer village had barely adapted to the change in name from Bronson to Kalamazoo when local men in 1838 laid out a rough race course on the southern edge of what was the community at that time.

The one-mile course was bounded by Lovell, Park, Burr Oak and John streets.That was quickly followed by a second enterprise known as the Axtell or Burr

Oak Track, a half-mile course that was organized by such prominent Kalamazooans as Charles Stuart, Justus Burdick, and Dr. Sylvester Axtell, and hosted harness racing over a 20-year period.

It featured generous purses, lucrative enough to attract well-known horses such as Flora Temple, the most famous trotter of her day.

Springing from the sport’s enormous popularity were even larger, more elaborate racing facilities such as National Driving Park and Recreation Park. The National Horse Association of Kalamazoo was organized. By the early 20th century, Kalamazoo would be an annual stop on the Grand Circuit of harness racing, the “major leagues” of the sport of kings.

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Flora Temple broke what was considered the unbeatable mile record of two minutes and 20 seconds at the National Driving Park, a mark that was pooh-poohed on the East Coast because it happened in some place called Kalamazoo.

Most standard-bred race horses (trotters and pacers) share the blood lines of Peter the Great, a famous trotter who was born on what are now the grounds of Western Michigan University.

Dietz’s program will chronicle the fascinating history of horse racing in Kalamazoo and profile the horses that gave the city a national reputation for fine standard-bred horses.

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.

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.

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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. Final training session for KAFI volunteers is Monday

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. “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.

A final orientation session in Anna Whitten Hall is scheduled for Monday (May 4) from 6:30 to 8 p.m.

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.

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.

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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 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.

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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. School elections have KVCC links

With the Tuesday (May 5) school elections just around the corner, 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.

And finally. . . We must strive to be politically correct in how we refer to people.That fellow doesn’t have a beer gut. He has developed a liquid

grain-storage facility.The quiet guy in the corner is not shy. He is a conversational

minimalist.The person who gets lost all of the time chooses to discover

alternative destinations. There are no rednecks. Only genetically related Americans.The cradle robber is actually a skirt chaser who prefers

generationally differential relationships.The fellow with the silver spoon in his mouth does not have a rich

Daddy. He is a recipient of parental asset infusion.

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The hubby who hogs the blankets is thermally unappreciative.Instead of being a male chauvinist pig, he has swine empathy.The bachelor who won’t pop the question is not afraid of

commitment. He is monogamously challenged. ☻☻☻☻☻☻

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