April 28, 2008

The DigestWhat’s Happening at KVCC

What’s below in this edition 8 to 4:30 (Page 1) Health-career training (P-7/8) The Digest (Pages 1/2) Eire bound (Pages 8/9) Food time (Page 2) Animation camps (Pages 9/10) Irish tunes (Pages 2/3) The ‘Wright’ stuff (Pages 10-12) 5 ‘Goodwrenches’ (Pages 3/4) Arndt a STAR? (Pages 12/13) Miller time (Page 4) ‘Bridges’ deadline (Pages 13/14) Salute to wellness (Pages 4/5) ‘Polar Astronomers’ (P-14/15) Keyboard films (Pages 5/6) Adobe deals (Page 15) Space camps (Page 6) 70s music (Pages 15-17) 40th seals (Page 6) A how-to on leading (Page 17) Board candidates (Page 7) And Finally (Page 17)

☻☻☻☻☻☻Summer hours just around the corner

From May 5 through Aug. 22, 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.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.

Publication schedule for The DigestWith the arrival of summer hours, The Digest will begin its off-season. (No

applause, please.)

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After the May 5 edition, it will no longer be published on a weekly basis. The collegewide publication will enter a twice-a-month format through June and

July, and into gear-up time for the fall semester in August. Send all relevant (and irrelevant, for that matter) information to Tom Thinnes at

tthinnes@kvcc.edu or call him at extension 4280.The Digest editions are distributed on Fridays around noon via the VIP

Workplace. The “news and information” postings on the KVCC website (under “Campus Life and Activities”) will be kept fresh and up to date regarding college events and activities that are open to the public.

Changes in the food hours as well With the end of the winter semester and the arrival of summer hours, things will

be a-changing for cafeteria and food-service hours beginning on Monday (April 28).On Monday (April 28), breakfasts, lunches, snacks and beverages will be

available from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.The hours from Tuesday through Friday (May 2) will be 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. When summer hours are in play from May 5 through Aug. 22, food will be

available each week from Monday through Thursday from 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The Friday schedule is 7:30 a.m. to noon. The cafeteria’s “Chef’s Station” will be in action on Tuesday and Thursdays.

Normalcy begins to return the week of Aug. 25-29 with hours from 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on those five days.

Regarding the coffee shop in the Student Commons, it will be open on Monday (April 28) from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., and then shut off the pot and grind to a halt through Aug. 29.

How about a little Whiskey Before BreakfastWhether one thinks that whiskey before breakfast is a good idea, the music of

Whiskey Before Breakfast is a good idea any time of the day.The Kalamazoo-based Celtic-music quartet will wrap up the Thursday-evening

concert series at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum on May 15 with a performance that begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Mary Jane Stryker Theater.

Tickets are $5 and seating is limited in the Stryker Theater.Cara Lieurance, Tim McCauley, Dave Marlatt and Jeff Sarnacki perform jigs,

reels, hornpipes and all manner of toe-tapping Irish dance music.On the local music scene since 1994, Whiskey Before Breakfast has become a

staple attraction at the London Grill restaurants, Bell’s Brewery, the Cooper’s Glen Music Festival, the Kalamazoo Irish Festival, the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts Art Fair, the Kindleberger Park concert series, the Arts Council of Kalamazoo’s Concerts in the Park series, and the Kalamazoo Scottish Festival.

The group’s repertoire spans the spectrum of styles in Celtic music, blending the sounds of the masters with new interpretations by contemporary musicians.

Lieurance, a flute and whistle player, received a bachelor’s in music from Western Michigan University in 1992. An announcer and producer for WMUK, she has also performed with another Kalamazoo-based group, Blue Dahlia.

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Fiddler Marlatt is the group’s musical historian. He is currently enrolled in the Violin Craftsmanship Institute program in violin building at the University of New Hampshire.

Sarnacki’s particular expertise is in folk songs and idioms. A guitarist, he also plays trombone in Yoroka, a local African-fusion dance band. With a degree from WMU in psychology, Sarnacki is a case worker for Kalamazoo Community AIDS Resource and Education Center(CARES).

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.

Auto-tekkies to find car ‘bugs’ FridayYou can watch how today’s high-tech mechanic goes about “debugging” your car

at the "Tech Challenge 2008" on Friday (May 2).Students, either enrolled in KVCC’s nationally certified automotive-technology

program or its first Automotive Academy, are engaging in a bit of friendly competition as they use brain power, diagnostic resources and manual dexterity to figure out why vehicles are not operating on all of their cylinders.

Surviving two levels of competition and making it to the finals are Brian Burroughs, Adam Cagle, Adam Dombrowski, Adam Frazier, and Matt McClung. The alternate is Kyle Munson.

The winner of the 2007 competition, Chad Beimer of Richland, is scheduled to be a commencement speaker at the college’s 61st graduation ceremony on Sunday, April 27, at 4 p.m. in Miller Auditorium on the Western Michigan University campus. The automotive-technology major is a graduate of Gull Lake High School.

The public is invited to view “Tech Challenge 2008” to be staged in the automotive lab (Room 5340) and the adjacent parking lot on the Texas Township Campus. The competition will run from 11 a.m. through 3:20 p.m. The awards presentation will be held at 4 p.m. in the Student Commons Theater.

Students, faculty and staff are also invited to join auto-tech enrollees, instructors and program advisers for a grilled lunch from 12:30 to 2 p.m. That’s a good opportunity to learn about the program, examine advanced-technology vehicles, and learn more about the growing field of alternative fuels.

The five finalists will have survived two written phases of the competition that tested their working knowledge of automotive technology and maintenance.

Each of five vehicles, which are being provided by the Harold Zeigler Auto Group, will be programmed to have a particular problem with its electrical system, air conditioning, alignment, or power-train management.

“The overall theme of the competition is complaint, cause and correction,” said Douglas Martin, the automotive instructor who is overseeing the 2008 competition. “Each of the contestants will have 40 minutes with each car to hear the ‘customer’s’ complaint, find the cause using available resources, and, given the type of the problem, determine the path to how to fix it.”

The “bugs” are being planted by members of the KVCC automotive-technology staff. Each of the participants will be facing the same “bug” for the sake of fairness and balance.

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The KVCC Automotive Advisory Committee, which is sponsoring the event, will serve as the judges. The committee’s 38 members come from local auto dealers, independent repair services, and educational agencies. “Tech Challenge 2008” is also supported by the program’s club for automotive-technology enrollees.

“Frankly,” Martin said, “we borrowed the idea from what Auto Value does each year at its Tech Expo in Lansing. They call it the ‘Top Gun’ technician competition.”

It’s the largest show of its kind in the nation for professionals in automotive service and for manufacturers of vehicle components. It also offers the opportunity for mechanics and auto technicians around the state to engage in friendly, on-line competition to demonstrate their talents for keeping vehicles on the road and running efficiently.

The May 2 winner will take home a set of tools donated by the competition’s corporate sponsors that include Snap-On Inc., Mac Tools, NAPA Auto Parts, and Wright Tool.

For more information, contact Martin at (269) 488-4322 or dmartin@kvcc.edu.

61st graduation is Sunday at MillerThe college’s 61st commencement ceremony is set for Sunday (April 27) 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 Carol Orr,

Delynne Andres, Jean Snow, Helen Palleschi, Lois Baldwin, Al Moss, Terry Coburn, Pat Pojeta, Rick Garthe and Lisa Winch..

The faculty speaker will be English instructor Gloria Larrieu.Chad Beimer, an automotive-technology major from Richland, will speak for the

graduates.The diploma-day celebration will be telecast live on the Community Access

Center’s Channel 22 in the Charter lineup, and then rebroadcast three more times. The dates and times will be announced later. Also scheduled to make remarks is Jeff Patton, chairman of the KVCC Board of

Trustees.Providing the music will be the KVCC Choir, directed by Michelle Bauman, and

the KVCC Campus Band with conductor Chris Garrett.

Employee-wellness program nabs state honorWith its employee-wellness program already cited by the federal Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention as a national model, KVCC has again been honored for its contributions to health care in Michigan.

Saluted in Lansing as part of Diabetes and Kidney Advocacy Day, Blake Glass, program manager in the KVCC Wellness and Fitness Center, and the college were recognized for KVCC’s health-care contributions through the employee-health initiative.

The event was sponsored by the National Kidney Foundation of Michigan and other organizations interested in diabetes care.

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Making the presentation was State Sen. Tom George (R-Texas Township), who has spearheaded efforts to cut health-care costs through wellness and nutrition and has sponsored legislation to accomplish those aims.

KVCC provides employees health-risk appraisals, an on-site fitness center, regularly scheduled wellness seminars, and indoor and outdoor walking routes. Employees also have access to personal training including dietary analysis and counseling. Wellness points can earn KVCC employees a paid day off each year.

KVCC was acknowledged along with 10 other organizations that have taken steps to improve the lives and health of their employees.

The Michigan Diabetes Outreach Network, American Diabetes Association, Michigan Organization of Diabetes Educators, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and Michigan Optometric Association all joined in sponsoring the event. Half of all kidney-failure cases are caused by diabetes. These cases could have been prevented with proper treatment and healthy lifestyle changes.

The mission of the National Kidney Foundation of Michigan is to prevent kidney disease and improve the quality of life for those living with it.

Film series adds to Gilmore Festival lusterHosting a free film series to complement the 2008 Gilmore International

Keyboard Festival is the Kalamazoo Valley Museum’s contribution to this worldwide event.

Pegged for noon on Monday through Friday (May 5-9) in the Mary Jane Stryker Theater, the films will showcase past and current performers in the Gilmore as well as explore the science and creativity that have come together to produce keyboard instruments and their music.

Here are the billings:

♫ May 5: “Glenn Gould Hereafter” – a retrospective on the life and music-making of the legendary pianist.

♫ May 6 (a double-feature) : “Ballade for Edvard Grieg” – Grieg never was able to play his “Ballade in G Minor” in front of an audience, so pianist Leif Ove Andsnes does it for him. In addition to playing Grieg’s major work for solo piano, Andsnes, who was a 1998 Gilmore Festival Artist, also searches to understand the composer. The film includes a tour of Europe as background for Grieg’s life and work.

This will be followed by “Two Hands – Leon Fleisher,” which tells the story of how the American pianist was restricted in his playing by a medical condition known as focal dystonia. Now again playing with two hands, he demonstrates his returned skill with several performances.

♫ May 7: “The Art of Piano: Great Pianists of the 20th Century” – This focuses on the keyboard impresarios of the first half of the century, including Paderewski, Hofmann, Rachmaninoff, Moisewitsch, Solomon, Cziffra, Cortot and Fisher.

♫ May 8: “Note by Note: The Making of Steinway L1037” – With appearances by the likes of Harry Connick Jr., Hank Jones and Pierre-Laurent Amard, this documentary follows the creation of Steinway concert grand piano, from forest floor to concert hall.

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It explores the relationship between musician and instrument while chronicling the manufacturing process. It illustrates what makes each Steinway unique in this age of mass production.

♫ May 9: “Memories of John Browning: The Rosa Lhevinne Legacy Continues” – The career of the eminent American pianist, who studied with master instructor Rosa Lhevinne, is celebrated.

Her teaching philosophy and the principles of the old “Russian School” established a rigorous set of pianistic standards to which Browning speaks in this film.

Space is the place for this summer campYoungsters who someday want to trek to the stars and explore “The Final

Frontier” can take part in a double-header summer camp at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum July 14-18. Targeted for children ages 8 to 12, the “Space Explorers Morning Camp” and the “Junior Astronaut Afternoon Camp” will be hosted by the museum’s Challenger Learning Center.

Enrollment is limited to 30 in each camp. The former will assemble from 8 a.m. to noon and the latter from 1 to 5 p.m. The fee is $70 for one of the camps; $120 for both.

The space camps utilize math, science and technology in hands-on activities that emphasize communication and teamwork skills.

All the activities are geared toward preparing campers for a full “Voyage to Mars” mission in the Challenger Learning Center that will take place on the last day of the weeklong camps.

The participants will be formed into teams devoted to gathering specific information about Mars.

They will research sites on the Internet to learn about features of the Martian environment and landscape, and how space exploration has helped scientists fill in the blanks about what is not known about the planet. They will keep daily logbooks of each day’s accomplishments.

The Challenger Learning Center uses realistic scenarios of simulated adventures in space to demonstrate the practical applications of math and science.

Children can learn teamwork and communication skills as they perform duties aboard a “model” space vehicle and a mock NASA Mission Control installation.

To register for the summer camps at the museum, call (269) 373-7965 or go to

the museum’s website at www.kalamazoomuseum.org. Seal it with a 40th-anniversary sticker

To begin spreading the word about the 40th anniversary of the college welcoming its first students in the fall of 1968, faculty and staff are invited to place specially produced foil-embossed seals on their external correspondence to mark the milestone.

These seals can be affixed to the back flap of all outgoing KVCC mail. Batches are available by e-mailing Tarona Guy at tguy@kvcc.edu and they can be

used with the arrival of the new year. All should feel free to request additional batches throughout 2008.

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Gant, Bryant 'our' school-board candidatesTwo KVCC’ers have stepped forward to file nominating petitions as candidates for their respective boards of education in the May 6 school election.

Grace Gant, KVCC’s coordinator for continuing education and the Center for Health Careers in Allegan, is one of a quartet of candidates seeking a pair of four-year terms on the Allegan Board of Education. She is a former past president of the Allegan Area Chamber of Commerce.

Geology instructor Deb Bryant is among the trio of hopefuls running for two-four year stints on the Parchment Board of Education. She is a board incumbent.

In the November general election, Julie Rogers, daughter of KVCC nursing instructor Marie Rogers, will be making a second attempt to win a two-year term in the Michigan House of Representatives.

She lost to Republican incumbent Jack Hoogendyke – 21,073 to 20,610 – in the 2006 balloting to serve the 61st House District that includes Prairie Ronde, Alamo, Texas and Kalamazoo townships, as well as a portion of Portage.

Hoogendyke must give up his seat because of Michigan’s term-limits law. Two members of the Portage City Council – Margaret O’Brien and Larry DeShazor – have already announced their candidacies in the Aug. 5 GOP primary. Rogers, who is a physical therapist, is so far unopposed on the Democratic side of the ballot.

A crowded field is building for the post of Kalamazoo County sheriff. In the Republican primary, incumbent Mike Anderson will be facing opposition from Ricky L. Combs, a former seven-year member of the department.

In the Democratic primary are Richard Fuller, a Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Department sergeant, and Ray Roberts, a Kalamazoo Township Police Department dispatcher who prepared for his career in law enforcement by enrolling in KVCC’s program in criminal justice.

Pharmacy-, phlebotomy-tech training at ACCWith it highly unlikely that Americans will reduce their use of medical

prescriptions and over-the-counter drugs, Arcadia Commons Campus will host a training program for pharmacy technicians this summer.

It will also be offering a second course in preparing people for jobs as phlebotomy technicians. Both will begin in early June.

Prospective enrollees in both of the non-credit courses should be equipped with at least a high school diploma or GED equivalent. The pharmacy-technician certification program also recommends a working knowledge of science and math.

The 50-hour program in pharmacy technology will begin June 10 and conclude July 29. The class will meet Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6 to 9:30 p.m. The fee is $999.

Training to become a phlebotomy technician will run from June 10 through Aug. 18 on Mondays, Wednesdays and some Saturdays. Weekday classes will be from 6 to 9:30 p.m., while the Saturday sessions are planned for 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The fee for the 90-hour program is $1,599.

Among the duties of a phlebotomist is the drawing of blood from patients for testing purposes. He/she usually works under the supervision of medical technologists or laboratory managers.

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Phlebotomists are employed by hospitals, neighborhood health centers, medical-group practices, public-health facilities, veterans hospitals and insurance carriers.

A pharmacy technician works under the direction of a registered, licensed pharmacist in retail establishments, mail-order pharmacies, hospitals, long-term-care facilities, clinics, other health-care settings, and in large industrial complexes.

Among the responsibilities are filling prescriptions according to a physician’s order, preparing medications for dispensing to patients, retrieving correct dosages and forms, measuring exact amounts of components, and producing labels. The pharmacy technician works with drugs to be administered orally and topically.

Other on-the-job duties include tracking inventories, ordering supplies, assisting customers, keeping work areas tidy and clean, and completing insurance forms.

The trend is for employment in this field to continue to grow because of the expanding availability of new drugs, the national shortage of registered pharmacists, and the aging of the population.

The registration deadlines for these training opportunities are June 2-3. All of the sessions will be held in Anna Whitten Hall in downtown Kalamazoo. Course descriptions, schedules and registration forms are available online at www.kvcc.edu/hcce.

For more information about these and other offerings, call (269) 353-1253 or

contact Grace Gant at ggant5005@kvcc.edu. 10 on board for Ireland trip in May

Three KVCC faculty members and seven students gave themselves one heck of a St. Patrick’s Day present.

Instructors Linda Rzoska (graphic arts and program coordinator at the Center for New Media), Isaac Turner (English) and Tom Hughes (history) will be leading the contingent that includes students Robert Sanders, Phillip Eikhoff, Judi Kozminske, Brittany Waanders, Rex Brokaw, Mason Lilley, and Laura Wales. Wales is a student at Northwestern Michigan College in Traverse City.

Together they will learn that through the eyes of an artist, there is more to Ireland than green. The study trip to Ireland will again be under the auspices of the KVCC-based Midwest Institute for International/Intercultural Education.

From May 3 through May 24, the KVCC contingent will be based at Burren on central Ireland’s west coast overlooking Galway Bay, an area that for centuries has been a source of inspiration for all genre of artists — poets, novelists, painters, sculptors, musicians and playwrights.

A three-credit sociology class, “Irish Life and Culture,” will give students the opportunity to experience the culture and history of this fabled land.

The Burren College of Art, which is on the grounds of a 16th-century castle, will serve as the headquarters for the course as students explore the geography, history, flora, fauna and culture of this part of Ireland.

Known as “The Stony Place,” Burren is home to a wealth of archeological and monuments that includes megalithic tombs, medieval castles and abandoned abbeys.

The KVCC students will delve into past and present Irish life, ancient and medieval times, legends, poetry, mythology, religion, dance and music.

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They will learn to understand the landscape, history and mythology of this historic and mystical area that has been an important part of Ireland’s legend for artistic creativity.

The students will receive a certificate from both the Midwest Institute and Burren College designating they have completed the three-credit course.

Field trips will take students to ancient monuments that chronicle the history of an Irish culture dating back more than 7,000 years.

They will experience an abbey built in 1194, a 9th-century ring fort built of stone, a 6,000-year-old tomb, cliffs that plunge 700 feet to the Atlantic, and the coastal limestone region known as Black Head.

Those interested can contact Rzoska at extension 7923 or lrzoska@kvcc.edu.

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

creative medium of animation and by the lure of video games can sign up for “do-it-yourself” workshops this summer.

Designed for interests and skills of children as young as 9 and through the upper teens, the 13 Kalamazoo Animation Festival International (KAFI) Academy workshops – from three to five days each, and one that spans nine days -- will all be held in the KVCC Center for New Media in downtown Kalamazoo beginning June 16.

Costs for the multi-day series of instructions and hands-on activities range from $150 to $300.

Here’s the summer-camp schedule: ● Aspiring Animator: Characters and Players – June 16-19, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.,

ages 9 and up.● Guerilla Filmmaking – June 16-20, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., ages 11 and up.● Game Design – June 23-June 27 and June 30-July 3, 1 to 5 p.m., ages 15 and

up. ● Filmmaking: The Cutting-Room Floor – June 23-27, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., ages

11 and up.● Aspiring Animator: The Magic of the Bouncing Ball – June 30-July 3, 9

a.m. to 1 p.m., ages 9 and up.● Aspiring Animator: Claymation Creation – July 7-10, 1 to 5 p.m., 9 and up.● Aspiring Animator: Experimental Animation – July 14-17, 1 to 5 p.m., ages

9 and up.● Animation I: Fundamentals – July 14-18, 1 to 5 p.m., ages 15 and up.● Animation II: Production – July 21-25, 1 to 5 p.m., ages 15 and up.● Animation III: Putting It Together – July 28-Aug. 1, 1 to 5 p.m., ages 15 and

up.● Art of the Comic Strip – July 28-31, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., ages 9 and up.● Graphic Novel and Comic Art Foundations I – July 7-8 and July 10-11, 9

a.m. to 1 p.m., ages 13 and up.● Graphic Novel and Comic Art Production II – July 14-15 and July 17-18, 9

a.m. to 1 p.m., ages 13 and up.

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“These are one-of-a-kind opportunities,” said Valerie Eisenberg, who coordinates special projects at KVCC’s Center for New Media. “All of the workshops are project-based, and each participant will leave with a finished product to take home.

“The quality of the 2007 KAFI workshops was terrific,” she said, “and was demonstrated at one of the Art Hop exhibits the center hosted. We plan to do that again at the September 2008 Art Hop. We expect even better results because the workshops are greater in number this year.”

She said family members and friends will be able to view the results themselves because, built into each of the workshops, will be a two-hour block of time at the end to allow for exhibitions of comic-art drawings or screenings of the individual animation projects that will vary in length up to one minute.

The week-long workshops will be structured to allow participants to continue their efforts at home if they have the required computer software. For example, the graphic-novel workshops will convene for the first two days and the last two days, with the Wednesday set aside for massaging ideas and concepts at home.

“Our programs for those who are just beginning in the art form – the kids 9 to 12, and even younger,” Eisenberg said, “are designed for them to take their drawings and artwork to the next level, which is animation as they see on television. They have a chance to learn animation from soup to nuts, from the basics through each step, each component of an animated product.”

With the acquired step-by-step skills sets, the youngsters will be able to take what they learn and continue to create animation on their own because they will understand the process.

“None of this is taught in a school nor at any other arts-enriching organization in this part of the state,” Eisenberg said.

The “Game Design” workshop runs for nine days this time around. “We learned from last year,” Eisenberg said, “that five days was not long enough to create a finished product to the satisfaction of the participants.

For more information and details about each workshop, or to register, call (269) 373-7920 or go to the KAFI Academy website at http://kafi.kvcc.edu/academy.

Sharing the instructional duties will be: Jason Byrne, a recent graduate of the Center for New Media as an animation and

video-game major who is a freelance 3-D artist and game creator. Aubrey Jewel Hardaway, a part-time instructor of animation at the Center for

New Media and an art teacher at The Montessori School in Kalamazoo. She is a graduate of the Columbus College of Art and Design.

Amy (Levine) Stermer, an independent producer of documentaries and videos who teaches English on a part-time basis at KVCC and serves as an instructor in video and digital media for the Education for the Arts program in Kalamazoo.

Paul Sizer, a part-time instructor in Western Michigan University’s program in graphic design and the creator/author of graphic novels.

‘The Wright Stuff’ architecturally is documentary topicThe showing of Ken Burns’ documentary about the life and times of architect

Frank Lloyd Wright is complementing the Kalamazoo Valley Museum’s current

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nationally touring exhibition about the wonders and miracles of building complicated edifices.

The Sunday documentary series in the Mary Jane Stryker Theater is profiling some of the planet’s most amazing engineering and architectural projects.

Set for April 27 is “Frank Lloyd Wright,” part two of the film produced by Burns and spouse Lynn Novick.

The episodes will be shown at 1:30 p.m. in the Stryker Theater. The last documentary on May 11 is “Echoes from the White House: Celebrating the Bicentennial of America’s Mansion.”

The showings are free, as is admittance to the museum to see “Raise the Roof” that is on display through June 1 in the Havirmill Special Exhibition Gallery on the museum’s third floor.

Wright, who died in 1959 at the age of 92, was primarily based in the Chicago area during his architectural career. Designated in 1991 as “the greatest American architect of all time,” Wright and his creative designs have a place in the Kalamazoo area’s history as well. Several residences and commercial structures have his touch.

“Raise the Roof” probes the secrets, surprises, science and extraordinary engineering feats that have produced amazing buildings around the world. Visitors can travel to great heights and distant ages to investigate the foundations of architecture and engineering.

They can step over the threshold of an authentic Mongolian house,  climb to the top of a skyscraper under construction, learn building secrets from a 9,000-year-old city, watch mighty buildings crumble, and raise the roof of a dome.

They can enter a full-scale “ger” (pronounced “care”), a circular tent of lattice, poles, fabric and rawhide invented by nomadic Mongolians. The ger is known in this country by the name of its Turkish relative, the yurt.  Elegant and energy-efficient, one can be erected in one day, but cooperation is needed. These days, the ancient structures are gaining popularity as homes, cabins, and offices.

Near the ger in the exhibition, visitors can explore the secrets of the mud-brick ruins of Çatalhöyük (pronounced Chat-tahl-hu-yook), believed to be the world's oldest city.

Excavations at the 9,000-year-old site located near Ankara, Turkey, began in the 1960s but were stopped because of the technical inability at that time to adequately preserve the findings. The dig was restarted in 1993 with a plan to continue for 25 years.

Archaeologists believe the ancient city covered an area the size of 50 soccer fields.  They are studying the site to learn more about the Neolithic Period, or new Stone Age, when people began abandoning hunter-gatherer lifestyles to settle in communities, grow crops, and raise animals.

For thousands of years, people have pretty much agreed that a building with a dome, such as the Basilica of St. Peter in Rome or the U. S. Capitol, marks an important structure. A dome creates a soaring space on the inside, and an impressive sight on the outside.

In the “Collapsible Dome” section of “Raise the Roof,” visitors can turn a flat roof into a dome right over their heads, and find out how domes have been engineered through time.

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Lots of engineering know-how goes into making a building reach for the sky.  The 3-D "View From the Top” lets people look down the side of a skyscraper from 40 stories up. In the skyscraper section of the exhibition, visitors can build block towers, make trusses to withstand the forces of tension and compression, and test the response of different buildings to various earthquake frequencies. Another demonstration shows how tall buildings are kept from swaying too much in strong winds.

“Raise the Roof’s” Demolition Theater showcases the explosive work of the famous Loizeaux family that own and operate Controlled Demolition Inc., the world's largest organization of demolition experts.

Dangerous conditions that can lead to carbon-monoxide poisoning in homes are explored in the "Downdraft House," a doll-house-sized model outfitted with airflow indicators, a working furnace, and operating doors and vents.

"Meet the Mites" shows how infinitesimal numbers of creatures live in all homes and buildings all of the time.

Several “story corners” tell the tales of some very unusual buildings. One is the Winchester House in San Jose, Calif., that was built by the heiress to the Winchester rifle fortune.

In response to a psychic’s warning that the ghosts of those killed by the famous rifles would haunt her unless she built day and night, Sarah Winchester constructed a six-acre house filled with twisting stairways and blocked passages to confuse angry spirits.

The coolest hotel in the world is the Ice Hotel built every year in Jukkasjarvi, Sweden. Rooms, chandeliers, and even glasses in the bar are made entirely of ice. The building’s temperature is a chilly 35 degrees from November until April, when the whole thing melts.

Other highlights include "Timber!" where visitors can  assemble ingenious wooden joints held together without nails, and "Listening to the Walls," an activity drawn from interviews with blind and visually impaired people who navigate through buildings using their sense of sound.

Arndt’s Drive Safe Kalamazoo up for a STARWhat a KVCC instructor envisioned as a class project for his students at Western

Michigan University to take a bite out of drunken-driving incidents has evolved into one of the few student-run organizations in Michigan, and been nominated for a 2008 STAR (Sharing Time and Resources) Award.

Communications instructor Jacob Arndt, who co-chaired the Diversity Conference at KVCC, nominated Drive Safe Kalamazoo (DSK) for a STAR group award. The annual salute to those who serve their communities is co-sponsored by The Kalamazoo Gazette and the Volunteer Center of Greater Kalamazoo.

“Drive Safe Kalamazoo started as a class project in the spring of 2002,” Arndt said. “The initial idea had been to use taxi-cab services and reimburse them for their time.”

Some research took the student planners to a designated-driver organization based Texas A&M University called CARPOOL. With its guidance, along with suggestions from substance-abuse personnel, a hypothetical organization that five students developed as a class project became the WMU’ very own safe-ride program.

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“We are now the only strictly student-run organization in the state of Michigan,” said Arndt, who serves as the DSK adviser, “and one of only 12 in the nation.”

The mission of Drive Safe Kalamazoo is to increase safety in the community by providing a free, nonjudgmental, safe-ride home for WMU students by their peers.

“We take calls every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m.,: Arndt said. “We then dispatch the location and destination of our patrons to our driver/passenger teams, and our teams then take them home. While we do not support the use of alcohol, we acknowledge that it exists in our community and we hope to eliminate any negative consequences that alcohol may generate.”

In the summer 2007, Arndt crafted a proposal that garnered a $20,000 grant from the Kalamazoo Community Foundation. The funds were used to bring new technology to DSK.

“We now run a completely paperless system,” Arndt said, “using a new program, designed specially for DSK, that takes the information and sends it directly to our phones. The phones are equipped with GPS navigation to keep our cars from getting lost.

“The apartment that we operate out of is donated rent-free by Westchester Woods apartments,” he said. “The cars are paid for in part by Enterprise, which gives us 50 percent off vehicle rental. The Western Student Association covers the other half of the rental costs.”

Arndt assumed the duties of DSK adviser while a graduate student at WMU. He was teaching part time at KVCC while finishing his degree at Western.

“I started an international nonprofit when I was in high school so I had a pretty good handle on how to run an organization such as this,” Arndt said. “It was a good fit from the beginning.”

Scores of individuals and groups have been nominated for 2008 STAR Awards that will be announced at a breakfast ceremony on Thursday (May 1).

Wednesday deadline for ‘Bridges’ programInstructors should be alerting their minority students about taking advantage of an

opportunity to sample careers in science this summer. Seven KVCC students earned $11 an hour for a 30-hour work week as

undergraduate research assistants last summer. They were part of a 13-student contingent taking part in the 2006-07 National Institutes of Health’s “Bridges to the Baccalaureate Program” through the Western Michigan University Department of Biological Sciences.

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

In addition to the 30 hours of experience that will pay $10 per hour this coming spring and summer, students can also be assigned up to 15 hours per week during the academic year. Applications can be submitted now for the next installment of the program. The deadline is Wednesday (April 30).

More 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.

The mission of “Bridges” is to offer minorities enrolled in community colleges the opportunity to relevantly explore scientific fields, enhance their academic

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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.

In addition to KVCC, 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.

While KVCC has been involved several years, last summer’s contingent included: Jealyn Foston of Cassopolis; Ruben Galvan, an international student living in Kalamazoo; Martin and Carmen Kuchta, who were both home-schooled; Jerbor Nelson, a graduate of Portage Central High School; Delicia Powell, an alumna of Kalamazoo Central High School; and Matthew Watson, a Comstock High School graduate.

The other six students hailed from Grand Rapids, Henry Ford (four), and Lake Michigan. All participants wrapped up their assistantships by creating posters on the research they pursued.

Last two showings of ‘Polar Astronomers’“Polar Astronomers,” the Kalamazoo Valley Museum’s newly created

planetarium show, will end its current booking on Saturday and Sunday (April 26-27)In addition to incorporating the story of Edward Israel, the Kalamazoo arctic

explorer who perished near the top of the world in pursuit of scientific knowledge, “Polar Astronomers” explores the adventures such deep-freeze pioneers as Robert Peary, Roald Amundsen, and Robert Scott.

Showtimes are 3 p.m. Tickets are $3.Israel served as the astronomer and magnetic observer for the American “Greeley

Expedition” to Lady Franklin Bay during the first International Polar Year in 1882.“Israel made measurements of the sun, moon and stars to determine the locations

of landmarks mapped by the expedition,” said Eric Schreur, the planetarium’s coordinator who produced the new show.

“During the long winter nights,” he said, “Israel viewed the Northern Lights and watched their effects on the magnetic instruments he monitored.”

When the expedition post was not relieved after two years as planned, Israel tracked the progress of the party’s retreat to Cape Sabine where they tried to survive another brutal winter on meager rations. The Kalamazoo explorer died three weeks before rescuers arrived.

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Schreur’s production, which coincides with the third International Polar Year, documents the journeys of those who reached the Earth’s north and south geographic poles. They are both described and compared to today’s exploration of space.

“The show concludes,” he said, “by surveying three astronomy-research projects that are under way at the South Pole. One is collecting meteorites that have fallen in Antarctica and with the passage of time have been transported to other regions by the slowly flowing glacial ice.”

The other two are searching below the polar ice for evidence of miniscule remnants that might have been generated in the explosions of distant starts and during the formation of black holes.

“Polar Astronomers” also reports on the South Pole Telescope that looks for shadows of galaxy clusters and other evidence that can shed light on the origin of the universe.

“Polar regions that once challenged the lives of explorers and that are now accessible to scientific researchers,” Schreur said. “They are conducting research that can show us how we fit into the cosmos.” Good price on Adobe products remains

KVCC students, staff, and faculty are still able to buy Adobe products at greatly reduced prices, according to Mark Sloan, director of computing at the Arcadia Commons Campus.

“As part of our volume-buying agreement with Adobe and Academic Superstore,” he said, “KVCC students and employees can buy Adobe products for installation on their personal computers at prices below standard educational discounts. The student discounts should be ongoing. Although the faculty and staff discounts were scheduled to end in March, they have been extended indefinitely.”

Interested persons should visit http://kvcc.academicsuperstore.com for details.. There are instructions on the site regarding proof of registration and/or employment.

Telephone inquiries can be made to Jason Ballard at (800) 298-3302.“Please note that there are many other items for sale by Academic Superstore on

this site.” Sloan said. “However, only the Adobe products featured on the main page are subject to the discounts.”

Microsoft has made Office 2007 available to students at a price of $59.95. This can be purchased by visiting http://ultimatesteal.com.

According to the website, this latter deal ends on Wednesday (April 30).

Relive music of the 1970s at the museumA PBS series that explores the history of rock ‘n’ roll will continue with

showings set for April 27 beginning at 3 p.m. in the Mary Jane Stryker Theater. Booked to accentuate the Kalamazoo Valley Museum’s ongoing photo exhibition

that focuses on the early days of three rock ‘n’ roll icons, the upcoming episodes are “Guitar Heroes” and “The ‘70s: Have a Nice Decade”

The “History of Rock ‘n’ Roll’ documentary ends on May 11 – “Punk” and “Up

From the Underground.”

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There is no charge to view these attractions, or to take in the exhibition that chronicles the early days of three rock ‘n’ roll legends – Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan and The Beatles.

Before Elvis was The King, Dylan was just an introverted folk singer with a natural sound, and John, Paul, George and Ringo were only lads from Liverpool, they were trying to find their niche like hundreds of thousands of other musicians. “Artist to Icon: Early Photographs of Elvis, Dylan, and The Beatles,” provides a glimpse into the lives of these aspiring artists before they became rock ‘n’ roll legends – before Presley’s recording of “Hound Dog” in the 1950s, the British Invasion and the rise of Beatlemania in the 1960s, and before Dylan went electric.

The free exhibit, which will be displayed in the museum’s first-floor gallery until May 26, includes 48 rarely seen black-and-white photographs by five photographers, capturing some of the innocence, ambition and unbounded adventure of the early days of rock ‘n’ roll. “It is remarkable to be able to assemble early images of such significant figures in rock history,” said Chris Bruce, director of curatorial services for Experience Music Project in Seattle that organized the traveling exhibition. “It is extremely rare to have a photographer granted regular access to an artist’s life over an extended period of time.”

In March 1956, RCA Victor hired Alfred Wertheimer to take publicity shots of the then 21-year-old Presley, a newly signed artist from Memphis, Tenn. The record company suggested he use black-and-white film because it was cheaper than color – most RCA executives didn’t think Elvis would last longer than six months. Following the shoot, Wertheimer spent four months with Presley—at home in Memphis, performing on the road and preparing for his inaugural television appearances -- first on a Saturday-night summer fill-in variety show hosted by Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, and then on The Ed Sullivan Show.

Not only did Elvis endure, he was so successful that he became shrouded by his celebrity and personal access to him was thereafter denied. Wertheimer’s photographs are the first and last look at the day-to-day life of the rocker who became known as “The King.” In August of 1960, a band based in Liverpool, England, called The Beatles landed a series of gigs in the rowdy clubs of Hamburg, Germany. Inspired by American rock ‘n’ roll bands in their look and sound, The Beatles played seven to eight hours a night, covering such favorites as Presley, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry and Little Richard. They were befriended by young German artists Astrid Kirchherr, Jürgen Vollmer, and Max Scheler. They persuaded the group to pose for them on and off the stage before The Beatles hit the big time back home and launched the British Invasion with the group’s own appearance on Sullivan’s Sunday-night show in 1963. Influenced by the style of their artistic German friends, The Beatles adopted their trendy haircuts and fashionable clothing, and the rest is hirsute history. In the summer of 1963, photographer Daniel Kramer watched Dylan perform on television. He was taken with the enormous presence of the 22-year-old folksinger. A year later, Dylan invited Kramer to accompany him between the summers of 1964 and 1965. Dylan was about to do the unimaginable – abandon folk music for rock.

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Kramer’s camera followed Dylan from the height of his folk acclaim, through his initial ventures into electrified music. Kramer not only captured an epic transformation in the musician’s career, but also documented a revolutionary change in rock ‘n’ roll. These photographers were clearly in the right places at the right times.

Through their images, viewers can gain a sense of milling through backrooms and small clubs in the moments before the artists became rock icons, and the world of music changed forever. Accompanying the photographs are audio kiosks featuring oral histories with each photographer giving visitors colorful stories behind the images on display.

Leadership workshop planned for May 9All KVCC students, particularly those who hold offices in campus and

community organizations, are invited to take part in a leadership workshop under the auspices of the KVCC Phi Theta Kappa chapter.

Slated for 9 a.m. to noon on Friday, May 9, in the Student Commons Forum, the three-hour session will feature presentations by instructors Jenny Ott, Pat Conroy, Natatlie Patchell and Dawn Panteleo. Panteleo was recently named the “Faculty Adviser of the Year” for student chapters of the Association of Information Technology Professionals.

Among the topics will be “Your Leadership Skills and Styles,” “Dynamic Introductions,” “Running a Meeting Well,” “Working with Difficult Individuals,” and “Techno Etiquette.”

“This will be an informal and fun participatory event,” said Patchell, who can be contacted at npatchell@kvcc.edu for further information.

If they ask nicely, there may also be room at the workshop for interested faculty and staff who are involved in leadership roles with community organizations.

And finally. . . Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!If you think you’re too small to make a difference, you haven’t been in bed

with a mosquito.Why does a slight tax increase cost you $200 while a substantial tax cut is

only worth 30 cents?Happiness is like a butterfly. The more you chase it, the more it will elude

you. But if you turn your attention to other things, it comes softly and lands on your shoulder. If you don’t believe that, take the time to sit for a moment or two in a butterfly house.

☻☻☻☻☻☻

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