Aug. 7, 2006

The DigestWhat’s Happening at KVCC

What’s below in this edition

Summer hours (Page 1) Hicks’ honor (Page 8) How to manage (Pages 1/2) ID update (Pages 8/9) Pending projects (Page 2) Science in Toyland (Pages 9-11) Help the GKUW (Pages 2/3) ‘Coke’ winners (Page 11) Lincoln lore (Pages 3-6) He’s a bank VP (Pages 11/12) KVCC callers (Pages 6/7) ‘Wright’ stuff (Page 12) How’s the weather? (Page 7) ‘Bronze’ winner (Page 13) How to negotiate (Page 7) Com. Alford (Page 13) Film series (Page 8) And finally (Pages 13/14)

☻☻☻☻☻☻Summer hours end Aug. 25

KVCC’s observance of “summer hours” will conclude on Friday, Aug. 25.Beginning the following Monday, the work week will return to its normal 8-to-5

status.The Digest will return to its weekly-publication format with the edition dated

Sept. 4, but distributed on Friday, Sept. 1. The next edition will be dated Aug. 21.

Notre Dame management seminar at M-TECThe KVCC M-TEC is again partnering with the University of Notre Dame

Mendoza College of Business to host a two-day seminar in developing supervisory and management skills on Oct. 2-3.

This program is for supervisors, managers and team leaders looking forpractical skills for dealing with day-to-day management challenges. It is also valuable for individuals with advancement potential and for entrepreneurs seeking to grow businesses.

Offered from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on that Monday and Tuesday, the presenters will be H. David Hayes and Paul J. Slaggert of the Mendoza College of Business.

An informative flyer can be downloaded at http://executive.nd.edu. CEUs and CPEs are available.

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The cost is $995 including parking, meals and materials. To learn more about the program, its learning objectives and components, and to

register, call the M-TEC at 353-1253 or visit the website at www.mteckvcc.com.

Campus projects in state pipelineKVCC is in the state’s capital-expenditures pipeline to split the cost of slightly

more than $7 million worth of expansion and remodeling projects on the Texas Township Campus.

The most visible would be a 50-by-140-foot, two-level addition on the eastern side of the campus’ east courtyard to house a multi-purpose lab for the sciences and two adjacent all-purpose classrooms on the upper floor, and to significantly increase the number of faculty offices, install waiting areas for students, and establish additional conference rooms on the lower floor at a cost of $2.8 million.

The other two projects call for:● The construction of a 5,400-square-foot addition to accommodate a loading

dock at Central Receiving and Facility Services and a 6,000-square-foot interior remodeling for a variety of functions -- $1.5 million.

● Some $2.7 million worth of remodeling, upgrading and restoring of the existing geology and physics labs as well as two nearby classrooms.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm has endorsed the KVCC projects in a bill before the Michigan Legislature that will raise the borrowing capacity for the State Building Authority from $2.7 to $4 billion, according to a news article in The Kalamazoo Gazette. In all, Michigan’s universities and community colleges have requested state support for $576 million worth of projects, not all of which carry the governor’s imprimatur.

The increase in the current number of 145 faculty offices will also be accomplished by reconfiguring the existing spaces that serve that function and by other conversions. Improved temperature controls and an expanded air-handling capability in that part of the building are also part of the improvements.

The loading-dock project will take a bite out of the parking area in that section of the campus. The addition will allow two large trucks to unload or load their goods simultaneously, and provide space for dumpsters, a trash compactor, for cart storage and washing, and a holding area.

Inside, remodeling will add offices for the maintenance staff, remodel the existing incinerator room and convert it into a chiller room that will serve the entire campus.

While these projects are in the pipeline, they are not on a fast track in Lansing. The Legislature is expected to take action on the capital budget in the fall. The formula has not changed either from past years. The college and the state will each provide 50 percent of the costs.Join KVCC’s United Way team

KVCC needs volunteers for this year's Greater Kalamazoo United Way campaign in the fall.

Those who are interested can contact Denise Baker at extension 4539 or Steve Doherty at extension 4442.

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This year's campaign will take place in October rather than September because of the start of the school year in September. Exact dates are: Monday, Oct. 2, to Friday, Oct. 13.

‘Honest Abe’ coming back to Kalamazoo

With Bronson Park taking on the trappings of a time machine, the 150th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's 1856 speech in Kalamazoo during his only visit to Michigan will be celebrated the weekend of Aug. 26-27.

The Kalamazoo Valley Museum, the Kalamazoo Area Civil War Roundtable, State. Sen. Tom George (R-Texas Township), the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo, the Kalamazoo Public Library, the city of Kalamazoo, and the Portage Public Library are collaborating on the sesquicentennial, including a Sunday-afternoon (Aug. 27) re-enactment of the speech that the future 16th president gave in the park about the divisive and inflammatory question of slavery that was slowly ripping asunder the United States.

Scheduled to portray Lincoln, then a 47-year-old attorney, four-term Illinois lawmaker, and a former Whig Party congressman, is Fred Priebe of Belleville, Mich. His wife, Bonnie, will be impersonating Mary Todd Lincoln. Lincoln came to Kalamazoo by train for an Aug. 27, 1856, political rally that swelled the small village's population to an estimated 20,000 to 25,000.

The library, however, will kick off the observance’s free events on Monday, Aug. 21, at 7 p.m. with a review of James L. Swanson’s book, “Manhunt,” in the VanDeusen Room.

Scheduled to discuss Swanson’s account of the 12-day chase of Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth are:

● Sen. George, who produced a documentary on “Lincoln in Kalamazoo” for the Community Access Center and will serve as moderator.

● Dr. Ralph Gordon of Kalamazoo, whose written books about medical practices in the Civil War era and is a member of the Society of Civil War Surgeons.

● Margean Gladysz of Kalamazoo, a former librarian and current member of the Kalamazoo Area Civil War Roundtable.

● and Thomas Mudd of Saginaw, the great-grandson of Dr. Samuel Mudd, the physician who treated Booth’s broken leg following his flight from the shooting in Ford’s Theater in Washington.

The library will also be hosting two episodes from the PBS series on the Lincolns, “Abraham and Mary Lincoln – A House Divided," on Tuesday, Aug. 22, at 7 p.m. in the VanDeusen Room.

The celebration continues – same time, same station – on Wednesday, Aug. 23 with “Behind Enemy Lines: The Life of Sara Emma Edmonds – aka Franklin Thompson.” Sally Redinger, a retired Mattawan teacher and a Civil War re-enactor, will tell the story of Edmonds, who enlisted in a Michigan infantry company as a man, participated in several major battles, and even served as a spy while “disguised” as a woman.

The scene shifts to the Portage Public Library on Thursday, Aug. 24, when Sen. George will present an overview of Lincoln’s visit to speak in support of the presidential

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candidacy of famed explorer and scout, John C. Fremont. An analysis of the speech lends insight into Lincoln’s won rise to power four years later.

On Saturday, Aug. 26, from 1 to 4 p.m. in Bronson Park, the museum will be hosting “Kids Day in the Mid-1800s” when youngsters will be able to try their hands at the games and chores that their counterparts engaged in 150 years ago, including spinning wool into yarn, rolling a hoop with a stick, corn husking, apple bobbing, checkers, and a potato-sack race. The free activities include making the nation’s 31-star flag that was in use during Lincoln’s visit.

At the museum that afternoon, George’s “Lincoln in Kalamazoo” will be shown at 1:30 p.m. in the Stryker Theater, followed by a 2 p.m. presentation by William Anderson on “Lincoln: A Full Measure of Greatness.”

Anderson is the former president of West Shore Community College in Scottville. His research has focused on the impact Michigan and its residents had on the Civil War. His "They Died to Make Men Free" is the story of Michigan's 19th Regiment, while another of Anderson's works chronicled the experience of Michigan soldiers who marched with Gen. William Sherman. Anderson is currently the director of the state’s department of history, arts and libraries.

Lincoln historian Weldon Petz, who has spoken to thousands of groups in 40 years about “Honest Abe” and has a 7,500-item collection of memorabilia, will talk about “The Musical Note in Lincoln’s Life” at 3 p.m. These are all free events.

The local roundtable has booked Daniel Stowell, director of the Lincoln Legal Papers, to talk about “Lincoln the Lawyer” and the time of work he was doing in 1856 at 7:30 p.m. at the Kalamazoo Ladies Library Association. Open to the public, advance reservations are required for this Aug. 26 event. Tickets are $25. It includes a reception at 5:30 p.m. with Stowell and other speakers and a 6:30 p.m. dinner. Call (269) 323-3757 for more information.

Sunday’s sesquicentennial begins at 1:30 p.m. in the museum when “The Lincolns” will be on hand for conversations and photographs. Members of the Dodworth Saxhorn Band, which will lead a parade to the park, will also be available in period costume. The Ann Arbor group features the brass wind instrument that resembles a bugle with valves and is played over the shoulder with the notes coming out the back.

People are invited to join the band in escorting the Lincolns to the park. The parade will start at 2 p.m. near the museum’s front entrance on North Rose Street. Marchers are also invited to wear 1850s-style clothing, along with re-enactors in the uniform of the 1st Michigan Infantry Regiment.

Museum director Pat Norris will open the ceremony at 2:30 p.m. on the Rotary Stage, followed by Sen. George’s account of who Lincoln was at the time, why he was asked to speak in Michigan, and what his political positions were on that summer’s day in 1856 in the months after the passage of the controversial Kansas-Nebraska Act. Priebe, as Lincoln, will then deliver the words that wafted across the park 150 years ago.

After a concert by the saxhorners, the park’s historical marker chronicling the Lincoln visit will be rededicated at 4:15 p.m. The Ann Arbor band will wrap up the festivities by 5:30. Rain will move the celebration into the nearby Civic Auditorium.

From 1 to 5 p.m. that day, both the museum and the downtown library will be open to enjoy Lincoln exhibits and memorabilia. Also on display at the library will be dresses from various walks of life in the 1850s.

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In his award-winning documentary, George, a Kalamazoo anesthesiologist, explained how Lincoln, who failed to win the nomination for vice president at the Republican Party's first convention in Philadelphia earlier that year, was invited here to stump for Fremont, the party's initial candidate for president.

George's research also detailed how Lincoln was one of the lesser political lights invited to speak at the massive rally and the reactions of those who listened to him speak that day. Four years later, he would be elected president of the United States and a main reason why southern states seceded starting the Civil War.

In his speech, Lincoln hammered home the anti-slavery stand of the recently formed political organization and urged the election of Fremont. “The question of slavery at present day,” said the one-term congressman, “should be not only the greatest question, but very nearly the sole question.” He referred to America’s quandary over the spread of slavery into the new territories as “the naked question.” “Shall the United States prohibit slavery in the United States?” is the essence of the true question,” Lincoln asked. Fremont’s party, if successful in its campaign for the White House, would be charged to restrict slavery’s expansion into the new territories, the former rail-splitter said. It was believed by Republicans, according to Lincoln, that James Buchanan, the Democratic Party’s candidate, would allow the extension of human bondage into the new territories. Buchanan’s policy on slavery was compared by Lincoln to Great Britain’s hands-off approach, thus allowing individuals to practice slavery in its New World colonies. The former store clerk also characterized the stance of Millard Fillmore, the American Party’s candidate, as that of a “fence sitter,” one who attempts to appease both sides of the contentious issue. Fillmore, as a Whig vice president, was elevated to the presidency when Zachary Taylor died in office in July of 1850. “Well,” Lincoln said, “it brings him (Fillmore) into this position. He tries to get both sides, one by denouncing those who opened the door (to slavery) and other by hinting that he doesn’t care a fig for its being open.” The one-time county surveyor in his adopted home state of Illinois believed Fillmore had no prospects of receiving a single vote on either side of the Mason-Dixon Line because of that wishy-washy stance. When it comes to slavery, Lincoln said, “there could be no middle way. “You who hate slavery and love freedom,” asked Lincoln, “why not vote for Fremont” because Fillmore and Buchanan basically occupy “the same ground.” U. S. Sen. Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois took a few stinging salvos from Lincoln for recommending the question of slavery in Kansas go before the U. S. Supreme Court. “Douglas is a great man,” he said, pausing for effect, “at keeping from answering questions he doesn’t want to answer.” Douglas, an Illinois Democrat, had been a frequent visitor to Kalamazoo in those years. It was still two years before his famous debates with Douglas. Familiarity will breed complacency toward slavery, said Lincoln, who saw it in practice in the South while working as a crew member on a Mississippi River flatboat. This complacency will be bred “if non-slaveholders and slaveholders live together in the new territories.”

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To the “Buchanists” who advocated that slavery is none of the federal government’s business, Lincoln argued that it is the cause of inequalities between the North and South when it comes to congressional representation. He cited the Constitution’s “three-fifths rule” regarding the counting of slaves in terms of population.

“Now one man in South Carolina is the same as two men here (in Michigan),” he said. The 6-foot-4 attorney called the new territories “an outlet for free white people who move from the fast-growing northern states.” He believed the doctrine of slavery would drive them away from the maxims of free government when they relocated. The free state, he contended, allows a man “to make his prosperity himself, giving him an interest in maintaining the principles of government.” That sense would be lost in a slave-holding environment. Lincoln fired a blistering broadside at southern newspapers that claimed “slaves are better off than free laborers in the North. The man who labored for another last year (in the North) this year labors for himself, and next year he will hire others to labor for him.”

Lincoln, then the father of three sons, downplayed the contention that sectionalism forged by the Republican Party over slavery would be a threat to the Union. He cited the 1852 election of President Franklin Pierce and his vice president, William King, as Democrats as proof that elected officials who hail from the same region would not lead to the dissolution of the Union. Only Republicans in the North are strong supporters of keeping the new territories free and devoid of slavery, he said during his 40-minute remarks. Too many in the United States looked upon slavery “in the light of dollars and cents.” He predicted that the worth of slaves in the South would increase by 50 percent, to $1.5 billion, if human bondage is allowed in the new territories.. Lincoln denied charges that Fremont was an abolitionist in the strict definition of the word, particularly when “there was nothing to abolish in Kansas when the Nebraska bill was passed.” Lincoln, who only had one year of formal schooling during his childhood in Kentucky and Indiana and taught himself to be an attorney, urged Kalamazoo’s voters to put the federal government “on a new track” by supporting political candidates who do not favor the spread of slavery.

Lincoln’s Kalamazoo address was one of more than 50 that he gave in support of the Fremont bid for the presidency that fell short of Buchanan’s winning effort. It is regarded as one of the most completely reported because a journalist from the Detroit Advertiser covered the rally and took the speech down in shorthand.Thanks for your friendly voices

Thirty-six volunteers stepped forward to assist in KVCC's annual calling campaign to contact enrolled students who have not yet paid for fall-semester classes.

Making telephone calls to these prospective students prior to batch cancellations were:

Amy Louallen, Teresa Fornoff, Brenda Moncrief. Karen Visser, Brenda VanderRoest, Tarona Guy, Char Gibson, Sue Newington, Stella Lambert;

Colleen Olson, Steve Doherty, Denise Baker, Rita Fox, Diane Kurtz, Peggy Hohnke, Nancy Robert, Mike Collins, Mike McCall, Marylan Hightree;

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Diane Vandenberg, Mary Lindsey, both of the college’s Mary Johnsons, Lynne Morrison, Lydia Hines, Louise Wesseling, Lori Evans, Karen Thorngate, Kandiah Balachandran, Jim Ratliff, Jennifer Snead, Jennifer Lafrance, Harland Fish, Gerri Jacobs, Gail Fredericks, and Tom Thinnes.

Quick access to all local weather conditionsIn conjunction with the news department at WWMT-TV Channel 3, a weather

station has been installed on the roof of the Kalamazoo Valley Museum and its latest information is only a few key strokes away.

According to Steven Gerike at the Arcadia Commons Campus, information about current weather conditions can be accessed at this link: http://www.kvweather.com/kzvalley/Current_Vantage_Pro.htm

Viewable are these up-to-date readings: temperature, humidity, dew point, wind velocity, wind direction, wind-chill factor, a falling/rising barometer measurement, the day’s rainfall, the rate of the rainfall, the total precipitation from a storm, the rainfalls for the month and year, the heat index, and the day’s high and low for many of these measurements.

More information is also available by contacting Eric Schreur at the museum.

‘Win-Win Method’ to negotiating is seminar themeA one-day seminar on improving decision-making and problem-solving at a group

level is booked for the KVCC M-TEC on Thursday, Aug. 17. Led by KVCC communications instructor Bruce Punches, who is also a licensed

psychotherapist, the “Win-Win Method” seminar is scheduled for 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The fee is $225, and includes a lunch and materials focusing on effective forms of negotiations.

The target audience includes those in the training profession, team leaders in organizations and businesses, negotiating groups, all levels of management and supervisory personnel, and human-resource professionals.

The modified approach to the “Win-Win Method of Communications” utilizes a method that encourages people to work beyond a compromise and to forge a solution that allows all parties to reach their goals.

Punches will outline a step-by-step process that increases a person’s persuasive appeal by creating the structure needed to promote individual receptivity to other ideas and points of view.

The communication techniques will apply to situations both within and outside a participant’s organization, offer methods to promote openness, collaboration and buy-in, identify barriers to effective communicating when difficult issues are encountered, and how to overcome those barriers.

For more information or to register, call (269) 353-1253 or visit the M-TEC website at www.mteckvcc.com.

Film series wrapping upThe Kalamazoo Valley Museum’s Thursday slate of evening films for adult

audiences in the Mary Jane Stryker Theater continues with a movie made in Slovenia in 2003.

Also slated for the summer have been free showings of back-to-back-to-back episodes of three PBS documentaries on Sundays.

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All shows begin at 7:30 p.m. on that Thursday. Admission is $5; $3 for students with IDs.

Next in the “Thursdays at the Museum” line-up is “Spare Parts,” a Slovenian film, on Aug. 10. The series wraps up with the Norwegian “Hawaii, Oslo” on Aug. 17.

The stories of Turner and Van Gogh are told in “Great Artists” at 1:30 p.m. on Aug. 6 and Aug. 13, respectively. The 2:30 attractions are episodes of James Burke’s “Connections 2,” while the roots of western civilization are explored in “Ancient History” at 3:30 p.m. The last two in that series focuses on “The Roman Empire in the First Century.”

Advance purchase of tickets for fee-based events can be made in person at the museum or by phone with a credit/debit card. Call (269) 373-7990 or (800) 772-3370. No refunds will be made on advanced tickets. Descriptions of each film and presentation can be found at www.kalamazoomuseum.org.

Honors grad earns major MSU scholarshipA KVCC Honors Program student has been awarded the MSU Trustee

Scholarship, which will pay for 50 percent of her final two years of college as a nursing major.

In May, Kaitlin Jeane “Kaitie” Hicks was chosen by the YWCA of Kalamazoo for one of its 27 Young Women of Achievement Awards.

She was among the KVCC service-learning continent that spent its spring break in Gulfport, Miss., on Hurricane Katrina restoration projects.

Hicks was honored at the human-service agency’s 22nd annual YWCA Women of Achievement Awards Celebration at the Radisson Plaza Hotel and Suites.

The YWCA annually salutes high-school and college-age women who are residents of the greater Kalamazoo area, have records of accomplishment in academic studies and extracurricular activities, have made significant contributions to school and/or community, demonstrate leadership ability and exemplify qualities of character and thought consistent with the mission and vision of the YWCA.

ID system changedAs of June 20, the college is no longer using Social Security numbers as part of

the employee-identification system.The college is issuing employee-identification cards with each person’s new

“Valley Number” printed on the front.All staff and employees are asked to obtain new cards as soon as possible. If the card is used for keyless entry, take the new one to Facility Services to have

it scanned. The plan is to complete the process by the start of the fall semester.Notification letters were sent to each employee’s home with information about

the person’s new “Valley Number.” Recent changes of home address should be reported to the Office of Human Resources, which is also available for more information about the switchover at extension 4228.

‘Science in Toyland’ at museum through Sept. 4Both film and written biographies chronicle anecdotes of lifetime vocations being

forged by childhood play and exploration.

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That’s what “Science in Toyland,” the Kalamazoo Valley Museum’s nationally touring exhibition, is all about.

Through Sept. 4, “Science in Toyland,” by means of seven interactive stations, is showing how toys and play can introduce children to science. There is no admission charge to this exhibit or to the museum in downtown Kalamazoo.

Created by the California Science Center in Los Angeles, the 3,000-square-foot exhibition uses toys, fun and games to demonstrate scientific principles that come alive in safe experiments and require some creative problem-solving. The objective is to foster a positive attitude about the sciences.

Rome might not have been built in a day, but in “Science in Toyland” youngsters can give it a shot.

At two of the demonstration stations, they can learn about construction techniques, including one that tests their ability to choose the building methods and materials to successfully bridge an eight-foot “valley.” While at play, they are learning about how to conceive the sturdiest of support trusses and how cranes work.

Tops teach about inertia, angular momentum, and the concept of “center of gravity.” One of the challenges is to choose the right top and the right configuration to produce the longest spins.

The advanced technology of a mock roller coaster demonstrates the effect on speeds of moving vehicles when the track is positioned at a variety of inclines and angles.

What better place than the nation's No. 1 auto-making state to learn about the mechanics of motion and the effects that several scientific principles have on the efficiency of a speeding vehicle.

Youthful visitors can apply their thinking caps and manual dexterity at a station full of dominos, teeter-totters, swings, stairs and blocks. The experiment involves using these props to create the most interesting chain reaction.

With Michigan being known as “The Water Wonderland,” sailing is one of the state’s most popular recreational activities. In a station titled “Catch the Wind,” visitors learn how the principle stated and proven by 18th-century Swiss scientist Daniel Bernoulli comes into play in being able to move a sailboat across the water no matter what the wind direction is.

The Bernoulli Principle states that, as the velocity of a fluid – be it air or water -- increases, its pressure decreases. It is the secret of heavier-than-air flight. At “Catch the Wind,” youngsters will be able to position a boat’s sails at different angles and watch how the wind causes the craft to move.

This is at the heart of a number of everyday phenomena. Bernoulli's principle is why a shower curtain gets “sucked inward'' when the water is first turned on. In a perfume bottle, squeezing the bulb over the fluid creates a low-pressure area due to the higher speed of the air, which subsequently draws the fluid up.

“Science in Toyland” shows students of all grade levels the practical applications of the basics of science, those connecting them not only to fun and adventure but also to what is being achieved in the working world.

“This exhibit helps parents appeal to their child’s innate sense of curiosity and shows that science and fun go together,” said Jean Stevens, the museum’s curator of

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exhibits. “There is no greater gift a parent can give children than to encourage them to explore the world and think for themselves.

“Children at play and the scientists at work use their imaginations,” she said. “The child pretends and the scientist asks ‘what if?’

"This exhibit," Stevens said, "shows that if children are given the opportunity to be their natural, inquisitive, curious, and creative selves, then science doesn't come across as boring and drab. It becomes something they want to do more of because it's fun, engaging and accessible."

“Science in Toyland” encourages children to make science-related toys from common household items, and uses a balloon to highlight the principles involved in static electricity, rocket flight, transportation, sound production, and sound enhancement. A balloon is the perfect prop for demonstrating Newton’s Third Law of Motion – for every action or push in one direction, there is an equal reaction in the opposite direction.

They are introduced to “thaumatropes.” The thaumatrope, a word with Greek origins meaning “wonder” and “turn,” is a disk with images on both sides and mounted so it can spin.

While the thaumatrope is spinning, images merge so that, for example, the bird pictured on one side appears to be in the cage depicted on the reverse side. Developed in 1825, the toy illustrates the persistence of vision, a phenomenon that makes movies and television possible.

One floor down from “Science in Toyland” is the museum’s gallery that is dedicated to this discipline.

Also 3,000 square feet, “Science in Motion” with its plethora of hands-on activities, promotes discovery, exploring and experimenting. Connecting science and daily life reinforces the concept that “science is everywhere."The gallery was designed to show that science is fundamental and fun. It takes its name from the perspective of moving ahead in one's thoughts, ideas and understanding of the scientific process, a process that involves questioning, investigating, observing, interpreting and compiling information. It invites experiencing -- seeing, touching, hearing, experimenting -- in three main subjects: technology, energy and the human body. The motion of a speeding vehicle is obvious. Even the coursing of blood through a person's veins can be comprehended. But the new gallery also explores the less obvious forms of motion -- electrons moving along a wire, the splitting of a human cell, and the travel of light rays."Heart Throb" explores the engine that drives the body, pumping blood through an intricate network of small and large vessels and carrying oxygen to all parts. The mainstay of this exhibit is a large, interactive model of the human heart that illustrates what that vital organ looks like and what it does during physical activity.Other components of the human-body section promote hands-on investigations that develop a better understanding and deeper appreciation of how and why people can move, breath, heal themselves, keep warm and consume energy. Other components explore how the body converts the chemical energy of food into the forms of energy needed to repair itself, maintain its equilibrium, and to move. There is a similar station in “Science in Toyland.”

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In the energy area, "Whose Light Is It Anyway?" probes the science behind colors and what happens when they are mixed. Also examined are energy production, consumption, transfer and conservation. Visitors use their muscle power to gain understanding about physical energy as it translates to electrical energy, current and voltage. The technology section deals with how science permeates daily life. A race track offers an engineering opportunity for children and adults who can experiment with a number of scientific principles to improve the performance of the car they build.

Coca-Cola scholarships to 4 KVCC studentsFour KVCC students have received two-year, $1,000 Coca-Cola College

Scholarships for the 2006-2007 academic year.They are:♦ Vanessa Boensch, a nursing major who is a graduate of Arthur Hill High

School in Saginaw.♦ Luann Leverette, a Kalamazooan who attended the former Monsignor O’Brien

High School in Kalamazoo. She is a business-administration major.♦ Amber Fierke, another nursing major who hails from Bayard, Neb.♦ Audrey Lampen, a home-schooled major in elementary education.Coca-Cola’s scholarship program was created in 2000 through a grant from the

Joseph B. Whitehead Foundation. Whitehead was one of the founders of Coca-Cola. It recognizes students attending two-year, degree-granting institutions for their unique contributions to community service and academic excellence.

Nominees may be first- or second-year students at a two-year institution. Up to 400 awards are awarded annually. Criteria include U.S. citizenship, academic achievement in the classroom, and completion of 100 hours of community service within the previous 12 months.

The program is a function of the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation, which was created in 1986 to commemorate the centennial of the creation of the popular soft drink.

Among the 400 recipients for the upcoming academic year across the nation, 13 attend community colleges in Michigan. Four of them are KVCC enrollees.

From the classroom to a bank’s hierarchyA former instructor at KVCC is now a senior vice president of a bank in Atlanta,

Ga.Patrick M. Walsh, who taught courses in economics and finance at KVCC from

January of 1994 to May of 1995, has been named senior vice president and commercial sales manager at Midtown Bank. Prior to that, he was a first vice president in the commercial dealer-services group at Sun Trust Bank in Atlanta.

In addition to teaching at KVCC, Walsh served as an instructor at Kellogg Community College and Sienna Heights University.

Midtown is a full-service, state-chartered bank that has been serving the community since 2003. It is located at 712 W. Peachtree in Atlanta.

‘The Wright Way to Fly’

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The Kalamazoo Valley Museum’s summer planetarium offerings, including a sky-show version of how the Wright Brothers conquered heavier-than-air flight, are still flying high..

While there is no admission fee to the museum, tickets cost $3 each for the planetarium experience.

Booked into the first week of September are these three shows: “Terri & Her Telescope,” “Treasures of the Milky Way,” and “The Wright Way to Fly.”

The latter, which deals with the scientific exploits of Wilber and Orville Wright as they create tools and methods that reveal the principles of flight, are being shown on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays at 3 p.m. during the summer months. This 30-minute presentation is designed for an audience of students in middle school to adults.

The 20-minute “Terri & Her Telescope” is appropriate for all family members. In this locally produced program about a girl and her affinity for learning about what’s up there, planetarium coordinator Eric Schreur used the voices of KVCC staff, students and family members for his characters – Deb Bryant, Jim Ratliff, Abby Root, Jim Taylor and Kilah Lake. The latter is the granddaughter of KVCC’s founding president, Dale V. Lake.

“Terri” is the planetary offering on Saturdays at 11 a.m. and Sundays at 1:30 p.m. from June 3 to Sept. 4. Showings on Wednesdays at 1:30 p.m. begin on June 21 and end Aug. 16.

In “Treasures of the Milky Way,” a pirate character named “Beardless Red” is used to show beginning stargazers the tricks of digging for treasure in the stars of the summer Milky Way. From finding directions with the Big Dipper to picking out constellations with a star map, he’ll lead viewers one step at a time until they are star- hopping with their binoculars to find double stars, star clusters and nebulae.

The beardless one will also help track shooting stars and the glowing auroras visible on a dark summer night. “Treasures” is the 30-minute attraction on Saturdays at 2 p.m. during the summer. This is appropriate for a middle-school audience as well.

“Everything that ‘Beardless Red’ will identify in the sky can be seen with just a pair of 7-by-50 binoculars from suburban skies in Southwest Michigan,” Schreur said.

When inspired by news reports about Otto Lilienthal’s glider flights, Dayton bicycle- makers Wilbur and Orville Wright begin investigating flying machines so that they could build one of their own.

In this production, a newspaper reporter interviews the brothers to learn about the research and experiments that laid the foundations of the science of aviation, and resulted in the first powered flights of a heavier-than-air machine.

“This program was obtained from the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery in Dayton,” Schreur said. “It was prepared using the diaries and notes of the Wright brothers. This will be its first public showing in this part of the state.”Don’t mess around with Tasia

The granddaughter of Mary Johnson, coordinator of student programs and activities in The Commons, was one of 14 students from Elite Tae Kwon Do school in Oshtemo who participated in that martial arts’ Junior Olympics competition in Atlanta on July 5.

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Eight-year-old Tasia Hayes repeated last year’s accomplishment by earning a bronze medal in sparring. She now has three bronzes on display in her home and has begun training for a fourth – and more – in the 2007 event.

Another KVCC connection to county boardCarolyn Alford, a senior accounting assistant at KVCC, is unopposed in the Aug.

8 primary for a seat on the 17-member Kalamazoo County Board of Commissioners.The former Kalamazoo Public Schools Board of Education trustee and officer

filed as a Democrat in the district that has been represented by Eva Ozier for 22 years. The District 2 territory includes the West Douglas, West Main Hill, Stuart Avenue, Northside and Eastside neighborhoods as well as part of Kalamazoo’s central business district.

Dick Phillips, who retired earlier this year as a KVCC instructor, was elected to the first Kalamazoo County Board of Commissioners at the dawning of the 1970s.

KVCC student Tina Marie Michaels will be on the ballot in District 9 (northwest Portage and a western portion of the South Westnedge neighborhood in the city of Kalamazoo) as the Democratic opposition to incumbent Republican Nasim Ansari. However, she informed the county that she resigned as a candidate too late to have her name taken off the ballot.

And finally. . . As the Aug. 8 primary election nears, this is the time when lots of editors

and columnists send up a universal chant of "Be sure to vote! Be sure to vote!" It would be a very, very good thing if everyone who had paid a modicum

of attention to candidates and issues turned out to vote. What is scary is the thought of however-many folks, hardly more informed

about this year's candidates and issues than they are about those in 1904,trotting out to cast a blind franchise.

Such is an American's right; although it also is an insult to a citizen's duty.While a legally qualified voter does not need to be anything other than

just that, it is nonetheless troubling, knowing that too many are sometimes guessing in the polling booth like a bunch of high school freshmen taking a flying, unprepared leap at an algebra test.

Be that as it may. Those who exercise their franchise, which has been earned for the rest of

us by those who never came home from wars or who came back changed forever mentally and physically, might want to offer a practical lesson in democracy to their children and grandchildren on Aug. 8 and next November.

Take them to the polls and let them watch you in action.And now for a bit of humor.An elderly businessman on his deathbed called his friend and said, "Bill, I

want you to promise me that when I die you will have my remains cremated." "And what do you want me to do with your ashes?" asked the friend.

The businessman replied: "Just put them in an envelope and mail them to the Internal Revenue Service... and write on the envelope, 'Now you have everything.'"

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☻☻☻☻☻☻

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