Sept. 21, 2009

The DigestWhat’s Happening at KVCC

What’s below in this edition

SSC showcase (Pages 1/2) $500,000 in awards (P-10/11) Genome exhibit (Pages 2-4) Savings seminar (Page 11)

Fleda Brown (Pages 4/5) Grant deadline (Pages 11/12) Digital paintings (Pages 5/6) City’s early days (Pages 12/13) Wind academy (Pages 6/7) Debut day (Pages 13/14) We’re ‘Thumbing’ (Page 8) Last chance (Pages 14/15) Trash pick-up (Page 8) PTK open houses (Pages 15/16) Brewing fuel (Page 9) She’s a winner (Page 16) Bain briefing (Pages 9/10) Connection ‘thanks’ (Page 16)

And Finally (Pages 16/17)

☻☻☻☻☻☻Student Success Center hosts 2-day open house

KVCC’s two-year-old initiative to make certain that students “make it” will open its doors to the public next week.

A two-day open house at the Student Success Center on the Texas Township Campus will welcome both current and prospective students, their families, and interested members of the public on Tuesday and Wednesday (Sept. 22-23) from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Launched as a pilot program for the 2007 winter semester, the Student Success Center with its staff of advocates has served more than 1,900 enrollees.

These advocates are the keys to a tracking system that monitors students, links them to the spectrum of KVCC resources, and keeps them on point to reach their goals, be it academic success to earn a degree, transfer to a four-year university, or enhance their ability to gain meaningful employment.

While this intense level of personal mentoring is geared for first-year students, it is also available to all enrollees, whether they need some guidance to improve their classroom performance or assistance to make their way through the process of higher education.

The student success advocates – who now total 11 – each seek to have at least five direct contacts with those who are assigned to their caseload. In addition to personal

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mentoring, each advocate points students toward special programs, events, workshops and seminars that are designed to meet their individual needs.

Among the center’s program components are:● Academic counseling● Life resources● Prior-learning assessment● Career advising● Student-employment services and internships● Tutoring through the KVCC Learning Center● The Transfer Resource Center and The Focus Program● Student activities and organizations● Support services for veteransThe intent is to give students enough support to help them create independence. It

provides a system of links to help students make the right choices so that they don’t wonder, wander and founder.

“The center wants to help identify their strengths and offer support through a holistic approach,” said Laura Cosby, the center’s director. “We want to help get them on the right track and avoid the wrong paths. The barriers to education are not entirely academic ones. There are many other factors – housing, transportation, family issues, financial concerns, nutrition, health, and self-defeating behaviors – that can come into play. Academic failure can be a symptom of other problems.”

‘GENOME’ exhibit opens Sept. 26 What the naked eye can’t see is proving that all the humans who can be seen are

99 and 44/100ths percent the same, whether they are as white as Ivory Snow or dark as molasses.

And, because of an extra inventory of these units - called genes - humans are different - but not all that different -- from other warm-blooded species of all shapes and sizes that occupy planet Earth.

Southwest Michigan residents will be able to see all of this for themselves when the nationally touring “GENOME: The Secret of How Life Works” opens on Saturday (Sept. 26) at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum and begins a stay through Jan. 10. Admission is free.

Two of the annual attractions at the downtown-Kalamazoo museum - Chemistry Day on Oct. 17 and Safe Halloween on Oct. 31 - are being themed to complement the intent of the exhibit. Those also are free.

“Genome” is made possible by Pfizer Inc and was produced by Evergreen Exhibitions in collaboration with the National Human Research Institute, a division of the National Institutes of Health, and the Whitehead Institute/MIT Center for Genome Research.

“Genome” explores how genes affect growth and aging, maps what might be in store for humanity, and offers a look at what your future children might look like. All this became humanly possible once scientists mapped the human genome - a person’s entire set of genes. The exhibition, which debuted at the Smithsonian in 2003, investigates the mysteries of the human gene, why the genome is being mapped, and the potential benefits of gene research, such as:

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* Preventing and curing diseases * Living longer * Solving crimes * Producing better food and drugs The exhibit looks at the 200-year history of this science and the individuals who shaped it - from Gregor Mendel, the 19th-century monk who discovered the rules of inheritance by cultivating peas in a monastery garden, to Jim Watson and Francis Crick, who in the early 1950s unearthed the form and process of genetic replication, the famous DNA double helix. This Harvard University breakthrough is regarded as the most important biological discovery of the 20th century. “The understanding of the human genome opens up an entirely new frontier for health-science research,” said Dr. Tom Turi, a genomic scientist with Pfizer Inc, “and it is anticipated that it will lead to new therapies and cures for devastating diseases. However, many people are unaware of the genome or its potential to enhance our lives.” “Genome” uses interactive displays and family-friendly activities to help visitors understand the genome’s function and its role in daily life. These include: • An 8-by-25-foot display of DNA’s double helix structure that is enhanced by a video. • The opportunity in the Discovery Theater to meet scientists who were instrumental in the discoveries leading up to the sequencing of the human genome. Another “show” discusses the genetic issues of the future. • A working slot machine that demonstrates the odds that children will inherit genes for certain characteristics. • Using the metaphor of a “Cookie Factory,” DNA, genes and proteins as the ingredients and recipes for “making” human beings can be understood. • Gaining access to a cell to discover the workings of its parts and processes. • Computer simulations to design new gene therapies, replacing disease-causing proteins with healthy new human genes. Visitors will enter the exhibit through a circular corridor, encountering graphic and mirror images of themselves in the initial stages of life and as a mature human, reflecting who they were and who they are today. Emanating from a mirror at the end of the tunnel is a swirling ribbon of genetic code, representing the genes that hold the secrets to where they came from, who they are and who they may become. The exhibit’s “The Secret of Life” section explains what a gene, DNA, protein and cell are, and how genes are involved in reproduction, growth and the maintenance of life. The role of this revolutionary branch of science and what it holds for the future comes alive by people with genetic conditions telling their stories. How DNA testing is solving some of history’s mysteries and helping to identify people who committed crimes with almost 100-percent certainty are also exhibit attractions. “Genome” will be the second medical-science related exhibition brought to Kalamazoo under the auspices of Pfizer. “BRAIN: The World Inside Your Head” spent the fall and early winter of 2006 at the Museum.

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Think about this the next time you peel a banana - that white fruit behind the yellow skin has 50 percent of the DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) that you do.

‘About Writing’ features poet Fleda BrownA childhood summer retreat in northern Michigan seared the poetic soul of award-

winner Fleda Brown, who will launch KVCC’s “About Writing” series for the 2009-10 academic year on Thursday, Oct. 1.

Raised and schooled in Arkansas, Brown, who now has emeritus status at the University of Delaware as an English professor and served as that state’s poet laureate for seven years this decade, will talk about her craft at 10 a.m. in the Student Commons Forum and follow that up with a 2:15 p.m. reading.

All of the “About Writing” presentations are free and open to the public. Each will feature a 10 a.m. session about the craft of writing and a 2:15 p.m. reading.        

Now living in Traverse City with her husband, Jerry Beasley, who also has emeritus status in the same department at Delaware, Brown received the 2007 prize for poetry named for Felix Pollak of the University of Wisconsin for her collection of works entitled “Reunion.”

Other critically acclaimed collections include “The Women Who Loved Elvis All Their Lives,” “Breathing In Breathing Out,” “Devil's Child,” “Do Not Peel the Birches,” and “Fishing with Blood.” The latter won Great Lakes Colleges New Writer’s Award.

Brown’s three degrees in English, including a doctorate in pre-1900 American literature, were earned from the University of Arkansas where she was a Phi Beta Kappa graduated. She joined the University of Delaware English Department in 1978 where she founded the Poets in the Schools Program, which she directed for more than 12 years.

She served as poet laureate of Delaware from 2001 to 2007 after which she retired from the university and moved to Michigan. Brown has been on the faculty for the master’s program at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Wash., since 2006.

In 1985, Brown received the National Marine Education Association’s President’s Award for her performance as editor of the organization’s journal.

Delaware's poet laureate is selected by a statewide nomination process. Nominees submit a sample of poems, a resume, and a personal statement to the Delaware Division of the Arts. This material is sent to a committee of poets and other experts outside the state for a recommendation. The division makes the final decision for a gubernatorial appointment.

Here is the rest of the line-up of “About Writing” presenters: Tom Montgomery-Fate, a professor of English at the College of DuPage

in Glen Ellyn, Ill., who has taught with his wife in the Philippines, attended seminary, and written a collection of essays about the Nicaraguan revolution and the split in the Catholic Church. He’ll be on the Texas Township on Thursday, Nov. 5.

Tom Springer, author of “Looking for Hickories: The Forgotten Wildness of the Rural Midwest” and a senior editor/program officer for the W. K. Kellogg Foundation . Springer holds a master's degree in environmental journalism from Michigan State University after beginning his writing career at KVCC. He lives near Three Rivers. He’ll return to KVCC on Wednesday, Feb. 17.

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Poet Thomas Lynch, whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, Harper's, Esquire, Newsweek, The Washington Post, The New York Times, and The Times of London, teaches creative writing program at the University of Michigan, lives in Milford, and has been a funeral director for a quarter of a century.

His collection of essays, “Bodies in Motion and at Rest: On Metaphor and Mortality” has been selected to be the common reader for winter-semester English classes at KVCC where he will be making presentations on March 22-23.

KVCC English instructor Rob Haight is the coordinator and organizer of the series. He can be contacted at extension 4452 or rhaight@kvcc.edu.

Rzoska’s paintings part of Art Hop attractionsLinda Rzoska’s digital paintings of the Irish landscape, inspired by 10 visits to the

culture-rich country, will be in Oct. 2 Art Hop loop in the KVCC Center for New Media.Her impressions of what she has seen and experienced in Ireland by guiding

KVCC students to Ireland over the last seven years will be on display from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. as part of the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo’s monthly celebration of creativity and imagination.

While Rzoska, a new-media instructor and now program coordinator at the center, has led KVCC contingents to Burren on Ireland’s west coast overlooking Galway Bay since 2000, her digital paintings in the Art Hop exhibit were the result of a 2009 winter-semester sabbatical that took her to Poland and The Netherlands (each for two weeks), and finally back to Ireland for a seven-week period.

Her repeated visits there and eventually the sabbatical stemmed from a question she asked herself – if she could do anything that she wanted, what would it be? The answer – teach art in Ireland.

A bit of googling on the Internet connected her to the Burren College of Art, which led to the excursions under the aegis of the KVCC-based Midwest Institute for International/Intercultural Education as well as an artist-in-residence appointment.

Why Ireland?“I have Irish ancestry,” said Rzoska, who joined the KVCC faculty in 2000 after

23 years as an illustrator and graphic designer. “I have always been fascinated with Irish literature, history, folklore, art and Celtic spirituality. There is a connection for me and the country’s landscapes, and it’s why I always wanted to go there.”

For centuries, that part of Ireland has been a source of inspiration for all genre of artists — poets, novelists, painters, sculptors, musicians and playwrights, and now for Rzoska.

The Burren College of Art is on the grounds of a 16th-century castle. Known as “The Stony Place,” Burren is home to a wealth of archeological and monuments that includes megalithic tombs, medieval castles and abandoned abbeys.

From an abbey built in 1194 to a 9th -century ring fort built of stone to a 6,000-year-old tomb to cliffs that plunge 700 feet to the Atlantic to the coastal limestone region known as Black Head, it has been an important part of Ireland’s legend for artistic creativity.

Rzoska said she sought the sabbatical and the short break from teaching to regain what she construed as her lost artistic soul. She thought she was “losing touch with the

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artist within me.” To regain that touch, she used graphite drawings, photos and videos of what she saw, and from those sources created her digital paintings.

Believing that western civilization has basically lost the spiritual and cultural relationship with nature’s landscapes, Rzoska said the essence of her digital paintings is “to honor all the living things that exist in every aspect of the landscape. Often I portray this life in human form in order to relay the precious and beautiful qualities of all life.”

Also gaining insights from the writings of author Terry Tempest Williams who has spoken at KVCC on two occasions, Rzoska staged a pair of one-person shows in The Netherlands and Ireland during her sabbatical, including being the subject of a news article in a Dutch newspaper headlined “Digital Romantics from Linda Rzoska.”

While in Poland, she visited the remnants of the Stutthof Concentration Camp that was established near Gdansk that was established in the fall of 1939 and was the scene of the extermination of Polish intellectuals and Jews.

“One cannot visit a place like this,” she said, “without being significantly undone. My view of humanity has been forever changed.”

The titles of some of her Art Hop paintings are “Entrance,” “Guardian,” “Haunted Sky,” “Hazel Wood,” and “Leamaneh: Sense of Maire Rua.”

Rzoska’s exhibit will be on display until the November Art Hop.

Wind Academy applications still being accepted“Companies are already calling us to find out how they can meet our graduates,”

says KVCC’s James DeHaven, “and we haven’t even begun to train them yet.” That’s the kind of response generated when the college announced it would be

first in the nation to establish a training center for technicians who will work on utility-sized turbines clustered on wind farms around the world.

According to DeHaven, vice president for economic and business development, it’s also a reflection that the wind-energy industry is growing rapidly on the planet. Between 1,500 and 2,400 new technicians are needed annually to support this increase.

A recently published study by the U. S. Department of Energy identified the feasibility and potential rewards the United States would gain by pursuing the goal to generate 20 percent of the nation’s energy through wind by the year 2030. This speaks to employment opportunities as well.

Beginning Oct. 26, the college’s Wind Energy Center will launch the 26-week training academy, based on skill standards established in Germany, for technicians to gain entry-level employment working on the giants of the wind-energy industry.

The academy’s first graduates will be done with their training on May 9.Ever since the non-credit academy initiative was announced in late February,

response and inquiries have been “phenomenal,” according to Cindy Buckley, executive director of training at the college’s Michigan Technical Education Center (M-TEC) on the Groves Campus.

Because of the national exposure, some 430 people in just about every state of the union – including one from Great Britain who learned of the training opportunity through a Reuters dispatch and another from a Russian who called the college when heading home aboard a fishing trawler -- inquired about gaining entry in the inaugural academy. The fee is $12,000.

Weaning the large field of applicants down to a class of 16 is “highly competitive,” Buckley said. The first step is to complete the written application, which

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can be downloaded at this web site – www.kvcc.edu/training. Applications can be mailed or faxed to the M-TEC, or dropped off personally.

An algebra test is also part of the screening process, along with the results of a medical examination and documented work experience in technical fields.

The last step in the application process is a screening for an ability to function in tight quarters work at great heights.

“We have received many inquiries from people who are excited about renewable forms of energy,” Buckley said, “and from technical workers who are in a career-transition mode because of layoffs and downsizing. All seem to share an excitement about the technology and the prospects of traveling around the world.”

While applications are also still being accepted for the second academy that is scheduled to start May 17, 2010, those interviewees not accepted into the first session will be carried over to a waiting list for the second.

The majority of those selected for interviews hailed from throughout Michigan, while others in the first batch called communities in Indiana, Washington, Arizona, Iowa, California and Canada home.

The KVCC Wind Turbine Technician Academy is certified by Bildungszentrum fur Erneuerebare Energien (BZEE). Its English equivalent is “Renewable Energy Education Center.”

“This utility-grade training under the BZEE certification will be the first in the United States,” DeHaven said. “The last three weeks will be spent in a practicum experience on a wind farm as a requirement for the wind-turbine-technician certification.”

Located in Husum, Germany, and founded in 2000, BZEE was created and supported by major wind-turbine manufacturers, component makers, and enterprises that provide operation and maintenance services.

As wind-energy production increased throughout Europe, the need for high-quality, industry-driven standards emerged.

BZEE has become the leading trainer for wind-turbine technicians across Europe. “Graduates of the new academy,” DeHaven said, “will have the opportunity to earn individual certification through the BZEE and become a part of an international labor pool.”

To position itself to become the first in the United States to obtain BZEE certification credentials, KVCC hired two instructors – Tom Sutton, a mechanical specialist, and Greg Meeuwsen, an electronics specialist – to travel to Germany for six weeks of training in Husum this spring.

In late August, U. S. Rep. Fred Upton (R-St. Joseph) announced that KVCC was in line to receive $350,000 in federal funds to purchase key training equipment:

a 300-kilowatt, decommissioned wind turbine for teaching academy enrollees about a unit’s 8,000 components, and a training tower that could range from 80 to 150 feet tall to acclimate the future technicians to working at great heights and close quarter.

Also in the pipeline is a request for a seven-digit grant to purchase additional training equipment, allowing the academy to double up on training sessions and increase the number of graduates each year.

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‘One for The Thumb’ for Wind AcademyThe KVCC Wind Energy Center’s outreach continues to grow with the forging of

a partnership with a K-12 school district in Michigan’s Thumb.The Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port Laker system in Huron County has already launched

a three-turbine, wind-energy project and the Huron Daily Tribune reported last week that KVCC will be providing maintenance and educational services.

As the center nears the start of the pioneering Wind Turbine Technician Academy, the first of its kind in the nation, in October, it has been looking for functioning wind turbines to study and analyze.

That's what took the academy's two instructors, Tom Sutton and Greg Meeuwsen, over to The Thumb to examine the district's three turbines that are functioning next to the district's elementary school in Pigeon.

The duo, who spent six weeks in Germany in training for their upcoming instructional assignments, assessed the three Laker turbines and their functioning parts, and will submit a written analysis.

The analysis will include identifying parts needed for the turbines to operate effectively.

This will be done at no cost to the district. “That alone is a gift,” commented one school official.In addition, the instructors will provide some maintenance services as needed at

no cost to the district. If parts are needed, the district would need to purchase them.There also will be an educational exchange between the district and KVCC.Those enrolled in the academy will be able to use the Laker turbines as an

educational tool, while high school students will be able to talk to college representatives about jobs in the alternative- energy industry.

KVCC representatives have agreed to visit the district to do these presentations. The district's board of education called it a win-win for the Huron County school

system. The preventative maintenance will keep the turbines running on a regular basis and producing electricity at what is called the Harvest Wind Farm while high school students will be exposed to relevant learning experiences.

KVCC trash-pickup crew in action SaturdayAre you appreciative of those litter-filled plastic bags you see along Michigan’s

highways and freeways, and of the folks who give of their time to clean up after some people’s thoughtlessness?

You can turn appreciation into action by joining the KVCC Faculty Association in its fall participation in the Michigan Department of Transportation’s Adopt-A-Highway program.

Steve Walman, who can be reached at extension 4136, is gathering a cadre of volunteers to clean up a section of state road on Saturday (Sept. 19).

Faculty, staff and students are invited to gather by 9 a.m. at the intersection of M-43 and M-40 west of Kalamazoo in the car-pool lot and share a cup of joe in the Outpouring Coffee Shop.

Walman reports that volunteers only need to bring a pair of gloves. Trash bags and safety vests will be provided.

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Before dumping used cooking oil, check with CharlieIf you’re ready to dispose of that well-used cooking oil from the summer, think of

what’s cookin’ in the automotive-technology lab and ask Charlie Fuller whether his supply is low.

Through the magic of chemistry under the lab manager's supervision, bio-diesel fuel is being converted from vegetable oils that had been used to cook chicken strips, perch, turkeys, mushrooms, French fries, and jalapeno peppers.

Larry Taylor, the coordinator of the automotive program, launched the initiative to convert cooking oil into bio-diesel fuel for two major reasons.

“The No. 1 reason,” he said, “is to take a re-usable source of energy that is normally thrown away and make a fuel that can power some of the college’s fleet of vehicles and machinery, which is a money-saving venture.

“The second big reason is to use what is called the ‘Freedom Fueler’ as an educational resource,” Taylor said, “and that is already become a reality for those who are enrolled in the program in chemical technology.”

The unit, with all of its bells and whistles, filtration system, fittings, nozzles, and pumps, costs $4,400.

So what’s the payback?The used vegetable oils - from soybeans, peanuts, seeds, etc. - have been donated

by KVCC staff members and by restaurants. Those interested should check with Fuller to whether his supply is low.

The automotive program has to buy methanol and sodium hydroxide - which is basically lye - to catalyze the concoction.

To 50 gallons of cooking oil will be added eight to nine gallons of methanol and about 100 grams of the other chemical. The result is an 80-percent conversion, or about 40 gallons of bio-diesel. When all the math is done and the costs are figured, KVCC comes out about $150 to the good with each batch. The chemistry produces biodiesel fuel and glycerin. Those two are allowed to settle and be separated.

However, the bio-diesel still needs to be “cleaned” of suspended glycerin and other “nasties,” and that cleaning is done by water out of the tap.

The water cleans the fuel and takes the suspended solids down to the bottom of the container. After a day or two, the liquid is crystal-clear bio-diesel. The congealed stuff at the bottom is basically soap, and can be flushed down the drain. But it also can be used in back-yard composting and as a cleansing agent. One final session on Bain’s effective-teaching remarks

In the wake of Ken Bain’s workshop on effective teaching during Faculty Seminar Days, three follow-up sessions were slated for this month for both full-time and part-time instructors.

Led by both faculty and administrators, the last dialogue on “Talking about Teaching: Characteristics of Highly Effective Teachers” is slated for Saturday, (Sept. 19) from 10 to 11:30 a.m.

Those who are interested can register by contacting Grant Chandler, dean of the Arcadia Commons Campus, at gchander@kvcc.edu.

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Bain, author of “What the Best College Teachers Do,” is the vice provost for instruction and the director of the Research Academy for University Learning at Montclair State University in New Jersey.

In his Faculty Seminar workshop, Bain addressed six questions: (1) What do the best teachers know and understand? (2) How do the best teachers prepare to teach? (3) What do they expect of students? (4) What do they do when they teach? (5) How do they treat students? (6) How do they check progress and evaluate their efforts?

To attend, it was not required to take part in the Faculty Seminar Days discussion.

Grand Rapids’ ‘ArtPrize’ getting under wayIt is Grand Rapids’ version of “American Idol” for artists, and at least two

creative folks with KVCC connections are involved.Called ArtPrize, it is a competition among artists from around the world and the

top 10 winners – determined by popular vote – will be sharing $450,000 in prize money. KVCC art major Andre McKee qualified for the competition as did Jean Stevens,

a former Kalamazoo Valley Museum staff member who retired to concentrate on her painting.

They will be among the 1,262 artists from 24 nations who were chosen to showcase their creations in 159 locations within a three-square-mile area of downtown Grand Rapids. During the summer, potential participants had the opportunity to enter one piece of artwork in the competition. Each venue handpicked its artists in a variety of media of all shapes, sizes and colors.

The wares will be on display from Sept. 23 through Oct. 10. Winners will be announced Oct. 8.

During this period, the public will vote for their favorites. The most popular vote-getter will be written a check for $250,000. Second place will earn $100,000. The payoff falls off from there to $7,000 for the artists who finishes in 10th place. It is one of the world’s largest awards for an art competition.

Stevens, who has a studio in the Park Trades Center in downtown Kalamazoo, will be exhibiting her oil painting, “Light Streams,” at BETA Design located at 70 Ionia Ave. Six others with Park Trades Center space will also be in the competition.

McKee’s entry is a black-and-white pencil sketch of Martin Luther King Jr. that is set in his famous “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington. It is titled “Dreamer” and was created in 2006.

The 46-year-old McKee, who is employed full time as a meat cutter, told The Kalamazoo Gazette that his entry comes at an appropriate time. “This year has been a case where dreams have been realized with Obama being the president, with different things as far as making young kids start to so, ‘Hey, I can be anything. Whatever they told me I couldn’t be, I can be it now.’”

McKee’s artistic inspiration dates to being a 5 year old when he would mimic his mother’s drawings of comic-book characters. He said he enrolled at KVCC with the goal of transferring to Western Michigan University’s College of Education where he would like to pursue a career as an art teacher in the elementary grades.

Born in Benton Harbor, McKee has called Kalamazoo home for 17 years. The 1981 graduate of Benton Harbor High School is a member of the college’s Phi Theta Kappa chapter.

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In line to receive his associate degree in the fall, McKee is familiar with the college scene, having enrolled at Ferris State University in the hopes of a career as a commercial artist. But, as he told The Gazette, “that didn’t seem like a good fit.”

His sketch will be exhibited at Open Concept Gallery located at 50 Louis St. NW.The Gazette plans to interview all of the Kalamazoo-area artists who are involved

in ArtPrize.Registration for voting began Sept. 14. You have to be at least 16 to cast a ballot.

More information is available at artprize.org.The person behind the ArtPrize initiative is Rick DeVos, the grandson of the

Amway co-founder. While on the surface, it is viewed as a boon to the arts community because of the buzz it created around the state and nation, just as The Kalamazoo Promise did among the world of education, it is primarily an economic-development initiative under the guise of groundbreaking philanthropy.

Savings, success tips, careers topics for studentsInstructors should alert their enrollees about the events planned by the Student

Success Center that are designed to energize academic accomplishments.The four-part “What It Takes to be Successful” presentations continue on

Thursday (Sept. 24) at 1 p.m. in the Student Commons Forum.Ezra Bell and other staff members will focus on classroom expectations and roles,

effective time management, test-taking tips, the steps to take to transfer to a four-year university, and job-searching tips.

A workshop focusing on the college-application and scholarship-application procedures, as well as transferring is set for Tuesday (Sept. 22) in the Student Commons Forum. It begins at 5 p.m. with Robyn Robinson of the Transfer Resource Center leading the discussion.

Greg Smith of National City Bank will offer advice to students on how they can improve their financial situations in his “Savings & Investments” remarks on Wednesday, (Sept. 23) at 11 a.m. in the Student Commons Forum.

Career adviser Diane Finch is launching a month-long series of “Career and Coffee Roundtable” discussions that will be held on consecutive Tuesdays in October from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. in the Student Commons Forum.

With each session limited to 30 students, Finch will address these topics during the coffee-chat series:

Oct. 6: “Discover Your Purpose.” Oct. 13: “Get Prepared.” Oct. 20: “Develop a Plan.” Oct. 27: “Implement Your Pursuit.”

To have students register or get more information, contact Finch at extension 4123.

First KVCC Foundation grant deadline is Sept. 30For the 2009-10 academic year, the KVCC Foundation has established funding-

request deadlines for internal grant proposals. Those faculty and/or administrators seeking financial support from the foundation

must make plans in advance and adhere to the established deadlines. Here’s the schedule:

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Proposal deadline: Sept. 30; decision by the KVCC Foundation Board of Trustees, Oct. 30.

Deadline: Dec. 23; decision, Jan. 29, 2010Deadline: April 23; decision, May 7.For more information, contact Steve Doherty, KVCC director of development and

foundation executive director, at extension 4442 or sdoherty@kvcc.edu.

‘Sunday Series,’ video recaptures city’s first 25 yearsA look back to when the citizens of Kalamazoo staged a week-long celebration to

mark the 25th anniversary of its incorporation as a city will kick off the Kalamazoo Valley Museum’s 2009-10 edition of its “Sunday Series” of presentations.

On Sept. 27, curator Tom Dietz will review the celebration and the story of Kalamazoo becoming a city. Slated for 1:30 p.m. in the Mary Jane Stryker Theater, all of the programs are free and open to the public.

Here are the upcoming programs: “John Brown’s Harpers Ferry Raid: The Surprising Kalamazoo Connection”

– Oct. 11 “Kalamazoo Cemeteries” – Oct. 25 “Newspaper Wars in Early Kalamazoo: The 19th Century Story” – Nov. 8 “Where the Streets Got Their Names: The Sequel” – Dec. 13 “The Making of the Paper City” – Jan. 10 “Welcome to the Hotel Kalamazoo: Kalamazoo’s Early Hospitality Industry”

– Jan. 24.In “The Silver Annie: Kalamazoo Celebrates 25 Years as a City,” Dietz will

recount how in the fall of 1909, citizens of Kalamazoo held a week-long celebration from Sept. 26 through Oct. 2 with parades, historical tableaux, dinners, and concerts. King “Ka-we-do” and Queen “Progress” presided over the celebration.

Citizens decorated their wagons and horses. Special ribbons, badges, pins, and pennants were widely available. Schools, police and fire departments, the military, and fraternal and labor organizations all were featured on special days. Dietz will talk about what those themes were and how they reflected the city’s pride in its progress.

President William Howard Taft was invited but did not make an appearance at that time.

In addition, there will be a showing of the city of Kalamazoo’s new video, “Kalamazoo 1884,” that presents a visual overview of what Kalamazoo was like when it became a city. The video was compiled by John Urschel of the Kalamazoo Records Department. To celebrate the Kalamazoo’s 125th birthday as a municipality, the city of Kalamazoo produced a 40-minute film, “Kalamazoo 1884,” and featured photos provided by the Kalamazoo Valley Museum.

The concept was to illustrate what the hub of the community looked like back then, from its educational system to its architecture to fashions worn by residents.

Featuring a countdown of mayors, from the 1884 gavel-wielder Allen Potter, who was featured in a recent edition of the museum’s Museography magazine, to the present office holder, KVCC alumnus Bobby Hopewell, the film takes viewers on a tour of the city that maps out road and water systems, connecting the time frame to what was happening nationally.

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Historians were involved in the process and even had their own screening to make certain the film was accurate. Buildings and landmarks still in place 125 years are also showcased.

The production was funded by Irving S. Gilmore Foundation and the Kalamazoo Historic Preservation Commission. In addition to the museum, the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, the Kalamazoo Public Library and the Western Michigan University Archives and Regional History Collection took part in the project.

For further information, contact Dietz at extension 7984.

Planetarium’s upgrade ready for public debutNone of us has been able to step back in time to when pharaohs ruled Egypt and

used the stars to guide them into the afterlife. Until now.None of us has experienced the stark, barren and not-completely-inert surface of

Mars. Until now – well, make that until January 2010.Welcome to the Digistar 4, the Kalamazoo Valley Museum’s new full-color, 109-

seat planetarium technology that debuts to the public on Saturday (Sept. 19) with a slate of free showings from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The billings on opening day are: “Stars of the Pharaohs,” which takes viewers back to ancient Egypt where

the sky served as a clock and calendar, and the movement of imperishable stars guided the Pharaohs on their journey into the afterlife. Temples and pyramids were aligned with the stars and decorated with images revealing cycles in the sky connected with life on the Nile. These showings are set for 1, 2 and 3 p.m.

“Secret of the Cardboard Rocket” is a journey through the solar system fueled by imagination. Guided by a talking book, two children visit and discover unique environments found at each planet. This is time for 11 a.m. and noon.

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

The purchase price includes five programs produced by Digistar 4 manufacturer Evans & Sutherland for the updated planetarium -- “Ice Worlds,” “Invaders of Mars,” “New Horizons,” “Secrets of the Sun,” and “Stars of the Pharaohs.” Two others – “Secret of the Cardboard Rocket” and one featuring the music of U2 – were purchased from another source.

“U2” will premiere on Friday, Oct. 2, as part of the monthly edition of downtown-Kalamazoo’s Art Hop. That will also launch the new “Friday Night Highlights” series at the museum that will feature concerts, films and special events, and is being underwritten by museum-designated contributions to the Kalamazoo Valley Community College Foundation. U2’s impressive repertoire of rock classics is enhanced by a laser show across the 50-foot planetarium dome. There will be a $3 admission charge for “U2.”

Set to begin in January, “Invaders of Mars” will make it easier to accept that none of us will ever make it to that planet because, thanks to the Digistar 4 technology, we’ve already been there.

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More information is available at the museum’s web site at www.kalamazoomuseum.org.

Motown exhibit closing at museum on Sept. 27Sunday, Sept. 27, will be the last chance to experience an exhibit that tells the

story of Kalamazoo’s link to Motown. The first-floor gallery of the Kalamazoo Valley Museum has been hosting “Meet

the Velvelettes.” The showcase features costumes, memorabilia, and photographs that tell the quartet’s story as individual women, and their historical context as part of Motown’s “Hitsville U.S.A.” phenomenon that brought black music into the mainstream.

“Meet the Velvelettes” has been sponsored by the KVCC Foundation and coincides with the 50th anniversary of this genre of music.

While riding a wave of popularity as the Motor City recording company’s No. 1 female singing group, the quartet followed the advice of Motown mogul Berry Gordy. “Where Did Our Love Go?,” a song ticketed to become part of The Velvelettes’ repertoire, was instead assigned to another group. Diana Ross and The Supremes never looked back.

Yet, neither has any of The Velvelettes. Two of them based in Kalamazoo followed other career paths and gave up the glitz of show business for the strong family values that shaped them.

But they have recharged their singing batteries enough to take their act to the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland and England’s distant shores.

Barbee-McNeal, raised in Flint and a pianist since the age of 9, formed a singing group with cousins and sang gigs around the community. They even cut a record.

When college called, the group broke up. She chose Western Michigan University because of the reputation of its music school. In the fall of 1962, she and new-found friends won a $25 talent contest on campus as the five-member Velvelettes -- Mildred “Milly” Gill (Arbor), a graduate of Kalamazoo Central High School, and sister Carolyn “Cal” (Street), then a student at Loy Norrix High School; friend Betty Kelley of Kalamazoo, who was destined to be part of Motown’s Martha and the Vandellas; and Barbee-McNeal’s cousin Norma in Flint.

In the audience that evening was a student who mentioned a new recording studio in Detroit might be interested in the smooth style of The Velvelettes. The student was Gordy’s nephew.

In December of 1962, the minister-father of Cal and Milly drove four-fifths of the quintet to Detroit during an ungodly snow storm. It was a cold day and a cold call. They didn’t know where the Motown studio was, and Gordy’s staff had no clue who was stopping by that gloomy Saturday.

A receptionist gave the group the cold shoulder until, walking out the door, Barbee-McNeal encountered the producer who had orchestrated her first group’s record back in Flint. Nothing like being in the right place at the right time.

The Velvelettes, the first act from outside Detroit to be signed by Motown, got into the door because somebody was coming through the door. They began crossing paths regularly with the likes of The Temptations, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, The Four Tops, Mary Wells, Marvin Gaye, Jackie Wilson, The Supremes, and a kid named Stevie Wonder. By 1964, The Velvelettes were the typical quartet as Kelley joined Martha Reeves’ popular group.

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Gordy’s operation did it all, from booking the shows to buying outfits. Very important was for his performers to pass muster with “The Charm School Lady,” Maxine Powell. As a one-woman den mother, coach, disciplinarian and chaperone, she taught Gordy’s “family” the social graces, how to be in show business, how to act professionally, how to sit, walk, talk and use your hands, and how to be interviewed.

None of the Kalamazoo-based Velvelettes gave up their schooling for a full shot at show business. Bertha and Milly stayed on as WMU students, and Cal completed high school. They were the only Motowners either still in college or high school.

When “Needle in a Haystack” made it to No. 13 in the nation, The Velvelettes jumped to the big time, garnering the ultimate honor — a call from Dick Clark to appear on his TV show. The quartet was also part of one of Clark’s star-studded tours that included Bobby Freeman, Johnny Tillotson, Brian Hyland, The Drifters, and Lou Christie.

With “Needle in a Haystack” doing well, the group was called into Gordy’s lush office. A composer ticketed “Where Did Our Love Go?” for the Velvelettes, but because The Supremes hadn’t gone up the ladder quite as far, Gordy asked whether the song could be given to the Ross trio. Sure, no big deal.

The focus shifted to The Supremes when the song went to No. 1, the first of five in a row for the group.

After being knee-deep in the Motown thing for nearly five years, show business and its grind started to get a little old for three members. Bertha, Milly and Norma hung up their hip-hugging costumes in 1965, while Cal, who had married one of The Temptations, stayed in the business for another three years.

The Velvelettes each went separate ways — marriage, motherhood, divorce and careers. Cal was working at The Upjohn Co., Bertha was teaching choir in the Kalamazoo Public Schools, Milly was a registered nurse in Flint, and Norma was a marketing director for a hotel in her home town.

However, on occasions, they polished up the act and performed, especially when rock ‘n’ roll’s nostalgia era arrived with the explosion of “Oldies But Goodies” radio stations.

By 1986, they were back in Detroit as part of a retro look at the legacy of Motown, singing with many of the studio’s legends at the splashy Fox Theater. A year later, they toured England with Martha and the Vandellas. The Velvelettes were part of the billing in June of 1998 when Motown brought all of the biggies back for its 40th anniversary. The museum’s new exhibition is part of the golden-anniversary celebration.

PTK chapter hosts open houses for future membersInstructors should notify students about a trio of upcoming open houses that will

detail the academic, professional and networking benefits of being a member of Phi Theta Kappa.

The KVCC chapter of the national academic honorary for two-year colleges will host an open house on Tuesday, Oct. 6, from 5 to 6 p.m. in the Student Commons Forum, and repeat the process on the Texas Township Campus on the next day (Wednesday) -- same time, same station.

The third open house is booked for Thursday, Oct. 8, from 5 to 6 p.m. in Room 128C in Anna Whitten Hall.

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To be eligible, students must carry a 3.5 grade-point average, be enrolled in 12 credit hours of classes, and be seeking a two-year degree. Those who qualify will take part in an induction ceremony at 2 p.m. on Oct. 18 in the Dale Lake Auditorium.

Among the benefits of PTK affiliation are the potential for receiving scholarships for transferring to a four-year university, the opportunity for community service, taking part in intellectual activities, developing leadership skills, and building a network of contacts.

Biology instructor Cynthia Schauer is the chapter adviser.Rogers wins her race

Some 900 joggers – bother serious and recreational runners – took part in last weekend’s Paw Paw Wine and Harvest Festival, and nursing instructor Marie Rogers was one of them.

The 5-K run featured age divisions in the competition and Rogers won her class with a time of 32 minutes and 27 seconds. Decorum dictates that the age division not be reported.

According to usually unreliable sources, math instructor Nancy Vendeville also participated.

“I am just glad I finished the race,” Rogers said, “ and then to be No. 1 was a real treat.”Thanks from Mary in the Student Commons

Mary Johnson wants to thank everyone who helped welcome students to Kalamazoo Valley Community College during the 2009 Cougar Connection.

“The students really appreciated such enthusiastic people they encountered at our tables,” she said.

The “thank-yous” go to:Ruth Baker, Gloria Barton-Beery, Gordon Beilby, Joe Brady, Dwight Coblentz,

Daniel Cunningham, Bill deDie, Connie Edlund, Kate Ferraro, Harland Fish, Chris Garrett, Jane Geschwendt, Brian Graening, Francis Granzotto, Kim Grubka;

Ray Hendriksma, Marylan Hightree, Sue Hollar, Jackie Howlett, Tim Kane, Tom Keena, Stella Lambert, Eunice Levy, Rick Margelis, Doug Martin, Denise Morrison, Lynne Morrison, Dawn Pantaleo, Art Parker, Natalie Patchell, Pat Pojeta, Bob Post;

Suzi Puckett, Bruce Punches, Marie Rogers, Mark Sigfrids, Arleigh Smyrnios, Jon Stasiuk, J.P. Talwar, Larry Taylor, Fred Toxopeus, Jim Turcott, Mike Tyson, Nancy Vendeville, Bob Vezeau, Bill Wangler, Caroline Whiting and Lisa Winch.

And finally. . . How old are you if you were born before television, penicillin,

polio shots, frozen foods, Xerox, contact lenses, Frisbees and the pill.There were no credit cards, laser beams or ball-point pens.Man had not invented panty hose, air conditioners, dishwashers,

and clothes dryers.Clothes were hung out to dry in the fresh air, and man hadn't yet

walked on the moon.“For better or worse” meant something in the wedding vows

between two people.

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Computer dating, day-care centers, and group therapy? Huh? By the way, what are computers?

Time-sharing meant time the family spent together in the evenings and weekends -- not purchasing condominiums.

What are FM radios, tape decks, CDs, electric typewriters and yogurt. I thought only pirates wore earrings and were tattooed.

The Big Bands, Jack Benny, and the president's speeches came from our radios. Did any kid blow his brains out listening to Tommy Dorsey?

Anything with “Made in Japan” on it was junk. Pizza Hut, McDonald's, and instant coffee were unheard of. A 5 & 10-cent store was a place where you could actually buy

things for 5 and 10 cents. Ice-cream cones, phone calls, rides on a streetcar, and a Pepsi were all a nickel.

And if you didn't want to splurge, you could spend your nickel on enough stamps to mail one letter and two postcards.

You could buy a new Chevy Coupe for $600, but who could afford one? Too bad, because gas was 11 cents a gallon.

“Grass” was mowed, “coke” was a cold drink, “pot” was something your mother cooked in, “gay” meant you were happy-go-lucky, “rock music” was your grandmother's lullaby, “aids” were helpers in the principal's office, “chip” meant a piece of wood, “hardware” was found in a hardware store, and “software” wasn't even a word.

How old are you? One year shy of your 60th birthday.☻☻☻☻☻☻

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