March 26, 2007 The Digest What’s Happening at KVCC What’s below in this edition Auto-tech talk (Pages 1/2) Clean hands (Pages 12-14) Wordsmith coming (Pages 2/3) ‘Play Ball!’ (Page 14) Bill Lay (Page 3) ‘Challenge’ winners (P-14/15) Jobs, jobs, jobs (Pages 3/4) Surf flic (Page 16) KAFI trophies (Pages 4/5 Piano in 3 hours (Pages 16/17) Animation ‘vols’ (Page 6) Faculty art (Page 17) Spring graduation (Pages 6/7) Drummer due (Pages 17/18) ‘Truth’ shows (Pages 7/8) Clay art (Page 18) Relay for Life (Page 8) Breathe right (Pages 18/19) ‘Honors’ honors (Pages 8/9) ‘Selling Addiction’ (Page 19) Conversational Spanish (Pages 9/10) Reading Together (Pages 19/20) Any Portage photos? (Page 10) Link to history (Pages 20/21) Fretboard Festival (Pages 10/11) Gamers compete (Page 21) Wellness checks (Pages 11/12) AITP Detroit-bound (Page 21) Davis concert (Page 12) And Finally (Pages 21-24) ☻☻☻☻☻☻ Automotive careers in spotlight Thursday Careers in various aspects of the automotive industry will be in the spotlight when a representative from Hot Rod Magazine visits Kalamazoo Valley Community College as part of the publication’s promotion of this summer’s 12th annual Hot Rod Magazine Power Tour that will include a stop in Kalamazoo. The Hot Rod staff member will speak on Thursday (March 29) at 3:30 p.m. in the Student Commons Theater on the Texas Township Campus about careers in automotive technology as well as the spinoff employment possibilities in manufacturing, sales, distribution, customizing, education, publishing and marketing. Billed as the largest traveling car show in the world, the Hot Rod Magazine Power Tour will be launched on Saturday, June 2, in Cleveland, Ohio, with the second stop being at the Kalamazoo County Fairgrounds on that Sunday. Other destinations are: Racine, Wis.; Springfield, Ill.; Evansville, Ind.; Memphis, Tenn.; and the wrapup on Friday, June 8, in Little Rock, Ark.
1 More than 3,500 hot rods, street machines and two-wheel-drive trucks take part in the yearly 1,500-mile trek. The caravan includes some of the nation’s most unique classic cars and late-model performance vehicles. “It is easily considered one of the best automotive tours in the world and is a rolling testament to what Hot Rod Magazine is all about,” Hot Rod publisher Jerry Pitt said. “Those who take part take pleasure in the joys of the open road, camaraderie, and organized stops in each community on the tour. Many, who we call ‘long haulers,’ travel the entire route.” Hosting the March 29 presentation and the tour stop in June is the KVCC program in automotive technology. For more information, contact Doug Martin at 488-4322 or [email protected]. The college had anticipated hosting the tour stop at the Texas Township Campus, but the logistics involving a large number of vehicles could not be worked out, according to Martin. A previously scheduled presentation about auto-tech careers on March 20 had to be canceled. One-of-a-kind wordsmith next for ‘About Writing’ With malice toward the pompous and with uncharitable commentary to all those who uphold the status quo out of arrogance, poet/novelist Ander Monson is coming to KVCC as part of its “About Writing” series. The Upper Peninsula-spawned wordsmith will talk about his craft on Thursday, April 5, at 10 a.m. in the Student Commons Forum and follow that with a reading of his works at 2 p.m. in the Commons Theater. Both are free and open to the public. Said to be “tuned in to our crackling, chaotic, juiced-up times like no other young writer” and a “sometimes vandal,” Monson’s latest work is a novel titled “Other Electricities,” which has been assigned to be read by some English classes at KVCC. One critic called it “a new physics of prose, a lyric string theory of charged and sparking sentences.” Here’s an excerpt: “While our dad was upstairs broadcasting something to the world, and we were listening in, or trying to find his frequency and listen to his voice ... we would give up and go out in the snow with a phone rigged with alligator clips so we could listen in on others' conversations. There's something nearly sexual about this, hearing what other people are saying to their lovers, children, cousins, psychics, pastors, debtors...." Set in the snow-buried reaches of the Keweenaw Peninsula, “Other Electricities” features such “dispossessed” characters as: “Crisco Hatfield, the breaker of arms; Bone, dropper of bowling balls off interstate overpasses; The Oracle of Apollo in Tapiola, who sees all; Christer, a pyromaniac collector of pornography who jumps off cliffs for kicks; and Liz, the girl who crashed through the ice on prom night.” Monson presents a world where weather, landscape, radio waves, and electricity are influential characters in themselves, “affecting an entire community held together by the memories of those they have lost.” “Uncompromising and relentless, hypnotic and dreamlike, darkly humorous and surprisingly tender,” commented a reviewer, “’Other Electricities’ charts a new and strange course in American fiction.” Monson lived briefly in Saudi Arabia, Iowa, Illinois, and in the Deep South, where he received his master’s in fine arts from the University of Alabama. He draws
2 from all of those experiences in crafting his words. Now a resident of Grand Rapids with his wife, Megan, he is a faculty member at Grand Valley State University. His stories, essays, and poems have appeared in The North American Review, Boston Review, and the Mississippi Review. Monson’s collection of poems, “Vacationland,” won the fourth annual first-book price from Tupelo Press. He’s also been awarded the 2006 St. Lawrence Book Award. His Upper Peninsula accounts tell of the copper mines, tourism, family, amateur radio, and winter. His poems are affected by the claustrophobic, half-year Michigan winters, where the nearest city is a four-hour car ride. For more information about the “About Writing” series, call Rob Haight at extension 4452. No lie, a tribute to Lay Members of the KVCC family past and present are invited to the Thursday (March 29) reception to honor the nearly 38 years of service provided by Bill Lay as an instructor, Honors Program director, dean and vice president. The reception in Room 4370/4380 on the Texas Township Campus begins at 2 p.m. and runs for two hours. On April 1, the day that the former Arizonan completes his 37 years and seven months of dedication to KVCC students, Bruce Kocher will add the job of acting vice president for academic services to his current duties. Employment Expo fills hallways Wednesday This year’s KVCC Employment Expo on the Texas Township Campus is scheduled for Wednesday (March 28) from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. It is a no-cost opportunity for students, KVCC alumni and residents of Southwest Michigan to visit with representatives from area businesses and industries, from health- care organizations, human-service agencies, from manufacturers, the military services and the trades to discuss current and future employment opportunities. Nursing, retail merchandising, hotel management, manufacturing, human services, recreation and amusement, health care, public employment, communications, hospital work, the military, finances and banking, and the construction trades will be among the career opportunities in the spotlight. The representatives will gather in the Student Commons to talk to participants about their organizations, the employment prospects, and the chances for internships and volunteer service, both of which look good on a resume. Past expos have attracted more than 1,000 job seekers. Participants are urged to bring along resumes, a preparedness to be interviewed, and be appropriately attired. Among the prospective employers who have indicated they will be available in the Commons during the four-hour event are: Stryker Instruments, Stryker Medical, Bronson Healthcare Group, Sears Roebuck and Co., Humphrey Products, Primerica Financial Services, 1st Source Bank, Freedom Broadcasting, Abundant Health Chiropractic Center, Great Lakes Aviation Services, WSI Health Inc., Kalamazoo Township Police Department; K & M Machine Fabricating Inc., the YMCA Sherman Lake Outdoor Center, Wil-Care Nursing Referral Agency Inc, Heartland Home Health Care and Hospice,
3 InterCare Community Health Network, Kazoo Inc., Lowe’s, First Community Federal Credit Union, Dana Corp.; Residential Opportunities Inc., Lakeview Community Hospital in Paw Paw, the Kalamazoo County Road Commission, Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids, FedEx Ground, Kalamazoo Electrical Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee, the U. S. Navy, Michigan Indian Employment and Training Services, Farm Bureau Insurance; Heritage Community of Kalamazoo, AFLAC, Borgess Health Alliance, Modern Woodmen Fraternal Financial Services, After Hours Formalwear, Arcadia Staff Resources, Bankers Life and Casualty, Camp Tall Turf, Landscape Forms, Life Care Center of Plainwell, Michigan Army National Guard, Pre-Paid Legal Services Inc.; Advance Employment Service, the U. S. Department of Veteran Affairs’ Battle Creek Medical Center, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement Division, Paradigm Sourcing, Educational Community Credit Union, Greenleaf Hospitality Group and Radisson Plaza Hotel & Suites; Apprenticeships in plumbing, pipe fitting, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning, Precision Builders, Summit Pointe, Trillium Staffing Solutions, Three Rivers Health Homecare and Hospice, HomeLife Inc., Island City Computers, Kadant Johnson Inc., Kalamazoo County Department of Human Services, Kellogg Community Federal Credit Union; Krispy Kreme Doughnut Corp., Wendy’s of Michigan, TruGreen ChemLawn, the U. S. Air Force, the U. S. Army, Western Michigan University, WQXC and WZUU, WSI, Yarrow Golf and Conference Center; National City Bank, WWMT Channel 3, OtterBase Inc., T-Mobile, Troyer’s Marketing Corp., the Marine Corps, the Michigan Air National Guard, radio stations based in Battle Creek, Aramark Uniform Service, ASMO Manufacturing, Burr Oak Tool and Gauge Co. Inc., Charter One Bank, Community Living Options, Consumers Energy, and Western and Southern Financial Group. They will be talking about jobs as machinists, nurses, computer technicians, financial advisers, quality engineers, design engineers, medical assistants, software technicians, journalists, production supervisors, HVAC technicians, project managers, welders, maintenance technicians, camp counselors, lifeguards, health officers, electronic technicians, police and conservation officers, home health aides, dental assistants and hygienists, nutritionists, social workers, dietitians, sales representatives, respiratory therapists, surgical technicians, speech and physical therapists, marketing representatives, accountants, flight instructors, cosmetologists, product engineers, and the variety of jobs that can be spun off after careers in the military. More information is available by calling (269) 488-4272, e-mailing [email protected] or going to the college’s web page and clicking on “Employment Expo” at the bottom of the screen. Famed sculptor crafts KAFI trophies A new wrinkle in the 2007 Kalamazoo Animation Festival International’s unique “Cartoon Challenge” competition is that Steve Hansen, “The Picasso of Papier Mache,” has agreed to design, create and sign trophies for the event. Ten teams from animation schools across the United States were chosen in a competition to come to Kalamazoo, Mich., prior to the May 17-20 festival. They will engage in a “24/4” endeavor to conceive, script, design and produce up to a 30-second animated feature on a public-service topic over four days.
4 They will be competing for the People’s Choice and Judges’ Scholarship awards, the special trophies for which are being produced by the former-Kalamazoo-based sculptor whose favorite creative medium is papier mache. Each of the teams will receive a smaller Hansen sculpture for their participation. In addition to being a major ingredient in the Smithsonian Institution’s “Information Age: People, Information and Technology” exhibition, Hansen sculptures are on display in Sri Lanka, Quebec, the U. S. Information Agency, Copenhagen, and at U. S. embassies in Italy and Venezuela. Corporate collections are housed in the headquarters of Borg-Warner, Capital Records, Hughes Aircraft, Herman Miller, Standard Oil of Indiana, and Mark Twain Banks. Hansen has also been featured at one-man shows in New York City, San Francisco, New Mexico, Colorado, Philadelphia, Chicago, Saugatuck, and the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts. Hansen probably cringes a little bit when he sees what is being used as temporary carpeting for canaries and parakeets, or as wrapping paper to take care of the remains of the daily catch from the ol' fishing hole. Because to Hansen, those old newspapers are the means of his artistic expression. They are his clay, his canvas, his raw film, his molten metal. Yesterday's newspaper is today's medium for him. Hansen moved from his home state of Washington to Michigan in 1966 when he was still in high school. His father, a farmer and logger who ran into financial problems in the Pacific Northwest, shifted careers and went to work for the Dow Chemical Co. in its public-relations division. After graduating from Midland High School in 1968, he came to Kalamazoo as a Western Michigan University student where he sampled many majors, including religion, over a three-year period and paid his college costs by selling his papier-mache creations. Those also financed many a trip to southern California, Baja, Spain and Italy when the grind of college became too bothersome. But the return ticket always seemed to be stamped Kalamazoo in those days, where he found a creative, pleasant environment to try metalsmithing, jewelry making, wood carving, and oil painting. But it was his papier-mache artistry that allowed him --beginning in 1967 -- to make a living from his art, a skill that began to take shape as a third-grader when he got his hands full of gooey chunks of newspaper. By the age of 13, he had entered one of his figures in his first exhibit. By 17, he was being paid real money to produce them. In his creative periods, he can craft about 100 a year, some of them made from a whim and some emanating from a waiting list. The size of Hansen's figures range from six inches to nearly life-size. Hansen, 56, remained in the Kalamazoo area into the early 1990s, operating out of a studio in the old Saniwax building, before relocating in the American Southwest. Call for KAFI volunteers KVCC students, faculty and staff who would like to serve as volunteers and perform a variety of functions for the fourth Kalamazoo Animation Festival International (KAFI) can make their intentions known now.
5 “This year's festival is bigger than ever,” says Jackie Ball, volunteer coordinator for the 2007 KAFI, “so we're going to need all the help we can get.” Those who are interested in volunteering or would like more information can visit the festival website: http://kafi.kvcc.edu/, or contact Ball. She can be reached anytime by e-mail at this address ([email protected]) or by telephone on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 373-7858. Four-time Emmy-winning humorist Mike Reiss, a producer and writer for “The Simpsons” will be a featured speaker on Friday, May 18, at 7 p.m. in the State Theater. Following his remarks will be a showing of some of the festival’s 100 finalists who are competing for $15,000 in prize money. Tickets for these events are $10 with students eligible for a $5 discount off that price. Around midnight, there will be a showing of Reiss’ “Queer Duck: The Movie.” Tickets for that are $6. More than 500 animated films from 35 nations were entered in the KAFI competition. Around 100 of them are being packaged into special screenings scheduled for the four-day festival that will include presentations by animators affiliated with Disney, Pixar, Hanna Barbera, DreamWorks and many other studios. Volunteers for one to three hours will receive a free pass to a $10 event or $15 workshop of their choice. Those volunteering for four or more hours will receive two tickets. Volunteers are needed for a variety of tasks, including taking tickets/checking passes, distributing and tallying evaluation forms, escorting speakers, putting up signs, and working at the information desk. Volunteer hours for the May 17-20 festival are flexible. A KVCC employee must be exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act to volunteer outside of his/her normal work hours. Never on Sunday? Not this time The college’s 59th commencement ceremony is set for Sunday – that’s right – Sunday, April 29, at 4 p.m. in Miller Auditorium on the Western Michigan University campus. The diploma-day celebration will also be telecast live on one of the five Community Access Center’s channels. Scheduled to make remarks are: Chris Schauer, chairman of the KVCC Board of Trustees; welding instructor Erick Martin; and one of the graduates, Doug Maurer. Serving as faculty marshals will be Jean Snow and Dawn Pantaleo, assisted by Helen Palleschi, while performing those duties for the students will be Kimberly Grubka and David Brock. Adding to the evening’s celebration will be the KVCC Choir directed by Michelle Bauman and the KVCC Campus Band directed by Chris Garrett. The fall graduation will also be booked for showings three other times on the center’s four other channels. Check the CAC’s website for time, date and channel. The Sunday date is the result of the auditorium being pledged to the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra that will be preparing for the performance of an opera. ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ to be told 6 times Six more free showings of “An Inconvenient Truth,” the Academy Award- winning documentary about global warming featuring former Vice President Al Gore,
6 have been booked for Kalamazoo Valley Community College and the Kalamazoo Valley Museum over the next three weeks. The showings, open to the public, come on the heels of a report by the 113-nation Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that concludes it is “very likely” global warming, as dramatically evidenced by the growing shrinkage of glaciers and polar ice caps, is primarily caused by human activity. Based on Gore’s best-selling book of the same title, “An Inconvenient Truth” will be shown in the Student Commons Theater on the Texas Township Campus: Tuesday, (March 27) at 10 a.m., not 2 p.m. as previously reported. Tuesday, April 10, at 2 p.m. Here is the schedule at KVCC’s downtown-Kalamazoo locations: Wednesday (March 28) at 1 p.m. in the Kalamazoo Valley Museum’s Mary Jane Stryker Theater. Thursday (March 29) at 9 a.m. in the Stryker Theater Sunday, April 1, at 2 p.m. in Anna Whitten Hall. Tuesday, April 3, at 7 p.m. in Whitten Hall. The college scheduled five showings in February, but one – in the evening – had to be cancelled because of misinformation about screening rights. The 90-minute film was directed by Davis Guggenheim. It is based largely on a multimedia presentation that Gore developed over many years as part of an educational campaign on global warming. It premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and, fueled by glamorous openings in New York City and Los Angeles, has become the third- highest-grossing documentary in film history. Gore’s book, “An Inconvenient Truth,” reached No. 1 on the New York Times’ best-seller list in July and August of 2006, Gore said he became intrigued by global warming when he enrolled in a course at Harvard taught by Roger Revelle, one of the first scientists to measure carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. When Gore was first elected to U. S. House of Representatives, he initiated the first congressional hearings on the topic. That eventually led to his first book, “Earth in the Balance,” in 1992 that broached a number of environmental topics. As a political figure, he began incurring the wrath of conservatives and scientific nay-sayers. As vice president, Gore pushed for the implementation of a carbon tax to modify incentives to reduce fossil-fuel consumptions and decrease the emission of greenhouse gases. He helped broker the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, an international treaty designed to curb the production of carbon dioxide. The United States never ratified the agreement and Gore again became the target of diatribes. All of this comes into play as background in Guggenheim’s film that is more of a personal account in a moral context than an array of facts and statistics. In the wake of the 2000 presidential election, Gore comes to grips with his life’s purpose and rededicates himself to the struggle against global warming. He creates “a slide show” for worldwide consumption in which he reviews the scientific evidence of the new millennium, discusses the political and economic consequences of global warming, and prognosticates on the serious impact that climate change could produce if human-generated greenhouse gases are not significantly reduced in the relative near future. KVCC again part of Relay for Life
7 KVCC will be participating in the Relay for Life, the annual fund-raiser of the Kalamazoo County Chapter of the American Cancer Society. This year’s event will be staged June 2-3 from 11 a.m. to 11 a.m. at The Air Zoo, 6151 Portage. The aviation museum and amusement center will be open for the entire 24 hours, and there will be discounted and free admission for qualified participants. Participants can sign up to walk or run from one hour to the full 24 hours. While the teams are coming together for a very serious issue - - the fight against cancer - - there is a great deal of fun and camaraderie for participants. There is entertainment and family activities, plus the victory lap by survivors and the luminaria ceremony at dusk that remembers those that have faced cancer. To sign up as a participant and walk with Team KVCC, contact Mary Johnson at extension 4182 or stop by her office in the Student Commons. The team’s goal is to raise $3,000. Another contact is Lynne Morrison at extension 4164. KVCC’ers can also help the Relay for Life team reach its go by donating their 10- cent bottles and cans in the so-designated containers located in the Texas Township Campus cafeteria, the Student Commons, the Learning Center, and the lower-level lounge by the library. “Teams of family, friends and co-workers camp out for 24 hours, taking turns walking the track,” Johnson said. “Each team is asked to have a representative on the track at all times, a reminder that cancer never sleeps.” The Relay for Life supports those who have lost a loved one, offers encouragement to those who are currently battling the disease, and celebrates life with those who have survived. But most of all, it is an inspiration to all who participate. All dollars raised go toward supporting services for cancer patients and their families, providing education and early-detection programs, and funding cancer research. Kalamazoo is one of more than 4,000 communities across the continent that stage Relay for Life events in the fight against cancer. More than $1 billion has been raised. U of M likes Honors Program students Audrey Lampen is the fourth KVCC Honors Program student in 14 months to earn acceptance at the University of Michigan. The home-schooled Lampen traveled to Chicago twice last year to explore urban education: once to visit the Teach America program and a second time to job shadow an elementary teacher at a University of Chicago grant project. In addition, she has served as a mathematics teaching assistant to fulfill her college-service requirement. Lampen is a Coca-Cola Scholarship recipient and her application for the Jack Kent Cooke Scholarship is pending. Matt Kelly is headed for the University of Michigan to major in environmental science. He’s a graduate of Hackett Catholic Central High School. He served a stint in the Navy before resuming his education at KVCC. One of his Honors Program predecessors, Alexandria Bramwell, has already transferred to the Ann Arbor campus. Soo-Yeon Kwon has also been accepted by the University of Michigan, but is weighing that against an opportunity to enroll in the Honors Program at the State University of New York at Stonybrook. Expanding your Spanish beyond ‘si’
8 Businesses that want to cater to the nation’s growing Hispanic population and lifelong learners who want to expand their cultural awareness can enroll in an eight- session course in conversational Spanish. Following the completion of the introductory course on March 20, the second level of “Conversational Spanish” will be held on Tuesdays and Thursdays from April 3 through April 26 in Room 128 of Anna Whitten Hall. Each of the eight sessions begins at 6:30 p.m. and lasts two hours over the four- week period. The $94 fee also brings to participants a 94-page manual and a CD for audio practice. The second level is designed for those who have already completed a basic course in Spanish and seeks to improve vocabulary and conversational skills. It stresses fluency in real-life situations and also touches on some grammar issues. The vocabulary of seasons, months, days of the week, dates, clothing, weather, directions, people descriptions, restaurant ordering, making telephone calls, and conversational phrases are part of the syllabus. According to KVCC training coordinator Ron Campbell, Whitten Hall will also be hosting third- and fourth-level classes in conversational Spanish in May and June. While those in business can sharpen their relations with customers, clients and employees, others can add a working knowledge of a second language to their resume. The classes are tailored to accelerate one’s Spanish-speaking abilities and build vocabulary without having to cope with language details that might never be used in conversation. “Each of the levels are complete and distinct in itself,” Campbell said. “The adult learner can progress from the absolute beginner stage to a level of fluency that enables convincing and effective communication. It is not necessary to enroll in all four levels. “Again these early levels are conversation-based, not grammar-based,” Campbell said. “Instruction focuses on getting students to speak the language as opposed to memorizing rules. These sessions are interactive, incorporating cooperative learning, role-playing, storytelling and cross-cultural discussions. “The upper levels would be for folks who can do a pretty good job of speaking the language,” Campbell said, “but want to really polish up their skills. Progression to each successive level depends entirely on an individual's particular rate of learning and/or desire for fluency.” For more information or to register, contact Campbell at 373-7801 or [email protected]. In search of Portage photos People with photographs of the growth and development of the Portage community are invited to share them on Saturday, March 31, with the prospects that they might become part of a museum exhibition. Representatives from the Kalamazoo Valley Museum and the Portage District Library will be at the library from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in an effort to collect photographs and images that could become part of the downtown-Kalamazoo museum’s exhibition on the development of Portage in the 1960s and 1970s.
9 “The project is part of the renovation of the Kalamazoo Valley Museum's history galley that will feature a section on the development of Portage in the 1960s and 1970s,” said Tom Dietz, the museum’s curator of research. “We are looking for any photographs of Portage businesses, homes, neighborhoods, streets, or events,” Dietz said. “The goal is to help document Portage's emergence from a basically rural township in the 1940s to a bustling city in the 1980s. “While both the Portage library and the museum are looking to add such images to our permanent collections,” Dietz said, “we will have scanners available so that those with photographs who do not wish to donate them can have them scanned as an alternative method of preserving those images for historical purposes” For further information, contact Dietz at 373-7984 or [email protected]) at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum or Steve Rossio at 329-4542, extension 608 or [email protected] ) for further information. 6-hour Fretboard Festival at museum The second Kalamazoo Fretboard Festival, the Kalamazoo Valley Museum’s salute to the local legacy of “pickin’ ‘n’ singin’,” is booked for Saturday (March 24) from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Free to the public and nothing to fret about, the six-hour gathering in downtown Kalamazoo will feature workshops and lectures by highly skilled luthiers (makers of stringed instruments), performances by combos who make music on these instruments, and displays by vendors. Among the performers will be: ♫ The Royal Garden Trio from Ann Arbor that performs gypsy jazz. ♫ Kalamazoo’s Third Coast Guitar Ensemble that plays classical, baroque and chamber music. ♫ Great Lakes Grass, a Kalamazoo group that specializes in traditional bluegrass. ♫ The Fabulous Heftones from Lansing that plays music of the 1920s. ♫ Another Kalamazoo-based duo, Rendal Wall and Richard Butler, with its renditions of country swing and blues. In the works are workshops on how to play a variety of instruments and styles of music, exhibits and demonstrations by manufacturers of guitars, banjos and mandolins, and lectures about this area’s musical legacy. Some of the workshops will be offered in Anna Whitten Hall adjacent to the museum. The first festival in May of 2006 attracted about 800, according to Jay Gavan, the museum’s special-events coordinator. It was switched to a March date because of this May’s Kalamazoo Animation International Festival in downtown Kalamazoo and to avoid future conflicts with the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival. “Ever since the Gibson company began making guitars here in 1894,” said Gavan, who has worked for Heritage Guitar that is now based in the former Gibson woodshop, “Kalamazoo has been famous for its luthiers. It is like a mecca. People from all over the world know Kalamazoo for its guitars.”
10 Workshop presenters and lecturers will include: Mark Sahlgren, Joel Mabus, Patricia Pettinga, Bill Wilging, Miles Kusik, Jackie Zito, Joe Gross, Nathan Durham, John Riemer, Brian Delaney, Brian Hefferman, Lynn Hershberger-Hefferman, and Tom Dietz, the museum’s curator of research who will offer his perspectives on Orville Gibson and the company he established. In between, visitors will be able to view exhibits and works by the makers of stringed instruments in Southwest Michigan. Among those sharing their knowledge and their wares will be representatives from Heritage Guitars Inc., Robinson Guitars, Kingslight Guitars, Ry Charters, Wechter Guitars, Broughton Music Center, and Big Bends LLC in Plainwell. Gavan said the festival is devoted to guitars, banjos, mandolins, upright bass, and “anything that is considered an acoustic stringed instrument or even an electric stringed instrument that was or still is designed and produced here.” For more information about the second Kalamazoo Fretboard Festival, contact Gavan at (269) 373-7990 or [email protected]. Sign up for wellness screenings A representative of Holtyn and Associates is conducting free, confidential wellness screenings through April 13 for full-time KVCC employees and their spouses who are both new to the college’s program or continuing participants. The one-on-one appointments with Linda Howard will include a glucose analysis, an HDL and cholesterol evaluation, a blood-pressure check, a body-composition reading, an assessment of cardio-respiratory fitness, an overall health survey, an individual fitness assessment, and a personal consultation. With the Anna Whitten Hall phase now completed, all future screenings will be held in Room 6044 in the Student Commons on the Texas Township Campus. Here’s the remaining schedule: Monday (March 26); Wednesday (March 28); Thursday (March 29); Monday, April 9; Tuesday, April 10; Wednesday, April 11; Thursday, April 12; and Friday, April 13 -- from 9 a.m. to 2:40 p.m. (None available from noon to 1.) Tuesday (March 27) from 1 to 6:40 p.m. For more information and to schedule an appointment, call Teresa Fornoff between 8 a.m. and noon Monday through Friday at extension 4492; or call Jim Turcott at 4113, or Blake Glass at 4177 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. during the week. All full-time staff, faculty and administrators – and their spouses -- are encouraged to sign up for this college-sponsored program, even if previous screenings had not identified any health risks. Participants should wear comfortable, loosely fitting clothing. Short-sleeve tops are recommended. Fasting is not required, but it is advised not to consume caffeinated beverages two hours prior to the assessment and to refrain from smoking. The testing is paid for by the college. “All participants must complete a health survey prior to their screening appointment.” Turcott said. “This step is taken each year and is essential to the overall program as well as your individual wellness profile.”
11 KVCC’ers can access the survey by going to the Holtyn website, http://www.holtyn.com and following the step-by-step instructions. “If this approach does not work well for you,” Turcott said, “please come to my office 15 minutes prior to your appointment time and complete the health survey. A computer will be available in my office to help facilitate this process.” “Our employee-wellness program achieved a 70-percent participation rate during the fall semester,” he said. “Our challenge is to consolidate our successes and continue to grow the program that has been a great resource in helping the college to control health- care costs as it enhances personal wellness.” Rachel Davis – a bit of folk, blues and jazz If you like concerts where the performers are up close and personal, then the Kalamazoo Valley Museum is the place to go on Thursday nights, and you have one more chance at the experience in the current series. Singer Rachel Davis, who more than dabbles in folk music, blues and jazz, is the April 12 attraction. She’ll be joined on the Mary Jane Stryker Theater stage by accompanist Brett Hartenbach. Listed among the performers who have inspired her style are Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan. Flanking her date at the downtown-Kalamazoo museum are concerts in Jefferson, Ind., and Newport, Ky. After Kalamazoo, she’s headed for gigs in Wisconsin. Featured at the 2002 Boston Folk Festival, Davis will perform on April 22 and June 24 at the Kraftbrau in downtown Kalamazoo. She’s also booked for a concert in Fennville on June 1 and the three-day Dunegrass Festival in Empire, Mich., in early August. The “Music at the Museum” series in the 84-seat, surround-sound Mary Jane Stryker Theater features combos and individual performers who are close enough to reach out and touch, as opposed to a Rolling Stones concert in which there is a good chance to be seated in the next time zone or area code. Tickets for each 7:30 p.m. performance don’t require taking out a second mortgage either. Admission is $5. The power of soap and water As the nation girds up for a potential influenza pandemic that some feel is on the horizon, pro-action looms as a better antidote than re-action, according to KVCC safety coordinator Amy Louallen. She suggests that KVCC personnel tap into the following website for the latest in news, plans and information: http://home.kvcc.edu/hrmain/Safety/Safety%20Page/PandemicPlanning.htm Louallen and a college committee are “making some headway as far as networking with state and local organizations and ‘preparing,’” she said. “My main focus right now is how I can ramp up prevention, mainly by hand hygiene and hand washing.” Washing one’s hands is the simplest way to incase your body in a hygienic suit of armor. Proper hand-washing techniques Effective hand-washing techniques include washing your hands with soap and water or using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer. Antimicrobial wipes or towelettes are just
12 as effective as soap and water in cleaning your hands but aren't as good as alcohol-based sanitizers. Antibacterial soaps have become increasingly popular in recent years. However, these soaps are no more effective at killing germs than are regular soap and water. Using these soaps may lead to the development of bacteria that are resistant to the products' antimicrobial agents - making it even harder to kill these germs in the future. In general, regular soap is fine. The combination of scrubbing your hands with soap -- antibacterial or not -- and rinsing them with water loosens and removes bacteria from your hands. Warm water is preferred. It’s recommended that a good 15-second lather gets the job done, scrubbing the back of the hands, wrists, between the fingers and under the fingernails. After rinsing and drying your hands, use the towel to turn off the faucet. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers -- which don't require water -- are an excellent alternative to hand washing, particularly when soap and water aren't available. They're actually more effective than soap and water in killing bacteria and viruses that cause disease. Commercially prepared hand sanitizers contain ingredients that help prevent skin dryness. Using these products can result in less skin dryness and irritation than hand washing. Not all hand sanitizers are created equal, though. Some "waterless" hand sanitizers don't contain alcohol. Use only the alcohol-based products. To use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer, apply about half of a teaspoon to the palm of your hand. Rub your hands together, covering all surfaces, until they're dry. If your hands are visibly dirty, however, wash with soap and water rather than a sanitizer. Although it's impossible to keep your bare hands germ-free – something that Howard Hughes eventually couldn’t cope with -- times exist when it's critical to wash your hands to limit the transfer of bacteria, viruses and other microbes. Always wash your hands: After using the bathroom After changing a diaper and wash the diaper-wearer's hands, too After touching animals or animal waste Before and after preparing food, especially before and immediately after handling raw meat, poultry or fish Before eating After blowing your nose After coughing or sneezing into your hands Before and after treating wounds or cuts Before and after touching a sick or injured person After handling garbage Before inserting or removing contact lenses When using public restrooms, such as those in airports, train stations, bus stations and restaurants. ‘Sunday Series’ examines baseball “Play Ball! Baseball in Kalamazoo” is the “Sunday Series” installment at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum on April 1. All “Sunday Series” presentations are free and begin at 1:30 p.m. in the Mary Jane Stryker Theater.
13 Tom Dietz, the curator of research at the museum, will celebrate the opening of the 2007 Major League Baseball season with a step back in time and a review of the history of the sport in Kalamazoo. The earliest reference to baseball in Kalamazoo appears in the April 20, 1859, edition of The Kalamazoo Telegraph in an article encouraging local boys and men to organize teams. Some games, using earlier rules, were played in Bronson Park. In 1862, President Latham Hull led the way for the Kalamazoo Village Council to prohibit games there for fear of damaging the trees. From that beginning, the Kalamazoo region has had a fascinating baseball history, according to Dietz. From minor league teams in the late 1880s to community and company teams, Kalamazoo shared a passion for the national pastime. The first College World Series was played at Hyames Field on the campus of Western Michigan College in 1947. One team featured a left-handed first baseman, George H. W. Bush, but the University of California would defeat the future president and his Yale teammates. The Kalamazoo Lassies would represent the city in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, winning the championship in 1954, the final year of the league’s existence. Today minor-league baseball in the form of the Kalamazoo Kings, reigning champions of the Frontier League is still a popular summer recreation. The Kalamazoo area has sent several native sons to the major leagues, including Mike Squires, Leon Roberts, Neil Berry, Charlie “Paw Paw” Maxwell, and, of course, the New York Yankees future Hall of Famer, shortstop Derek Jeter. Many who played their college baseball at Western Michigan University also made it to “the show.” Upcoming “Sunday Series” topics are: ● “The Kalamazoo River and the Settlement of Kalamazoo” on April 22. ● “Horse Racing and Race Horses in Kalamazoo” on May 6. For more information, contact Dietz at extension 7984. How the ‘Project Challenge’ winners did it Student creativity and multidisciplinary project-based learning were celebrated as part of the second annual “Project Challenge” at the Arcadia Commons Campus. were The capstone event was the crowning of the winners in three competitions: ◙ The Apprentice Kalamazoo: In a take-off of the television show, three- student teams were challenged to develop a plan for the future of downtown Kalamazoo. Team members used the critical-thinking skills they are learning in business, marketing, graphic-design, English, communications and mathematics courses to forge their plans. The teams came together on the morning of Project Challenge, were presented the details of the task, and had the rest of the day to complete their projects before a presentation to the judges. The winning entry of JoVaughn Head, Joshua Sortland and Eric Sisco devised the plan for a free wireless Internet infrastructure in the downtown. According to the team, such a network would promote economic development, long-term investment, increase both vehicular and pedestrian traffic that would not only boost revenues for central-city businesses but also take a bite out of crime because of more activity, and enhance police protection.
14 Each member of the winning team received a 12-credit-hour, in-district scholarship for a KVCC semester of classes. ◙ Film/Video/Animation/Photo Showcase: Using the words of Helen Keller that “alone we can do so little and together we can do so much,” students could use any or combinations of these media, along with graphic-design and web-development skills, to create a 30-second artistic expression of that quotation. Winner Kevin Romeo produced a film of his two-year-old nieces helping with the family laundry. Acting alone, neither could budge a heavy basket, but working in unison accomplished the task. His prize was a free KVCC class. ◙ The KVCC Experience: While the other two competitions were targeted toward specific curricula and courses, this one was open to the spectrum of KVCC students who want to share their educational experiences with peers, instructors and the community. Individual contestants could demonstrate their communication skills, creativity and ingenuity by sharing the impact that a KVCC education has had on their lives through trials, tribulations and successes. Contestants could express their perspectives in essays, posters, the graphic arts, painting, dramatics, pottery, music or video. Whatever the format, it had to be “tangible, legible and capable of display.” Sorina Dodu, whose homeland is the eastern European nation of Moldova, came to this area as an exchange student at Gull Lake High School. The 20-year-old student create a six-foot wooden tree filled with photos of her life’s experiences. She also produced a computer-generated slide show on “You Can Choose Your Dream” and how her KVCC experience is helping here achieve that goal. She told the judges that she’s “had a passion for America my entire life.” Her ingenuity and passion netted a scholarship for a semester-full of classes at KVCC. “Project Challenge” sponsors included Biggs Gilmore Communications and Gateway. The latter donated a 22-inch flat-screen monitor and a computer as door prizes. The latter were won by Cawhan Smith and Drew Czarnecki, respectively. Surf’s up at the museum An award-winning Norwegian movie about searching for the perfect wave to surf and with a real storyline is the next billing in the Kalamazoo Valley Museum’s movie series in the Mary Jane Stryker Theater. “Monster Thursday,” produced in Norway in 2004, is the attraction on March 31- April 1. Through spring, the museum is showing classic motion pictures, legendary silent films, movies targeted for family audiences, and five-star, independent productions from the international scene. They are shown on weekends in the Stryker Theater. Tickets are $3. The Hollywood classics, the silents, and the independent productions are booked for Saturdays at 7 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. The matinees for families are set for 1 p.m. on Saturdays. “Monster Thursday” is about a hot-shot “hang-10’er” searching for the perfect wave while stuck in the middle of a love triangle. It was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize in
15 World Cinema-Dramatic at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, and was an official selection at the Bergen Film Festival, Cleveland International Film Festival and the Iceland International Film Festival The storyline goes like this: "Even" leads a directionless life. "Tord," his best friend, is the opposite. He’s a great surfer with a prestigious job and beautiful "Karen" as his bride. When Tord asks Even to look after Karen while he is out of town, Even decides to clean up his act and master the waves to impress her. At first he's a prime candidate for drowning, but a local surfing legend becomes his mentor, and Even, Tord and Karen end up on a collision course with the monster wave. : Here are the Stryker Theater attractions through spring: ♦ “Faust” (Germany, 1926) – April 14-15. ♦ “A Hard Day’s Night” (1964) – April 21-22. ♦ “Be With Me” (Singapore, 2005) – April 28-29. ♦ “The Graduate” (1967) – May 5-6. ♦ “Something Like Happiness” (The Czech Republic, 2006) – May 26-27. A special event is slated for Saturday, April 7, when the musical group Blue Dahlia performs its original score as part of a pair of showings of Buster Keaton’s silent 1924 comedy, “The Navigator.” The showings are set for 1 and 4 p.m. Continuing its recent programming initiative of showing award-winning documentaries, the museum has scheduled HBO’s “Band of Brothers” and the equally honored PBS series, “New York City.” The 10-episode “Band of Brothers” is the attraction on Sundays at 1:30 p.m. through May 27. “New York City,” the story of “The City That Never Sleeps” from the early 1600s through the dawning of the new millennium, is booked for the Stryker Theater on Saturdays at 4 p.m. through May 26. There is no admission charge. Learn to play piano in three hours Like teaching a person how to fish will feed him/her for a lifetime, learning to play the piano can provide personal entertainment ‘til death do us part. While intensive piano lessons over a long period of time are the key to a professional concert career, it doesn’t take all that much to learn how to play for purely personal enjoyment and entertainment. KVCC is offering a one-evening workshop to unlock a person’s latent musical talent enough to play something more than “Chopsticks.” The “Instant Piano” system, which was featured in a PBS television special, “Piano in a Flash,” will be used in the three-hour-plus session that is scheduled for Tuesday (March 27) from 6 to 9:30 p.m. in Anna Whitten Hall’s Room 128. The fee, which includes a self-study CD and instructional textbook, is $89. Enrollees will learn all the chords needed to play almost any contemporary song. Robert Laughlin, the creator of “Instant Piano,” will be the instructor. “While most piano teachers stress precision and discipline in playing,” said Laughlin, who lives in Chico, Calif., “ I stress having fun. And while precision is vital for classical music, my method is most suitable for playing pop music of all kinds.” Enrollees need only a bare minimum of musical background as they learn how to use chords instead of the traditional note-for-note music reading.
16 “They will learn to use sheet music in a completely new and simple way,” Laughlin said. “They’ll discover many of the magical shortcuts that the pros use to enhance their playing.” He promises that, after the three-hour workshop, each student will be able to play any pop tune with both hands. Call (269) 373-7802 to register for his “Instant Piano for Hopelessly Busy People.” Faculty art show in place The artistic creations of KVCC faculty members are on display in the Arcus Gallery of the KVCC Center for New Media. Exhibition hours for the Arcus showing are Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. through April 25. The show features the original works by full- and part-time instructors in art, animation, ceramics and graphic-design courses. A wide variety of media is represented – watercolors, acrylic and oil paintings, jewelry, digitally produced paintings, graphic arts, photographs, stoneware, and 3-D animation displayed on six large plasma screens. Among the exhibitors are Dee Fitzsimmons, Linda Rzoska, Joseph Smigiel, Justin Bernhardt, Teri Williams, Thomas Mills, Francis Granzotto, Brenda Terburg-Fawley, Amelia Falk, and Kerry Mulson. Koebel, Keaton doubleheader at museum The final booking in the Kalamazoo Valley Museum’s Saturday series of entertainment for young children and families will feature percussionist Carolyn Koebel on April 7. A member of the Blue Dahlia combo, she will do a solo – “Finding the Drummer in You” -- for a pre-school audience only at 10 a.m. That afternoon, Blue Dahlia will perform for a family audience as part of 1 and 4 p.m. showings of Buster Keaton’s classic silent film, “The Navigator.” The former 30-minute program is free, while there is a $3 admission charge for the movie. All three events will be held in the Mary Jane Stryker Theater. Koebel, who plays the drums, vibes, dulcimer and other percussion instruments for Blue Dahlia, has been exploring drumming and rhythm for more than 24 years. Her passion has taken her to some of the best instructors in the world. She is skilled in the techniques and style of West African, Afro-Cuban, American jazz, Brazilian, Arabic and classic drumming. In her performances with Blue Dahlia, Koebel will use a full range of instruments – a drum set, vibraphone, hammered dulcimer, pots, pans, and various hand-drums from across the globe. She has served as principal percussionist with the Battle Creek Symphony Orchestra, including the performance of a percussion concerto. She tours regionally and internationally with flutist Rhonda Larson, among others. Koebel was the music director of the Michigan State University Department of Theater’s production of “Waterworks: Tales of the Hydrasphere.” With a keen interest in rhythm-based healing, she works as a music therapist in schools for children with special needs. The recipient of a master’s degree in music therapy from MSU, she was one of the key presenters at the 2005 Michigan Music Therapists conference.
17 While Keaton had starred in scores of silent shorts and full-length features, it was “The Navigator” in 1924 that put him on a par with Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd. It was Keaton’s biggest commercial success up to that time. In the film, he was able to derive a broad range of comic situations from a single prop – a deserted schooner. As part of each showing, Blue Dahlia will perform its original score Limited seating in the Stryker Theater is on a first-come, first-served basis for the free presentation. A maximum of four tickets per household or group can be reserved the day before by calling (269) 373-7990 or (800) 772- 3370. Because the afternoon performance has a fee, those tickets can be purchased anytime in person or over the phone. Seats that are not occupied by 10 minutes before show time will be released to other guests. ‘He took a hundred pounds of clay. . .’ A clay workshop featuring Mark Williams, owner of Blue Star Pottery near South Haven, is scheduled for Wednesday, April 4, in the KVCC ceramics lab on the Texas Township Campus. The Valley Student Artist Group is sponsoring the session that will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Room 5730. It is free and open to the public. “Mark is well known for his beautiful, functional, handmade stoneware including platters, casseroles, bowls, and vases,” says Brenda Terburg-Fawley, a part-time ceramics instructor at KVCC. “His leaf and other natural patterns adorn strong, beautiful pieces of pottery in shades of brown, blue and green. His work has elegant textured designs, which he creates by uniquely combining the pottery techniques of textured slab and throwing on the pottery wheel.” Part of the workshop will include watching Williams, a member of Blue Coast Artists, as he creates an original work of art. His clay creations can be viewed at www.bluecoastartists.com. For more information or to reserve a spot in the workshop, call 488-4373. Breathe out, breathe in Yoga breathing techniques will be explained and demonstrated at a Monday (March 26) program in the Student Commons Theater. “The Power of Breath,” which will be free and open to the public, will begin at 11 a.m. Leading the session will be Renu Sharma and Arun Tandon, who are both certified instructors in “pranayama” (yogic breathing techniques). The twosome will explain how proper breathing can improve a person’s physical, emotional and mental health, beat back invasions by diseases, and increase a person’s positive energy by reliving daily stress. Participants can learn to meditate and cultivate an awareness to promote a sense of peace, joy and happiness.
18 Luring youths to smoke, drink How the manufacturers of alcohol and tobacco products use movies, television and advertising to attract future consumers among the young will the topic of a presentation on Thursday, April 26, at the Kalamazoo Regional Educational Service Agency, 1819 Milham Road. “The Selling of Addiction” is free and open to the public, although seating in K- RESA’s Wile Auditorium is limited and reservations are advised. Featured in the 4 p.m. presentation on media literacy will be Donna Learmont, a media instructor in the Bloomfield School District. She will examine how alcohol and tobacco companies are targeting youth through entertainment and marketing strategies. Learmont will also discuss how product-placement techniques in films and television create the impression that “butts and booze” are “cool.” The project is a joint venture of the Community Access Center, the Kalamazoo Public Library, and the Kalamazoo Community Foundation. “It won’t end at the conclusion of her presentation,” said Tom Thinnes, a member of the Community Access Center Board of Directors. “The April 26 program will be filmed and edited. DVD copies, along with a ‘Group Discussion Guide,’ will be made available to organizations serving youth so that they can be used as an educational tool to promote healthy life-style choices. The presenter wants her audience to engage in a lively dialogue, not just listen.” ‘Reading Together’ events The chosen book for the 2007 Reading Together community initiative through April is Mark Haddon’s “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time,” a fictional, first-person account of a 15-year-old boy with autism who overcomes obstacles to solve a mystery surrounding the death of a neighbor’s dog. In “Curious,” the teen can perform complex mathematics functions in his head and admires the logic of Sherlock Holmes, but the emotional complexities of social interactions are a mystery to him. His investigation into how the dog died leads him down unexpected paths. Set in England, the book's combination of an unusual storytelling style, insights to the mind of a child with autism, illustrations, family conflict, mathematics, humor, literary allusions and compelling characters opens the door to discussion. Copies of the book are available in KVCC's libraries, at the KVCC Bookstore and at all the area's public libraries. The project’s website, www.readingtogether.us includes a calendar of events. The New York Times described “Curious” as “stark, funny and original. It eschews most of the furnishings of high-literary enterprise as well as the conventions of genre, disorienting and reorienting the reader to devastating effect.” Here are some other Reading Together events that are free and open to the public through the end of March: ● Essays inspired by the Reading Together selection at the 11th annual Community Literary Awards on Sunday (March 25) at noon at the Portage District Library, which is co-sponsoring the event with the Kalamazoo Gazette, Kalamazoo Public Library, and area independent booksellers.
19 ● How can people better understand and embrace students with autism and how the general populace can better welcome those with disabilities into the life of a school and community – Tuesday (March 27) at 5:30 p.m. at Parchment High School with autism advocate Pamela Haymon. ● Western Michigan University faculty from various disciplines and students with a variety of majors will discuss the book’s main topic on Tuesday (March 27) at 5:30 p.m. in the WMU Bernhard Center. ● “Speaking from the Spectrum” on Thursday (March 29) at 7 p.m. in the downtown Kalamazoo Public Library will feature a panel discussion of people who have been diagnosed with autism or Asperger’s syndrome. They will share what it’s like to see the world from somewhere on the spectrum. ● Book discussion on Friday (March 30) at 9 a.m. hosted by the Active Older Adult program at the Maple Street YMCA. ● Bilingual book discussion on Wednesday, April 11, at 6:30 p.m. in the Bennett Building at the St. Joseph Catholic School, 930 Lake. ● “Walk About Talk About Autism Walk,” Saturday, April 21, at noon at the Celery Flats Canoe and Bicycle Livery in Portage; as part of Autism Awareness Month, it’s the fourth annual fundraiser for the Kalamazoo/Battle Creek Chapter of the Autism Society of America. A link to U. S. history’s issues, spats KVCC’s libraries have started subscribing to a new American history database, “Issues and Controversies in American History,” according to Jim Ratliff. The link that will get KVCC’ers in if they are using an on-campus computer to access the Internet is: http://www.2facts.com Ratliff reports that the link will soon be added to the library system’s database page that will make it available off campus. Video gamers ready for ‘the kill’ Friday Many a foe has to fall, but it’s all in the game. And you’ll be able to take part or watch the fun when the Valley Gamers Organization stages its own kind of Olympic competition on Friday (March 30) at the Center for New Media. According to Marty Adams, a computer-information systems instructor at the Arcadia Commons Campus, the student-organization will sponsor a “Halo2” competition from 5 to 9 p.m. It is free and open to the public. He described “Halo2” as a “science-fiction, first-person shooter developed by Bungie Studios for the Xbox video-game console. It is the sequel to the game ‘Halo’ that was released for the Xbox game console on Nov. 9, 2004.” Dubbed the “Running Riot Battle Royale,” this competition will host four-person teams competing in two events – “Team Slayer” and “Capture the Flag.” “Capture the Flag” is fairly self-explanatory. The idea is to take control of the flag and retain its possession. The mission of “Team Slayer” is also clear and evident – annihilate the opposition. Each team tries to wipe out the other. Teams succeed by building successful strategies to maximize their strengths.
20 “It sounds kind of disturbing,” Adams said, “but it is actually a lot of fun to play and/or watch.” And, after all, it’s only a game – fantasy. Nobody is left forever dead on the battlefield. He or she lives to “fight” another day. Pizza and pop will be provided. More information is available at http://www.myspace.com/KVCCVGO. AITP chapter headed for Detroit meet KVCC students planning to take part in the upcoming national conference of the Association for Information Technology Professions (AITP) in Detroit will have their financial burdens for the adventure eased a bit, thanks to the college-based chapter’s annual fund-raiser. Dawn Pantaleo, a KVCC instructor in the program and the club’s adviser, reports the latest raffle raised about $2,200. Minus the costs of a “really-gook-price” I-Pod Nano and a $25 gasoline card, the proceeds will help students attend the national meeting and competition slated for March 29-April 1. Kathleen Cook, an administrative secretary in the KVCC Office of Apprenticeships and Internships, took home the I-Pod, while student Lonnie Bennett won the gasoline card. Other major prizes – an all-in-one printer and a 4GB portable hard driver were won by relatives and co-workers of AITP members. “Our AITP computer club would like to thank everyone for their annual support of our computer raffle,” Pantaleo said. And finally. . . Remember the original “Holly wood Squares” with Peter Marshall, when the celebrities’ responses were spontaneous and not scripted as they are now? Here are some of the classic questions and answers: Q. Do female frogs croak? A. Paul Lynde: If you hold their little heads under water long enough.
Q. If you're going to make a parachute jump, at least how high should you be? A. Charley Weaver: Three days of steady drinking should do it.
Q. True or False -- a pea can last as long as 5,000 years. A. George Gobel: Boy, it sure seems that way sometimes.
Q. You've been having trouble going to sleep. Are you probably a man or a woman? A. Don Knotts: That's what's been keeping me awake.
Q. According to Cosmopolitan, if you meet a stranger at a party and you think he is attractive, is it OK to come out and ask him if he's married? A. Rose Marie: No; wait until morning.
21 Q. Which of your five senses tends to diminish as you get older? A. Charley Weaver: My sense of decency.
Q. In Hawaiian, does it take more than three words to say "I love you"? A. Vincent Price: No, you can say it with a pineapple and a twenty.
Q. What are "Do It," "I Can Help," and "I Can't Get Enough"? A. George Gobel: I don't know, but it's coming from the next apartment.
Q. As you grow older, do you tend to gesture more or less with your hands while talking? A. Rose Marie: You ask me one more growing-old question, Peter, and I'll give you a gesture you'll never forget.
Q. Paul, why do Hell's Angels wear leather? A. Paul Lynde: Because chiffon wrinkles too easily.
Q. Charley, you've just decided to grow strawberries. Are you going to get any during the first year? A. Charley Weaver: Of course not, I'm too busy growing strawberries.
Q. In bowling, what's a perfect score? A. Rose Marie: Ralph, the pin boy.
Q. It is considered in bad taste to discuss two subjects at nudist camps. One is politics, what is the other? A. Paul Lynde: Tape measures.
Q. During a tornado, are you safer in the bedroom or in the closet? A. Rose Marie: Unfortunately, Peter, I'm always safe in the bedroom.
Q. Can boys join the Camp Fire Girls? A. Marty Allen: Only after lights out.
Q. When you pat a dog on its head, it will wag its tail. What will a goose do? A. Paul Lynde: Make him bark?
Q. If you were pregnant for two years, what would you give birth to? A. Paul Lynde: Whatever it is, it would never be afraid of the dark.
22 Q. According to Ann Landers, is there anything wrong with getting into the habit of kissing a lot of people? A. Charley Weaver: It got me out of the Army.
Q. It is the most abused and neglected part of your body, what is it? A. Paul Lynde: Mine may be abused, but it certainly isn't neglected.
Q. Back in the old days, when Great Grandpa put horseradish on his head, what was he trying to do? A. George Gobel: Get it in his mouth.
Q. Who stays pregnant for a longer period of time, your wife or your elephant? A. Paul Lynde: Who told you about my elephant?
Q. When a couple have a baby, who is responsible for its sex? A. Charley Weaver: I'll lend him the car, but the rest is up to him.
Q. Jackie Gleason recently revealed that he firmly believes in them and has actually seen them on at least two occasions. What are they? A. Charley Weaver: His feet.
Q. According to Ann Landers, what are two things you should never do in bed? A. Paul Lynde: Point and laugh. ☻☻☻☻☻☻
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