Feb. 5, 2007
The Digest
What‟s Happening at KVCC
What’s below in this edition
„An Inconvenient Truth‟ (Pages 1/2) „The Jazz Singer‟ (Pages 12/13)
M-TEC „grad‟ (Pages 2-4) Music at museum (Pages 13/14)
Cowboy truth (Pages 4/5) Off to Eire? (Page 14)
Diversity confab (Page 5) Eye on autism (Page 15)
Poet Jack Ridl (Page 6) Puppet show (Pages 15/16)
Paying for college (Pages 7/8) Heart Walk (Pages 16/17)
WMU on campus (Page 8) Area hobbyists (Page 17)
History‟s things (Page 9) Bound for Butler (Page 18)
Jazz by Potter (Pages 9-11) Keyboard ducats (Page 18)
Feed the hungry (Page 11) Reading Together (Pages 18-20)
High-tech internships (Pages 11/12) A valuable experience (P-20/21)
And finally (Pages 21/22)
☻☻☻☻☻☻
Gore’s documentary booked for Commons
Five free showings of ―An Inconvenient Truth,‖ the Academy Award-nominated
documentary about global warming featuring former Vice President Al Gore, have been
booked for Kalamazoo Valley Community College in February.
Part of the college‘s ongoing series, ―Eye on Ethics and Civility,‖ the showings
come on the heels of a new 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 show in the Student Commons Theater on the Texas Township Campus:
Monday, Feb. 12, at 11 a.m.
Thursday, Feb. 15, at 9:30 a.m.
Thursday, Feb. 22, at 2 p.m.
Monday, Feb. 26, at 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 28, at 12:30 p.m.
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All are open to the public, while faculty are encouraged to send their students as
part of components in their courses. Several instructors are using the book as a text
during the semester.
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.
M-TEC ‘graduate’ sets up shop in downtown
Fueled by growing revenues and an expanding workforce, a start-up, life-
sciences company that was incubated in KVCC‘s M-TEC is establishing new
headquarters in downtown Kalamazoo.
Established in October of 2003 by former Pfizer Inc. researchers Patricia Ruppel
and James Dancy, Innovative Analytics was the first start-up enterprise to locate in the
second-floor incubator of the college‘s Michigan Technical Education Center in February
2004.
Encouraged by Southwest Michigan First to apply for Michigan Life Science
Corridor (MLSC) funding, Innovative Analytics received a grant to provide data-
management and statistical-analysis services for clinical, pharmacogenomic and
biomarker research trials.
With gross revenues exceeding $1 million during 2006, Innovative Analytics has
pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical-device clients in the United States, Canada,
Japan, Australia, Iceland, France, Great Britain and Germany.
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Ruppel and Dancy, who were colleagues in a Experimental Medicine unit in
downtown Kalamazoo, brought with them 27 and 17 years, respectively, of Kalamazoo-
based experience with The Upjohn Co. and Pharmacia. They both left Pfizer in the fall of
2003.
―Our first revenue came in December of 2003,‖ said Ruppel, who received her
academic credentials and training as a biostatistician at Western Michigan University and
the University of Michigan. ―The MLSC reviewers encouraged us to quickly build a core
capacity so Jim and I recruited a third full-timer, Greg Elfring , who had been with
Pfizer‘s animal-health division.
―This was followed by the employment of several experienced colleagues which
whom we had worked at Pharmacia,‖ Ruppel said. ―The level of clinical development
and registration expertise that we provide is very attractive to potential clients.‖
Innovative Analytics began 2007 with 10 full-time staff members and six part-
timers, said Ruppel, who is president of the start-up.
―We were running out of space,‖ she said, ―and we are anticipating more growth.
We have leased the 6,500-square-foot, fifth-floor of The Haymarket building in
downtown Kalamazoo and plan to move there by mid-February. It will give us the space
to add three more full-time employees over the next four months.‖
―While the M-TEC location was perfect for us and is a beautiful setting in
KVCC‘s The Groves,‖ said Dancy, vice president of operations, ―we both liked the idea
of being back downtown, which is where we had worked for Pfizer.‖
Dancy, who has an engineering degree from the University of Michigan and a
master‘s in business administration from Oklahoma University, said that all of Innovative
Analytics‘ 2006 revenue was ―generated out of state, which means we are not
cannibalizing other Michigan jobs. Instead, we have been bringing new money into
Southwest Michigan.‖
As long-time Pfizer employees, both had offers with the Kalamazoo downsizing
to move to other corporate installations, but they chose to stay in the Kalamazoo area
because of family priorities and ―to give their own business a go,‖ Ruppel said. ―The
support and guidance from community entities such as M-TEC and Southwest Michigan
First have continued to be tremendous resources.‖
Because of their experiences with Upjohn, Pharmacia, Pfizer and other pharmas,
they already had a well-established network of potential future clients. ―We didn‘t have
to do any marketing or make any sales pitches,‖ she said. ―We were being contacted by
them on a regular basis.‖
―This is exactly why the college decided to dedicate half of the second-floor wing
to being a business incubator,‖ said James DeHaven, the M-TEC executive director and
KVCC‘s vice president for economic development. ―Jim and Patty are our first incubator
graduates and we are proud of what they have and will be accomplishing. We will be
following the success of all of our graduates.‖
―The Haymarket location,‖ Dancy said, ―will not only provide the additional space
we need for continued and measured growth, but it will offer us the security and control
we need for being involved in a highly regulated industry. The M-TEC was a great place
to start. Now we are ready for our next phase of growth. Our new landlord, Treystar, has
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been very willing to work with us on establishing a new work space that meets our
business needs.‖
Dancy said that Innovative Analytics, in its first three-plus years of existence, has
been and is involved in research and studies of both drugs and devices that are targeting
cancer, cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy, and migraine headaches.
Clients, the founders say, have come from both large pharmas, which, trends
indicate, are more interested in outsourcing portions of clinical development, and small
drug companies that don‘t have either the financial or human resources to internally
provide high levels of data management and statistical analysis required for the
development of new compounds.
With the departure of Innovative Analytics, the M-TEC incubator will have four
occupants – BioMedPharmIS, The Write Phase, Debiak Consultants, and NanoMed
Pharmaceuticals.
The college‘s Michigan High Throughput Screening Center is located in the other
wing.
The black and white of America’s cowboy era
Thanks to Hollywood and to television‘s early days, the image of the American
cowboy comes across as the hero who never kissed the girl, the clean-shaven good guy
out to right wrongs, and always white.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Instead of ―The Reel West,‖ a flashback
to ―The Real West‖ is scheduled for the Texas Township Campus on Wednesday (Feb.
7).
Murphy Darden, a Kalamazoo resident since 1948, will present ―The History of
Black Cowboys‖ from 12:30 to 1:45 p.m. in the Student Commons Theater.
On display at that time and through noon Thursday will be part of his collection of
black-cowboy memorabilia.
The program, part of Kalamazoo Valley Community College‘s observance of
Black History Month, is free and open to the public.
Joining him will be KVCC alumnus Buddy Hannah, a Black Civic Theater
performer, one of the guiding lights in the Black Arts and Cultural Center as a poet, an
organizer of the Black Arts Festival, and a columnist for The Kalamazoo Gazette.
Far from being mirror images of the likes of Roy Rogers, Hopalong Cassidy, Tom
Mix and Hoot Gibson, the American cowboy was more of an adventurous, narrow-
minded country bumpkin whose hard riding was matched by hard drinking.
After a rough cattle drive, he more than likely ended up in jail or a brothel than
the local church for Sunday services.
The era of the cowboy lasted about a generation, from the end of the Civil War to
the mid-1880s. Researchers estimate their number as no more than 40,000 over that 20-
year period.
For every ―professional‖ on the trail, there was a disillusioned adventure seeker
from half a world away and a good-humored youth trying to show how tough he was.
Historians and collectors such as Darden place the number of black cowboys at
around 5,000. Most of them had been slaves on Texas ranches, where they were taught
the skills of roping and riding. Freedom sent them to the cattle range.
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Another 5,000 were Hispanics. At least, their future generations had The Cisco
Kid on the screen.
Darden‘s repertoire includes the story of men such as Nat Love, who was born in
a slave cabin in Tennessee in 1854, rode into Dodge City at the age of 15, began work as
a trail hand, and ended up as a rodeo celebrity.
Another African-American, Bill Pickett, is considered the greatest steer wrestler
of the American West. ―The Yellow Rose of Texas,‖ he can prove, was actually ―The
Black Rose of Texas.‖
Darden, who grew up in Aberdeen, Miss., remembers going to movies as a boy
and loving the shoot-‘em-ups at the local Bijou. Etched in the back of his mind was a
curiosity that none of those faces on the screen looked like him.
Once he learned as an adult that there were cowboys of that ilk, he began in 1976
building his collection of artifacts that reflected the legacy of the black cowboy who
earned their niches in the cattle industry and in the world of rodeo.
Diversity conference set for March 16
Tolerance for religious differences, discrimination and misconceptions involving
the elderly, and the ―squeezing‖ of the middle class toward levels of poverty are among
the topics to be addressed by KVCC‘s yearly Diversity Conference.
The fourth annual gathering, which is free and open to the public, is slated for
Friday, March, 16, in the Dale Lake Auditorium on the Texas Township Campus.
Webster‘s dictionary defines diversity as ―a point or respect in which things
differ.‖ This year‘s theme is ―Diversity: Tag, You‘re It,‖ meaning that people of any and
all ilks contribute to the diversity in a community.
Among the features will be opening remarks by Christian Weller, a senior fellow
for the Washington-based Center for American Progress, which describes itself as a
―think-tank dedicated to improving the lives of Americans through ideas and action.‖
In ―The Slippery Slope from Middle Class to Working Poor,‖ Weller will share
his research on the ―squeezing‖ of the middle class and the ever-shrinking resources
available to U. S. working families.
Nehad Heilel, a faculty member at the University of Alexandria in Egypt and a
visiting professor at Western Michigan University, and Gulhar Husain, a Muslim-
American living in Kalamazoo, will talk about ―Women in Islam: Debunking the Myth..‖
The third segment, ―Bridging the Ages,‖ will be illustrated by Giant Dreams
Studio Puppet Theater using skits, songs and dance to tell the tale of what the elderly face
in their daily existence.
With details to follow, these three components will be further explored in one-
hour panel discussions that will come on the heels of each presentation.
The conference begins with check-in starting at 7:30 a.m. and the first session set
for 8:15. It concludes with closing remarks by 4 p.m. Pre-registration is required.
For more information and to register, go to www.kvcc.edu and click on the
diversity box at the bottom of the page, or go directly to the conference webpage at
http://diversity.kvcc.edu.
Participation is limited to 350.
Students may attend the full conference or drop in at various sessions.
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About Writing to bring in Hope poet Feb. 20
Poet Jack Ridl, a Hope College faculty member for the best part of four decades,
will launch the college‘s About Writing series for the winter semester.
According to organizer Rob Haight, Ridl will talk about his craft at 10 a.m. on
Tuesday, Feb. 20, in the Student Commons Forum. He will read from his latest book of
poetry, ―Broken Symmetry,‖ at 2 p.m. in the Commons Theater.
Following Ridl on Thursday, April 5, will be writer Ander Monson, a poet,
essayist and fiction writer. He will talk about writing at 10 a.m. in the Forum and read
from his latest fiction collection, ―Other Eccentricities,‖ at 2 p.m. in the Commons
Theater.
All of the About Writing sessions are free and open to the public.
Ridl, who taught at Hope for 36 years before retiring, established Hope‘s Visiting
Writers Series in 1985 with his wife, Julie. He‘s published more than 300 poems in 60-
plus literary magazines.
In 1996, The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching named Ridl
"Michigan Professor of the Year." He was selected the Hope student body's "Favorite
Professor" in 2003, and has twice been asked by the students to deliver the college's
commencement address. Some 40 of Ridl's former students have gone on to master‘s
degrees in fine arts and to publishing their work nationally.
Ridl grew up in both the world of basketball, where his father was a well-known
head coach at Westminster College and the University of Pittsburgh, and in the world of
the circus inherited from his mother's family. Some of his poems spring from both
heritages.
Ridl lives along a creek that winds into Lake Michigan with his wife, two dogs
and two cats.
Commented one reviewer: ―Jack Ridl writes with complete generosity and full-
hearted wisdom and care. His deeply intelligent, funny and gracious poems are packed
with the music of genuine voices, woven with history, people and movement, the whole,
delicious sweet fabric of days. They befriend a reader so completely and warmly we
might all have the revelation that our lives are rich poems, too.‖
Ridl joined the Hope faculty in 1971 as an English instructor after earning his
bachelor‘s and master‘s in education at Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pa.
His father coached basketball there in the 1950s and 1960s.
In 2001 his collection "Against Elegies" was chosen by U.S. Poet Laureate Billy
Collins as the winner of the "Letterpress Chapbook Competition" sponsored by the Center
for Book Arts of New York City. "Broken Symmetry" was published by Wayne State
University Press in 2006. He‘s also co-authored two textbooks.
Said Kalamazoo College poet Conrad Hilberry about Ridl‘s work: "One group of
poems is unmatched, I believe, anywhere in American poetry. I mean the sports poems.
These bring to the world of midwestern high school basketball the sort of authority, the
sure nuance and detail, that the movie ‗Bull Durham‘ brings to minor league baseball.
They are so compelling, so varied, so familiar to anyone who knows high school and
sports that they may well introduce a new genre."
More information is available by contacting Haight at extension 4452.
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KVCC hosts ‘College Goal Sunday’ Feb. 11
―College Goal Sunday,‖ an event designed to help students complete the FAFSA
(Free Application for Federal Student Aid) in their pursuit of higher-education assistance,
will be held in the Student Commons from 2 to 4 p.m. on Feb. 11.
Financial-aid experts from area colleges, including Western Michigan University
and Kalamazoo College, will be on hand to volunteer their time and expertise to help
students complete the FAFSA.
Also available will be Robert Jorth, who is coordinating the Kalamazoo Promise
initiative for the Kalamazoo Public Schools. Representatives from Davenport University
and the Michigan Career Technical Institute in the Plainwell area will also be taking part..
The two-hour opportunity is free and open to the public. It is geared toward
seniors in high school, but students currently enrolled in college can be aided. Those
seeking assistance should bring with them the family‘s 2006 tax forms.
Robert Bechtel, a KVCC financial-aid adviser, said this is the fourth year
―College Goal Sunday‖ has been held across the state of Michigan. There will be 27
similar sites in operation on Feb. 11, including Kellogg Community College in Battle
Creek, Lake Michigan College in Benton Harbor, Grand Valley State University‘s Grand
Rapids campus, and Davenport University in Holland.
Along with completing the FAFSA, the agenda will feature a financial-aid
presentation and all participants will have a chance to win one of four $500 scholarships.
For more information, contact Bechtel at extension 4231 or this web site:
www.MICollegeGoal.org.
―College Goal Sunday‖ is being organized by the Michigan Student Financial Aid
Association, which will be providing scores of volunteers to help families complete the
six-page forms.
Too many families leave cash for college on the table because they don‘t realize
how much is out there, are confused by the forms or wait until the end to complete them,
according to Partnership for Learning, a nonprofit training and media team coordinating
the event. Partnership for Learning can also be contacted for more information at 1-800-
832-2464.
Most families overestimate the cost of college and underestimate how much
financial aid helps. They also risk losing money when they fail to submit their FAFFA
federal-aid form by the March 1 priority date.
―Even if you‘re not sure you‘re going to college,‖ Bechtel said, ―you should still
fill out the form now to maximize how much money you could get. You can always
make up your mind later about whether to accept it.‖
The FAFSA form provided at ―College Goal Sunday‖ is the primary ticket for
determining most loans, grants and other aid nationwide for attending colleges and
technical schools. To fill it in, parents or students should bring each family‘s completed
2006 Internal Revenue Service 1040 tax return if possible and their W-2, 1099 and other
income records.
Students younger than 23 years of age are encouraged to attend with a parent or
guardian.
―College Goal Sunday,‖ which began in Indiana in 1989 and now runs in 23
states, will serve 27 Michigan communities this year. Primary funding is provided by the
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Lumina Foundation for Education, the Great Lakes Higher Education Guaranty Corp.,
and the Texas Guaranty Agency. Other partners are the Michigan Guaranty Agency,
Partnership for Learning, and the Michigan State Financial Aid Association.
Wednesday forum seeks smooth transition to WMU
Transferring to Western Michigan University as smoothly as possible is the thrust
of a Wednesday (Feb. 7) forum being hosted by the Focus Program.
From 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., representatives from 13 WMU programs, divisions
and units will be in Room 4380 on the Texas Township Campus. Faculty members are
being asked to inform their students about this opportunity.
Free refreshments will be served at this seventh annual Focus Program Forum.
KVCC students interested in becoming a Western Bronco after completing work
on their two-year degree here will be able to get information from the:
● College of Arts and Science
● College of Aviation
● College of Education
● College of Engineering and Applied Sciences
● College of Fine Arts
● Lee Honors College
● Office of Financial Aid
● Division of Multicultural Affairs
● Office of Admissions
● College of Health and Human Services
● Division of Occupational Education Studies
● Haworth College of Business
● Office of University Curriculum.
―This is the perfect time to get the scoop on the how, what, when, where and why
of the academic life of a Western Bronco,‖ says Bonita Bates, director of the Focus
Program. She can be contacted at extension 4529. The forum is open to all students.
The Focus Program is a student-support initiative at KVCC in partnership with
WMU. The objective is to increase the number of KVCC students who successfully
complete an associate degree and then transfer to WMU to work on a four-year diploma
in their field of study.
More details or information, is also available by contacting Robyn Robinson at
extension 4779 or by visiting her in Room 1364.
The members of the Focus Program Advisory Council are Mary Johnson, Robert
Sutton, Sadie Miles, Brian Olson, Natalie Patchell, Mimi Johnson, Bruce Kocher and
Marilyn Duke.
For students who plan on transferring to WMU, an on-site admissions day at
KVCC is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 13, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the Texas Township
Campus. Western staff members will be on hand to review applications, offer updates on
admission status, and talk about financial-aid possibilities.
Students can visit the KVCC Counseling Office or the Focus Program on Feb. 7
to sign up for appointments.
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‘Sunday Series’ looks at regional artifacts
―The Things of History II: More Artifacts, More Stories‖ is the ―Sunday Series
installment on Feb. 11 at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum
Curator Tom Dietz offers a look at some of the more intriguing artifacts in the
permanent collections of the museum.
―Artifacts are the things that make up history,‖ says Dietz. ―Those that we collect
have a story; they‘re not just anonymous objects purchased at a garage sale.‖
Among the artifacts that Dietz will discuss are a bust of Gen. William R. Shafter
of Galesburg, a major figure in many American military engagements, and a trumpet
associated with Col. Orlando H. Moore, who took part in a heroic stand by Union forces
during the Civil War that went largely unheralded because it occurred at the same time as
the battles at Gettysburg.
Others include such everyday objects as a toaster, mouse trap, horseshoes, several
toys and games, and fraternal regalia made by Ihling Brothers Everard.
Dietz will display some 15 objects and reveal the stories that make these artifacts
such an important window into the history of this community.
All ―Sunday Series‖ programs are held in the Mary Jane Stryker Theater at the
museum and begin at 1:30 p.m. Admission is free.
Upcoming ―Sunday Series‖ topics are:
.● ―Friends of Poetry: Poetry Artifactory IV‖ on Feb. 25.
● ―Economic Development in 19th Century Kalamazoo‖ on March 18.
● ―Play Ball! Baseball in Kalamazoo‖ on April 1.
● ―The Kalamazoo River and the Settlement of Kalamazoo‖ on April 22.
● ―Horse Racing and Race Horses in Kalamazoo‖ on May 6.
For further information, contact Dietz at extension 7984.
Sax player Chris Potter to perform here
Regarded as the best saxophonist of his generation, jazz stylist Chris Potter will
perform for an Artists Forum audience on Wednesday, Feb. 21, at Kalamazoo Valley
Community College.
Tickets for the 7:30 p.m. concert in the Dale Lake Auditorium on the Texas
Township Campus are available -- $15 for general admission, $10 for students.
In effect, the 36-year-old devotee of the likes of Miles Davis, Paul Desmond and
Dave Brubeck will be following in the footsteps of Marian McPartland, who is the jazz
pianist credited with discovering him and who has performed for Kalamazoo audiences
several times.
The college‘s Artists Forum series each academic year is co-sponsored by the
Irving S. Gilmore Foundation.
Born in Chicago but raised in Columbia, S. C., Potter began strumming a guitar
and playing that ―clink-clink jazz‖ on the piano as a 3 year old.
By the age of 10, his choice of instrument had switched to an alto sax and he
played his first gig three years later.
His parents‘ extensive record collection broadened Potter‘s musical education
from Bach to the Beatles, but the legends of jazz attracted his keenest interest.
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When McPartland first heard Potter‘s style as a 15 year old, she advised his father
that the youth was ready for the road with a unit as celebratory as Woody Herman‘s
Thundering Herd.
But finishing high school remained the priority and by the time the diploma was
hanging on the wall, Potter‘s stable of instruments included alto, tenor and soprano
saxophones, the bass clarinet and alto flute.
Potter‘s 18th birthday found him enrolled in the Manhattan School of Music in
New York City where he formed a lasting friendship with one of his professors, pianist
Kenny Werner, and re-connected with Red Rodney, with whom he had played at a jazz
festival in Columbia.
Over the next four years, Potter honed his skills at the side of the bebop
heavyweight in a quintet until Rodney died in 1994.
Graduating from Manhattan in 1993, Potter began a long series of sideman
activities with top jazz performers, including guesting with McPartland on one of her
albums.
By the mid-1990s, Potters was cutting his own albums as a combo leader. One
was cited as the year‘s top CD by both Jazziz and The New York Times.
He also performed on Steely Dan‘s Grammy-nominated, gold album ―Two
Against Nature.‖
Potter earned his own Grammy nomination for ―best instrumental jazz solo‖ for
his work on Joanne Brackeen‘s ―Pink Elephant Magic.‖
He‘s the youngest recipient ever to receive the annual Danish Jazzpar Prize.
Potter has performed with his own groups since early 2001 in Paris, London,
Florence, Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, and other jazz-happy urban centers.
He has been a featured performer at the Monterey Jazz Festival and has sided for
Dave Holland.
The multi-reedman and composer Chris Potter is cited by critics and peers as the
finest saxophonist of his generation for two reasons – his own style and for being well-
schooled in the masters who have blazed the trail in the musical genre.
―I want my music to have that kind of emotional impact,‖ Potter said. ―What I
learned from them in terms of phrasing, sound, and approach to rhythm will never be
outdated.
―I would like to basically use the same aesthetic sensibility with more
contemporary harmonic and rhythmic concepts,‖ he said, ―while being influenced by
classical, world music, funk, rock, rap, country, whatever -- digesting new ideas, new
influences to keep the freshness alive.
―Each band leader, each great musician I‘ve had the chance to work with,‖ Potter
said, ―has inspired me in a certain way. Without all those experiences I don‘t think I‘d be
ready to be doing this now.
―I want people to dance if they can, to feel the music and not think of it as
something complicated and forbidding,‖ he said. ―I want to be communicating
something. You can do that and not sacrifice anything artistically.‖
Potter has been able to accomplish all of this despite a bout with Meniere‘s
disease, a recurring condition that eroded much of the hearing in one ear.
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Tickets for Potter‘s Artists Forum concert can be purchased at the KVCC
Bookstore on the Texas Township Campus and at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum.
The gospel, according to a warm meal
KVCC faculty members and students who helped served meals at the Kalamazoo
Gospel Mission during the fall semester are looking for more assistants when they repeat
the volunteerism this week and over the next few months.
College employees interested in joining the KVCC contingent can sign up on the
KVCC Faculty Association bulletin board by the faculty lounge, or send an e-mail to
Natalie Patchell. Students may sign up on the Service Learning bulletin board.
Those who participate can park in the Kalamazoo Gospel Mission lot across from
the new bus depot/train station in downtown Kalamazoo and enter through the center
doors to the cafeteria.
―Dress casually and somewhat cool as we work in a warm kitchen,‖ said Patchell,
who has signed up for the Wednesday (Feb. 7) session with business instructor Steve
Walman.
Counselor Gerri Jacobs is signed on for Wednesday, March 7, while
communications instructor Pat Conroy and Arcadia Commons Campus instructor Isaac
Turner are booked for May 2. The April 4 date is still looking for volunteers.
KVCC part of high-tech internship venture
Southwest Michigan First, acting in partnership with the Monroe-Brown
Foundation and 11 regional companies, has launched a new program to establish paid
internships in a variety of fields because one of the key components to sustained
economic development is ―lots of smart people.‖
Called the Southwest Michigan First Talent Network, the partnership will provide
summer internships for 25 students enrolled at KVCC, Western Michigan University, and
Kalamazoo College. The objective is to train the next generation of workforce in high-
tech fields, including manufacturing.
The selected interns will work 400 hours between May 1 and Aug. 31, receive at
least minimum wage, and, upon completion, obtain at $500 bonus from the employing
company and another $500 match from the foundation. In addition, Monroe-Brown will
award $2,500 scholarships.
―We looked toward engineering and life science as the two main industries, said
Lindsay Tjepkema of Southwest Michigan First. ―Those are two of our core focuses at
Southwest Michigan First with the other two being logistics and call centers.‖
So far, 11 companies have signed up to hire one or two interns: Jasper Clinical
Research and Development Inc., Stryker Instruments, A. M. Todd Co., Stryker Medical,
the CSM Group, Landscape Forms, ProNAI, ADMETRx, Proteos, NanoVir, and Tekna.
They all agree that a successful community must have a constant flow of highly
skilled, highly educated individuals to stay strong and compete in a global marketplace.
And, in the wake of the latest news about Pfizer, stay flexible and open-minded enough to
be able to cope with an ever-changing world.
The program will also be reaching out to former residents of Southwest Michigan
and individuals/families outside the area who might be thinking about relocating to the
region.
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To be eligible for the internships, students must be juniors, seniors or graduate
students at four-year schools or in their second year at KVCC. Students should apply for
the internships directly through the participating companies. The selections will be
announced in March.
Jolson, ‘West Side Story’ next in flic series
One of Hollywood‘s first commercial ventures into the coming world of ―talkies‖
and one of the greatest musicals of all time are the next billings in the Kalamazoo Valley
Museum‘s movie series.
. ―The Jazz Singer,‖ produced in 1927 with Al Jolson in the starring role is
booked for Feb. 10-11. ―West Side Story‖ – ―Maria, say it loud and there‘s music
playing, say it soft and it‘s almost like praying‖-- is the Feb. 17-18 billing.
Through spring, the museum will be 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 Mary Jane 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. ―West Side Story‖ will also be the Saturday-matinee special that weekend.
Warner Bros.' and director Alan Crosland's ―The Jazz Singer‖ is an historic
milestone film and cinematic landmark, although it was not the first sound film, the first
―'talkie‖ nor the first movie musical.
It was based on Samson Raphaelson's 1921 short story "The Day of Atonement"
and adapted for the screen by Alfred A. Cohn.
Warners' risky investment of $500,000 in the Vitaphone sound system brought
profits of $3.5 million at the box office. It was a huge success, responsible for
transforming Warners into Hollywood's hottest film factory. Its success proved the
profitability of sound in films.
So what was ―The Jazz Singer?‖ It was the first feature-length Hollywood
"talkie" in which spoken dialogue was used as part of the dramatic action. It is, however,
only 25 percent talkie with sound-synchronized, vocal musical numbers and
accompaniment. The first "all-talking" (or all-dialogue) feature-length picture was
Warners' gangster film. ―Lights of New York‖ in 1928.
―The Jazz Singer‖ features only a few scenes, besides the songs, where dialogue is
spoken synchronously. A musical score, composed of a potpourri of melodies including
sources such as Tchaikowsky, traditional Hebrew music and popular ballads, and musical
sound effects accompany the action throughout the entire film. The characters are given
individual musical themes.
Jolson was given the lead after Eddie Cantor and George Jessel rejected Warners'
offer to play the title role. Audiences were wildly enthusiastic when Jolson, America's
favorite jazz singer and superstar, broke into song, ad-libbed extemporaneously with his
mother at the piano, and proclaimed the famous line to introduce a musical number:
―Wait a minute, wait a minute. You ain't heard nothin' yet!‖
Although the film was ruled ineligible in the Best Picture category because it was
thought unfair for a sound film to compete with silents), Warner Bros.' production head
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Darryl F. Zanuck was presented with a special Oscar at the very first Academy Awards
ceremony in May of 1929 "for producing ‗The Jazz Singer,‘ the pioneer outstanding
talking picture, which has revolutionized the industry."
Remade twice, the film is about a young man‘s bent on a career in contemporary
music as opposed to a religious life being prescribed for him by his father, a five-
generation Jewish cantor in New York City. There is a huge rift between father and son
and a rejection of the Jewish faith.
In the larger scope of Hollywood, among films originally released in 1927,
available evidence suggests that ―The Jazz Singer‖ was among the three biggest box
office hits, trailing only ―The King of Kings‖ and ―Wings.‖
―West Side Story‖ won 10 Academy Awards after it hit the screen in 1961, and its
adaptation of the Romeo-and-Juliet saga remains fresh and vibrant 45 years later.
Starring Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno, and
George Chakiris, the 151-minute film focuses on rival gangs in a New York ghetto.
Excellent on-location photography adds to the reality, but even that places second
to the quality of the music by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim. The
choreography by Jerome Robbins is as exhilarating as the lyrics are snappy.
Oscars were won for best picture, best director (Robert Wise), best supporting
actor and actress (Chakiris and Moreno) and best cinematography.
: Here are the Stryker Theater attractions through spring:
♦ ―Who‘s Camus Anyway?‖ (Japan, 2005) – Feb. 24-25.
♦ ―Blazing Saddles‖ (1974) – March 3-4.
♦ ―Safety Last!‖ (1925) – March 10-11.
♦ ―Monster Thursday‖ (Norway, 2004) – March 31-April 1.
♦ ―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.
Music by Mark Duval and friends
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 through the arrival of
spring.
13
Booked for its ―Music at the Museum‖ series in the 84-seat, surround-sound Mary
Jane Stryker Theater are 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.
This week‘s Feb. 8 concert will feature singer/songwriter Mark Duval. He will be
joined by Traci Seuss, Larry Lowis and Scott Dill. Using trumpet, violin, cello, banjo,
clarinet, guitar and mandolin, the group will perform tunes from Duval‘s debut CD,
―Rhythm of the Rustbelt‖ and his second release due this May.
Tickets for each 7:30 p.m. performance don‘t require taking out a second
mortgage either. Admission is $5, and here is who you will get to enjoy later on:
♫ The jazz-cajun-old time music combo of Steppin‘ In It – March 15.
♫ Folk singer Rachel Davis accompanied by Bret Hartenbach – April 12.
♫ And one of the most famous acts across the planet, ―To Be Announced.‖
Ireland-trip deadline is Monday
Through the eyes of an artist, there is more to Ireland than green, KVCC students
will again learn this spring.
Instructor Linda Rzoska, program coordinator at the Center for New Media, will
be guiding her seventh study trip to Ireland, which for the second time will be under the
auspices of the KVCC-based Midwest Institute for International/Intercultural Education.
The deadline to apply is Monday (Feb. 5).
From June 1 through June 23, a KVCC contingent will be based at Burren on
central Ireland‘s west coast overlooking Galway Bay, an area that for centuries has been a
source of inspiration for all genre of artists — poets, novelists, painters, sculptors,
musicians and playwrights.
The three-credit sociology class, ―Irish Life and Culture,‖ will give students the
opportunity to experience the culture and history of this fabled land. The Burren College
of Art, which is on the grounds of a 16th-century castle, will serve as the headquarters for
the course as students explore the geography, history, flora, fauna and culture of this part
of Ireland.
Known as ―The Stony Place,‖ Burren is home to a wealth of archeological and
monuments that includes megalithic tombs, medieval castles and abandoned abbeys.
The KVCC students will delve into past and present Irish life, ancient and
medieval times, legends, poetry, mythology, religion, dance and music. They will learn
to understand the landscape, history and mythology of this historic and mystical area that
has been an important part of Ireland‘s legend for artistic creativity.
The students will receive a certificate from both the Midwest Institute and Burren
College designating they have completed the three-credit course.
Eight field trips will take students to ancient monuments that chronicle the history
of an Irish culture dating back more than 7,000 years. They will experience an abbey
built in 1194, a 9th-century ring fort built of stone, a 6,000-year-old tomb, cliffs that
plunge 700 feet to the Atlantic, and the coastal limestone region known as Black Head.
Rzoska said the estimated cost will range from $1,900 to $2050, not including
airfare to Shannon, Ireland. Those interested can contact her at extension 7923 or
lrzoska@kvcc.edu. A $150 deposit is required.
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Autism dialogue at Arcadia
Continuing to prep the college community for this year‘s Reading Together
initiative, the Arcadia Committee for Cultural Understanding has scheduled a brown-bag-
luncheon discussion about ―Serving Autistic Students and Visitors.‖
It is slated for Wednesday, Feb. 14, from noon to 1 p.m. in Room 128A at Anna
Whitten Hall.
Autism educators/specialists Brenda Gagie, Michelle Simino and Robert Rostar
will lead the discussion on understanding how to work with students and visitors who
exhibit autistic behaviors. The presentation is free and open to the public.
The First United Methodist Church of Kalamazoo is hosting a discussion series on
―Understanding Differences and Developing Community‖ in conjunction with Reading
Together 2007.
The chosen book for the Kalamazoo Public Library‘s annual Reading Together
venture 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 a form of autism who overcomes
obstacles to solve a mystery surrounding the death of a neighbor‘s dog.
KVCC, through librarian Jim Ratliff‘s membership on the program‘s planning
committee, is a partner in the venture.
The presentations at the church, located at 211 S. Park St., are all free and open to
the public. Each Sunday session in the church parlor will run from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m.
Here‘s the remaining schedule of topics and speakers.
Feb. 4: Vicki Stewart, who teaches English literature and creative writing at
Western Michigan University, will discuss Haddon‘s book.
Feb. 11: ―Welcoming People with Disabilities into the Life of Our Church and
Community: How Can We Become Advocates for Social Change to Create an Inclusive
Community?‖ is the topic for Jerry Albertson, director of community relations for the
Disability Resource Center of Southwest Michigan.
For more information about the church‘s series, contact Lois Schmidt at 353-5332
or by e-mail at mylo82@chartermi.net.
Puppets to entertain families, pre-schoolers
An adaptation of the legend of King Arthur is next in the Kalamazoo Valley
Museum‘s 2007 series of specialty concerts and programs for families and pre-schoolers.
Greg Lester‘s Puppet Adventures will present ―The Sword in the Stone‖ on
Saturday (Feb. 3).
The troupe of eight characters will perform for a pre-school audience at 10 a.m.
on that Saturday and come back at 1 p.m. for a family show. The former 30-minute
program is free, while there is a $3 admission charge for the second performance. Both
will be held in the Mary Jane Stryker Theater.
Lester‘s puppets in past years have also presented the story of ―Jack and the
Beanstalk‖ at the downtown-Kalamazoo museum.
Lester‘s productions include rich hand-sculpted and -sewn puppets, painted
backdrops and set pieces. There are multiple-scene changes, special effects, lighting, and
self-adapted scripts recorded on digital sound tracks featuring actors‘ voices, musical
background, and sound effects.
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In the tale, the young Arthur encounters the wizard
Merlyn, who teaches him of the magic in the world, the power of
belief, and the value of being just, all preparing him for another
encounter before the sword Excalibur.
Lester‘s puppets have performed at the Cranbrook Art
Museum, the Detroit Zoological Society, the Charlevoix Venetian
Festival, the Muskegon Shoreline Spectacular, and the National
Cherry Festival in Traverse City.
His enterprise offers workshops for creating hand
(pantomime), rod(mechanized), hand-in-mouth(speaking
puppets), and shadow puppets. Characters can be created from
paper mache, latex, neoprene, clipped foam, wood, feathers,
material, and any other medium.
Puppet Adventures offers puppet-performance workshops
for exploring movement, refining animation, creating animation
for scripting, blocking, adapting movement to staging, and
interaction with audience.
The next booking in the museum‘s Saturday series for
young children and families will feature magician John Dudley on March 3 while
entertainer Carolyn Koebel‘s April 7 show will be for a pre-school audience only. That
afternoon, Blue Dahlia will perform for a family audience. Drummer Koebel is a
percussionist for Blue Dahlia.
Limited seating in the Stryker Theater is on a first-come, first-served basis for the
free presentations. 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 performances have 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.
Is your heart into walking?
With the American Heart Association scheduled to stage its annual ―Heart Walk‖
fund-raiser on Saturday, Feb. 17, KVCC is searching for some participants.
―We are looking for students, faculty and staff who would like to be part of a
KVCC team for this event,‖ says Mary Johnson. The event is scheduled for the
Crossroads Mall that day with registration beginning at 7:45 a.m.
She can be contacted at extension 4182 or in the Student Commons for more
information or to sign up for the fund-raiser.
According to the association, cardio-vascular diseases still rate as the nation‘s No.
1 killer and a leading cause of disability. People of all ages and races have risk factors for
suffering a heart attack, stroke or developing a similar life-threatening condition.
Some 65 million Americans have high blood pressure, nearly 100 million have
borderline or worse ―bad‖ cholesterol levels, and more than 136 million rate as
overweight. Another 44 million Americans smoke and 24 million are officially ―couch
potatoes.‖ About 20 million have diagnosed or undiagnosed diabetes.
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The good news is that there are responses to all of these risk factors, which is one
of the prime missions of the American Heart Association.
The association‘s 2005 annual report states that the lion‘s share of funds raised at
such events as the ―Heart Walk‖ is applied to research, public-health education, training,
and community services.
Area collectors in spotlight at museum
Ranging from dangerous toys to peanut-butter containers to crafts from Saudi
Arabia, portions of unusual collections of a dozen Southwest Michigan hobbyists are on
display at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum.
―Show & Tell: Community Collections‖ is the feature attraction in the first-floor
gallery until April 15. A major feature article, including photos of all 12 collectors, was
published in the Nov. 15 edition of The Kalamazoo Gazette.
With each possessing a unique tale of why and how, the collections and their
collectors are:
♦ Dangerous toys such as Jarts and pogo sticks - Tom Vander Horst of Portage.
♦ Containers of various shapes and sizes used to sell and promote peanut butter -
Judy Milne of Kalamazoo.
♦ Telegraph fire-alarm boxes - city of Portage fire fighter Andy Campbell who
lives in Richland.
♦ Bottle openers -- Thomas Minne of Kalamazoo.
♦ Key chains - Eric Kemperman of Coldwater.
♦ Creamers used in restaurants - Leslie Decker, executive director of the Stuart
Area Restoration Association in Kalamazoo.
♦ Symmetrically designed, finely detailed arts, crafts and metalworks fashioned by
Saudi Arabian artisans - Jan Feldmann of Kalamazoo.
♦ Accordion figurines - Stella Gosa of Comstock.
♦ Objects reflecting the history and depiction of African Americans - Gilda
Christine Baylis of Kalamazoo.
♦ Flip-side toasters - Patricia Thompson of Climax.
♦ Dispensers of Pez candies - Wendy Rineveld of Portage.
♦ Metal horses - Carolyn Martin of Galesburg.
As part of the 125th anniversary of its establishment in 1881, the Kalamazoo
Valley Museum decided to not only put on display some of its more unusual and distinct
collections in the first ―Show & Tell‖ exhibit that closed Oct. 15, but to offer Southwest
Michigan collectors the opportunity to show their own treasures in a second exhibition.
In the spring of 2005, the museum put out a call for collectors to nominate their
wares, keepsakes and trinkets for the special invitational exhibition. A museum selection
committee narrowed the field to the dozen chosen exhibitors.
―We were surprised by the types of objects collected and the stories behind them,‖
said Jean Stevens, curator of design at the downtown-Kalamazoo museum. ―The
participants have been fantastic. Their excitement about the things they collect is
contagious. Meeting such interesting folks is the best part of my job.‖
For more information about the regional exhibition, contact Stevens at extension
7962 or at jstevens@kvcc.edu.
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From KVCC Honors to Butler
Next stop for Aaron Buxser, currently enrolled in the KVCC Honors Program, is
Butler University in Indianapolis, Ind.
Honors Program director Stephen Louisell reports that Buxser has been striving to
attend Butler, founded in 1855 by abolitionist attorney Ovid Butler, since his graduation
from Hackett Catholic Central High School.
Butler‘s current enrollment is around 5,000 and Buxser will be a part of that
beginning in September of 2007.
Free tickets to Gilmore Festival recital
Those who would like to sample what the Gilmore International Keyboard
Festival is all about and at the best possible price – free – are invited to attend one of the
festival‘s off-year concerts this spring.
Ingrid Fliter, one of the festival‘s designated ―Rising Stars,‖ will perform on
Friday, April 27, in Chenery Auditorium.
Free tickets for Fliter's piano recital are available to the general public. Interested
attendees should send or drop off a self-addressed, stamped envelope along with their
ticket request (a maximum of two tickets per request).
Seats will be assigned by receipt of the request and mailed in March.
The address is: Irving S. Gilmore International Keyboard Festival, 359 S.
Kalamazoo Mall, #101, Kalamazoo, Mich. 49007. The festival telephone number is
342-1166
For program and artist details, visit the festival website:
Another ―Rising Stars‖ recital will feature Alexander Gavrylyuk on Sunday (Feb.
4) in the Wellspring Theater, located in the Epic Center in downtown Kalamazoo.
In May 2005, Gavrylyuk walked away with the Gold Medal in the Arthur
Rubinstein Piano Competition. Born in Kharkov, Ukraine, in 1984 and now a citizen of
Australia,
Gavrylyuk has won a string of awards that have brought him international
attention. His Sunday program will feature music by Brahms and Chopin, and
Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition.
February’s Reading Together events
KVCC is again be taking part in the Kalamazoo Public Library‘s ―Reading
Together‖ initiative in 2007.
The chosen book for community events through March 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 boy 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.
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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.
Part-time English instructor Jackie Justice-Brown has organized a Reading
Together event that she will be leading.
―Writing Workshop for Parents‖ will be guided by Justice-Brown and KVCC
creative-writing instructors to help the parents of children with autism, Asperger‘s
syndrome, or any disability reflect on their lives and share their experiences through non-
fiction narrative essays, fictional stories, memoirs, or children‘s stories.
It is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 17, at 2 p.m. at the Kalamazoo Public Library‘s
Oshtemo branch, 7265 W. Main St. It is free, but registration is required by calling 488-
4701, extension 2075. It will be repeated on Saturday, Feb. 24, same time, same station.
On Sunday, March 18, in the Kalamazoo Valley Museum‘s Mary Jane Stryker
Theater, films ―Autism and Me‖ and ―Autism Is a World‖ will be shown beginning at 3
p.m. A discussion will follow the two showings.
In his award-winning short film, ―Autism and Me,‖ Rory Hoy, an 18-year-old
British filmmaker with autism, describes the impact of autism on everyday functioning
using easy, accessible language. In ―Autism Is a World,‖ Sue Rubin tells of her journey
through a misdiagnosis of mental retardation, to learning to communicate using a
keyboard, to her current enrollment as a junior in college.
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.‖
Joan Hawxhurst, who coordinates Reading Together for the library, said the
committee of 35 community members who selected the novel represented high schools,
colleges, libraries, bookstores, book clubs, civic and social-service organizations, news-
media outlets, and various religious denominations.
The members wanted something that could appeal to both adult and young
readers, that could generate community dialogue on an important topic.
Here are some other Reading Together events that are free and open to the public:
● “Doggy Daze,” which analyzes the relationship between humans and canines --
11 a.m. on Friday (Feb. 9) in Stetson Chapel on the Kalamazoo College campus.
● “Disability as a Diversity Issue,” a panel presentation that challenges
perceptions of what it means to be a person with a disability and how the culture at large
has obstacles to overcome -- Thursday, Feb. 16, at 7 p.m. as the Disability Resource
Center, 517 E. Crosstown Parkway.
● A discussion of the book -- Friday, Feb. 16, at 7 p.m. at the People‘s Church,
1758 N. 10th St.
● “Families Under Stress,” a panel discussion by representatives of families
stressed by divorce, social pressure, and care of a child with autism, and moderated by a
family therapist -- Saturday, Feb. 17, at 1 p.m. at the Douglass Community Association,
1000 W. Paterson, hosted by the Southwest Michigan Black Heritage Society.
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● “A Classroom Experience”: Understand one aspect of autism by participating
in a brief classroom experience that includes a wide variety of sensory stimulation,
allowing alternative perceptions commonly experienced by people on the autism
spectrum. It‘s a partnership venture between K-RESA and Western Michigan
University's occupational therapy department. Drop-in at the following times at the
downtown Kalamazoo Public Library -- Monday, Feb. 19, 6 p.m.; Tuesday, Feb. 20, 1:30
and 6 p.m.; Wednesday, Feb. 21, 1:30 and 6 p.m.
● “What Is the Spectrum? An Introduction to Autism,” a panel of experts
offers insights into the causes, symptoms and treatments of autism spectrum disorders –
Kalamazoo Public Library downtown, Monday, Feb. 19, at 7 p.m.
● “Tips for Making Your Services Autism Friendly”: Visits to doctors,
dentists, and hair stylists can be overwhelming for people with autism and other
disabilities. Even going to the grocery store or eating in a restaurant may be too difficult
for families with a child or young adult with autism. The environment that service
providers create can make a huge difference. Physicians, nurses, dentists, hygienists, hair
stylists, and restaurant and store managers are invited to learn about the challenges
families face, and get some practical ideas to make access to services easier for people
with autism – Tuesday, Feb. 20, at 7 p.m. at the Kalamazoo Public Library downtown.
● Discussion of the book, “The Speed of Dark,” by Elizabeth Moon, which
explores the concept of ―normalcy,‖ and what might happen when medical science attains
the knowledge to ―cure‖ autism – Tuesday, Feb. 20, at 7 p.m. at Kazoo Books II, 407 N.
Clarendon.
● “Did You Mean to Hit the Policeman?” on Friday, Feb. 23, at noon in the
Kalamazoo Public Library downtown covers public responses to unacceptable behaviors
as discussed by local experts. Beverages and dessert will be provided at the brown-bag-
lunch event.
● On Tuesday, Feb. 27, at 7 p.m. in the Olmsted Room on the Kalamazoo College
Campus, the book as literature will be the discussion topic.
A valuable experience
Twenty KVCC students were selected during the fall semester to take part in a
pilot program designed to focus their career plans, strengthen their emotional intelligence
and self-esteem, improve communications skills, and gain a sense of what they were
learning in the classroom had relevance in the daily world of work.
A key component of the holistic program of self-discovery based at the Arcadia
Commons Campus was to match the 20 students with professionals in their chosen fields
and foster relevant interaction between them.
Orchestrated and organized in a workshop format by Learn Inc., a new educational
venture in downtown Kalamazoo, the concept is based on the view that students who
have definite educational and career goals are more likely to be successful in the
classroom and their lives. It helps participants discover their strengths and to connect
those strengths to career paths.
Among those taking part and their fields of study were: Alex Restivo (video
production), Andrew Altemann (political science), Ashly Woolworth (nursing), Ben
Davidson (video production), Bernard Flint Jr. (illustration), Chelsie Fitt (social work),
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Cynthia Cooper (music and graphic design), Heather Kobylarek (occupational therapy),
Joseph Saucedo (video gaming and creative writing), Michael Lucking (photography),
Molly Danner (graphic design), Pam Hoyt (illustration), Rhonda Rutgers (administration),
Shanna Adams (web design), Shawna VanderVeen (communications), Sommer Hayden
(genetic counseling), and Rynita McGuire (graphic design).
Founder Lorie Wolfe, who has worked in public education as a teacher and
administrator as well as with a similar education-enhancing venture based in Atlanta,
linked the students with the cadre of Kalamazoo-area professionals who could shed light
on their professional careers and what it took for them to reach their current status. The
program was celebrated by a gathering in mid-January at the Park Club.
Wolfe, a 1976 graduate of Gull Lake High School and a Western Michigan
University alumna who taught five years in the Kalamazoo Public Schools, described
Learn Inc. as a ―development program dedicated to helping students rediscover their
dreams‖ and taking a course of action ―to make them come true.
―The mission of Learn Inc.,‖ she said, is to inspire our youth, our educators, our
community and our people to live with purpose. Living with purpose fosters leadership,
creativity and innovation. Individuals and organizations that are inspired by purpose
exhibit focus, perseverance, courage and drive. People with purpose make a difference.‖
Using what she calls a nine-step ―I Am Process,‖ self-reflection, creative writing,
critical thinking, and the use of technology are emphasized to explore self-direction for
life and career. ―It supports the students‘ crucial need to relate coursework to the real
world of commerce and industry,‖ she said, which can lead to networking, internships,
and possibly a career.
In Atlanta, Wolfe, who returned to her home state last year and opened an office
at 310 E. Michigan, ran similar programs in Atlanta that involved between 200 and 300
students. The pilot project with KVCC carried no credits for the students who committed
to the 100-hour initiative. Not all 20 made it through the nine-week period in which they
had three weekly sessions to choose from to fit their academic and employment
schedules.
The first six weeks involved instructions and discussions in a classroom setting.
The last three weeks was dedicated to interacting with their professional mentors and
preparing their portfolios of the experience.
―While it may seem there was no immediately payoff,‖ Wolfe said, ―those who
followed through gained much in self-development and leadership skills. They also got a
glimpse of their future, primarily because of their connections to community
professionals and leaders.‖
And finally. . .
Walking on the street one day a U.S. senator is hit by a truck and dies.
His soul arrives in heaven and is met by St. Peter.
"Welcome to heaven," says St. Peter. "Before you settle in, it seems
there is a problem. We seldom see a high official around these parts, you see,
so we're not sure what to do with you."
"No problem, just let me in," says the senator.
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"Well, I'd like to, but I have orders from higher up. What we'll do is have
you spend one day in hell and one in heaven. Then you can choose where to
spend eternity."
"Really, I've made up my mind. I want to be in heaven," says the
senator.
"I'm sorry, but we have our rules."
With that, St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes
down, down, down to hell. He finds himself in the middle of a swank golf course.
In the distance is a clubhouse and standing in front are his friends and other
political colleagues who had gone before him.
Everyone is very happy and in evening dress. They run to greet him,
shake his hand, and reminisce about the good times they had while getting rich
at the expense of the people.
They play a friendly game of golf and dine on lobster, caviar and
champagne.
The devil is there and seems like a very friendly guy who enjoys dancing
and telling jokes.
Suddenly, it’s time to go, everyone gives the recently deceased senator a
hearty farewell and waves while the elevator rises.
When it stops, St. Peter is waiting for him. "Now it's time to visit heaven,"
he says.
Some 24 hours pass with the senator joining a group of contented souls
moving from cloud to cloud, playing the harp and singing. They have a
good time, too, and soon St. Peter returns.
"Well, then, you've spent a day in hell and another in heaven. Now
choose your eternity."
The senator reflects for a minute, then answers: "Well, I would never
have said it before, I mean heaven has been delightful, but I think I would
be better off in hell."
So St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down,
down to hell.
The doors of the elevator open and he's in the middle of a barren land
covered with waste and garbage.
He sees all his friends, dressed in rags, picking up the trash and putting it
in black bags as more trash falls from above.
The devil comes to him and puts his arm around his shoulder.
"I don't understand," stammers the senator. "Yesterday I was here
and there was a golf course and clubhouse, and we ate lobster and
caviar, drank champagne, and danced and had a great time. Now
there's just a wasteland full of garbage and my friends look miserable.
What happened?"
The devil looks at him, smiles and says, "Yesterday we were
campaigning. Today you voted."
☻☻☻☻☻☻
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