Nov. 23, 2009

The DigestWhat’s Happening at KVCC

What’s below in this edition

Go Cougars (Pages 1/2) Meth’s perils (Page 8) Any old tennies? (Pages 2/3) Family fun (Pages 8/9) Need 30 (Pages 3/4) Surplus food? (Page 9) Faculty in-service (Pages 4/5) Friday-night fun (Pages 9/10) Turbine-class update (Pages 5/6) Depression (Pages 10/11) Jeff Daniels (Page 6) Old cooking oil (Pages 11/12) Grant deadlines (Pages 6/7) Behind the masks (Page 12) New client (Pages 7/8) Auto Academy III (Pages 12/13) Matson’s art (Page 8) Museum on TV (Pages 13-15)

And Finally (Pages 15/16)

☻☻☻☻☻☻Lady Cougars facing elimination match

After a 1-1 record on the opening day of the National Junior College Athletic Association’s national championship in Wisconsin Dells, Wis., the KVCC women’s volleyball team is facing an elimination match at 2:30 p.m. (today) Friday.

The Lady Cougars defeated Hagerstown Community College in a spirited opening match, losing the opening set 23-25, winning the next two by the same 25-23 score, and being forced into a fifth by losing 22-25 to the Maryland spikers. KVCC advanced in the winner’s bracket with a 15-8 victory.

That’s when they collided with top-seed Illinois Central College, who swept Michigan’s only entry in the national competition 25-20, 24-14 and 25-17.

The win-one-or-be-done match is against Johnson Community College in Kansas, which has had similar experiences as its Michigan foe.

The Kansas team advanced in the winner’s bracket with a hotly contested match of its own. But Johnson City lost the first two sets to Iowa Lakes Community College 22-25 before snapping back to advance 25-19, 25-15, and 15-9.

Facing another one of the top seeds in Kishwaukee College in Illinois, Johnson lost three straight to set up its match with the Cougars. The winner moves on; the loser goes home.

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The Lady Cougars traveled to tournament’s site at the Chula Vista Resort with a conference championship, a state title and a regional-tournament trophy – the first time a KVCC women's volleyball team has accomplished that in one season. KVCC entered the tournament with an eighth ranking nationally and an eighth seed in the tourney.

“What an amazing season we have had,” first-year coach Chad Worthington said. “The first day of practice started Aug. 1 with a three-mile run in less than 27 minutes, and it’s ending with a trip to the national tournament.

“This year has been defined by doing our best,” he said, and when the best has not been done, we have made corrections to do our best. This is the first team ever to be regularly seasoned ranked No. 8 in the nation, win a conference, state, and regional title in volleyball at Kalamazoo Valley.”

Team members are: Kaila Hull of Hanover-Horton High School Cara Greeley of Kalamazoo Central Kristina Hawkes of Portage Central Laura and Madeline McDonnell of Portage Northern Danielle Abitz of Shoreland Lutheran High School Hannah Bock of Kalamazoo Central Kristin Agren of Cadillac High School Kaitlin Noverr of Portage Northern Kirby Batterson of Bronson High School Emily Kesterson of Jackson Western High School.

Shilts wants your old tennies for DR kidsIf those tennis/gym shoes you are wearing are due to be replaced soon, don’t junk

them.If there is any wear and tear left in them, some folks in the Dominican Republic

would certainly appreciate the chance to completely wear them out as they engage in their passion of baseball and other sports.

The KVCC Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) chapter this fall has been collecting used gym shoes to ship to the Dominican.. Chapter adviser Dick Shilts said more than 50 sets have been collected with 31 of the pairs already on their way to the Caribbean nation at a cost of $135.

Shilts’ contact is Nancy Willmore, a former KVCC basketball player who runs the Willmore Christian Foundation there.

“She explained to me that most of the youngsters who love to play basketball at her foundation do some barefooted. After we discussed this at our FCA meeting, it was agreed that we would do whatever little bit we can to make some youngsters in the Dominican Republic enjoy the game a bit more.”

Willmore is returning to the Dominican Republic in the middle of December and will be able to take another box of shoes with her. Other boxes may be shipped whenever they can be filed up.

KVCC folks can dropped off their donations in Shilts’ office. Financial gifts are also being accepted to help defray shipping expenses.

“This small thing we have undertaken surely will not impact the world,” Shilts said, “but it will make a difference for each of those who will gratefully receive these

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shoes given from our abundance. Any help from the larger KVCC community is appreciated.”

30 more ‘vols’ = one-page calling campaign for allHere's the chance to put the thinking behind the new .edyou brand into play -- the

calling campaign to contact enrolled students who have not yet paid for winter-semester classes.

It's a creed to live and work by, and it's also a numbers game. For the fall-semester effort, 6,335 calls were made -- by 72 people! Do the math.

That's one heck of a burden to put on peers and colleagues, especially if you can help, and most of us at KVCC can help.

If all of us step forward, it will be possible to drastically reduce that burden -- to as low as one sheet of calls to make per person. That's about 22 for each of us as opposed to 200-plus for some of us.

And it works. It's a chance to help prospective students not lose their classes, and to help the college keep its healthy, vital, ever-growing enrollment. So there is a self-interest factor at play as well. Those who have made the calls in past years report that students, their parents, and friends deeply appreciate the gentle reminder, and the college's caring environment.

A typical effort involves making around 6,000 calls with 80 percent resulting in students making their payments prior to batch cancellation the following week.

Once again, the calling-campaign organizer is Pat Pojeta, who can be contacted at extension 7880 or ppojeta@kvcc.edu. The dates are Nov. 30 through Dec. 4.

Volunteers may make their calls during the workday at their work stations. They will have the full week to complete their calls.

Scripts will be provided with clear, easy-to-follow instructions on how to record information. These scripts will be delivered to each volunteer the morning of Nov. 30, if not before. “Many a volunteer has remarked how fun it is speaking with our students,” Pojeta said. “They seem happy to hear from us.”

Signing on as of late Thursday were:Colleen Olson, Bonnie Bowden, Gordon Bielby, Steve Ott, Alana Green, Ezra

Bell, Sharra Poncil, Stephanie Ceren, Chris Stroven, Michelle Davis, Steven Meeks, Ricardo Alexander, Amanda Fuller, Faith Muvuti, Zac Vanderpool, Ken Barr Jr., and Su Cutler.

They will be joining:Lisa Peet, Amy Louallen, Laura Cosby, Gloria Barton-Beery, Sheila White,

Lauren Beresford, Karen Visser, Dick Shilts, Jennie Huff, Gloria Norris, Steve Doherty, Steve Walman, Tarona Guy, Joyce Zweedyk, Patricia Pallett, Diane Finch, Candy Horton;

Helen Palleschi, Louise Wesseling, Lynne Morrison, Angie Case, Joyce Tamer, Judy Rose, Teresa Fornoff, Russell Panico, Sheila Eisenhauer, Rose Crawford, Carrol Targgart, Leona Coleman, Diane Lockwood, Jane Geschwendt, Lynn McLeod;

Nancy Young, LaJoyce Brooks, Sheila Rupert, Amy Triemstra, Jacob Johnson, Ebba Spyke, Diana Haggerty, Ray Andres, Catie West, Steven Meeks, Stephanie Strong, Laurie Dykstra, Marcia Shaneyfelt-Niles, Carolyn Brownell, Jim Tinsely, Amber Rees;

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Jackie Cantrell, Ike Turner, Rosalie Novara, Chris Robbins, Denise Baker, Roxanne Bengelink, Carolyn Alford, Darryl Chapman, Patricia Wallace, Karen Phelps, Kristine Goolsby, Nancy Taylor, Ruth Baker, Mary Johnson, Robyn Robinson;

Connie Edlund, Jill Storm, Jim Ratliff, Mark Sloan, Brenda Moncreif, Marie Rogers, Mike Collins, Gerri Jacobs, Susan Reynolds, Pamela Siegfried, Jackie Zito, Marylan Hightree, Bonita Bates, Heidi Stevens-Ratti, Janet Alm, Dan Maley;

Nicole Newman, John Holmes, Jack Bley, Jonnie Wilhite, Anora Ackerman, Lois Baldwin, Maria Buccilli, Amanda Matthews, Martha Makay, Cynthia Schauer, Bruce Kocher, Sheila Baiers, Bala Balachandran, Francis Granzotto, Harland Fish, Arleigh Smyrnios, Patrick Conroy, Jaime Robbins, Terry Hutchins, Sue Egan, Pat Pojeta and Tom Thinnes.December events for Faculty Success Center

If KVCC can have a “Success Center” for students, why not one for its band of instructors?

Under the auspices of Grant Chandler, dean of the Arcadia Commons Campus, the college has established the Faculty Success Center to assist the college community in focusing time, energy, and conversations on high-quality teaching and learning.

The pilot event was staged in September with an initial “Talking about Teaching seminar on “Characteristics of Highly Effective Teachers” as a follow-up conversation stemming from Ken Bain’s visit to KVCC during the fall Faculty Seminar Days.

Because of the Thanksgiving holidays, the next two series of ““highly interactive conversations” led by KVCC faculty and administrators are slated for December:

“Making Lectures More Interactive” – Wednesday, Dec. 2, at 3:30 p.m.; Thursday, Dec. 3, at 2 p.m., and Saturday, Dec. 5, at 10 a.m.

“Leading Effective Discussions” – Tuesday, Dec. 8, at 3:30 p.m. and Wednesday, Dec. 9, at 2 p.m.

Those who wish to attend can e-mail facultysuccesscenter@kvcc.edu. Refreshments will be provided. All sessions are held in the lower level of the Center for New Media. Chandler can be contacted by extension 7849 or gchandler@kvcc.edu

Here’s the rest of the “Talking About Teaching” line-up through the end of the 2009-10 academic year:• January: “Classroom Assessment Techniques” • February: “Dealing with and Preventing Classroom Incivility” • March: “The Appropriate and Inappropriate Use of Instructional Technology” • April: “Designing Appropriate Learning Activities and Lesson Planning.”

Serving on the new center’s advisory team are Chandler, fellow co-chair Cynthia Schauer, Lynne Morrison, Bill deDie, Philipp Jonas, Fran Kubicek, Jan White, Kevin Dockerty, Al Moss, Ron Cipcic, Theo Sypris, and Joe Brady.

“The Faculty Success Center is committed to nurturing and supporting all full- and part-time faculty as they strive for continuous instructional improvement,” said Bruce Kocher, vice president for academic services, “and to providing on-going learning opportunities as they seek to create the most meaningful and effective learning experiences for KVCC students.”

Among its goals are:

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1. Provide ongoing professional-development activities related directly to teaching and learning to better connect full- and part-time faculty to the KVCC college community.

2. Create an inclusive, student-focused learning community in which all full- and part-time faculty work collaboratively to ensure the success of every KVCC student.

Student-designed, -built wind turbine taking shapeAs students for decades have taken automotive courses to design, build and repair

their own cars, so are their modern contemporaries concentrating on what many see as the nation’s energy future - wind turbines.

Designing a wind turbine, fabricating its components, assembling the power-generating unit, and making certain it produces electricity constitutes the mission of a new course that will be offered for a second time in Kalamazoo Valley Community College’s winter semester.

Meanwhile, the fall-semester edition of this course is winding down and students are in the process of completing their design and fabrication of the blades as December nears. That will soon be followed by work on the tower and finally installation of the unit on the Texas Township Campus.

With no technical prerequisites or prior knowledge of computer-aided drafting, machining, welding or electrical technology needed, the eight-credit, multidisciplinary offering (Mach 282) with a lecture-lab format is open to 18 enrollees on a first-come, first-served basis.

Lectures are slated for Mondays and Wednesdays from 3 to 4: 20 p.m. while lab sessions are booked for Mondays and Wednesdays from 8 to 10 a.m., and Fridays from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

All will be held in the college’s technical wing on the Texas Township Campus in the shadow of the 145-foot turbine that has been generating electricity since early March. The 2009 fall semester ends Monday, Dec. 21. The 2010 winter semester begins on Monday, Jan. 11.

The fee follows the college’s normal tuition rate -- $71 per credit hour for KVCC in-district residents, $113 for those out of district, and $152 per credit hour for non-Michigan residents.

The lead instructors are Howard Carpenter (machining), Rick Garthe (drafting and design), Erick Martin (welding and fabrication), and Bill Wangler (electrical technology).

“Our goal is to produce a functioning wind turbine that generates one to three kilowatts of electricity,” said Carpenter, the project leader who advanced the concept and received a two-year, $90,000 Innovative Thinking grant from KVCC to proceed with planning, equipment purchase and course design over the summer.

The enrollees perform the basic functions and tasks in the design, critical machining and welding phases that produce shafts, blades and other components. But the more detailed and complex jobs are handled by the instructors and advanced students. The electronics will be purchased units.

“It’s the process that is important for the students to see and understand,” Carpenter said. “The turbine that we build will produce electricity, but that’s not the

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main function. Its function is to demonstrate the basic design, manufacturing, welding and electrical skills that are needed in making a turbine.”

Course components include what a practical electrical output would be for a turbine in a variety of locations, wind-energy terminology, how to connect a unit to the existing electrical grid, the basics of electricity, the wiring required, metallurgy, how to optimize efficiency through design variations, fabrication techniques, how to prevent corrosion, and how to incorporate a small wind turbine into existing structures and buildings.

“We think this course will target anybody who has an interest in wind turbines,” Carpenter said, “whether to build one yourself or buy one. It will provide answers to questions about what to consider and how to evaluate what is on the market.”

The lead instructors prepared for the prototype course by purchasing instructional equipment and software that will also be applicable to other technical courses at KVCC. They joined forces last summer to build the training components that are key parts of the instructional process.

The course-concluding wind turbine, which will have at least three blades that will each be six to eight feet long and stand as high as 30 feet off the ground, will find a spot on KVCC property to serve as a promotional prop for future eight-credit courses.

To register for this course and the winter-semester edition, contact Sue Hills at (269) 488-4371 or go to this web site: www.kvcc.edu/schedule.

The 2009 fall semester also saw the launch of the college’s one-year certificate for training wind-energy technicians. The mission of that 35-credit-hour program is to teach students how to install, maintain and service wind-energy turbines designed for residential and commercial locations.

Gavan’s group part of Jeff Daniels showHistory instructor Jay Gavan calls it “the biggest gig of my life to this point.”That’s an appropriate description of sharing the stage with acclaimed Michigan-

based actor Jeff Daniels, which is what Gavan and his combo, Red Sea Pedestrians, will be doing on Saturday, Nov. 28.

The fourth annual Jeff Daniels and Friends Concert begins at 8 p.m. in Ann Arbor’s Michigan Theater.

Tickets are available through the Michigan Union Ticket Office at (734) 763-TKTS or at ticketmaster.com.

Gavan is the former special-events coordinator at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum and one of the originators of the Fretboard Festival. The Red Sea Pedestrians feature klezmer, folk and world-roots music.

Also scheduled to perform are the Ben Daniels Band from Chelsea, Paul Princen of Ann Arbor, Shout Sister Shout from Landing, the Scottville Clown Band, and Luc “The Roadie” Daniels.

Gavan can be contacted at jgavan@kvcc.edu.

Next KVCC Foundation grant deadline is Dec. 23For the 2009-10 academic year, the KVCC Foundation has established funding-

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

must make plans in advance and adhere to the established deadlines.

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Here’s the schedule for the next round:Proposal deadline: Dec. 23; decision by the KVCC Foundation Board of

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

foundation executive director, at extension 4442 or sdoherty@kvcc.edu.Earlier this semester, the foundation board approved a $2,200 grant, submitted by

Marie Rogers, Helen Palleschi and Daniel Cunningham, on behalf of the Instructional Development Advisory Committee.

It will co-fund a three-hour workshop for faculty on “What the Best College Teachers Do to Promote Inclusion” next Jan. 7 and the purchase 50 copies of Beverly Tatum’s book titled “Can We Talk About Race.”

It will help lay the groundwork for the Kalamazoo Valley Museum hosting a major exhibition on race in the fall of 2010. The exhibit will be the focal point for a communitywide examination of the racial issues that too often tarnish the nation’s democracy and Constitution.

New York medical school is new screening customerA prestigious college of medicine that specializes in research has entered into a

service agreement with the Michigan High Throughput Screening Center based at the M-TEC of Kalamazoo Valley Community College.

The screening center, which has been in operation since March of 2006 and provides pivotal data in the early stages of research functions, will be conducting assays for the medical school.

“Proteos Inc. of Kalamazoo will prepare the reagents for the assay,” said Robert Kilkuskie, senior director at the screening center, “and we will develop and conduct the assay. A third-party consulting group will be brought in to evaluate the compounds that show some medical-chemistry promise.”

That is one of the first steps to be taken in the synthesis of materials that might prove beneficial in developing new drugs for a variety of medical conditions and diseases.

High throughput screening describes the process in which researchers can relatively quickly narrow the field of possibilities in identifying drug compounds that might be likely prospects to fight a disease or cure an illness.

Kilkuskie once described the high-speed, roboticized process of throughput screening as “finding the proverbial needle in a haystack.”

Once the project starts in, it should take between three and four months to complete.

James DeHaven, vice president for economic and business development at KVCC, said the college was contacted by the college after it research throughput screening on the Internet. “The medical college wants to work with us to strengthen its intellectual properties, which is a good fit for us because we are a nonprofit,” he said. “We accept projects on a fee-for-service basis without intellectual-property requirements.”

Earlier this year, a $331,000 grant from the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services provided funds to add to the robotics equipment, expand the capacity of

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the screening center by increasing its inventory of compounds, and enhance the drug-discovery prospects of its roster of life-sciences clients in the global marketplace.

Over the past 40 months, clients across North America have been using the computerized robotics to identify promising approaches hypothesized by researchers who are probing for breakthroughs in cancer, malaria, a variety of infectious diseases, diabetes, inflammation, obesity, heart disease, muscular dystrophy and Alzheimer’s.

While education is at the core of its mission, growth at the New York college has been spurred by biomedical research. Its 300 research labs probe for the causes and cures of diabetes, cancer, liver disease, AIDS, the neurosciences, and maladies that affect the brain.

KVCC’s not-for-profit screening center and contract-research laboratory provides its services without licensing fees or royalties. KVCC is the only community college in the nation providing these kinds of non-profit services, joining the ranks of Harvard University, the University of Wisconsin, Rutgers University, the University of Alabama, Stanford University and the University of Kansas in this category.Matson’s paintings still in downtown spotlight

Paintings by Karen Matson, a KVCC graphic-design instructor at the Center for New Media, are still on display through the end of this month in downtown Kalamazoo.

Her large-scale paintings are showcased in the Midtown Gallery, located at 356 S. Kalamazoo Mall, along with the clay sculptures and glass works by Jan Kimball.

The Center for New Media has five gallery shows on display through November. Meth’s perils, nutrition’s values are November topics

Instructors should alert their enrollees about the remaining fall-semester events planned by the Student Success Center that are designed to energize academic accomplishments.

“What You Don’t Know About Meth that Could Shock/Kill You” is the topic for a substance-abuse presentation set for Monday, Nov. 23, at 11 a.m. in the Student Commons Forum.

A Southwest Michigan police officer will be shedding light about the debilitating effects on this cheap-to-make-but-costly-to-use drug.

On Tuesday (Nov. 24), students, shackled with full class loads, a job and family commitments and those who are equally tense because of a variety of situations, can pick up some tips about the value of exercise and nutrition.

The 45-minute presentation is set for 11 a.m. in the Student Commons Forum. A discussion about the benefits of wellness is also planned.

Dec. 5 family show features singer, comedianThe music, comedy and stories of Ron Moore, who is based in Asheville, N. C.,

will be the entertainment targeted for families at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum on Saturday, Dec. 5.

Admission is $3 for the 1 p.m. performance in the Mary Jane Stryker Theater.Moore performs mostly solo with acoustic guitar, vocals and comedy. He

frequently invites the audience to sing along and makes up a song on the spot from a story the audience provides.

Moore spent 13 years of his childhood in Seoul, South Korea, as a member of a military family. He molded a style of music listening to Top 40 hits in America,

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complements of Armed Forces Radio, and being exposed to the rhythms of traditional Korean music. His repertoire can go from folk to rock to folk rock to rock folk to rock, and back again.

Moore has performed in 43 of the lower 48 states, across the lower tier of Canadian provinces, and in such nations of the world as Ecuador, Japan, The Philippines, Great Britain, France, Germany, Poland, Bosnia, Italy, Austria and Bulgaria.

More information about events, attractions and tickets is available by checking the museum’s web site at www.kalamazoomuseum.org or by calling 373-7990.

Bring that surplus food to campusFor the holiday season from Thanksgiving through Christmas, the college is

coordinating a food-collection effort for Kalamazoo Loaves and Fishes. Faculty, staff and students can donate canned and bottled foods, along with

edibles that are packaged and unopened, all of which will be distributed by the agency to needy Kalamazoo-area residents.

Donations may be made in Room 4220 in the Student Commons, in a receptacle near the faculty offices, and in the Student Success Center.

More information is available from Mary Johnson, student activities and programs coordinator, at extension 4182 or mjohnson@kvcc.edu.

Kris Kringle, string music next Stryker showsThe Nov. 20 attraction for "Friday Night Highlights" programming at the

Kalamazoo Valley Museum is "Miracle on 34th Street," a 1947 feel-good flick to kick off the holiday season.

Tickets are $3 for the 6:30 p.m. showing in the Mary Jane Stryker Theater.After a break because of the Thanksgiving celebration, the museum switches back

to music on Dec. 4 with the Kalamazoo Mandolin and Guitar Orchestra that features two musicians with KVCC connections.

Because of this being part of downtown Kalamazoo’s monthly Art Hop, this 6 p.m. concert is free.

Each of the "Friday Night Highlights" billings is actually a doubleheader because also planned for each evening is an 8:30 p.m. showing of the planetarium show featuring the music of U2. That, too, has a $3 admission fee.

With a laser-light show in full color streaming across the planetarium's 50-foot dome, the 35-minute production will feature the classic hits of the Dublin, Ireland, combo that has earned 22 Grammys, sold 146 million albums, and warranted induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in its first year of eligibility.

“Miracle on 34th Street” stars Edmund Gwenn, Maureen O’Hara, John Payne and Natalie Wood at her child-actress best. In supporting roles are William Frawley, who went on to “I Love Lucy” fame, and Gene Lockhart, the real-life father to the woman who played the mother in the TV series, “Lassie.”

It is an amazingly cheerful, heartwarming and uplifting fable about an elderly fellow who is hired by a department store to “play” Santa Claus. He soon claims to be the real St. Nick.

The 94-minute film is a clever and charming blend of humor and pathos with a holiday message for folks of all ages. Like “It’s a Wonderful Life,” “Miracle” has stood the test of time as a Christmas classic this is as enduring as the holiday season itself.

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Gwenn won an Academy Award as best supporting actor in his role as Kris Kringle. It was also nominated for “Best Picture of the Year,” but the Oscar went to Gregory Peck’s “Gentleman’s Agreement” about anti-Semitism.

The Kalamazoo Mandolin and Guitar Orchestra is a plucked string ensemble consisting of mandolins, mandolas, mandocellos, guitars, and bass. It was founded in 2003 to revive the mandolin orchestra tradition in Kalamazoo.

Under the direction of conductor Miles Kusik, the 21-member orchestra performs a wide variety of music including classical, ethnic, and "golden era" mandolin orchestra music.

KVCC library assistant and mandolinist Jackie Zito is the orchestra’s concert mistress. Ron Cleveland, exhibits coordinator at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum, is also part of the mandolin section.

A mandolin craze swept the nation from the 1880s to the 1920s. Soon mandolin clubs and orchestras sprang up in nearly every town, including Kalamazoo that was designed to create quite a stringed-instrument heritage. The repertoire of these groups usually consisted of a mix of classical, marches, rags, and popular music of the day.

The Kalamazoo Mandolin and Guitar Orchestra is a non-profit organization and is sponsored by Crescendo Academy of Music. Rehearsals are Tuesday evenings at 7:15 at the Crescendo Academy of Music in the Epic Center.

Its next major booking will be on Jan. 23 as part of the Cooper’s Glen Music Festival at the Radisson Plaza Hotel and Suites in downtown Kalamazoo.

Here is the rest of the “Friday Night Highlights” schedule that includes more movies and concerts by local combos:

Dec. 11: Carmea, the trio that won the 2009 Fretboard Festival play-in competition at the museum.

Dec. 18: The 2002 movie "8 Crazy Nights." Jan. 8: Music by Belfast Gin. Jan. 15, 22 and 29: The movies "Cutting Edge,” "Miracle," and “Cool

Runnings,” respectively.

A closer look at Alzheimer’s, depression As the nationally touring exhibition about genomes continues its stay at the

Kalamazoo Valley Museum, the Saturday showings of PBS documentaries are focusing on mental, medical and physical maladies that affect humanity.

The free showings in the Mary Jane Stryker Theater are timed for 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.

The Nov. 21 doubleheader features the Emmy-winning “The Forgetting: A Portrait of Alzheimer’s,” followed by the “Out of the Shadows” episode on depression.

“Forgetting” takes a dramatic, compassionate, all-encompassing look at the growing epidemic of Alzheimer’s disease. Based on David Shenk's best-selling book, the 90-minute, 2004 documentary weaves together the history and biology of the disease, the intense real-world experiences of Alzheimer's patients and caregivers, he race to find a cure, and the latest scientific findings.

“Depression” premiered in May 2008 and reported that many Americans are keeping an important, possibly deadly secret.

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The National Institute of Mental Health reports that approximately 18.8 million American adults have a depressive disorder. The disease is not discriminating, seeping into all age, race, gender, and socioeconomic groups. Depression stalls careers, strains relationships, and sometimes ends lives.

So if this many people are living with the disease, why the silence? The PBS project explored the disease's complex terrain, offering a comprehensive and timely examination of this devastating disorder.

By weaving together the science and treatment of depression with intimate portrayals of families and individuals coping with its wide-ranging effects, the film raises awareness and eliminates the stigma surrounding this prevalent disease, underscoring the fact that whether we are battling it in our families, our workplaces, or in our own minds, depression touches everyone.

The final double feature of the calendar year is set for Dec. 12 with “Fat: What No One Is Telling You” and “The Medicated Child.”

Before dumping used cooking oil, check with CharlieIf you’re thinking to dispose of that well-used cooking oil, think of what’s cookin’

in the automotive-technology lab and ask Charlie Fuller whether his supply is low.Through the magic of chemistry under the lab manager's supervision, bio-diesel

fuel is being converted from vegetable oils that had been used to cook chicken strips, perch, turkeys, mushrooms, French fries, jalapeno peppers – and possibly the Thanksgiving Day turkey.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Masks illustrate cultures, not hide themYou could learn a lot by ignoring the advice in Jim Croce’s lyrics and pulling “the

mask off the old Lone Ranger,” but so much more insight is possible by experiencing a mask and the culture it represents than seeing who is behind it.

That’s the idea behind “Spirit of the Mask,” a 95-item collection that is viewable in the Kalamazoo Valley Museum’s first-floor gallery through Feb. 14.

It is the work of Carla Hanson who realized that masks and “masking” were special the first time she dressed for Halloween in her hometown of Waterville, Kan. After taking anthropology classes at Kansas State University and meeting people from other cultures, she purchased her first ethnic mask, soon to be followed by many more.

Her collection now numbers in the hundreds, representing more than 40 countries and many Native American nations.

Masks have been used in diverse cultures on every continent except for Australia. They are composed of natural and man-made materials mask-makers usually find locally. While some are intricately decorated and some are very rudimentary or abstract, others can be lifelike as evidenced in Hanson’s collection.

Masks are ceremonial or theatrical, with functions ranging from entreaties for worldly interventions on the part of a deity or ancestral spirit, to assertions of social control to advance a particular culture’s mores.

Masks can serve a singular purpose in a specific celebration, but often they are used for multiple functions. Healing, fertility, and good fortune are a few examples of masking themes. Mask wearers traditionally are nearly exclusively men, even when female characters are depicted.

“The masking traditions can teach us how these cultures deal with their lives and their environment,” Hanson says. “While masks traditionally have specific purposes, they are so beautiful and powerful that they can be appreciated as works of art as well.”

Among the masks that are part of the Kalamazoo exhibit are those originating on five continents from indigenous people in more than 50 countries, including Bali, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Nigeria, India, Brazil, Bolivia, Germany, the Ivory Coast, New Guinea, Mexico, Mali, New Guinea, Zaire, Russia, Sweden, Holland and Switzerland. Masks from a dozen Native American tribes are also included.

They range in age from 10 to 60 years old, and are made from such materials as palm froth, root dye, stains, wood, papier-mâché, polychrome, cloth, leather, natural pigments, and white clay.

“Masks tell stories,” said Elspeth Inglis, the museum’s assistant director. “They

don’t hide them.” Auto Academy III begins Monday

Just like the high-tech vehicles that it trains prospective mechanics to maintain, the KVCC Automotive Academy format has been fine-tuned.

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Scheduled to begin on Monday (Nov. 23) in the M-TEC, it will be shorter in duration, smaller in size, and slightly redesigned in instructional delivery.

One of the new wrinkles in the third academy will be a textbook-less approach. Instead, each student will have access to a laptop computer that they can use to research on the Internet for the online maintenance services offered by automotive manufacturers and suppliers.

Under lead instructor Hector Orlandi, there will also be a shift in instructional design. The first two academies, which ran for 42 weeks, featured a third segment that had enrollees, in effect, running their own repair shop under the guidance of their instructors.

The new format will have that kind of training integrated throughout the instructions. When the students are being trained in brake work, that’s the kind of repairs they will be making right then and there instead of waiting to the end.

The theory is that will be a more effective and hands-on way of learning and training because the students will be applying that knowledge quickly instead of waiting until later when there could be a tendency to forget.

Instead of a peak enrollment of 17, the third academy will be limited to 12 enrollees. Among the selection criteria in the competitive process are the quality of the written applications, a “documented work ethic,” interest in and knowledge of automotive technology, and driving records.

Within five days of submitting an application, a prospective enrollee will be notified as to whether he/she has met the basic eligibility criteria and be scheduled for an interview. Notification of acceptance into the academy will also be within a five-day period.

The fee for the third academy, which will run through next July, is $9,500. This includes uniforms valued at $300 and $7,000 in high-tech tools that automotive technicians need to function.

“The automotive academy is like a job,” said Orlandi, who has more than 25 years of global experience as an automotive-service technical engineer. “We look for students who can make a full-time commitment.”

Beginning on Nov. 23, the enrollees will be in class or in the lab from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Mondays through Fridays. Stressed will be the eight automotive-knowledge areas that are certified by the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence and preparing students to reach those standards.

Financial aid is available, and scholarship funds awardable through the Kalamazoo Promise also qualify for the KVCC Automotive Academy.

A complete description and application can be downloaded at www.kvcc.edu/training. Then click on “Automotive Technician Academy.” Information

is also available by calling (269) 353-1282. The Academy of Music was Kalamazoo’s London Palace

The origins, glories and demise of the Academy of Music are the November installment of the Kalamazoo Valley Museum’s TV show.

Featuring Tom Dietz, the curator of research at the museum, the episode will be aired by the Public Media Network (formerly the Community Access Center) on Channel 22 on the Charter cable system at 7 p.m. on Sundays, 6:30 p.m. on Tuesdays, 6:30 p.m. on Fridays, and 11 a.m. on Saturdays.

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On Monday, May 8, 1882, Kalamazoo’s elite gathered in anxious anticipation for the dedication of the village’s first performing-arts center. Dressed in their finest, the cream of Kalamazoo society, joined by visitors from Three Rivers, Battle Creek, and Chicago, filled the auditorium’s 1,250 seats. The evening’s highlight was the popular drama, “Virginius, the Roman Father,” featuring the nationally acclaimed star of the late 19th century stage, John McCullough.

The Academy of Music was designed as Kalamazoo’s first grand performing-arts center. Its construction was coordinated by a group of prominent businessmen, including future U.S. Sen. Francis Stockbridge and local building contractor Frederick Bush, who organized the Kalamazoo Opera House Company in March 1881. Their goal was to build a first-rate facility for not less than $30,000. The final cost, however, exceeded $60,000.

Their incentive for the venture was, in part at least, dissatisfaction with the village’s existing facility, Union Hall. Located at Michigan and Portage streets, the hall had been built in 1865-66.

It was a typical performance space for the time. Seating was on benches, all on the same level, so that the patrons on the back benches often had their view blocked. Audience members sipped beverages of their choice and frequently voiced their pleasure or displeasure with a performance.

Francis Chase, the proprietor of Union Hall, was unwilling to see his facility overtaken by the proposed new auditorium. When the organizers of the Kalamazoo Opera House neglected to file the necessary legal paperwork, Chase changed the name of Union Hall to Opera House. He made other superficial improvements in the fall of 1881 in an effort to keep his audience from being lured to the new facility then under construction several blocks to the west.

Meanwhile, the Kalamazoo Opera House Co. renamed its new facility the Academy of Music. The chosen site was on the east side of Rose Street across from the Kalamazoo County Courthouse. The construction committee hired the famous Chicago architect, Dankmar Adler, to design the facility.

Built of red brick and Ohio sandstone, the academy was three stories. The interior featured hand-carved cherry woodwork, plush seating, and the finest silk draperies. A nine-foot chandelier with 100 gas lights hung from the ceiling while another 300 gas jets provided ample lighting.

For the next several decades, the Academy of Music was the jewel of the local cultural scene. Such luminaries of the American stage as Sarah Bernhardt and the Barrymore family appeared with touring Broadway plays. John Philip Sousa and Victor Herbert performed with their bands.

The academy also hosted special events. In 1890, the seats were removed, a temporary floor installed, and a gala charity ball was held in the auditorium. It also hosted boxing matches and even a performance by trained show horses.

In March 1897, an exciting new technology was introduced there. A demonstration of Thomas Edison’s Vitascope, an early motion-picture technology, drew an enthusiastic crowd but foreshadowed the decline of live professional theater in Kalamazoo.

Within 20 years, W. S. Butterfield took over the management of the academy, adding it to his national theater chain. The Regent Theatre, as it was re-named, offered silent movies and vaudeville acts.

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On June 6, 1930, students from State High School at Western State Teachers College staged the play “Come Seven.” It was the last production for the old Academy of Music.

Four days later, a major fire -- possibly arson -- broke out and destroyed the theater. The front of the building, which housed several stores and offices, survived. In 1967, that portion of the structure was demolished to make room for the Industrial State Bank (now the Comerica Bank building).

And finally. . . FOR THOSE WHO LOVE THE PHILOSOPHY OF AMBIGUITY, AS WELL

AS THE IDIOSYNCRASIES OF ENGLISH:DON'T SWEAT THE PETTY THINGS AND DON'T PET THE SWEATY

THINGS.ONE TEQUILA, TWO TEQUILA, THREE TEQUILA, FLOOR.ATHEISM IS A NON-PROPHET ORGANIZATION.IF MAN EVOLVED FROM MONKEYS AND APES, WHY DO WE STILL

HAVE MONKEYS AND APES?I WENT TO A BOOKSTORE AND ASKED THE SALESWOMAN,

"WHERE'S THE SELF-HELP SECTION?" SHE SAID IF SHE TOLD ME, IT WOULD DEFEAT THE PURPOSE.

WHAT IF THERE WERE NO HYPOTHETICAL QUESTIONS?IF A DEAF CHILD SIGNS SWEAR WORDS, DOES HIS MOTHER WASH

HIS HANDS WITH SOAP?IF SOMEONE WITH MULTIPLE PERSONALITIES THREATENS TO

KILL HIMSELF, IS IT CONSIDERED A HOSTAGE SITUATION?IS THERE ANOTHER WORD FOR SYNONYM?WHERE DO FOREST RANGERS GO TO "GET AWAY FROM IT ALL?"WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU SEE AN ENDANGERED ANIMAL

EATING AN ENDANGERED PLANT?IF A PARSLEY FARMER IS SUED, CAN THEY GARNISH HIS WAGES?WOULD A FLY WITHOUT WINGS BE CALLED A WALK?WHY DO THEY LOCK GAS-STATION BATHROOMS? ARE THEY

AFRAID SOMEONE WILL CLEAN THEM?IF A TURTLE DOESN'T HAVE A SHELL, IS HE HOMELESS OR

NAKED?CAN VEGETARIANS EAT ANIMAL CRACKERS?IF THE POLICE ARREST A MIME, DO THEY TELL HIM HE HAS THE

RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT?WHY DO THEY PUT BRAILLE ON THE DRIVE-THROUGH BANK

MACHINES?HOW DO THEY GET DEER TO CROSS THE ROAD ONLY AT THOSE

YELLOW ROAD SIGNS?WHAT WAS THE BEST THING BEFORE SLICED BREAD?ONE NICE THING ABOUT EGOTISTS: THEY DON'T TALK ABOUT

OTHER PEOPLE.DOES THE LITTLE MERMAID WEAR AN ALGEBRA?

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DO INFANTS ENJOY INFANCY AS MUCH AS ADULTS ENJOY ADULTERY?

HOW IS IT POSSIBLE TO HAVE A CIVIL WAR?IF ONE SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMER DROWNS, DO THE REST

DROWN TOO?IF YOU ATE BOTH PASTA AND ANTIPASTO, WOULD YOU STILL BE

HUNGRY? IF YOU TRY TO FAIL, AND SUCCEED, WHICH HAVE YOU DONE?WHOSE CRUEL IDEA WAS IT FOR THE WORD 'LISP' TO HAVE 'S' IN

IT?WHY IS IT CALLED TOURIST SEASON IF WE CAN'T SHOOT AT

THEM?WHY IS THERE AN EXPIRATION DATE ON SOUR CREAM?IF YOU SPIN AN ORIENTAL PERSON IN A CIRCLE THREE TIMES,

DO THEY BECOME DISORIENTED?CAN AN ATHEIST GET INSURANCE AGAINST ACTS OF GOD?

☻☻☻☻☻☻

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