June 7, 2010

The DigestWhat’s Happening at KVCC

What’s below in this edition

Wind academy (Pages 1/2) Emmy nominee (Page 9) Obama visit (Pages 2/3) Wind-energy camp (Pages 9/10) ‘Out of This World’ (Pages 3-5) Sky shows (Page 10) KVM sneak preview (Page 5) KVCC archives (Pages 10/11) Panico update (Pages 5-7) Food oil to fuel (Page 11) Voices from the past (Pages 7/8) Walk the town (Pages 11/12) Summer hours (Page 8) Recycling news (Pages 12-14) Teaching seminar (Pages 8/9) In the news (Page 14) Student art (Page 9) Chooses KVCC (Pages 14/15)

And Finally (Page 15)

☻☻☻☻☻☻Second wind academy starts June 14

The first female and three other students from western states will join 11 from Michigan when Kalamazoo Valley Community College’s second Wind Turbine Technician Academy starts its 26 weeks of intensive training on Monday, June 14.

The first-of-its-kind training academy in the nation received 90 applications for the 16 slots. Six of those applicants have been accepted into the academy’s third edition scheduled to begin in January.

Based in the Michigan Technical Education Center (M-TEC) of KVCC, the academy graduated its first 16 technicians in April under the guidance of instructors Tom Sutton and Greg Meeuwsen. Twelve of them have already been hired for state and global jobs, while the other four are being recruited.

Class No. 2 hails from Kalamazoo, Greenville, Clawson, Port Sanilac, Zeeland, Marcellus and Battle Creek in Michigan, along with Marana and Casa Grande in Arizona, and Carbondale in Colorado.

The first female accepted into the program hails from New York. The other midwesterner calls Waukegan, Ill., home. Students from Pennsylvania and Kentucky will fill spots in January.

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The academy received a $550,000 federal appropriation to purchase specialized laboratory equipment, including a 90-foot tower and turbine-unit platform that are scheduled to be installed in the M-TEC’s parking median for training purposes by July or early August.

Only KVCC’s program is certified by Bildungszentrum fur Erneuerebare Energien (BZEE) in the United States. Its English equivalent is “Renewable Energy Education Center.”

Located in Husum, Germany, and founded in 2000, BZEE was created and supported by major wind-turbine manufacturers, component makers, and enterprises that provide operation and maintenance services. As wind-energy production increased throughout Europe, the need for high-quality, industry-driven, international standards emerged. BZEE has become the leading trainer for wind-turbine technicians across Europe and now in Asia.

An educational partnership with Fuhrlaender North America, based in North Kingston, R. I., and Fuhrlaender AG, its parent corporation in Germany, gives KVCC academy students the chance for in-depth exposure to the maintenance requirements and hands-on monitoring of utility-scale wind turbines, and to cutting-edge software.

Fuhrlaender AG and its global family of branch companies are among the world leaders in the wind industry. They offer a wide range of equipment and are currently manufacturing turbines ranging from producing 600 kilowatts to 2.5 megawatts. The company’s growth in the world market includes plans for several manufacturing facilities in the United States.

Additional program support is the result of a collaboration with the Michigan firm of Crystal Flash Renewable Energy L.L.C. That allows academy trainees to work with professional wind-turbine technicians as active participants in both preventive and corrective maintenance. Headquartered in Grand Rapids, Crystal Flash Renewable Energy owns two wind turbines in Mackinaw City at the top of the state’s Lower Peninsula.

The first step to gain access into the next academy is to complete the written application, which can be downloaded at this web site - www.kvcc.edu/training. Applications can be mailed or faxed to the college.

“Wind Academy II” will conclude with a Dec. 10 graduation ceremony.A math test is also part of the screening process, along with the results of a

medical examination and documented work experience in technical fields. The last step in the application process is a screening for an ability to function in

tight quarters and work at great heights. The fee is $12,000. For more information, contact Cindy Buckley, director of training and

development at the M-TEC of KVCC, at (269) 353-1250 or cbuckley@kvcc.edu. A video about the program is available at http://www.mteckvcc.com/windtechacademy.html

Community prayer service to mark Obama’s visitA community prayer service in advance of President Barack Obama’s visit to

Kalamazoo is being organized by a committee that includes members with KVCC ties.Slated for Sunday (June 6) at Martin Luther King Park on North Rose Street just

north of Kalamazoo Avenue, the event will run from 2:30 to 4 p.m.

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Among those planning the service are KVCC Trustee Anna Whitten and Robyn Robinson, an office specialist in The Focus Program. They linked with people who were already working on a pre-visit prayer service that would coincide with a call for national unity and peace.

The symbolism of the location is not lost on the organizing committee. “Dr. King was a Nobel Peace Prize winner, as is President Obama,” said

Robinson’s husband, Howard. “Dr. King dedicated his life to justice, peace, unity and non-violence. In addition to the president’s safety, we will be praying for peace, an end to youth violence and homelessness, the economy, education, families, health and other needs in the community.”

The committee has teamed up with the Northside Ministerial Alliance and its newly elected president, the Rev. Denise Posie, pastor of Immanuel Christian Reformed Church.

She is coordinating local pastors to lead prayers for the specific needs that have been identified.

“We strongly believe in the power of corporate prayer,” the Rev. Posie said. “This is an opportunity for us to unite on one accord, believing God to hear and answer our prayers,”

The service is slated to begin with praise and worship, followed by greetings from local officials and political leaders. Prayer will begin at 3 p.m. A unity prayer and United for Christ, the youth choir of the First United Baptist Church, will conclude this special service.

“We want to blanket our city in prayer before the president’s arrival,” said Robyn Robinson, who hosts a gospel-music program on Midwest Communications stations 95.5 FM and 1560. “It is our desire to invoke God’s presence, His peace and sanction in our community. We desire a safe summer for our youth. We want to be proactive.”“

This is a community-wide event,” Howard Robinson said. “It is our hope that the people of Kalamazoo will come together across racial, political, socio-economic, religious or denominational lines, and pray. Everyone is welcome.”

TV, movie costumes exhibit opens June 6Stop the presses!Batman, Captain Kirk, Luke Skywalker, The Terminator, the Wicked Witch of

the West, and Indiana Jones are all coming to Kalamazoo.Well, not really, but the costumes that helped define those characters in major

motion pictures and popular TV shows are.“Out of this World: Extraordinary Costumes from Film and Television” will

showcase these fantasy creatures and more when it opens in the Kalamazoo Valley Museum’s third-floor gallery on Sunday (June 6).

The work of the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame in Seattle, Wash., began its national tour in 2007 and will stay in downtown-Kalamazoo until its closing on Sept. 12.

More than 40 costumes, artifacts and objects from “Star Wars,” “Blade Runner,” “ The Terminator,” “Superman,” “Star Trek,” “Battlestar Galactica” and other popular science fiction-related productions will be encapsulated in glass tubes or globes to reinforce the out-of-this-world theme.

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The exhibition allows visitors to examine how costume design incorporates color, style, scale, materials, historical traditions and cultural cues to help performers and audiences engage with the characters being portrayed in the mode of visual storytelling.

Offering visitors new ways of seeing characters as defined by their costumes, “Out of this World: Extraordinary Costumes from Film and Television” is organized into themes, including “Heroes and Villains,” “Creating the Character” and “Caped Crusaders,” as well as specific franchises such as “Star Trek” and “Star Wars.”

As part of the fourth annual “Night at the Museum” booking on June 4, visitors can get a sneak peek at the exhibition from 6 to 8 p.m. They are encouraged to wear costumes that reflect their favorite fantasy, science-fiction or comic-book characters to celebrate its arrival in Kalamazoo.

The exhibition offers close looks at such costume highlights as the: Hat worn by Margaret Hamilton as the Wicked Witch of the West in “The Wizard

of Oz” (1939) Robe worn by Sir Alec Guinness as Obi-Wan Kenobi in “Star Wars” (1977) Leather jacket worn by Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones in “Indiana Jones and the

Last Crusade” (1989) and Indy's whip from “Raiders of the Lost Ark” (1981) Leather jacket worn by Arnold Schwarzenegger in “The Terminator” (1984) Costume worn by Dan Aykroyd as Dr. Raymond Stantz in “Ghostbusters II”

(1989) Embroidered robe worn by actor Joe Turkel as Eldon Tyrell, creator of the

replicants, in “Blade Runner” (1982) Costume worn by George Clooney as Batman in “Batman and Robin” (1997) Darth Vader cape, helmet, and light saber from “Star Wars” and “The Empire

Strikes Back” (1980) Tunic and sash worn by William Shatner as Captain Kirk in the 1967 “Star Trek”

episode "Mirror Mirror" (1967).Costumes details, such as color, military styling and cultural associations, work as

visual cues, telling the audience that the character is a villain or hero. Costume designers create looks that send ambiguous messages, indicating that a

perceived hero or villain might not be quite what they seem to be—as with the leather jacket worn by the future governor of California in “The Terminator” and the fearsome alien mask worn by Louis Gossett Jr. in “Enemy Mine,” a highly underrated space film that co-starred Dennis Quaid.

No exhibition about the power of costumes would be complete without examining the brightly colored tights, masks and capes of comic-book characters.

“Caped Crusaders” offers a look at the costumes that have become iconic representations of good, evil and in-between—from the sinister stylings of “The Riddler” to the vigilante bat/demon look of Batman.

“Star Wars” creator George Lucas is a master at creating strong characters—instantly recognizable and distinctively costumed. The exhibition will display amazing costumes and props from the best-known science-fiction movies in the world.

Darth Vader’s jet-black helmet and cape mark him instantly as a villain, their design influenced both by the bad guys of Hollywood’s cinematic past and by the Samurai warriors of ancient Japan.

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In contrast, Luke Skywalker’s heroic flight suit is crisp and brightly colored. The exhibit will show that the Lucas films’ costume designers are among the most imaginative and thoughtful when it comes to creating characters.

Science-fiction clones will recognize many of the iconic costumes and objects on display in the section dedicated to Gene Roddenberry’s “Star Trek.”

With the Enterprise serving as a metaphor of Earth and its people throughout the original series and the spinoffs that followed, the uniforms worn by the crews of Federation starships represent a near-utopian future of equality, opportunity, and adventure, while the pirate-like sash and tunic worn by Captain Kirk in the “Mirror Universe” episode show what might happen if society loses its sense of community and cooperation.

In addition to Roddenberry, other members of the 1996-established Science Fiction Hall of Fame include “Alien” and “Blade Runner” director Ridley Scott, Stephen Spielberg, George Lucas, Mary Shelley and Isaac Asimov.

Dress-up time to sneak-peak costumes exhibitWhile getting a sneak preview of the costumes worn by famed characters in

movies and television, Kalamazoo-area children and parents can dress up like their favorites on the big or home screen.

It’s all part of the Kalamazoo Valley Museum’s fourth annual “Night at the Museum” on Friday (June 4) from 5 to 8 p.m.

In addition to three hours of free hands-on activities, a magic act, and a planetarium show, participants can take a look at the latest nationally touring exhibition, “Out of this World: Extraordinary Costumes from Film and Television,” that will make its public debut on the following Sunday.

A showing of “Secrets of the Cardboard Rocket” is set for 6 p.m. in the planetarium show, while Kalamazoo magician Alan Kazam will perform at 7:15 p.m.

Youngsters will have the opportunity to create a super-hero mask, do balloon and chalk art, learn how to juggle scarves, and have their faces painted. There will be bowling, ring-toss and popcorn-toss games, as well as a postcard scavenger hunt.

Those ages 12 and under who take part in the costume contest must register at the front desk of the downtown-Kalamazoo museum by 6:20 p.m.

The work of the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame in Seattle, Wash., the exhibit began its national tour in 2007 and will stay in downtown Kalamazoo until its closing on Sept. 12.

More than 40 costumes, artifacts and objects from “Star Wars,” “Blade Runner,” “ The Terminator,” “Superman,” “Star Trek,” “Battlestar Galactica” and other popular science fiction-related productions will be encapsulated in glass tubes or globes to reinforce the out-of-this-world theme.

New title reflects expanded duties for PanicoTo better reflect his primary mission of resolving issues involving students, the

title of Russ Panico’s position has been changed from ombudsman/behavioral interventionist to student relations coordinator.

He points out that questions involving academic and instruction issues, such as grade disputes , instructor concerns, or minor classroom disruptions, are still to be

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resolved on the academic side. This process is detailed in the student and faculty handbooks.

The Office of Human Resources is still the No. 1 contact for employment issues.“The overall job description and responsibilities have not changed, with student

discipline still being No. 1,” Panico said. “However, I've been given more areas to assist students. I'm now working to expeditiously address faculty referrals to counseling and student-connections programs, and ensure students are on the correct path for success.

“If a student needs a referral to a counselor, success advocate or other college resource, I'll be the conduit,” Panico said.

Over the summer, he’ll be collaborating with the life-resources unit of the Student Success Center to serve any new students who may need assistance while Pam Siegfried is off due to her 10-month schedule.

Panico will continue to report to Mike Collins, vice president for student and college relations.

No matter what the title, Panico brings to his duties eight years as an administrative assistant to Navy chaplains, another eight working with juveniles who found themselves on the wrong side of the law, and a half dozen working in both a high-school and higher-education setting.

Panico complements those experiences with a degree in criminal justice from Indiana University’s South Bend campus and a pair of master’s from Western Michigan University in public administration and educational leadership.

However, the 1984 graduate of Bridgman High School in Berrien County credits his educational success with the confidence he gained in himself when attending Hagerstown Community College in Maryland as he wrapped up an eight-year stint in the Navy.

Panico enlisted in the military fresh out of high school and attained the rank of first class petty officer while providing administration services for Navy chaplains. His duties took him to the Marine base at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina and then to the presidential retreat at Camp David in Maryland, the latter primarily during the White House stay of the first President George Bush.

It was at Hagerstown where he sampled a career in criminal justice and pointed Panico, at the end of his second stint of active duty in June of 1993, to IU’s operation in South Bend. With his first degree in hand, Panico went to work at the Thomas N. Frederick Juvenile Justice Center there where, over the next two years, he supervised the staff and residents in a 90-bed detention facility.

From late 1997 through early 2003, Panico was back in his home area working as a senior probation officer for the Family Division of the Berrien County Trial Court. Seeking to add to his educational credentials, he enrolled at WMU and spent a short time on the staff at the Kalamazoo County Juvenile Home.

Shifting from young people who challenged the law to those who chose to live within it, Panico joined the Galesburg-Augusta School District as the dean of students at G-A High School, a post he held for three years. From 2006 through joining KVCC, he had been an academic adviser in Spring Arbor University’s School of Graduate and Professional Studies.

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“What I learned while working in the juvenile justice system,” he said, “is that there are no quick fixes in helping young people who find themselves in that kind of situation. The average age is 15.

“By then,” Panico said, “the damage done to them is too often irrevocable, although there are enough success stories to keep you motivated. But it takes a really, really long time to effectuate any kind of change and there are heartaches along the way.”

It was while working in his home county that Panico decided to add to his resume and seek a graduate degree at WMU.

Armed with the master’s in educational leadership, Panico wanted to work directly with students who want to expand their horizons, which led to his duties at Spring Arbor’s Kalamazoo campus.

3 voices still needed for new history galleryWith a new interactive history gallery in the works at the Kalamazoo Valley

Museum, three voices are still needed to bring life to folks from the community’s past as part of the exhibitions.

So far, 21 have volunteered to play the roles, with the latest being museum retiree Donna Odom’s husband, Al, who has signed on to “play” Isaac Brown, a black laborer who moved to Kalamazoo after the Civil War to build roads, haul bricks and cut trees.

Three openings remain to provide the voices of African-American males.Scripts have been prepared for the interactive exhibit that will feature a plug-in

technology where visitors listen to a person from the past describing his/her work.Here’s a typical story:

Seventeen-year-old William Binder works in a Kalamazoo cigar factory along with his two brothers. His family came from Germany in 1880 and he was the first child born in the United States.

“I've been working since I was 15 at Mr. Salomon's cigar factory--so have my two brothers,” the script reads. “I roll about 150 cigars a day for 68 cents. My three sisters work, too, even my youngest sister, Rosie. They are all seamstresses. All of us help to support the family.”

“We are being deliberate about getting diversity,” said Elspeth Inglis, the museum’s assistant director. “We intend to show the inequities of employment during the early 20th century with regards to race, gender and age.

“The characters are real people,” Inglis said, “whom Donna Odom and Paula Metzner found in their research -- mostly in census records. This particular part of the exhibit addresses inequities in work/wages for women, children, and people of color. In a few cases, we're hoping to find folks with some good ability to speak with accents.”

In addition to Odom, stepping back in time will be Anora Ackerson, Denise Posey, Anna Barnhart, Philipp Jonas, Dillon Jepkima, Sheila White, LaRue Clark Russell, Shannon Ritzer, Mike Gard, Karen Visser, Julie Hansen, Megan Burtzloff, Jay Gavan, Steven Gerike, Sean Chiplock, Pat Pojeta, Robyn Robinson, Brandy Thompson, Ron Cleveland, and Joshua Hoppenworth.

Inglis is looking for voices for these characters: Robert Weaver, 34, a black barber in the early 20th century Floyd Dungill, a 16-year-old African American who worked in a foundry

at the turn of the century. Wilson Pettiford, 56, a black custodian who worked in the 1920s.

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KVCC’ers interested in becoming a part of history can contact Inglis at extension 7985.

Summer hours coming June 14 From June 14 through Aug. 27, KVCC will be operating under “summer hours.”On Monday through Thursday, the work week will be from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

with a 30-minute break for lunch. And on Fridays during that period, the college will shut down at noon. Work

hours will be from 8 to noon with no lunch break.With the arrival of summer hours, The Digest will also shift into an every-other-

week format until just before the start of the fall semester. The June 14 Digest will be the last weekly edition. The next will be dated June 28.

Those operations of the colleges with special, evening and weekend hours - - facilities services, public safety, information technologies, the M-TEC, some offices, and the Kalamazoo Valley Museum — will be adjusting their individual schedules to ensure coverage.

The KVCC Office of Human Resources reports that employees will be paid for 40 hours on the job even though the work week will be reduced to 36 hours during that 11-week period.

The KVCC Cabinet reviews the summer-work schedule annually to determine whether core hours will be adjusted.

In the spring of 2009, “summer hours” started on May 11.

Second teaching seminar set for SeptemberTwelve full- and part-time instructors have signed on so far to take part in the

Faculty Success Center’s second “Community College Teaching Seminar” set to begin in September.

Carrying the equivalent of a three-credit-hour graduate course, the seminar develops theoretical and practical background for instructors at the community college level.

Designed for a variety of disciplines, it emphasizes effective instructional strategies for the 21st century, assessments, and the uses of technology.

Those who complete the two-semester seminar will receive a $500 stipend. There are still some seats open for the September 2010 session.

The latest enrollees are: Deb Lewis, Valerie Cesario, Trevor Stefanick, Robert Connelly, Linda Knasel, Susan Baker, Kathleen Kerstetter, Linda Rzoska, Beth Purdy, Phyllis Wilson, Teri Williams, and Todd Ide.

A third teaching seminar is planned for September of 2011.To accommodate the schedules of participants, the schedule of meeting dates and

times are determined at the inaugural session. The plan is for each seminar to meet weekly for two hours over a 12-week period.Among the topics are: “Effective Preparation and Planning,” “Classroom Incivility,” “Academic

Honesty,” “Motivating Students,” “Effective Instructional Strategies in the 21st Century College Classroom,” “Teaching Problem-Solving and Critical Thinking for Today’s World,” “Assessment,” and “Navigating the KVCC Learning Environment.”

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More information is available by contacting the Faculty Success Center at facultysuccesscenter@kvcc.edu.

CNM art showcase open through June 25Some 23 graduates of the KVCC Center for New Media are displaying their

artistic creativity.The center’s annual Graduates Show is in place through June 25.On display in the Central, South and Arcus galleries are works in graphic design,

illustration, 2- and 3-D animation, web design, video production, digital photography, and fine art.

The graduates are Anna Barnhart, Kari Braley, Kaitlin Cough, Athen Decker, Jordan Decker, Adam Georgoff, William Hays, Cassey McPhearson, Taylor Neely, Amy O'Donnell, Andy Peninger, Ryan Rosenthal, Chad Sutton, Brittney Thoele, Andy VanKoevering, Brandon VanDusen, John Babbitt, Aidan Boyle, Cynthia Cooper, John Furrow, Jonas Jagielski, Eva Oldman and Wesley Uhl.

Each spring, faculty at the Center for New Media select a student to receive its Merit Award for dedication to the arts, exceptional talents in a field of creativity, and scholastic achievement. Sutton, a major in graphic design, is the 2010 recipient and his artwork will be on display in the Central Gallery.

For more information, contact Margaret Noteboom, the center’s events manager, at extension 7883 or mnoteboom@kvcc.edu.

Emmy-nominated ‘doc’ has KVCC footageA documentary that includes footage of KVCC’s 145-foot, 50-kilowatt wind

turbine on the Texas Township Campus has been nominated for an Emmy.Brian Gonda's documentary, "Michigreen: Michigan's Renewable Energy

Future," has been shown on PBS stations across the state.It was entered into the national completion an Emmy in “Topical Documentary”

by the Michigan chapter of The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Winners were scheduled to be announced Sunday (June 6).With more than 20 years of experience in broadcast television as a photographer,

editor and producer, Gonda brought his expertise to Kalamazoo when he founded VideoHead Productions in 2004.

He’s provided footage from the Oklahoma City Bombing to the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

For four years from 2000, he was the chief photographer for the NBC affiliate, KOB-TV, in Albuquerque, N.M.

Relocating to Atlanta, Ga., in the summer of 2004, he freelanced for ESPN and WSB-TV before coming to Kalamazoo where he has taken on assignments for numerous nonprofits and returned to his roots as a documentarian.

Wind-energy summer camps need registrantsBuilding a scale-model wind turbine will be the capstone project at two summer

camps for youths ranging in age from 12 to 17.That is, if enough sign up for the sessions.

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Slated to be held at KVCC’s Texas Township Campus, the first session will run from June 14-16 for 12 to 14 year olds and the second is July 12-14 for 15 to 17 year olds. The fee is $135.

However, according to Lauren Beresford, director of operations at the M-TEC, there are three commitments for the June camp and two for July. At least eight are needed for each camp to be a go.

Guiding both camps, which will be in action from 9 a.m. to noon on each of the three days in Room 5820, will be John Stahl, a physics instructor at KVCC who is working on a master’s in that discipline at Western Michigan University.

Among the camp activities in addition to building a turbine will be collecting and analyzing wind data, experimenting with blade design, learning the ins and outs of the 145-foot wind turbine that is operating on the Texas Township Campus, and learning about careers in wind energy.

Camp participants, who will number 15 for each session, will tour and inspect the 50-kilowatt wind turbine at the west end of the Texas Township Campus.

To register or to receive more information, call the college’s Wind Energy Center based in the M-TEC of KVCC at 353-1270 or visit this web site: www.windenergycenter.kvcc.edu.

Current sky shows run through June 18The Kalamazoo Valley Museum planetarium's spring-program schedule features

three shows -- “Bear Tales,” “The Artists’ Sky,” and “Secrets of the Sun” -- through June 18.

There is a $3 fee for shows in the full-color, Digistar 4 planetarium, although admission to the museum and its exhibitions are free.

“Bear Tales” takes family audiences on an imaginary spring camping trip where constellation stories are told around the campfire as the stars are identified in the sky. The program is shown weekdays at 11 a.m., on Saturdays at 1 p.m. and on Sundays at 2 p.m.

“The Artists' Sky” offers a sample of how artists, poets and musicians have been inspired by the heavens as it guides visitors through the spring sky. Reading a star map and star hopping or using familiar patterns to find other constellations are discussed along with the planet Saturn that will shine in the evening sky this spring. Targeted for aspiring stargazers, this program will be shown on Saturdays at 2 p.m.

The feature show “Secrets of the Sun” describes the star at the heart of our solar system from the power plant at its core to the gossamer atmosphere that surrounds the sun. The program also looks at interactions between the sun and planet Earth. This program is offered daily at 3 p.m.

More information is available at the museum’s web site at www.kalamazoomuseum.org.Archives offer fingertip-access to documents

The KVCC Archives now offer access to many college documents in electronic form, reports Director of Libraries Janet Alm.

“From the comfort of your own computer,” she said, “you can view the agendas and minutes of many college meetings, including the KVCC Board of Trustees and the cabinet, as well as past issues of The Digest.”

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To view the archives’ online documents, go to the libraries’ home page at http://www.kvcc.edu/library and click on “KVCC Archives.”

For further information about the KVCC Archives, see the Archives Guidelines at http://home.kvcc.edu/hrmain/StffDev/Job_Aids/Manuals_Policies_Handbooks/ArchivesGuidelines.pdf or contact Alm at extension 4326 or jalm@kvcc.edu

Before dumping used cooking oil, check with CharlieIf you’re thinking to dispose of that well-used oil as the outdoor-cooking season

nears, 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 fondue foods, chicken strips, perch, turkeys, mushrooms, French fries, and jalapeno peppers.

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

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

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

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

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

by KVCC staff members and by restaurants. The automotive program has to buy methanol and sodium hydroxide - which is

basically lye - to catalyze the concoction.To 50 gallons of cooking oil will be added eight to nine gallons of methanol and

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

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

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

Learn Kalamazoo’s history via walking toursWith Kalamazoo Valley Community College being a part of the downtown-

Kalamazoo neighborhood since opening a branch campus in 1983, students, faculty and staff are invited to sample the urban environs and community history in a series of free public walks around historic areas this summer and fall.

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Sponsored by Gazelle Sports, the walking tours will be led by Lynn Houghton, regional history curator at the Western Michigan University Archives and Regional History Collections and author of “Kalamazoo Lost and Found.” For the last nine years, she has organized 50 tours and has created six more for 2010.

The walks will be on Fridays at 8 a.m. and Thursday evenings at 6:30, weather permitting, and will last approximately 90 minutes. No registration is needed.

Here’s the schedule: Thursday (June 10), Vine Historic District, meet at Gazelle Sports on the mall ,

6:30 p.m. Friday, June 18. Edison Neighborhood, meet at Washington Square Library, 1244

Portage St., 8 a.m. Thursday, June 24, “Downtown Theaters and Auditoriums: Past and Present,”

meet at Gazelle Sports, 6:30 p.m. Friday, July 2, Oakwood Neighborhood, meet at Oakwood Elementary, 3410

Laird Ave., 8 a.m. Friday, July 9, Vine Historic District, meet at Vine Street and South Westnedge

Avenue, 8 a.m. Thursday, July 22, Oakland Drive and Winchell neighborhoods, meet at Winchell

Avenue and Aberdeen Drive, 6:30 p.m. Friday, July 30, Stuart Historic District, meet at Elm and West Main streets, 8

a.m. Thursday, Aug. 5, Kalamazoo State Hospital and Western Michigan University

East Campus, meet at Oakland Drive and Oliver Street, 6:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 13, Eastside Neighborhood, meet at East Main Street and Charlotte

Avenue, 8 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 26, Riverside Cemetery, meet at Gull Road and Riverview Drive,

6:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 27, West Main Historic District, meet at Monroe Street and Grand

Avenue, 8 a.m. Friday, Sept. 10, Haymarket Historic District, meet at Gazelle Sports, 8 a.m. Friday, Sept. 24, Fairmont Neighborhood, meet at North Street and Douglas

Avenue, 8 a.m. Friday, Oct. 8, Bronson Park and South Street, meet at Gazelle Sports, 8 a.m. Friday, Oct. 22, West Main Historic District and Kalamazoo College, meet at

Monroe Street and Grand Avenue, 8 a.m.For more information, contact Gazelle Sports at (269) 342-5996. Information is

also available at http://www.gazellesports.com.

Help landfills by recycling stuff that can be re-usedAs the college’s construction project continues and office functions are moved –

and moved again -- don’t just dump those papers. Keep those recyclable resources – and others -- in the mainstream.Think about what you are doing and don’t be lazy in doing it.The college’s commitment to recycling the mountains of paper required for daily

operations is strong. The losers for not maintaining that strength are the landfills of Southwest

Michigan, and the trees that help replenish the planet with the stuff we all breathe.

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Hammered through all of us in many a science class is that trees eat what we exhale and what comes out of our vehicles’ exhausts. Each time a tree is saved through the use of recycled paper, so is an oxygen generator.

It’s not that tough to do. All that is required is a little patience and a sense that one is doing the right thing.

The same goes with metal and plastic products that touch our lives and, without any consideration, end up in trash containers. What good is it to down a plastic bottle of that good, clear, clean water, and then relegate the containers to the landfills?

Making it even easier these days are the blue recycling containers located in KVCC buildings, thanks to four student organizations that are living the Green Revolution.

Just about every ilk of paper product that comes our way can be recycled. In one KVCC study, it was concluded that 80 percent of what the college

incinerates doesn’t have to be destroyed that way.Print out this list of “recyclables” and post it just above your blue bin: Newspapers Business cards Hard-cover books Copy paper Index cards Trade journals and magazines Cardboard Fax paper Junk mail Notebook paper Paper bags Envelopes without plastic windows (Think about cutting out the plastic

windows) Business forms Computer printouts File folders Maps Post-it notes StationeryIt is not necessary to remove staples or other forms of bindings from the paper

items to be recycled. Obviously, paper clips can be easily salvaged before launching the paper

materials into the blue bin. However, if the above materials are soiled by excessive dirt, food, grease or other

forms of gook, send them to the incinerator. Most of this applies to what we do in our homes, too. By taking the time to

recycle paper, plastic, metal and glass products, the amount of trash, debris and garbage bound for the landfill can be drastically reduced.

If possible, establish a compost pile in your yard. That can accomplish at least three goals – create your own fertilizer, build up a personal supply of worms if you are an

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angler, and greatly reduce the amount of trash you put out along the roadside for pickup, thus reducing your costs.

Need more convincing? It is estimated that it takes a plastic container 50,000 years to decompose. Think about that the next time you chuck away that empty water bottle that cost you at least a buck.

In the newsIn the May 26 edition of The Kalamazoo Gazette, the Kalamazoo Valley

Museum got a bonus plug for the local stay of its latest nationally touring exhibition that features costumes of famed movie and TV characters.

Megan Burtzloff, the museum’s design assistant, was photographed carrying the costume worn by Darryl Hannah in the 1982 film, “Blade Runner.” It is part of “Out of This World: Extraordinary Costumes from Film and Television” that will be the attraction in the museum’s third-floor gallery through Sept. 12.

The headline over the photo was “Other Worldly,” an apt description of the exhibition.

The Gazette’s April 10 edition contained a report about KVCC’s observance of Veterans Appreciation Day under the headline, “Campus Salute: KVCC Event Offers Camaraderie, Assistance.”

In addition to a raffling of prizes and handouts of information, the event included a free lunch for military veterans who were also introduced to the array of training and educational resources available to them at the college.

Representatives from the U. S. Department of Labor and the federal Veterans Administration to chart courses for a vet’s transition from military to civilian life, and to detail the benefits due them.

Quoted about the college’s resources for veterans was 68-year-old Byron Foster, an advocate in the KVCC Student Success Center who served in the Air Force during the Vietnam War.

The keynote speaker was Marine Sgt. Maj. Stephen Balczo, who is the son of KVCC instructor Jan White. On display was a silhouetted replica of the flag raising on Iwo Jima.

In photos accompanying the news story were Denise Lindsley, a student-assessment specialist at KVCC, and Keith Hovious, who is vice president of the KVCC Student Veterans Association.

B’nai B’rith recipient chooses KVCCOf the 22 winners of the 47th annual B’nai B’rith scholar-athlete award winners,

one has chosen to attend KVCC.He’s Michael Bailey of Parchment High School, a four-year Honor Roll senior

who intends to major in secondary education. He lettered in basketball for three years, served as team captain for two, and was an all-league selection. He also played for Parchment High’s golf team for three years.

Athletic directors at 11 local high schools choose a female and male athlete from the senior class to receive the annual B’nai B’rith recognition.

Other higher-education choices included Indiana University-Purdue University at Fort Wayne, Michigan State University (6), Hope College, Notre Dame, University of Dayton, Calvin College, Trinity Christian College in Chicago, Indiana Wesleyan,

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Western Michigan University (3), Cornell College in Iowa, Grand Valley State University, Illinois State University, and West Point.

And finally. . . How about these examples of exceptional and insightful

wordsmithing:“He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends” –

Oscar Wilde“Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they

go” – another Wilde-ism“He has the mathematical abilities of a Clydesdale” – David

Letterman“He is completely unspoiled by failure” – Noel Coward“He’s liked, but he’s not well-liked” – playwright Arthur Miller“He had a big head and a face so ugly it became almost

fascinating” – author Ayn Rand“He had delusions of adequacy” – Broadway theater critic Walter

Kerr“He knows so little and knows it so fluently” – Groucho Marx“He looked as inconspicuous as a tarantula on a slice of angel-

food cake” – mystery novelist Raymond Chandler“He loves nature in spite of what it did to him” – actor Forrest

Tucker“He was one of the nicest old ladies I ever met” – author William

Faulkner“Her figure described a set of parabolas that could cause cardiac

arrest in a rhinoceros” – comedian Steve Allen☻☻☻☻☻☻

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