July 20, 2009

The DigestWhat’s Happening at KVCC

What’s below in this edition

See the eclipse (Pages 1/2) Ink for KVCC (Page 9) Campus expansion (Pages 2/3) Camp 9-1-1 (Pages 9/10) Calling campaign (Pages 3/4) Slim and trim (Page 10) Piping donation (Page 4) ‘Innovation’ finals (Pages 10/11) Downtown project (Page 4) KAFI ‘kamps’ (Page 11) ‘Arcadia Commons West’ (Pages 4/5) Streets on TV (Pages 12/13) Food news (Page 5) The Living Planet (Pages 13/14) De-fibs in place (Pages 5/6) Wind camp (Pages 14/15) Wind-tech program (Page 6) ‘Jump to Japan’ (Pages 15/16) ‘Last’ star show (Pages 6-8) In the news (Page 16) Swap Meet (Page 8) Our ‘Olympian’ (Pages 16/17) Workplace excellence (Pages 8/9) And Finally (Pages 17/18)

☻☻☻☻☻☻Total eclipse, moon landing celebrated at museum

A big-screen viewing of the longest total solar eclipse of the 21st century – six minutes and 39 seconds -- will be part of the Kalamazoo Valley Museum’s five-day salute to the 40th anniversary of humanity’s moon-landing mission.

The capstone event will feature the opportunity to watch the eclipse live and in color in the museum’s Mary Jane Stryker Theater. Its doors will open at 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 21, and, technology willing, it will be viewable starting at around 10:45 p.m.

That’s because Eric Schreur, the museum’s planetarium coordinator, will have flown to Beijing, China, to begin a journey to view his eighth total solar eclipse.

Back in Kalamazoo, the museum’s celebration of Neil Armstrong’s first step onto the lunar surface on July 20, 1969, will also coincide with the anniversary of the establishment of the federal agency that made the adventure possible – the National Aeronautics and Space Agency.

Beginning on Saturday, July 18, and through the following Wednesday, the museum will offer mini-missions to the moon in its Challenger Learning Center,

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planetarium shows, a showing of the movie “In the Shadow of the Moon,” and Reading Rainbow segments with space themes for children.

Reservations are required for the three Challenger missions because space is limited. There is a $3 fee for a Challenger mission and for each of the five planetarium shows. The eclipse viewing, the movie and the Reading Rainbow episodes are free.

Schreur has traveled to Georgia, Quebec, North Dakota, Finland, the Sea of Cortez near Mazatlan, Mexico, the African nation of Zambia, and to the Caribbean Sea near Aruba to view solar eclipses of this magnitude.

After his flight to China, he will board a cruise ship that will make ports in Cheju, Korea, and Kagoshima, Japan, before heading for the astronomical event’s point of greatest duration southeast of Iwo Jima.

“From my site,” he said, “the eclipse will take place shortly after local noon on Wednesday, July 22. I will attempt to send a video of the total eclipse back to the Stryker Theater within minutes of my observations. The video clip will arrive Tuesday, July 21, at 10:45 p.m. Kalamazoo time.”

Schreur said the video will be part of a larger eclipse-watch program prepared in advance of his departure. The program will describe what eclipses are, what kinds of things eclipse watchers will be able to see, and details of why this is such an exceptional eclipse.

The free program will also include a segment on how to safely observe the sun by projection techniques, and clips of the sights he has seen along the way.

For details about the schedule of events, call (269) 373-7990 or go to the museum’s web page at www.kalamazoomuseum.org.

Campus projects get Granholm OK in LansingKVCC’s $12-million renovation and expansion project has garnered the signature

of Gov. Jennifer Granholm, signaling a September start of the multi-phased capital improvement.

Those dollars are banked in capital funds by the state and by the college, and are not part of each’s general fund. Michigan’s formula for higher-education projects has not changed from past years. Each community college and the state provide 50 percent of the costs.

The construction phase should take between 14 and 18 months. One of the first installments will be a parking-lot expansion in the northwest section of the campus. “This should ease some of the overcrowding we have been experiencing the last couple of years,” President Marilyn Schlack said.

The Kalamazoo architectural firm of Eckert Wordell is designing the expansion and remodeling, while the Miller-Davis Co. will serve as construction manager.

Overseeing the project is a steering committee whose members include Marilyn Schlack, Mike Collins, Laura Cosby, Terry Hutchins, Deborah Dawson, Ron Young, Steve Walman and Rick Margelis.

Under that group will be subcommittees that focus their attention on components of the project.

One of the major thrusts is the construction of space to house the Student Success Center that is now based in the former Gallery. Also planned is a multi-purpose lab for the sciences and several general-purpose classrooms.

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The additional space will also significantly increase the number of faculty offices, install waiting areas for students, and establish additional conference rooms.

The smaller subgroups of college personnel will target these individual components of the project. They will help outline the implications of construction on daily operations and incorporate any last-minute suggestions.

The other phases call for:● An addition to accommodate a loading dock at Central Receiving and Facility

Services and a 6,000-square-foot interior remodeling for a variety of functions.● Remodeling, upgrading and restoring the existing geology and physics labs as

well as two nearby classrooms.

Get ready to make those callsKVCC's annual campaign to contact enrolled students who have not yet paid for

fall-semester classes is again seeking volunteers with friendly voices and demeanor.Calloused fingertips also come in handy because, in the past anywhere from 80 to

100 KVCC’ers stepped forward to make as many as 6,000 telephone calls. Scheduled for Monday, Aug. 3, through Friday, Aug. 7, the calling is a chance to

help prospective students not lose their classes, and to help the college maintain a healthy, vital, ever-growing enrollment.

Those who make the calls report that students, their parents, and friends deeply appreciate the gentle reminder, and the college's caring environment.

And it works, with about 80 percent resulting in students making their payments prior to batch cancellation. Volunteers can make their calls during the workday at their work stations and have a full week to complete their task. Scripts are provided with clear, easy-to-follow instructions on how to record information.

“Many a volunteer has remarked how fun it is speaking with our students,” said organizer Pat Pojeta said, “especially as they begin preparing for another exciting school year ahead at KVCC. They seem happy to hear from us. It made a difference in a big way for them and our college. We are grateful for the support. “Some have repeatedly volunteered,” she said, and we truly are thankful for your on-going support of this campus project. Once you experience the difference you make, you enjoy the time you put into this endeavor. It's actually fun talking with our students.

If many volunteers step forward to help, the job in total becomes much smaller for each of us,” Pojeta said. Prospective volunteers can contact her at extension 4018 or ppojeta@kvcc.edu.

Among those who have agreed to make the calls are:M-TEC: Patricia Wallace, Lisa Peet, Brenda Moncrief and Lauren Beresford.Anna Whitten Hall: Sheila White, Barbara VanZandt, Amy Winkel, Chasity

Hayden, and Jackie Cantrell.Texas Township Campus: Ruth Baker, Mary Johnson, Denise Lindsley, Bonnie

Bowden, Gloria Norris, Lisa Gruber, Candy Horton, Terry Hutchins, Joyce Zweedyk, Janet Alm, Jennie Huff, Nancy Young, Teresa Fornoff, Marylan Hightree, Gail Fredericks, Angie Case, LaJoyce Brooks, Laurie Dykstra, and the staffs of the offices of financial aid and admissions, records and registration.

Student Success Center advocates Carolyn Brownell, Marcia Shaneyfelt-Niles, Isabella Robinson, Jacob Johnson, Sheila Rupert, Diana Haggerty, Jane Westra, Catie

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West, David Hughes, Sommer Hayden, Morgan Redowski, Stephanie Strong and Ebba Spyke.

Welding students benefit from Pfizer donationSome $5,000 worth of surplus stainless-steel piping has been donated by Pfizer

Inc to KVCC’s welding program.“All Pfizer pipe-fitter, machine-repair and welding apprentices are required to

take a welding class at KVCC as part of their training program,” said Steven Doorlag of Pfizer’s asset and contract management operations. “Making this donation benefits all welding students at KVCC, including our own.”

Delivered to the Texas Township Campus were 60 feet of four-inch piping, 20 feet of three-inch piping, 100 feet of two inch, 180 feet of one inch, 100 feet of three-quarter inch, and 60 feet of half-inch piping.

“It’s all new stuff,” Doorlag said. “An update to our piping standards in April made it surplus to our needs.”

“Stainless-steel materials are expensive and difficult to obtain,” said Deborah Dawson, dean of business and advanced technology. This is a very welcome gift to the college.”

New neighbors for Center for New Media?The KVCC Center for New Media may have some company in the coming

months.The four vintage buildings to the east of the center on Michigan Avenue are the

targets of a proposed Kalamazoo Downtown Development Authority $10-million, mixed-use redevelopment.

With more than a few financial steps to take and arrangements to be made, a Kalamazoo-based developer – MAVCON Properties LLC – wants to convert the structures – which are primarily vacant – into a combination of retail space at street level and reasonably priced housing on the two upper floors.

Preliminary plans call for the building’s facades to be preserved. Once work is started, the estimated completion date would be between one year and 14 months. MAVCON has already refurbished one other downtown building located at 232 W. Michigan Ave.

Blueprinting the ‘Arcadia Commons West’ conceptA brainstorming-and-beyond session focusing on an arena for downtown

Kalamazoo will be staged in Anna Whitten Hall on Monday (July 20).Community leaders and those interested in the vitality of the community’s hub

have been invited to join with design, construction and development professionals – including national experts -- in what is being referred to as the “Arcadia Commons West Charette.”

A trio of one-hour sessions on the first floor of Whitten Hall has been booked for participants – 2 p.m., 3:15 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.

The exercise will explore a variety of topics: How an arena might fit into downtown Kalamazoo and the surrounding

neighborhoods. What types of activities and uses it might attract

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What kinds of commercial and residential development it might stimulate. What type of public amenities it might help create What type of traffic, infrastructure and urban-planning issues it might

bring to the surface.The organizers and facilitators of the charette will report the findings and

conclusions at 10 a.m. on Wednesday (July 22) in Whitten Hall.Charettes take place in many disciplines, especially in urban planning in which it

has become a technique for consulting with all stakeholders. This type of charette (sometimes called an enquiry by design) typically involves

intense and possibly multi-day meetings, involving municipal officials, developers, and residents.

A successful charette promotes joint ownership of solutions and attempts to defuse typical confrontational attitudes between residents and developers.

Radisson begins new food-service era at KVCCThe catering division of the Radisson Plaza Hotel and Suites has taken over

management of the Texas Township Campus Cafeteria and the vending services at all college facilities.

Throughout the rest of the summer, the food-service hours will be 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 7:30 a.m. to noon on Friday.

Radisson has been operating a coffee cart at Anna Whitten Hall since April of last year, and it will continue with that operation.

In the fall, the coffee shop in the Student Commons will reopen under Radisson management.

More AEDs placed in college buildingsEight new Automated External Defibrillator (AED) units – upgraded versions of

what have been in place -- have been installed in college facilities. While a training session has already been held, stay tuned for future opportunities to learn about the new units, the differences between the two models, and how to use these life-saving devices.

The locations are: Texas Township Campus: Inside the Tower Entrance near the pay station; inside

the Flag Entrance near the bookstore; the Student Lounge near the Computer Lab, Room 2310; hall near faculty-reception area; outside the library’s lower level; hallway near 5100 rooms and Facility Services; outside the main gym and athletic office; Room 6200 in the Student Commons; outside the entrance to Wellness and Fitness Center; near Room 5810 in the technical wing; and in the security office and security vehicle. Arcadia Commons Campus: units on all three floors of Anna Whitten Hall; a unit on each level of the Kalamazoo Valley Museum; and an AED unit on all floors of the Center for New Media.

Michigan Technical Education Center on the Groves Campus: on the west wall of the main lobby on the first floor and near the High Throughput Screening Center on the second floor.

The training is encouraged for “first responders” as a refresher and is also geared for those seeking general information about the use and operation of an AED.

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In the event of a SCA (sudden cardiac arrest) that can happen to people of all ages, the only quick response is defibrillation provided by an AED.

In the United States, more than 350,000 people die each year from SCA before reaching a hospital.

In many cases, SCA can be reversed with early defibrillation, which involves shocking the heart with an electric current that allows it to re-establish a normal rhythm.

To be most effective, defibrillation must occur as soon as possible after the onset of the cardiac arrest.

The chance of survival decreases by 7 to 10 percent per minute until defibrillation. AEDs have been shown to be easy to use (by non-medical personal), are safe, and are effective in saving lives.

It is as important to know the techniques of utilizing an AED as it is to know the techniques of CPR (cardio-pulmonary resuscitation).

Wind-tech certification is fall-semester ‘newbie’KVCC is launching its program to train the coming generation of wind-energy

technicians in the fall.To earn a one-year certificate in the emerging field, students will complete 35

credit hours of classroom instructions and lab experiences designed to teach them how to install, maintain and service modern wind-energy turbines.

While students could prepare for this curriculum by enrolling in summer courses, the classes that apply directly to wind-energy technology will begin with KVCC’s fall semester scheduled to start on Sept. 8.

Among the chief instructional tools will be the 145-foot, 50-kilowatt, commercial-sized wind turbine that towers over the college’s technical wing on the Texas Township Campus and a 1.8-kilowatt model that is designed for residential purposes. A wind-turbine lab in KVCC’s nearby M-TEC will also be part of the learning equation.

Through courses in applied electricity, electrical machines, programmable logic controllers, fluid power, the operations, maintenance and repair of wind turbines, the mechanical systems in these turbines, and the generation and distribution of power, students will be introduced to the technical standards in the industry.

They will learn about the generation of electrical power, safety in the workplace, mechanical devices, electrical, pneumatic and hydraulic systems, computer controls and communications. They will learn the skills needed to connect locally generated power into the grid systems used by utilities.

The curriculum will be rounded out by an overview of renewable energies, including solar energy, wind power, hydropower, geothermal energy, and alternatives to petroleum-based products. They will learn the basic principles of each technology to understand their natures, their limits and their potential.

Planetarium closing Aug. 5 for updateThe next generation of planetarium experiences is scheduled to sit down on the

Kalamazoo landscape when Digistar 4 Laser arrives at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum in the fall.

As with its predecessor Digistar II, which was among the attractions when the downtown-Kalamazoo museum opened its doors in February of 1996, the newest $1.3

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million version will be among the handful in operation around the world with its first public programs slated for Saturday, Sept. 19.

To prepare for the installation, the planetarium will stage its last show for the public at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 5. Installation and staff training will begin on the following Monday. When the new Digistar 4 is ready to strut its stuff for the public on Sept. 19, all of the shows will be free that day.

“According to my research,” said planetarium coordinator Eric Schreur, “this new Digistar system will be one of a dozen digital planetariums in the world that use a laser beam to cover the full screen with video imagery. It becomes even rarer when considering the interactive features that we have – probably one of six in the world. And we certainly will be among the smallest venues to have a Digistar 4 Laser.”

“The Digistar 4 opens a whole new world of educational possibilities for Southwest Michigan,” said museum director Patrick Norris. “Full-dome, full-color digital video images take visitors to the depths of space and back in time.”

The museum’s inventory of planetarium offerings has grown to more than 50 shows since the opening 14 years ago. Schreur is in the process of upgrading the best of them – about 15 -- to be Digistar 4 Laser ready when the planetarium theater goes back into action in September.

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

Digistar is the trademark name for the computer-projection system of Evans & Sutherland based in Salt Lake City. It uses digital-graphics technology to create three-dimensional scenes on the 109-seat Kalamazoo planetarium’s 50-foot dome.

“There are two differences between the new system and the older one,” said Schreur, who has been presenting and producing planetarium shows in Kalamazoo since his days as a museum volunteer in 1969. “First, and most apparent to the audience, will be the change in projection technology. The Digistar II was a black-and-white video display projected on the dome through a fish-eye lens.

“It was supplemented,” he said, “by four video projectors fixed on different parts of the screen, dozens of slide projectors, and dozens of special-effect projectors – all very functional and all very exciting.

“The Digistar 4 Laser is a single projector that will do the work of all of those in the earlier system,” said Schreur, who has held his current position at the museum since 1985. “It fills the dome with images projected by a colored laser beam.”

Schreur said the second difference will be out of the view of audiences and be behind the scenes where the shows are created. New computer software is used to assemble electronic images and digital audio into shows. “Gone forever are the slide films and recording tapes used in the past,” he said.

After a feasibility study by community leaders, Kalamazoo Valley Community College in July of 1991 assumed the governance of the Kalamazoo Public Museum.

Voters in the college's 10 K-12 school districts also approved a charter millage to fund the museum's operations in perpetuity. Part of its annual budgeting process is to build up a capital-improvement fund for such projects as the Digistar 4 Laser.

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In response to that mandate from voters, community leaders launched a $20-million capital campaign to build a new museum in downtown Kalamazoo. Since its opening, the museum has attracted 1.5 million visitors.

It was possible with the Digistar II "to fly" the audience to any of the 9,000 stars in its data base and look back to this solar system from their locations in the universe. Schreur reports the new data base is much larger and the “trips” are no longer limited to stars or black-and-white experiences.

“It will be safe to say,” Schreur said, “that people in Southwest Michigan would have to travel great distances to get the same experience that we will be able to offer beginning in September.”Think of ‘Swap Meet’ as KVCC ‘garage sale’ with photos

The Office of Human Resources’ web page contains a want-ad system to link KVCC folks with their colleagues in the sharing of talent, knowledge, skills, goods and services.

And now there is the technology to attach a photo to what you want to sell. The “KVCC Swap Meet” provides a forum to barter goods (made or grown) and

to post information about services that can be provided -- painting, sewing, computer assistance, etc.

It can also be used to post an announcement about services or goods that are being sought.

There are four categories on the site: Services for Hire, Goods Wanted, Goods for Sale, and Miscellaneous. This site is for KVCC employees only and is intended as a way for employees to network with each other for trade or sale purposes.

KVCC will not be responsible for any transactions or the satisfaction of either party, and will not enter into dispute resolution. “KVCC Swap Meet” is housed on the Human Resources website under Quick Links.

To post a service or item, just click Post Ad, select the appropriate category, complete the online form and click submit.

“To attach a picture to an item that you put up for sale on the Swap Meet,” reports Sandy Bohnet, “all you have to do is go to the Swap Meet site and place your ad. Then, e-mail a digital picture to Kristine Goolsby, and she will attach the picture to the ad. Remember, ‘a picture is worth a thousand words.......or dollars.’”

Co-workers will be able to view the posting by the next business day. It is requested that the postings be made during non-working hours. ‘Excellence in the Workplace’ at M-TEC

Getting the maximum performance from a workforce is the thrust of an upcoming forum at the M-TEC of KVCC.

Marc Jacobs, general manager of the Radisson Plaza Hotel and Suites in downtown Kalamazoo, will lead the “Excellence in the Workplace” session set for Wednesday, July 29, from 9 to 10:30 a.m. The fee is $30.

Jacobs, named Radisson’s “general manager of the year” for its operations in North, South and Central America, has been assigned to the Kalamazoo outlet for 15 years.

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Designed for management, supervision and human-relations personnel, the workshop will cover such topics as identifying the product, spurring growth, creating loyal customers, finding talented workers, engaging and inspiring them, the attributes of an effective coach, productive ways of recognizing quality workers, and the value of quality training for personnel.

For more information or to register, visit the M-TEC website at www.mteckvcc.com. Click on “Training” and then “Current Offerings.”

KVCC’s story featured at Business Review forumKVCC’s willingness to adapt its educational and training programs to provide the

workforce of today and tomorrow in emerging technologies shared the spotlight at a forum hosted by Business Review Western Michigan magazine last month in Grand Rapids.

With Deborah Dawson, dean of business and advanced technologies sharing microphone time with higher-education colleagues, the event merited significant coverage under this headline: “Adapting for tomorrow’s jobs.”

Reporter Olivia Pulsinelli pointed out that “it’s probably more important for a college or university (as opposed to businesses) to adapt quickly to the economy because they are trying to anticipate the needs of the workforce of tomorrow.”

Dawson spoke about community colleges reacting quickly in taking a proposal from the drawing board to the classroom.

She told the listeners that most of KVCC’s newest programs are in the area of sustainability, citing the one-year certificate program for wind-energy technicians that was push through in two months. A certificate of achievement in auto-hybrid and advanced-technology vehicles was in place in three months.

This accelerated time frame requires commitment from all players, she said, admitting that not every program can progress at this pace. How fast the program gets launched depends on how urgent the college recognizes the need to be. “Green-collar jobs” loom as one of the coming things.

“In the case of sustainability,” she said, “we knew it had to happen, our advisory committee members knew it had to happen, and we made it happen.

She attributed some of KVCC’s ability to develop programs quickly to its tight connection with industry, both through its facilities and the system of advisory committees whose members are on top of developments in their fields.

They help upgrade the instructional resources and the curriculum. Even more important, these advisers are windsocks when it comes to indicating the prospects of employment in these fields.

Other presenters represented Grand Rapids Community College, Grand Valley State University, Western Michigan University, and Michigan State University. New camp targets safety, health for 9, 10, 11 year olds

Healthy living, preventing injuries, dodging dangerous situations, and safety issues are the learning goals for the second segment of a free one-day camp for children 9 through 11 at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum this summer.

Sponsored by Life EMS Ambulance Service and open to 25 participants, “Camp 9-1-1” will convene on Tuesday, July 28, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. To register, call (269) 373-3116.

Among the potential topics will be:

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• Traffic and bicycle safety• First aid• Home safety• Self-defense • Reacting to an abduction attempt• Internet safety• Basics of CPR (cardio-pulmonary resuscitation)• Fire-prevention advice• Water safety• Avoiding tobacco products• What to know about dogsAssisting EMS Ambulance Service in providing the instructions are the

Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety, the Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Department, the Michigan State Police, members of local fire departments, Prevention Works Inc., the Kalamazoo County Safe Kids Coalition, the American Heart Association, and Sanchin-Ryu Okinawan Karate.

Keeping track of the participants will be team leaders who are EMT (emergency medical technology) students, or who are chosen by EMS Ambulance Service from high schools, colleges and youth organizations.

For more information, contact Kimberly Caton of Life EMS Ambulance at (269) 373-3104.

A summer full of exercise, wellness opportunitiesNow that you’ve pared off a few pounds so that you look good in your bermudas

and swimming togs, you can stay that way through the summer because of a full regimen of drop-in exercise opportunities.

Here is the lineup for faculty, staff and enrolled students:Monday – swimming from 7 to 8:30 a.m.; yoga from 11 to 11:55 a.m.Tuesday – swimming from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.; pilates from 11 to 11:55 a.m.;

and body sculpting from noon to 12:55.Wednesday – swimming from 7 to 8:30 a.m. Thursday – swimming from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and body sculpting from

noon to 12:55 p.m.Except for the obvious site for swimming, these exercise opportunities will be

based in Room 6040 in the Student Commons. Shelia Rupert will be leading the pilates sessions, Lu Cannon and Sheri Shon will

be sharing body sculpting, and Mark Duval is the yoga meister. Duval has taught forms of yoga since 1989 at the Kalamazoo Center for Healing

Arts and the Portage YMCA. He served as president of the Michigan Yoga Association from 1998 to 2002.

In offering three styles of yoga to participants, Duval will help KVCC’ers build their core strength, improve their flexibility, reduce stress, improve balance, slow the aging process, and speed up recovery from injuries. Wind Energy Center in line for magazine’s state award

KVCC’s foray into the arena of alternative-energy production via its Wind Energy Center based at the M-TEC has been included in the first round of finalists for Michigan Business Review magazine’s annual Innovation Michigan awards for 2009.

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Expanding the event to include entries from across the state, magazine staff members weaned the field to 38 finalists.

Innovation Michigan winners will be announced during the exposition and awards event schedule for Thursday, July 16, at Grand Valley State University's Pew Campus in Grand Rapids from 5 to 9 p.m. The exposition will include displays of finalists' innovations.

Camps for future animators, video-game designersElementary, middle-school and high-school students who were energized by the

creative medium of animation that was showcased at the fifth Kalamazoo Animation Festival International (KAFI) and by the lure of video games can take part in “do-it-yourself” workshops this summer.

Designed for interests and skills of children as young as 9 and through the upper teens, the KAFI Academy workshops are being held in the KVCC Center for New Media in downtown Kalamazoo.

Costs for the multi-day series of instructions and hands-on activities range from $150 to $275.

Here’s the remaining summer-camp schedule: ● Animation II: Production – July 20-23, noon to 5 p.m., ages 14 and up.● Animation III: Putting It Together – July 27-30, noon to 5 p.m., ages 14 and

up.● Claymation Creation Lab – July 13-16, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., ages 9 and up.

Participants will learn how to construct characters in clay and animate them. ● Stop Motion Lab – July 20-23, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., ages 9 and up. For

young animators who like to “think out of the box” and explore different modes and forms of animation.

● Filmmaking: The Cutting-Room Floor – July 27-30, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., ages 11 and up. This session explores advanced shooting, lighting and editing skills.

All of the workshops are project-based, and each participant will leave with a finished product to take home.

The week-long workshops are structured to allow participants to continue their efforts at home if they have the required computer software.

For more information and details about each workshop, or to register, call (269) 373-7934 or go to the KAFI web site at www.gokafi.com and click on “events” and “summer academy.”

Sharing the instructional duties will be: Tom Ludwig, who teaches film and video production in the Education for the

Arts program. Aubrey Jewel Hardaway, a full-time instructor of animation at the Center for

New Media and a graduate of the Columbus College of Art and Design. Kenjji Marshall, who has taught cartooning and caricature at the College for

Creative Studies in Detroit and has had his work featured in the New York Times and the Japan Times.

Joe Sparks, a faculty member at the Center for New Media and a graduate of the Savannah College of Art and Design in computer animation.

John Wagner, a major in digital cinema at Northern Michigan University who manages the technology lab for Education for the Arts.

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Streets featured in museum’s TV showHow the streets of Kalamazoo County got their names, one of the more popular

topics in the annual “Sunday Series” presentations, is the July installment of the Kalamazoo Valley Museum’s TV show.

Featuring Tom Dietz, the curator of research at the museum, the episode will chronicle the origins of street names, and 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.

Many of the names of the oldest streets in Kalamazoo County reflect the first white residents of the region. Driving or walking those streets offers a glimpse into its history.

The first pioneers of Kalamazoo County arrived in 1828, settling on Prairie Ronde. Among them were Abram and Sarah Bishop Shaver who came in early 1829. Shaver Road, running southwest from Westnedge Avenue in Portage to U.S.-131 in Schoolcraft Township, carries their name.

Drake Road, the border of Kalamazoo and Oshtemo townships, is a reminder that Benjamin F. Drake’s 1830 homestead, located north of West Main Street, straddled that boundary.

Similarly, Toland Street in Galesburg was named for Isaac Toland, who settled on a prairie near that village in 1829-30.

Downtown Kalamazoo, however, is rich with streets named for early settlers. Take Burdick Street, named for Justus Burdick, a wealthy Vermont native who financed the first hotel in town, the Kalamazoo House, in 1832.

Lovell Street is a flashback to Cyrus Lovell, the first prosecuting attorney of Kalamazoo County, who lived here from 1832-36 before moving to Ionia and a distinguished career in the Michigan Legislature.

Edwards Street is named for Maj. Abraham Edwards, the registrar of the federal land office in Bronson (Kalamazoo) after 1834. His home was on the site of the Rosenbaum Building. Porter Street, takes its name from Deacon Porter who had a restaurant at Porter and Main (Michigan) in 1835.

Walbridge Street honors David S. Walbridge, a grain dealer who operated a small fleet of flat boats carrying grain down the Kalamazoo River to Lake Michigan. He was also a founder of the Republican Party.

Harrison Street probably stems from Nathan Harrison who operated a ferry across the Kalamazoo River where the Michigan Avenue bridge now stands.

Elsewhere, Anthony Cooley, who painted the scene of the first trial held in the county, has a street named for him.

Epaphroditus Ransom, a one-term governor of Michigan and an attorney who came to Kalamazoo in 1834, is remembered by a street on the North Side, as is Isaac Willard, a one-time postmaster and early railroad booster.

Charles Stuart, an attorney and later a U. S. senator, came to Kalamazoo in 1835, laid out the Stuart Addition, and named a street after himself there.

Another street in the same neighborhood carries the name of Frederick Woodward, who had a farm in the area in the 1830s.

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The list of prominent early settlers whose memory is preserved in street names, however, conspicuously lacks the name of perhaps the most important of those pioneers – Titus Bronson, the town founder.

He left the community in 1836, perhaps upset that the town leaders had persuaded the Michigan Territorial Legislature to re-name his village Kalamazoo. There was no street bearing his name until Bronson Boulevard was laid out in the early 20th century.

Exploring your planet at the museumYou can spend about five hours on a Sunday afternoon with the menagerie of

amazing creatures and life forms that share this planet called Earth.This summer’s free showings of documentaries at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum

are the 12 episodes of David Attenborough’s “The Living Planet.”The triple-headers are being shown on four Sundays through Aug. 16 in the

museum’s Mary Jane Stryker Theater at 1:30, 3 and 4 p.m., respectively. The July 26 segments are “The Sky Above” at 1:30, “Sweet Fresh Water” at 3,

and “The Margins of the Land” at 4. The series concludes on Aug. 16 with “Worlds Apart,” “The Open Ocean,” and “New Worlds.”

Called the “ultimate guided tour of planet earth” and led by one of the world's foremost natural scientists, the series takes viewers into a hibernating bear's den, wading with piranhas, and crawling across glaciers as complicated concepts are explained simply.

"The Sky Above" explores the creatures that spend most of their lives in it. Using a gravity-research aircraft to illustrate the effect of weightlessness, the episode features the many plants whose seeds are, in effect, lighter than air. Gossamer is the animal equivalent, spun by tiny spiders. Only the very smallest plants and animals can defy gravity, but some seeds, such as those of the sycamore, cheat this by simulating the movement of a helicopter.

Many creatures are expert gliders, such as the flying frog and some species of lizard. However, those that live at grass level must use powered flight, sometimes aided with a leap, as with the grasshopper.

Albatrosses in South Georgia exploit air currents above cliffs to glide all day. Heavy birds like vultures wait for the land to heat up and provide thermals before they attempt any lengthy flight.

The techniques of diving birds, such as the gannet or the peregrine falcon, are shown. Migratory birds are also explored in detail, and a multitude assembles above Panama each autumn.

The red-breasted goose migrates entirely overland, and so can stop for fuel every night — unlike those that cross the open ocean.

The atmosphere contains the Earth’s weather, and satellite imagery is used to illustrate the formation of hurricanes and tornados.

"Sweet Fresh Water" focuses on fresh-water habitats, which comprises only 3 percent of the world’s supply. Examined is the course of the Amazon, starting high up in the Andes of Peru and whose streams flow into the great river. Young rivers are by nature vigorous and dangerous: they flow fast and form rapids, thick with mud and sediment. They accumulate sand and gravel en route, and this erodes all but the hardest surrounding rocks.

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The Yellow River of China carries the most sediment of any river. By the time it has settled down and fallen over its last cascade, the water becomes tranquil and rich with nutrients from its banks. It begins to form lakes and, where the water flows into basins created by geological faults, they can be immense. When water reaches such areas, it loses its impetus and drops its sediment, potentially making it very fertile.

Lake Baikal in Russia is the deepest. In addition, 80 percent of its inhabitants are unique, including the Baikal seal. There are many examples of creatures that thrive in such an environment. Predators lie in wait above the surface (kingfishers), below it (turtles), on it (water boatmen), and at its edge (fishing spiders).

In its final stages, a river’s tributaries are liable to burst their banks and flood. However, some have made a virtue of this: the Marsh Arabs of Iraq construct their buildings on rafts of reeds. This allows fish, pelicans and humans to flourish in a single community.

"The Margins of the Land" details coastal environments and the effect of tides, of which the highest can be found in the Bay of Fundy in North America. In places, erosion is causing the land to retreat, while in others — such as the tropics — the expansion of mangroves causes it to advance.

Mussels keep their shells closed at low tide to deter attackers but the oystercatcher is adept at dealing with them. Other estuary-wading birds, which have developed a multitude of techniques for gathering food from mud flats, include godwits, curlews, dunlins, ringed plovers and avocets.

While glasswort grows on many European tidal banks, the mangroves of the tropics are extensive. The largest forest is in the Sundarbans at the mouth of the Ganges River and is 370 square meters in size.

Where waves meet rocks and cliffs, the bands between low and high tides are narrow, and creatures have developed according to their dietary and safety needs. Mussels are preyed on by starfish, and so ensure that they are out of reach at low tide. Barnacles are higher still and feed on microscopic particles.

On a Costa Rican beach, female Ridley turtles are observed arriving at the rate of some 5,000 an hour to deposit their eggs. The largest turtle, the giant leatherback, also is shown laying eggs. Despite its great size, little is known about it — except that its eggs are easily plundered, thus making it an endangered species.

Wind energy focus of summer campBuilding a scale-model wind turbine will be the capstone project at a summer

camp for youths ranging in age from 12 to 16.Slated to be held at KVCC’s Texas Township Campus, the camp is set for Aug. 3-

6. The fee is $235.Guiding the camp, which will be in action from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on each of the

four days, will be Trevor Stefanick, a physics instructor at KVCC who has a background in theater and is working on a master’s in astrophysics.

Among the camp activities will be learning about testing for wind speeds, what makes an effective, energy-producing blade for a wind turbine, the state’s wind resources, what are the best locations, how to use the electricity produced by a wind turbine, and the keys to installing an effective unit.

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The campers will also hear from one of the KVCC instructors who spent six weeks in Germany being trained on the manufacturing, components and electrical technology that go into producing and operating the giant turbines clustered on wind farms. He and a fellow instructor will begin the college’s national training academy for these units in October.

Camp participants, who will number 15 for each session, will also tour and inspect the 145-foot, 50-kilowatt wind turbine now in operation 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 353-1253or visit this web site: www.windenergycenter.kvcc.edu.

Stefanick, a 1997 graduate of Vicksburg High School, worked as a stagehand for Miller Auditorium productions at Western Michigan University for a decade, was involved in Whole Art Theater shows for two years, and created a historical character for performances at the Kalamazoo Air Zoo. He has bachelor degrees in theater and physics from WMU.

‘Jump to Japan’ into its four-month stay“Jump to Japan: Discovering Culture through Popular Art” – with one of those

forms of creativity being animation – has begun a four-month stay at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum.

Jointly developed by the Minnesota Children’s Museum and The Children’s Museum in Seattle, “Jump to Japan” showcases that nation’s amazing culture through activities based on animation, manga (comics), woodblock prints and traditional scrolls.

The exhibit, which will be in Kalamazoo through Sept. 7, is the result of a collaboration with the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka and the movie studio that produced the animated film, “My Neighbor Totoro.” The animator, Hayao Miyazaki, won the 2003 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film.

Japanese animation and manga have become very popular among American youth as illustrated by the broad acceptance of the phenomenon known as Pokemon.

But the three-part exhibit is designed to entertain people of all ages. In addition to creating their own manga drawings and animation at a pair of art stations, visitors can take off their shoes and step into a traditional tatami room for a tea party, try on a kimono and other traditional Japanese clothing, and play the ancient card game known as katura.

They’ll learn the fundamentals of woodblock printing and how the Japanese tell stories through scrolls. They’ll shop at a Japanese store and learn to use that nation’s coin of the realm.

The four art forms are linked in a variety of ways. In “Jump to Japan,” the dominant link between animation, manga and woodblock prints is that they all are -- or were -- popular art forms. And from them, visitors can experience the complexity of Japanese culture (traditional and contemporary, rural and urban, and realistic and fantasy).

Through scenes and characters from “My Neighbor Totoro,” visitors will explore how animated films are brainstormed, designed and created, and try their hand at the magic of making one-dimensional images come to life.

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“My Neighbor Totoro” is full of fantasy, joy and adventure. Set in 1950s Japan, the family film tells of two girls and their friendship with the magical Totoro, who can be seen only by children who love him.

Adults and children can match background paintings from the animated film to photos in two “picture scroll” windows. By juxtaposing artistic renderings with corresponding photos, they discover how an animator’s inspiration comes from real places, things and events.

“Jump to Japan” offers the chance to choose from a variety of backgrounds, foreground elements, cultural icons and characters to create animation.

One section explores the prevalence and influence of manga in Japanese culture. Shelves hold a variety of manga books and magazines for browsing.

Everyone in Japan reads manga; the average person can read 16 pages of per minute.

An oversized “book” shows how manga is read differently than comics in the United States. Puzzles demonstrate how manga is read -- right to left and top to bottom.

Visitors can sit at a light table and create manga by choosing elements from transparencies featuring faces, eyes, hair and bodies drawn manga-style.

Inside the manga shop, visitors role-play customer and shopkeeper at a sales counter using authentic Japanese objects.

At the cashier’s counter, visitors use Japanese money, hear and say basic Japanese words and numbers and incorporate Japanese words into dramatic play. They can push the buttons on a sound box and hear a voice say the number in Japanese.

Another feature is to take a trip to Japan without leaving Kalamazoo. Visitors can move a shinkansen (bullet train) along a track embedded in a map of Japan and into slots corresponding to locations. Backlit photos depict the place or activity and location name.

Japan’s people, places and things are depicted in nine woodblock prints that relate to Japanese clothing, festivals, foods, children’s games and stories.

Visitors can enter a Japanese home modeled after details shown in the woodblock prints and learn how these art forms are made.

An ancient picture scroll is complemented by a panel containing “seek-and-find” questions that call attention to details in the scroll.

Visitors see similarities between ancient scrolls, woodblock prints and the contemporary art forms of manga and animation.

In the newsThe lead story in the Tuesday, July 14, edition of The Kalamazoo Gazette was a

random survey of how residents were coping with the downturn of the economy and, in particular, how they were taking steps to save a little money.

Offering their responses to the question of “How do you save” were KVCC chemistry instructor Rick Margelis and enrolled student Ernesta Vaitcekaouskene, a 22-year-old Portage resident who said she had been laid off from her job.

In search of a gold medal in Israel Ed Bernard, a member of the KVCC Foundation Board of Trustees, is living

another lifetime dream by participating in the Maccabi Games in Israel.

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The founder and chief executive officer of Bermo Enterprises in Schoolcraft had always wanted to compete in tennis collegiately, but unexpected hurdles prevented that – until he enrolled at KVCC in his 40s and lettered in the sport.

Now he is among the more than 8,000 athletes from 60 nations taking part in the games that, like the Olympics, are held every four years and, also like the Olympics, features a spectacular opening ceremony.

Bernard, in beating two men from Israel and one from Australia, became the only non-seeded player in his division to reach the semi-finals in a quest for a medal. In two of his matches, temperatures on the court reached 110 degrees.

Bernard reports he made the American team for the 2001 games, but opted not to make the trip because on the perilous times and intense bombings that year. He qualified for the 2009 squad in competition in Florida last November.

While he is still alive in singles, Bernard and his partner were eliminated in the doubles competition by a duo from Russia.

And finally. . . If you remember the original “Hollywood Squares” and its cadre of

comedians, this may bring a tear to your eyes. These great questions and some of their “blue” answers are from the days

when the game-show responses were spontaneous, not scripted, as they are now.

Q. Do female frogs croak? A. Paul Lynde: If you hold their little heads under water long enough.

Q. If you're going to make a parachute jump, at least how high should you be?

A. Charley Weaver: Three days of steady drinking should do it.

Q. True or false, a pea can last as long as 5,000 years. A. George Gobel: Boy, it sure seems that way sometimes.

Q. You've been having trouble going to sleep. Are you probably a man or a woman?

A. Don Knotts: That's what's been keeping me awake.

Q. According to Cosmopolitan magazine, if you meet a stranger at a party and you think that he is attractive, is it OK to come out and ask him if he's married?

A. Rose Marie: No; wait until morning.

Q. Which of your five senses tends to diminish as you get older? A. Charley Weaver: My sense of decency.

Q. As you grow older, do you tend to gesture more or less with your hands while talking?

A. Rose Marie: You ask me one more growing-old question, and I'll give you a gesture you'll never forget.

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Q. Paul, why do Hell's Angels wear leather? A. Paul Lynde: Because chiffon wrinkles too easily.

Q. In bowling, what's a perfect score? A. Rose Marie: Ralph, the pin boy.

Q. Can boys join the Camp Fire Girls? A. Marty Allen: Only after lights out.

Q. When you pat a dog on its head, he will wag his tail. What will a goose do?

A. Paul Lynde: Make him bark?

Q. If you were pregnant for two years, what would you give birth to? A. Paul Lynde: Whatever it is, it would never be afraid of the dark.

Q. According to Ann Landers, is there anything wrong with getting into the habit of kissing a lot of people?

A. Charley Weaver: It got me out of the Army.

Q. Back in the old days, when Great Grandpa put horseradish on his head, what was he trying to do?

A. George Gobel: Get it in his mouth.

Q. Who stays pregnant for a longer period of time, your wife or your elephant?

A. Paul Lynde: Who told you about my elephant?

Q. Jackie Gleason recently revealed that he firmly believes in them and has actually seen them on at least two occasions. What are they?

A. Charley Weaver: His feet.

☻☻☻☻☻☻

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