April 6, 2009

The DigestWhat’s Happening at KVCC

What’s below in this edition What do you think? (Pages 1/2) No. 63 (Page 11) Chris Smither (Pages 2/3) ‘Going Green’ talks (Page 11) Relax, folks (Page 3) Cleanup leftovers? (Pages 11/12)

Here they come (Pages 3/4) ‘Piano Blues’ (Page 12)IRS aid (Page 4) Hospitality II (Page 13) Howard Dean (Pages 4-6) Helping hands (Page 13) Turbine talk (Pages 6/7) A KVCC first (Pages 13/14) Who won? (Page 7) The Funk Brothers (P-14/15) In the community (Pages 7/8) Rick Bragg (Pages 15-17) Lady Cougars (Page 8) 100 hours of stars (Pages 17/18) Relay for Life (Pages 8/9) ‘Wind’ update (Pages 18-20) Help teach art (Page 9) Free exercises (Page 20) Student art show (Pages 9/10) Research tools (Pages 20/21) Wellness screens (Page 10) E-mail alert (Page 21)

And Finally (Page 21)

☻☻☻☻☻☻Add your voice to plotting Michigan’s future

If contemporary times constitute "Michigan's Defining Moment" in the state's history, then you can help set the agenda in the dialogue to seize that moment and shape the future.

With the blessings of the college, KVCC students, faculty, staff and administrators are invited to take part in a statewide series of "Community Conversations" being orchestrated by The Center for Michigan, a nonprofit, nonpartisan entity based in Ann Arbor.

KVCC voices are being invited to be heard at the next session in these focused discussions scheduled for Monday, April 6, from 3 to 5 p.m. in the Fetzer Center on the Western Michigan University campus.

Those who choose to participate will be asked to examine the most pressing issues in the state and discuss potential strategies and solutions for these issues. You can

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learn more about this movement and the Center for Michigan at http://www.thecenterformichigan.net

If your supervisor approves, you can register for the April 6 conversation on line at http:// www.michigancommunityconversations.com or call the Special Events Line at (269) 345-1913.

The Kalamazoo firm of Lam and Associates is facilitating the "Community Conversations" in Southwest Michigan. Some 50 such dialogues are being planned in an eight-county area in this part of the state.

The Center for Michigan hopes to attract 10,000 residents to participate in the "Community Conversations" phase of the project through the end of 2010. So far, nearly 2,000 people have added their voices to the dialogue.

"Our goal," says Blaine Lam, "is to gain input and ideas from citizens with diverse interests and share them with political, business and government leaders. Individuals who take part in the conversations are providing both qualitative and quantitative information to help turn Michigan around.

"This 'Michigan's Defining Moment' public-engagement campaign is a multi-year effort to heighten public awareness of the significant challenges and opportunities Michigan faces," Lam says, "and tighten the focus of statewide leaders on a common-ground agenda best suited to help Michigan achieve a new era of sustainable prosperity.

"Citizens are asked to devote two hours to this research-based process to provide creative and meaningful solutions to the challenges facing Michigan," Lam says.

Topics at past dialogues spanned the spectrum -- economic development and diversification, government reform at all levels to spur effectiveness and accountability, the quality of education, civic engagement, diversity, natural resources, tax reform, cultural resources, the quality of life, the environment, and the skills of the workforce.

Chris Smither to perform in Lake SaturdayGuitarist Chris Smither, who plays folk, roots and blues as he spins stories – some

of them linked to his battle with alcoholism – is the Saturday (April 4) Artists Forum attraction in KVCC’s Dale Lake Auditorium.

Tickets for the 7:30 p.m. concert are $15 and are on sale at the KVCC Bookstore, the Kalamazoo Valley Museum, and at the Lake ticket booth the night of the performance.

Smither has performed in The Netherlands, Great Britain, France, Switzerland and Australia. He’s been featured in major folk festivals in Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Boston, New Orleans, Newport, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Calgary, Toronto, and Vancouver.

Now it will be a Kalamazoo audience’s turn to hear this product of the nation’s musical melting pot. Smither’s New Orleans-bred style has been compared to blues legend John Lee Hooker with a bit of Hank Williams thrown in for good measure, while his “sand-blasted” voice has been called “equal parts gravel and molasses.”

Rolling Stone called a Smither performance “weathered singing and unhurried picking” accompanied by his own brand of amplified toe-tapping. Bonnie Raitt calls him "my Eric Clapton.”

Co-sponsored by the college and the Irving S. Gilmore Foundation, the last of the four Artists Forum bookings for 2008-09 features the roots rock of the Dave Alvin Duo on Friday, April 24.

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With 12 albums to his credit since his first one in 1970, the 64-year-old Smither stressed his accomplishments with the bottle instead of his musical talents during a 17-year stretch.

Producing only one album over that time span, Smither told The Record, the daily newspaper serving Bergen County in New Jersey, that those 17 years of “Lost Weekends” were not total losses.

“I was drunk the whole time,” he said in 2007. “I don’t regret it, though. I’m doing pretty well right now, and I wouldn’t be the person I am now if none of that happened. It’s hard to regret something that made you what you are.”

Since he returned to the entertainment game about 22 years ago from his base in Boston, he’s been composing songs about the same topics as he did as a young adult, but there are new perceptions to add to them.

“What is immediately recognizable to anyone who has encountered Smither on record or in live performance during the course of the last four decades,” states his webpage, “are his been-there, done-that voice and the crystalline, wordlessly eloquent sounds of his finger-picked acoustic guitar.”

Smither says he recognizes the young artist on the front end of his long struggle from his present perspective.

"He got sidetracked, and he learned a lot, but it's definitely the same guy," he says. "The other interesting thing is that I had to go through all the horrible stuff to get where I am now. It's part and parcel of the animal that's walking around today.

“It's unfortunate that I stayed so unproductive for so long,” Smither said, “but at the same time, I couldn't write the kind of stuff that I write now if I hadn't gone through it. I wouldn't realize what it is to be a human—not really. I might think I did, but it wouldn't be the same."

Smither narrated an audio book of “Will Rogers’ Greatest Hits” and contributed an essay for a book titled “60 Things to Do When You Turn 60.” One of his compositions, “Slow Surprise,” was recorded for the soundtrack of Robert Redford’s “The Horse Whisperer.”

For more information about this concert and others in the Artists Forum series, contact Dave Posther at extension 4476 or dposther@kvcc.edu.

Easing exam-week stressA pair of “Stress Relief Days” are planned to help both students and faculty

survive final-exam week of the 2009 winter semester.Free massages by Kalamazoo Center for the Healing Arts practitioners and free

munchies are planned for Wednesday, April 22, from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., and again on Thursday, April 23, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Each “Stress Relief Day” will be held in the Student Commons Forum.

Summer hours just around the cornerFrom May 11 through Aug. 28, 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.

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Those operations of the colleges with special, evening and weekend hours - - facilities services, information technologies, the M-TEC, some offices, and the 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 16-week period.

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

Students, staff, public can get income-tax-return aidWith the deadline looming for Americans to make good their income-tax IOUs to

Uncle Sam, free return-preparation assistance is being made available at KVCC for those who earn less than $40,000 per year.

Working in conjunction with the Kalamazoo County Tax Initiative Program, the college's Student Success Center is hosting the assistance that is supported by the Internal Revenue Service, which provides the software, training, and certifications needed to operate these sites.

"This is the first year that KVCC is hosting a site on the Texas Township Campus," said Pamela Siegfried, who is the life resources coordinator in the Student Success Center. "Helping us in the process are students in our accounting program."

She said people can apply for assistance that will be based in the Student Commons on the Texas Township Campus on Friday (April 10).

"In addition," Siegfried said," we have reserved Tuesday (April 7) and Thursday (April 9) for our students and KVCC personnel who meet the criteria.”

All interested people can sign up for an appointment by visiting the Student Success Center in Room 1510. She can be contacted at extension 4825 or psiegfried@kvcc.edu for more information.

Dean at scholarship fund-raiser on May 20Howard Dean, a onetime front-running presidential candidate who is credited

with sowing the political seeds that sprouted into the 2008 election of Barack Obama, will keynote the KVCC Foundation’s fifth annual Opportunities for Education (OFE) fund-raiser on Wednesday, May 20.

The banquet, designed to raise scholarship dollars and underwritten by National City Bank, will begin at 6 p.m. at the Radisson Plaza Hotel and Suites in downtown Kalamazoo.

Dean, a physician advocate of health-care reform, parlayed a dozen years as the governor of Vermont from 1991 to 2003 into the early lead for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination in 2004 that eventually went to Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts.

One of the fruits of his candidacy, which sought the support of America’s younger population through the Internet, was to be appointed the chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), a post that he held for four years beginning in 2005.

His “50-State Strategy” was designed to make his party competitive in each state, including those in which Democrats had fared poorly, and ignore the “red-blue” factors in past presidential elections.

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Shortly after announcing that he would be seeking the Democratic Party’s nomination and opposing the supposedly shoe-in Hillary Clinton, Obama and his political camp began taking advantage of the party infrastructure that Dean had built. Working with DNC organizers in all 50 states, the Obama campaign gained momentum in the primaries, was nominated, and went on to win the “red” states of Virginia, North Carolina and Indiana last November of his way to the White House.

He actually began his professional life as Dr. Howard Dean, having earned his medical degree from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City in 1978. After completing his residency in a medical center in Vermont, he began his internal-medicine practice in Shelburne, Vt.

In the early 1980s, Dr. Dean began his path to becoming Gov. Dean. After chairing his county’s Democratic Party in the early 1980s, he was elected to the Vermont House of Representatives. That led to a trio of two-year terms as lieutenant governor. When the sitting governor died, Dean was elevated to the state’s chief executive and subsequently was elected to five two-year terms.

His gubernatorial tenure was marked by Vermont getting out of debt and building a $100-million surplus, a health-care plan that provided coverage to 96 percent of the state’s children, prescription-drug assistance for Medicare recipients, and a statewide learning network that wired almost of Vermont’s high schools.

He and his wife, Dr. Judy Steinberg, are the parents of two grown children.Supporters were hoping that Dean would be appointed Obama’s secretary of

health and human services in the cabinet and he has expressed his disappointment that the post, after a false start or two, went to Gov. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas. But that did not stop him from favorable comments about the new president’s health-care initiatives that he believes will get “get rid of the socialized medicine stuff.”

“The budget was an important first step,” Dean told The Huffington Post, “and now the question is the substance of the bill. . .President Obama is not proposing a new plan that the American people won’t understand. What he is proposing is if you want what you have, you can keep it. If you want to have private insurance, you can. If you want to have Medicare, you can have that, too. There is no boogeyman in this plan.”

The KVCC Foundation was formed in 1980 and has accumulated $7 million in assets. Its mission is to enhance educational opportunities and the learning environment at the college by supporting the academic, literary and scientific activities of KVCC students and faculty. Its assists the college’s Honors Program, minority enrollees and non-traditional students through scholarships and awards grants that promote innovative approaches to learning.

“Because KVCC’s tuition is among the lowest of the state’s 28 community colleges and fees are practically non-existent,” said Steve Doherty, executive director of the KVCC Foundation, “scholarship dollars take students a very, very long way toward their goals. We want to help even more in the coming years, now that state and federal sources of scholarships are either drying up or are in jeopardy because of budget cuts.”

In a typical semester, the foundation is able to assist about 250 students, with scholarship and grant assistance averaging around $350,000 an academic year for tuition, fees, books and supplies, as well as for the child-care and transportation costs that students face in pursuing a degree or a new career.

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“That represents a minimal fraction of the dollar value of scholarships that are available through the KVCC Office of Financial Aid,” Doherty said. “That type of assistance has federal and state sources that carry restrictions. So do some of those scholarships established by organizations or individuals. And all of those are very important.

“Ours, however, are more open-ended, less restrictive, and available to a broader representation of students who choose to attend KVCC,” Doherty said. “They are what our ‘Opportunities for Education’ event is all about.”

While the unprecedented, nationally recognized gift to this community that is The Kalamazoo Promise is a blessing to families living in the Kalamazoo Public Schools district, Doherty said, during a typical semester no more than 15 percent of KVCC’s enrollment are Kalamazoo graduates.

That means a large segment of the other 85 percent still need various levels of scholarship assistance.

Tickets for Opportunities for Education are $125 per person. A corporate sponsorship for a table of eight is available for $1,500.

About 80 percent of the cost is tax-deductible. For more information about Opportunities for Education, how far scholarship

dollars go at KVCC, and tickets for spending an evening with one of the nation’s most effective politicians, contact Doherty or Denise Baker.

Co-sponsoring the event is AM 590 WKZO and Paw Paw Wine Distributors.‘So You Want to Install a Wind Turbine’ seminar is April 21

KVCC’s experience in planning, installing and commissioning a wind turbine will fill a half-day seminar on Tuesday, April 21, at the M-TEC.

“So You Want to Install a Wind Turbine?” will run from 9 to noon on the KVCC Groves Campus. Twenty-four have enrolled as of the first of the month.

The three-hour case study, to be presented by Kathy Johnson, the director of the KVCC Wind Energy Center, is targeted for businesses, educational entities, and community organizations that are considering the installation of a commercial-sized wind turbine, similar to the 145-foot, 50-kilowatt unit now in operation at the west end of the college’s nearly Texas Township Campus.

Johnson will also be conducting a pair of “Lunch and Learn” sessions for staff and students on the Texas Township Campus.

She will offer information about the basics of wind power and the details of the college’s projects on Tuesday, April 14, at 11:30 a.m. and Wednesday, April 15, at 12:30 p.m. in the Student Commons Lyceum.

At the half-day seminar, prospective turbine investors will be advised to consider a variety of topics regarding the process and procedures for converting wind into electrical energy, and Johnson will cover them all:

● Wind resources in Michigan● The best site for a wind turbine● Potential neighborhood issues● How to use the electricity that is produced by a wind turbine● Zoning requirements● Site preparation and the installation process● Components for a successful wind-energy project

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Time willing, seminar participants will be able to inspect the college’s wind turbine that was erected in late January.

For more information, to download a flier, or to register online, visit the M-TEC’s

website at www.mteckvcc.com. Click on “Training” and then “Current Offerings.” Fretboard Festival’ ‘play-in’ viewable on TV

Carmea, a trio featuring guitarist Catherine Ellis of Kalamazoo, cellist Rachel Alexander of Lansing, and mandolinist Alma Muxlow of Kalamazoo, won the “play-in” contest and earned a booking to play in the fourth annual Kalamazoo Fretboard Festival weekend last weekend.

Performers of all genres of music were invited to apply for the festival’s new wrinkle. The only restriction was that an instrument with a fretboard must be among the person’s or group’s arsenal.

For those who couldn’t make it to the Kalamazoo Valley Museum that Friday evening, a film crew from the Public Media Network taped the event.

Here are the broadcast dates on the Charter Communications cable system: Friday (April 3) at 7 p.m. on Channel 22; Saturday (April 4) at 6 p.m. on Channel 95; Wednesday (April 8) at 7 p.m. on Channel 22; and Thursday (April 9) at 2 p.m. on Channel 95.

The other performers were:♫ Belfast Gin, a six-member group that plays Celtic, folk rock and Indie music.

The Kalamazoo group includes Laurie Laing, Geoff Stockton, Allen Geise, “Rudeman” Callen, Richard Koontz and Aaron Miller.

♫ The St. Joseph duo of Waverland featuring Justin McIver and Ryan Kuhnlein.♫ O’Possum, a trio that includes KVCC Student Success Center advocates Diana

Haggerty and John Chapman.♫ Soloist Micalea Kingslight of Kalamazoo.♫ Papa’s Front Porch Blues featuring Gretchen Ross. ♫ Guitar soloist James Brown of Vicksburg, who worked 15 years for Gibson in

Kalamazoo and is a member of the Chet Atkins Appreciation Society.Gina Fischer, operations manager at the museum, said that about 185 people

witnessed the competition. Some 1,800 attended the festival of Saturday, while Sunday’s inclement weather held the attendance to 700 that day.

She reports that the play-in contestants performed well enough to merit future museum bookings in the Thursday-night concert series.

A little spotlight time for 3 KVCC’ersThree KVCC instructors did their bits for the success of community fund-raisers

last month.On Saturday, March 28, geology instructor Deb Bryant was a participant in the

2009 edition of "Parchment Stars Dance!" that supports the Kindleberger Summer Festival of the Performing Arts.

There were 11 pairs dancing in the “competition,” and close to 1,000 people attended. Bryant and her partner, professional Kyle Waterman, danced to the Evanescence song "Lacrymosa.”

The judges praised the couple for their technical proficiency and their exquisite choreography and footwork, but the top spot went to another duo.

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The Public Media Network filmed the competition and will begin showing it on Channel 95 on Saturday (April 4).

Earlier in the month, law-enforcement instructor Nick Meier emceed the first annual Plainwell Rotary-sponsored "Plainwell's Got Talent" Show. Math instructor Sue Hollar and Meier’s wife, Julia performed at the show as members of the barbershop quartet, RedLine.

Time to toast the Lady CougarsThe KVCC women’s basketball team, which entered a national tournament

ranked 10th in the country and came home with a seventh-place finish, will be saluted on Monday (April 6) in the Student Commons Lyceum.

Those who stop by beginning at 2:30 p.m. to offer their congratulations will also be able to enjoy some cake and punch as they say “Thanks” to Coach Ron Welch’s players for a successful season.

The Lady Cougars entered the National Junior College Athletic Association Division II Tournament in Illinois with a record of 25-6 and the co-championship of the West Division of the Michigan Community Athletic Association Conference . Their dreams for a national title ended with a loss in the first game.

Members of the 2008-09 Lady Cougars are: Emilee Komins of Constantine, Caitlin Krull of Three Rivers, Anna Clark of Vicksburg, Jeannie and Dee Dee Closson of Parchment, Ericka King of Battle Creek Central, Nicole Compher of Mattawan, Ja'nee Morton of Canton, Alicia Jesnek of Jenison, Alexis Szekely of Kalamazoo Christian, Kristina Crane of Portage Northern, Mariah Hilliard of South Haven, and Kaitlin Oleksyn of Parchment.

This was the Cougars' first berth in the nationals since 2005-06.

KVCC to field Relay for Life team to whip cancerKVCC will be participating in the 2009 Relay for Life, the annual fund-raiser of

the Kalamazoo County Chapter of the American Cancer Society, and the Cougar team is looking for at least 60 staff, faculty and students to take part in the quest to raise $3,500.

This year’s event will be staged on Saturday and Sunday, May 30-31, over a 24-hour period from 11 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Kalamazoo County Fairgrounds, which will be open for the entire duration of the event.

KVCC’ers, along with their friends and family, can camp on the grounds and take turns walking or running the track over the 24-hour period.

Co-captains Mary Johnson, Lynne Morrison and Ruth Baker are also coordinating a returnable-can/container collection as part of the fund-raiser.

Receptacles for the 10-centers are located in the Texas Township Campus cafeteria, the technical wing, the Student Commons and the faculty lounge.

While the teams are coming together for a very serious issue - - the fight against cancer - - there is a great deal of fun and camaraderie for teams of family, friends and co-workers who choose to camp out for the entire event.

“Each team is asked to have a representative on the track at all times as a reminder that cancer never sleeps,” Johnson said.

There is entertainment and family activities, plus the victory lap by survivors and the luminaria ceremony at dusk that remembers those that have faced cancer.

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To sign up as a participant and walk with Team KVCC or pick up a donation packet, contact Johnson at extension 4182 or stop by her office in the Student Commons. Morrison can be reached at 4164 and Baker at 4492.

The walking times can be viewed online at http://classes.kvcc.edu/relay.The Relay for Life supports those who have lost a loved one, offers

encouragement to those who are currently battling the disease, and celebrates life with those who have survived.

But most of all, it is an inspiration to all who participate. All dollars raised go toward supporting services for cancer patients and their

families, providing education and early-detection programs, and funding cancer research.Kalamazoo is one of more than 4,000 communities across the continent that stage

Relay for Life events in the fight against cancer. More than $1 billion has been raised. Instructors sought for ‘Jump to Japan’ art gig

To help preview the opening of the next nationally touring exhibition about Japan, its culture and art forms, the Kalamazoo Valley Museum is looking for people willing to lead some instructions in drawing.

As part of the third annual “Night at the Museum” on Friday, May 8, that will kick off the opening of “Jump to Japan: Discovering Culture Through Popular Art,” a cadre of art instructors – or people who feel comfortable teaching folks to draw – will lead informal classes in animation and “manga” (the Japanese version of comic-book art).

The free drawing classes and a tour of the exhibit will run from 6 to 9 p.m.Prior to the evening, the volunteer instructors will be schooled in how to guide

children, families and individuals in teaching these two forms of artistic creative expression.

The contact person is Jennifer Austin, special-events coordinator at the museum, at 373-7970 or jaustin@kvcc.edu. Each prospective volunteer must submit a portfolio.

“Jump to Japan” will begin a four-month stay at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum on May 9.

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, woodblock prints and traditional scrolls.

Monday last day to enter student art showKVCC students will be showcasing their best efforts in calligraphy, drawing, oil

and acrylic paintings, watercolors, mixed media, ceramics, sculpture, in black-and-white, color and alternative-process photography, and digital graphics at the college’s annual art show on the Texas Township Campus in April.

The 2009 Student Art Show will open for public viewing with a reception for the artists, family and friends from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in the Student Commons Forum on Wednesday, April 8, and conclude on Thursday, April 16.

The deadline to enter the juried show is Monday (April 6). Students should drop off their entries in the Forum between the hours of 4 and 6:30 p.m. that day.

To be eligible to submit art work, students must have been enrolled from August 2007 through this April.

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They will be vying for prizes for best-of-show, and for first-place, second-place and honorable-mention selections in each category.

Faculty will also be choosing recipients of merit awards for students who have demonstrated growth in ceramics, photography and two-dimensional art.

Guideline sheets for entries can be picked up from any art or Center for New Media instructor. Each piece to be entered must have its own entry form. The limit is two entries per student.

For more information, call 488-4505. Refreshments will be served at the opening reception.

Slots open for employee-wellness assessments Sue Avery, a registered nurse who is the new wellness coach and coordinator for

Holtyn and Associates, is conducting free wellness screenings and counseling through April 21 for full-time KVCC employees and their spouses who are both new to the college’s program or continuing participants.

Here are some the remaining openings for appointments: Wednesday (April 8) -- 1, 1:30, 2:30, 4 and 5 p.m. Thursday (April 9) -- 1:30, 2, 2:30 and 3 p.m. Tuesday, April 14 -- 12:30 1 and 1:30 p.m. Thursday, April 16- 1, 2 and 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 21—2 p.m.If you would like to schedule one of these times for you or your spouse e-mail or

call Avery at averysue@gmail.com or (269) 267-3712.Beginning with the 2008-09 initiative, two key changes have gone into effect:● KVCC’ers and spouses can book their own appointments through their own

computer instead of making a telephone call. This can be done by going to the Holtyn website: www.holtynhpc.com. and following the directions.

● Appointments now span 30 minutes instead of 20, meaning the available time slots are on the hour and half hour.

While payoffs in the past have focused on one’s personal and individual health, it is now starting to pay off in the pay checks of employees.

The one-on-one appointments include a glucose analysis, an HDL and cholesterol evaluation, a blood-pressure check, a body-composition reading, an assessment of cardio-respiratory fitness, an overall health survey, an individual fitness assessment, and a personal consultation.

The 30-minute screenings can be done on work time. For more information, contact Blake Glass, manager of the college’s Employee Wellness Program, at extension 4177 or bglass@kvcc.edu.

All full-time staff, faculty and administrators – and their spouses -- are encouraged to sign up for this college-sponsored program, even if previous screenings had not identified any health risks.

Participants should wear comfortable, loosely fitting clothing. Short-sleeve tops are recommended. Fasting is not required, but it is advised not to consume caffeinated beverages two hours prior to the assessment and to refrain from smoking.

The testing is paid for by the college.

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“Our employee-wellness program has been successful in helping to control health-care costs for the college and in assisting staff members achieve their personal goals,” Glass said.

63rd graduation is April 26The college’s 63rd commencement ceremony is set for Sunday, April 26, in

Miller Auditorium on the Western Michigan University campus.Those who have been assigned specific roles for the event should report to the

auditorium by 3 p.m., an hour before the program is to begin. Among those faculty and staff members involved in the ritual are Dwight

Coblentz, Doug Martin, Rod Albrecht, Marie Rogers, Patricia Niewoonder, Lois Baldwin, Delynne Andres and Carol Orr.

The faculty speaker will be respiratory care instructor Al Moss, while the student speaker is still to be selected. Moss, director of the respiratory care program at KVCC and a faculty member since 1982, was named the top instructor in his field in Michigan in 2007. He was honored as the Educator of the Year in respiratory care at the two-day annual “Trends” conference of the Michigan Occupational Deans Administrative Council in Grand Rapids.

The diploma-day celebration will be videotaped by the Public Media Network (formerly the Community Access Center) for viewing on its Channel 22 in the Charter lineup. It will be broadcast four times. The dates and times will be announced later.

Also scheduled to make remarks is Jeff Patton, chairman of the KVCC Board of Trustees, and graduate Thomas Wrench, who is earning a degree in graphic arts and was featured in the March installment of the Art Hop in downtown Kalamazoo. His photographs and artwork are still on display at the Public Media Network on the top floor of the Epic Center.

Providing the music will be the KVCC Choir, directed by Michelle Bauman, and the KVCC Campus Band with conductor Chris Garrett.

‘Going Green’ speech contest is TuesdayEleven former and current communications students have entered the speech

competition that focuses on the environmental health of Earth. Organized by the KVCC communications faculty, the “Going Green” competition

will culminate with public presentations on Tuesday (April 7) from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Student Commons Theater.

The top four finishers will share $500 in prize money.The participants will each take a global or grassroots perspective and present a

speech – five to six minutes in length – to introduce the audience to “environmentally sound processes, products and/or practices.”

The April 7 event is open to students, staff and the public. Visual enhancements using props and software are encouraged. Each

presentation will be judged for creative and innovative content, effective delivery, and the quality of the visual enhancement. The winner goes home with $200.

Think of ‘Swap Meet’ when doing your spring cleaning

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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.

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. Check out English instructor Denise Miller’s request that is now posted.

There are four categories on the site: Services Needed, Services for Hire, Goods Needed, and Goods for Sale. 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.

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.

Among the currently posted “swaps” are resealing asphalt driveways, providing music for events, dog training, sewing, home-maintenance and landscaping projects, dog boarding, and carpet cleaning.

A canoe-kayak carrier for a car is for sale, as are a 1991 Mercury Marquis, a 2003 Harley-Davidson, tables made of cherry wood, Girl Scout cookies and poodle and German shepherd puppies. Renting a lakefront cottage is also listed.

Eastwood film wraps up blues documentariesThe Kalamazoo Valley Museum’s free Sunday showings of documentaries about

the blues produced by Martin Scorsese will conclude on April 19.The double-feature in the Mary Jane Stryker Theater is a 1:30 p.m. showing of

Clint Eastwood’s “Piano Blues” followed at 3 p.m. by Marc Levin’s “Godfathers and Sons,” which chronicles Chicago’s contribution to this genre of music.

Pianist Eastwood explores his life-long passion for piano blues, using a treasure trove of rare historical footage in addition to interviews and performances by such legends as Pinetop Perkins, Ray Charles, Jay McShann, Dave Brubeck and Marcia Ball.

"The blues has always been part of my musical life and the piano has a special place,” Eastwood says, “beginning when my mother brought home all of Fats Waller's records. Also, the music has always played a part in my movies. A piano-blues documentary gives me a chance to make a film that is more directly connected to the subject of the music than the features that I have been doing throughout my career."

“Godfathers and Sons” captures the sounds of Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf and many others for a new generation using archival footage.

Levin travels to Chicago with hip-hop legend Chuck D (of Public Enemy) and Marshall Chess (son of Leonard Chess and heir to the Chess Records legacy) to explore the heyday of Chicago blues. They unite to produce an album that seeks to bring veteran blues players together with contemporary hip-hop musicians.

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Among the performers are Lonnie Brooks, Paul Butterfield, Bo Diddley, Ike Turner, and Koko Taylor.

Hospitality Academy II graduation coming upThe second edition of KVCC’s academy to train personnel for the hospitality

industry will hold its graduation on Monday, April 13, at 5:30 p.m. in Room 128 of Anna Whitten Hall.

Lesa Strausbaugh, director of career academies, reports that a third hospitality academy has not been scheduled as yet, but it would likely begin in late summer.

Academy sessions have been held Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at KVCC’s downtown-Kalamazoo campus. The fee is $750.

During 157 hours of instruction , students learn the workings of the rooms division and food-and-beverage division in hospitality, which includes front-desk management, reservations, housekeeping, bells services, restaurant service, and banquet organization. A major component will be job shadowing and an in-the-field training practicum.

Those who complete the academy receive a certificate in hospitality from KVCC and a globally recognized certificate from the American Hotel and Lodging Association.

“It’s been proven that certificates and diplomas from the educational institute of the association open doors to graduates looking for careers in the lodging industry,” Strausbaugh said. “We’re excited to offer students this opportunity.”

Infused in the second five-week academy are components provided by the KVCC Student Success Center that enhances job-search skills, resume development and interviewing.

Strausbaugh can be contacted at extension 1253 or lstrausbaugh@kvcc.edu for more information about current and future academies. Give a hand to the Gospel Mission, Habitat for Humanity

KVCC faculty members, staff and students in a building or food-serving mood can engage in a couple of volunteering during this winter semester

The beneficiaries will be the Kalamazoo Valley Habitat for Humanity and the Kalamazoo Gospel Mission.

On Wednesday, April 15, prospective volunteers can park in the Kalamazoo Gospel Mission lot across from the new bus depot/train station in downtown Kalamazoo and enter through the center doors to the cafeteria no later than 4:45 p.m.

The mission is located at 448 N. Burdick St. Because they will be working in a warm kitchen, dress accordingly. Participants should gather at the Habitat for Humanity Restore at 1810 Lake St. by 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, April 18.

Volunteers should be in their construction togs. No experience is required.Volunteers can sign up on the Service Learning bulletin board for the mission and

Habitat efforts. It is located in the corridor near the faculty and deans offices on the Texas Township Campus. Honors student receives prestigious Hope scholarship

Samuel Bhuyan is the first KVCC student to be named a S-STEM Scholar at Hope College, a honor that brings with it a $10,000 stipend and a paid undergraduate research position this summer.

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The KVCC Honors Program member was one of eight awarded the scholarship. According to Herbert Dershem, director of institutional research at Hope and a

professor of computer science, Bhuyan will be working with professor Roger Veldman as a researcher.

Motown’s unknowns in Stryker’s Thursday spotlightFans of the Motown Sound know the hits of The Supremes, Martha and the

Vandellas, Marvin Gaye, and other big-name performers based at Detroit’s “Hitsville USA.”

But the foot-tapping, groovy music in the background was, for the most part, produced by a combo that nobody ever heard of or remembers.

The long-overdue spotlight will be turned on Thursday (April 9) as part of the Kalamazoo Valley Museum’s Thursday-night series of international and independent films.

“Standing in the Shadow of Motown” will be shown at 7:30 p.m. in the Mary Jane Stryker Theater. There is a $3 admission fee. Financial support for the series is provided by the KVCC Foundation.

On Thursday, April 16, the theme switches to international films with the showing of “Eldorado.” The 2008 Belgian production was entered in the 61st Cannes Film Festival and was that nation’s nominee as best foreign film in the 81st Academy Awards competition.

In 1959, Berry Gordy Jr. gathered the best musicians from Detroit's thriving jazz and blues scene to begin cutting songs for his new record company. Over a 14-year period, they were the heartbeat on every hit from Motown's Detroit era.

By the end of their phenomenal run, this unheralded group of musicians had played on more No. 1 hits than the Beach Boys, the Rolling Stones, Elvis and the Beatles combined - which makes them the greatest hit machine in the history of popular music.

They called themselves the Funk Brothers. Forty-one years after they played their first note on a Motown record and three

decades since they were all together, the Funk Brothers reunited back in Detroit to play their music and tell their unforgettable story.

The production included all kinds of archival footage, still photos of the group with the scores of Motown performers they shared the stage with, narration, interviews with many of these famed folks, re-creation scenes, 20 Motown master tracks, and 12 live performances of Motown classics with the Funk Brothers backing up contemporary performers.

Released in 2002, “Standing in the Shadow of Motown” is the true story of the greatest musicians who performed almost anonymously. .

In “Eldorado,” a heroin addict and the lonely car dealer whose home he has just tried to burglarize end up taking an eventful road trip together. The film tracks these quirky, troubled characters, and strikes a balance between absurdist humor and sadness.

The salesman is a short-tempered man in his 40s and sells old American cars. His life isn't much of a thrill. However, the night he surprises the fellow breaking into his house, he doesn't beat him up. Quite the opposite, he grows a strange affection for the adolescent and even decides to drive him back to his parents.

This trip leads them through the wide spaces Belgium, filled with improbable characters, and helps the older man close forever a chapter of his life.

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Including American-made films that relate to museum exhibits that will be on display at the time, here are the film bookings in the Stryker Theater through spring:

April 23 – “The Five Heartbeats” April 30 – “The Violin” (Mexico) May 21 – “Marion Bridge” (Canada).

Rick Bragg wraps up 2009 Reading Together April 14Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Rick Bragg of the New York Times will cap off

the 2009 Reading Together program in Kalamazoo with a free public presentation on Tuesday, April 14.

The author of a trio of memoirs about his southern roots will read from his books, tell stories and answer questions from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the Kalamazoo Central High School Auditorium, 2432 N. Drake Road.

KVCC’s Jim Ratliff is a member of the Kalamazoo Public Library’s Reading Together selection committee that chose Bragg’s “Ava’s Man,” “The Prince of Frogtown, and “All Over But the Shoutin’.” Here’s what is booked in April leading up to Bragg’s presentation: . ● Saturday (April 4) from 10 to noon -- “Intro to Genealogy” sessions are held once each fall, winter and spring in the third-floor computer-training lab at the Kalamazoo Public Library. The workshop will detail how to trace a family tree, and how to use Ancestry.com, Heritage Quest, and the library’s extensive historical resources. Registration is limited. Call (269) 553-7808. ● Monday (April 6) from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the Oshtemo Branch Library, 7265 W. Main Ave. – “Family Reunions” will feature Jacque Eatmon, who will guide a “Talking Circle,” an exercise that can help family members share traits, values, health, and childhood stories. Participants should bring a valued keepsake. ● Wednesday (April 8) from 6 to 9 p.m. in the Powell Branch of the Kalamazoo Public Library, 1000 Paterson St. – “Memoir Writing” will show how this exercise compares to storytelling. Rather than the full scope of an autobiography, memoirs focus on events and their impact on the writer. Learn how to sift through the past to capture meaningful moments still vivid in memory. Leading the discussion will be Donna Odom, special-events coordinator at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum. Registration required by calling (269)553-7960. ● Thursday (April 9) from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on the Davenport University campus, 4123 W. Main – “The World Café” will have Mary Jo Asmus hosting a conversation about Bragg’s memoirs using the “World Café model”—by engaging collective intelligence and stimulating creative thinking about questions that matter. On Thursday, April 16, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 247 W. Lovell, an old-fashioned potluck supper will conclude the 2009 Reading Together initiative.

With colorful language and emotional honesty, Bragg recounts in “All Over But the Shoutin’” a turbulent and poverty-stricken childhood in rural Alabama that gave rise to a career in journalism that led to the profession’s No. 1 prize for reporting.

It is described as “a sensitive but never self-pitying look at the fruits of his father’s abuse and abandonment of the family, and at his mother, who bore the brunt of the pain.” Bragg’s mother absorbed the cruelties of an alcoholic husband haunted by his

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service in the Korean War, and gave her life, in endless cotton fields, to make a living for her three sons. In “Ava’s Man,” Bragg celebrates his maternal grandfather, Charlie Bundrum, a heroic figure whose life was symbolic of a people and way of life nearly gone today from the Southern landscape. It is also a study of the history and culture of the rural South, richly seasoned with all-but-forgotten lore and language.

“The Prince of Frogtown” completes the cycle of Bragg’s stories about his childhood. Bragg was convinced the last thing he wanted was to become a father. Now married and suddenly step-father to a young boy, Bragg looks back to move forward. Through conversations with people who knew his father, Bragg builds a picture of who Charles Bragg really was, searching for shreds of goodness in him. Stories about his father alternate with chapters about the developing relationship with his step-son.

Reading Together invites people of all ages from all walks of life to read and then discuss important issues raised by a selected book. Thousands of county residents have participated in six previous Reading Together programs.

The Kalamazoo Public Library leads Reading Together with the collaboration of libraries, educational institutions, health and social service agencies, cultural, civic and religious organizations, businesses, the new media, and local governments throughout Kalamazoo County.

The Kalamazoo Community Foundation helped the library launch Reading Together with funding for the first three years with grants from it Better Together initiative. The library now provides major support for the program. Foundation grants, gifts and contributions from collaborating organizations make it possible to offer Reading Together to all of Kalamazoo County. KPL program specialist Lisa Williams coordinates the program.

The book-selection process continues Reading Together’s tradition of democratic community participation. A group of community members considers dozens of titles gathered from last year’s evaluation process, suggested by library patrons, staff, and community leaders, and recommended by librarians and educators.

Committee members read and discuss the suggested titles with these guidelines in mind. A good Reading Together book features:

● an author who will come to Kalamazoo during the Reading Together period;● beautiful prose that fosters an appreciation of literature;● availability in multiple formats such as large print, audio recording, Spanish;● reading level, vocabulary, length, and subject matter that appeals to adults as

well as high school and college students;● treatment of social issues relevant to our community.

The trio of books was chosen for 2009 because Bragg’s memoirs of home and childhood are related but not linear. They sufficiently connect so that readers could start with the newest book, “The Prince of Frogtown,” and then move on to one of the others.

Bragg says he learned to tell stories by listening to the masters -- the people of the foothills of the Appalachians. They talked of the sadness, poverty, cruelty, kindness, hope, hopelessness, faith, anger and joy of their everyday lives, and painted pictures on the very haze of the early evening when work faded into storytelling.

Bragg was born in Alabama, grew up there, and worked at several newspapers before joining The Times in 1994. He covered the murder and unrest in Haiti while a

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metro reporter there, then wrote about the Oklahoma City bombing, the Jonesboro killings, the Susan Smith trial and more as a national correspondent based in Atlanta.

He later became Miami bureau chief for The Times just in time for Elian Gonzalez's arrival and the international battle for the little boy. He is now a roving correspondent based in New Orleans.

Bragg received the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing in 1996 for his stories about contemporary America. He has twice won the prestigious American Society of Newspaper Editors Distinguished Writing Award, and more than 50 writing awards in his 20-year career. In 1992, he was awarded a Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University. He has taught writing in colleges and in newspaper newsrooms.

He lives in a shotgun double house not far from the levee and the train tracks in uptown New Orleans where he says he has cultivated several fine weeds in his back yard.

He likes to fish when he can find the time. He has not fished in two years. “Ava’s Man” recounts the story of Bundrum, a roofer, a carpenter, a whiskey-maker, a fisherman who knew every inch of the Coosa River, made boats out of car hoods, and knew how to pack a wound with brown sugar to stop the blood. He could not read, but he asked his wife to read him the newspaper every day so he would not be ignorant. To Bragg, e was a man who took giant steps in rundown boots, a true hero whom history would otherwise have overlooked.

In the decade of the Great Depression, Bundrum moved his family 21 times, keeping seven children one step ahead of the poverty and starvation that threatened them from every side. He worked at the steel mill when the steel was rolling, or for a side of bacon or a bushel of peaches when it wasn’t. He paid the doctor who delivered his fourth daughter with a jar of whiskey.

He understood the finer points of the law as it applied to poor people and drinking men; he was a banjo player and a buck dancer who worked off fines when life got a little sideways, and he sang when he was drunk, where other men fought or cussed. He had a talent for living.

His children revered him, Bragg wrote. When he died, cars lined the blacktop for more than a mile to say goodbye to “Ava’s Man.”

Look at what’s up there in ‘100 Hours of Astronomy’Two nights of celestial viewing of what Galileo saw for the first time 400 years

ago in his telescope will mark the opening of the International of Year of Astronomy (IYA) this weekend.

On April 3-4, the Kalamazoo Astronomical Society will join forces with the Kalamazoo Valley Museum as part of the International Astronomical Union’s “100 Hours of Astronomy” celebration by inviting the public to take a closer look at what’s up there --- way, way, way up there.

Using much more sophisticated and technical equipment than Galileo had in 1609, society members and museum staff will point their telescopes to provide views of the moon, the vast plains called Maria, chains of mountains and craters. Further east, the planet Saturn will come into focus, revealing the rings that remained a mystery to Galileo.

Eric Schreur, the museum’s planetarium coordinator, said the free stargazing will begin at 8 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday, and continue until people’s eyes grow tired of the celestial sights.

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The telescopes will be set up in the courtyard south of the museum and adjacent to KVCC’s Anna Whitten Hall.

Also planned at 7 p.m. on April 3 will be a special program for cub scouts, as well as a planetarium show about how to find constellations using a star map. The scout program has limited seating, carries an $8 fee, and requires pre-registration.

The concept of “100 Hours of Astronomy” is derived from the fact that, beginning on the evening of April 2, backyard stargazers around the world will set up their telescopes to give public audiences the chance to look up close and personal skyward.

As the earth turns into its shadow, observers in different cities will keep a continuous watch on the night sky until four days have elapsed. Major observatories around the world will participate by streaming webcasts to audiences in distant cities.

Throughout the four-day period, somewhere around the earth a telescope will be aimed into the night sky.

Another IYA goal is to have millions of people viewing the night sky through telescopes of their own.

Some people have telescopes buried in a closet or garage. The Telescope Amnesty Program invites people to bring them to IYA events, including those at the museum, where experienced stargazers can demonstrate how to set them up, or tune them for better performance.

KVCC’s wind-energy trainers heading for GermanyKalamazoo Valley Community College is preparing to become a first-of-its-kind

national training center for technicians who will work on utility-sized turbines clustered on wind farms around the world and on the smaller commercial units similar to the one that was installed on the Texas Township Campus in late January.

Beginning in October, the M-TEC (Michigan Technical Education Center) of KVCC on the college’s Groves Campus will launch a 26-week training academy based on European standards for technicians to gain entry-level employment working on the giants of the wind-energy industry.

More than 265 people across the country have placed their name on a waiting list as the application process is structured.

At the same time, the M-TEC will become the U. S. workforce-development headquarters for Entegrity Wind Systems Inc. as it provides short-term training for its personnel across North America.

“The 26-week, non-credit academy will provide competency-based training for entry-level employment on wind farms that use utility-sized equipment,” said James DeHaven, vice president for economic and business development for KVCC. “This full-time program for 15 students per academy is clearly intended to initially train students interested in international job opportunities.

“This utility-grade training under the German certification will be the first by any college or university in the United States, and the second in North America,” DeHaven said.

“This unique training model,” he said, “allows graduates to earn two career credentials. During the first nine weeks, participants will complete a pre-employment, electrician-apprenticeship program. The next 14 weeks will cover wind-turbine-technician competencies.

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“The last three weeks,” DeHaven said, “will be spent in a practicum experience on a wind farm. Once hired, students have the opportunity to document the hours on the job to become a journeyman electrician and move them toward wind-turbine certification.”

The KVCC Wind Turbine Technician Academy will be certified by Bildungszentrum fur Erneuerebare Energien (BZEE). Its English equivalent is “Renewable Energy Education Center.”

Located in Husam, Germany, and founded in 2000, BZEE is supported by most 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 standards emerged.

BZEE has become the leading trainer for wind-turbine technicians across Europe. “Graduates of the new academy,” DeHaven said, “will have the opportunity to earn individual certification through the BZEE and become a part of an international labor pool.”

As KVCC positions itself to become the first college in the United States to obtain BZEE certification credentials, the next step was to hire instructors.

Tom Sutton, who has been serving as an instructional manager in the KVCC Automotive Academy, is switching over to be the wind-energy academy’s mechanical instructor while Greg Meeuwsen, a graduate of the KVCC program in electrical technology, will be serving as the electrical instructor.

The two are bound for Husam, Germany, for a five-week “train-the-trainer” program.

Entegrity’s national training program will educate their sales and service personnel in the marketing of its product, and to certify workers in the installation, commissioning, operation and maintenance of its 50-kilowatt, 145-foot turbines, one of which now towers over KVCC’s technical wing.

Entegrity’s main manufacturing center is located on Canada’s Prince Edward Island, but it operates a sales office in Boulder, Colo. Each of its three-day training sessions in Kalamazoo will draw a minimum of 15 participants from around the country.

Both of the wind-energy training enterprises will be based in labs in the M-TEC. Entegrity will make available the components of one of its de-commissioned, 50-kilowatt wind turbines – like the one now up in the air at KVCC – for its training purposes. The college will also be using that equipment for the one-year certificate program that KVCC will begin with the 2009 summer semester.

The KVCC program will be designed for those who want to explore careers as wind-energy technicians on commercial turbines that will serve municipalities, educational institutions, hospitals, and large businesses.

The working model on the Texas Township Campus, which will be providing up to 15 percent of the electricity needed to power that wing of the college, will also be used when it comes time to test students’ ability to work at great heights in constrained quarters.

“These two training opportunities will be bringing people from all over the United States to Kalamazoo,” DeHaven said, “as the college continues to lead by example when it comes to weaning the country away from a dependence on fossil fuels and making alternative forms of energy more available.”

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Free exercise opportunities abound at KVCCThrough May 1, the college’s program for employee wellness is providing a

variety of free “drop-in” fitness activities five days a week to keep all of us in shape.Participants have the opportunity to do some trimming and muscle toning so that

they will look the best they can in their summer apparel. Here’s the schedule:Swimming: Monday, 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.; Tuesday, 7 to 8 a.m.; Wednesday, 11

a.m. to 1:30 p.m.; Thursday, 7 to 8 a.m.; and Friday, 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.Core Conditioning: Monday, 1 to 1:55 p.m., and Thursday, noon to 12:55 p.m.Yoga: Tuesday, 11 to 11:55 a.m.Various forms of ballroom dancing: Monday, 4:30 to 5:30 p.m.Pilates: Tuesday, noon to 12:55 p.m., and Thursday, 1 to 1:55 p.m.Body Sculpting: Wednesday, 1 to 1:55 p.m., and Friday, 11 to 11:55 a.m.The work-out sessions are held in Room 6040. They are open to students as well.

No sign-up is required.Program coordinator Blake Glass reports that KVCC employees also have the

opportunity to have up to five sessions with a personal trainer. “If you are interested in getting some help with beginning an exercise program,” he said, “or maybe adjusting your current regimen, then call the Wellness and Fitness Center desk at extension 4184.”Library’s links to data bases quicken pace for research projects

http://lii.org/ That’s the latest wizardly resource for research and information available to

instructors, staff and students through the KVCC library system.It stands for “Librarians' Internet Index” and it offers links to more than 20,000

high-quality research-oriented Web resources. They are selected and described by librarians, and organized by subject for convenient access.

“It's a nice shortcut to the best of the Web,” says Janet Alm, KVCC’s director of libraries.

For instructors who want a book ordered by the library, purchase-request forms for books and audio-visual materials are located via "Info & Services for Instructors," then "Forms" on the libraries' web page: http://www.kvcc.edu/library/info-for-instructors.htm .

Who's your favorite librarian? Batgirl, of course! Check out this unaired Batgirl series pilot, and you'll see just how exciting librarianship can be: http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=G40JsVZmfmc&feature=related . “You can't google everything,” Alm said. “Librarians can help.”

For history buffs, the new online resource “Salem History” integrates the data bases of “Milestone Documents in American History” and “Decade Series,” which covers American popular culture and historic events from the 1950s through the 1980s.

To access “Salem History,” go to the library system’s home page, click on “Find Articles,” and scroll down to “History.” The direct link is http://history.salempress.com/.

“AMSER” (Applied Math and Science Education Repository” is a free portal of educational resources and services built specifically for use by community and technical colleges.

It can take “surfers” to a huge array of resources, from computer animation and game development to transcultural nursing, from architectural layout design optimization

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to calculus and disease prevention, from American Sign Language to evolution of the conservation movement, from the physics of music to a study of women’s religious communities from the year 400 to 1600. The direct link to this “applied” resource is http://amser.org.

Warning: E-mail can be L-mail, as in libel Surfing the Internet and the worldwide webs of the planet can be as invigorating

for the mind as riding Hawaii's Bonzai Pipeline is for the body, but there is potential for peril in what you communicate.

E-mail is publishing and broadcasting in the broadest definitions of those terms. As such, E-mail is subject to the laws of libel that restrain newspapers and television news. In other words, the E in e-mail can stand for “evidence.”

When you communicate via E-mail, it just doesn't zip out into cyber space and is lost forever. It can be captured, saved, printed, and distributed to somebody who may not like what you are communicating.

Case in point:When a surfing college professor learned via E-mail that a group of colleagues

were bound for London and were looking for reasonable housing while there, he read some of the suggestions coming in from all over the world. He E-mailed his comments, urging them not to stay at a certain hostelry for various reasons. When that hostelry read the assessment, it contacted a law firm that demanded an E-mail apology, or else.

What this all means goes back to what your parents used to advise: If you can't say something nice about somebody or something, don't say anything at all. . .especially

via E-mail. And, if you don’t want to see it in print, don’t keyboard it on to your screen. And finally. . .

A minister was completing his hellfire-and-brimstone sermon about the evils of booze, “devil rum,” and the suds that lure men to saloons.

With his best impression of Elmer Gantry, he said, “If I had all the beer in the world, I'd pour it into the river.”

With even greater emphasis, he said, “And if I had all the wine in the world, I'd pour it into the river.”

Shaking his fist in the air and holding his dog-earned copy of The Good Book, he said, “And if I had all the whiskey in the world, I'd pour it into the river.'

As those words of wisdom echoed through the church, he sat down.To end the service, the choir director stood up and urged the congregation

to join him in singing Hymn No. 365 – “Shall We Gather at the River.”

☻☻☻☻☻☻

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