Michigan Tech students have been proving across the board why they’re top notch, and that’s not just in the classroom. From canoes that shouldn’t float, to using maple syrup to strengthen Michigan’s economy, to a car powered by chemicals, students have been doing some awesome things, and here’s a little insight into what’s been going on.
First off, the MTU Concrete Canoe team rocked the 2010 American Society of Civil Engineers North-Central Regional competition, which was held in Kalamazoo. The team almost swept the whole competition, being awarded first place in three of the competition areas: paper, display, and racing. Their presentation took second overall.
You’re probably asking yourself how exactly concrete is able to float. According to the MTU Concrete Canoe website, traditional concrete is a mixture of cement, water, sand, and gravel. They use tiny spheres of recycled hollow glass and ceramic rather than sand and gravel. This results in their ability to float.
The technical paper category, which the team excelled in, required the writing of a “professional quality design paper” which details basically everything in the process for making the canoe, including concrete design, management, testing, and construction.
The team also swept the races, which consisted of the two person women’s sprint, two person men’s sprint, three person women’s endurance, three person men’s endurance, and the four person coed sprint. The women’s team even posted a faster time in the endurance than all men’s endurance teams, other than MTU’s men’s team.
And last, but not least, the team dominated the final product aspect of the competition, which was when the canoe was displayed and judged for aesthetics and their consistency with the official competition rules, specifically dimensions and materials used.
The MTU Concrete Canoe team has been in existence since the 1991-1992, and they have won 10 Regional Championships in the past 11 years. Various canoe names throughout the years have been good representatives of the MTU campus and the Keweenaw area, including The MacInnes, Copper Country Cruiser, Keweenaw Miner, and of course, this year’s Yooper. The team, led by Ryan Hoensheid, senior co-captain, and Jon Zalud, junior co-captain, will now head to the ASCE National Concrete Canoe Competition this June at California Polytechnic University.

When I asked one student
how they would describe what happened
in the McArdle Theater on MTU’s campus this past weekend, they were able to sum it up in just one word, “epic.” As twenty groups of musical wonders made their way across the Keweenawesomefest
stage over the course of three days, college students, high school students, adults, and toddlers alike swayed, jumped around, and sang.
The weekend of awesomeness began on Thursday. Keweenawesomefest
Night Zero, as it was dubbed for all of the computer junkies at Tech who think counting
starts at zero, featured four area favorites. Starting off the night, a local favorite, This is Deer Country, who credit Keweenawesomefest
as being one of the main reasons they formed, warmed up the crowd.
Matt Jones and the Reconstruction
made the trek up from Ypsilanti
haunted concert-goers with his Indie/Folk music, and as WMTU’s
website says, the best way to describe it is “everyone loves Matt Jones.” If his set wasn’t enough for MJ lovers at Tech, he then played the drums with a similar group from the A^2 area, Drunken Barn Dance. Along with them, Chris Bathgate made the journey from Ann Arbor, and as usual, he didn’t disappoint.
Friday night had eight more groups lined up to dazzle the crowd, and dazzle they did. Between
Cedarwell’s “monkey noises”,
White Pines’ incorporation of the crowd in a repeating melody in the song “Foot of the Cross”, Drink Up Buttercup’s “Beatles-y” sound, and Cotton Jones’ extremely
original “psychedelia-tinged rock”, there was something for absolutely everyone.
Thom Sullivan, an MTU first year, said his favorite part of the night was Drink Up Buttercup, because
of their stage presence and how well they connected with the crowd. A personal favorite was the Photographers, with their breathtaking
harmony and extremely amusing “Mustache Song” which expressed that that’s the way to get the ladies; not with a little bit of peach fuzz, a full-grown mustache,
a la Salvador Dali, Col. Sanders, Friedrich Nietzsche, Zorro, and Burt Reynolds.
Saturday night was just as exciting,
with one of the highlights being Graham Parsons & The Go ‘Rounds from Kalamazoo. Parsons
has been entertaining the Keweenaw for quite some time now as a solo act, and as a member
of the Squeaky Clean Cretins, as he grew up north of Calumet, but this was the first time that the Go ‘Rounds have made an appearance
at Kfest.
Millions of Brazilians also rocked out the McArdle, and won the affection of one student in particular,
James Mills, who said the best part about the weekend for him was their high energy performance.
Listeners weren’t the only ones who had a good time though; it appears as if MOB had an equally awesome experience. Their Facebook page’s status update
from Monday claims “the 20+ hours of driving for one show was definitely worth it, HOUGHTON
was uh-mazing.” In fact, MOB weren’t the only musicians who praised the weekend. White Pines’ status claimed “White Pines is still reeling from his week with Cotton Jones. So fun, so tired… thanks to everyone who helped us with shows, it was truly a magical trip.”
And last, but in no way whatsoever
least, Electric Six showed Houghton exactly why their Myspace
profile has more than a million
views. One critic’s review of them says, “The Electric Six have a knack for mixing a dash of Saturday
Night Fever with a whole lot of MC5 and just a smidgen of Jack Black” and that’s exactly what we got. With their hits such as “Gay Bar”, “Body Shot”, and “Danger! High Voltage”, Electric Six left their mark on Houghton.
Overall, the three days of musical
awesomeness were a huge success, with Saturday night not only selling out the McArdle but going beyond that, were simply unbeatable. Why is the weekend such a success? Gabi Elser said, “I really liked how personal and intimate the whole event was. The McArdle is a small theatre and I felt like I had one on one time with the band.” Mills wasn’t a man of many words on the subject,
and was able to just sum it up with two, “simply awesome.” To listen to the bands, purchase CD’s, and anything of that sort, you can go to wmtu.mtu.edu to see a full list of who entertained at the event, and most groups have a Myspace site. For pictures of the event, you can visit Mostly Midwest
Photography at www.mostlymidwest.
com.

The Keweenaw Research Center (KRC) revved up for the Society of Automotives Engineers (SAE) Clean Snowmobile Challenge last week. Teams of students from 19 participating schools re-engineered stock snowmobiles to clean up their act by emitting less emissions and noise while boosting or maintaining performance. Michigan Tech and the Keweenaw Research Center have hosted the SAE Clean Snowmobile Challenge for since 2003.
Teams re-engineered snowmobiles to be entered in two categories: Internal Combustion and Zero-Emissions.  The theme for the internal combustion division, where the Michigan Tech Snowmobile entered in 2009, is Fuel Economy using E2X fuel—which is a gasoline-ethanol blend.  The sleds in this division will be put through rigorous testing to explore each team’s ingenuity in designing a snowmobile that doesn’t just run on E2X, but excels with it.
The judges announced the University of Wisconsin–Madison (UW-Madison) as winners of both categories (Internal Combustion and Zero Emissions) for the 2010 Society of Automotives Engineers (SAE) Clean Snowmobile Challenge last Saturday.  This is the second year that UW-Madison has taken place at the top of both competitions.
Michigan Tech took second place in the internal combustion category for the second year in a row, and was also awarded the Land and Sea Award for Best Performance and the Altair Engineering Award for Design Simulation.
Clarkson University’s was awarded second place in the zero emissions category.  They were also awarded the CH2M HILL Polar Service Range Event Award and the Keweenaw Research Center Draw Bar Pull Award.Placing third in the internal combustion category was the University of Idaho.
They also earned the International Engineering and Manufacturing (Woody’s) Award for Best Acceleration, the Polaris Industries Award for Best Handling, and the DENSO Corporation Award for Best Ride.
Fourth place winner of the internal combustion category was the State University of New York at Buffalo.  Their diesel-powered snowmobile took the PCB Group Award for Quietest Snowmobile, the Caterpillar Corporation Award for Innovation, and the Aristo Catalysts Inc. Award for Most Improved Snowmobile.
Kettering University finished fifth in the internal combustion category. McGill University finished third within the zero emissions category.
The University of Minnesota-Duluth received the Hawk Technology Safety Award.
The A&E Inc. Tools and Ken Cook Publications Award for Serviceability was given to the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.
This year’s competition had a newcomer—North Dakota State University.
They received the Rookie of the Challenge Award.  The University of Wisconsin-Platteville team members were honored with the Bill Paddleford Founder’s Award for Most Sportsmanlike Conduct for the help they provided to North Dakota State’s team during its first year at the Challenge.
Local community members jumped in on the annual event that celebrates engineering progression in one of Upper Peninsula’s most popular pastimes.  Notably Coca-Cola of Hancock approached the Coke Foundation and secured a $10,000 donation for the 2010 challenge.
The warm weather affected March 16 run, but none of the events during the challenge were cancelled.  The endurance run that was originally destined for Copper Harbor to test fuel consumption was relocated to the KRC test course.  March 17 in-door event tested the emissions, and on March 19 he quietest running snowmobile with the Noise Event occurred.
All of the statistics in this article are from Tech Today article Madison Sweeps Clean Snowmobile Challenge, Tech Nabs a Silver.  The SAE Clean Snowmobile Challenge is held by the Keweenaw Research Center, the Department of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics.
To see the results and pictures from this years challenge go to www.mtu.edu.

Events for cultural diversity have grown in size and dominance on-campus. Overflowing to the Houghton community, the parades, musical and dining events, performances, speeches, and organizations have given Michigan Tech students and Houghton residents a multitude of opportunities, almost weekly, to engage in a cultural besides their own. The advent of many of these informative and often celebrative events may be due to one of the newest educational opportunities on-campus—The Diversity Minor.
In 2003, faculty and administrators gathered to address the “diversity problem”, namely the low numbers associated with recruiting and retaining diverse students, faculty, and staff on Michigan Tech’s campus. The outcome, initiated three years later, passed through the Department Administration, the University Senate, and then more administration. Michigan Tech’s response to the “diversity problem” is the relatively new Diversity Minor.
Rhetoric from the proposal to the University Senate argued that an inclusion of diversity studies in Michigan Tech students’ curricular options would address the recruit/retain issue as well as provide an opportunity to educate Michigan Tech students about diversity in the United States.
“The faculty, students, and courses in this minor could have a campus-wide impact far greater than just the number of students selecting this minor might suggest. Such a minor could help to improve the climate for underrepresented groups on campus and, thus, could help with recruiting and retaining underrepresented students, faculty, and staff.” –Senate Proposal 15-07 submitted January 2007.
The Diversity Minor offers students a chance to experience and explore diversity in an academic context but some of the additional benefits expected by the Diversity Studies Committee are the “Ripple Effects”. Mainly, the establishment of a committee dedicated to implementing and supporting courses, events, and organizations on-campus that offer students opportunities to venture into an academic discourse in a variety of contemporary topics in U.S. diversity.
One of the cornerstones of the Diversity Minor is the belief that “problems are more often solved by the collective effort of people involved in many smaller initiatives.” An academic approach is not the “one hundred percent solution” and instead the committee will supplement instead of run, replace, or claim jurisdiction over the on-going efforts of cultural groups that have already been well established at Michigan Tech and in the Keweenaw area for many years.
The Diversity Studies Committee has been busy this year already and the opportunities for students to become active and informed about diversity topics and concerns is increasing. A short list of ten activities pursued by the Diversity Studies Committee this year follows:

Michigan Tech’s TV Production Club has released their new comedy film “Bohemia Bust-Up.” The film, which debuted in December at a showing in Fisher Hall, is now available for the general public on DVD. This is the culmination of a long process for the TV Production Club, which undertook the challenge of making the film after a meeting with Mt. Bohemia’s proprietor, Lonie Glieberman, and his desire to see a movie made at the Keweenaw County Ski Resort.
The film is about a down on his luck Michigan Tech student, Alex, who wishes to break up the soon-to-be engagement of the girl of his dreams, Bridget, to his arrogant graduate student teacher David. Eventually, he finds out the engagement will take place at Mt. Bohemia during the following weekend. He proceeds to follow his sex-crazed friends up to Mt. Bohemia during Mardi Gras weekend.
One subplot of the film develops once they arrive at Mt. Bohemia. The group discovers that there is a mad man poised to bomb the chairlift at the resort. Will Alex be able to get the girl of his dreams and stop the bombing?
Overall, I found the film to be quite enjoyable, especially considering the budget for the film. The plot, in general, is along the same lines of 2001’s “Out Cold,” which admittedly didn’t have a terrorist subplot, but touched on the same vein of outdoor sports and sexual humor.
What surprised me, however, was how genuine Gleason seemed while starring in the film. He conveyed the feeling of unrequited love extremely well, as the audience is left to ponder whether or not he will win Bridget’s heart over.
The film stars Ryan Gleason as Alex, Heather Ashley Blaha as Bridget, Andrew Johnson as David, as well as Amanda Nixon as RSG, Charles R. Temple as Evan, Josh Norsen as Frankie, and Ryan Huntington as Tuba.
Also appearing in the film are Christine Dempsey, Holly Walters, Nicole Adams, and Steve Martin, with a special appearance by Dennis Kerwin. The film was written and produced by Kyle Thornton, who co-directed the film with Will Fruin and Josh Norsen.

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On Saturday, Jan. 16, 2010 the streets were filled with glorious snow, for the second annual Jibba Jabba Rail Jam hosted by Rhythm skateshop in downtown Houghton.
The event was held on Huron Street, snow piled high from the plows blocking off the section of street next to the skateshop. Hot dogs from local vendors and chilli, soup, hot cocoa, and Monster energy drinks provided by the Library Bar and Grill warmed the crowd and rejuvenated the competitors.
Over one hundred competitors took their turn on the hill, more than doubling the turnout from the last year.  Competitors came from around the U.P. including members of the snowboarding community from Marquette who put on a show, with Rob Michel of Northern Michigan University winning first-place in the advanced category.
The warm, sunny weather may have helped the community gathering. T-shirts and bandanas went to all participants, part of the $10 entrance fee, while cash prizes and merchandise went to the top three winners in each category: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, and Skiing.
The competition was an impressive collaboration between the youthful culture of snowboarding, the city of Houghton, and local business. With events like these, the progression of the snowboarding culture in Houghton and Keweenaw counties continues to advance.  Last winter, the mild temperatures and sizable snow pack attracted notice from nationally renowned Forum snowboarding team.  Look for familiar scenes such as behind Shopko and area’s just off of Sheldon Avenue in theForum film released earlier this winter, “Forever”.  Houghton, and the U.P. in general, has long been praised by the lucky few who have traveled here looking for outdoor adventures.

There’s a lot going on in the streets of Downtown Houghton these days, but what about indoors? There are many different stores and restaurants, but one building that’s different from the rest is located at 105 Huron Street. It’s called the Carnegie Museum.
The Carnegie Museum is in the building that used to house the Portage Lake District Library, which is now located directly down the street, on the waterfront. Elise Nelson is the head of the museum. She and a group of citizens came together with the idea of preserving the building. They also wanted to use the building to provide the community with local history of Michigan. The museum opened in the fall of 2006, and displayed primarily historical pictures.
The museum now has a variety of exhibits to offer to people, including the Raphaelli Historical Photo Collection. Raphaelli is a retired Houghton City Police Chief who has donated many pictures to the museum as well as to other businesses in Houghton. It also hosts “The Lake Superior Boys – Civil War Soldiers from the Portage Lake Area,” an exhibit about local men who fought for the Union. Another exhibit is called “Cemeteries of the Copper Country: A Grave Subject.” This exhibit is about active and inactive local cemeteries, with pictures provided by the Houghton Keweenaw County Genealogy Society. The cemeteries shown are both active and inactive. The museum also hosts “Copper Country Gardens,” a display of native plants. The plants are all laminated and hung up on the wall. The museum is also attempting to have a garden of native plants outside.
Throughout the year, the Carnegie Museum also hosts several rotating exhibits. For example, during December, the museum has a gingerbread-house display. Many museum patrons make their own houses and bring them for display, and the museum also displays its own giant gingerbread house. During this event, the museum provides visitors with treats. This December will mark the third year that the museum will host the event.
There are several upcoming events that the museum is working towards. Currently the only thing that is on display downstairs is the “Copper Country Gardens,” but Nelson is hoping that soon they will be able to open the children’s museum that is being worked on downstairs as well. Next year the museum will also host “The story-tellers from the U.P.,” and there will also be an exhibit about the history of beer making, and local breweries.
Nelson says that the museum is really a “community effort.” Anyone who has anything about the history of the area and would like to donate it to the museum is more than welcome to. Most of the exhibits are from people in the area who have a passion for
the local history and wished to share what they had about it.
Everyone is welcome, and admission is free of charge, but donations are encouraged. The museum is open Tuesday from noon to 7 p.m., Thursday from noon to 5 p.m. and Saturday from noon to 4 p.m. For more information visit the museum web site at www.cityofhoughton.com

Front Page: “Rally takes over Houghton”

The Lake Superior Performance Rally, held throughout the Keweenaw this past weekend, was the last stop on the 2009 Rally America schedule. Driver Travis Pastrana and his co-driver Christian Edstrom wrapped up their 2009 championship winning 15 of 17 stages. On the season, they tallied 50 percent more overall points than their closest competition. Other noteworthy competitors include Michigan Tech students Heath Nunnemacher and co-driver Mike Rossey, who finished second in the Super Production class and fourth overall.

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This week, Keweenaw Pride (Michigan Tech’s gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and ally organization) will be handing out t-shirts at various locations across campus as part of their annual Gay? Fine By Me project.
According to their mission statement, the project “gives Americans a simple but effective way to publicly condemn homophobia and support equal rights.” The program, which was founded in 2003, initially worked only with high school and college students. Now the program is aims to help “churches and synagogues, local civic groups, businesses, and even entire towns [to] join the movement.”
The t-shirts are provided to Michigan Tech students free of charge. Keweenaw Pride typically purchases 500 shirts for the giveaway. Keweenaw Pride members and Michigan Tech faculty alike staffed the giveaway tables. Shirts were given away in the residence halls on Wednesday night and in the MUB and Fisher Hall on Thursday afternoon.
“We hardly ever have enough shirts for the second day,” Keweenaw Pride advisor Marg Rohrer said. “There’s been one time in recent memory when we have had some shirts left over.”
The Gay? Fine By Me project is partially funded by IHRC each year. In previous years, faculty members have also donated money to the cause.
Students are invited to take part in a group picture on Friday in the MUB Circle at 1pm while wearing their Gay? Fine By Me shirts.

Houghton, Mich is a unique place. Countless “must-sees” are among the lists of scenic views, historic areas and places found only in the Keweenaw. Thousands visit every year to take part in activities that are not available anywhere else in the world. One of these activities (mostly unheard of but growing larger each year) is called Frisbockey. Available at only one campus in the world, Michigan Tech of course, Frisbockey is a relatively new but already a famous Husky tradition. Frisbockey came to life in 2002 when a few Tech students wanted to play a game after a Broomball match but only had a frisbee. Michigan Tech ingenuity soon had them out on the Broomball court attempting to hurl the disc into a net. In 2004 the Inter-Residence Hall Council (IRHC) decided to make Frisbockey official, unfortunately only one team registered that first year. By 2007 though, 32 teams were throwing the disc and now, in 2009, a record of 56 teams are active during the fall season.
I, myself, referee Frisbockey and play on a team. One day while walking up to the Student Development Complex (SDC) my mother called. I casually mentioned Frisbockey and her response was complete confusion. So for those of you who have not seen the posters across campus, Frisbockey’s slogan is “Ultimate Frisbee with a Tech Touch!” With six players on the field at a time, teams try to work their way to the opposing goal and launch a frisbee into a hockey net. Basically Ultimate Frisbee with Hockey nets, hence the name Frisbockey. A game consists of two 15 minutes halves with a five minute halftime. IRHC allows open substitutions during the game and teams may consist of up to 12 players. In the past, games have taken place on the Walker lawn but this year all the games are being played up at the SDC. If you have never experienced a game of Frisbockey before, check out the IRHC website for the game schedule and go watch for awhile. Before long you will want to pick up a frisbee and send it floating through the air too!
The first time I threw a frisbee was during my orientation week here at Tech. It wobbled and arced away from my friend and fell to the ground thirty feet away. He, on the other hand, made it seem like an effortless task, floating the frisbee directly to me, which I subsequently failed to catch. I resigned myself to the knowledge that I would never get a grasp on the sport. Luckily I kept trying and I can now at least hold my own. I joined a Frisbockey team to have fun with my friends and to get outside a bit more. Once I started asking, though, it seems students have joined Frisbockey teams for a variety of reasons, the main reason being, like me, just to have fun. Many teams formed for just that, to play without worrying about the score and to spend time with friends. Students relish the chance to get away from the ever present looming promise of homework so they can run around and play. Another common trend I have found with Frisbockey players is that they enjoy the chance to meet new people. Teams may contain players from every residence hall and even off-campus. Players are given the chance to make new connections on the field, whereas otherwise they would have never met. Others though head to the games with a more competitive mindset. Frisbockey has single elimination play-offs later in the season, starting with sixteen teams and ending with one champion. The competition is tough with teams full of hardcore, experienced players. Right now play-offs are in the near future and players are testing their limits with each team trying to gain a coveted spot in the play-offs. This goal gives students a chance to participate in healthy competition.
Regardless if a team is playing for smiles or playing to win, Frisbockey demands teamwork and coordination in order to pass the disc, let alone score a goal. Even if a team does not have separate practices from the games, every time a team gets together to work on their skills they develop as a team. A successful goal or a long pass draws the team closer together with smiles and cheers. Frisbockey gives everyone a chance to form stronger friendships with one another. One great thing about Frisbockey, which we all remember from our early days of T-ball, is that when the final whistle blows both teams converge on the field to shake hands and say good game. Good Sportsmanship is ever present among Tech Frisbockey teams, which is a compliment to the University and the students who attend it.
Jake Emerick, an Alumni of Michigan Tech, ran Frisbockey in its first 4 years in which time he was also an IRHC president. Among his favorite memories of the sport included the fans, especially “Team Chuck Norris, an FYE team. They would bring fans covered in body paint and had team cheers.” To him 20-30 extra voices on the sideline really made the game exciting. Another highlight in the game was infamous “Team Canada, who would wear dresses to the game and would try to drag the nets around the field or play on each other’s shoulders.” As a referee I have not witnessed such extravagant efforts on the field yet, but I am looking forward to it during the play-offs. I urge everyone to head up to the SDC and cheer their favorite team on.
New students coming to Michigan Tech have most likely run into an Alumni who will not let them go until they are regaled with old Broomball stories. Even my neighbor (who is far older than I) made me listen as he explained the ins and outs of the sport before I left for campus. Frisbockey has only been around for 6 years, but it is already proving to be as much part of the Husky identity as Broomball. With 56 teams competing Frisbockey has obviously captivated the hearts and minds of students. Only time is needed for Alumni (maybe those of us graduating soon) for Frisbockey to be a hot topic that first-years absolutely must learn about, immediately after Broomball of course. I along with many other Huskies, look forward to the Fall Play-offs and the continued growth of Frisbockey in years to come.