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.

As students begin to lose hope in the current job market, and our economy feels like it’s faltering, a new competition is attempting to utilize and stimulate the future, by way of innovative college students. Motivate Michigan is a competition which allows students to submit ideas which will improve the Michigan economy.
The objective is to initiate creative ideas to improve our mitten state’s economy. Students were required to submit a problem statement, proposed idea, and expected outcome, and the top 10 ideas, determined by judging via the categories of creativity, originality, practicality, and the potential economic impact to the state of Michigan, advanced to the semifinals.
Once in the semifinals, students were required to submit an abstract or a two-minute video, and these are now available online. The ten ideas, ranging from empowering Michigan’s youth to learn more about business opportunities to utilizing our water via water turbines, will now be voted on online to determine who will make the finals, in which the Top 5 will present in person to the motivate Michigan Scholarship Committee.
One MTU student took the initiative, and created quite the idea. David Kossak, a student of the School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science at MTU, feels that the best route would be to utilize the maple syrup in the state. According to Kossak, using figures from Quebec, Michigan has the potential to produce 280 million gallons of syrup a year, which could bring in 11 billion dollars worth of syrup.
Kossak has developed a four step plan on how to go about utilizing the delicious natural resources that are maple syrup, and now he needs your help in making it to the final level of competition.
To vote for David, you can visit motivatemichigan.com and click on “Voting”. Click on vote next to entry number nine

Michigan Tech has
been known for its
focus on cultural
awareness thanks in part to the
Center for Diversity and Inclusion.
Though unbeknownst to
some students and faculty, the organization
also deals extensively
with Native American customs
and rituals around our community.
Next week, the Rosza Center for
Performing Arts will host Kevin
Locke (or Tokeya Inajin, which
means in the Lakota language
as “The First to Arise”). Locke
is a traditional Native American
storyteller, educator, musician,
and Hoop Dancer among other
things.
Locke began learning about his
heritage at a very early age. His
mother, Patricia Locke; uncle,
Abraham End-of-Horn, and many
others are the key inspirations that
lead him through his life. As time
went by, his ambitions grew to experimenting
with music, teaching,
and storytelling.
Throughout his life, Locke has
led a crusade towards understanding
and acceptance of different
customs and traditions throughout
the world. His goal, as he puts
it, is to “raise awareness of the
Oneness we share as human beings.”
One of the key rituals used
to manifest those understandings
is through the traditional Hoop
Dancing. “It reflects the roles and
responsibilities that all human
beings have within the hoops, or
circles, of life,” says Locke.
Flute playing is also a major
pursuit within his life and has been
a long practiced tradition among
Native Americans. According to
scholar and flautist Edward Wapp,
flute playing is meant to evoke the
natural beauty of the environment
in which one lives. The Lakota, a
nation of which Locke belongs to,
is an excellent example of where
the flute is widely used.
The Lakota and Dakota nations
stem from the northern prairies of
what is known as Maka Wita or
“Earth Island”. The Lakota flute
is used to reflect the winds which
move through the meadowlands.
According to Lakota tradition,
there are seven notes that represent
four distinct ideas; direction,
the Earth, the heavens, and the
heart.
“It is so hard for people to relate
one to another because we
all come from different backgrounds,”
says Locke. “But no
matter where we come from, we
can all connect with music.”
Aside from the flute, Locke
also plays the drums, voice, and
the rattles. He combines all four
instruments to create a form of
music known as “Olowan”. The
Olowan is played to reflect the
characteristics of a thunderstorm.
Twelve albums have been produced
by Locke in the past 28
years. These albums accompany
the many traditions that highlight
society within the Lakota. Some of
his more notable albums include;
Dream Catcher, Open Circle, and
Keepers of the Dream.
Teaching and educating through
storytelling are also delegations
that Locke follows. He strives
to display the importance of not
only Native American rights but
of others as well. Some literature
includes the plight of the American
Indian during the early years
of American history.
Up until the early twentieth century,
Native Americans were seen
as inferior to the average “white”
American. Rampant discrimination
was discernable in many
communities populated by white
majorities. The Trail of Tears in
the 1830s serves as a prime example
of this discrimination which
led to the displacement of over
45,000 Native American tribes
from their homeland to “Indian
Territory” or Oklahoma.
In 1924, President Calvin
Coolidge signed a bill claiming
American Indians as citizens
of the United States. From this
point, many American Indian
reservations were made which allowed
for the creation of schools,
buildings, and roads. In 1968,
the American Indian Movement
(AIM) was passed to prevent ongoing
discrimination of Native
Americans and for educational
purposes.
“All of the people have the
same impulses, spirit and goals.
I want to create a positive awareness
of the Oneness of humanity,”
says Locke.
Locke has been touring the
world for more than 20 years and
has lectured and performed in
many countries around the world
including the United States, Germany,
Turkey, and Brazil. He
also works extensively with environmental
relations and resource
conservation.
The event will take place on
April 20, Tuesday, from 7:30 p.m.
to 11:30 p.m. at the Rozsa Center
for Performing Arts. Tickets
will be $25 for the general public
and $20 for students. For more
information regarding the event
contact the Native American Outreach
at (906) 487-2920 or by visiting
their website at http://www.
mutlicultural.mtu.

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.

Women’s Month, March 2010, included a foray into the gaming world on Tuesday, March 23. iDentity, a group brought together by their interest in new media technologies and identity, brought their wii’s, ps2’s, and rock guitars to Walker 134 in order to discuss identity formation and issues with gender, race, and ethnic representation in games. The event was included as part of women’s month but included topics important and interesting for all students with an invested interest in new media technologies and gaming. The event was sponsored by the Center for Diversity and Inclusion.
Members of the new iDentity group, a mix of undergraduate students, graduate students, and professors hosted the interactive event and posted questions at the different gaming stations, each manned by an educated iDentity member, that probed aspects of the game that dealt with identity formation. “I was interested to look at the issues concerning gaming—particularly the presentation at the beginning [that talked about the purpose of the event]. I’m mostly into role-playing-games and strategy games but it’s all really interesting.” Said Ryan, a fourth-year Materials major in attendance at the event, as he slipped his shoes back on after taking his turn on the DDR mat.
Assistant Professor in Emergent Media, Wendy Anderson spoke at the event and is the faculty advisor for the iDentity group. The group chose to primarily set-up games that promote multiple systems styles that use less traditional gaming consoles such as the Wii, Guitar Hero, and Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) though some traditional consoles such as the PS2 (Playstation 2) and the computer for World of Warcraft (WOW) were also available. “We chose games with a kinesthetic connection in the interface such as the physical movement involved with DDR and the Wii as well as “casual” games like Lunes Tower Defense that are shorter games but still very engaging and interesting and offer more inclusive representations.” Anderson says about the games. “You know, it’s easy to get into the games, there’s monkeys throwing darts and stuff.”
Brought together through planning this event, the immediate future of the iDentity group is unclear. There is interest in potentially becoming a club and fulfilling some of the roles that groups such as the Techno Babe Times had previously capitalized on such as monthly newsletters concerning new technologies and questions of identity and gender, racial, and ethnic representation in new media such as games. Considering the sizeable turnout of their first event, upwards of 50 people just in the first fifteen minutes lining up to take a turn at the games and address the questions, iDentity seems to have made an overwhelmingly positive start. “We are looking to see if people are interested in this group right now,” says Anderson. The groups’ goal is to be inclusive and open to anyone interested in gaming and technology. “The group is focused on concerns of identity representation, multiple identity construction, how women are represented, and how race and ethnicity are represented, the group is going to deal with experiences that users have to deal with at Tech and further locations in life.” One of their potential plans includes setting up a Druppel site that will publish student papers that address issues and advances in new media technologies, either adapted from course writings or from personal research.
An important part of the group is engaging its members and letting the students choose the content. The student members of iDentity wrote all the questions for the Gaming event and communicated, critiqued, and advised each other through the list-serve. “That’s important to the group I think, that students are creating the content and is an important part of the future of this group.” Anderson says.
Elsa Roberts, a graduate in the Communication and Culture studies program, was instrumental in organizing the event. As the original contact and connection to the Women’s Month organizers, she worked on administrative details for the event. Though the event was meant to be inclusive, and the gender ratio at the event was tipped slightly in favor of typical Tech standards, the representation of women and games was a key element in the slideshow and female members of the iDentity group were on hand with their expert knowledge of not only the issues but also the games and consoles.
If you are interested in participating in iDentity or would like to see more events concerning new media technologies, gaming, and identity formation contact the list serve at games-l@mtu.edu.

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.

On Feb. 11, The Tech Theatre Company opened their production of David Auburn’s Proof in the McArdle Theater, directed by MTU Theater Department chair Roger Held. The play, which won the 2001 Tony award for Best Play in its original Broadway performance, was warmly received by the audience.
The Tech Theatre Company’s production starred Nicole Kangas as Catherine, a mathematical genius dealing with mental illness; Dennis Kerwin as Robert, Catherine’s recently deceased father who contributed groundbreaking theories to several branches of mathematics; Frank Sopjes as Hal, a student of Robert, and Trish Goggin as Clare, Catherine’s sister.
Proof deals with the toll of Catherine’s efforts to support her mentally ill father, Clare’s efforts to support them both, and the relationships between Hal and both Catherine and her father. In the end, the play subtlety explores the meaning of “proof” in different contexts, from mathematics to trust.
The play had been in production since the beginning of the semester, Held explained. However, he remarked that amount of time was “not long enough” and although everyone involved did a good job of getting everything together in four weeks, they would have preferred six.
The play, like most events, had been planned since last year, like most events. When asked why Proof was chosen in particular, Held explained that there were a number of reasons. One of them was that it was a small show, within the Tech Theatre Company’s ability to produce. Another thing that motivated decisions on all plays was the ability to cast the play. Held explained that they look for plays that go well with the actors they have. In this case, having an older actor to play the part of Robert was nice, because he could serve as a role model for the younger actors.
Finally, the play was chosen because it was a good piece of literature. “It’s an inherently interesting idea,” Held explained, referring to the meaning of proof in different contexts.
Proof will be shown two more times in the McArdle Theater, on February 18 and 19 at 7:30 pm. It will then travel to the Calumet Theater, where it will be shown on February 27 at 7:30 pm.

Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2010 marked the first State of the Black Union in seven years held on Michigan Tech’s campus. Twenty-five students, along with Gloria Melton, Dean of Students, Chris Anderson, Special Assistant to the President for Institutional Diversity, Susan Liebau, Interim Co-Director of Multicultural Affairs, Director of ExSEL, Associate Director of COMPASS, Kevin J. Walker, outgoing Coordinator of African American Student Support, and Dr. Melvin Norwood, incoming Coordinator of African American Student Support, were all in attendance for the address. Nicole White, President of the Black Student Association gave the opening remarks. Kevin J. Walker delivered the address, which highlighted the academic state of African American students on Michigan Tech’s campus. Kevin began the address by stating, “We are not doing that great.” He announced that after the fall 2009 term, 27 percent of African American undergraduate students were on academic probation. He further announced that the fall 2009 GPA for African American undergraduate students was a 2.43, with a cumulative GPA of a 2.48. Walker did acknowledge that the African American graduate student fall term GPA was a 3.1, with a cumulative GPA of 3.7. Walker also mentioed the decline of African American students enrollment from the fall of 2009 until spring 2010. The graph to the right of this column highlighs the African American student enrollment from fall of 1999 thru fall of 2009. For more enrollment stats, visit www.admin.mtu.edu.

The 2010 Winter Carnival turned out to be an astonishing experience Wednesday night. Parents and members from the community who attended the event had the chance to witness the many extraordinary snow sculptures up close.
The theme this year was “Games We Know Captured in Snow.” Competitors were to build sculptures based on their favorite games. One statue in particular, carried out by Circle K International, presented a Wii console beside a large TV and couch. “It was amazing to see all the admirers,” says Jacquie Blom. “I was glad to see that everybody was getting together and having a good time. That is what Winter Carnival is all about.”
Construction of the month-long statues began on Jan. 11 and ended early Thursday morning. These sculptures were built by fraternities and sororities such as Sigma Phi Epsilon and Alpha Gamma Delta respectively. Other organizations included Army ROTC, MTU Four-Wheelers, and certain residence halls such as Mama’s Boys.
Statue judging began early Thursday morning soon after all sculpture construction ended. Phi Kappa Tau, Delta Zeta, Army ROTC, and First Year Experience (FYE) won first place for the best month-long statues. On the all-nighter statues, first place was given to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), Concordia Student Ministries, and Bastille. There was also one tie for second place for the one-night statue competition; the Geology Club and Circle K International both tied as on-campus competitors.
The total results for student organizations came in Monday night for the Winter Carnival fair with Sigma Phi Epsilon topping off at 196 points with Delta Zeta trailing behind at 168 points. The fraternity also topped off the Queens and Stage Revue results with 25 and 50 points respectively. Judges for the Stage Revue chose Sigma Phi Epsilon for first place, Delta Zeta for second, and Alpha Gamma Delta for third at seven, five and three points respectively. Delta Zeta, Phi Kappa Tau, Army ROTC, and First Year Experience all tied for first place in statue building for 60 points. Phi Kappa Tau topped off the special events with 87 points with Sigma Phi Epsilon taking second place.
Several other events were also held during Winter Carnival weekend. One of these events, the Beards Competition, decided on who had the most facial hair based on three categories; beards, goatees, and sideburns. Competitors were to apply clean-shaven early in December. They were then given two full months to grow their beards and sideburns. During competition, contestants performed various skits to manifest their two full months of abstinence from shaving and were then judged based on facial hair and performance.
Other events included broomball, curling, the Human Dog Sled Race, ice bowling, skating, snow volleyball and snowshoe races. One of Michigan Tech’s exciting traditions which can’t be truly experienced outside of Houghton is broomball. Those visiting Winter Carnival weekend were given just that chance to see these thrilling games being played out on the ice rinks in front of Lot 14.
Snow volleyball is very similar to volleyball except you’re playing on snow “Don’t fall down,” one person teased. “But it’s still not as hard as hardwood.”
Curling also brought a substantial amount of attention. The origins of Curling date back to 1541 in medieval Scotland. The object of the game is to throw smooth Conitnued on 2a
granite stones across ice while a second person uses a broom to smooth the ice path that the stone will glide on. Results are based on the distance the stone traveled.
Also held at the carnival was the annual Queens competition. Student organizations who wish to participate select the best possible female candidate. The person chosen will then go through an interviewing phase and perform various skits in front of a large audience. These votes are decided based on the interview, beauty and the performance.
For more information about the event, visit www.mtu.edu or contact blue key at bluekey@mtu.edu.

The sight of university students, bundled in hats, jackets, and perhaps some cozy Carhartts building snowman, or the oddsnowwoman, is not an uncommon sight for many campuses across the Northern regions of the U.S. What turns heads about the traditional symbol of wintery weather in Houghton is that our university peers spend their time diligently shaping giant chess pieces, scrabble tiles, and maybe even a character from our favorite Mario games out of the snow and ice. When the weather is cold and the snow is deep, Michigan Tech students have always known that Carnival is right around the corner.

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