The Digest
What’s Happening at KVCC
What’s below in this edition
Author Mark Nepo (Pages 1/2)Sacred Music fest (Page 11)
79 callers and counting (Pages 2/3)Veterans Day (Pages 11/12)
‘Our’ mayor (Pages 3/4)Health screenings (Page 12)
A look at China (Pages 4/5) ‘Blown Away’ (Pages 13/14)
WMU here (Page 5) Russia’s culture (Pages 14/15)
Dybek Day (Pages 5/6)‘4 Corners’ of yore (P-15/16)
Grid, jazz tickets (Page 6)Healthy-living series (Page 16)
The 60th (Pages 6/7)Katrina (Pages 16/17)
T-day food drive (Page 7) Debt, ID theft (Pages 17/18)
Festival of Arts (Page 7)‘Viva Cuba’ (Page 18)
Hammers for Habitat (Pages 7/8)Potters, weavers (Pages 18/19)
Whys of weather (Pages 8/9)Darfur fund-raiser (Pages 19/20)
‘Animal Dreams’ (Pages 9/10)Crafts sale (Page 20)
Tech careers (Pages 10/11) And Finally (Page 21)
☻☻☻☻☻☻
‘About Writing’ to host cancer survivor
Poet-philosopher-author Mark Nepo, a cancer survivor who works for the Kalamazoo-based Fetzer Institute as a program officer, is up next in KVCC’s “About Writing” series for the 2007-08 season.
He’ll talk about his writing craft and its spirituality manifestations at 10 a.m. on Thursday (Nov. 15) in the Student Commons Forum on the Texas Township Campus and follow that up with a reading of his works at 2 p.m. in the Commons Theater. Both are free and open to the public.
Nepo has taught in the fields of poetry and spirituality for more than 30 years. Nominated for the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize, his “The Exquisite Risk”was cited by Spirituality & Health Magazine as one of the “Best Spiritual Books of 2005,” calling it “one of the best books we’ve ever read on what it takes to live an authentic life.” That compliment mirrored what the publication said about his “The Book of Awakening” in 2000.
The author of four books of non-fiction, Nepo was the editor of “Deepening the American Dream: Reflections on the Inner Life and Spirit of Democracy,” a collection of essays published in the fall of 2005 under the auspices of the Fetzer Institute.
His recent books of poetry include “Suite for the Living,” “Inhabiting Wonder,” “Finding Our Way in the World,” and “Surviving Has Made Me Crazy.” His latest book of spiritual non-fiction, “Facing the Lion, Being the Lion: Inner Courage and Where It Lives” was published this month. Nepo’s words and thoughts of wisdom have been translated into French, Portuguese, Japanese, and Danish.
Nepo says he remains committed to the usefulness of daily inner life. Through both his writing and teaching, he devotes himself to the life of inner transformation and relationship, exploring the expressive journey of healing where the paths of art and spirit meet.
Prior to joining the Fetzer Institute, a non-profit foundation devoted to fostering awareness of the power of love and forgiveness in the emerging global community, Nepo taught for 18 years at the State University of New York at Albany.
“For years, I’ve been trying to explore and understand this,” Nepo said. “How can we, being forgetfully human, remember we are of one human family? How can we stay awake and authentic when our wounds make us numb and hidden. . .?
“As a cancer survivor,” he said,“I have found myself like Lazarus, awake again, in the same earthly place but different. Everything has changed and nothing has changed. This wakefulness has led me to be a student of that vibrant edge where our inner life meets the world. Being a poet and philosopher, I find myself there with a particular set of tools to search with.”
Nepo said his “work has become a journal of the challenges and gifts of being a spirit in the world. And now, after dying and coming back, it’s really not about my books, but about the voice beneath my name keeping the song going. These books and the voices that inhabit them remain teachers and intimates. They’ve helped to uncover sketchy maps into the quandaries of being alive.
“When struggling through my illness,” he said,“I was bereft at how many of the books I owned were useless. Ever since, I have been committed to finding and creating books that can help us live.”
Nepo has made presentations and done readings in Great Britain, Columbia University’s medical school, Vancouver, The Sophia Institute in South Carolina., Seattle, at the 30th annual conference of the National Wellness Institute, Fort Worth, Sacramento, Dallas, Boston, and San Francisco.
“About Writing” organizer, Rob Haight, an English instructor at KVCC, has also lined up two other presenters during the academic year:
Linda Nemec Foster of Grand Rapids on Thursday, Feb. 14.
Ted Kooser, a professor of English at The University of Nebraska. He’ll be on the KVCC campus for two days on April 7-8.
The more friendly voices, the easier
Seventy-nine KVCC’ers have volunteers for KVCC's calling campaign to contact enrolled students who have not yet paid for 2008 winter-semester classes, and a few scores more would make the task a piece of cake for the participants.
Pitching in from the Arcadia Commons Campus will be: Kris Bazali, Jackie Cantrell, Jill Storm, Jim Ratliff, Chasisty Hayden, Sheila White, Lisa Peet, Amy Winkel, Kim Campbell and Barbara VanZandt.
Stepping forwarded from the M-TEC of KVCC are Lauren Beresford, Brenda Moncreif, and Pat Wallace.
Doing their touch-toning from the Texas Township Campus will be:
Gloria Norris, Karen Way, Steve Doherty, Gerri Jacobs, Denise Baker, Stella Lambert, Cindy Tinney, Amy Louallen, Marylan Hightree, Joyce Zweedyk, Michael McCall, Laura Cosby;
Ruth Baker, Mary Johnson, Deb Bryant, Lynne Morrison, Mike Collins, Betty VanVoorst, Cynthia Schauer, Kandiah Balachandran, Theresa Hollowell, Ann Lindsay, Rose Crawford;
Diane Vandenberg, Robyn Robinson, Patrick Conroy, Bonnie Bowden, Rita Fox, Andrea Gallegos, Candy Horton, Nancy Roberts, Ciara Salefske, Jack Bley, Kathy Anderson;
Patricia Sulier, Ken Bouma, Laura Stout, Bonita Bates, Laurie Dykstra, Chris Stroven, Denise Linsley, Brian Graening, Leona Coleman, Cathleen Mahoney, David Lynch, Kevin McKinney, Pedro Soto, Jenny Bussey;
Mary Lindsley, Jackie Zito, Lanette Ballard, Colleen Olson, Tammy Saucedo, Karen Phelps, Lisa Gruber, Louise Wesseling, Tarona Guy, Tom Thinnes, Karen Visser, Pat Pojeta and five student advocates in the Student Success Center.
Another 10 or more would be greatly appreciated by these 79 folks.
The volunteers will make telephone calls to prospective students prior to batch cancellations.
Volunteers may make their calls throughout the week of Dec. 3-7during the workday at their work stations. The deadline for payment is 7 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 10.
Those who are interested in helping the college, helping future students and helping the community can contact Pat Pojeta at extension 4018 or .
The results of the counterpart effort for fall semester tell the story – some 6,000 enrolled students facing the prospects of losing their classes because of not yet meeting the payment deadline, and, after 60 volunteers making the calls, about half of them taking advantage of the friendly alert to meet that deadline.The payoff was an increase of 3,370 credit hours on the books.
Prior to the week for calling, Pojeta will deliver to each volunteer a list of prospects, each's telephone number, and a suggested script for the conversation. The results of each call can be easily recorded on the document.
“If many volunteer, the lists are less extensive and the job becomes smaller for each volunteer,” Pojeta said.
KVCC grad is Kalamazoo’s new mayor
Bobby Hopewell, a 1986 graduate of KVCC, is the new mayor of Kalamazoo, while a current student majoring in political science will join him for the next two years on the Kalamazoo City Commission.
Hopewell, 43, of 525 Stuart Ave. is the director of hospitality services at the Borgess Medical Center. He moved up from the post of vice mayor to the No. 1 gavel-wielder by 54 votes in the Nov. 6 municipal election. In effect, he and reigning mayor Hannah McKinney will be swapping duties.
Under the city of Kalamazoo’s unique election format, all candidates run for seven seats on the city commission. The top seven finishers win two-year terms. The top two vote attractors are mayor and vice mayor, respectively.
Hopewell earned a one-year certificate as an emergency medical technician and an associate degree in health technologies at KVCC in 1986. He was initially elected to a two-year term on the commission in 2003. In the 2005 balloting, he finished second in the field to earn the office of vice mayor.
Stephanie L. Moore, 35, of 414 W. Paterson St. finished seventh among the 11 candidates on the ballot. Her vote total of 2,866 earned the final two-year term, topping the eighth-place finisher, Tammy Barnard, who collected 2,202 votes. Moore is a national recruiter and trainer for ACORN Political. The Kalamazoo Public Schools graduate is majoring in political science at KVCC.
A viewpoint of China
A KVCC faculty member who spent more than four weeks in China in the summer of 2005 will offer perspectives on his experiences on Wednesday, Nov. 28, on the Texas Township Campus.
As part of the annual series of presentations by the KVCC International Studies Program, instructor Theo Sypris, who heads the KVCC International Education Program while teaching courses in economics and political science, will share his observations from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. in Room 4380. The presentation is free and open to the public.
Sypris and art instructor Arleigh Smyrnios were part of a 22-person contingent that was able to experience China through the U.S. Department of Education’s Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad initiative.
The 30-day trip featured lectures and workshops, as well as visits to universities, colleges, businesses, government agencies, archeological and geographical sites, temples and cities/villages.
The itinerary included Beijing, Tianjin, Xian, Kunming, Guilin, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Shanghai, and Suzhou.
Among the topics that were covered in the dialogues were education reform, the community movement in China, religions in China and their traditions, Sino-American relations, East-West connections, the silk industry and its history, China’s approaches to economic development, the Chinese-Moslem connection, minorities in Chinese culture and history, Sino teaching and learning strategies, education collaborations between China and the United States, and Chinese vocational schools and how they compare to America’s community colleges.
The instructors visited Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, the Yangtze River, the Great Wall, the Ming Tomb, the Museum of Terra Cotta Warriors, the Provincial Historical Museum, the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, the Jade Buddhist Temple, the Great Mosque of Xian, horticultural gardens, the Stone Forest, the Reed Flute Cave, the People’s Square, the Shanghai Museum, Elephant Trunk Hills, the tombs of Sun Yat-Sen and the Ming Dynasty, the Shanghai Stock Exchange and a tour of China’s largest city, the Yu Garden, Shanghai’s major economic-development zone, and 5,000-year-old remnants of one of the earliest civilized places on the planet.
The project was organized by the KVCCbased Midwest Institute for International/Intercultural Education, which received the $62,000 federal grant. It supported the instructors in their research to develop curriculum and course content related to China for their classes. Cumulatively, 16 participating colleges contributed $25,000 for their instructors to gain a better awareness of the largest nation on Earth.
Sypris has headed KVCC’s International Studies Program since 1990 and spearheaded the development of the Midwest Institute, which seeks to infuse components of international education into courses in all fields and disciplines. More than 50 community colleges in the Midwest are involved. He guided a similar Fulbright-Hays excursion to Vietnam in the summer of 2002.
The international presentations will continue into early December:
Russia will be Sypris’ second topic on Wednesday, Dec. 5, from 2 to 3 p.m. in Room 4380.
The nations of Egypt and Israel will be covered on Tuesday, Dec. 11, from 11 a.m. to noon in Room 4380 by biology instructor Jack Bley.
WMU here; students visit U of M
KVCC students are getting a better look at college life at both Western Michigan University and the University of Michigan.
WMU will be on the Texas Township Campus on Wednesday (Nov. 14) for its “On-Site Admission Day” to serve KVCC students who intend to transfer to Western.
They can sign up for appointments by contacting Robyn Robinson in the college’s Transfer Resource Center and FOCUS Program office in Room 1364 or by calling her at extension 4779.
WMU personnel will be on campus to review applications, to update each student’s admission status, outline future steps to take in the transfer process, and to detail opportunities for financial aid.
Her office took reservations for students to visit the campus of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor on Friday (Nov. 9). Among the criteria to be eligible to transfer are a 2.5 grade-point average and 26 transferable credits on a student’s academic record.
KVCC part of Dybek tribute set for Friday
The Kalamazoo Public Library will host a community celebration on Friday (Nov. 16) for Stuart Dybek, the recently retired Western Michigan University professor of English who was recently awarded a $500,000 “genius grant” from the John D. and Katherine T. MacArthur Foundation in Chicago
Dybek, who writes about the grit and gristle of his home city of Chicago with the zest and blue-collar reality of Studs Terkel, made four presentations at KVCC in March 2005 as part of instructor Rob Haight’s “About Writing” series. KVCC’s libraries are among their counterparts in Kalamazoo County that are sponsoring the salute.
Arcadia Commons Campus librarian Jim Ratliff reports that the Friday-evening salute to Dybek from 6:30 to 8 will be free and open to the public in the downtown-Kalamazoo library. He will read from his books, answer questions, and autograph copies. Live music and refreshments will complement the event. Dybek is currently on the faculty at Northwestern University.
Dybek first caused ripples as a writer with a 1979 volume of poetry, “Brass Knuckles,” which he followed up two years later with a book of short stories titled “Childhood and Other Neighborhoods.” His “Coast of Chicago” was published in 1990.
Dybek, who joined the WMU Department of English as an instructor of creative writing in 1973, joined the ranks of John Updike and Sherman Alexie in 2005 when his “Breasts” was selected to be among the 20 included in “The Best American Short Stories of 2004.” The series has been published since 1915 and rates as the annual showcase for the nation’s finest examples of short fiction and nonfiction.
“Breasts” anchors the Kalamazoo-based author’s most recent book, “I Sailed with Magellan.” It’s about the romantic life of a hit man for the Chicago mob.
Dybek has also won four O. Henry prizes for his short stories, the Lannen Library Award, the PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in the Short Story, a Nelson Algren Prize, and two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts. He’s also been a Guggenheim Fellow. Dybek’s writings have been published in The New York Times, The New Yorker, Atlantic, and Harper’s.
Want some free ducats?
They are available through Mary Johnson to attend a jazz concert staged by Fontana Chamber Arts and a Western Michigan University football game.
Fontana is offering 50 free tickets to the concert by Stefon Harris & Friends on Thursday (Nov. 15) at 8 p.m. in Chenery Auditorium.
Western’s game on Saturday, Nov. 24, against Temple University can be attended via free tickets by emailing Johnson at r calling extension 4182, Kickoff is 2 p.m. in Waldo Stadium.
While the gridiron tickets can be picked up in Johnson’s office in the Student Commons, the concert ducats will be available at the auditorium’s box office with your name on them the evening of the jazz event.
Those attending the Harris concert could find themselves on television at a later date because WGVU, the PBS outlet in Grand Rapids, plans to tape its first-ever high-definition production that evening in Chenery. The station’s plan is to distribute the concert nationally to fellow PBS stations.
Graduation is Dec. 20
The college’s 60th commencement ceremony is set for the evening of Thursday, Dec. 20, in Miller Auditorium on the Western Michigan University campus.
Those who have been assigned specific roles for the event should attend a 2 p.m. rehearsal that day on the Miller stage. For those who want to first come to the Texas Township Campus, a shuttle bus will depart for the WMU campus at 1:30 p.m. Students do not take part in the rehearsal.
Among those faculty members involved in the ritual are Denise Miller, Larry Taylor, Jean Snow and Bill Wangler. The faculty speaker will be English instructor Brian Olson while Yadira Hernandez, an elementary-education major from Hartford in Van Buren County, will speak for the graduates.