Archive for February 2009

One of the great things about living in the Upper Peninsula is the multitude of opportunities that exist just a few miles from your door. In this case, I made the short trip to Iron Mountain, MI to watch the “Continental Cup Ski Jumps” at Pine Mountain ski hill.

Not too many people have the opportunity to see ski jumping in their life, but here we have several jumps within an hour or two of campus. And let me be the first to tell you, these words (nor my photos) do this sport justice. This is the CRAZIEST sport I have ever seen in my entire life.

Picture this: You’re standing over 600 feet above the crowd below. You widdle your way onto what is seemingly a relatively rickety ski jump. You sit at the top, watching below and waiting for just the right wind condition. You’re coach gives you the thumbs up, and you proceed to point your skis straight down the hill. By the time you reach the end of the jump, you’re already moving at over 55 miles per hour. You float through the air hovering 20 feet above the 39 degree slope below you. Finally, you land. All said and done, you have flown over 450 feet in the air, and traveled over 1000 feet total. For those of you familiar with our Portage Lift Bridge, that’s like flying the length of the entire bridge in the air……on skis. I was scared just standing at the top of the hill, let alone standing at the top of the jump.

Check out this diagram for a better idea of what I’m talking about.

I cannot describe this sport, it’s simply unbeleivable. Below are some photos I took, but again, I can’t imagine jumping off of something like this. These men and women have guts that I will never come up with.

Twice a year our phenomenal career center holds a career fair. Needless to say, they do a bang up job with it. They create more opportunities for our students than we have students to fill those opportunities (seriously), which is just amazing to me. What’s great about this is; the companies that choose to attend, do so because they know that our students are ready.

What’s also exciting about the career fair to me is the sheer number of different emotions it promotes for our students. Some students get excited, but many become filled with anxiety, which is where the career center steps in. They’ll help students get that resume polished up, brush up on interview skills, or even teach them dinner table manners. Either way, it’s a day in which the mood on campus is different, and different is good! So…..in a nutshell……….we love it!

As you can see, it’s THE place to be. Free stuff, jobs, people, and cool displays. How could you miss this!?

For those of you that follow the weather in Houghton, you know that we broke record temperatures last week.  That’s right, those snow nay-sayers got their wish.  So much so that it was almost a case of “be careful what you wish for”!

On Tuesday, February 10 we broke a record by reaching 46 degrees in Houghton.  FORTY SIX!  This capped off several days above freezing, so needless to say the snow was melting………..fast.  It was great for a few reasons:

• My snowblower will actually snow throw OVER the bank now, which is nice.
• I didn’t have to get up and shovel before work.
• It didn’t take as long to get dressed……less layers.
• The snow came off of the roof, which is one less thing to worry about.
• When spring really does come, it’ll be that much shorter!
• Who’s going to say “no” to some sunny, warm winter days?

It was also bad for a few reasons:

• Basements can’t withstand that kind of thaw, so they leak.
• Our beautiful snowpack took a serious hit, and it’ll take a few weeks to get some good snow back.
• It ruins pants when you walk around in the mud and muck!

So I have to admit, it gave me a small case of spring feaver, but I’m content with a little more winter.

Some photos from the meltdown:

Water on the sidewalk

Whoa.....is that a grill!? I forgot I owned one of those.

This week: the career fair

Before I post about the little winter meltdown we had here this week, I thought I’d throw up a few more pictures taken from carnival. The winning statue, Phi Kappa Tau, was full of beautiful clear ice and lots of detail, so my artsy (or lack of) side came out in some of the photos.

The weather, although a touch cool, was fantastic for those putting in the time to build an amazing statue. As always, they were impressive. We have such a unique and diverse set of students, and their true talents really come out during carnival. What a great place to experience, I sure hope you have the opportunity to do so soon.

We’ll look forward to Winter Carnival 2010! (2010? Really?)

Perhaps the most well known (and one of the longest standing) Michigan Tech traditions is Winter Carnival. The earliest recorded carnival dates back to about 1920, but in its early stages it wasn’t a consistent event. We’re told that around the great stock market crash, and again around World War II that Winter Carnival was suspended. But because of its popularity with students, it has always made it back to be one of the staples of a Michigan Tech experience.

Now Winter Carnival is so popular that some people say the sun is the mother earth as Michigan Tech is to Winter Carnival. I don’t know that I’d go QUITE that far, but Winter Carnival is undoubtedly a huge deal around here, and we love it!

One of the challenges with this event is attempting to capture its excitement and accurately convey that to the world. In the end what it comes down to is; YOU NEED TO SEE IT TO BELIEVE IT! It so chaotic, so crazy, so fun. Certainly the sight of Winter Carnival is completely impressive; the amazing snow statues with immaculate detail, the people in every corner of campus….it all looks so impressive. For me, however, the smell and the sound is equally gratifying. The smell of “SWE-cabobs” and deep fried Twinkies and almost peircing sound of the Audio Engineering Society’s wall of speakers makes for an experience you definitely need to experience in person. If you don’t dance, you’ll want to. If you don’t hoot and hollar, you’ll want to.

It’s impossible not to smile at this event.

As usual some photos were taken. Please enjoy, but my photos will never prove to be worthy of depicting the magnitude of this event.

I really do hope that you have the opportunity to experience this one day. It’s just one of the many things that makes Michigan Tech one of the most complete educational experiences available today.