Month: January 2017

Roxanne Gay Breaks with Publisher Over Its Relationship with Alt-Right Author

Roxanne GayBest-selling author and Michigan Tech humanities alumna Roxane Gay (PhD in Rhetoric and Technical Communication, 2010) has withdrawn a planned book, “How To Be Heard,” from Simon & Schuster, to protest the publisher’s book deal with alt-right provocateur and Breitbart News editor Milo Yiannopolous. The story has been widely covered internationally, in the New York TimesThe Washington PostThe Guardian, Salon, Time, Buzzfeed and many other media outlets.

RTC Colloquium: When Pop Culture Does Science

RTC Colloquium event posterThe Department of Humanities is pleased to announce a Rhetoric, Theory and Culture Colloquium to be held on Friday, January 27 titled “When Pop Culture Does Science.” RTC student Anna Swartz will first present her talk “The CSI Effect: Are Jurors Starstruck by Forensic Science?” followed by RTC student Shelly Galliah presenting “Creatively Intervening on a Manufactured Scientific Controversy: John Oliver’s Statistically Representative Climate Change Debate & the Problems and Promises of Satirical Science Accommodation.” Andrew Fiss will be providing commentary to the presenters.

Please join us 4 p.m. Friday, January 27 in the Great Lakes Research Center room 202.

Inauguration Day Talk to Focus on US-Russia Relations

As Donald J. Trump is poised to become the 45th President of the United States Friday, questions about the future of relations between the United States and Russia abound.

The Social Science Speaker Series presents “From Russia, with What? Thoughts on the Future of US-Russia Relations,” by Roman Sidortsov (SS) at 4 p.m. tomorrow (Jan. 20) in the Memorial Union Alumni Lounge B.

Green Film Series Tonight 1-19

Michigan Tech’s Seventh Annual Green Film Series continues tonight a showing and discussion of the films “After Coal” and “Half Life.” “After Coal,” (60 min.) profiles individuals building a new future in the coalfields of central Appalachia and Wales. Welsh coalfields were shut down in the 1980s, eliminating more than 20,000 jobs while Appalachian coalfields lost more than 20,000 mining jobs from 1994-20014. Both regions have survived disasters associated with mining production & waste disposal, and each has explored strategies for remembering the past while looking to the future. “Half Life: America’s Last Uranium Mill,” (12 min.), describes the Ute tribe’s concern that toxic and radioactive contamination from the White Mesa Mill in SE Utah threatens their water supply and life.

The films begin at 7 p.m. with a discussion facilitated by Roman Sidortsov (SS) to follow. Coffee and dessert will be served. There is no admission but a $3 donation is suggested.

Copper Country Reading Council Presentation

The Michigan Tech community is invited to attend a presentation by Michigan Reading Association President, Sean Kottke from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan.19 in Alumni Lounge A.

Kottke is a consultant with the Michigan Department of Education and is President of the Michigan Reading Association. The title of his presentation is “Adolescent Boys, Literature and

This presentation is provided by the English Education Program in collaboration with the Copper Country Reading Council. Dinner will be provided at no charge, but it is possible to just attend the talk.

RSVP by January 16.

Ciara Poe, Events Intern at the Battle Creek Area Chamber of Commerce

I would say that a moment from my internship that sticks out particularly to me is when we had our Business Excellence Awards night. It was a night to showcase and award smaller businesses around the community for the outstanding marks that they made on the community. Anyways, I was wearing pants from two years ago that I thought fit me just fine, but they were just a tad tight. At the end of the awards ceremony the Chamber president called all of the Interns for the summer up on stage. When it came my turn to go up on stage, my foot caught the last step and I came tumbling down. As I fell, I heard this huge rip and my worst fear ever came true. I had just totally and completely ripped my pants in front of over a hundred people, and my face went beet red. Needless to say I tried to pull it off like nothing happened but I could hear a few giggles going around. Just goes to show you that you should never wear tight pants!!!

But that event caused me to have a memory that’ll last me a lifetime, and my coworkers could not stop telling me all their embarrassing stories. Since the beginning, I’ve been involved in many events with the Chamber and community. From setting up caterers, to calling members to participate in events, I have learned so many amazing skills. I still have two more months of my internship and I have many more events lined up for the Chamber. I cannot wait to learn more skills and experience more of the “adult” world. The number one thing that I will take away from this internship is that you always need to have a little fun with your coworkers. You need to laugh and get to know your coworkers and build connections. The more you connect with your coworkers, the better everything is.

Kati Hook, Graphic Design Intern for the MTU Creative Suite 155

East entrance of Wadsworth Hall.One of my most exciting moments so far during my internship has been seeing my work outside my workplace, such as being handed out on flyers or most recently, the hanging banners outside of Wads for Summer Youth Programs this summer. It was a really fun and difficult process. I had to create many drafts to present to my boss’s boss, discuss with him what he wanted to see on the pillars, and come up with new design concepts that made everyone happy. I had to create 3 different banners that all had to have similar themes, and do this within a tight deadline. However, it was all worth it when he came in smiling the day they were hung up saying how much he loved the final product. It’s the little moments like that that make me realize this is what I want to do with my career.