Day: February 13, 2013

Chinese Night Celebration Friday

The Chinese Students and Scholars Association will host its gala Chinese Night on Friday, Feb. 15, celebrating with a feast and a traditional performance.

The New Year’s Eve dinner is set for 5-7 p.m. in the Memorial Union Commons. Seven delectable Chinese dishes will be served, including beef tomato, mushroom chicken and potato with ribs.

“Chinese Night 2013: Year of the Snake” begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Rozsa Center. The performance marks the Chinese Spring Festival, their most important holiday. Like Christmas in the West, it is a time of celebration when all family members get together.

Performers hail from many countries, including India, Thailand, Germany and, of course, China.

Because this is the year of the snake, the show includes the traditional Chinese opera “The Legend of the Snake.” It is one of four famous Chinese folk legends and tells the circuitous and graceful love story of a snake spirit, Lady White, and a mortal, Xu Xian.

Also on the program is “Thousand-Hand Guanyin,” a well-known dance of China. Guanyin means “Observing the Sounds (or Cries) of the World.” The Buddhist goddess of compassion, Guanyin has thousands of faces and hands. In this dance, 12 dancers will form her likeness on a lotus-shaped stage.

International students will present a skit, “MTU Friends,” about an international friendship at Tech. In addition, the program includes songs and traditional dances.

“We are sincerely looking forward to sharing this wonderful night with you and your family,” said members of the Chinese Students and Scholars Association.

Tickets (including dinner and show) are $15 for the public, $12 for students, $6 for children under 13 and free for CSSA members. Tickets may be purchased athttp://rozsa.tickets.mtu.edu or at the Ticketing Operations in the SDC.

Sponsors of Chinese Night include the Undergraduate Student Government, Graduate Student Government, the Rozsa Center, Memorial Union Dining Services, I-club, Ming’s Asian Bistro, Super 8 Hotel, Cyberia Café, 5th & Elm Coffee House and the Blue Iris.

Published in Tech Today

New Graduate Fellowships Lure Returning Peace Corps Volunteers

A new partnership between Michigan Tech and the US Peace Corps will enable returning Peace Corps volunteers to attend graduate school at Michigan Tech while putting their Peace Corps skills to work. Michigan Tech is one of the universities recently selected by the Peace Corps to offer new or expanded Paul D. Coverdell Fellows Program graduate degrees, which include scholarships and degree-related internships in underserved American communities.

The new fellowships will support graduate degrees in biological sciences, forestry, applied ecology, forest ecology and management, forest molecular genetics and biotechnology, environmental policy and industrial archaeology. All returned Peace Corps volunteers will be eligible to apply for the Coverdell program. Currently, 12 alumni who received bachelor’s degrees at Michigan Tech are serving in the Peace Corps. They also will be eligible for the new program when they finish their service.

“Michigan Tech is extremely pleased to be selected to participate in the Coverdell Fellows Program,” said Graduate School Dean Jacqueline Huntoon. “With this program, we will continue to strengthen our collaboration with the Peace Corps, building on our existing programs for returned Peace Corps volunteers and students in our Peace Corps Master’s International programs.

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Published in Tech Today by Jenn Donovan, public relations director