Category: Events

Winkler and Schelly on Energy Prize Committee

Energy MapHoughton County Aiming for $5 Million Energy Prize, with Help from Michigan Tech

Georgetown University is offering a $5 million prize for the American community “that leads the way in energy efficiency,” and a Michigan Technological University student thinks there’s no reason Houghton County shouldn’t win.

“There aren’t a lot of small communities with a great technological university in their midst,” said Abhilash Kantamneni, a graduate student in computer science. “I think we have a shot at it.”

The ad hoc committee includes Kantamneni, Ala, county commissioner Tom Tikkanen of Calumet Township, Michigan Tech social sciences faculty members Richelle Winkler and Chelsea Schelly, Lynn Artman of the School of Technology, Melissa Davis of the nonprofit NewPowerTour, Keweenaw Research Center Director Jay Meldrum, Sam Lockwood of the Keweenaw Geothermal Research Group, Kim Stoker of the Western Upper Peninsula Planning and Development Region, Phil Musser, former director of the Keweenaw Economic Development Alliance, and Elmore Reese from Main Street Calumet. Representatives from utility companies UPPCO and SEMCO are participating in the effort, along with energy-conservation businesses and organizations such as Michigan Saves, Efficiency United and BlueTerra.

Read more at Michigan Tech News, by Marcia Goodrich.

FinnForum X and Retrospection & Respect Remember

FinnForum

FinnForum X and Retrospection & Respect Remember the Copper Strike of 1913-14 this Weekend

Retrospection and Respect: the 1913-1914 Mining/Labor Strike Symposium is being held in conjunction with FinnForum X and commemorates the cessation of the 1913-1914 Western Federation of Miners labor strike against copper mining companies in the Copper Country of Upper Michigan.

An exhibit titled “Tumult and Tragedy: Michigan’s 1913–1914 Copper Strike” opens at 8 a.m. Thursday, April 10 on the first floor lobby of the J. Robert Van Pelt and John and Ruanne Opie Library on the Michigan Tech campus.

The Finnish American Heritage Center at Finlandia University recently installed three exhibits. They include a photographic exhibit titled “Rural Reflections: Finnish American Buildings and Landscapes in Michigan’s Copper Country”; a historic photography exhibit named “People, Place and Time: Michigan’s Copper Country Through the Lens of J.W. Nara”; and a pair of lithographs acquired by the National Park Service which were on either side of the Italian Hall stage the night of the infamous Christmas Eve tragedy 100 years ago.

Also on Thursday, Finlandia’s Nordic Film Festival will show To My Son in Spain: Finnish Canadians in the Spanish Civil War. The film’s writer, Saku Pinta, will be there to answer questions.

On Friday, April 11, there will be an open house at the Finnish American Heritage Center and a trolley tour of the Keweenaw.

Saturday, April 12 features a speaker series with both FinnForum X and Retrospection & Respect sessions in Michigan Tech’s Fisher Hall.

Co-sponsors of the event are Michigan Technological University’s Van Pelt and Opie Library, Michigan Technological University  Archives, Copper Country Historical Collections, Friends of the Van Pelt and Opie Library, Departments of Humanities and Social Sciences, and the Alumni Association.  From Finlandia University, the Finnish American Heritage Center and the Finnish American Historical Archives are co-sponsors along with community partners Cranking Graphics, Book Concern Printers, Keweenaw National Historical Park and Advisory Commission.  International support has come from Turku, Finland’s  Institute of Migration and the History Department at the University of Turku.

Read more at Michigan Tech News, by Monica Lester.

Reliving history
Conferences puts copper strike of 1913-14 in international context

Sunday marked the 100th anniversary of the end of the Western Federation of Miners Copper Country strike, and Thursday through Saturday academics from around the region and around the world gathered in Houghton and Hancock for a pair of concurrent conferences that helped mark the strike’s place in history and to consider Finnish and international influences on the American labor movement.

Read more at the Mining Gazette, by Dan Roblee.

MacLennan on Torch Lake Panel Discussion

Portage Library Hosts Environmental Assessment Presentation about Torch Lake

The Portage Lake District Library will host a panel discussion about the “Impacts of Legacy Mining on Torch Lake” on Tuesday, April 22, at 7 p.m.

Michigan Tech faculty members Noel Urban (CEE), Carol MacLennan (SS) and Judith Perlinger (CEE) will give a three-part presentation on Torch Lake and will answer questions from the audience afterwards.

Read more at Tech Today.

Schwaiger and Mandelia Give Social Sciences Colloquia

Social Sciences graduate student Emma Schwaiger (IAH) and Civil and Environmental Engineering graduate student Ankita Mandleia (EEP) will present “An Interdisciplinary Approach to Understand Pollution: PCBs in Torch Lake,” which describes some aspects of their work (with professor Carol MacLennan, et al.) on the Torch Lake project– that seeks to document the historic mine production of copper and PCB waste. The presentation will be held Friday, March 28, at 4 p.m., in AOB 201.

From Tech Today.

Winkler Facilitates Gasland Discussion March 20

Green Film Series to present “Gasland” — part of World Water Day observance at Michigan Tech

The Green Film Series at Michigan Tech will present the film Gasland as part of several events scheduled on campus to observe World Water Day.

This 100-minute documentary will be shown from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday, March 20, in the Atrium and G002, Hesterberg Hall, in the Michigan Tech Forestry building. It will be followed by a discussion facilitated by Richelle Winkler, Michigan Tech assistant professor of sociology and demography. Coffee and dessert will be served. (Please bring your own mug.)

The event is free and open to the public; a $3 donation is suggested.

World Water Day events are sponsored by Michigan Tech Center for Water and Society, Sustainable Futures Institute, Lake Superior Stewardship Initiative, Keweenaw Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Keweenaw Land Trust, Great Lakes Research Center, Michigan Tech Dept. of Visual and Performing Arts, and Finlandia University. A grant/partial funding has been provided by the Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc. (CUAHSI)

Read more at Keweenaw Now.

Peace Corps Information Session Thursday, March 20

A Peace Corps information session will be held Thursday, March 20, at 6 p.m., in MUB Alumni Lounge B. Peace Corps Volunteers are making a difference all over the world in the areas of education, health and the environment. Stop by this information session to learn more about the benefits of service and how you can live, work and learn overseas after graduation.

View the Flyer

From Tech Today.

SS Grads Receive Travel Grants

Graduate Student Government Travel Grant Award Winners for Spring 2014

Travel grants for spring 2014 have been awarded. Among the Presenting Travel Grants ($ 250) recipients are social sciences graduate students Mayra O. Sanchez Gonzalez and Ronesha Strozier.

The full list of graduate recipients can be accessed online.

Travel grants are awards that help subsidize cost of attending and presenting at conferences. These awards are sponsored by the Graduate Student Government (GSG) and the Graduate School. For more information on travel grants, please visit the webpage.

Should you have any questions, contact the GSG treasurer Jennifer Winikus (jawiniku@mtu.edu).

From Tech Today.