Admin.mtu.edu

TechTopics September 17,1999
Michigan Tech’s Faculty/Staff Newsletter Published weekly by University Relations Senate at odds with president over committee appointments Tompkins says appointments needed to balance committee representation The University Senate passed a resolution "This calls into serious question the idea of today that MTU alumnus John Opie and his
September 15 charging President Curt
shared governance," Snyder said. "If the presi- wife, Ruanne, will be giving $5 million to
Tompkins with appointing too many members
dent can ignore policy whenever he wants, the University's Leaders for Innovation capi- to the Provost and Academic Vice President there's no reason for us to spend time in the tal campaign. The gift is one of the largest Search Committee. It asks the search commit- ever received by the University from individ- tee members who were appointed by the sen- Seely said that in July Tompkins consulted ate to stand down until Tompkins reduces his with him when he began planning the provost appointees "from seven to two" or the policy search; and that Tompkins notified Seely that allowing for two presidential appointees is he was planning to make additional appoint- increase their gift to $5 million to provide ments to provide more balance on the com- Later, Tompkins said the appointments were mittee. Seely said he had recommended that necessary to assure adequate representation Tompkins follow the policy or wait until the Information Technology. The center, which is from key groups, and that he felt having a bal- the University's next planned capital outlay anced committee to choose the best possible policy. However, he said, Tompkins felt that construction project, would provide 200,000 candidate far outweighed the importance of gross square feet of space for electronic Senator Carl Vilmann (ME-EM) said that
classrooms, computer laboratories, training Senator Tom Snyder (Biological Sciences)
having a longer search would not be a serious rooms, learning centers, and library needs.
presented the resolution, saying that Tompkins problem. "The place won't close down in the President Curt Tompkins said the Opies'
had made seven appointments: Vice Provost for next two years," he said, saying Tompkins gift will be targeted at the core of the pro- Information Technology Jim Cross, physics
could assume the provost's responsibilities ject, expansion of the library. "It will inte- department chair Bruce Rafert, senate president
temporarily. He suggested that the senate not grate emerging information technologies and Bruce Seely, Senior Vice President for Advance-
consider any other proposals until this policy ment and University Relations John Sellars,
research missions of the University, as well Dean of Engineering Robert Warrington,
"It would have been nice if Tompkins had as the economic and cultural goals of the Associate Dean of Student Affairs Gloria Melton,
approached the senate instead of just violating state," said Tompkins. "We are truly grateful and Erich Bloch of the Washington Advisory the rule," Senator Martin Jurgensen (SFWP)
Group. (Note: Bloch is not a member of the said. "To act unilaterally is really bothersome." committee; his name was included through a Senator John Williams (Chemistry) said the
is vice chairman and executive officer of misunderstanding. The Washington Advisory resolution could do more harm than good.
Group is serving as an advisor to the committee.) "We already have a strained relationship with Controlling health-care costs: It's everybody's business Ingrid Cheney laid it on the bottom line September 15, explaining to a packed house the
financial facts of life that are leading to an increase in employees' cost of health-care benefits.
President's Convocation, which includes the The benefits forum was sponsored by Staff Council.
State of the University Address by President In 1996, MTU paid a total of $5.4 million for medical, dental, and prescription drug bene- Curt Tompkins, will be held Wednesday,
fits for employees and their dependents. Costs crept up to $5.5 million in 1996 and went to September 22, at 3:00 p.m. in Fisher 135.
$6 million in 1997. Then, in 1998, expenses skyrocketed to $7.8 million.
During the ceremonies, awards will be present- Some of the rise is easy to explain. Michigan Tech now has about 100 more health insur- ed to students, faculty, and staff. MTU employ- ance policies (covering the families of employees, retirees, etc.), 1,413 compared to 1,282 in ees will be excused from work to attend.
1996. In addition, the University is paying claims for some unanticipated catastrophic ill- nesses. But that's not the whole story, she said.
academic robes begins at 2:45 p.m. and goes According to a state study, most health-care costs can be traced to unhealthy lifestyles, said Assistant Director for Benefits Cheney (Human Resources). By the choices they make, employ- Everyone is invited to this annual celebra- ees have a great deal of power over the cost of health care. "But as a culture, we have been using drugs instead of changing our lifestyle," she said. "I want to feel better; give me a pill." including, refreshments, will be held follow- It's not easy to start exercising, to eat healthier foods, and especially to give up smoking.
"Yes, it's gonna be tough," Cheney said. "But if 70 percent of our health-care costs are causedby our lifestyles, that's $5.5 million in 1998 alone." She urged employees to get involved withMTU's Wellness Program.
He that plants trees loves others besides The cost of drugs has also surged upward, from an average of $49 per month per employee Classroom assessment and deep learningCenter for Teaching, Learning, system."* The point is that students tend to adapt their learning style to meet the chal- They will deliver your order Monday through Friday to your department or office on cam- (tests, quizzes, papers, etc.) rather than to pus. Just call 487-2410 with your order; be strive for more profound mastery of founda- tional concepts. If the vast majority of cours- curement card number. All calls received by 1:00 p.m. will be delivered by 5:00 p.m. the same day. Calls received after 1:00 p.m. will researchers came to the conclusion that a pri- rary recall of canned problem-solving tech- mary reason that many university students niques, that is what students will focus on.
seem to fail to truly master what they are sup- Breaking this slide into increasingly super- posed to learn is that they are preoccupied ficial learning is complex and must involve with looking for something else. Namely, they are busily looking for facts to memorize and Campus Store by 4:00 p.m. and to University problem-solving protocols to master in order intrinsic motivation and curiosity grows out Images by 11:00 a.m., Monday-Friday.
to pass our tests, to get grades, to graduate of providing that student with some degree of with distinction, to get a job, etc.
freedom of choice, intellectual autonomy, "Good students," using GPA as the metric, are and self-control. Courses of study that regu- those students who learn how to play the game larly feature passive learning and the repeat- of successfully anticipating, through some com- ed assessment of lower-order learning work The J. Robert Van Pelt Library will be open bination of intuition or guile, what is going to be against the emergence of such intrinsic moti- on the test. Couple this sixth sense with the will- vation, according to this line of thinking.
hours: Sunday, noon–11:45 p.m.; Monday- ingness and the facility to temporarily internalize Thursday, 7:45 a.m.–11:45 p.m.; Friday, whatever amalgamation of facts, theories, and problems while collaborating with other stu- problem-solving routines are likely to appear, dents tends to enfranchise students as know- and you will be a "good student." Marton and ers and users rather than passive receptacles Saljo labeled this superficial process "surface (talk to one of MTU's learning center coach- Saturday because of budget considerations. As learning." Their studies, conducted largely in es about this effect). Finally, deep learning in the past, the library is closed on holidays Australia, suggest that student learning actually and there are no evening or weekend hours becomes more superficial in this regard as stu- integrating new ideas and concepts with oth- dents move through high school to college.
ers that are already known and valued by the The library will remain open normal hours What are the factors that encourage such a superficial approach to learning? James Rhem Marton suggests that teaching students how of the National Teaching and Learning Forum to learn and how to study is vitally important summarizes: "(1) an excessive amount of but will never happen in a study skills class.
material in the curriculum; (2) relatively high Rather, faculty must create learning environ- class contact hours; (3) a lack of opportunity ments that foster mastery of learning and to explore subjects in depth; 4) a lack of study approaches as students are learning the Professor G. David Mendenhall
choice over subjects and a lack of choice disciplinary-specific content of the course.
over the method of study; and (5) a threaten- We'll explore these ideas in more depth in Phosphite System. The Origin of TriphenylPhosphate at Low Temperatures," coauthored with Duane Priddy (Dow ChemicalCompany), in the Journal of Organic Toll-free number welcomes prospective students Michigan Tech now has a new toll-free phone number that connects callers to Admissions The Prospective Undergraduate Student Information Line, 888/MTU-1885 (888/688-1885) first connects callers with voice mail that allows them to get an undergraduate admissionsapplication and admissions information, to schedule a campus visit, or to ask about theirfinancial aid application. After the prospective student makes their selection, the call is for- Bill Curnow, executive director, University Relations warded to real people: staff in the Admissions or Financial Aid Offices.
Marcia Goodrich, Tech Topics editor "We want prospective students to know that they are cherished customers to us, and ease Gail Sweeting, electronic marketing assistant of access is part of that," said Gary Neumann, interim executive director of enrollment man-
To get Tech Topics via e-mail, send a message to agement. "And we want to create strong, helpful relationships with them. To do that, we have MAJORDOMO@MTU.EDU saying SUBSCRIBE TECH-TOPICS-L Information to be included in Tech Topics should be to be easily accessible. A toll-free line does that: allows them to contact admissions and submitted to the Tech Topics editor in one of the fol- financial aid easily and without cost." Bill Curnow, executive director of university relations, agreed. "It's just one of the ways we
can develop a more high-touch approach to marketing," he said. "This marks the beginning of • By campus mail, send typed copies to our efforts to develop better one-to-one relationships with prospective students." Tech Topics, University Relations. In case you were wondering, the Prospective Undergraduate Student Information Line doesn't provide for toll-free calls all over campus. Telephone calls from this number are Each week, the deadline for submitting information is Friday at 5:00 p.m. for publication the following Friday.
answered in Admissions and Financial Aid and are not transferrable.
For more information, contact Admissions Director Nancy Rehling at 487-2335.
Submitted by University Cultural Enrichment Submitted by University Cultural Enrichment lizations," says Rathje, who, in common with directory would have numerous volumes and Rathje has testified at congressional hearings.
all archaeologists, applies scientific methods weigh about 47 pounds. You might think it's to look at the patterns between artifacts and behavior. "We look at our own refuse to learn about our own civilization, in terms of the biodegradable. "Wrong!" says archae- behaviors that produce the things we throw away. Our trash is the unvarnished imprint of University, with a specialty in the social his- biggest myth that Americans treasure." tory and burial practices of the ancient Maya.
His Tea Time presentation, "Use Less Stuff," that the chief focus of Rathje's research is will focus on ways individuals can help to garbage. What he has discovered about what burial studies, his research over the last twen- alleviate the escalating garbage problem in we throw away is absolutely amazing.
ty-five years has concentrated on the archae- our country. Tea Time patrons should note Described as the "Indiana Jones of solid ology of modern garbage. His most current that the event is scheduled for a Thursday, waste," Rathje is the founder and director of research has been on source reduction, and and that it will be held in M&M U115. This the Garbage Project, which conducts archaeo- he serves as technical consultant to ULS (Use logical studies of modern refuse. The first Less Stuff), the newsletter of source reduc- September 29, Tech Tea Time will return to tion. He has also coauthored a book titled the usual Wednesday slot in the Union.
Distinguished Lecture Series, Rathje visits Use Less Stuff: Environmental Solutions for Michigan Tech on Thursday, September 23.
loss of biodiversity, and overpopulation are the His public address, "The Rotten Truth About major threats to the future of our planet. In the Our Garbage," is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. in Cullen Murphy) was a national bestseller, and face of these monumental global challenges, Fisher 135. He will also give a Tea Time pre- any efforts we make as individuals may seem sentation, "Use Less Stuff: Changing Our The Van Evera Distinguished Lecture series utterly insignificant. We continue to recycle, Patterns of Consumption," at 4:00 p.m. that is made possible by a generous gift from the though, as it makes us feel virtuous, and same day in M&M U115. Both events are free Van Evera family to the Michigan Tech Fund.
because at least we're doing something. At The series is coordinated by the University Tech Tea Time, Rathje will describe ways in Rathje's multidisciplinary Garbage Project at which individuals can make more significant the University of Arizona at Tucson has exca- efforts to solve the problem of waste produc- vated fifteen landfills across North America to tion and resource depletion by reducing con- record the quantities of various types of buried sumption and reusing whenever possible, so refuse and what happens to these materials that recycling becomes the third, rather than over time. The project has also studied fresh the first, line of defense. "Conspicuous con- sumption dates back to early civilizations," he waste, diet and nutrition, recycling, and the says and argues that we need to remember the discard of hazardous wastes. Rathje's research mistakes of the past and understand the behav- has been cited in congressional and environ- for an Internet2-member institution is now iors that contribute to our current problems.
mental defense fund studies, and the project traveling over our new, high-speed link.
Rathje is one of two speakers in the 1999– has been used to plan environmentally respon- Internet2 is a research project sponsored by 2000 Van Evera Distinguished Lecture Series.
sive policies for municipal solid waste landfills.
universities working with industry, government, His evening lecture, "The Rotten Truth About According to Rathje, "What we think is in and other networking organizations to address Our Garbage," is scheduled for 8:00 p.m., landfills, and what happens to it over time, the major challenges facing the next generation Thursday, September 23, in Fisher 135. Tech Tea may be based more on myths than on facts." of university networks and advanced applica- Time is coordinated by the University Cultural "Garbology," the term coined to describe tions. Michigan Tech received funding from the Enrichment Department and is free and open to Rathje's research, is now in the Oxford English NSF for the project following a competitive the public. Call 487-2844 for more information.
Dictionary, and Rathje is acknowledged as the application process. Anyone interested in learn- Rathje's visit to Michigan Tech is made possible nation's leading "garbologist." "Archaeologists ing more about Internet2 can access the main study ancient garbage to learn about past civi- project Web site at http://www.internet2.edu. Michigan Tech campus on Internet2 and its possibilities are just gearing up for fall. A fac- MTU Apartments residents can paddle the Portage (or any other watery place, for that mat- ulty committee is being organized to advise ter), thanks to a recent purchase by the Daniell Heights Residence Council.
the campus on the use of the connection. In Graduate student and council member David Shuman arranged for the purchase. "We
addition, an open e-mail list, i2-l, is being set wanted to promote outdoor activities, and kayaking is an outdoor activity," he said. "Plus, up to facilitate information exchange and they are easier to paddle than canoes. And we've been fishing a lot in them." The $5 daily questions. A Web site will also be implement- rental charge will be used for kayak maintenance.
A percentage of the apartment residents' rent is used by the council to promote various enrichment activities, such as bowling, Winter Carnival events, and the Taste of Daniell Heights "We'd also like to thank Louis Garnell of Building Maintenance for doing an excellent job
awest@mtu.edu. For information on Internet2 making the kayak storage racks," Shuman added. "They were ready just a day after we sub- member institutions, check http://www.
mitted a work request form and installed just in time for the new kayaks' arrival." Marc Boxer has joined the staff of the
previously a tax preparer for H&R Block.
Heckel holds a BS in business from MTU.
player for the last four years and was an on- ice summer hockey instructor. Boxer has a BA in History with a minor in political sci- Tammy Ahola has joined the Memorial
Union staff as a part-time senior clerk N2.
wife, Rachel, live in Houghton. His interests National Bank in Hancock and works as the Dale Burkhouse has joined the staff of the
treasurer at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church.
ber 24–25 at 8:00 p.m. in Fisher 135.
Ahola has a BS in Mathematics from MTU.
advisor. He was previously owner of Superior Zachary, and lives in Hancock. She enjoys Healthcare Management and was a certified the outdoors, walking, biking, and spending athletic trainer with Portage Rehabilitation.
Murray, Joan Rivers, Martin Short, and the Thomas Swaner has joined the J. R. Van Pelt
late greats John Belushi and Gilda Radner.
Library staff as government documents/map ersity Culturv The current crop of young comedians fol- University and an MS in Biological Sciences librarian. He was previously employed by the lows in the footsteps of these great names from MTU. He is a certified athletic trainer Glencoe Public Library as Internet/reference and is sure to deliver an entertaining show.
librarian. Swaner has a bachelor's degree from Angela D. Cooke has joined the
Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, an MA in Advancement staff as endowment fund coor- History from Loyola University in Chicago, Submitted b tumes, a few props, a liberal dose of major dinator. She was previously employed by the talent, and boundless energy. They treat audi- Michigan Tech Fund as a research assistant University of Iowa. He is married to Sarah ences to a series of fast-paced satirical sketches; very funny, very clever songs; and William H. Cooke (Biomedical Engineering)
Kurt Johnson has joined the Dining
their hallmark improvisational skits based on Services staff as a baker. He was previously suggestions from the audience. They poke fun Mary Carol Friedrich has joined the fine
self-employed as owner of Johnson's Bakery.
at each other, at human weaknesses in gener- arts department staff as coordinator of theatre He is married to Stephanie, has a son, Kyle, al, at events in the news, and at the audi- design. She was previously technical director ence. Nothing is sacred with these guys, and of theatre design at Louisiana State University, Todd Piket has joined the IT staff as an
Since the original Second City was formed in technical consultant for Decision Consultants, Chicago in 1959, its stages have been the home director of theatre design at Wheaton College.
for some of the greatest comic geniuses of film For the Boston Lyric Opera, she was technical Extranet Team, where he was lead develop- and television. In 1976 the National Touring director, and served as master electrician for er/analyst for Directory Services. Piket has a company was formed, and sister troupes have the Spoleto Festival. Friedrich has an MFA in BS in Computer Science from MTU and lives been founded in Toronto and Detroit.
in Hancock. His hobbies include tennis, rac- For tickets, call the Performing Arts Ticket Center at 487-3200 (Tuesday-Saturday, 11:00 Education from Oklahoma State University.
Kathryn Truax has joined the staff of the
a.m.–7:00 p.m.) or stop by the Memorial She is married to Craig Friedrich (ME-EM),
Union Box Office (487-3200, Monday-Friday, has a son, Daniel, and lives in Houghton.
11:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m.). Tickets are $9 and $6 Linda Heckel has joined the staff of the
Psychology from Michigan State University for the general public, $8 and $5 for students.
J. R. Van Pelt Library as a secretary. She was and MS, MPhil, and PhD degrees from Yale.
Company is sponsored by the Student Enter- tainment Board and coordinated through theUniversity Cultural Enrichment Department.
Researchers, their proposals, and their potential sponsors are Call 487-2844 for further information.
• Noel Schulz (Electrical Engineering), "Data • Wayne Pennington (Geological Engineering
Integration Services," Northern States and Sciences), "Calibration of Fracture • William Cooke (Biomedical Engineering),
Counseling Association are sponsoring the "Exercise and Autonomic Cardiovascular • Steven Carr, Ching-Kuang Shene, and Jean
Houghton Area College Program on Thursday, Regulation," American Heart Association Mayo (Computer Science), "Concurrent
September 23, 9:00–11:00 a.m. in the SDC.
• Carole La Pointe (Educational
employees with high-school age children are Anishnabe People," Department of Health • Alphonse Baartmans (Mathematical
particularly encouraged to attend. Representa- Sciences), Bruce Rafert (Physics), and Sheryl
tives from colleges, universities, vocational • Ching-Kuang Shene (Computer Science),
Sorby (General Engineering), "Integration of
programs, and the armed services will be on Math, Physics, and Engineering for First-Year hand to answer questions about academic pro- grams, admissions, scholarships and financial • Michael Renn (Physics), "Three-
• Mark Plichta (Engineering), Brett Hamlin, and
aid, campus visits, career choices, and cost.
Gretchen Hein (General Engg.), "Proposal for
About forty institutions will be participat- Guided Direct Writing," University of Active and Collaborative Learning Computer ing. For more information, call 487-2335.
and Video Conferencing Equipment," NSF "Do we ask our pharmacist how much our Another suggested that the University try to prescription costs?" Cheney said. "Probably lower the prices charged by providers rather National City Bank is instituting several Bill McGarry, vice president for
Office, and will have no representative on campus after October 8. The new hours will vary and will be posted on the Tech Express Resources Director Ellen Horsh
door. After October 8, account holders will need to contact a local branch bank if they have any National City account questions. All returning student account holders with changes were the best option. Other options the Campus First account will be switched to would have been to have fixed-term employ- the Self-Serve account. According to National • Ask your physician for a less expensive ees pay a premium for health-care benefits or City, the Self-Serve checking account has to institute deductibles for all employees to advantages over the Campus First account, • If the drug is new, ask for samples.
primarily unlimited check writing and unlimit- deductibles of $250 per year for the employ- role with their physicians as well. "Talk with providing account holders with more informa- your doctor; ask questions," she said. "We all tion. The Tech Express program believes that want to live longer, and we all want to enjoy was to discourage unnecessarily high claims.
the new account is better designed for student customers. The changes become effective dur- the emergency room to avoid paying the $10 ing the October bank statement cycle.
co-pay for an office visit, which is extremely Lastly, National City will stop using Tech expenses related to health care, from new Express cards as ATM/debit cards starting account. Since those accounts are not sub- account holders new ATM/debit cards before ject to income tax, the savings can be sub- lower-paid employees, the benefits are pro- portionately higher as well. "Our health-care The Tech Express Office is seeking student saved about $1,800 in taxes on a single pro- cost per employee is $5,556," he said.
input on ways to improve the Tech Express cedure that was not covered by MTU. A cau- "That's 25 percent of a $20,000 salary. The tionary note: All the money must be spent by benefit is not scaled up based on salary, and Jarrod Karau, manager of the Tech Express the end of the year or you lose the balance.
The University is working with local physi- changes slated to go into effect January 1. Em- cians and hospitals with the goal of reducing ployees' share of an office visit will rise from MTU's health-care costs. She noted that Blue $10 to $20, and emergency room visits will Associate Professor Bruce Mork
cost $25. Employees' co-pay for prescription (Electrical Engineering) coauthored a paper, drugs will be 20 percent of the cost, with a centers charge reduced prices for some high- "Preprocessor for EMTP Power Transformer minimum co-pay of $5 and a maximum of $25.
cost procedures. For example, the University Currently, the co-pay is $5. The total savings, of Michigan's Medical Center is a Center of according to Blue Cross/Blue Shield, should Excellence for organ transplants, she noted.
University of Catalunya, Barcelona), pre- be about $350,000 to $400,000 annually.
Their bill for the procedure is $150,000, sented at the Third International Conference some employees, the cost increase will be Clinic. The University will be informing local 20–24 in Budapest, Hungary. Mork served even greater than their annual raises, and health-care providers about the Centers of that the increase in co-pays would affect Excellence program so they can refer patients lower-paid employees disproportionately.
to the centers, if it's appropriate.
scheduling the technical sessions. He thenvisited the Polytechnic University of Colloquium Sept. 23 on statistical mechanics of protein folding Catalunya to collaborate with Martinez andGonzalez-Molina on new developments in Professor Gordon M. Crippen of the College of Pharmacy, University of Michigan, will give a colloquium, "Statistical Mechanics of Protein Folding by Exhaustive Enumeration," on Thursday, September 23, at 4:00 p.m. in Fisher 139.
Lecturer William B. Chapel (SBE) pre-
It is hard to construct theories for the folding of globular proteins because they are large, sented a paper, "Forensic Rhetoric: A complicated molecules with enormous numbers of nonnative conformations and native states that are complicated to describe. Crippen describes a simplification approach where the chain Resolution," at the Seventh International is accurately represented and the energy of each conformation is calculated by a not unrea- sonable empirical function. The set of amino acid sequences and allowed conformations is so restricted that it becomes computationally feasible to examine them all. He uses calculations Kentucky. Chapel also served as chair for a based on a novel representation of the conformations as points in an abstract 12-dimensional multiple session titled "A Cross-Cultural Study of the Speech Acts of Complimenting All interested persons are invited, and refreshments will be served. Crippen's visit is spon- Connecticut. "I really want to give something Curt," he said. "If we take our football and go made, there would be no representation from to my alma mater to thank the University for home, we are running a very serious risk" Information Technology, department chairs, that the president will act unilaterally and vice presidents, student affairs, or deans.
accomplish their ambitious and far-sighted These are groups that work very closely with campaign goals," he said. "We hope our con- Senator Christ Ftaclas (Physics) agreed.
the chief academic officer on a day-to-day "Putting aside history, it's important that we basis, and their input is absolutely critical if donate to this groundbreaking effort to ensure work with the president. Is this the way? It the continued improvement of Michigan Tech says you should hold your breath till you deans and chairs know what it's like to deal and its continued reputation as one of the die." If the president doesn't work with the with a chief academic officer as a dean or a nation's top institutions of higher learning." senate, "we're already dead," Snyder said.
Senator Chuck Ouellette (Facilities Man-
"If the senate and Staff Council had put agement) suggested that the senate instead people from these groups on the committee, University by 2003. The campaign will fund take the matter to the Board of Control. "That I wouldn't have made these appointments," student scholarships, faculty endowments, is our normal appeal process," he said.
Ftaclas said that, despite Tompkins' adding the extra members, the search committee did "John and Ruanne Opie's gift provides us not seem to be stacked in favor of administra- search committees. "When we did the last tion. Of the appointees, two could be consid- provost search, seven years ago, the Board of capital campaign," said National Campaign ered Tompkins' choices to represent alumni Control directed me to add additional mem- Chair Dick Robbins of Seattle. "This transfor-
and the community: Sellars and Cross.
bers because they felt the committee was not representative of the constituents that would University's ability to attract quality faculty policy requirement. "Rafert and Seely are fac- be involved with the position," he said. As a ulty," he said, and noted the importance of having a department chair on the committee.
bers. Tompkins said he made similar addi- "Chairs work more closely with the chief aca- tional appointments in the search for the demic officer than we do," he added. The senior vice president for advancement and spent his entire professional career with only one who is not truly accounted for is General Electric. His involvement with the Melton, as a representative of Student Affairs.
In all three instances, Tompkins said, he University has been extensive. He was vice She was nominated for a senate slot on the consulted with the senate president. "And in chair of Michigan Tech's 1983–87 capital none of those other cases did I come before campaign and has served as a trustee of the the full senate. I have always dealt with the Michigan Tech Fund for thirteen years and as senate president," he said. "I haven't changed fund president for two years. He has received the Board of Control Silver Medal, has been add members was made in the best interests "I believe we all want a good outcome—the named a distinguished alumnus, received an of the University and reflects changes in the best provost we can find," Tompkins said. "I honorary doctorate degree, and has been a understand the senate's concerns regarding commencement speaker at Michigan Tech.
"The provost's responsibilities are very dif- policy, but I don't think we should allow our ferent now than they were seven years ago," hands to be tied because of something that he said September 16. "They are now very happened seven years ago. In this case, I think September
we should use common sense and get the job Hispanic Heritage Month
done right on behalf of the University." 17 Friday
3:00 p.m.—Colloquium: Harold Scheraga,
"Calculation of Protein Structure by Global The ChemAlliance Web site, http://www.chemalliance.org, has received Select Site recognition from the Dow Jones Business Directory, produced by Dow Jones & Co. Associate Professor 18 Saturday
Barry Solomon (Social Sciences) is associate director of ChemAlliance, with Jim Baker, associate
8:00 p.m.—
director of corporate relations, serving as general director. The ChemAlliance site was reviewed and chosen for its "exceptional value to our readers." The review is located at 20 Monday
http://bd.dowjones.com/ results.asp?Search=chemalliance&x=13&y=10http://bd.dowjones.com.
7:00 p.m.—Latino music dance classes—
ChemAlliance, a government-industry-academia partnership, gives information about environ- mental regulations to the chemical industry. According to the Dow Jones Business Directory, it 22 Wednesday
provides a wide variety of useful resources, including access to compliance-assistance programs, 2:45/3:00 p.m.—Academic
pollution-prevention advisors, trade and professional associations, and environmental-protection Procession/President's Convocation—Fisher 135
7:00 p.m.—Latino music dance classes—
Keweenaw Commons
23 Thursday
Michigan Tech has no new job openings this week. For information on previously posted 4:00 p.m.—Gordon Crippen, "Statistical
positions that may be open, e-mail JOBS@MTU.EDU or call Human Resources at 487-2280.
Mechanics of Protein Folding by Exhaustive Vacancy announcements are normally posted every Friday at 1:00 p.m. in the Human Enumeration"—Fisher 139
4:00 p.m.—
Resources Office. Complete job descriptions are available in the Human Resources Office, by calling 487-2280, or by e-mailing JOBS@MTU.EDU. Information regarding employment 8:00 p.m.—Lecture: William Rathje, "The
opportunities is available by calling the Job Line at 487-2895. Michigan Technological Rotten Truth About Our Garbage"—Fisher 135 University is an equal opportunity educational institution/equal opportunity employer.

Source: http://www.admin.mtu.edu/urel/ttopics/acrobat/september/091799.pdf