Professor of Physics Jan Tobochnik is a self-described “big fan” of phase transitions–solids to liquids; liquids to gas; magnetic to non-magnetic; the fall of the Soviet Union. Just a few examples of spectacular phase transitions, and phase transitions are “always interesting,” says Tobochnik. Also, some systems act like they are at a phase transition, such as perhaps the neural firings of the brain. In particular, he’s intrigued by the physics associated with the very moment of change–a period of “criticality” at which all scales of behavior are important.
So it’s no surprise that for the next three years his research (supported by a grant from the Petroleum Research Fund) will involve reproducing experimental data and generation of new data through computer models of melting. Wait…melting? Surely a phenomenon as long observed as this (just set an ice cube on the counter) is thoroughly known to science. Not so, says Tobochnik. “Science has no comprehensive theory for three-dimensional melting,” he says. “Consider that ice cube on the counter–we know it melts from the outside in, but we only know the mechanisms for melting related to surfaces or defects. Absent a surface or a defect, we don’t know how a material melts. We have no general theory, which, in the case of new materials, makes the prediction of melting points and other properties unreliable.”
Two very recent–and painstaking–experiments (one at Harvard, the other in China) managed to explore the phenomenon of melting when there are no surfaces or defects by using colloidal spheres suspended in a fluid. The result was some fascinating new data. But the experiment is extremely difficult to set up, making replication, confirmation, and extension of the data a problem. Tobochnik’s grant will enable his lab to work with the Harvard group to set up a computer modeling simulation of the experiment. That modeling will confirm and, hopefully, provide new knowledge of melting in three dimensional substances.
The grant will fund two students in Tobochnik’s lab for three consecutive summers. They may, or MAY NOT, be physics majors doing SIP work. “Many times I prefer to provide significant research experiences to younger students, including first-years,” Tobochnik says.
Writer-in-Residence Diane Seuss won the Indiana Review 1/2K Prize for prose of 500 words or less. Brief nonfiction, prose poetry, or short-short stories are eligible for the prize. Di’s winning entry is titled “Wal-Mart Parking Lot,” and about it the contest judge wrote: “[It] offers readers an unexpected vision of American culture filtered through consumer culture and 20th century art history.” Di also was a finalist in three prestigious poetry competitions: the Orlando Prize (from A Room of Her Own Foundation); the River Styx Poetry Prize, 2013; and the Able Muse Poetry Prize, 2013. Last fall she was the MacLean Distinguished Visiting Professor in the English department at Colorado College.
New poems of Di’s appear in Unsplendid, Rattle, North American Review, and The Missouri Review. The latter journal featured the four poems in its online Text Box anthology, which includes an introduction to the poems (from which comes the Di Seuss quote that serves as title to this post) as well as questions and writing prompts. Di’s next public readings will occur November 4 (in Mount Pleasant, Mich., as part of the Wellspring Literary Series) and February 6, 2014 (at the University of Michigan, as part of the Zell Visiting Writers Series). Her third collection of poems, Four-Legged Girl, is forthcoming from Graywolf Press in 2015.
Consumers Energy (CE) named Kalamazoo College as its 2013 Green Generation Customer of the Year. From left are Binney Girdler, K associate professor of biology; Emma Dolce ′14, sustainability intern; Katie Ray ′14, sustainability intern; Paul Manstrom, K associate vice president for facilities management; Lisa Gustafson, CE business customer care director; Thomas Shirilla, CE business account manager; and Kevin Linders, CE senior corporate account manager.
[Sept. 27, 2013] Consumers Energy has named Kalamazoo College its “Green Generation Customer of the Year” in recognition of the College’s overall sustainability effort and its voluntary participation in this renewable energy program.
The 1,450-student liberal arts and sciences college located midway between Detroit and Chicago purchases 720,000 kilowatt-hours (KWh) of renewable energy annually from Consumers Energy, enough to supply 8 percent of the College’s total electrical usage.
“Sustainability is a strong focus at Kalamazoo College. Receiving this award lets us know that others recognize our commitment to the environment and that gives us reason to be proud,” said Paul Manstrom, K’s associate vice president for facilities management. “We began purchasing electricity through the Green Generation program as part of a project to renovate the Hicks Student Center on campus to standards developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, earning the first LEED Silver certification in southwest Michigan in the process. We’ve found that participating in Green Generation has been a great fit for us.”
Kalamazoo College has been a Green Generation participant since January 2009. It’s one of the Top 10 participants in the Green Generation program, having purchased more than 2.5 million KWh of renewable energy since enrolling. The recently-completed Athletics Field House and the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership (currently under construction) will be the two “greenest” buildings on campus, furthering the college’s sustainability credentials.
“It’s with great enthusiasm we single out the achievements of Kalamazoo College in supporting renewable energy efforts in Michigan,” said Thomas Shirilla, Consumers Energy’s program manager for Green Generation. “K’s leadership in this voluntary program is commendable. It demonstrates commitment to and optimism for Michigan’s future.”
Past Green Generation customer of the year recipients are Irwin Seating, Grand Rapids Community College, University of Michigan – Flint, Dow Corning, City of Grand Rapids, and Wolverine Worldwide.
Consumers Energy’s Green Generation program has nearly 17,000 customer-participants and was the first voluntary renewable energy program in Michigan. It was launched in 2005 following authorization by the Michigan Public Service Commission. More than 100 organizations are enrolled in the Green Generation program.
Green Generation has led to the development of several renewable energy projects in the state, including the Michigan Wind 1 park in the Thumb region. Other Green Generation projects include biomass facilities located near Birch Run, Lennon, and Marshall. Consumers Energy also purchases electricity for the program generated by wind turbines near Mackinaw City. All of the projects are located in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula and all sources are Green-e certified as renewable.
The Green Generation program offers Consumers Energy’s electric customers an opportunity to support renewable energy by enrolling in the voluntary program and paying a small premium. Program information is available at .
Kalamazoo College (www.kzoo.edu) was founded in 1833 in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It is the oldest college in Michigan and among the 100 oldest institutions of higher learning in the United States. K is a nationally recognized liberal arts and sciences college with nearly 1,450 students and the creator of the K-Plan that emphasizes rigorous scholarship, experiential learning, leadership development, and international and intercultural engagement. Kalamazoo College does more in four years so students can do more in a lifetime.
Consumers Energy, Michigan’s largest utility, is the principal subsidiary of CMS Energy (NYSE: CMS), providing natural gas and electricity to 6.6 million of the state’s 10 million residents in all 68 Lower Peninsula counties.
Hannah Knoll ’13 is a recent Kalamazoo College graduate with a passion for design and an aspiration to be an architect. She majored in physics with minors in mathematics and studio art. “I am interested primarily in the relationship between community and the physical landscape, leading to my desired career in architecture or urban design, fields I began to explore through jobs, internships and my study abroad experience in Copenhagen, Denmark,” said Knoll. She is currently updating architectural drawings for K’s facilities management department and serving as the Post-Baccalaureate Fellow in Art for the 2013-2014 academic year. Her busy schedule nevertheless left her time to enter ArtPrize. Her submission is called “Spaces Between.” The entry includes five bench-like objects that together outline a single rectangular form that relates to the room it is in.
“The fragmentation of this rectangle creates spaces between the individual pieces, spaces that can be experienced by the viewer as they sit and interact with the work. This is part of a series of projects exploring how physical elements and objects that shape space can influence social interactions.”
When Dan Van Horn ’50 earned his degree in biology, focusing on ornithology, at Kalamazoo College, he came to science with an eye for art. A visit to the Indiana Dunes during his college years intrigued Van Horn, drawing his eye to plant life, but also to the resident birds. Alongside biology, Van Horn studied watercolor painting, but after graduating and going into military service, he switched from watercolor to photography.
Van Horn went on to graduate school to earn a master’s and then his doctoral degree in zoology at the University of Colorado. He was a professor of biology at several colleges and universities, later also a founding member of the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs biology department shortly after the branch opened in 1966. Since retiring from teaching, he has immersed himself in art again, winning many awards. He is a signature member of four national watercolor societies, and in 2013, Van Horn was selected for the American Watercolor Society’s 146th Annual Exhibition. The show is traveling to many venues across the United States throughout 2013.
Van Horn lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado, with his wife, but because he grew up in Chicago, many of his watercolors feature that city.
Matters of T-shirts, essays, and scholarships meant good news for three people who share a Kalamazoo College connection.
Chris Tower ′85
Writer and college instructor Chris Tower ’85 shows off his Kalamazoo College pride on his T-Shirt blog, “I would not be the person I am today if I had not attended and ultimately graduated from Kalamazoo College.”
Congratulations to Tessa Moore ’15. Her essay, The Ezili, earned her the Voynovich Scholarship, which hasn’t been awarded since 2008.
Mariah Hennen ′15 at Harvest Fest, fall 2012.
Mariah Hennen ’15 was 35 out of more than 100 students nationwide to be awarded the Jo Anne J. Trow National Scholarship. Recipients must maintain a 3.5 GPA. Selections are based on academic records, applicants’ statements, and campus and community activities.
Alison Geist, director of the Mary Jane Underwood Stryker Center for Civic Engagement, received the 2013 Spirit of Health Equity Award from Kalamazoo County Health and Community Services. The award recognizes her “ongoing commitment and dedication to health equity in the Kalamazoo community.” In addition to her work with the CCE (formerly the Mary Jane Underwood Stryker Institute for Service-Learning), Geist teaches a course in public health at K and co-administers the College′s Community and Global Health concentration. She received the award at the First Annual Summit on Health Equity in Kalamazoo. Congrats, Alison!
Congratulations to the following Kalamazoo College students, who achieved a grade point average of 3.5 or better for a full-time course load of at least three units, without failing or withdrawing from any course, during the Spring 2013 academic term.
Ayaka Abe
Madeleine Aborn
Grant Abrams
Keaton Adams
Sara Adelman
Utsav Adhikari
Karla Aguilar
Moriam Aigoro
Mojtaba Akhavan-Tafti
Sarah Allis
Nicole Allman
Rachel Alworth
Rasseil Alzouhayli
Jasmine An
Michael Anderson
Giancarlo Anemone
Evan Angelos
Alexander Armstrong
Anna Asbury
Jose Avalos Jr.
B
Gordon Backer
Emily Bair
Anna Barget
Caroline Barnett
Kathleen Barrett
Madison Baxter
Nicholas Beam
Zoe Beaudry
Tyler Benmark
Kristen Bergh
Hilary Bick
Alexis Blakley
Hannah Bogard
Amanda Bolles
Kira Boneff
Olivia Bouchard
Alice Bowe
Grace Bowe
Travis Bowers
McKenna Bramble
Caitlin Braun
Aidan Brawn
Erica Breakey
Lee Broady
Malcolm Brown
Elisse Buhmann
Marie Bunker
Camille Burke
Rayanne Burl
Megan Burns
C
Kathryn Callaghan
Sonia Camarena
Ellie Cannon
Elizabeth Caputo
Olivia Cares
Edward Carey
Reid Carlson
Raymond Carpenter
Cody Carr
Haley Cartwright
Colin Cepuran
Jennifer Cho
Idah Chungu
Isabelle Ciaramitaro
Darren Clark
Mysha Clarke
Taylor Clements
Chris Clerville
Margarette Clevenger
Nicholas Cockroft
Annaliese Collier
Bridgett Colling
Abaigeal Collins
Ellen Conner
Natalie Coogan
Kacey Cook
Riley Cook
Monica Cooper
Holly Cooperrider
Margot Couraud
Philip Cromack
Kamille Cross
Laura Crouch
Nora Cullen
Brian Cunningham-Rhoads
Suzanne Curtiss
D
Susmitha Daggubati
Paula Dallacqua
Hannah Daly
Justin Danzy
Cailin D’Arcy
Matthew Davidson
Janelle Davis
Megan Davis
Marissa Dawson
Parker De Waal
Claire De Witt
Francesca DeAnda
Samir Deshpande
David DeSimone
Mary DeWald
Melany Diaz
Calee Dieleman
Maeve Dixon
Ryan D’Mello
Miranda Doepker
Emma Dolce
Erica Dominic
Kelsey Donk
Gabriella Donofrio
Rachel Dranoff
Lauren Drew
Emily Drucker
Jordan Dryer
Alexander Ducoffe
Dorraine Duncan
Trenton Dykstra
E
Jamie Eathorne
Joyce Eckstrom
Maya Edery
Taryn Edsall
Monika Egerer
Maythita Eiampikul
Adam Eisenstein
Peter Erdahl
Sophia Ernstrom
Kelly Eubank
Andriana Evangelista
Samuel Evans-Golden
Elaine Ezekiel
F
Alan Faber III
Abram Farley
Jessica Farmer
Beth Farwell
Nathaniel Feuerstein
Claire Fielder
Caitlin Finan
Marie Fiori
Anne Fletcher
Campbell Flood
Joshua Foley
Angela Fong
Samantha Foran
Mark Fortelka
Abigail Fraser
Rina Fujiwara
G
Andrew Galimberti
Bridget Gallagher
Keith Garber
Joana Garcia
Katherine Gatz
Lauren Gaunt
Ian Geiman
Jared Georgakopoulos
Mark Ghafari
Cierra Gillard
Miguel Gonzalez
Ian Good
Evan Gorgas
Kaitlin Gotcher
Anna Gough
Mary Goyings
Georgina Graff
David Graham
Joseph Granzotto
Alexandra Gravley
Emily Gray
Virginia Greenberger
Ryan Gregory
Kaitlyn Greiner
James Grenda
William Gribbin
Hanna Groniger
Swapna Gudipati
Guilherme Guedes
Emily Guzman
H
Zari Haggenmiller
Genevieve Hall
Marie Hallinen
Allison Hammerly
Robert Hammond
Joshua Hampton
Elizabeth Hanley
Stephen Hanselman
Nora Harris
Hannah Harrison
Sally Harrison
Cheyenne Harvey
Andrew Hassevoort
Sara Haverkamp
Alexandra Hayward
Abigail Hedgepeth
Erick Helfmann
Mariah Hennen
Jamie Heywood
Michael Hicks
Jakob Hillenberg
Robert Hilliard
Frances Hoepfner
Aaron Hollinger
Emily Holloway
Daniel Holtzman
Drew Hopper
Rachel Horness
Kaitlyn Horton
India Hoskins
Pornkamol Huang
Audra Hudson
Robert Hudson
Jane Huffman
I
Sierra Imanse
J
Adriana Jarquin
Morgan Jennings
Max Jensen
Amy Jimenez
Lara Job
Tibin John
Andrea Johnson
Evan Johnson
Katherine Johnston
Samantha Jolly
K
Jagdeep Kaur
Jessica Kehoe
Grace Kelley
Jack Kemper
Allison Kennedy
Spencer Kennedy
Michelle Keohane
Anthony Ketner
Faiz Khaja
Peeranut Khongthavornpipat
Grace Kiel
Brittany King-Pleas
Hannah Knoll
Michael Korn
Emily Kotz
Ruiqi Kou
Holly Kramer
Johanna Kupe
L
Rory Landis
David Landskroener
Robyn Lane
Jeremy Lantis
Samuel Larioza
Shadi Larson
Bonnie Lathrop
Tessa Lathrop
Colin Lauderdale
Roxann Lawrence
Justin Leatherwood
Bo Gyoung Lee
Isabel Lee
Rachel Leider
Colin Lennox
Rachel LePage
Madeline LeVasseur
Daria Lewis
Jordan Lewis
Yishi Li
Samuel Lichtman-Mikol
Allison Liddane
Michael Lindley Jr.
Jacob Lindquist
Samuel Linstrom
Bret Linvill
Qian Liu
Mara Livezey
Vageesha Liyana Gunawardana
Mikael Lott
Paul Lovaas
Emma Lozon
Christopher Lueck
Riley Lundquist
M
Lucy MacArthur Jr.
Shane MacDonald
Spencer MacDonald
Corinne MacInnes
Morgan Mahdavi
Lucy Mailing
Amanda Mancini
Sarah Manski
Scott Manski
Anna Marek
Guy Martin
Megan Martinez
William Marx
Gina Massari
Mary Mathyer
Caitlin McCarthy
Claire McCarthy
Mallory McClure
Alaina McConnell
Adam McDowell
Aaron McGuire
Jessica McInchak
Megan McLeod
Molly Meddock
Jordan Meeth
Brianna Melgar
Arik Mendelevitz
Kylie Meyer
Caroline Michniak
Amber Middlebrooks
Chelsea Miller
Ian Miller
Louis Miller
Matthew Mills
Abigail Miner
Sashae Mitchell
Katharine Moffit
Christopher Monsour
Chanice Moore
Asia Liza Morales
Kelsey Moran
Aliera Morasch
Alexandra Morris
Chloe Mpinga
Tendai Mudyiwa
Philip Mulder
Ellen Muniga
Matthew Munoz
Gift Mutare
N
Victoria Najacht
Alissa Neff
Nadia Nehk
Hallie Nerge
Taylor Netherton
Jenna Neumann
Gisella Newbery
Maureen Newman
Hoang Nguyen
Ly Nguyen
Thi Phuong Lan Nguyen
John Nocita
Alexandra Norman
Jason Nosrati
Alexander Numbers
Emily Nummer
Kelsey Nuttall
O
Moses Odhiambo
Franco Ojimba
Bryan Olert
Rachel Olson
Devin Opp
Anya Opshinsky
Victoria Osorio
Jessie Owens
P
Jane Packer
Kari Paine
Fayang Pan
Yunpeng Pang
Grace Parikh Walter
Hunter Parsons
Amanda Patton
Bronte Payne
Elizabeth Penix
Laura Persons
Adam Peters
Nicholas Peters
Alicia Pettys
Thanh Thanh Phan
Kari Pihl
Emily Pizza
Henry Pointon
Dylan Polcyn
Alejandra Portillo Taylor
Jonathan Powers
Jung Eun Pyeon
Q
R
Brian Raetz
Jacob Ragen
Christopher Ralstrom
Katherine Rapin
Bianca Rasho
Katelyn Ray
Anna Rayas
Robert Relief
Mengyang Ren
Kathleen Reno
Lindsey Reppuhn
Maria Rich
Sophia Ritsema
William Roberts
Rebecca Rogstad
Ryan Rohatynski
Megan Rosenberg
Lauren Rosenthal
Marissa Rossman
Michelle Rothenbach Stacey
Lyla Rothschild
Stefanie Roudebush
Connor Rzeznik
S
Clemence Saillant
Emily Salswedel
Kira Sandiford
David Schapiro
Jennie Scheerer
Cameron Schneberger
Grady Schneider
Alicia Schooley
Shoshana Schultz-Purves
Cameron Schwartz
Victoria Sebastian
Allison Seiwert
Brooke Selik
Lauren Seroka
Anthony Shaheen
Chelsey Shannon
Rebecca Shapiro
Hannah Shaughnessy-Mogill
Veronica Shiemke
Adrian Shier
Geon-Ah Shin
Jacqueline Short
Alexsandra Siems
Daniel Silverman
Samantha Simmons
Madeline Sinkovich
Audrey Slough
Alex Smith
Alexandra Smith
Caitlyn Smith
Colin Smith
Emily Smith
Hayley Smith
Julia Smucker
Cassandra Solis
Phoebe Solomon
Renjie Song
Lauren Sprowl
Sara Stack
Ernest Stech
Kaitlyn Steffenhagen
Alexandra Stephens
Nikki Stern
Katherine Stevenson
Sarah Sullivan
Muyang Sun
Kyle Sunden
Keeney Swearer
Mira Swearer
T
Tyler Tabenske
Corinne Taborn
Brendan Tamm
Kinza Tareen
Salwa Tareen
Jennifer Tarnoff
Lauren Tartalone
Faith Taylor
Lilian Taylor
Kaitlyn Thiry
Yvonne Thoits
Brett Thomas
Cassie Thompson
Laurel Thompson
Spencer Thompson
Allison Tinsey
Mary Tobin
Sharel Tomlinson
Nadia Torres
Alexander Townsend
Ken Tsuchiya
Elizabeth Tyburski
U
Elizabeth Uribe
Kelly Usakoski
V
Trevor Vader
Matthew Vanderhoef
Alexandra VanHeest
Umang Varma
Priscila Mireya Vera Jibaja
Stephanie Verbeek
Rolf Verhagen Metman
Madeline Vermeulen
Thomas Verville
Rachael Vettese
Daisy Villa
James Villar
Julia Villarreal
Samantha Voss
Austin Voydanoff
Richard Vreeland III
W
Kyra Walenga
Alyssa Walker
Brigid Walkowski
Sarah Wallace
Emily Walsh
Jeffery Washington Jr.
Charles Weber
Loren Weber
Jared Weeks
Madeline Weisner
Kenneth Weiss
Yuanyuan Wen
Alexander Werder
Connor Wheaton
Lauren Wierenga
Laurel Wiinikka-Buesser
Arshia Will
Luke Winship
Emily Witte
Abby Wood
Lisa Woolcock Majlof
Erika Worley
Brittany Worthington
Alec Wright
Joseph Wyzgoski
Kalamazoo College won a 2013 Southwest Michigan First Catalyst Award in the category of Educational Impact. K was one of 50 companies, organizations, and individuals that received awards for this year’s Southwest Michigan First Catalyst Awards.
Since 2005 Catalyst Awards have recognized contributions that help create jobs and economic growth in the Southwest Michigan area. The award is a hand-blown glass sculpture created by local artist Judith Konesni (Tidal Wave Glass); it symbolizes a commitment to excellence.
Founded in 1999 and comprised of eight Michigan counties, Southwest Michigan First promotes business growth by providing business-to-business marketing, supply chain recruitment, work force development, capital acquisition, site selection, consulting services, brand development, and efficient government. Its board of directors includes Kalamazoo College President Eileen B. Wilson-Oyelaran.
“Recycle Rob” Townsend (center) with two student “RecycleManiacs.”
Kalamazoo College placed 24th overall in 2013 RecycleMania, a friendly (and eco-friendly) sustainability competition among colleges and universities that focuses on waste minimization and recycling. More than 600 schools in the United States and Canada participated this year. 2013 was an off-year for K compared to its performances of previous years; nevertheless, it finished in the top 25 in six of the competition′s eight measurement categories.
RecycleMania began in 2001 as a competition between two schools. More schools were invited in the following years. Kalamazoo College joined the fun in 2005 and quickly became a two-time first-place winner in the recycled bottles and cans category. The College won grand champion in 2008 and enjoyed three consecutive top-five overall finishes before 2013.
The K recycling program was started in 1992, with Rob Townsend–a.k.a. “Recycle Rob”–as its beloved leader. Sustainability is one of the pillars of the Kalamazoo College honor code. In 2007, President Eileen B. Wilson-Oyelaran signed the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment.
Like K, Recyclemania is a small entity that makes a big difference. Calculations for the 2011 Recyclemania results show the combined efforts of participants that year prevented the release of 127,553 metric tons of carbon dioxide, or the equivalent to the release of greenhouse gas emissions from 25,000 passenger cars. That′s big!
At K, students can help the earth year round. They can use “The Bat Cave” in the basement of Dewaters Residence Hall. The Bat Cave houses the Resource Exchange Program where students have donated numerous items for reuse.
Bat Cave also is home to HUB (Helping Understand Bikes). HUB students fix and rent bikes. And don′t forget to bring your e-waste (computers, printers, cartridges, cell phones, calculators, etc.) to the Bat Cave. The recycling program is always looking for student workers. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!
