The 2013 Michigan Academy of Science Arts and Letters annual conference featured some 450 participants presenting in 33 academic sections on a wide range of topics. Seven of those presenters were Kalamazoo College students: Alex Armstrong ’13, Ryan Berry ’13, Ian Flanagan ’13, Alexander Numbers ’13, Jonathan Romero ’13, Hayden Uihlein ’14, and Jennifer Wendel ’14. These students were sponsored by Charlene Boyer Lewis, associate professor of history, and Chris Latiolais, associate professor of philosophy.
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K Business Students Claim Project Management Prize
Four Kalamazoo College students won a fourth-place team prize—and a $1,000 check—in an intercollegiate project management competition in Grand Rapids hosted by the Project Management Institute (PMI) West Michigan Chapter.
Christian Giancarlo ’13, Forrest Todd ’13, Jack Massion ’14, and Marjorie Toshach ’13 worked as a team to improve the fictional business MichiganToStay, Inc.
“Basically we had to revamp the attraction and retention programs for employees,” said Todd.
In addition to meeting with each other and formulating a plan, the K students received help from mentors DeLin Shen and Harold Kaefer of Kalamazoo-based Stryker Corp. The team faced different deadlines and tasks throughout the competition and presented its entire process to a panel of judges.
K Senior Instructor of Economics Chuck Stull organized the team.
“I am proud of how well all of the K competitors did and excited to see their hard work recognized,” Stull said. “This project took an impressive amount of work and I’m very appreciative of all the time contributed by the local business mentors. The students learned so much working closely with business professionals from Stryker, Kellogg, Pfizer, Deloitte, Jacobs Engineering, and Chaucer Consulting.”
Stull also thanked K alumnus Joel Mergen ’86 for bring the project to his attention.
“What drew me to [the project] was the experience of working with the mentors,” Toshach said. “I spent more time on it than some of my classes.”
The project happened independently of class, so team members spent their free time working on it. Toshach said the experience of working on a project allowed her insight into a process that would have been difficult to learn in the classroom.
“The material itself is dry, so you need a scenario to add to it right away,” she said. “I think that made a huge difference with the learning experience.”
Todd agreed. “It was cool because you got to learn how it’s applicable, what this stuff actually means in the business world and how we can actually help the customer, even though it was fictitious,” he said.
K Students Part of Monroe-Brown Foundation Internship Program
Four Kalamazoo College students will be participating in the Monroe-Brown Foundation’s internship program during the summer of 2013. The group is one of the largest K cohorts ever for this competitive program.
The paid internships are augmented with $5,000 scholarships following successful completion. The Center for Career and Professional Development promotes this program alongside its own Field Experience Program and has been building K students’ participation in both.
This year’s Monroe-Brown internship class from K (and the companies where they will work) are: Cassie Thompson ’14, Abraxas; Mark Ghafari ’14, Eaton Corporation; Giancarlo Anemone ’15, LKF Marketing; and Emerson Talanda-Fisher ’15, Parker Hannifin. Interestingly, three of the four participate in intercollegiate athletics–Ghafari in basketball; Anemone and Talanda-Fisher in soccer.
Heyls Feted at K; Most Will Stay
At a May dinner, Kalamazoo College feted the 2013 Kalamazoo county high school graduates who earned Heyl Scholarships for Kalamazoo College (science and math) or Western Michigan University (nursing). The scholarship covers tuition, book costs, and room charges.
The winners are (l-r): first row—-Raoul Wadhwa, Sharifa Amini, Madison McBarnes; second row—-Graeme Timmeney, Marlena VandeStreek, Eric Thornburg; third row—-Andrew Kaylor, Colleen Orwin, Brice Calco; back row—-Christie Goodyke. Not pictured is Quinton Colwell. Attending K next fall will be Calco, Colwell, Kaylor, McBarnes, Orwin, Thornburg, Timmeney, and Wadhwa. Amini, Goodyke, and VandeStreek will attend the WMU Bronson School of Nursing.
K Math Competitors Return to Campus as Prime Primes
Two Kalamazoo College math teams came out as “prime primes” at the annual Lower Michigan Mathematics Competition, held this year at Aquinas College. “Prime primes” as in first place and fifth place finishers among this year’s field of 20 participating teams.
The first place team included Tibin John ’15, Fayang Pan ’15, and Umang Varma ’14. K’s fifth place finishers were Matt Mills ’13, Philip Mulder ’15, and Sajan Silwal ’14.
It was Kalamazoo College’s third consecutive first-place finish in the LMMC, and that’s no mean feat according to Professor of Mathematics John Fink. “The teams sign in and are given their packet,” explained Fink. “At 9:30 each team is shown to its workroom, and for the next three hours, members work together to produce as many solutions as they can to the ten problems they are given. At 12:30 sharp they turn in their solutions. In the afternoon, teams make public presentations of their solutions.”
Winners take home what’s called the Klein Kup Trophy. LMMC was first held in 1979 at Kalamazoo College (the site rotates from year to year). K won the first year, and once again about a decade later, and then experienced a Klein Kup drought until its recent three-peat. For many years, participating schools were the liberal arts colleges in the Lower Peninsula, but then other schools got wind of the competition. UM-Flint, UM-Dearborn, Ferris State, and Lawrence Tech, among others, began sending teams. “For most of its history the Klein Kup has traveled back and forth between Hope and Calvin,” said Fink. “But with our recent results the Baptists seem to have finally broken the predestinarian grip that Hope and Calvin held for so many years!”
Pictured are the “prime primes” with this year’s Klein Kup (l-r): front row–Philip Mulder, Matt Mills, Tibin John; back row–Fayang Pan, Sajan Silwal, and Umang Varma.
K Students Earn International Language Scholarships
Sophomores Luke Winship and Erin Eagan have been named Boren Scholars. The Boren is a national scholarship promoting the study of less commonly taught languages.
Luke will spend his junior year in China studying Mandarin; Erin will spend six months in Senegal studying Wolof.
Boren Scholarships are funded by the National Security Education Program (NSEP), which focuses on geographic areas, languages, and fields of study deemed critical to United States national security. Boren Scholars represent a variety of academic backgrounds, but all are interested in studying languages often considered roads less taken.
K Student Presents at Conference on Japanese Culture
In April, sophomore Adam Eisenstein joined Assistant Professor of Japanese Noriko Sugimori to present “Not Lost in Translation: Preserving Japanese Culture in Anime” at the inaugural Michigan Japanese Heritage and Culture Conference at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Adam developed his conference paper extending his analysis of English translations of Osaka dialect in Japanese anime/manga, “Azumanga Daioh.” His work originated in a K class titled “Japanese Language in Society.” Senior Kathleen Reno contributed to the presentation but was unable to attend the conference.
Strong K Presence at National Science Meeting
Six Kalamazoo College students joined two of their chemistry professors and mentors (Regina Stevens-Truss and Laura Lowe Furge) at the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology National Meeting in Boston, Mass. The students–Nicholas Sweda ’13, Mara Livezey ’13, Michael Hicks ’13, Josh Abbott ’13, Amanda Bolles ’14, and Erran Briggs ’14–presented results of their summer and academic year research experiences (Senior Individualized Projects in the cases of Nick and Josh). Nearly 300 posters from colleges across the country were part of the 17th Annual Undergraduate Student Research Poster Competition and Professional Development Workshop. Professor Furge was a judge in the competition.
The lab of Professor Paul Hollenberg at the University of Michigan was the site of Abbott’s SIP research on the role of CYP2B6 metabolism of the chemotherapeutic drug cyclophosphamide. The other five posters were based on research done at Kalamazoo College. Sweda presented ongoing studies from Professor Stevens-Truss’s lab on suramin selective inhibition of nitric oxide synthases. This work is the basis of a manuscript in preparation with Sweda and Alyssa McNamara ’11 as co-authors. Livezey, Hicks, Bolles, and Briggs each presented individual posters with results of three projects from Professor Furge’s lab on the interactions of inhibitors with human cytochrome P450 enzymes. The work presented by Bolles and Briggs is currently being prepared in a manuscript for publication with both students as co-authors along with Livezey. The posters presented by Hicks and Livezey are the basis of current NIH-funded studies in the Furge lab. In addition to the poster sessions, students attended talks, award lectures, and exhibits. Students also met with graduate school recruiters.
During the meeting, Professor Stevens-Truss directed her third annual teaching workshop for middle school and high school science teachers in the Boston area. The workshop attracted more than 70 teacher-participants from the Boston area, a record number for these ASBMB associated events. Professor Stevens-Truss’s efforts in structuring the workshops have provided a new platform for scientists to collaborate and mentor the nation’s secondary school science teachers. Scientists from across the country helped make the workshop a meaningful experience for school teachers. It was funded by a National Science Foundation grant to Stevens-Truss. Next year’s meeting will be in San Diego, Calif., and K expects to be there.
Golden Opening
Kalamazoo College opens the 50th anniversary season of its celebrated Festival Playhouse theatre arts program, with Into the Woods, the groundbreaking musical by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine, May 16-19. Performances occur in the Nelda K. Balch Playhouse on Thursday May 16 (7:30 p.m.), Friday May 17 and Saturday May 18 (8 p.m.), and Sunday May 19 (2 p.m.) Tickets are $15/Adults, $10/seniors, and $5/students. Into the Woods features iconic characters such as Little Red Riding Hood (played by Julia Smucker ’13), Rapunzel (Corinne Taborn ’13), Cinderella (Rudi Goddard ’13), the eponymous character from Jack and Beanstalk (Brian Craig ’14), and one antagonistic witch (McKenna Kring ’15). The ensemble cast performs memorable songs such as “Giants in the Sky,” “Agony,” and “Children Will Listen.” Assistant director and K senior Megan Rosenberg calls Sondheim’s score “an elegant lullaby that stirs up the shadows of classic bedtime stories. Its intricate storyline and beautiful, if somewhat creepy, music lend themselves perfectly to bold directorial choices. “Without giving too much away, our production will break some rules,” added Rosenberg. K Professors of Music Tom Evans and James Turner serve as musical and vocal directors, respectively. Assistant Director of Student Involvement Kate Yancho serves as choreographer.“Audiences will be struck by both the darkness and vitality of this musical,” said Yancho about the Tony, Drama Critics Circle, and Drama Desk Award winning show that puts a new twist on a fusion of old Brothers Grim tales. “Adults will love how numerous fairy tales they knew as children are intertwined into one entirely new story, with vibrant song and dance,” said Yancho, who earned a B.A. degree in dance from Ohio University and teaches dance to K students.
Kalamazoo College Senior Faiza Fayyaz Is a YWCA Young Woman of Achievement
Kalamazoo College senior Faiza Fayyaz has received a 2013 YWCA Young Women of Achievement Award and will be honored at the 29th annual YWCA Women of Achievement Award Celebration, on Tuesday, May 21, 5:30 p.m. at the Radisson Plaza Hotel & Suites in Kalamazoo.
The YWCA Young Women of Achievement Awards are given to high school and college age women in the Kalamazoo community who have records of accomplishment in academic studies and extracurricular activities, have made significant contributions to their school and/or community, demonstrate leadership ability, and exemplify qualities of character and thought consistent with the mission and vision of the YWCA.
Faiza will soon earn her B.A. degree in biology with a minor in psychology and a concentration in health sciences. She has also been a biology research assistant at Western Michigan University. Outside the classroom, Faiza has been active in student organizations Active Minds (focusing on mental health issues among college students) and KDesi (working to preserve and promote South Asian cultures and religions on the K campus and in the surrounding community).
Through the College′s Mary Jane Underwood Stryker Institute for Service Learning, Faiza has also spent many hours engaged with students from the Kalamazoo Regional Educational Service Agency (KRESA) Young Adult Program at West Campus school, She has also been engaged in civic activities at Borgess Hospital and in a local physical therapy clinic.
Earlier this month, the YWCA announced that Kalamazoo College trustee Ronda Stryker is its recipient of the Lifetime Woman of Achievement Award.