For the week of March 7, 2005

From the 6th floor

It is Spring Break. Can't you tell by the blowing and drifting snow? If that's not enough of a clue, how about a Lake Effect Snow Advisory? Or a Hazardous Weather Alert? Both are the orders of the day in Marquette County. Would this be a good time to point out many students are on the beaches of Cancun right now? Last week wasn't nearly as bad as was forecasted. Even the weatherman said he might have been wrong in his predictions. While we were all hoping for a snow day last week with predictions of 12-20 inches of snow and wind, only the higher elevations received enough to keep school children home. Here in Marquette, we received very little of the white stuff. But of course, today's forecast of 9-12 inches of blowing and drifting snow has our hopes up once again. Not that we endorse snow days, but hey, it's spring break!

CAPS alumni and students spearheading international fundraiser

Marquette is one of 60 cities across the globe that will host a "One World Beat" concert to raise money for children afflicted with AIDS. The local fundraiser is scheduled for 8 p.m. Thursday, March 24 at Upfront and Company.
Several current students and alumni of the NMU Communications and Performance Studies department are taking leadership roles in the concert.
One of the featured bands at the concert will be the Flat Broke Blues Band, led by Walt Lindala '90. Several members of Flat Broke are also NMU alumni. Also performing on March 24, "Nick and Chris". Nick Young is an electronic journalism major.
Current CAPS students Melanee Ferrier and Diana Shannon are coordinating the project.
" We decided to put this concert together to fulfill some credit for school," said Ferrier an NMU senior from Marquette. "What makes it stand out from the other One World Beat concerts is that ours is the only one sponsored by a university."
NMU president Les Wong will open the event and CAPS professor Louise Bourgault, who has done extensive research in Africa related to the AIDS crisis, will speak during the evening.
One World Beat concerts will take place around the world between March 18-27. Some other locations include: Zimbabwe, Thailand, Germany, England, Brazil and several in the United States.
Admission to One World Beat is $5, with 100% of the proceeds going to the "Give a Child a Chance" program.
For more information contact Melanee Ferrier at 228-9328.

Wildcats to host Western Michigan in CCHA playoffs; Hobey Baker prelim voting complete

Qi Wang named NMU volleyball coach

Ken Godfrey, NMU athletic director, announced that Qi Wang (pronounced Chee Wong) has accepted the position of Wildcat volleyball coach. He will begin his duties on March 14. “We are extremely happy to get someone of his caliber,” Godfrey said. “I am optimistic about the future of the volleyball program.” Wang comes to Northern from Truman State University where he was on the volleyball staff for eight years (1997-04). He has been the head coach for the past four years (2001-04) where he led the Bulldogs to a 133-17 overall record. For the 2004 season, Truman’s only loss was to Barry in the NCAA II Championship match and ended the season with a 37-1 slate. Wang was the NCAA II National Coach of the Year for the 2002 season. Since 2001, Truman has been ranked in the AVCA Top 25 and has had a 100 percent graduation rate. Wang replaces Jim Moore. Moore left Northern to take over as women's volleyball head coach at the University of Oregon.

Baja team places third

Twelve students from the Northern Michigan University chapter of the Society of Automotive Engineers comprised a team that took third place out of seven teams in a mini baja vehicle competition. SAE chapters from schools nationwide had a 5-month time limit in which to design and build their own mini baja vehicles from scratch. On the day of the competition they raced against each other for three hours on a rough-terrain loop track; the vehicle with the most completed laps was declared the winner. This was NMU’s first time participating in the event, which was held this year at Michigan Technological University. “The team pulled off an amazing feat considering our budget and time constraints,” said Jeffrey Hoffman (Engineering Technology). “Our competitors had $20,000 to work with while building their vehicles, whereas we only spent a total of $1,500. We also had only 20 weeks in which to design and fabricate it, which is difficult when these are full-time students with jobs.” The next race is scheduled for June in Dayton, Ohio, with 140 vehicles from universities around the world competing. The SAE members who participated in the competition are (listed by their Michigan hometowns): Champion: James Petersen; Ishpeming: Peter Carlson; Matt Klenc; Marquette: Jeremy Klaboe; Piotr Niewiarowski; Justin Pontel; Munising: Daryl Salo; Negaunee: Tom Skewis; Powers: Jason Veeser; Quinnesec: Landen Leslie; Stephenson: Adam Menor; Trenary: Nate Curry.

Did you know it's National Procrastination Week?

If you are interested in some helpful hints on staying focused, we have a seven-day plan for you.
Read about it here.

I'm going to check it out it later.

From the Email bag

"Good afternoon Deanna,
I just thought I would share a quick story. I work as Dir. Of Educational Technology for Suttons Bay Public Schools. My co-worker and Network Specialist Tim Smith is a graduate of Lake Superior State University. I graduated in Dec of 2001 and he from LSSU in DEC of 2003. We still like to carry a bit of that school rivalry. With the hockey games tonight and tomorrow, I thought I would keep some of that rivalry going. Attached are pictures of what his desk looked like first thing this morning as he walked in."
GO CATS!

Matt Maciag '01
Brighton, MI
matt@thinkmatt.com

"Dear Deanna, Not all of us NMU fans could make it to Damon's in Ann Arbor that night, but we still enjoyed the game. Little Joe enjoyed the game, and since Mom's a Michigan alum... the men of the house had a great time. She went to Yost and I got to babysit. Looks like she owes me a trip to the Berry Events Center! We look forward to seeing our team at the Joe!" Les Sharon '88 Ann Arbor, MI sharon@pcs.k12.mi.us

"Deanna,
I was talking with a former student of mine who attends school at the Univ. of Minn.-Twin Cities. He was all pumped up because he said the Gophers hockey team had gotten a commitment from Phil Kessel, who's supposed to be a great, great hockey player. I told him that was the name of our quarterback at NMU when I was going to school. So I did some research and low and behold, I found out the hockey player is the son of the quarterback!
Here are some articles about him. It might be something interesting to put in the alumni newsletter.
(Here's an excerpt)
.....Kessel has athleticism in his DNA. His father, Phil, was a standout quarterback for Northern Michigan who graduated in 1981. He was drafted by the Washington Redskins and is a member of Northern Michigan's Sports Hall of Fame."

http://www.startribune.com/stories/512/5273855.html
http://insidecollegehockey.com/7Archives/Features/kessel_0245.htm
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/hockey/juniors/2004-12-28-usa-kessel_x.htm

Brian Roebke '84
Kaukauna, WI
kaubuckets@aol.com

"Deanna,
I will be opening a new medical practice in Petoskey, MI. http://sheperd.familydoctors.net.
It has been amazing to find out how many NMU grads I have bumped into professionally since starting on this venture. From bakers to nurse practitioners, Wildcats are well represented in Michigan. My contact info is below or at the above website if any other Wildcats want to stop by and say "hi".
Todd Sheperd '92
Petoskey, MI
sheperd@msu.edu

Deanna, I have not been to Marquette since 1991. Photos are taken from the 6th floor of what building? (smile). Could I get a map of the current campus layout and the city of Marquette? Web site???? If anyone who went to school with me is out there, please email me! I would love to hear from you."
Denise Williams Harris '71
St. Paul, MN
denise.m.harris@xcelenergy.com

Note from the editor: Perhaps you are interested in maps of campus and the city?
Here are some online resources:
For NMU’s current campus map, see http://www.nmu.edu/campusmap
(Our office is in room 603 of Cohodas. Please stop by.)
For the city of Marquette, see http://www.mqtcty.org - Choose what map you want to see under “Select a Map”
More Marquette information can be found at www.marquette.org and www.marquettecountry.org

Have something you want to share? Feedback should be directed to dhemmila@nmu.edu

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