The Technician Magazine Winter 2012

GENERAL MOTORS INSTITUTE FLINT, MICHIGAN MARCH 20, 2012

Looking Back, Looking Forward

Today1927

Campus Through the Years

Prof. Bell and Doc K Speak Their Minds

The President's Vision

Fixed Tuition for Kettering

2 The Technician Magazine

A Letter from the Editor-in-chiefAs Kettering begins to look towards its centennial in 2019, talk of the school’s

future has once again dominated campus conversations. For this very special

retro edition of The Technician Magazine, we embarked on a mission to look

back at the history of Kettering out of the belief that we must not lose sight of

where we have come from when planning where we must go.

Our inspiration for layout comes from The Technician newspapers of the

1970s, but our goal was not purely sentimental. Kettering University stands at

a critical crossroads. Having weathered the storm of the recession, we are now

poised to take advantage of a rising economy, especially the rapid rise of the

automotive industry, to grow the university and seize the opportunity to make

changes that will propel Kettering well into its next century. When we look to

our past, we find stories of academic excellence, technological leadership, and

high standards of excellence in all facets of university life, standards we must

strive to uphold today.

I would like to extend my thanks to everyone who has helped The Technician report on the term’s developments, and to

everyone who assisted us in generating new content. This term, we welcomed Rebeccah MacKinnon to the paper as our

Online Editor, a position she has graciously agreed to fill over her work term in the summer. Additionally, I would like to

thank Matthew White and Kaitlin Solovey, Assistant Editor and Layout Editor, respectively, for their enormous contribu-

tions to not just the magazine, but to the newspaper as a whole. This term has seen some of the best writing and teamwork

that The Technician has seen in recent years, and I am optimistic that the positive precedent we have set for the newspaper

will continue to be upheld. We welcome contributions from members of the Kettering community, and I look forward to

working with members of The Technician staff, Kettering students, faculty, and staff, and members of the Flint community

to make The Technician a stronger, more vibrant presence on campus and in the community in the years ahead.

Thank you.

Robert HayesEditor-in-chief

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What’s Inside Magazine

E d i t o r- i n - C h i e fR o b e r t H a y e s

A s s i s ta n t E d i t o rM a t t h e w W h i t e

L ayo u t E d i t o rK a i t l i n S o l o v e y

C o p y E d i t o rTy l e r Va n E c k

D i s t r i b u t i o n E d i t o rA l a n X i a

O n l i n e E d i t o rR e b e c c a h M a c K i n n o n

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A d l a i M i l b i t zJ o h n O l i v e r

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Fa c u lt y A d v i s o rD r. C h r i s t i n e L e v e c q

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© T h e Te c h n i c i a n , 2 0 1 2

Page 2

A Letter from the Editor-in-chief

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Headlines from The Technician's PastGmi Future UncertainSnow Storm Closes GmiTwelve Week Sections Pass!Krib is Here

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Page 8

Professor Bell on His Time at Kettering

Page 9

Doc K Looks Back on Gmi

Page 10

From Student to Faculty

Page 11

Res Life ChangesPresidential Turnover

Page 12

Reliving Photos of the Past Page 14

The President's Vision Page 15

The Technician's VisionPage 16

HeadlinesFixed Tuition for KetteringCan You See Yourself Here?Linking Together with A ∑ A

Page 17

Faculty Profiles

Page 18

Age of Technology

Page 19

Melancholy March

Page 20

The Technician StaffPage 22

The Daily BulldogFixing the RatioKettering Memes

TechnicianThe


From The Technician, August 26, 1981

By Katie Evans and Tricia SingFriday August 21, 1981, President

Cottingham addressed the employ-ees and students at GMI in separate meetings.

The emergency meeting was an-nounced to the student body at 12:00 noon and scheduled for 12:45 PM. A statement issued by David C. Collier, Vice President of General Motors Institute, with a post script by Dr. Cottingham, was passed out during the noon hour. Collier’s state-

ment reads:“In line with continuing studies of

all its operations, GM is considering alternatives to its operation of the General Motors Institute in Flint. We are seeking less costly and perhaps more effective ways of recruiting and training engineers and other professionals. Under any alternative, the cooperative program involving the current exceptionally qualified student body will be maintained so the students can complete their un-dergraduate education. GM remains committed to recruit high school graduates. Whether the institute will

continue to operate independently of GM and how soon GM would be-gin to phase out its relationship are still to be decided.”

Dr. Cottingham stated that “…the statement assures the student body that the institute will be here for the length of your educational pro-gram.” The President emphasized that the students understood that their relationship with GM had not changed, that they were all GMI and GM co-operative students, and that his expectation was, that having done their job properly, they would be offered jobs at GM.

GMI FUTURE UNCERTAIN

SNOW STORM CLOSES GMIFrom The Technician, April 11, 1975By Jim SpychalskiNature sure fooled us. April Fool’s

Day was bright and sunny; it looked as if the hassles and frustrations of winter were behind us. Then it start-ed. Snow fell all day Wednesday the 2nd and by Thursday morning a re-cord blanket paralyzed Flint.

The anticipated announcement of suspended classes at GMI was veri-fied by local radio announcements. For only the third time in the history of the Institute, GMI was closed due to inclement weather. The first clos-ing of Tech, as recalled by then-stu-

dent Dean Cenko was on account of the 1947 flood. Dean Cenko re-marked that the school was shut down for two or three days as the melting snows forced the Flint River above flood stage.

The second closing occurred more recently, back in late March-early April of 1967, when GMI was closed for one day because of snow. No one can recall the exact date, but consequences can be viewed by paging through the ’67 Reflector. Buried cars, high drifts, and halted instruction were among the scenes pictured.

The snow that fell on April’s sec-

ond day this year surprised every-one. Having removed the studded snow tires by April 1st, as required by law, many motorists were left stranded as they attempted to get home. Commuter students had no hope of reaching Tech and this I’m sure influenced the decision to close for the day.

Some students spent the day studying, others partied. But one thing will be remembered by most; they were part of nature’s on April fool that gave us an extra day’s free-dom from Tech and an excuse for profs to load-up on the homework.

Headlines from The Technician's PastBelow are selected articles drawn from The Technician issues from the past.

5

Headlines from The Technician's Past

TWELVE WEEK SECTIONS PASS!From The Technician, March 31, 1978On Monday, March 20 the GMI

Board of Trustees announced their decision to implement a twelve week calendar beginning in the fall of 1979.

Mr. Jack Newcombe, the chairman of the Board’s Calendar Task Force, made the presentation of the pro-posed change to 12-Week Sections. The report, which will be available for students to read, included four points of view – faculty, students, plants, and the administration.

The students’ viewpoints were represented in the surveys that many of us took at our plants, in-put from student groups, and also

the A-Section election polls. The student opinions – which included the fact that many students wanted 12-Week sections – were equally weighted with the faculty and ad-ministration positions.

The actual implementation pro-cedures have not yet been decided, or even proposed. A GMI. Presiden-tial Task Force – tentatively com-prised of the two GMTE presidents, two other students, three faculty members, and two administrators – will be given the responsibility of making recommendations on all aspects of the changeover. Some of the anticipated problems have al-ready been discussed, such as stu-dent budgeting and the mechanics

of transition, but no decisions have been made.

Another item of interest on the Board’s agenda was the report on the quality of the GMI Student body. Dr. Cottingham would like to formally present this information at an Ex-Officio meeting soon, but as a preview of the report showed the quality of entering students and our graduates, as measured by na-tional test scores (SAT, ACT, GMAT). These measurements were com-pared to 42 other key engineering schools, including MIT, Cincinnati, and Purdue. We should no longer use the nickname “Little Purdue” – our quality of entering students is better than theirs!

KRIB IS HEREFrom The Technician, February 6, 1976By Glenn JohnsonLast Friday, January 20, 1976,

marked a special day for a pre-cious few in the Radio Club. On this date, at approximately 1:15 P.M., Bob Cmil became the first “legal” school-sanctioned DJ for the GMI radio station KRIB.

This was merely a test run to check to make sure all equipment was running smoothly. This past Wednesday, KRIB had its first offi-cial sign-on and will now be oper-ating on a continuing basis at 550 on your AM radio dial. This is a very

small station, running on carrier current and can be picked up only within the dorm.

However, to keep this dream come true a reality is going take student involvement. John Mi-challski, in charge of the radio sta-tion, stressed the need for student involvement by those students who are really sincere in giving as much input into the station as they can. Head of DJ staff, Glenn John-son, urges fellow classmates who have some free time on a regu-lar basis to be a DJ for 5-6 hours a week. The programming staff needs help too.

General Motors Institute logos courtesy ofKettering Communications



Robert Hayes

The mainstay of the Kettering Univer-sity campus is no doubt the Academic Building. At over 300,000 square feet, the building houses most of Ketter-ing’s classrooms, many academic depart-ments, and some administration. Built in 1926, the Academic Building initially only included the wings of classrooms along University Avenue and Chevro-let Avenue. As gmi grew, space became tighter and tighter, causing the Academic Building to be expanded no less than six times. These include the addition of the old gym, the center hallway, the library, and the most obvious expansion, the “2½ floor,” current home to the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. The Academic Building was the only building on campus for forty years, and had to include all functions of the school, including the bookstore, cafeteria, and all

administration. In 1963, however, the campus began

to grow. Dr. Harold “Dusty” Rodes led the school to acquire the 34 acres of land across University Avenue from the Aca-demic, a move which paved the way for the construction of facilities that would allow the school to expand and provide a place for students to live on campus. This expansion was scheduled to be com-pleted by Kettering’s 50th Anniversary celebrations in 1969.

Kettering’s most distinctive building was born from this: the dramatically-designed Campus Center. Tarapata-

McMahon Associates was hired as the architectural lead on the program. Groundbreaking for the Campus Center took place in 1966. Thompson Hall was another addition during this expansion. Then named the Men’s Residence Hall, it was later renamed after Frances Willson Thompson in 1986.

Further campus enhancement came in 1995 with the opening of the Connie and Jim John Recreation Center. The Recreation Center provides an outlet for athletic energy on campus and became former Kettering President Jim John’s self-professed greatest accomplishment

Campus Center under construction, 1966

Academic Building, 1927 Guy Cowing, Albert Sobey, and Paul McGrath ‘31 review the expansion of the Academic Building

7

Provost Simpson On the Future of KetteringCampus Through the Years

during his tenure at Kettering. The newest academic building, the C.S.

Mott Engineering & Science Center, opened in 2004 at a cost of $43 million. Originally built as a General Motors manufacturing building in 1940, the cen-ter was renamed for the Flint philanthro-pist Charles Stewart Mott after severe rehabilitation that included the addi-tion of the third floor. The center hosts classrooms and offices for the Mechani-cal Engineering and Chemistry Depart-ments as well as world-class lab facilities, including the crash safety center and fuel cell laboratories, that make the Mott the highlight of Kettering’s campus.

The newest building on campus is the 9,000 square foot Innovation Center lo-cated off campus on Bluff Street. Opened in 2010, it is Kettering’s investment in the future of business development in the re-gion. The Center holds six wet and dry research laboratories and plays host to developing companies, including Swed-ish Biogas International. The Innovation Center is also the first Leadership in En-ergy and Environmental Design (leed) certified building in Genesee County.

All other photos are courtesy of the Scharchburg Archives

1919: Copeman BuildingRented 7,800 sq. ft., 2nd floor

1920: St. Michael’sRented 5,000 sq. ft., 1st and 2nd floors

1923: Industrial Bank BuildingRented 25,000 sq. ft., 8th floor

1926: Gmit (ab) BuildingBuilt 56,400 sq. ft.

1954: AB ExpansionAdded 85,000 sq. ft.

1969: Campus Center and DormsBuilt 438 rooms in Thompson Hall

1995: Recreation CenterBuilt 70,000 sq. ft.

2004: Mott CenterBuilt 129,000 sq. ft.

2010: Innovation CenterBuilt 9,000 sq. ft.

Deneen Munerance ‘87, Mrs. Thompson, and Dr. Cottingham rededicate Thompson Hall in 1986

The gm facility that became the Mott CenterThe Innovation CenterPhoto courtesy of Kettering Communications


Professor Bell on His Time at Kettering

Robert Hayes and Kaitlin Solovey

Almost every student on campus has had the opportunity to be considered

a professor’s favorite stu-dent. Professor Reginald Bell of the Chemistry D e p a r t m e n t is by far one of the best known professors on campus, both

for his classes where many things are lit on fire and for his many favorite students (read: every student he has ever had). He is also the faculty member who has worked at Kettering the longest: he’s been here since 1963.

The biggest change Professor Bell has noticed in his time here is the curricu-lum. Faculty used to have little say in the curriculum, whereas now they’re much more involved. Kettering’s new majors are a point of pride for Bell, as he noted “there are so many more majors now, some that even ten years ago would have been unthinkable!” Bell has also noticed how Kettering’s facilities have expanded. When he arrived on campus, all of the professors from the chemistry depart-ment had desks in a single room “and we only had one phone to share between us.” It wasn’t until the 1970s that gmi granted professors their own offices. Even then,

the entire suite of offices was still only granted one telephone extension.

Besides those changes, Professor Bell was also witness to the divestiture of General Motors Institute from General Motors. Bell was admittedly skeptical of gmi future without gm, but he now be-lieves “it [the separation] has become the best thing to happen to this school.”He likens the situation here during the tran-sition to a life or death experience for the school and believes that it represented “the school’s largest existential threat.” Bell credits former president Dr. William Cottingham for the school’s survival, say-ing “he was a hero.” Bell even drew com-parisons between Cottingham’s position guiding gmi out of gm’s hands to the task faced by the captain of the Titanic.

Bell believes that Cottingham’s replace-ment, Dr. Jim John, was “an act of nature,” noting his credentials and the changes he brought to Kettering. Though he was not well-appreciated, Dr. John led the charge behind the creation of the Recreation Center among other large scale changes on campus. Perhaps some of Dr. John’s lack of appreciation could stem from his leadership style, Bell proposed. “He just made decisions without asking for input from anyone.” Praise for Dr. John’s suc-cessor, Dr. Stanley Liberty, was less gush-ing. Noting the challenging economy facing Dr. Liberty, Bell believes he “did

as good a job as could be expected, under the circumstances.”

Looking forward, Professor Bell sug-gests that new majors should follow the lead of the Chemical Engineering program, one of the highlights of Bell’s career. He is impressed with the rapid growth of the program and the world-class lab facilities Kettering has thrown together within the past three years. In his opinion, if another major shows the same potential for growth, Kettering should certainly make efforts to add the program.

When asked how Kettering could boost admissions, Bell admits that for years he didn’t understand why Kettering wasn’t buried under a sea of applications. Recent interactions with prospective stu-dents’ families led Bell to a realization – “parents just don’t understand co-ops!” He suggests that the prospect of full-time co-op may frighten potential students and their parents if they don’t understand the program. As he notes, “parents are be-ing much more attentive to their children at the high school level” than ever before. In response to this issue, Professor Bell spent much of the last Admitted Students Program explaining to new students and their parents exactly what Kettering’s co-op program entails and how it adds enor-mous value to the college experience. He said with emphasis, “Students need to know that if Kettering is the right school for you, you can’t afford to go anywhere else!”, capturing the essence of why he has spent almost half a century teaching here and nowhere else.

Prof. G. Reginald BellPhoto courtesy of Kettering Communications

Prof. Bell’s students celebrate their favorite professor by wearing matching Bell-themed shirts in 2009.Photo courtesy of Kettering Communications

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Robert Hayes and Kaitlin Solovey

Dr. Henry Kowalski has been a fixture on campus for decades. As Kettering’s

longest-serving M e c h a n i c a l E n g i n e e r i n g professor, Doc K has taught generations of budding engi-

neers, conducted research on me-

chanical systems, and been a driving force behind the development of carbon-fiber suspension components for the 3rd gen-eration Chevrolet Corvette.

While Kowalski may have been teach-ing here for almost fifty years, he notes little change with the students that pass through his doors. “Students are just as pragmatic now as they ever were,” he be-lieves, though he notes that technology has shaped interactions with students, Google now being students’ primary re-search tool and wristwatches being all but removed from campus. Additionally, Kowalski believes that students have not become more competitive, but that the type of competition has changed. “Com-petition among students used to depend on which division of General Motors they worked for,” he remembers. “Students at Cadillac used to act more distinguished, but the advanced research departments at the Warren Technical Center were al-ways the most desired sponsor.” Further-more, Kowalski is a huge proponent of the Kettering crib system, pointing out


that in the past, it was an absolute neces-sity. “Some professors want to disband the crib system, but it is essential for our learning paradigm,” he believes.

When asked about the greatest change he has seen at the school, he was quick to reply: “faculty.” Commenting on changes away from the purely industrial focus of General Motors Institute, Kowalski be-lieves that faculty members nowadays seem out of touch with the priorities of their students. “We’ve always had excel-lent students,” he said, but “by the time you [students] are on your way out of here, you know what the hell you want to do with your career” due to the expe-riences of co-op. Students will prioritize their attention to classes accordingly. “Some faculty members expect you to strive for the best in every class, but you know what you need and what you don’t need.”

As for changes in administration, Kow-alski is quick to point to Kettering’s two former presidents as demonstrative of how Kettering may have struggled so heavily over the past years. “They didn’t understand the culture,” he said. “They tried to change us, because they didn’t learn why we were the way we were.” Re-lations with alumni were similarly stag-nant during those years, according to Kowalski, saying that “they [the adminis-tration] only looked at alumni as donors —we should see them as [co-op] spon-sors for our students.” Kettering’s new president, Dr. Robert McMahan, on the other hand, offers “a breath of fresh air” in Kowalski’s opinion. “He came in and really tried to understand our heritage,” a promising first start in Doc. K.’s mind.

Looking to the future, Kowalski sees broad potential for Kettering to grow. “We never advertised aggressively,” he

says. “We have to engage new partners for our students,” especially in Kettering’s newer majors. He points to Walmart and Macy’s as examples of companies who search for undergraduate interns, but have yet to come knocking on Kettering’s door. New majors could play a part in that growth as well. As Kowalski noted, “civil engineering, nursing, other engi-neering majors, [and] really anything that requires internships or co-ops” should be considered as prime avenues for Ketter-ing to expand.

Kowalski also believes that the City of Flint could one day become a key part of Kettering’s appeal. “We can’t forget them,” he notes. “Flint has a great op-portunity to become a college town. We have excellent community colleges and two great teaching hospitals.” What Flint obviously does need, however, is security. Another problem Kowalski sees with Kettering’s relationship with the com-munity is Kettering itself. “We haven’t expressed to the residents what we could do for them. People in Flint need to be proud of Kettering, and we need to show them that we can be a productive partner as well.”

Dr. Henry KowalskiPhoto courtesy of Kettering Communications

Doc K with Kettering student Michael Pedigo during an explosion demonstration in 2009.Photo courtesy of Kettering Communications


From Student to Faculty

Robert Hayes

Most mechanical engineering students may recognize Dr. Jeffrey Hargrove as a fixture in the Mott Center teaching Mechatronics and Heat Transfer classes. However, what most students may not know is that Dr. Hargrove arrived on campus in 1982 as an electrical en-gineering stu-dent at a time of great change on campus. General Motors had just divorced Gen-eral Motors Institute, though Hargrove is quick to point out that the school “had the same faculty, still followed the same fundamental model, and General Motors was still the only co-op employer.”

While the years may not have changed Kettering’s educational model, Hargrove has observed changes in the social envi-ronment, such as more extracurricular activities, as the environment at Ketter-ing has become more flexible. “In the 1980s, if you didn’t put in the time, you couldn’t survive. We had very few activi-ties outside of the academics—it wasn’t at all flexible.” The school has also become much less cutthroat. Hargrove noted that “back at that time, everyone that came here knew that their potential for advancement was in to executive leader-ship at General Motors, and every other student could one day be in competition with one another for the same position.”

Kettering’s reputation has changed as well. “One of my professors noted that our electrical engineering program ri-valed mit’s. We made ourselves desirable with absolute academic excellence. We were the program to be in,” said Har-grove. Getting in to gmi was more diffi-cult as well, as Hargrove remembers “we used to accept only 500–600 of almost 4,000 applicants.” He further notes that “students had to obtain a co-op sponsor before ever setting foot on campus.”

Looking to the future, Hargrove sees potential for Kettering if the university returns to its roots: being renowned for academic excellence and producing pre-pared graduates. “We need to find the level of quality that will make students across the country wish they could come here. If we continue to be viewed as just another good choice, we will struggle. We need to be seen as the choice.” He believes our alumni speak to the excel-lence of the school, and are a clear sign to industry that we are still leading the way in co-operative education. “We produce professionals,” he notes. “We have com-panies that express preference for our grads, and graduate schools look for Ket-tering grads. We need to keep that up.”

When asked if he would attend Ketter-ing today as an undergrad-uate, Hargrove is more reserved: “Under the cir-cumstances I faced in 1981, I would absolutely go to Kettering.” Back then, he noted “if you got an accep-tance letter from General Motors Institute, it would be exceptionally foolish to go anywhere else.” He compares the gmi of the 1980s to mit, noting “back

then, you’d take gmi over mit.” Ketter-ing’s reputation has not maintained that allure over the years, as Hargrove chal-lenges people to “find someone today who would come to Kettering over mit. It would be much more difficult.”

Outside of gmi, Hargrove went to work for General Motors before pursu-ing graduate education. In 1989, one of his old professors approached him to ask if he would be interested in joining a new Masters of Science in Engineer-ing program, an offer he immediately ac-cepted. He was later approached by gmi and asked to teach a statics lecture due to a faculty shortage. After this first taste of teaching, Hargrove took advice from another Kettering landmark, Dr. Henry “Doc. K” Kowalski, who advised him to pursue a Ph.D., saying that “you cannot imagine the doors that will open for you.”

The rest, as they say, is history. Har-grove joined Kettering’s mechanical engi-neering department seventeen years ago. Today, his career fulfillment comes both from teaching undergraduates and his re-search. A huge proponent of research on campus, Hargrove notes that for him, “re-search allows us to do things that affect humanity in the long run, something that can move technology forward.”

Dr. Jeff HargrovePhoto courtesy of Kettering Communications

Dr. Hargrove measures clinical trial participant Nathalie Dron-chat’s sensitivity to pain stimuli as part of his research at Kettering. Photo courtesy of Kettering Communications

11

Provost Simpson On the Future of KetteringRes Life Changes

Res Life Changes

Rebeccah MacKinnon

One of the many changes this cam-pus has undergone in the recent past is in Residence Hall Staff. Katie Bosio replaced Antonio Riggs as Director of Residence Life at the end of Spring term last year. Since then, she has changed many things in the dorms to make them more comfortable for the students living there.

One of her proudest accomplishments is renovating Thompson Hall’s kitchen, making it much more usable for stu-dents who wish to have an alternative to the Sunrise Room. She has also replaced furniture in the lobby, redone piping in the bathrooms, expanded the selection of video games and movies through the Residence Hall Association (rha), and expanded Thompson Hall’s presence in social networks by creating Twitter and Facebook accounts for the dorms.

These are not the only changes in store for Thompson Hall. One of the big changes coming is in the room res-ervation method. Bosio recently had a new, web-based room selection software implemented that should streamline the housing application process, espe-cially for upperclassmen. Other planned changes include fixing the roof to reopen the fourth floor, getting a new laundry system, getting new micro-fridges, and potentially developing a robotics living-learning community within Thompson Hall.

“Doc K approached me with the idea,” said Bosio of the robotics community.

Essentially, students who had partici-pated in high school robotics programs would have the option to live in the same unit as other robotics students to de-velop a tight-knit community. With as-sistance from Dr. Henry Kowalski of the Mechanical Engineering Department, these students could become the basis of a mentorship program for robotics pro-grams in the area. “Robotics is a unique niche we can take advantage of,” said Bosio.

For more information about Bosio, see The Technician’s profile on her from Summer 2011, Edition 1.

Presidential Turnover

Matthew White

In almost one hundred years, Kettering University has seen only seven men rise to the challenge of leading a engineer-ing school unlike so many others. The first, Major Albert Sobey, brought the school from its origins in 1919 all the way through its incorporation as a college in 1945 until his departure in 1950. The next three presidents; Cowing, Rodes, and Cottingham, continued gmi’s tradi-tion of excellence even through the rough times of the divestiture.

In 1991, Dr. James John assumed the presidency of gmi Engineering & Management Institute. As part of his plan for the school, Dr. John drew upon the vision of Charles Kettering, an inven-tor and proponent of cooperative edu-cation. January 1998 marked the end of gmi emi and the beginning of Kettering University.

Although the name change is very vis-ible to students today, so are Dr. John’s more concrete ambitions. Dr. John, as his wife would say, liked to build. To pro-vide students with a place to unwind after difficult classes, Dr. John built the recre-ation center. The C.S. Mott Engineering & Science Center is another construc-tion undertaken during Dr. John’s ten-ure. Although it seems to be merely ad-jacent to campus, the Campus Village Apartments were also part of Dr. John’s master plan for the Kettering campus.

Academics were also a focus for Dr. John, with the University expanding its undergraduate programs and extending international opportunities to students.

After his departure in 2005, the Board of Trustees selected Dr. Stan Liberty to be the sixth president of the University. As the economy took a turn for the worst, Dr. Liberty helped to keep the University at its previous levels of excellence. The Innovation Center was completed under his tenure, as well as the Miller Labs in the Mott Center. The University added new majors and minors and opened an mba program. Dr. Liberty, himself a musi-cian, incorporated arts into the Kettering community through partnerships with local organizations.

Just last year, Dr. Robert McMahan as-sumed the presidency from Dr. Liberty. His work so far has focused on listen-ing to students and other constituents, but the changes are coming. He has al-ready implemented changes to campus safety and tuition. Dr. McMahan is also embracing the same sort of “building” enthusiasm Dr. John had, imagining not just what the University is now, but where it will expand to and how the pro-grams will evolve to take better advantage of that space.


Far left: Devin Aryan ‘15 and Matthew White ‘15 play pool in the Campus Center

Original (Below): Playing pool in the Campus Center (1969)

Far right: Ray Hyder ‘15 studying on the steps of the Academic Building

Original (Right): Tim Cooney ‘84 studying on the steps of the Academic Building (1984)

Far left: Prof. Reg Bell works with students Robert Hayes ‘14 and Kaitlin Solovey ‘16

Original (Left): Prof. Reg Bell works with students(1979)

Historical photographs courtesy of the Scharchburg Archives

Reliving Photos of the Past

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Left: Robert Hayes ‘14 and Ty-ler Garavaglia ‘15 in front of the Academic Building (2012)

Original (Above): Don Young ‘83, left, and Dennis Fox in front of the Academic Building (1982)

Far left: Kaitlin Solovey ‘16studies in front of the Campus Center

Original (Left): Catching some rays while studying in front of the Campus Center (1975)

Left: Students leaving the Academic Building

Original (Above): Pi Kappa Alpha members leaving the Academic Building (1974)


The President's Vision

Matthew White

Dr. Robert McMahan is certainly not a hands-off president. By the end of his first academic term, most of the student body had seen him walking around cam-pus. Some of them had talked to him over lunch in Ernie's. For Dr. McMahan, the most important part of the way forward is understanding the reasons for change and feelings of the staff, faculty, and stu-dents regarding that change.

After receiving feedback from many dif-ferent groups and venues, Dr. McMahan has begun to make real changes on cam-pus. A rash of break-ins and other inci-dents over Fall term led to the doors of the Academic Building being locked all day long, now accessible only with prop-er id. Doors around the outside of the Campus Center are now also locked with id access. Security is of great concern to students, a sentiment that Dr. McMahan has reacted to in a strong way.

One of the most important changes so far has been the fixed tuition implement-ed last week. In talking with families of current and prospective students, costs were consistently a point of hesitation. In a meeting, one parent likened it to buying a car that would be used and paid for over five years. Instead of knowing the price, however, only a year's installment would be revealed at a time, with each install-ment being of an increasing price. This variance makes it impossible to budget for such a large expense as college tuition.

Students also disliked the myriad of fees associated with college life, especially the thesis fee. Dr. McMahan also expressed a dislike for the fee, calling it a "get out fee." After running a variety of financial mod-els, the President came up with a plan to present to the Board of Trustees.

The Board is a formidable organization to present to, says Dr. McMahan. They are very detail-oriented and have years of ex-perience in major corporations. A plan as significant as changing the funding source of the University came under incredible scrutiny. After doing some more analysis, the Board unanimously approved a plan that removed most additional costs and left tuition stable throughout the normal duration of a Kettering education.

Changes like this are just a small part of the way forward. Dr. McMahan cau-tions, however, that change ought to be undertaken not because it is different, but because it evolves the University in a way that is respectful to its origins and culture. To that end, he is continuing to solicit feedback and discussing options with the different constituencies that they would affect.

Making the campus a more vibrant and attractive place is one of Dr. McMahan’s goals. When he looks out at the beach, he sees a student center that fits nicely within the typical “quad” campus de-sign. The building, he says, would con-tain dining options, electronic resources, recreation facilities, study rooms, and conferencing facilities. From the build-ing would be walkways that extend back to the Recreation Center, forward to University Avenue, and around to the bulldog. Dr. McMahan also envisions a fountain in the middle of the area. He is quick to note, however, that General Determination would not be moved. He

recognizes that the bulldog is an essential part of campus culture.

Across the street from the Campus Center is Eli’s Corner Grocery. While the lease for the lot is up for renewal soon, the President has made no decision on what might be there in the future. Right now, groups, including the owner of Eli’s, are creating proposals that will help Dr. McMahan to determine the best use of the property.

Other changes Dr. McMahan is con-templating include adding additional degree programs where they make sense within the University’s mission. Certain majors jump out as obvious because they exist at the crossroads of existing pro-grams of because they complement the University's position as a stem univer-sity. An example is biology, which the President described as a “foundational science.” A program like this could draw in new students that were never consid-ering Kettering before and would require only incremental changes to our faculty and facilities. The process to create a new major, however, is no simple undertaking. After doing research and creating the cur-riculum, the Board of Trustees must ap-prove the degree offering. Such changes, however, are being actively investigated as the University looks towards its cen-tennial.

The goal of Dr. McMahan’s changes is simple—to put the University in the best position for growth and success in the future. Working with students, faculty, and staff, Dr. McMahan hopes to make changes that most positively impact the school and the student life. When stu-dents of this graduating class come back in five years, the President hopes, they will see a much different and stronger University.

15

The Technician's Vision

The Technician's Vision

An Editorial

As Kettering begins to approach its 100th anniversary in 2019, President McMahan is compiling a vision state-ment that he believes will serve as a guide for the University as it nears its centenni-al. While the visioning process has taken the spotlight on campus, The Technician believes that undue emphasis is being placed on long-term planning. Shorter-term changes can still be made that can have a significant impact on this school, changes that should not be ignored.

Over the course of preparing for this retro edition of The Technician Magazine, we heard many stories of Kettering’s for-mer glory in decades past. While the stewardship of General Motors is long behind us, some of the reputation at-tached to General Motors Institute seems to have been left behind as well. General Motors Institute was renowned across the country as one of the premier schools for engineering and management. While Kettering’s programs have retained their world-class status, our reputation cer-tainly has not. The 1998 name change to Kettering University was a necessary step to clearly separate the future of the university from that of General Motors Corporation, but fourteen years later, the Kettering University brand is underrep-resented. Even within Michigan, many high school students graduate without hearing Kettering University’s name; fewer still learn of the caliber of programs

offered here. This is simply unacceptable. Kettering

University boasts undergraduate engi-neering, science, and business co-op-erative education programs that are on par with other high-caliber institutions. From their very first semester, Kettering students are presented with an amazing opportunity to dive straight into their majors, both in school with world-class facilities and at their co-op jobs, where they partner with industry-leading com-panies. This is an invaluable opportu-nity for students to be immediately im-mersed in their chosen fields, which can help students quickly identify whether their interests align with their major. Unfortunately, this experience is not ad-equately marketed to incoming students. Kettering’s co-operative education mod-el is unique among co-op universities and should assuage the concerns of today’s parents, many of whom express undue concern over their children’s long-term success. Our co-op model has resulted in an exceptionally high employment rate for graduates entering their field of study. The lack of a Kettering table at tradition-al college fairs seems a great disservice to the reputation of our University.

While students are treated to world-class laboratories and exceptional instruc-tion from distinguished faculty, campus life falls unfortunately short. Though Thompson Hall has been a campus fix-ture since 1969, it has sadly fallen by the wayside, having been eclipsed in quality by off-campus apartments and severely undercut in price by rental housing near campus. While functional, Thompson Hall has an uninviting atmosphere that serves as a deterrent for students seek-ing the comforts of home on campus and falls significantly short of housing

options offered by Kettering’s competi-tion. On-campus food service also leaves much to be desired. While Sodexo is nor-mally a reputable food service provider, at Kettering, they provide unexceptional food at exceptionally high prices, leading to a high level of student dissatisfaction.

On the plus side, Kettering seems to be aware of these flaws and is working to correct them. In admissions, Karen Full and her team are working to increase Kettering’s name recognition across the country and preliminary data for the class of 2017 suggest their approach is working. Increasing numbers of prospec-tive students have toured campus in re-cent weeks and the Admitted Students Program has been a rousing success, both of which are promising signs of things to come. Thompson Hall is undergoing renovations, with the roof on schedule to be repaired by the start of the next aca-demic year; more improvements to stu-dent rooms are in the pipeline. Sodexo is even stepping up their game, attempting to offer higher-quality food, especially on weekends.

We believe that as the University looks to the future, these seemingly minute changes should not be overlooked. While giant sweeping changes to curricula and facilities may seem required to prepare Kettering for growth, these small altera-tions could have a dramatic effect not only on campus, but on Kettering’s repu-tation nationwide. We believe that it is entirely possible for Kettering to regain the glory it once held as General Motors Institute and to lead engineering educa-tion into another prosperous century of leadership in co-operative education.


Fixed Tuition for Kettering

Rebeccah MacKinnon

Kettering students received quite a sur-prise in their e-mail yesterday in the form of an announcement from President Mc-Mahan. After consulting with the Board of Trustees, Kettering will officially be switching to a fixed-rate, guaranteed tu-ition plan starting with the 2012–2013 academic year, which will also remove fees that students have been complaining about for years.

What does this mean for the students? Essentially, as long as a student remains in good academic standing and makes nor-mal progress to their degree, tuition will not increase during their time at Ketter-ing for up to 10 terms. A constant tuition rate will make it much easier for new students to plan for college expenses and keep a constant cost of education.

Additionally, all academic fees have been removed, including thesis fees. Any student who has already paid a thesis fee and will enroll in classes in the 2012–2013 academic year will receive a statement from the Financial Aid Office in the near future detailing any credits that will be awarded for fees already paid.

This news was met with much rejoic-ing. Kettering not only made their cur-rent students very happy with this deci-sion (after all, who doesn’t want a cheaper college education?), but also prospective students who are attempting to decide where they can afford to attend with un-certain tuition increases over the years.

No crazy fees or increasing tuition: a great step forward for Kettering.

Residence Life has now gone online with housing applications. Current stu-dents are encouraged to apply for Thomp-son Hall housing now so they can make their request for a specific unit or room before freshman students are assigned to rooms. In addition to benefits like close proximity to campus, a consolidated liv-ing expenses bill, and a newly-remodeled kitchen, new additions for the coming school year include new micro-fridges in all student rooms, an updated washer/dryer system, and, ideally, the reopening of the 4th floor.

To apply for housing for the 2012–2013 school year, go to the MyHousing site (myhousing.kettering.edu) and login with the same username and password used for e-mail and Blackboard. Click “Login to ApplyOnline,” select the ap-propriate application for the next school term, and read the housing contract. Last-ly, fill out the “Personal Preferences” sec-tion of questions, which includes normal living preferences and emergency contact information. Choosing a meal plan can also be done here, but it is optional.

Any students who wish to review their information can do so by logging back into MyHousing, and the finalized hous-ing information will be sent after June 1 via Kettering e-mail. Applications should be submitted by June 1, 2012 in order to avoid conflicting with the incoming freshmen.

Questions, comments, and other con-cerns are welcomed at [email protected].

Every other year, Alpha Sigma Alpha holds their Linking Together with aΣa “Link Sale”. The purpose of the Link Sale is to raise money for both aΣa and another organization’s philanthropic en-deavours. In 2010, Delta Tau Delta con-tributed the most with $852, followed by Pi Kappa Alpha with $521, and Sigma Chi at $42.25. Proceeds totaled $1,539.

This year, the houses were prepared. Some had been saving up the past 2 years! Only at Kettering would someone stay up past midnight calculating how to win while still profiting!

Donation collection ended at exactly 1:20pm on 9th Thursday. Blank checks were held at the ready for one final do-nation. In the end, Delta Chi donated the most at $1,250. Sigma Chi followed at $1,006, and Delta Tau Delta placed 3rd with $728.

Proceeds amounted to $3,470.50! This was more than double the amount col-lected the previous time the Link Sale was held. $1,870.25 will be donated to The V Foundation, which is Delta Chi’s national philanthropy, and the other $1,870.25 will be split between Alpha Sigma Alpha’s two national philanthro-pies, the S. June Smith Center and the Special Olympics.

Can You See Yourself Here?

Katie Bosio Residence Life

Linking Together with A ∑ A

Marian Swagler

Photo courtesy of aΣa

17

Faculty Profiles

Dr. Joe Salacuse Professor of Mathematics

Hometown: Niagara Falls, New York

Time at Kettering: 27 yearsFavorite class: The class I hap-pen to be teaching at

the timeFirst/current/favorite car: Impala, Ca-dillac sts, toss-up between the Lincoln Mark viii and my current caddyBiggest accomplishment: Personally, getting my wife to marry me—we all get lucky now and then. Professionally, my work with other members of the mathematics Faculty in creating the Mathematics Program at Kettering—I

am quite proud of the program and its future look bright. Also, my work on the Resource Committee and with members of the Faculty Senate in help-ing to get Kettering back on track—I am quite proud of our Institution, and its future looks very bright.Restaurant: Lucca’s Chop House (high-end), Ruggero’s (Italian), The Hollywood Diner (other)Pet peeve: Do the homework!Color: Black as in Impala, Cadillac, and Mark viiiCurrent cell phone: I have never owned one: I don’t want people callingCalculator: MapleEmbarrassing moment: Losing the golden gloves in Buffalo, ny; it is not that easy to be Rocky MarcianoNicknames: Gmi Joe (my license plate) and whatever students may call me; I would rather not knowMovie: GoodfellasDon’t leave home without it: My .357 (only kidding, for now)Sanity: I talk to myself

Beverage: A good brandy (vsop), Bushmills Irish Whisky, a good Italian (red) wineWork before Kettering: I held a num-ber of post-doc positions: University of Guelph (Canada), Cornell, National Bureau of Standards (now the National Institute of Science and Technology). My prior non-academic position was on the section gang of the Penn-Central Railroad in Niagara Fall. My main duty was swinging a spike mall; I decided there must be an easier way to make a livingFirst job: Dish and tray washer in my high school cafeteria. Yes, in the “old days” we used to have trays.Opinion on cafeteria: I like the salads; they should give the trays back Research: Classical Statistical Mechan-icsDissertation: The Statistical Thermo-dynamics of Polydisperse Systems; I am pleased to say that the paper based upon this work has been cited approximately 200 times.

Dr. Kathryn SvinarichAssociate Professor of Physics

Hometown: Flint, MiGradu-ate school: Wayne State UniversityLength of time at Ketter-ing: 20 yearsFavorite class

to teach: Electricity and Magnetism (Phys 2)Biggest accomplishment: Juggling personal and professional life

First/current/favorite car: I don’t drive, but I’ve always liked the SuburbanMusic listened to/favorite: Classical, especially VivaldiFavorite restaurant in Flint: Bangkok PeppersFavorite food: Fresh foodsPet peeve: Not living up to their poten-tialFavorite book: The Jack Ryan series by Tom ClancyCurrent cell phone: An ancient lgFirst calculator: A 4-function calcula-tor, though my favorite was the hp41cFavorite movie: The Muppet MovieI don’t leave home without my ___: SunglassesSanity: YogaIdeal vacation: Hiking or mountain climbing

Favorite sport to play: ShootingFavorite sport to watch/team: Gym-nasticsWhat do you do on your non-teaching term: Cook a lot and focus on being a wife and momFavorite beverage: TeaCompanies worked for before Ket-tering: Came straight here from grad schoolFirst job: Worked at my grandfather’s canvas tent repair storeOpinion on our cafeteria food: I never go; I bring my own lunchFavorite TV show: West WingWhat was your dissertation on: Elastic properties of thin metals with laser pulses


Age of Technology

Devin Aryan

Technology has become an integral part of society. From automobiles to microwave ovens, cell phones to Blu-ray, people use technology without even thinking about its origins or where it was forty years ago. Even if one were to con-sider how far technology has advanced, such thought doesn’t occur every day. In a world where technology caters to our every need, one should realize what life would be like without such conveniences.

Behind the major headlines of the 1970s, commercial technologies were readying themselves for an explosion into the future. In 1970, the Datapoint 2200 hit shelves. While it was intended to simply be a cost-effective terminal for connecting mainframes, the business sec-tor viewed it as a personal computer, and thus it became so. Pocket calculators were commercialized in the 70s as well, with the first ones released in Japan in 1970 and spreading worldwide quickly after.

In 1971, Computer Space, a coin operated arcade system, became the first commer-cially sold video game. Also in 1971, ibm became the first company to commercial-

ize the floppy disk and the first e-mail transmission took place. 1973 saw the first voice mail system, as well as the first cell phone call. The late 1970s also witnessed the microwave oven and the vcr becom-ing common household items.

Meanwhile, electronics boomed dur-ing the 1980s. Video games had become a major industry by 1982, but when person-al computers exploded onto the scene, there was a major crash in the industry. It essentially ceased to exist until Nintendo released the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985, which would lead

Nintendo to claim 90% of the American video-game market by 1989. The Game Boy was released in 1989. Personal computers also boomed in this decade, especially with the 1982 re-

lease of the Commodore 64, which was later given the title of best-selling com-puter model of all time. Apple released the first Macintosh computer in '84, the Macintosh 128k, which was the first com-mercially successful computer to use a graphical user interface and a mouse. The music industry was also greatly impacted by the increased popularity from the re-lease of the Walkman and boombox.

With the overall good state of the econ-omy in the 1990s, electronic technol-ogy hit the forefront of the economy and revolutionized the market. On August 6, 1991, the World Wide Web got a public face, revolutionizing the American way of life. To aid the integration of the inter-net into people’s lives, faster internet con-nections quickly became available. E-mail became popular, as did instant messaging

with aim being one of the first programs to use this concept. E-commerce web-sites were born, and E-commerce only companies, such as Amazon, grew rap-idly. Mpman, the first mp3 player, was released in 1998. Apple introduced the iMac, which began the company’s growth into the forefront of the technology in-dustry. Cd-rom drives became standard for computers along with the cd burner. Along the same lines, the dvd-format was developed and popularized. Pagers became popular, though they were be-ginning to be replaced by mobile phones. Finally, the music industry was heavily affected by the massive popularity that the portable cd player accumulated. As for videogames, Sony entered the field with the PlayStation, and Sega’s hold on the industry began to wane. In addition,

Pokémania hit the worldwide scene with the original release of Pokémon Red and Pokémon Green in Japan. The esrb rat-ing system was introduced as well.

Electronic technology continued to boom in the 2000s as it solidified its importance in most peoples’ lives. The internet continued to grow rapidly and became wirelessly accessible by more de-vices than just computers by the end of the decade. E-mail became a standard form of written communication. Music downloads, data compression, and file

19

Age of Technology

Melancholy March

Devin Aryan

For video games, this March has not been too exciting. Though it had a few major hits, the month has otherwise passed fairly quietly. It began with a bang, however, with the March 6 release of Mass Effect 3. The game allows the player to import saved files from Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 to alter how the final chapter plays out. It is considered to be better overall than the previous two, being a more in-depth rpg and having a multiplayer mode.

Contributing to the bang and bringing out the fighter in all of us, Street Fighter X Tekken also beat its way into the mar-ket on March 6. Being Capcom’s ver-sion of crossover between two popular series, Street Fighter X Tekken includes characters from both Street Fighter and Tekken with the fights utilizing Street Fighter mechanics. By allowing the con-trol of two characters and having battles in a tag team format, the game plays like most Street Fighter games, though a few new mechanics were added. With NamcoBandai’s version of the crossover, Tekken X Street Fighter, in development, a 2012 release could mean the two games dominate the genre for the year.

March 11 hosted the release of Mario Party 9. While it is the first game in the series to be developed by a company other than Hudson Soft, the game is very similar to past Mario Party games. One of the new features, however, is the in-clusion of a final boss at the end of every game. Receiving positive reviews, Mario

Party 9 is a great family game.March 13 was the release date for Tales

of Graces ƒ. Being the 12th mothership title for the series, and the newest to North America, Tales of Graces ƒ is ac-tually an enhanced PS3 port of the Wii game Tales of Graces, which was released in Japan only. Being a part of the jrpg genre, the game received great reviews from Japanese reviewers, earning the title of best rated game within the series until the 13th mothership title was released. As it is one of the rivals of the Final Fantasy series in Japan, rpg lovers of all kinds should get this game.

The final game generating a lot of talk is Kid Icarus: Uprising, which will be re-leased on March 23. This is considered the third game in the series; however, it’s the first in made in 19 years. Featuring two game modes, flight and ground combat, the game seems to be really well done. With the added decision of fighting in a melee style or ranged attack style, the game seems to really encourage playing within one’s own comfort zone.

March had its share of major titles, but it’s nothing too special. March did, however, wrap up Q1 of 2012, sending us into Q2 with a surprisingly low count of confirmed and finished games. The heavy hitters, for now, are Prototype 2, Sorcery, and Darksiders II. Hopefully the industry will quickly get more games an-nounced as Q2 gets underway. Only time will tell, however, so look forward to it.

sharing became massively popular. The usb Flash Drive replaced the Floppy disk. Online websites and search engines, such as Amazon, Google, MySpace, YouTube, Wikipedia, and Facebook, became mas-sively popular in the public sphere. Digital cameras essentially replaced more expensive film cameras. Photo resolution also increased and face recognition soft-ware began to be implemented in most devices with digital cameras by the end of the decade. Graphics cards advanced tremendously and flat panel displays for televisions replaced the cathode ray tubes. Dvr technologies became widely popular while the dvd and Blu-ray for-mats replaced vcr technology. High definition television became popular in the second half of the decade. Mobile phones, texting, and smartphones gained major popularity through the decade. In videogames, the PlayStation 2 became the best-selling console of all time while the market hit the 7th generation with the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and the Wii game consoles. In addition, the shooter genre gained massive popularity.

With the exponential growth rate of technology, where will the world be two decades from now? What new technolo-gies will become an everyday idea for the people of 2037? Will social network-ing websites continue to be popular, or will they be replaced by something else? Should the phrase be “technology has come so far,” or “technology has just begun”? Before humanity goes speed-ing into the next big trend, though, one should take a moment to look back and ponder what the world has seen thus far, for there was a time before hd television and Facebook, just as there will be a time after.

Photos courtesy of Wikipedia


Tyler Van Eck is The Technician’s Copy Editor. He is also on a horse.

Devin Aryan is a Technician staff mem-ber that does nothing useful whatsoever. He sits around and eats all the food, wasting space and air. He’s a Chemical Engineer that needs to be disposed off. You might see him lounging around, playing video games, and eating someone else’s food.

Dominic Jandrain is full of empty promises about getting articles written on time. Interested in things. Hobbies include activities. Does not excel at socializing.

Kaitlin Solovey is a Computer Science major who claims to hail from Battle Creek, Michigan. She currently serves as The Technician's absolutely fantastic Lay-out Editor. She enjoys shopping, and can be found over work term in the Renais-sance Center working for gm OnStar. She is also awesome.

Rebeccah MacKinnon is The Techni-cian’s resident bisectional student from Randolph, Massachusetts. While not bouncing around campus in her ador-able squirrel hat or rambling about math to an uninterested eic, she’s posting the paper to the interwebz in her position as Online Editor. Also, she has green hair at the moment.

Robert Hayes just finished his first year as Editor-in-chief of The Technician. He also contributes a regular automo-tive column and was previously Online Editor. Though most of his time is spent obsessing over his new Focus and read-ing automotive news, Robert manages to divide the rest of his time between The Technician and his Mechanical Engineer-ing studies.

Matthew White has been escalat-ing his journalism career ever since he walked on to Kettering's campus. He's interviewed two sitting presidents, the Board, and a handful of other people. His newest adventure as Assistant Editor was covering the visit of Mitt Romney. While on work term, he works at a day-care for developers.

The Technician Staff

21

Adlai Milbitz is a Senior II Mechanical Engineer from Denton, Texas. He assists The Technician with special reports and also contributes occasional photographs.

Alan Xia is a Freshman II and The Tech-nician’s diligent Distribution Editor.

Matthew Holland occasionally finds a good picture, so The Technician pub-lishes it.

The Technician Staff

John Oliver joined The Technician early in the Winter 2011 term and has fol-lowed various stories, reporting on jobs and Kettering Student Government. Also, he’s hilarious.

Joseph Stevenson is a freshman, and a top-notch photographer for The Techni-cian. His work usually graces the center spread of the newspaper.

Marian Swagler is a junior and an oc-casional contributor to The Technician.

Erin Boyse is a freshman, and proud to be one of the few Business majors here. This is her first term as part of The Tech-nician. She enjoys reading, being with friends, and long walks on the beach.

Dr. Christine Levecq is an assistant professor of Liberal Studies and the The Technician’s faculty advisor. She provides input on the content and style of the paper to further perfect the publication.

Betsy Homsher is the Dean of Students and The Technician’s staff advisor. She provides input to keep the paper as an organization running effectively.


Fixing the Ratio

The Daily Bulldog

By Dominic JandrainInvestigative Journalist

In the never-ending quest for admis-

sions, Kettering's administration had be-

gun an elaborate attempt to improve the

disappointing male-to-female ratio on

campus. While the administration had

known about the stressed and depressed

masses of lonely guys for some time, the

decision to bring in more females was fi-

nally made after several bad evaluations

from co-op employers. It had become ap-

parent that co-op students were unable

to interact with women in the workplace

without bringing the atmospheric awk-

wardness levels above the osha recom-

mended limit of 8.3 Trekkies.

Since this revelation, several liberal

studies majors have been added to the

curriculum and the admissions depart-

ment has begun marketing to girls show-

ing disinterest in academics. The admin-

istration believes that the decision will

lead to better student morale, improved

performance in the workplace, and in-

creased admissions.

In order to attract prospective female

students, several new scholarships are

now being offered to female applicants

rated to be compatible with nerds. In or-

der to determine which female applicants

were to be given scholarships, a board

of students was formed to select appli-

cants based on interviews and physical

attractiveness. However, the problem of

“Kettering goggles” proved to be quite

difficult to overcome, with all applicants

receiving perfect ratings from all board

members. In an attempt to solve the issue,

the Board of Normal Males (bnm) was

formed from students from other colleg-

es that would judge applicants' physical

attractiveness objectively.

It was then suggested that, since the

Kettering students no longer had any

input in the process, applicants fill out

a questionnaire based on their interests,

hobbies, favorite movies, and the like to

find young women with qualities cur-

rent students looked for. The results from

these questionnaires were then compared

with ratings from the bnm to find the

ideal young women for Kettering.

Male Kettering students were polled

in order to determine which qualities

they looked for in a partner. The results

showed that not only did the students be-

lieve that the most important quality in a

woman is physical attractiveness, but also

that they strongly prefer a woman that

plays video games, drinks exclusively en-

ergy drinks and Mountain Dew, is skilled

in the art of sandwich-making, watches

Pokémon, and has an insatiable desire

to “study”. The questionnaire format was

discarded after no applicants passed.

The issue was finally solved when a

team of computer science professors cre-

ated a program that analyzed the Face-

book pages of applicants. The program

analyzed images of applicants for symme-

try and other features that males biologi-

cally respond to. The program also ana-

lyzes status posts and comments from the

profile to determine estimations of iq,

ability to withstand extreme awkward-

ness, and the like.

The selection process has proven a great

success so far, with the female-to-male ra-

tio of admitted students already at a re-

cord high. Facilities Management has be-

gun preparing for the change by actually

removing urinals from the women's rest-

rooms in Thompson Hall. The number

of sororities on campus is also likely to

increase in the near future, as well as the

similarities between Kettering sororities

and sororities as represented in pop cul-

ture. If the program is successful, Ketter-

ing admissions will increase considerably,

and potentially make Kettering the most

applied-to co-op engineering school in

the universe.

“All the news that’s fit to print, some that isn’t, and more besides”

23

The Daily Bulldog

Kettering MemesBy Dominic Jandrain and Tyler Van EckInvestigative Reporters

Since the inception of the Texas

A&Memes Facebook page, university

students everywhere have scrambled to

demonstrate that they, too, can use In-

sanity Wolf, Socially Awkward Penguin,

and their comrades-in-arms as inside

jokes, something more than just run-of-

the-mill content. Of course, not everyone

understands the joke, but the new level of

personality adds a nice touch and at the

very least, it is a prime source of procras-

tination.

The term “meme” was coined by Rich-

ard Dawkins (from “memetic mutation”)

to define an idea, behavior or style that

spreads from person to person within a

culture via non-genetic means. The term

today is commonly used interchangeably

with “internet meme,” though the meme’s

medium is not inherently limited to the

Internet. Some souls even think of the

term strictly as “images with captions on

them” instead of that meme’s meaning in

a particular context. Although these peo-

ple are wrong in their definitions, when

they post a picture on Facebook that is

shared and altered by multiple people,

they have still technically shared a meme.

Naturally, the University Memes pages

tend to attract people who are unclear on

the meaning or proper usage of a meme.

When these people try to make their own

memes, they often produce hilariously

terrible results, which are funny in their

own way. Even though they simply didn't

know any better, this has, of course, led

to people arguing on the internet; a topic

we should all be familiar with by now.

People on the internet just love pointing

out that they know something that some-

one else doesn't, like why the internet

finds Xzibit amusing, or what the various

wolves on different colored backgrounds

stand for. It must be admitted, though,

that these people can hardly be blamed

after seeing the horrible misuse of some-

thing so familiar to them.

Kettering, of course, is not exempt

from this tidal wave. In the never-ending

quest to prove their mastery of culture

and current-generation social critique,

Kettering students scrambled to assem-

ble their own University Memes page.

It grew explosively in a short period of

time, but later growth stagnated; about

900 people, or roughly the undergradu-

ate portion of A-section, began following

the page within a week’s time.

Contrary to the typical measure of

meme misuse found on other pages,

though, Kettering students once again

excel in the proper usage of these memes.

All entries found under the Photos sec-

tion can be appropriated and recognized

without fail, and not a single meme was

abused in the process. Credit for this pro-

ficiency can be given to the Liberal Stud-

ies department, which has increased their

level of intervention with students to the

point where it has become another major

selling point of the University. After all,

who doesn’t know the reference behind

Forever Alone Guy captioned with “Se-

cret innermost machine is hasn’t retardi-

cal?”

All memes are courtesy of the Kettering

Memes Facebook page.

The Technician Magazine Winter 2012

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Transcript of The Technician Magazine Winter 2012