Mailbox

Dear editor
Four Northern Michigan University student government representatives traveled to Lansing on March 23 to campaign for increased higher education funding.
Michelle Cox, president of the Associated Students of NMU (ASNMU), off-campus representatives Aaron Jorbin and Erik Maillard and College of Arts and Sciences representative Betsy Ott headed to the state capitol as part of the “Upper Hand” campaign, joined by Michigan Tech and Lake Superior State University student government representatives.
The Upper Hand campaign—named for the Michigander habit of using their hands to demonstrate locale within the state—began in November after an ASNMU delegation attended an Association of Michigan Universities conference and roundtable discussion about students playing a role in increasing higher education awareness. AMU is an alliance of the fifteen Michigan public universities.
The Upper Hand Campaign will serve as the coalition for the Upper Peninsula’s three public universities and their student bodies to voice the need for adequate higher education funding despite the miles between the campuses and Lansing.
ASNMU wants to be acknowledged as having a presence in Lansing, regardless of our geographic location. Although the U.P. campuses are distanced from our representative and senator offices, our goal is to be in front of them every day in one way or another. On this trip, we discussed issues face-to-face.
ASNMU’s twenty-eight elected members sit on the NMU President’s Council and a variety of other university committees, and report regularly to the NMU Board of Trustees about student needs and issues. ASNMU representatives are selected in a campus-wide election each spring for the following academic year.
For details, call ASNMU at 227-2452 or visit asnmu.nmu.edu
—Kimberly M. Stobb
ASNMU Vice President

Area volunteers needed for elementary school programs
Superior Hills Elementary School in Marquette has received a grant from the Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs and CUPPAD.
The grant funds an integrated program of Ojibwa art and music, service art, music and movement, historical role playing and fitness activities for the three third-grade classes at Superior Hills planned for May.
Volunteers are needed for the program, “Anything Margy Can Do,” designed by Suzan Travis-Robyns, based on her biographical research of Margy McNamara, the founder of Reading is Fundamental (RIF). RIF is the world’s largest children’s literacy organization. Superior Hills students receive three free books of their choosing through RIF each year.
McNamara was a major figure in the history of volunteerism and anti-poverty programs in the United States.
The Ojibwa art and music component was designed by Liana Loonsfoot, and will be taught by Loonsfoot, Sheri Loonsfoot-Aldred and Julie Synder.
Through “Anything Margy Can Do,” Superior Hills will partner with the Upper Peninsula Children’s Museum for a service art project and with Northern Michigan University, where children will use the Physical Education and Instructional Facility (PEIF), and learn to use NMU’s climbing wall.
College and high school students who would like to assist with activities at the PEIF, the Ojibwa art and music component or the music and movement component are asked to call Travis-Robyns at 226-1926.

Northwest announces flight schedule for coming summer
Sawyer International Airport staff announced that existing flight schedules to Detroit and Minneapolis-St. Paul will remain intact for the upcoming summer travel season.
Northwest Airline officials confirmed operations for all five daily flights on Mesaba’s popular thirty-four-seat Saab SF-340 regional turbo-prop aircraft.
Sawyer’s summer schedule, beginning on or about June 9 is as follows:
• Marquette to Detroit flights depart at 6:00 a.m., 11:15 a.m., 2:30 p.m. and 5:55 p.m.
• The Marquette to Minneapolis-St. Paul flight departs at 7:40 p.m.

Midsummer festival plans fundraising events
The committee planning the 2006 edition of the Marquette Scandinavian Midsummer has scheduled fundraising activities to offset a combination of increasing expenses and decreasing funding sources.
All proceeds from these events will be used to support the broad spectrum of pan-Scandinavian culture presented at Midsummer, to be held this year on June 24 at Marquette’s Presque Isle Park from 10:00 a.m. to dusk.
Two bake sales will be held; donations of baked goods are welcome for both.
The first will be April 20 at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church on the corner of, Presque Isle and Fair avenues in Marquette; it is hosted and sponsored by St. Mark’s Fellowship and begins at 11:00 a.m. Call 226-9339 for details.
The second event will be May 18 at the National Ski Hall of Fame in Ishpeming; it is hosted by the U.P. Chapter of the League of Finnish American Societies and begins at 11:00 a.m. Call 486-4238 for details.
On May 7, the committee will hold a public dance featuring Ron Jarvinen and Friends. The dance will be held at the Marquette Masonic Building, located at 128 West Washington from 3:00 to 7:00 p.m. Use the entrance opposite the lower level of the Bluff Street parking structure. Beverages and light foods will be available. Tickets may be purchased at Scandinavian Gifts, from committee members or at the door. For details, call 226-9617.

Marquette Choral Society to present Spring Concerts
The Marquette Choral Society will present its spring concerts at 7:30 p.m. on April 29, and 3:00 p.m. on April 30, at St. Peter Cathedral in Marquette. The chorus will perform the completed Mozart’s Mass in C Minor.
Tickets are $6 each and may be purchased from any choral society member, at Lutey’s Flower Shop or at the door.
The recipient of the 2006 Upper Peninsula Choral Leadership Award recipient will be honored at the April 30 concert. The Choral Leadership Award was launched in 1991 to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the Marquette Choral Society. It honors individuals who have given at least ten years service to choral music in the Upper Peninsula and who have demonstrated excellence in teaching, conducting and support for quality choral music in the Upper Peninsula.
The Marquette Choral Society is directed this year by Wayne Hanmer, while regular director Floyd Slotterback is on sabbatical. Marquette Choral Society is sponsored in part by Northern Michigan University.

Faith, environmental groups plan next clean sweep
An environmental army comprised of the Upper Peninsula religious community, university students, environmental groups and an American Indian tribe wants the public to turn in more than 100 tons of electronic waste on Earth Day 2006, one year after more than forty-five tons of household poisons were collected during the first Earth Keeper Clean Sweep.
The second annual Earth Keeper Clean Sweep, set for April 22, is sponsored by nine U.P. faith communities with 130,000 members, the Central Lake Superior Watershed Partnership (CLSWP), the Cedar Tree Institute and the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community.
The clean sweep is funded partially by a grant from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Great Lakes National Program Office that was awarded to CLSWP.
Electronic waste, commonly called “e-waste,” includes communication and entertainment electronics. Examples of e-waste are personal computers, cell phones, faxes, televisions, compact disc players and other common household items. Heavy metals found in e-waste include lead, zinc, chromium, cadmium and mercury. Trace elements found in e-waste include germanium, gallium, barium, nickel, arsenic, cobalt, manganese, silver and platinum.
E-waste that will be accepted this year includes desktop and laptop computers, monitors, printers, cell phones, traditional phones, fax machines, televisions, CD players, stereos, record players and nickel-cadmium batteries.
No component or item can be heavier than one person can lift.
For details, call Greg at 475-5068 or e-mail earthkeeper@charter.net

What’s new at the Marquette Arts and Culture Center
• Jill Mahoney’s digital art will be on display in the Marquette Arts and Culture Center Lower Level Gallery located in Peter White Public Library. The exhibit will be on display for the month of April. A reception will be held from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. on April 6. The reception is free and open to the public.
• MACC will offer workshops in the following areas: acting, beginning and intermediate Italian, old time banjo, writing fiction, fused glass suncatcher/nightlight, the art of color and mixing, pastels, voice lessons, piano lessons, movement and relaxation, German language 101. You must pre-register one week in advance. For details, visit www.mqtcty.org, e-mail arts@mqtcty.org or call 228-0472.
• Marquette Arts Organizations that want to have their summer arts and cultural events occurring between June and August 2006 published in the Marquette Summer Arts Calendar should submit the information via e-mail to nnason@mqtcty.org, mail it to Marquette Arts and Culture Center, 300 W. Baraga, Marquette, MI 49855 or fax to 228-0479 by April 15.
• Nominations are needed for the tenth annual Marquette County Arts Awards. To nominate someone in the appropriate categories, submit a letter by April 12 to nnason@mqtcty.org or mail it to City of Marquette Arts and Culture Committee, 300 W. Baraga Ave., Marquette, MI 49855. The letter must include a description of the person/business and why they should be nominated for the award. Nominees must reside in Marquette County.
• The First Thursday of the Month Series presents poetry by Kim Nixon by at 7:00 p.m. on April 6 in the Community Room located in the lower level of the Peter White Public Library. Admission is $2 per person.
• Lake Superior Theatre will be holding auditions for the Summer 2006 Season which includes productions of A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum and Bye Bye Birdie. The casting calls for both male and female roles of all ages. Technical and business staff is also needed. A pianist will be provided at auditions.
• Bands, musicians or musical groups wishing to be a part of the UnCommon Thursday concert series in downtown Marquette this summer every Thursday from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., July 6 through August 31 can apply by submitting a demo CD and contact information to Kathy Weber of the Downtown Marquette Association.

Free continuing education for state nurses and dietitians
The Upper Peninsula Diabetes Outreach Network (UPDON) will offer free online continuing education credits for nurses and dietitians.
Eight different modules are available: Diabetes Eye Care, Foot Care and Diabetes, Diabetes and Hypertension, Basic Nutrition and Diabetes, Type 1 Diabetes, Type 2 Diabetes in Adults, Gestational Diabetes and Diabetes and Kidney Disease. Each is worth two hours of contact hours for nurses and two CPEU for dietitians.
The modules can be completed online and a certificate of completion will be e-mailed immediately. Visit www.diabetesinmichigan.org and click on “Independent Study Modules” for details or call UPDON at (800)369-9522.

UPPAA schedules annual conference at Northern
The Upper Peninsula Publishers and Authors Association is sponsoring a conference/workshop for members and guests on April 29 in the Explorer Rooms of NMU’s University Center.
Pre-registration is required and a conference fee of $10 for members and $15 for non-members is payable with registration. Several workshops are planned and attendees will be able to attend one in each of the three conference sessions.

Hiawatha Music Co-op news
• The Hiawatha Music Co-op has planned the main-stage line-up for its twenty-eighth annual Hiawatha Traditional Music Festival, scheduled for July 21 through 23, at Tourist Park in Marquette. The co-op has contracts signed or pending with the following acts: The Mammals, Garnet Rogers, Cephas and Wiggins, Dale Ann Bradley, The Royal Garden Trio, The Jalya Ensemble with Mady Kouyate, Solazo, the Wild Goose Chase Cloggers and Pat Madden and Sally Potter. In addition, the festival’s Teen Scene will feature Back Forty and the Electric Porcupine Dance Band. Advance tickets sales will be on sale from noon on May 30 to 6:00 p.m. on July 18. Adult weekend tickets are $45 each in advance. For additional ticket prices, performer links and other information, visit www.hiawathamusic.org
• Pam Metivier of Sault Ste Marie was the winner of the Hiawatha Traditional Music Festival 2006 logo contest. She will receive a cash prize, weekend festival tickets for two, and a festival T-shirt and mug featuring her winning design. Metivier lives and works in Sault Ste Marie as a teacher at JKL Bahweting School. She and her family have attended the Hiawatha Festival for about twenty years. She is a musician and has performed open-mike sessions at the festival. The co-op received fifty-nine entries from fifty artists in this year’s contest.
• The public is invited to an April 22 folk dance co-sponsored by the Hiawatha Music Co-op and the Peter White Public Library. Activities start at 6:30 p.m. in the PWPL community room, with a one-hour family dance designed for youngsters. From 7:30 to 10:00 p.m., more advanced dances will be featured. The band will offer instruction, and singles are welcome. No partner is necessary. Dance admission will be by donation at the door. In addition to the Saturday dance, Duck for the Oyster will present a folk-dance program in the Marquette Area Public Schools on April 21. The district is helping to sponsor the band’s Marquette appearance.
For details, call 226-8575 or e-mail hiawatha@portup.com

Fueling the Future with Biodiesel workshop planned
On April 12, the Graduate Student Union will host a two-session Biodiesel Workshop in the Michigan Room of Northern Michigan University’s Don H. Bottom University Center.
The first session will be from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. and is open to Upper Peninsula diesel fleet managers, state and local government representatives and public school officials interested in learning about biodiesel as a transportation fuel option. The second session will be an educational workshop for the general public on biodiesel from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Both events will feature guest speakers Keith Reinholt (Michigan Soybean Council), Chris Case (Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore facility manager) and the Marquette Senior High School Biodiesel Research Group.
Call 226-1136 for details.

Ambassadors honor award-winners at annual banquet
The Marquette County Ambassadors announced the honorees of the eighteenth annual Community Excellence and Progress Awards.
The luncheon and awards presentation has been scheduled at noon on April 21 at the Wawonowin Country Club.
Citizen of the Year is Waino Liuha. Organization of the Year is the Greater Ishpeming Area Community Fund and the business of the year is Crown Motors of Negaunee. The Business Person of the Year is Ron Katers.
Criteria for nominations included implementation of a recognizable improvement to the area; contribution through time, resources or efforts to community-oriented projects and demonstrated leadership. This year’s honorees affected positive change in the area and contributed a great deal to the community.
In addition, progress awards will be presented to businesses and organization of western Marquette County for major external renovations or new construction during 2005. Recipients include: Centrup Properties, Kris Warshawsky LTD, Jasper Ridge Vacation Homes, Venice Supper Club, Hilltop RV, Curves, Champion Cenex Mini Mart and Bethany Lutheran Church.
Cost for the luncheon is $20 per person for a lunch buffet. Reservations can be made by calling 486-4841 or e-mailing cshuty@marquette.org by April 13.

Male chorus welcomes new members, plans concert
The Marquette Male chorus has welcomed retired Bishop James Garland and other new members Rich Beyers, Norm Gruber, “Huck” Hakala, Jerry Irby and Ken Boyer. They joined Bill Cooke and Jude Carrier and other singers, along with director Wayne Hanmer and accompanist Joy Yuill.
The chorus will present “On the Midway” at the Masonic Temple in downtown Marquette at 7:30 p.m. on April 21 and 22. Tickets are $6 for adults and $4 for seniors and children. They can be purchased at all Range Banks or by calling any of the chorus members.

Nature Conservancy releases schedule for field trips
Each year, The Nature Conservancy of Michigan invites its members and the general public to attend field trips illuminating some of Michigan’s most spectacular nature preserves.
This year, ten field trips will be offered in various locations across the state. Expert guides will lead participants on hikes through forests, fens, prairies and other habitat types. Participants will also learn specifics about each region’s natural features, especially their unique flora and fauna.
Trips of various levels of difficulty start in April and continue through August.
Trip costs are $10 for members and $15 for nonmembers, which qualify as a tax-deductible donation to the nonprofit organization. Interested participants must register by calling Carol Bryson at (517)316-0300 ext. 206 or e-mailing her at mifotrips@tnc.org
For details, visit www.nature.org/michigan

Organization to fundraise for Lake Superior national parks
The National Parks of Lake Superior Fund (NPLSF) is a newly organized, privately funded effort to provide money for special projects in the four U.S. national parks on Lake Superior, over and above current appropriated funds.
The fund’s mission is to support the stewardship of the natural and cultural resources of Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Isle Royale National Park and Grand Portage National Monument and to enrich the experience of those who visit these special places.
The National Parks of Lake Superior Fund is affiliated with the National Park Foundation, the nonprofit partner of the United States National Park System.
To learn more about the National Parks of Lake Superior Fund, or to donate to the fund, call 228-7914, write to P.O. Box 632, Houghton, MI 49931, visit www.nationalparksoflakesuperior.org or e-mail info@nplsf.org

United States Olympic Education Center update
• 2006 Winter Olympic games summary—Thirty-one U.S. athletes and three U.S. coaches had direct ties to the USOEC. Shani Davis, USOEC summer resident athlete and Marquette Senior High School graduate won a gold medal in the 1,000-meter race and a silver medal in the 1,500-meter race. Apolo Anton Ohno, who trained or competed at the USOEC at least four times over the years earned a gold medal in the 500-meter race, a bronze medal in the 1,000-meter race, and another bronze medal in the 5,000-meter relay. Former USOEC resident athletes Alex Izykowski and JP Kepka also earned bronze medals in the 5,000-meter relay. At least forty more athletes who represented fourteen other countries at the Olympic Games were in Marquette for the World Cup in 2003. These athletes won a total of eighteen medals at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games.
• Olympic month—Olympic month will be held in April 2006 instead of March as originally planned. Dream Club members and the general public are encouraged to support participating businesses during Olympic Month.
• Olympic Challenge summary—An exciting Olympic Challenge competition was held on February 20 in the Superior Dome. USOEC athletes competed against teams from Canada, the Czech Republic and the U.S. Army. A total of $886.40 was raised and donated to the Copeland and Huckabee families.
• Recent competition results—The men’s and women’s wrestling teams recently competed at the Dave Schultz Memorial Tournament in Colorado Springs. Harry Lester finished in first place and Cheney Haight finished in second place. Finishing fourth were Dallas Seavey and Adam Wheeler, while Joe Betterman and Willie Madison finished in fifth. For the ladies, Deanna Rix finished second, Mary Kelly and Sharon Jacobson each finished third, Randi Miller finished fourth, and Stephanie Shaw finished fifth.
• Miscellaneous—The USOEC will soon begin a search for a new marketing director. This key position will be responsible for marketing Olympic license plates, soliciting sponsors for the USOEC and promotions for the center. U.S. Speedskating recently named three Coaches of the Year and all three have ties to the USOEC. Volunteer Coach of the Year Cindi Hart is a former cyclist who coached both cycling and speedskating at the USOEC in the early 1990s. Development Coach of the Year Jimmy Jang currently is the head coach at the USOEC, while National Coach of the Year Li Yan is the former head coach at the USOEC.

Tidbits from the desk of Senator Debbie Stabenow
• The budget bill passed by the Senate includes a plan authored by U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-Michigan) and Carl Levin (D-Michigan) taking the first step toward making Canada pay the price for dumping its trash in Michigan. Their provision lays the groundwork for the United States to charge up to $45 million a year in inspection fees to Canadian trash truck companies.
• Stabenow made the following statement after a Canadian trash truck spilled part of its load onto a Huron Township overpass: “This isn’t the first time Canadian trash trucks have spilled their garbage onto our Michigan roadways, but it should be the last. Canadian trash is a hazard to our health and our security and I once again urge the President to take a strong stand for Michigan by immediately suspending all trash shipments from Canada.”
• Stabenow told a Senate panel that the Great Lakes are part of Michigan’s identity and vital to our state’s economy. In her testimony to the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, Stabenow urged her colleagues to support a bipartisan initiative to restore and protect the Great Lakes.
• Stabenow was a leader in a bipartisan effort in the Senate to restore funding for critical law enforcement efforts in Michigan and across the country. The Senate unanimously rejected the President’s budget proposal to eliminate funding for the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program.
• Stabenow continued her fight to secure proper funding for America’s first responders by offering an amendment to the fiscal year 2007 budget resolution that would provide $5 billion for reliable, compatible radio equipment.
• Stabenow has led an effort calling on Senate Budget Committee members to reject President Bush’s plan to double the cost of prescription drug co-payments and charge an annual enrollment fee for middle-income veterans. The President’s budget could increase health care costs for as many as 39,000 Michigan veterans. In a letter to Budget Committee leaders, Stabenow and eighteen of her Senate colleagues called these proposals “unacceptable” and “harmful to America’s veterans.”
• Clearing the bill for a vote by the full U.S. Senate, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee has approved U.S. Stabenow’s legislation to preserve and promote Michigan’s lighthouses.
• Stabenow called on students around the state to join the fight against severe cuts to federal education programs in the President’s budget. A new feature on Senator Stabenow’s Web site will allow Michigan students to share their experiences with federal education programs being considered for elimination and help students take action to protest these cuts.
• Stabenow and Levin introduced the Medicare-Guaranteed Prescription Drug Act of 2006 to offer a streamlined, user-friendly prescription drug benefit administered directly through Medicare. The new benefit will offer seniors and people with disabilities a choice that alleviates many of the problems with the new Medicare Prescription Drug program. 
• The Senate has passed legislation championed by Stabenow that would provide $1 billion in additional funds for the Low Income Heating Assistance Program (LIHEAP) this year. These funds would provide as much as $29 million in immediate home heating assistance to Michigan families.
•  Stabenow and Levin led the effort to defeat President Bush’s proposal to levy new tolls on commercial ships passing through the St. Lawrence Seaway. The proposed tolls would cost Great Lakes shippers an estimated $8 million in the first year alone, doubling to $16 million the following year, and increasing each year thereafter. In a bipartisan letter to the Senate Budget Committee, Stabenow, Levin and others expressed their strong concerns that the proposed tolls would result in the loss of jobs in Michigan. The proposed toll would make goods and raw materials shipped through the Great Lakes more expensive, deny Michigan farmers access to foreign markets and drive commercial shipping away from the Great Lakes.

News and notes from the desk of Bart Stupak
• As the U.S. House of Representatives considered the National Uniformity for Food Act of 2005 authored by Congressman Mike Rogers (R-Michigan), an amendment offered by Congressman Bart Stupak (D-Michigan) to allow states to notify consumers about carbon monoxide treated meat was defeated on a mostly party-line vote; carbon monoxide is used to alter the perception of freshness of meat and seafood.
• Fourteen communities in the 1st Congressional District received a total of $30,729.85 in funds through the Department of Justice for the Bullet Proof Vest Partnership Program; Stupak announced the funds saying they would be used to replace Zylon-based body armor vests in the following U.P. communities: Chocolay Charter Township ($204), Escanaba ($4,289), Gladstone ($218), Kinross Charter Township ($600), Marquette ($10,378), Menominee ($1,417.50), Munising ($1,071) and Sault Ste Marie ($2,632).

Local news and business ventures…in brief
• Pamela Noga was hired as an account executive at WJMN-TV; most recently, she was employed by Charter Media.
• WJMN-TV/CBS 3 and Charter Communications announced the agreement for Charter to carry the CBS 3 analog and digital signals on Charter cable systems through 2009; in addition, Charter has committed to carry the CBS 3 digital multi-cast feeds beginning in 2007. CBS 3 High Definition currently is on Charter cable systems and can be seen on digital cable channel 788 while the CBS 3 analog signal will continue to be broadcast throughout the Central Upper Peninsula on Channel 3.
• Shape Up Fitness Center, located in the Country Village, now is open Monday through Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Sunday, 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.; the facility includes showers and locker rooms.
• UPPCO president Gary Erickson has assumed the position of president-elect of Michigan Gas Utilities (MGU) and has relocated to the MGU headquarters in Monroe; MGU is a newly acquired subsidiary of WPS Resources Corporation, UPPCO’s parent company.
• Lake Superior State University engineering professor James Devaprasad had an article on the benefits of using universities as product testing sites published in the Robotics Industries Association publication “Robotics Online.”
• Scott Fritz opened a second facility, Classic Auto Collision Center II, at 1305 South Front Street, with his first one being in Escanaba; Classic Auto Collision Centers have direct repair contracts with most insurance companies, free courtesy cars and expert quality and customer service.
• Range Financial Corporation declared a quarterly dividend of $1 per share, payable on March 15, 2006 to shareholders of record on March 1, 2006; this is the first quarterly dividend paid in 2006 and represents a twenty-six-percent increase over the dividend paid in 2005.

April 2006
Morning is one hour before sunrise

Evening Planets—Mars is high in the WSW to West at dusk.
• Saturn is the brightest object high in the south in Cancer. Beehive star cluster is above Saturn.
• The moon joins both on the 6th.

Morning Planets—Jupiter is the brightest object in the SW at dawn.
• Venus is brightest object in the ESE.
• Crescent moon is close by on the 24th.

Moon—The moon will go through the Pleiades star cluster on the evening of the 1st.
• It will be near the bright red star Antares (Scorpio) on the 16th and 17th, 1.5 hours before sunrise.

Meteor Shower—The Lyrid meteors (radiating near the constellation of Lyra, which rises near midnight in NE) peaks on the 22nd. Ten to twenty meteors per hour. The moon is a crescent and will not interfere. Look to the NE for a bright star Vega in Lyra.

Space Missions—Venus Express Mission arrives at Venus, controlled by the European Space Agency (ESA).
• Cassini spacecraft (NASA) will fly by Saturn’s largest moon TItan for fourth time this year.

Courtesy of the Marquette Astronomical Society. The next meeting is 7:30 p.m. on April 7 in the Shiras Planetarium. For more information, visit www.geocities.com/sstobbelaar/mqtastro.html

8-18 Media Book Review
The Time Capsule by Lurlene McDaniel
Published by Delacorte, 215 Pages
The Time Capsule is one of my favorite books. Lurlene McDaniel tells a story of twins named Alexis and Adam. They are very close and have been since birth.
Alexis and Adam receive a letter from their first grade teacher during their senior year of high school. It invites them to a picnic with fellow classmates to meet the new first grade class.
At the picnic, they open a time capsule in which each of them had written a message as first graders about what they wanted to be or do when they grew up.
While Adam was satisfied with his simple message of wanting to be a firefighter, Alexis wasn’t very happy with her vague message of wanting to help people.
Adam has faced a problem since he was a child. He has leukemia. Finally, he is in remission, but then something unexpected happens to the family, which tests relationships with everyone they know. In the end, Alexis discovers that her message from the time capsule wasn’t very far off track.
What I like most about this book is that I can take different aspects of the book and put it to use in my own life.
For instance, when Adam goes into the hospital, a lot of people try to avoid him because he isn’t the same anymore. The story made me think about the way I treat people.
Even though a person might be changed by illness or another outside force, they’re still the same person inside and they deserve to be treated the same way. After all, we’re all just people.
The book deals with issues such as family, friendship and loyalty that most teens can relate to. The story is bittersweet, but worth every word.
—Emma Roy, 13

Local authors corner
• Superior Death, a mystery novel by award-winning Michigan writer Matthew Williams hits the bookstores this month. Set in an Upper Peninsula city loosely based on Marquette, it is the tale of Vince Marshall, a small-town reporter whose mother becomes the suspect in a mysterious woman’s death—a story he’s covering for the local newspaper. The more he digs for the truth, the more Vince realizes just how deep are the levels of secrecy in his small harbor town. With each exposed lie, he risks losing everything: his family, friends and reputation. While readers will be on the edge of their seat until the book’s surprise thrilling conclusion, Michigan residents and visitors alike also will enjoy the sites, events and local color common to the Great Lakes region.
Superior Death is a hard cover novel published by Avalon books of New York and is their featured mystery for spring 2006. It’s the first of three planned Lake Superior mysteries written by Williams and published by Avalon. Williams is a regular contributor to Marquette Monthly and a past winner of MM’s annual short story contest. He’s a former news reporter for The Mining Journal, author of the popular column Tot Tales and has been honored by the Michigan Press Association for his deadline reporting. For more information, visit www.mysterymatt.com
• Tyler R. Tichelaar, Marquette native and novelist, has published Iron Pioneers, the Marquette Trilogy: Book One. It is the first in a trilogy of novels spanning Marquette’s founding in 1849 until its sesquicentennial in 1999. The book is $25.95 and available from the Ingram Book Group, Baker and Taylor, and IUniverse Inc. Call (800)AUTHORS for details or visit www.marquettefiction.com

A word to the wise
Verbum satis sapientibus: A word to the wise is sufficient
Let’s say you’re assigned to write and present a report, but find you have very little to say about the subject. Or, even better, you barely know what you’re talking about. A wondrous solution was devised for you almost forty years ago by one of those faceless bureaucrats we hear so much about.
This fellow, Philip Broughton, with the federal Public Health Service, obviously had a well developed sense of humor and a good ear. He compiled what he called the Systematic Buzz Phrase Projector, three lists of overused jargon and trite terms, the sort of language trotted out to sound important and “in touch,” but communicating, at best, the vaguest meaning.
Here’s how it works. The columns are numbered, 0 to 9. The first two columns are adjectives; the third is nouns.
What you do is pick a three-digit number out of the air, then go to the projector and find those three words in the columns.
For example, as reported in Newsweek for May 6, 1968, the number 257 “produces ‘systematized logistical projection,’ a phrase that can be dropped into virtually any report with that ring of decisive, knowledgeable authority. ‘No one will have the remotest idea of what you’re talking about, says Broughton, ‘but the important thing is that they’re not about to admit it.’”
Broughton’s Projector still is a charming tool, but since the ‘60s, of course, we have made considerable progress in producing buzz words. Consequently, after exhaustive research and consultation with the best minds, I offer the following New and Improved Buzz Phrase Projector, high in useless fat and with absolutely no nutrition:
Go ahead. Try it out. Number 317 produces logistic ongoing ideation. And 089 give us proactive commoditized mind-set. Both phrases are void of meaning, but aren’t they impressive?
Column 1
0—proactive
1—incremental
2—systematized
3—logistic
4—innovative
5—implementational
6—integrated
7—responsive
8—iterative
9—collaborative

Column 2
0—win-win
1—ongoing
2—expeditious
3—value-added
4—dichotomous
5—modular
6—result-driven
7—state-of-the-art
8—commoditized
9—cutting edge

Column 3
0—methodology
1—paradigm
2—benchmark
3—empowerment
4—utilization
5—input
6—synergy
7—ideation
8—bottom line
9—mind-set

Such lists seem to be proliferating in recent years. This may mean we’re becoming more conscious about meaningless and pompous phrasing. Or maybe we just have more of it.
Verbally alert folks have even come up with various games similar to Bingo.
Broughton’s own lists, by the way, were lifted and reprinted without attribution in the Spring 1984 issue of the Wilson Quarterly.
Unconscious of the plagiarism and citing an anonymous source, its editors printed something called the Jargon Generator, using Broughton’s lists almost verbatim.
The Projector really works. I sometimes handed it out to my advanced students. Some told me later that they used phrases in reports for other classes, and their gobbledygook never was questioned.
If you can handle four digits, you can add a list of verbs as well, such as these:
access prioritize
implement impact
empower leverage
revector grow
revisit optimize
With four digits, you can grow your “collaborative win-win input” (7905). Trite figures of speech offer a whole other sphere. But at the end of the day, since we only can touch base on one absurdity at a time and stay on the same page, we’ll parking-lot that notion for another column.
Keep this column away from children.

Word for the month
Cant (pronounced just like the contraction), a word with many meanings, but here we have in mind the noun referring to conventional or trite, affected or even insincere phraseology; a set or words repeated mechanically: “Their report was mere empty cant.”
—Gerald Waite

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MM

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