Issue date: March 18, 2004

Campus Happenings

Photo by Kurt Stepnitz

Larry Rybarcyk (left) and Robert Garnett (right), both of Los Alamos National Laboratory, confer over topics under discussion at a workshop attended by 180 nuclear scientists from all over the world held March 9-13 at the MSU Biomedical and Physical Sciences Building. Jointly organized by scientists from the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL) and the physics division of Argonne National Laboratory, the workshop focused on planning the layout of the accelerator and experimental areas of the future Rare Isotope Accelerator (RIA) facility that the university is striving to bring to Michigan.

Bike Project to hold spring cleaning clinics

The MSU Bike Project is offering bike clinics from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 24, and Wednesday, April 14, at the north entrance to the basement of Demonstration Hall to help students and staff prepare their bikes for spring.

If your bike is not as ready for the spring as you are, bring it and any tools you may have for the open, free clinics, which offer a basic inspection and recommendations for repairs.

Bike owners will have the opportunity to change tires; inspect chains; adjust brakes, seats and handlebars; learn about local bicycling events; and connect with area recreational cycling opportunities.

The MSU Bike Project, a subcommittee of the University Committee for a Sustainable Campus, is dedicated to transforming recycled bicycles into a fun, economical, environmental friendly and healthy transportation alternative for the MSU community.

Volunteers have been transforming salvaged bikes and parts into serviceable, safe and distinctive green machines all winter. The goal of making bicycles available to campus departments and units is to help campus members see the value of using a bike for on-campus transportation to help reduce motorized congestion.

Ultimately, the project plans to provide bikes for hundreds of riders on campus. Almost 100 refurbished bikes will be available initially to departments and programs. Each unit will lease one or more bikes for a yearlong term and will be responsible for on-campus availability within their department or program.

Visit the Web at www.msu.edu/~bikes

CHM alumnus to give talk on dieting, nutrition

John McDougall, an alumnus of MSU’s College of Human Medicine and a renowned expert on diet and nutrition, will return to his alma mater March 18 to give a talk on current trends and myths in dieting.

McDougall will speak at 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium of the MSU Radiology Building. The talk is free and open to the public.

Since graduating from CHM in 1972, McDougall has spent his career counseling patients on diet, nutrition and healthy lifestyles. He is the founder of the McDougall Program, a 10-day residential program located in California.

He is the author of several books, including “The McDougall Program for a Healthy Heart.”

After graduating from CHM, McDougall completed his internship at Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu and his residency at the University of Hawaii.

For information on McDougall, visit the Web at www.drmcdougall.com

‘La Bohéme’ presented at Fairchild Theatre

The MSU Opera Theatre and the MSU Symphony Orchestra will present Giacomo Puccini’s classic masterpiece, “La Bohéme,” at MSU’s Fairchild Theatre at 8 p.m., Friday, March 26 and Saturday, March 27, and at 3 p.m. Sunday, March 28.

The production updates the opera to a present-day, urban landscape with a cast of more than 50 MSU students, from freshmen to doctoral level. It will be sung in Italian with English subtitles. MSU vocal arts faculty member Melanie Helton will be at the helm of this fully staged and costumed production, and will present preview lectures 45 minutes before each performance. Raphael Jimenez, associate conductor of MSU orchestras, will conduct the MSU Symphony Orchestra. Kirk Domer, MSU Theatre Department faculty member, designed the elaborate set.

Based on the novella, “Scenes from the Lives of the Bohemians,” by Henry Murger, “La Bohéme” is the story of six young, impoverished Bohemians trying to “make it” in the tough world of the arts. The poet Rodolfo loves Mimi, a young woman dying from consumption. The painter Marcello loves Musetta, a coquettish singer of easy virtue. Their friends, Schaunard, a musician, and Colline, a philosopher, try to keep a roof above everyone’s head. Soaring melodies and lush orchestrations are the backdrop for this story of passion, jealousy and ultimate tragedy.

Reserved seating tickets are $16, $12 for senior citizens, and $8 for students and those under 18, and can be purchased at the Wharton Center Box Office, (517) 432-2000, or online at
www.whartoncenter.com

For more information, call (517) 353-9958.

College to celebrate Cesar Chavez Day

The College of Agriculture and Natural Resources will be hosting a number of events in honor of Cesar Chavez, founder and first president of the United Farm Workers of America.

Baldemar Velasquez, founder of the Farm Labor Organization Committee, (FLOC) will give a public lecture, “The Legacy of Cesar Chavez and the Current Challenges Facing Farmworkers,” from 3 to 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 25, in Spartan Rooms B and C at the International Center. Velasquez worked closely with Chavez in organizing farm workers and has spoken all over the country.

Velasquez will also be holding an open meeting for all graduate students from 1:50 to 2:40 p.m. on Thursday, March 25, in A271 Plant and Soil Sciences Building.

Velasquez's visit is sponsored by the Office of Diversity and Pluralism in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at MSU.

In 1978, he led more than 2,000 workers in the largest agricultural strike in the history of the Midwest. In 1983, he led a historic march of 100 farm workers on a 600-mile march from FLOC headquarters in Toledo to Campbell's headquarters in Camden, NJ. Velasquez’ efforts led to the signing of the first three-way pact in labor history.

MSU's Office of the President, Office of the Provost, Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs and Services, and Office of Affirmative Action, Compliance and Monitoring, are among the sponsors of the ninth annual Cesar E. Chavez Commemorative Dinner on Wednesday, March 31, at the Lansing Center.

For more information contact Marquita Chamblee, (517) 353-1822, or Elva Hernandez, (517) 432-1349, or e-mail Hernandez at hernan16@msu.edu

WKAR presents ‘Vintage WKAR’ to celebrate 50th

WKAR-TV will broadcast “Vintage WKAR,” a series of programs produced by the public television station during its 50-year history. The weekly series will premiere at 2 p.m., Sunday, March 28, with a different program each week. Programs will be available online at WKAR.org for viewing the day following the television broadcast. Videotapes of programs are available for purchase from WKAR.

Bob Page, who began working at WKAR as a student when the station went on the air in 1954 and retired in 1987 from WKAR as its general manager, will introduce episodes made prior to his retirement. Steve Meuche, who became general manager in 1987 and retired in January 2004, will introduce programs made during his tenure.

The series will begin with “The Genetic Revolution,” which was produced in the mid-1960s. The subject matter – genetic manipulation – was considered far ahead of its time and still remains controversial. The late MSU professor Leroy Augenstein hosts the program, which was based on his concepts.

Most of the featured programs emphasize area places and people, or look at some of the key programming genres for which WKAR has been known, particularly political programming and its popular quiz shows. Some afternoons will feature back-to-back half-hour episodes, while other programs will be one hour in length.

The series will conclude in September 2004 with a new documentary special looking at WKAR’s history and its impact on those living in the mid-Michigan community during the past 50 years.

“While WKAR has a 50-year history of producing programs, we have found that many made prior to the mid-1960s are no longer on our shelves,” said coordinating producer Joe Barnhart. “In other cases – notably, with performance programs in which contracts were negotiated with now-famous musical superstars – we may not have broadcast rights to programs we produced ourselves.”

WKAR is celebrating its 50th anniversary season during 2004. In addition to the broadcast of “Vintage WKAR,” events related to the anniversary will include a public open house, a staff reunion dinner and an exhibit at the MSU Museum.

For more information, visit the Web at wkar.org

MSU Museum organizes tour of South Africa

Join MSU Museum curators to explore, discover and experience a summer adventure in South Africa, June 8-20.

The tour will include visits to Cape Town, the Winelands region, the Cape of Good Hope Peninsula, Johannesburg, Durban and game tours at the Kruger National Park.

In addition, the trip will include unique cultural experiences linked to the South African National Cultural Heritage Project, a multi-year partnership project of the MSU Museum, MATRIX and African Studies with a consortium of South African cultural heritage organizations. Read more on the Web at www.saculturalheritage.org/

Accompanying the group will be C. Kurt Dewhurst, MSU Museum director and professor of English, and Marsha MacDowell, curator of folk arts and professor of art and art history. For more information, contact the MSU Museum at (517) 355-2370 or register on the Web at
www.classictravelusa.com/group_SAfrica.htm

Public lecture to examine ethnic conflict

The Department of History and the Center for Integrative Studies in the Arts and Humanities will present the second of three lectures in its "Why History Matters: Rethinking History in a Global Age" series at 7:30 p.m., Friday, March 19, at the East Lansing Hannah Community Center, 819 Abbott Rd.

Ronald Grigor Suny of the University of Chicago will speak on "Why We Hate You: The Passions of National Identity and Ethnic Conflict." The lecture focuses on how an understanding of nationalism and ethnic violence can be enhanced by considering the emotions involved in collective human behavior.

Admission is free.