The
Technician bulldogs.kettering.edu/technician
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March 19, 2016
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Volume 120
Issue 3
Charles Baker Shares GMI Experiences By Adam Lecznar Editor-In-Chief Kettering University’s Cribathon, classroom 2-225, was packed with students, faculty and guests on Wednesday, February 17 as people gathered for yet another enriching discussion from one of Kettering University’s distinguished alums. A member of the GMI class of 1982, Charles Baker is a Professional Engineer in the state of Michigan who came to Kettering to give students a history of his experience with the Co-Op program at Kettering in a presentation he called “Round Trip.” Supported by his family at the discussion, Baker discussed the many different positions he has held in the manufacturing industry. “This is the first time I’ve been back in a very long Continued on Page 3
What’s Inside
Delta Tau Delta Chapter Volunteer
Kettering Hosts Town Hall Event
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Photos Courtesy of KetteringCommunications
Art Center Exhibit
Pete Gheresus
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Student Reviews
KES
Students Sponsored for Makeathon
His Travels to Eritrea
DECA Excels at Competition
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Pop Evil at The Shop x3
By Adam Lecznar Editor-In-Chief
By Becca Roughton Staff Writer
By Aaron Wagner Submission Writer
Scores of people were welcomed to Kettering University on Wednesday, February 3rd to participate in Kettering University’s Town Hall event. This event allowed students, faculty, and members of the Flint and Kettering communities to learn more about activity on the campus and the future of Kettering through the Master Plan. The event was hosted by Kettering University President Robert McMahan in BJ’s Lounge. McMahan gave a presentation to all the guests starting at 8 a.m. during which he updated all those in attendance on the current Master Plan. “There are lots of different factors for determining which classrooms to upgrade,” McMahan explained while discussing the development and construction of a Learning Commons and its relation to classroom upgrades. “Some universities take a very authoritarian stance on this… I prefer faculty to be involved in that decision.” McMahan also discussed the opportunities for undergraduate research that the Learning Commons would bring to Kettering. The Town Hall allowed guests the opportunity to ask President McMahan questions regarding the Master Plan or concerns about the Flint Water Crisis. One such issue was related to signage along University Avenue and across Flint. “Signage is part of our process. There was no signage on the university before,” McMahan explained. “One of the reasons we acquired the gateway property along Fox St. was to create gateway signage for the university.”
Recently, I had the opportunity to speak with Professor Kenneth Williams and Professor Karen Cayo, Advisors of the Kettering University’s DECA (Distributive Education Clubs of America) team, which competed in the 2016 State of Michigan Career Development Conference, and placed exceptionally well. The team managed to take home 19 awards, five of which were first place, another five in second place, three in third place, and six honorable mentions, which ranged between fourth through eighth place. Among the first place finishers in single-person events belonged Janese Jackson in Corporate Finance and Calloway Salmon in Entrepreneurship, Starting a Business. The duo groups that finished in first consisted of Madeline Geffer with Alex Witt in Emerging Technology Marketing Strategies, Thomas Swanson and Michele Michailuk in Entrepreneurship, Growing Your Business, and Troy DeLong with Harschal Patel in Business to Business Marketing. Second place also had a strong showing, with returnees Madeline Geffert and Harshal Patel doing well in Fashion Merchandising and Marketing and Marketing Management respectfully, along with Lauren Putnam in Advertising Campaign, Matt Pawelski in Marketing Management, and the duo Rachel Brown and Rania Fanous pulling it out in International Marketing. Those who brought back the bronze in third place include Alex Holder in Banking Financial Services, Hugo Rouquet in Fashion Merchandising and Mar-
The local hard rock venue, The Machine Shop, came to life for three sold out shows in a row earlier this year. Pop Evil stopped by Flint while touring their new album “UP” and put on a legendary show. For the 15 plus years the Shop has been hosting rock bands, Pop Evil was the first to sell out shows on three consecutive nights. The band members are Michigan natives from Grand Rapids, so they were excited to be back in their home state while touring. Flint’s local hard rock radio station, Banana 101.5 advertised and kept listeners informed for weeks preceding the shows, building up the anticipation. The Banana 101.5 radio station and The Machine Shop often work together, hosting shows and helping rock bands build their reputations and give them a chance to showcase their talents. The first show of the three was on a Thursday night, bringing the hardcore fans, most of whom had to go to work the next morning. Pop Evil had two openers for this first show, the first being a smaller local group and the second being Ballz Deluxe, another smaller band that is a common opener at The Shop. The openers warmed up the crowd with an hour and a half of covers and some of their own unique songs. Banana radio host Tony LaBrie announced the bands before they came on and helped get the crowd roaring, while also mentioning shows and other events that The Banana was putting on in the upcoming months. Once Pop Evil took the stage, the lights dimmed and the crowd became even more lively. Lead singer Leigh Kakaty told the crowd that this performance
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Announcements DECA Continued from Front Page
keting, and the partners Jonathan Blanchard and Tyler Flowers in Business to Business Marketing. Finally, those in honorable mention include serial-winners Madeline Geffert in Executive Job Interview, Thomas Swanson also in Executive Job Interview, Alex Witt once again in Executive Job Interview, Janese Jackson in Marketing Management, Matt Pawelski in Retail management, and Alex Holder in Sales Managers Meeting. Each one of the students who placed in between fourth through eighth place had also taken home an award first through third place in another event. For Professor Cayo, the team’s excellent performance was no surprise. According to her, the amount of awards won given the size of the team was “typical.” She went on to proudly state, “half of my group makes it to finals [in the international competition], meaning they’re in the top ten internationally.” Dr. Cayo continued to discuss how despite Kettering being a relatively small school, the university’s team continues to perform exceptionally well. “We will be against big universities like University of Michigan and Michigan State University…[and] our students will get more awards as a percentage.” “We are quality,” added professor Williams. In addition to the students' exemplary execution, Professor Williams happily announced that Professor Cayo had been awarded State Advisor of the Year. Even this sort of victory isn’t new to the Professor, as two years ago she also was awarded International Advisor of the Year. When I asked about the reason for the DECA team’s success, Professor Cayo answered thoughtfully: “I think it’s a combination of things: [my and Professor Williams’] expectations, their co-op [experience], maturity, what [the students] do, [and] practices.” She went on to say “The best way to learn something is to do it yourself.” This is seen in the way that, according to the professor, the team has improved upon their ability by helping out local high school teams form and improve upon their own DECA teams: “Our students are going over to Powers Catholic [School] to learn and compete.” Beyond taking pride in just the team’s performance, both Professor Williams and Professor Cayo discussed the diversity amongst the DECA team. “DECA is for everybody,” Professor Cayo stated,
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Technician
“it’s not just business majors.” When looking just at the most recent competition’s results, among the award winner there were “MEs, IEs, Applied Math Majors, two masters…,” Professor Cayo and Williams stated. They both expressed their feelings that DECA is a club that is “not just for business majors.” “In many cases,” Professor Cayo explained, “it helps the [non-business] students grow more.” Not only does DECA benefit engineers, as the professors expressed, but also they felt that Kettering’s uniquely high amount of engineering and science students benefit the university’s team: “Most other universit y's teams consist primarily of business-related m a j o r s .” Pr o f e s s o r Cayo explained. W h e n I asked about the differences between the engineering-focused students and the business-focused students, Professor Cayo described it as “business students help the engineers look beyond the a-to-b-to-c logic…[they] bring in the human element.” In turn, she explained that “the engineers help the business students bring it in logically.” Overall, she says that together, the DECA team “brings balance to one another.. " Kettering University’s DECA team continues to be a strong force to be reckoned with. Both advisor Professor Cayo and co-advisor Professor Williams agree that the Team outperforms other larger universities time and time again. Congratulation to all of the talented students who performed at the 2016 State of Michigan Career Development Conference. Good luck in the future!
Pop Evil nails show after show. With intense band members like Joshua “Chachi” Maurnde, a tattooed bodybuilder and skillful drummer, it’s impossible to resist getting amped up. Others like lead singer Leigh Kakaty and bass guitarist Matt DiRito really bring the crowd alive with their intense appearance and true talent. It can really be felt in their live performance. The passion this group of guys has for what they do is absolutely incredible. Pop Evil was formed in Muskegon, MI and since their formation many members have been picked up and dropped; the only remaining original members are Leigh Kakaty and Dave Grahs. Most bands go through ups and downs over the years. This can be seen in the music they produce; they will sing about what is going on in their lives or an overall theme they want to convey to their listeners. Pop Evil has had very little free time over the last few years because of their recent popularity, releasing album after album and averaging 200-250 shows a year. Their prevous album “ONYX” was a big success, but came from a very angry place. Some members had personal things they were dealing with and overall a lot of negativity was flowing around. The new album is about being more positive and comes from a reawakening. Putting the previous album and all of the darkness that comes with it behind them is what sparked the positivity. The band is trying to connect people from all over the world. It features the single Footsteps (Go Higher) that speaks to listeners about forgetting the past, like the line “starting over once again, this is where it all begins, it’s right in front of me.” This is near the beginning of the song to lay the path that everything moving forward is the future. The message being conveyed is that what happened before and what happened now are completely separate things.
Pop Evil
Submissions Policy
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The Technician encourages any interested students to attend staff meetings. Meetings for Winter 2016 will be each Monday and Thursday over the lunch hour in The Technician office, located on the 3rd floor of the Campus Center above the Sunrise Café. Student submissions are encouraged and will be published if their material is in the public interest. Submissions or letters to the editor from faculty and administrative entities will be published if space is available. The Technician reserves the right to edit any and all submissions for brevity and clarity. Anonymous submissions are rarely published and will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Individuals wishing to publish anonymously should consult the Editor-in-chief. The deadline for the upcoming issue of The Technician is 6th Tuesday at 6pm. Expected distribution is 7th Monday. Send submissions to atechnician@kettering.edu.
would most likely be the only one in which they would play “UP,” their new album in its entirety. On top of their entire new album they played old crowd favorites like Deal with the Devil, Trenches, Torn to Pieces, and Jupiter in June. One of the biggest deciding factors of whether a band is good in concert or not is their stage performance and this is something
Adam Lecznar
Editor-in-chief
Megan Cox
L ayout Editor
Gabrielle Feeny
Copy Editor
Jacob Hankerd
Online Editor
Bryan Boyse
Distribution Editor
March 19, 2016
Staff writers Ciro Napoletano Jacob Watt Jordan Mayer Robert Lyman Rebecca Roughton
Faculty Advisor Christine Levecq Special Thanks To Betsy Homsher
March 19, 2016
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Campus News Baker
Continued from Front Page time,” Baker commented, addressing the crowd after his introduction. “Thank you for the opportunity to come back and share some of my very lively career with you all.” Baker quickly went deep into a discussion of his time as a student at GMI, where he started as a GM Co-Op Student working out of Pontiac Motor Division. At Pontiac he tried to get exposure from the engineering department every chance he got. It was there that he met Jim Lyons, a former GMI professor who assigned him to do full throttle power development, saying “Don’t kill yourself or anyone else.” This was a dream job for Baker. After working there for some time, Baker moved to a small robotics startup that went bankrupt soon after he joined. From there he found work at Saturn Corporation. Finally, Baker settled down at Honda, where he worked for 15 years in R&D. There he eventually became the chief engineer of five vehicle programs for the company. “I learned a lot about discipline from that place,” Baker reminisced. “I knew all the guys who ran Honda.” After his tenure with Honda, Baker moved once again to find a position at Johnson Controls and then Harley Davidson. Baker eventually found his way back to GM through an old acquaintance, Mary Barra. Calling on his old connection, then an important figure at GM and the current CEO of the corporation, Baker found himself once again at GM. His round trip experience had given him many fond memories and skills to work with, and the purpose of this lecture was to show students that having multiple careers can be a very positive experience. “By having a broad variety of experience, you gain a large amount of skills and knowledge, as well as other points of view, that will help you throughout life,” Baker explained. From this story of his experience and journey through the manufacturing industry, Baker presented the audience with ten pieces of advice, the “great things,” for them to walk away with. 1. Have a Passion. Don’t Settle. 2. Never Give Up. Manage Your Attitude. Don’t Stop.
Jim Lyons speaks before Kettering students.
3. Learn Your Craft and Strive for Excellence. 4. Chase the Challenge, Not the Money. 5. Find the Best Teachers and Remember Them. 6. Study Leadership and Strive to be a Great Leader. 7. Shop for Great Bosses and Move Rather Than be Miserable. 8. Develop Those Around You and Give Back. This is Your Legacy. 9. Strive to be a Great Innovator, a Great Entrepreneur and a Great Business Person. 10. Never Live in Fear. Enjoy the Ride! “Figure out the biggest pain point and get into that,” Baker advised. “If you have a passion, keep going. It’s a hell of a lot of fun.” From there Baker turned his presentation over to Jim Lyons, his old mentor from Honda. Baker presented Lyons with a gift, a plaque which described Lyons' career and gave official notice of the creation of the James Lyons Endowed Scholarship, a scholarship that Baker is establishing in honor of Lyons. In this way Baker demonstrated one of his “great things”, giving back to Lyons. Lyons then took the podium to address the audience himself. “I really miss GMI,” he began. “We really had a great time here. The greatest thing about it was the fresh faces every year.” Lyons gave the audience his own ‘pearl of wisdom,’ stating, “ Tell the truth, then you don’t have to remember what you said.” Lyons also described some of his memories of GMI and some of its strengths. “Teaching, one guy the past work session would have done just what you were gonna talk about. They’d raise their hands and say ‘we don’t do that.’ That’s important. It’s learning,” Lyons recalled. “I established many relationships, and I’d say that’s one of the strengths of GMI. If you talked with someone and you found out they were a Techer, you’d know that guy was telling it like it is. I think a concentration on undergrads is a great strength of Kettering, too. At GMI, our job was you guys, and we loved it.” The presentation closed with questions from the audience and a small gift from Student Alumni Council for both Baker and Lyons. Throughout the presentation, Baker made sure that everyone knew about the endowment he’s establishing in honor of Jim Lyons. To him, that was the most important part of coming back to Kettering. “Charlie’s kind of on a mission right now to honor and remember the people who helped him in his career,” said Caroline Ethington, who worked with the Student Alumni Council to bring Charles Baker and Jim Lyons to Kettering. Charles’s work will go far to solidify Jim Lyons' legacy in the history of Kettering and GMI.
New Media For American Politics Opinion Piece By Eddie Schodowski Submission Writer After observing political conversations from afar, I began to notice the greatest source of arguments. This is extremely non-negligible if it can be isolated and addressed, primarily because most arguments happening aren’t debates; the fundamental goal of a real debate is to set egos aside and to talk through points to help each other get to truth and understand new perspectives. The greatest source of arguments seems to come from the lack of knowing what really even happened. Most unproductive political sessions seem to arise when both individuals start debating what happened, not the complex implications of what happened. While it’s a pretty cliché observation that news sources out there aren’t always reputable, even if they were reputable and fully nonpartisan, the telephone game exists. Being a journalist is hard; it’s difficult to write things down that come across objectively even if you try. So, what do we actually do? We need a frictionless channel for unsexy progress and primary sources that we can pull up on our smartphone. Most government websites are complete garbage that may have good primary content, but it’s locked away to the public because the websites can’t be easily navigated. Imagine being able to automatically see your representatives based on your home address on your phone, and all of their contact information is juxtaposed with their name and picture. But why stop there? Imagine being able to have all the political decisions and meeting minutes these representatives were a part of indexed by a web crawler and juxtaposed with their contact information all on your phone. You could then start conversations with others to help you be more politically productive based on what primary sources you read, rather than analyzing someone else’s analysis until the points of interest get abstracted to no longer represent reality. While meeting minutes aren’t perfect, they would still help give more shape to the complexity of the situation and expose us to new ways of independent thought, and if you still had questions, you could just call or email your representative to ask. Understand that this is all somewhat abstract, but do we really care about American politics and the betterment of our country if we don’t actively work on side projects that address these important problems? This is something that a team can actually start working on together anytime. There are plenty of governmental areas that can be improved with a rudimentary knowledge of tech. Rather than complaining about the current state of things and then moving on with life, shake things up a bit. We can represent ourselves for once.
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Art Center Exhibit Reviews Branded Head By Eugene Blackwell Submission Writer We have all seen the monochromatic image of the bald black man that’s been floating around campus on flyers and posters. You know, the photograph of the bald black man with the Nike swoosh branded on the side of his head. Yes, that one. Am I the only person who has wondered exactly what this photograph is trying to portray? Didn’t think so. Branded Head is part of a series entitled Branded by Hank Willis Thomas, a clever photo-conceptual artist from the East Coast who works with themes related to identity, history, and popular culture. Branded Head is an extremely provocative image on many levels. The work questions the manner in which advertisements seduce us with imagery and influence our values and everyday behavior. Thomas uses this imagery to confront us with a difficult history through the universal lingo of advertising. In this particular medium, he suggests that professional sports possess characteristics of slavery and exploitation in relation to their athletes by way of ownership. Conversely, the African American photographer uses the language of advertising to talk about things that advertising could never responsibly speak on. Advertising is almost always trying to sell us things; Thomas wants to put his own two cents into the stories that advertising tells. Let’s take a look at some of the ideas Thomas illustrates in this photograph. One. Thomas implies that, similar to the permanent branding of the Atlantic slave trade, there has been a permanent branding on black males in today’s society. Back in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, slaves were branded to signify ownership. The brand mark would often represent a runaway slave who had been recaptured by their owner. Branding was a method of punishment by which it essentially marked its subject as a good or animal. Thomas argues that the black male body is used as sort of spectacle in culture today. Unfortunately, the ascension of the black race as a whole has often been predominately chained to the sports and entertainment industries. Furthermore, the black male has often been figuratively branded with the designation of athlete and competitor as opposed to scholar or intellectual. Consequently, the black male is branded and proverbially limited in the eyes of those who buy into these misconceived notions. Two. Thomas impresses that these multi-billion dollar corporations exploit the black male to serve their powerful interests. He uses the branded Nike symbol to represent the juxtaposition between the slaves and their twentyfirst-century descendants. Nike, in particular, has made billions of dollars from athletes such as Michael Jordan and LeBron James. Kanye West debuted a song this year entitled FACTS in which he raps, “Nike treat employees just like slaves, gave LeBron a [billion] not to run away.” Some would argue there would be no Nike without these giants. Thomas is making the
comparison between the ownership of black slaves back then and the ownership of the black male in advertisement today. After all, a logo is just a logo; someone or something must make it come to life. Exit Nike, enter NCAA Football. There has been a huge debate on whether or not players should be paid to play college football. While institutions across America make millions of dollars, the players, who happen to be predominately African American men, are not paid. While many would argue that they are paid by way of scholarship, this is only a minuscule fraction in comparison to the capital the institutions raise annually. Three. The New Jersey photographer questions the identity of the black male in the twenty-first century. As we take a closer look at the Branded Head that is exactly what it is, a head. There is no face to attach with this physical specimen that we see, no identity. The exclusion of the face depersonalizes the subject. Therefore, he is identified by the Nike brand and not on his own grounds—his values, his morality, his humanity. Furthermore, this connects the black culture to consumerism and an obsession with brand name materials. The black culture has throughout time been labeled as materialistic; we affectionately call it “keeping up with the Joneses.” Thomas could possibly be getting at the idea that blacks are identified by their accumulation of material goods and not for who they are amongst their own culture. I haven’t looked into the numbers but I’m sure we as a black community rank fairly high among Nike’s brand loyalty. Sadly, in the African American culture, if you fail to keep up with the latest fashions or trends you are labeled as culturally inferior. I remember back in middle school, girls wouldn’t talk to me before checking out my feet to see what type of shoes I was wearing. True story.
Branded, 2003, © Hank Thomal
As somewhat of an artist myself, I heavily doubt that Thomas hates advertising. I believe that he simply wants us to take a second look into the implied truths within images before we easily buy into their narratives without second thought. I admire the fact that Thomas uses such heavy imagery to convey his messages. I’d argue that he effectively uses his art to disempower symbolism that was once looked at as negative and frightening such as branding, chains, and nooses. This is just my take. Others will have a different feel towards this work—that’s what art is all about, right? All I know is that I thoroughly enjoyed viewing his faux advertisement. It’s about time someone decided to sell us some truth. I’ll take those Nike’s, size truth and a half please.
Passing/ Posing By Andrew VanHoeven Submission Writer Painted as a contraction of both the old and new, Kehinde Wiley’s Passing/Posing (2004) portrays a young African American man, wearing Los Angeles Clippers attire, in one of the most famous poses, that of John the Baptist. Much of the pose is highly reminiscent of Anton Raphael Mengs’ John the Baptist Preaching in the Wilderness (1760s), with the subject’s right hand raised and holding a walking stick in his left shaped like a cross about which a scroll is wrapped reading “ECCE AGNUS DEI” which translates to “behold the Lamb of God.” With this painting Wiley raises two questions for the viewer: does what’s new complement or contradict what is old, and why is this painting such a contradiction to what we would expect from something reminiscent of John the Baptist? In the painting Wiley puts a great amount of emphasis on the juxtaposition of old and new elements. There are the obvious references to the older styles of portraiture in the size and realism of the painting, as well as how ornate the frame is; the depiction of the subject in the pose of John the Baptist is also of an older style. To contradict this is the lack of a background for the subject of the painting to exist within; instead there is only a solid color with a repeating pattern, similar to wallpaper, which at some points overlaps with the subject of the painting. This background not only clashes with the older style of the painting, it also fights with the subject of the painting for the viewer’s attention, further emphasizing the conflict within the painting. Even the attire of the subject, which would be unsurprising to see worn in public, clashes with the idea of an older style of painting. Through all of this Wiley shows us the way in which the old and new identities of people clash with each other, both within the individual and within the group. As to whether or not the idea of the old and the new can reconcile to be able to grow together, Wiley leaves that up to the viewer to interpret, though through his piece they seem to only add to the depth of each other. Continued on Page 5
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Art Center Exhibit Reviews Posing Continued from Page 4 The answer to the second question is seemingly obvious enough: it’s a portrait of a clean shaven, modern, black man in a pose which most assume would have a white man with mildly unkempt hair and a completely different style of clothing. However, the fact that the average viewer would expect even the race of the subject to be white, as opposed to something more accurate to the time period and locale of the Middle East near year zero, does indicate that there may be more to Wiley’s question. In this question is hidden another claim that much of history, perhaps specifically Christian history, has been “white-washed” and with this painting Wiley is bringing some element of it to the forefront of the viewer’s mind and challenging what is expected. In addition, the subject is wearing a tracksuit sporting the Los Angeles Clippers’ logo, a team from a city whose name translates to “the Angels”; this may have been coincidence and brought in purely by the subject but it brings additional weight to the suggestion of the Christian themes used throughout the artwork. Together these two questions can be combined to ask whether or not the ideas of the old cultures of both Africans and Europeans can be reconciled both against each other and against the newer versions of the same cultures which cohabitate the United States. In the work created by Wiley we see the ideas of both coming to fruition in a single piece of art. This culmination could be signifying that, despite the clash and the seeming non-coherence, the ideas can coexist and perhaps can even be used to show the strength of the other, or maybe the clash between style and subject is too great, and neither exists rightly without the other. Either way, it’s all in the eye of the beholder.
Passing/Posing (St. Zeno) © Kehinde Wiley
African/ American
By Tyler McCardell Submission Writer African/American is a piece of art made in the style of a cut-out silhouette by Kara Walker. The silhouette is of an iconic African-American woman being thrown into the air, contorted and twisted. This piece conveys a sharp message with a minimal amount of information; a message of forced sudden change; one of a world being flip-turned u p s i d e down in a matter of moments. A person who was taken from their everyday life and shoved into a world of uncertainty, which is an unknown or blank setting to them. The shape of the silhouette is that of a woman in iconic African clothing, which paints the image of someone who was recently in their homeland continuing their everyday life. With the beads still on her neck, it shows that this image captures the moment that she had lost her freedom as an African and was thrust into the Americas. Shortly after arriving, she could have had the “American” label thrust upon her, which ties back into the name of the painting. Another perception of this is that the image is of the woman’s inner perception of herself, where she still sees herself as an essentialist African woman, though this is in conflict with where she is now which is why the image is in midair. This shows that while she is forced to be an American, she is still an African on the inside. This conflict once more ties back to the title of the image. The contrast of the
image assists in the message; that there is only the person and the nothingness that surrounds them. It can be perceived as furthering the unknown or being surrounded by the unfamiliar. If the colors are looked at as a representation of the person, the black represents the person and the white background is there to show that no part of the person remains in their previous surroundings. The person had everything they knew stripped from them; they were placed into a foreign land in which there will be no place for them to return to the person that they once were. The body being in midair can be seen as a
African/American © 1998 Kara Walker
representation of how quickly things change for the person. Thrown away from their life, they are forced to start over anew in a world that they know nothing of. It also brings about the theme of not having control in where they are going; when a person is falling they are at the will of nature. For this enslaved woman, though, her life is now most likely at the will of her captors. The person’s body position also holds a lot of emotion and meaning to it. It is contorted, unnaturally twisted, which shows that the person was forced into the air. From how the head of the person is bent, it is as if they are reeling from a punch in the head, since it is jerked to the side. To further prove this, the person looks as if they are falling backwards and that their head is falling faster than the rest of their body. This shows that there was a force that had acted upon it. This helps show the pain and suffering the person must have been feeling, as the punch did not need to be a physical one. The silhouette could be represented as their spirit or inner being. From being thrusted into a foreign land, they could have been dealt a great deal of damage to their psyche. Overall this image contains many elements of suffering and captivity. From the woman in classical African clothing being forced into the unknown, to the pain that the position of her body expresses, it gives the image that she has no choice in where her future lies, and is staggering from the pain of being in confinement. African/American carries a sorrowful message of captivity, and the injustices that African Americans have faced.
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Through The Camera Lens
Top: General Determination is seen painted green to celebrate St. Patrick's Day at Kettering. Generald D can usually be seen sporting some sort of color to represent a holiday or special event. Middle: Kettering University Students Reed Paskvan and Ian Lasher participate in Innovation Quest in the Great Court of Kettering University. Bottom: Kettering recently unveiled two new spaced for students to study and innovate. d-space 2 and d-space 3 are part of Kettering's initiative to promote student collaboration innovation. The spaces are outfitted with whiteboard walls, comfortable chairs, a conference desk and an HD television that students can connect to computers to present in front of others.
March 19, 2016
March 19, 2016
The Technician
Kettering In Pictures
Top: An aerial view of the 2016 First Robotics Competition at Kettering University. The event was held in Kettering's Recreation Center Building. Bottom: Seven chapters of Delta Tau Delta arrived on Kettering's campus to volunteer their time at the Foodbank of Eastern Michigan. The crowd was addressed by Kettering University President Robert McMahan, who thanked all the participants for coming to support Flint.
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The Technician
News Study Less to Learn More Jacob Watt Staff Writer On Thursday, February 4th, Kettering hosted Dr. Todd Zakrasjek as he made a presentation called “The New Science of Learning: Study Less and Learn More.” In his presentation he spoke of how the brain works and how this knowledge could potentially allow you to study less while still learning more. One of the most important ideas of the presentation was that the brain is wired to make quick decisions and to focus on what it thinks is important. This can be demonstrated by trying to think about how many cars drove past you as you waited to cross the street yesterday, or trying to think of what colors they were. Information like that has no relevance to you, so it is easily forgotten. In contrast to this, information that is deemed important is much easier to retain. This can be applied to studying: if you start to study but have a poor attitude about it, for example thinking that the content is boring, then you are going to be less likely to remember what you studied. To prevent this, try to think of something positive about wanting to learn what you are studying. Another topic from this presentation is the fact that if too much is going on in the background, you are also going to have a harder time focusing. This could even be too many things that you are thinking about, such as a fight with your roommate. This would cause you to easily lose track of what you are doing presently, and you would go back to thinking about the fight. A classic example of this is when you read a page of a book, but then you forget everything you just read so you need to reread it all. In this case, it is best to try to plan ahead and make study time a set time of day where you won’t have things to distract you. If this does happen to you, try to catch it so you don’t waste so much time. You can also reflect on what you are reading every so often to prevent losing where you are. The last major idea that Dr. Zakrasjek presented was that the more you do something, the easier it is to remember, such as tying your shoe or typing on a keyboard. If tasks are performed enough, they become second nature and you don’t need to put a lot of thought into performing them. This can be applied to remembering ideas or concepts that you need to study for a class. The more often it is reviewed, the easier that concept is to remember. This can be helpful because the easier it is to remember the simpler things of a topic, the more you can focus on the more important parts. This also means that long-term studying is much more effective than cramming the night before a test. Overall, the presentation given by Dr. Zakrasjek was very informative about how the brain works and how to use it to your advantage while studying. If you keep in mind that your brain is more likely to discard information that it deems unnecessary, you Continued on Page 9
Aerospace Launches Off By Becca Roughton Staff Writer 3...2...1...liftoff ! The Kettering University Aerospace Club will be launching their first batch of rockets this Sunday, March 20th, in Muskegon Michigan. Over the term, the team has been working every week to design their rockets, analyze the potential results of launching, decide on the parts needed to construct the rocket, and then build their creation. In addition to designing and building their own individual rockets, members have studied and learned about aerodynamics and rocketry. These members anticipate reaching between 15003000ft in height. Because of this, the students must launch their rockets in a designated area that allows for this height. This is why the group will travel all the way to Muskegon, which has a max ceiling height of 10,000 ft. Top speed and height will vary greatly between different members, as all members will be launching with different motors chosen by themselves. Launch day will be an all-day event, where the members in Aerospace Club will have the opportunity to watch other rocketeers, veterans and beginners alike, launch their own rockets along with Kettering’s. The club currently consists of nine active members. Despite their relatively small size, four of their members have already attained Level 1 Certification in High Powered Rocketry. All of the members began as beginners to rocket science. Members range widely in terms of grade level, age, and majors. However, what brings the group together is their interest in aerospace and rocketry. In addition to enjoying the excitement of launching a rocket, the members will also be able to add a bit to their professional resumes. This is because in order to launch these high-powered rockets, the members must prepare to be certified in high powered rocketry (HPR). This includes passing an on-site test, which demonstrates the potential rocketeer’s knowledge of their rocket’s design and their understanding of rocket science. Accomplishing that, the member will then need to successfully launch and recover their rockets. Rockets must be in well enough condition to launch again after being recovered. After all of this, the rocketeer will be certified by the National Association of Rocketry(NAR) for high powered rocketry. Depending on the size of the motor, they will be certified for either level 1 or level 2 in high powered rocketry. Being certified shows that the member has proficiency in all stages of rocket creation, The club plans that next term, returning members will work to attain the next level of of certification in high powered rocketry from NAR. New members will be given the opportunity to build their own rockets and also will be able to be certified for high powered rocketry. The team anticipates a successful launch of all
rockets, resulting in all members receiving either level 1 or level 2 certification in high powered rocketry. It’s time for the Kettering University Aerospace Club to blast off !
Edwin Black on IBM, Holocaust By Jordan Mayer Staff Writer Edwin Black is an award winning and bestselling author of many politically involved books. On Friday February 12, 2016 he visited Kettering to give a spirited speech on one of those books, IBM and the Holocaust. This highlighted IBM’s involvement with the Nazi party. He began by explaining how he first came to notice the partnership between IBM and Hitler, moving on to explain their relationship, which Black claimed benefited the nazis, then ends the speech by providing the proof he had come across. While it seems rather straightforward, he fits a great magnitude of ideas and facts into his hour long speech. Black began the speech by stating that there was a twelve year strategic relationship going on between IBM and Hitler. His first question to the audience was how that could be, given the fact that IBM is known to be a computer company and there were no computers around during World War II. This was possible because IBM started out by making a punch card tabulating system. This system was developed in 1933, six years before the beginning of World War II, and Mr. Black went on to say that IBM sought out the Hitler regime as a means to market their product. “IBM was able to co-plan and co-organize the expulsion of the Jews,” Black claimed, using jarring statements to draw the audience into his presentation. “They were able to organize the first racial census of all time with their punch cards, keeping track of everyone’s history.” These cards kept track of people’s religious history, their sexuality, race, age, education, anything that could be traceable. When the Nazi regime started moving Jewish people to slums and ghettos, those punch cards are what they used to track them. Black goes on to explain that IBM engineers created a specific system to read the punch cards. He stated that everyone knew what was going on with IBM and the Nazi’s at the time. He concluded his speech by showing off photocopied versions of these punch cards and having a girl from the audience who knew how to speak German translate them, he also supplied the audience with letters between the then CEO of IBM Thomas Watson and higher members of the Nazi regime. Edwin Black will be touring and presenting at colleges and synagogues throughout Flint and East Lansing for the rest of February and will then be moving on to New York.
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Study Continued from Page 8 can prevent forgetting information that you find to be dull. Trying to set aside time for studying is the best way to cut down on distractions that are going on around you. Lastly, familiarize yourself with important information little by little, not all at once. All of these are very effective ways that you can study less and learn more.
A Trip to the FSO By Dane Smith Submission Writer The Flint Symphony Orchestra’s “Fate: Adventures of a Hero” performance displayed the technical talent of the ensemble as well as an interesting story told through the three pieces they performed. The conductor, Enrique Diemecke, began the show on a whimsical note when he walked out on stage wearing Mickey Mouse gloves. He proceeded to describe the program with a humorous and uplifting story: each song was meant to represent the journey of a hero. Not until the last sentence before beginning the performance did he mention that the hero is every person in the audience. And on that inspiring note, the first song began. “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” by Paul Dukas is most famously recognized from the Disney movie by the same name. It was a great way to start the concert. The very familiar and popular piece was performed expertly and was enjoyed by every member of the audience. It evoked playful images of Mickey Mouse while having a more serious connotation of a hero’s adventure at the same time. The song grew louder and more intense as it went on and finally ended with one last powerful, bellowing chord that echoed through the theater. The next song, although less familiar, was appreciated no less than the first. Beethoven’s “Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 73 (“Emperor”)” was expertly performed and featured the famous pianist Di Wu. The impressive technical abilities of Di Wu in addition to the ensemble’s great balance created a unique experience different from the first song which captured the interest of the audience. Di showcased her skills on the piano through multiple solos throughout the piece: some fast and technical, some slow and emotional, some loud and powerful, some soft and delicate. She displayed mastery over almost every aspect of musicality in just one piece. It was truly an experience to remember. Finally, the last piece was Franz Schubert’s “Symphony No. 9 in C major, D. 944.” The last song of the performance represented the hero’s adventure coming to a close. It was the longest and grandest song of the performance. The significant length as well as the quality of sound that was maintained through the entire piece was very impressive. The low brass had a prominent role throughout the song which gave it a powerful and majestic tone: very fitting for the end of a hero’s journey. It was performed expertly by the orchestra and the grand, booming melody made for a great finale. As the sound of the last chord echoed through the theater, the audience rose and applauded wildly.
The performance was great from start to finish and the audience’s attitude showed it. In addition to the performance, students had an opportunity to enjoy refreshments and meet with members of the orchestra during intermission. It was a great opportunity for young musicians to learn from experienced professionals as well as for any lover of music to share their passion with someone who feels the same way as they do. I spoke with a bass player about his career as a musician. It was inspiring how he made a profession out of his passion. After that, we spoke about our individual experiences with the various bands we’ve been a part of and he offered valuable advice on being a part of an ensemble. Lastly, we spoke about some of our favorite songs to listen to and to perform as well as some songs that we didn’t particularly enjoy performing. Although there was a large gap in our individual skills as musicians, we still saw eye to eye about many things. It was a great experience to learn about music from those who know it the best. The performance, as well as the opportunity to meet members of the orchestra, made for a memorable and delightful event which I would definitely recommend that others experience if they ever get the chance.
First Robotics Competition By Gabrielle Feeny Copy Editor Kettering University’s recreation center hosted two district robotics competitions 8th and 9th weekends, as evidenced by the distinct lack of parking spaces and the sudden influx of high schoolers roaming campus. Although you may have felt a little cramped, the university’s devotion to FIRST robotics is quite commendable. Kettering’s FIRST robotics community center houses local high school teams, helping to foster a love of science and technology in young students of Flint and neighboring areas. Many current KU students (myself included) were robotics kids – in fact, roughly one quarter of Kettering’s student body was involved in FIRST robotics somehow. Not only that, but Kettering offers over $200,000 a year in scholarships to those in FIRST. This season’s competition is First Stronghold, taking on a medieval theme. Robots (three on each alliance) must breach the opposing alliance’s defenses, score boulders (grey foam balls) in their goals, and, in the last 20 seconds of the match, ascend that goal (known as the tower.) The winners of Kettering’s first district competition were members of the third seeded alliance, More Martians (70) and Fridgebot Inc. (5084), captained by the Benzene Bots (4384.) Sixth seeded alliance captain MooBotics (5926) along with members Brighton TechnoDogs (3707) and the Volatile Chaos Inhibitors (5203) took home the gold in Kettering’s second district event. Kettering is not scheduled to host any other robotics competitions this term, but State Championships will be April 13-16 in Grand Rapids, and Worlds April 27-30 in St. Louis, MO. More information can be found on FIRST’s official website, http://www.firstinspires.org/.
Frankenmuth Snowfest By Megan Cox Layout Editor The weather was perfect for the 25th anniversary of Zhender’s Snowfest. Opened on January 27th, it was a good day for families to come out and enjoy a nice cup of hot chocolate and see the different creations that sculptors were making. The event was first started in 1992 by Bill Doering and Pete Rumsey. What was anticipated to be a small event attracted over 90,000 people that year. Now, Zhender’s Snowfest is host to one of the biggest snow and ice sculpting competitions in the nation, attracting over 200,000 people each year. While the Snowfest is most commonly known for these sculpting competitions, it is also a great event for families and friends with fireworks, food, and other entertainment. Lasting for three days, sculptors at high school, collegiate, and professional levels competed while spectators admired their creations. College students compete in the National Ice Carving Association U.S. National Collegiate Ice Carving Championship for scholarships. Winners this year included students from Oakland Community College and Macomb Community College. In honor of the event’s 25th anniversary, the ice sculpting competition was opened up to college alumni who competed in the Collegiate Alumni Ice Carving Challenge. Snow sculpting is equally popular at Zhender’s Snowfest. This portion of the competition is where the most creativity can be seen. At this year’s Snowfest, one could see various different creations including a giant Darth Vader, Rapunzel in her tower, and apparently the most popular theme for this year’s Snowfest, giant animals. Sculptors from around the world, state, and local high schools compete in either the single or double block competitions. Typically, Zhender’s Snowfest is held at the end of January each year. The last day of the event this year was February 1st.
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Gheresus Gives Back to Native Eritrea By Adam Lecznar Editor-In-Chief In December of 2015, Kettering University Professor Petros “Pete” Gheresus traveled to his native country of Eritrea to volunteer his time teaching students. This was Pete’s fifth time traveling to Eritrea in ten years, as he travels to the country every two years while he has a term off from teaching. “I’ve been teaching [Visual Basic], C programming language, LabVIEW, Engineering Economy and IE principle,” Gheresus elaborated. Born and raised Eritrea, which is located in East Africa and prior to 1993 was part of Ethiopia, Gheresus migrated to the US at the age of 19, sponsored by a missionary family from Minnesota. Living on a farm and attending high school, Gheresus aimed to help bring broadcast television, which he saw as a tremendous tool for education. “I never thought I would make it to the States. That’s for the elite,” Gheresus recalled of his thoughts back then, and his struggles adapting to the new environment. “I thought, ‘We need television, we need Sesame Street in Eritrea. English has no rules.’” After Gheresus graduated from high school at the age of 22, Gheresus moved to Iowa, where he earned a 2-year Associate's Degree in technical skills. He was ready to travel back to his home country, but it had come under control of a Communist government, supported by the USSR, in 1974. Because of this, Gheresus was unable to reach his homeland. Because he would have been deported if he did not remain a full-time student, Gheresus continued his education at ISU, where he earned his Bachelor’s, Master’s and PHD in Industrial Engineering. After the Cold War ended and the Communist government in Eritrea fell in 1990, Gheresus had his op-
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The Technician
News portunity to return home in 1992. “At the time, I went back primarily to see family. I decided to stop by the university before I left,” Gheresus explained. “I was shocked to see the only university in the country was ransacked. They took all the books. The library literally had 12 books. I couldn’t sleep.” Petros returned to the States and Kettering, where he had been hired in 1980, and formed the Association of Eritreans and their Friends in Michigan, otherwise known as the AEFM, alongside other native Eritreans living in Michigan. The nonprofit focuses on collecting books to donate to Eritrea. “We started with Book Drive 1992,” mentioned Gheresus, who was at one time the president of AEFM. “There is still a shortage, but they can now check out some books.” Gheresus also collected books personally, which he stored at Kettering. In 2012, he shipped 8,000 books to Eritrea. “Kettering supports me for sure, some of it I support myself,” Gheresus, elaborated. “When we loaded the truck, students loaded the truck. Students and staff were very helpful.” Currently the Robert & Claire Reiss Chair of Industrial Engineering at Kettering University, Gheresus completed his 36th year of teaching on March 16, 2016. In addition to his teaching career and philanthropic efforts toward Eritrea, Gheresus helps local disadvantaged youth by hosting afterschool and weekend programs that teach children about the basics of robotics and programming. “I can spend my whole life here, but if I do not have a positive influence, I add no value,” Gheresus elaborated. “This is the best job I could have in the world. I could not imagine another place to work at. At the end of the day, my main focus is the students. I never lose focus on them. If they aren’t here, I’m not here. It’s the quality of the students that drives me. I’m lucky I’m here.”
Hennicken Joins Kettering By Jordan Mayer Staff Writer If you haven’t seen him in passing, or heard about him through his current students, there’s a new member of the math department! David Hennicken is currently teaching his third term here at Kettering as an adjunct member of the faculty. In an interview he said this about his time here so far: “The terms here have been great, I’ve really enjoyed it. The math faculty has been very nice and welcoming.” Kettering is his first teaching position outside of the classes he taught at Oakland University and Macomb Community College while working on his Master's Degree. Certified to teach kindergarten through college level math courses, he was hired here to teach in the Calculus line of classes: “I prefer the terms here over regular semesters and all of the students here are more driven.” In high school he had no intention of going into teaching or math. It wasn’t until the end of his PreCalculus class when his teacher approached him about moving forward with math that he considered moving forward: “I got a 99 on my final and didn’t think anything of it. My teacher came up to me and asked if he’d see me next semester for Calculus. After laughing and saying no he told me to reconsider.” Students have taken to him fast. Many are disappointed that he doesn’t appear to be teaching Calculus 2 in the summer semester. Current Calculus student Braylond Baksa said “I think he is a good professor that seems to genuinely care about how well his classes are doing.” Through his dedication, he’s becoming a favorite professor of his students. “He’s probably the best teacher I’ve ever had.” said Matt Stevens, another current Calculus student. “An hour before class, an hour after class, it doesn’t matter, he’ll be there to help you. You just need to show him you’re putting in the effort.”
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Town Hall Continued from Front Page Another issue that was brought up was student foot traffic and the safety of students and faculty when crossing the intersection of University Avenue and Chevrolet Avenue. “ W e had one student almost get hit by a car. We need to improve,” McMahan expressed. O n e member of the audience commented that the regulation of foot traffic and vehicle traffic is “better than before.” President McMahan then turned his attention to the Water Crisis, directing anyone with questions to visit http://www.kettering.edu/water for more information. He then welcomed Vice-President of Marketing, Communications and Enrollment Kip Darcy to speak briefly on the crisis. “It is our opportunity to evangelists and show that this is an incredibly problem that we are taking very seriously,” Darcy stated.
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News The end of the Town Hall did not mark the end of the event for the day, however. Following the presentation by President McMahan, guests were welcomed to the Great Court of Kettering’s Campus Center, where two faculty members were honored with additions to the Kettering Faculty Wall of Honor, installed last spring to honor exceptional faculty and alumni. Before the faculty plaques were revealed, President McMahan asked all in attendance to take a moment to remember Kettering University Professor Brian McCartin, who had passed away in the days prior to this event. McCartin had been a professor at Kettering for 22 years before retiring in the summer of 2016. He had been honored five times. “Professor McCartin will be greatly missed,” President McMahan expressed. “He has a well-earned spot on this wall.” The two faculty being honored were Director of CETL and Kettering Alumni Terry Lynch-Caris and Professor of Mechanical Engineering Homayun Navaz. Both have earned several awards and honors during their tenures as faculty. Following the faculty honor ceremony, guests were once again welcomed to Kettering University Sunset Room, where there was to be virtual and ac-
Kettering Greek Life 2016 Service Saturday Schedule All Events Will Begin at 9:00 A.M in Kettering University's Great Court
Saturday, February 27 Saturday, March 12 Saturday, April 9 Saturday, May 14 Saturday, June 11 Saturday, July 9 Saturday, August 13 Saturday, September 10 Saturday, October 1 Saturday, November 12
tual ribbon cutting for Kettering University Online, a new online offering for students to access Kettering courses across the globe. “In the space of a year, we have created a best-inclass online offering at Kettering,” President McMahan said. “This has been a very successful initiative.” The initiative has worked in collaboration with the Business department to offer degrees online and test the effectiveness of this program. As McMahan cut the physical ribbon, a projector screen displayed a ribbon being snipped, which was followed by an animation and commercial which promoted the success of Kettering Online. The program ended with all guests being offered refreshments such as coffee and cake. In all, the day was a great opportunity to show the strides Kettering is making internally and globally.
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KES Sends Students toMake-AThon By Henry Sayyarpour Submission Writer The Makeathon Case Competition was a 36 hour design competition that took place Jan 2931, where teams of four to eight college students were challenged with building a stair-climbing robot. Materials included sheet metal, springs, wood, acrylic, PVC pipes, and almost every electrical component that can be used on a breadboard. CNC, laser cutting, a wood-shop, and 3D printing were available to help craft the materials. Eight teams participated in the competition in hopes of winning a $2,000 grand prize. The Kettering team – consisting of 4 freshman MEs and a CE- was successful in coming up with an original design and making it a reality. Due to a lack of motor torque, it did not climb stairs, but every other group had to use the same motors, so judging parameters had to be altered. The intricacies of a tank drive robot with handmade chains, custom laser cut gears and sprockets, and an auto tensioning system earned the team the Master Craftsmanship Award, along with a prize of $200.
A Better Cup By James Blazevic Submission Writer Let’s talk coffee for a minute. Most of us like coffee for one reason or another. Some of us drink it socially and to relax, while others probably wouldn’t function properly without it. Whichever group you belong to, you likely have a favorite coffee shop. When I think of coffee shops, though, I imagine a store smelling too strongly and packed full of people with their noses in laptops or phones. You walk in and nobody looks up. Nobody sends a greeting your way. Everyone is too wrapped up in their own world. You approach the counter and the barista just wants to finish their shift and leave as fast as possible. You tell them your name is “Annie” and your cup has “Any” hastily scribbled on the side. This is my impression of most coffee shops. Now let me introduce you to “The Good Beans.” I stepped over the threshold and what did I see? I saw something different. I saw people making conversation over a cup of coffee that was made with passion. Nobody was on a laptop or phone, they were too busy making real life connections with the
people around them. I was immediately greeted by shop, but he made a community center. The people a woman seated near the door. A few others lifted there knew each other and everyone felt like it was their hands and called a friendly greeting. Patrons home. talked freely with the man behind the bar. He knew their names. He knew what they liked to drink. He made “The Good Beans” what it was. His name is Ken Van Wagoner. When I approached the counter, he asked my name and if I’d ever been to “The Good Beans.” He was quite the far cry from workers in other coffee places; he was friendly and made his customers feel welcome, and not like they were wasting his time. Ken founded “The Good Beans” back in 1997 and he and the other workers have been there ever since. He told me that he knew his customers and what they liked to drink. He not only made a coffee