The
Technician bulldogs.kettering.edu/technician
September 10, 2014
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Volume 113
Issue 3
Sobey Lecture By Matthew White Copy Editor The Holocaust. Perhaps the most famous incident of ethnic cleansing ever undertaken, it claimed the lives of nearly six million Jews—a figure that does not include the other five million “undesirables” killed as part of the same plan of ethnic purity. Dr. R. M. Douglas, Professor of History at Colgate University, gave a lecture on August 22 entitled “Ethics and Ethnic Cleansing: A Contemporary Lesson from the ‘Good War’.” During his lecture, he argued that Nazi Germany was not alone in their use of ethnic cleansing to achieve a “better” Europe. The Allies, who had fought long and hard to defeat Germany, took a page out of her book and used many of the same principles to corral the German population now spread across the continent.
What’s Inside
German-speaking people were in countries like Czechoslovakia, who did not want them after the war. Re-drawing the borders of countries also became difficult with such disparate populations. In part retribution for World War II, and part to gain favor with the people of Europe, the Allies decided to move the Germans. Dr. Douglas also spoke about Poland, which had been moved on the map after Soviet and German occupation during the war. After the war, the Soviet part of Poland remained with them. To make up for lost space, Germany seceded equivalent territory to reconstitute “new Poland.” Large groups of native Germans now found themselves in Poland, which wanted nothing to do with them. Quick feasibility studies showed that moving so many people humanely would be impossible. Continued on page 2
fola Book Sale and Silent Auction
CANUSA Games
3
Ford Day
Donations and the lunch talk
The book by Dr. Douglas about the topic on which he spoke, courtesy of Colgate University
Robot Society
Opinions
6
Students write about the Art Center
Midterm Madness
Meet the new members
7
10
Professor Causley
By Matthew White Editor-in-chief
By Adam Lecznar Staff Writer
By Chaz Mancino Staff Writer
Kettering University continued to show its support for the Flint community and young adults in August by hosting two events in the annual canusa Games. On August 8th and 9th, middle school and high school students from the Flint area competed against students from Hamilton, Canada, Flint’s sister city, in heated games of Soccer and Flag Football using Kettering University’s facility as playing fields. "Kettering has a nice sport complex and athletic facility,” explained Mike Schaal, Kettering’s Director of Recreational Services, who was approached by the planning committee for the canusa Games about donating the use of Kettering’s facilities for two of the games’ many events. “They were attractive to the committee because then those events could be held in one general area, rather than being spread out across Flint. It also displays a confidence they have in the condition of our facilities, and a trust that Kettering will provide leadership and support to the organization.” The games, which began in 1958, and are the longest running international games in North America, are an annual Olympic-style event in which young students from the US and Canada compete for prizes. The games are held across the US and Canada, but the country which hosts them is switched every year, and Mr. Schaal is confident that the games will return to Kettering in 2016. “Everything happened so fast, but the games went off well,” commented Mr. Schaal. “It’s very possible the games will return to Kettering in two years.”
Midterms at Kettering University may have passed, but students are still recovering from the stress brought about by constant studying and late nights. Even though they were given time to relax during Labor Day Weekend, those feelings will only return as final exams draw ever closer. For freshmen, midterms may seem different from tests they’d taken in high school, but some were able to experience midterms before they began at Kettering, like Freshman I student Susan Olson. “High school midterms aren’t much different from the ones in college,” Olson claimed. “I studied for them the same way.” Olson’s attitude about midterms is shared by some older students, such as Junior II ra Tyler McCardell, who seemed pleased with his scores. “I think all of my tests went fairly well,” commented McCardell, “and I haven’t had anyone in my unit come to me with concerns about midterm scores, so I suppose they did alright.” Freshman II student Brandon Yarch also mentioned some of the ways he prepared for his midterm tests alongside other students. "I just study normally and rest the day before. I don’t stress out and try to cram the material right before the test. I also think doing homework is very important to understand the material, even if it’s not required.” Now that all Kettering students have completed their midterms, they have a better understanding of what they need to do to prepare for final exams and how those scores will affect their grades. Having already cleared one hurdle, the next shouldn’t seem as daunting, and hopefully many students will have a positive outlook as they begin to prepare for their final exams and the end of this term at Kettering.
Professor Matthew Causley is the newest mathematics professor here at Kettering University. He first heard about Kettering University through a friend who had a job at General Motors. Both wanted to go to college together, so Kettering University was the obvious choice. Professor Causley graduated with the class of 2006 with his Bachelor’s degree.
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While at Kettering University as an undergrad, Professor Causley co-oped at Towers Perrin, which is now Towers Watson. As a co-op, he assessed risk and saw trends to fund insurance claims. This is an actuarial science with a medical focus. Professor Causley received his PhD at New Jersey Institute of Technology (njit). There, he studied the mathematics behind electromagnetics that includes the way that complex dielectrics behave and the material memory that they have. Continued on page 2