Spring into the Student Art Expedition 2011

Ann Michels
Staff Writer

Spring is in the air and that means it is time for the annual Student Art Exhibition. KCC students are eligible to submit up to 5 entries. This is a juried show, not all entries will be accepted. Submissions may only be works of art produced May 2010-April 2011 (the past 12 months). If you are a professional artist you may exhibit your work, however you should waive award eligibility. Make certain your art can fit through a standard doorway.

The art media categories offer many option to display your talent. Whether you excel in ceramics, drawing, painting, or graphic design, this show is for you. Maybe your forte' is black and white, color/digital, or alternative photography. There are even categories for 2-D mixed media, sculpture and 3-D mixed media, graphic design, and animation/video.

Cash awards available for winning art. The awards are $25 (Honorable mention) up to $200 (Best of show). There are 10 Best of Media categories with awards of $50 in each category. The award winners will be in a special exhibit through the summer (May 16 – August 12).

If you are hesitant about entering as a new art student, don`t be. I was apprehensive last year about the worthiness of my art among other more experienced students. I am proud to report I was able to win the Kimiko Peterson Fine Art Award for Color/Digital Photography. The honor of winning was great, and the $50 was an extra bonus.

If I have piqued your interest submit all your entries (April 11-13) and fill the necessary entry tags at the Davidson building by 5 pm on April 13. Complete entry rules and details are available on the KCC website or inquire through the KCC Art Department. So get your art out there and maybe you will win.


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KCC Dental Hygiene Clinic reaches out to Michigan's Youth Challenge

Press Release

The KCC Dental Hygiene Clinic was full of cadets from Michigan's Youth Challenge the first week of February. In just two days, the twenty member Dental Hygiene class of 2011 saw over 70 cadets, providing them with free dental cleanings, x-rays, and sealants. The cadets come from all over Michigan and are exposed to a boot-camp atmosphere. This partnership between KCC and Michigan's Youth Challenge has been an ongoing tradition for years. The Dental Hygiene Class, which graduates in May, offered these services as a community outreach.

Dental Hygiene student Jenea Mackey Photo by Nicole Finkbeiner

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Mosaic publication party and awards ceremony

Elizabeth Kerlikowske
Guest Writer

The spring issue of Mosaic with a beautiful photo by Joan Wetherill on its cover will make its premier on April 25 at 7 p.m. in the Café Connection. There will be a brief awards ceremony for the winning pieces of poetry and fiction. Afterwards, writers will read from the booklet or read other works. You don't have to have been published to read. It's an open mic format. There will be refreshments and conversation. Your college experience will not be complete unless you know about Scott Morley's weird experiences with his parents and dogs. And you won't want to miss reading about the hairy girl. This issue is chockfull of photos, poems, and stories. Best of all, copies are free. Hope to see you on Monday, the 28th.

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KCC writers win Sean Lewis Guest Writer Jamie Probst, KCC freshman, was one of four winners in the Battle Creek Enquirer's Flash Fiction contest. Each story needed to begin with the sentence, "It emerged from the Battle Creek River." Probst, a 4.0 graduate of Harper Creek High School, wrote a story about a man who gets an unexpected visitor. She wrote it three days before the due date and says she thought the prompt was "cliché, but I realized that a generic prompt would yield the most diversity for entries." She received an email notifying her that she was a winner on March 17th. "However, I didn't realize they had released the results of the contest to the public until my math instructor told me." This is Probst's first publication. However, she has had writings that won competitions before. At the 2010 Calhoun County Fair, her play won Best of Class, and a short story won the Outstanding Exhibit award. The judge was an instructor at Olivet College, and she told Probst to pursue an English degree. Probst plants to become an editor for fiction, preferably fantasy or science fiction. She says, "Writing is a way for humankind to explore itself." Brendan Egan is the other KCC winner. A graduate of Lakeview High School, Egan's story was written quickly but turned out much longer than he expected. "With that 550 word limit it goes without saying I did a lot of cutting down. The biggest struggle for me was definitely the limit. There were so many details and ideas I had to take out just because it was too long—but that's what's neat about flash fiction, that it challenges the writer to find ways of writing only the necessary details and not waste a single word. My story was about a sixteen-year-old girl named Casey who sees a gold coin floating on the Battle Creek River from a bridge, and, intrigued by the fact that gold is floating and isn't being carried along by the current, goes down to investigate it." This is the first story Egan has ever had published; in fact, he never wrote fiction before I his creative writing class this semester. "I have always enjoyed writing for English classes and I've always wanted to try fiction—so it's been really great to finally have an excuse to do so and learn how to write better in the process." Egan has this to say about writing: "Like all forms of art, what makes writing important is that it's a valuable medium of expression. Beyond that, writing is about the most important means of keeping the imagination alive. We tend to lose our imaginations as we get older, so anything that continues to inspire that creative thinking is what we really need the most." Photo from Top to bottom Jamie Probst and Brendan Egan. Winners of the Battle Creek Enquirer's Flash Fiction contest. Back to Top

NASA Firefighters

Elizabeth Kerlikowske
Guest Writer

Kellogg Community College's Air Rescue Fire Fighter (ARFF) Program will train over 80 Space Gateway Support fire fighters employed by NASA at the Kennedy Space Center near Titusville, Florida April 6-8, 2011. This will be the second time that the KCC ARFF trainer will be used by NASA.

The ARFF trainer is a unique, Federal Aviation Administration-approved mobile aircraft firefighting trainer specifically designed to be used by fire departments to meet their annual "hot drill" certification requirements by simulating realistic aircraft fire scenarios. It can simulate fires caused by flammable liquid spills, engines, interior cabins, wheel brakes, and auxiliary power units. Many of the country's largest airports, including Atlanta, Minneapolis, Orlando, and Indianapolis have used the trainer as well as several Air Force bases and Naval Air Stations. In addition, the trainer is also used by Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams to practice storming an aircraft for hijacking, terrorist/hostage operations.

"Our company, Space Gateway Support, and Senior NASA managers were impressed with the training we received. The professionalism displayed by the KCC ARFF program and the quality of the training, as well as the KCC ARFF instructors and equipment was top notch," said Kennedy Space Center Fire Chief, Gerald Wimberly.

The benefits for the departments include:

• Increased skills performance by practicing together as a team with the department's own equipment.

• The elimination of travel costs (which can be up near $90,000 for a large department and depending on how far the department has to travel) for the team by using a mobile trainer at the airport site.

• The elimination or decrease of overtime pay because personnel can train during duty hours.

• The ability to invite mutual aid responders to train with the department.

• A total of 8 hours of training, including both classroom and hands-on training.

• Training can be customized based on the airport, the city, or the county's needs.

The ARFF trainer weighs 80,000 pounds, looks like a Breechcraft 1900 passenger aircraft, is built around a 50 foot long trailer which is towed by a 2003 Peterbilt semi-tractor, has a 1,300 square feet spill pan area, has four aircraft engines, can burn 800 gallons of propane for an eight hour training session, and can have flames as high as 20-30 feet.

Despite the heat and intensity of the ARFF trainer, the aircraft is very safe because the trainers have complete control of the flames during all training exercises. In addition, the KCC trainers that provide the training consist of current airport firefighters, current airport fire chiefs, retired assistant fire chiefs, and military airport firefighters, and a current public safety officer.

"An aircraft fire can be quickly fatal and is extremely dangerous, so we must make sure that the fire fighters are well-trained and well-prepared for an aircraft emergency," said Joe Teixeira, KCC's ARFF program coordinator. "As I trained with the Kennedy's fire fighters, I gained an appreciation of the men and women who help protect our nation's astronauts. They stand 90 seconds away from either rescue or disaster and their purpose is to constantly train to be primed should the worst happen. Being a firefighter means being intimately ready for the all types of emergencies, because when catastrophe happens there's no time to parse blueprints. And with fire, there's no room for mistakes."

For more information about the ARFF trainer visit, contact KCC ARFF Coordinator, Joe Teixeira (269) 841-6039. For more information about the ARFF program and a photo gallery, visit www.kellogg.edu/arff.


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Binda kicks out the jams with the spoken words of Kinetic Affect

Scott Morley
Staff Writer

Binda was off the hook Wednesday, March 22nd, rocking out to the irresistibly compelling words of the dynamic duo known as Kinetic Affect. "That's affect with an A, not effect with an E," said poet and performer Kirk Latimer, explaining that the word means to bring about change.

They certainly did have a strong affect on the audience. Spectators really loved the performance, some moved to tears from the emotions their performance evoked. Others in the audience interacted with the poets, "This is not at all what I expected!" said one, "What did your parents say about you becoming professional poets?" said another.

Gabriel Giron and Kirk Latimer are the performers. They've been rhyming together since they first met, competing against each other at a poetry slam in 2006. It was then that they decided to join forces, discovering strength in their unity; one of the topics discussed in their performances.

Giron and Latimer work in powerful symbiosis in their performances. As a survivor of testicular cancer, Giron plays the part of the experienced wise man to Latimer's part as the quirky improv with an artistic temperament.

The most powerful part of Kinetic Affect's performance is really not in their performance at all, but that their words connect so firmly with the audience; heavy thoughts about everyday experiences. Latimer's romantic reminiscence of childhood, "Lostn'n'Found," begins with joyous memories of youthful discovery; blanket forts and favorite undiscovered hiding places. Then it moves to the topic of innocence lost. In Giron's piece, "Crazy. Beautiful. Artist," Giron discusses the insanity of his own dreams, "the greatest innovators of our time were the most insane of all," he says. The poem, "Without Forgiveness," discusses how humans judge others based upon their opinions of themselves, and that we attack others not because of others' issues but because of our own issues; powerful ideas considering the state of American politics today.

Kinetic Affect can not only be booked for performance, but also has a nonprofit called Speak It Forward Inc. "Speak it Forward exposes individuals to the literary word by providing educational opportunities to help youth and adults express their voice thru the written and oral word," says their website, www.kineticaffect.com.

Gabriel Giron and Kirk Latimer of Kinetic Affect Photo courtasy on Kinetic Affect

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