Michigan Tech Magazine Winter 2010-11

A Natural Solution

by Jennifer Donovan

They call it fighting fire with fire. Or in this case,fighting bugs with bugs.

The emerald ash borer, an invasive, iridescent green beetle with a voracious appetite for ash trees, was found in the eastern end of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in 2007. In 2008 a population over 200 miles to the northwest was identified in an abandoned cemetery in Laurium, about ten miles north of Michigan Tech on the Keweenaw Peninsula.

Adult emerald ash borers lay their eggs on ash trees, and the larvae tunnel beneath the bark. There, they eat the living part of the tree, known as the phloem, through which nutrients flow from the roots to the leaves. Ultimately, they kill the tree.

Now Michigan Tech's Andrew Storer, a forest insect ecologist, is heading . . . 

Four Generations

by Marcia Goodrich

The Harris family ties to Michigan Tech read like a chapter from the Old Testament.

Arthur begat Norman and Bernard '38. Bernard '38 begat Timothy '81; and Norman begat Ted '49, Gene, Richard '49, and Jerry '53.

Ted '49 begat Michael Pingel '95 and Thomas; and Thomas begat Laura, Class of 2014. Jerry '53 begat Geri Lynn, Michael '80, Steven '81, Gregory '83, James '85, and Donald '89. Geri Lynn begat Jessica Mariano '09.

And, in conclusion, at least for the moment, Michael '80 begat Ben, Class of 2011.

A Crown for the Mighty Mac

by Marcia Goodrich

The weather is cool, gray, and foggy, as summer days once were in Northern Michigan. Dad pulls into a small roadside park, so the dog can do her business and the bickering kids, all bundled in sweatshirts, can stretch their legs. Next, they'll head over for a quick meal at a drive-in in Mackinaw City and then set up camp.

Tess loves vacation, and she loves camping, and she wishes they would just go straight to the campground instead of wasting time in this dumb park. Then, as she clambers out of the back seat, she slows. She inhales the primal air of the Mackinac Straits, and a breeze ruffles her fluffy red hair.

Tech Archaeologists Tackle the Cliff

by John Gagnon

Sean Gohman spent last summer unearthing the past, pinpointing industrial ruins near the crossroads town of Phoenix, a half-hour north of Houghton and a century-and-a-half removed from the highway traffic zipping by just a hundred yards away.

Starting in May, Gohman filled his days scaling poor rock and slogging through swamp water at the storied Cliff Mine. "It was always an ordeal," Gohman says, for both him and the students in an archaeology field school that helped to map the site. In August, he was immersed in paperwork, putting the finishing touches on his master's thesis and setting off in pursuit of a doctorate in Tech's industrial heritage and archaeology program. "It's hard to get used to sitting inside," he said. "It's a weird transition."

For this native of St. Cloud, Minnesota, Michigan's past constitutes an irresistible tug. "I want to understand where I'm at," he says.

A Building, a Memorial, a Fund

by Erik Nordberg

Since 1952, the Memorial Union Building has stood as a memorial to fallen students, as well as a safe and comfortable spot to grab a cup of coffee or hunker down to study. Yet many folks may not realize that it also represents the philanthropic commitment of our alumni, friends, faculty, and staff. The MUB was the first significant fundraising effort the institution had ever mounted, and its construction planted the seed for what we know as the Michigan Tech Fund.

The June 1941 issue of the Bulletin of the Michigan College of Mining and Technology (the forerunner of today's Michigan Tech Magazine) included details of the summer alumni reunion activities. Amidst the fun and frivolity, Wilbur Van Evera 1907, president of the alumni association, indicated his plan to discuss "establishment of an Alumni Foundation which will facilitate the reception and use of bequests by the college."

The topic appears to have been received favorably, and the Alumni Foundation of the Michigan College of Mining and Technology was incorporated on August 8, 1941.