The new yellow sculpture on campus is not just a piece of art, it’s a learning tool designed by AISC to demonstrate popular structural steel construction techniques. AISC is short for the American Institute of Steel Construction, a technical institute and trade association serving the structural steel industry. The sculpture is a freely downloadable design as part of AISC’s university educational program. MTU joins a list of over 170 other schools with one of these sculptures. If you haven’t seen it yet, it sits on Michigan Tech’s campus in between Dillman and the M&M. 

The sculpture is designed as an educational tool for students to visualize steel connections. There are multiple structural steel buildings on campus, but that steel and those techniques are hidden within the guts of the buildings. This sculpture brings that technology out into the light of day. An associate professor in the civil, environmental, and geospatial engineering department said, “I hope my students think about the various components and I hope they get inspiration for steel building practices they might consider using as practitioners.”

This sculpture had been on the faculty’s wish list for a while. Swartz credited Interim Dean of the College of Engineering Audra N. Morse for finally making the installation possible. Morse worked with Russel Becker, an MTU alumnus who donated the sculpture. The sculpture was fabricated by LeJeune Steel in Minnesota and shipped to campus. This could serve as a jumping off point for future campus development. If you think MTU needs more visual and interactive fixtures on campus, contact the dean or an administrator. These projects can be great ways for alumni to give back to the school and if students express interest more projects may develop.

Winter is around the corner and the McNair Hall Association (MHA) is offering students the chance to store their bikes indoors for the coming season. Saturday, Nov. 11, from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m., MHA will be outside the West McNair Glass Lounge accepting bikes for safekeeping over the winter. This service is offered to students free of charge. The only requirement is that the bike is registered with Public Safety. MHA President Kyler Odle said, “Bike storage is something we offer every year because the bikes that are on the racks cannot be there after the plows start coming in.”  Public Safety will be removing the bike racks all together when snowfall hits. 

A consideration is that you are unable to access or remove your bike from storage until the weather clears and Public Safety determines it is safe to return the racks to campus. 

To register a bike you can visit the Public Safety’s page on the MTU website. There is an online form to fill out. Required information includes contact information and some details about your bike. It shouldn’t take more than five minutes. You will receive a registration decal in the mail at the local address provided in the form. Having your bike registered will help the chances of having it returned should it go missing. There will be a limited number of “day-of” registration forms available, but you are encouraged to complete the process ahead of time. Don’t lose your bike this winter and get it registered so you are eligible to store it in McNair. Visit 

https://www.mtu.edu/publicsafety/services/bicycle/ to register your bike.

Last week there was a townhall meeting for the Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Mechanics department, more commonly referred to at ME-EM. The town hall was a student-led forum for ME-EM students to share their experiences and raise concerns about classes, professors and other departmental matters. Classic ME-EM courses like introduction to manufacturing, statics, dynamics, and the mechanical engineering practices were the main topics of conversation. 

This was an event put on by ME-SAC, Mechanical Engineering Student Advisory Committee. They sent three representatives and provided pizza for attendees. ME-SAC is a group of ME-EM students that “act as a liaison between the students and the department,” said Raylan Jiao, a fourth year mechanical engineering student and member of ME-SAC. She joined ME-SAC to help improve the department and improve the ME-ME curriculum in the future. 

While this event was focused on ME-EM affairs, there are ways for students to make their voices heard across campus. If you have struggled with a course, feedback can be given to the department. Not everything has to stay the way it is, and students do not have to accept the status quo. By making your voice heard you could improve future students’ experiences for years to come. You can find similar forums in other colleges via a google search or asking around. If you are a ME-EM student and want to reach out to ME-SAC you can send them anonymous comments at mesac-inquiry-l@mtu.edu.

October is Sustainability month at MTU. There are a number of events scheduled, and last week hosted Sustainability Fest. The DHH ballroom played host to a gathering of representatives from Husky Eats, Students for Sustainability, Green Campus enterprise and Keweenaw Youth for Climate Action (KYCA). Each group had an information table set up for students to interact with. The idea of the event was for students to, “Come, have some fun and learn a little bit about sustainability,” said Alan Turnquist, Director of Sustainability and Resilience. 

Campus Executive Chef Erik Copeland led a “teaching kitchen” on pickling. Put together by Husky Eats, the interactive lesson included basic knife skills and the chance to take home a custom jar of pickled ingredients. Locally sourced vegetables were provided for students to cut how they like and pack into a canning jar. It wasn’t just veggies– hard boiled eggs were also an option if students wanted to take a swing at recreating the Keweenaw classic of pickled eggs. First year graduate student Viraj Reddy was attracted by the opportunity, saying “I love pickles so why not go make my own?” 

The student-led organizations each had unique booths with information and games. Students for Sustainability set up an ecobrick bowling alley. Ecobricks are plastic bottles that have been stuffed with softer plastic like candy bar wrappers to create a very sturdy ‘brick’ of plastic. They are being used in developing countries to build a variety of things from planters to buildings. KYCA had trivia questions and was informing people of their role on campus. They are hosting two information sessions as part of sustainability month about U.P. energy on Oct. 23 and divestment on Oct. 25. 

If you missed out on this event there are still plenty of opportunities to connect with the sustainability community at MTU. As it is Sustainability month, October has events each week, and the student organizations involved meet regularly. For more information on the sustainability month events, visit the Sustainability Department’s web page, www.mtu.edu/sustainability, and check out their blog.

Intramural sports offer an environment to stay active and scratch that competitive itch, away from the beer pong table. Each semester, students group up for team sports or go in solo for individual tournaments. Sports available include everything from soccer and softball to frisbockey and innertube water polo. 

Team sports usually have a regular season, of various lengths, followed by playoffs. Depending on the number of teams, regular season performance can dictate a team’s eligibility for playoffs. Playoffs come with higher stakes in the form of T-shirts for first-place and cups for second-place. Commenting on the intensity that can show up in playoff games, director of Intramurals and Physical Education Craig Pelizzaro says, “Sometimes people think there’s gold in those T-shirts.” 

If battling it out in the competitive ranks doesn’t sound fun to you, there are two other levels of competition available – recreational and co-rec. These are more casual levels which are good opportunities to try new sports. Fourth-year student Dominik LaChappelle mentioned, “Even if you’re not great at something you should still give it a try in the non-competitive rec leagues.” Recreational leagues are open to any combination of team members, and co-rec leagues generally have rules dictating the amount of men and women allowed to play at once. Make sure to check the rules for individual sports before you sign up. If team sports are not of interest, one-on-one tournaments also provide great competition. These range from esports to golf, and there are a huge variety of opportunities in between.

For LaChappelle, Intramurals (IMs) are more than just a shot at the coveted T-shirt. He said they offer him, “Motivation to keep doing school work. As something to look forward to.” LaChappelle is currently playing flag football and sand volleyball. Intramural sports provide an opportunity to diversify your schedule and stay physically active while you’re at it. Pellizarro mentioned his team’s motto; “Fun, Fitness and Friendship.” 

Pellizarro encourages students to try new sports, suggesting, “You might find something new that you’ll like for a lifetime.” Adult recreational leagues are popular outside of college campuses, so testing the waters while you’re in school surrounded by your friends could prove fruitful. Who knows, maybe one day your co-workers will have a recreational softball team and ask you to join. You could wear that gold threaded T-shirt to the first game with confidence. 

For more information or to sign up visit www.imleagues.com/mtu.

A major traffic pattern has changed at Michigan Tech. Cliff Drive runs behind campus, and is now a one-way street. Traffic flow is now only west to east, flowing from the Administration Building to the Rozsa. The change is intended to “help alleviate the parking congestion on campus,” said Transportation Operations Manager, Gail Kotajarvi-Gerard. Roughly 64 parking spaces have been added on the south side of the street. 

The new metered parking became available on Sep. 20, and is available via ParkMobile. The preexisting motorcycle parking will be unaffected. Sections of road immediately adjacent to Highway 41 will remain open for two-way traffic, preserving access to parking lots one and 10. 

The “parking congestion,” as Kotajarvi-Gerard put it, is far from solved. This modification comes from a place of necessity as lot nine will soon be under construction to become a dorm. Lot 9 currently provides 261 parking spaces, resulting in a loss of almost 200 spaces. According to the Campus Master Plan 2022, the dorms are intended to have a parking structure as a base. All 261 parking spaces would be replaced, with hopes to add more. However, plans like these take time. During that time students will be left with fewer parking spaces while the student body grows. Michigan Tech is going through growing pains, so as parking begins to disappear in the name of improving campus, remain patient with yourself and others. Another potential option instead of driving to campus is taking the bus. Transportation Services provides bus routes to and from campus, servicing Hancock and Houghton. 

This sudden change to Cliff Drive goes to show how dynamic the campus is. Staying informed of changes will also allow you to participate in a campus-wide discourse where students can make themselves heard. The Campus Master Plan is available at 

https://www.mtu.edu/campus-master-plan/. Exploring the plan and getting a feel for the way things are headed could provide more perspective. It is up to the students to lobby for their own interests, something an ill-informed population cannot do.

Do you know what they do in the yellow house across the highway from Michigan Tech’s campus? The Canterbury House is a cultural center open to anyone affiliated with Michigan Technological University. They specialize in tutoring international students and their spouses in conversational English, reading and writing. 

However, it’s more than just a tutoring program. “We really want students to have a place to study, feel comfortable and meet new people,” said Sydney Peterson, Canterbury House president. The open hours are Monday through Thursday from 10-4 p.m. During those hours the house is available to students and faculty alike. Wednesday dinners are a popular event, every week at 6 p.m. a new dish is served free of charge. With recipes being sourced from the international students, you can count on a diverse dining experience. Donations are accepted. 

“We painted it yellow to make it a little more welcoming,” said Peterson. She emphasized that  “Canterbury House is for everybody. We love everybody, no matter who they are.” The house is affiliated with the Episcopal Church, as part of a nationwide program. College campuses across the country play host to similar venues for service, discourse, and socialization. The Church is the main source of funding for the House and its programs, including Wednesday dinners and the food pantry among others. 

Canterbury House started their food pantry in 2020. Peterson explained that “We found that a lot of people in our area had a hard time accessing food around that time.” The House focuses on anonymity, as the on campus pantry is located in Fisher Hall next to the largest lecture halls, which might deter students from taking full advantage due to its public location. They have a system involving codenames and scheduled pickup times to respect users’ privacy. If you are experiencing food insecurity, explore the resources available to you across campus including Canterbury House. 

If you are interested in tutoring with the Canterbury House, there are two routes available to you. The Episcopal Church offers fellowships, with semesterly grants, for students that commit one to three hours per week of their time to helping run the house. The other option is volunteer based and does not require a set time commitment. 

For more information or to get involved reach out to chouse@mtu.edu.