Anticipation is building with the 100th Winter Carnival just around the corner. We’re preparing  our special edition celebrating this monumental occasion next week, but for now, we asked students: “What are you looking forward to for Winter Carnival?” Here is what they had to say:

“Looking at finished snow statues, time off from classes, broomball games, and skill competition.”

—Karl Nuler, 4th-year Biomedical Engineering student

“Seeing the ice statues and watching the hockey game.”

—Bailey Papes, Environmental Engineering Graduate student

“Since I am graduating I am trying to play as much broomball as possible, the Carni events, Neon Skate Night, and live band Karaoke.” 

—Collin Bannister, 5th-year Electrical Engineering student

“Time off class.”

—Ethan Betzoldt, 1st-year Computer Science student

“I am looking forward to the ice sculptures actually being in full swing and the playoffs for broomball.”

—Cheyenne Scott, 3rd-year Biomedical Engineering and Social Science student

“I am always looking forward to seeing the unique snow statues that organizations/teams bring to campus. It is wonderful to see how people think outside of the box to create a statue that especially plays onto this year’s theme.”

—Ian Lawrie, 4th-year Software Engineering student

With the first round of exams coming up, many MTU students are looking for the perfect place to prepare. To find out the best place to look over notes, go through practice tests, and catch up on class readings, we asked students: “Where is your favorite place to study?” Here is what they had to say:

“My favorite place to study is the DOW Atrium. I love the nice views overlooking the Portage and being able to see Mt. Ripley.”

—Jenna Disser, 4th-year Medical Laboratory Science major

“The second floor of the library in the booths is my favorite place to study. It is comfy and I can study well with others there.”

—Lilly VanLoon, 4th-year Medical Laboratory Science major

“First floor [library] behind the computers so I can look outside the windows. I love studying here as I can focus and be productive.”

—Paige Kachmarsky, 4th-year Systems Engineering major

“My favorite place to study is the second-floor balcony of the library because that’s some secret garden shit.”

—Dylan Lane, 3rd-year Environmental Engineering major

“My favorite place to study is the lounge on the 5th floor of the EERC. It has an awesome view, and it’s easy to get to.”

—Ben Keppers, 1st-year Electrical Engineering major

“My favorite place to study is MUB 106, the Student Org. offices. The Sense of community and friendship between the organizations allow for a good dose of fun while still being calm enough to get work done!”

—Lila Johnson, 2nd-year Statistics major

The President’s Council on Mental Health and Wellbeing met Friday, Jan. 21 to discuss their upcoming mocktail event for Winter Carnival. The mocktail event will be hosted in collaboration with the MUB Board and will be accompanied by karaoke. “The MUB Board is super excited,” Whitney Boroski of the Center for Student Mental Health and Well-Being said of the collaboration. The council hopes that the mocktail event will provide students with an alternative to alcohol, whether they need to alternate their beverage consumption or wish to avoid drinking altogether. The council deliberated a menu for the event, with dining services representative Jill Paterson presenting several options, while Graduate Student Government representative Jessica Bruning offered hot drinks as additions. Ultimately, the group decided to focus on drinks that were easy for the people running the event to make. “It might be best to keep things simple,” Lily Baker, Well-being Advocate at Michigan Tech said. Susan Liebau of the Wahtera Center agreed. “If you can batch stuff ahead of time, it’s pretty simple.” The council ultimately decided on four drinks, the Hot Not Toddy, the Rock Melon Nojito, the Grape Lime Rickey, and the Pineapple Temple.

On Tuesday, Jan. 18, USG representative Davi Sprague and Scientific and Technical Communication student Riley Powers met with MTU Dean of Students Dr. Wallace Southerland, Chair of MTU Flex Dr. Sarah Schulte, and Director of Communications for MTU Flex, Dr. John Lehman to bring forward questions raised by members of the MTU community regarding the University’s handling of COVID-19. Sprague and Powers compiled a collection of questions for the university representatives through Google Forms and the Husky Discord server. Community members could submit their questions anonymously or provide their names.

Powers stressed the importance of establishing good communication between students and faculty, in order to find solutions and keep both parties in the conversation. “Open dialogues are a good first step to keeping both parties informed on how decisions are being made, and the impacts thereof. This remains important to me as everyone, including myself, is impacted by the decisions and considerations made by the Flex Team.” 

Sprague echoed these sentiments as well: “As a representative of USG, it’s my job to advocate on behalf of students. I try to keep my ear to the ground to know what’s happening around campus. One thing that I just kept hearing over and over again from students was frustration with trying to get emails and responses about COVID-19 concerns.”

The university representatives emphasized that while the campus as a whole is widely open, accommodations can be made to immunocompromised students. There will be “a lot of flexibility over the weeks,” Dr. Schulte said. Among these accommodations is an on-demand grab-and-go option from the dining halls, available to immunocompromised students who go through the office of Student Disability Services. 

In regards to a contingency plan in the case of a large breakout of COVID-19, the university representatives told the students that because there is no one way a large breakout can look, there is no one contingency plan, although there are plans in place to handle major changes within the pandemic. “I may define a large breakout differently than an immunocompromised student,” Dr. Southerland said. The representatives stated that the university plans to comply with the health department should they request that students be sent home from residence halls. Meanwhile, the university continues to encourage community members to get vaccinated and isolate when necessary. As of now, the university’s isolation spaces, which include spaces in local hotels, have not been exhausted. 

The representatives informed the students that they have placed an order for KN95 masks. Due to supply-chain issues, the university cannot be sure when these masks will arrive. Upon their arrival, the university plans to distribute the masks to students for free. They suspect they will be able to give interested students one or two masks each until the supply is exhausted. 

In response to a faculty-submitted question asking why the testing dashboard didn’t include more information, the representatives expressed the desire of MTU Flex to provide meaningful data. “Our epidemiologist cautioned us from drawing a positivity rate,” Dr. Lehman said. Not all positive tests are reported to the university, which may result in incomplete data. Dr. Schulte drew a similar conclusion for the reason masks are not required in the SDC. “We hate to set standards that we can’t achieve,” Dr. Schulte said. MTU flex tries not to “set false expectations for people who want a fully masked environment that we can’t achieve.”

In response to concerns over ambiguity as to when the university moves between safety levels, the representatives said that there are no hard cut-offs and that they look at health care capacity, hospitalization rate, and CDC data.

After the Q&A, Sprague told The Lode that they “…consider the whole thing a massive success. We were able to answer ten questions in detail and provide those answers for the entire Michigan Tech community.” It is their hope that “…this will be just the start of an ongoing dialogue between students and administration, not just about COVID-19, but about any other issues or concerns within our community.”

The list of questions discussed at the Q&A, along with their answers edited for clarity, can be found here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1e84P_YB3L2n0tOxQN_QieD2LO4i5PNiFyZKTZyofrJY/edit 

After a chilling and snowy start to the semester, many Tech students are looking forward to the many winter activities available to them. With this in mind, we asked students, “What is your favorite winter activity?” Here is what they had to say:

“Skiing.”

—Marcello Gradagno, grad student, mechanical engineering

“Snowmobiling.”

—Ellie Fisch, third-year mechanical engineering student

“Drinking hot chocolate.” 

—Julia Westfall, third-year mechanical engineering student

“Sauna run.”

—Thomas Fleming, third-year mechanical engineering student

“Downhill skiing.”

—Eric Balanecki, third-year mechanical engineering student

“Sledding.”

—Chris Kirschke, third-year chemical engineering student

It’s the start of a fresh semester here at Tech, so we went around to ask students: “What are you most looking forward to in the new semester?” Here is what they had to say:

“I am most looking forward to working on our fraternity’s month-long statue during this year’s all-nighter.”

—Seth Jensen-Younk, Fifth-Year Mechanical Engineering Major

“I am most looking forward to being president of my fraternity and being part of Baja SAE.”

—Zach Reed, Fifth-Year Mechanical Engineering Major

“This semester I am looking forward to my senior lab and student orgs.”

—Kira Millhausen, Fifth-Year Chemical Engineering Major

“I am looking forward to being able to enjoy all the winter festivities that were canceled or altered last year. The winters in Houghton are something that really bonds the student body and creates a strong sense of community at MTU.”

—Hillary Prout, Third-Year Accounting Major

“Graduation.”

—Sophie Owen, Fourth-Year Electrical Engineering Major

The President’s Council for Mental Health and Wellbeing is tasked with advocating for student safety during the annual Winter Carnival. In their December meeting, the council discussed possible activities for the event, including giveaways and mocktails, as well as the message they hope to spread encouraging student safety. 

The council discussed their hope to take advantage of the event to advertise the Good Samaritan provision, which allows students to get medical help for alcohol and drug overuse without fear of penalty. The council has already been speaking to students about the provision. “I feel like our messaging is working,” Whitney Boroski, council chair said, regarding the provision.

In addition to addressing safe alcohol use during Winter Carnival, the council expressed their desires to ensure student safety in other ways. “Cold weather awareness is important for Winter Carnival,” said Jill Patterson, representing dining services.

With final exams right around the corner, we went to the MUB to ask students, “What are your best study tips?” here is what they had to say:

“Set aside time to go through your notes and re-write them in a condensed way.”

—Brendan Powers, 3rd-year Computer Science major

“Go over all of the notes from class a few days in advance and do as many practice problems as you can.”

—Nate Learman, 3rd-year Mechanical Engineering Major

“Make sure you have a comfortable environment and take breaks as you need them.”

—Madison Hehir, 2nd-year Electrical Engineering major

“Start studying the weekend before the exam, make an outline of the topics that are on the exam, and know how to do all of the problems for those topics. Don’t study the night before, try to relax and give your brain a break.”

—Hayden Augustyniak, 3rd-year Electrical Engineering major

“Break up study times with rewards or breaks and use visual aids like notes or flashcards. Try to form groups in your classes for study partners to keep you accountable.”

—Jenna Byron, 4th-year Computer Science major

This week, USG Secretary Cheyanne Scott reported on the winter break bus; “our first bus is a go,” Scott stated. The winter break bus is currently full, with 15 people on the waiting list. If enough additional people sign up, there is a possibility for a second. Kaitlyn Black, Third Year Representative, noted that while the Thanksgiving bus was in part stressful, it is hopeful that the winter break bus will be more successful. 

Ethan Gerds reported on the Secure MI Vote table, an effort to increase voter awareness and involvement in the state of Michigan and in the student body. “It was really effective,” Gerd said of the table, “we were able to talk with about 130 people.”

Later, Gerds spoke on University Senate proposal 2-22, concerning changes to instructor evaluations. The Senate held an irregular meeting earlier in the day, in order to address the new administrative amendments made to the proposal. “I believe the changes made are for the better,” Gerds said.

Proposal 2-22 would issue a batch of changes to the professor evaluation process, especially in regard to the responses submitted by students. Written student responses would be considered with a weight of 50% as opposed to the current state of consideration, which is that “Student written comments [are] not be used in evaluations affecting personnel decisions.” Among other changes, the proposal would also add that “all teaching evaluation instruments (student, peer/colleague, and self) should be used” when academic units report results to the University Senate.

The USG discussed the possibility of providing funding to some of their members to attend the LeaderShape retreat. USG approved to provide full funding to five different members to attend the event, in a unanimous vote. USG Vice President Sydney Dankert voiced her support for the members, “Have a great time,” Dankert said. 

If you have any questions or concerns for USG please email USG President Zachary Olsen at usg-president@mtu.edu

While Michigan Tech has offered an open skate program for years, it remained inaccessible to many who had no access to skates. Now, thanks to the contributions of an accumulation of organizations and individuals, a memorial fund honoring Charlotte Jenkins, a Tech student and RA who passed last year, has been established, allowing more students and community members to enjoy the ice. 

Anna Browne, who recently graduated in Spring 2021, was a friend of Charlotte’s and one of the people who got this established. “Charlotte had an incredible impact on so many people that she interacted with whether those were fellow RAs, her residents, people that she had classes with, just really anyone.” According to Browne, she was known to lend out extra skates to her friends and others eager to get out on the ice, “Charlotte was kind of like an unofficial skate rental program in herself.”

Browne recalled the initial phase of establishing a fund for Charlotte, “we got Charlotte’s family to buy into it, and then started working heavily with two major academic departments and then a bunch of other people.” Residence Education and Housing Services and Athletics departments contributed greatly to the memorial fund. Funding was provided by the Charlotte Jenkins Memorial Fund, the Cheryl DePuydt Memorial Fund, the Undergraduate Student Government, the Inter-Residence Housing Council, the Wadsworth Hall Student Association, the Hillside Place Association, McNair Hall Association, the Michigan Tech Parents Fund, and the Michigan Tech Opportunity Fund.

“So funding was one of the big hurdles that we overcame very very well I would say. The other was trying to find a good space for the skate rental center… we got very, very lucky,” Browne said. “There is a concession stand on the ice rink level of the Macinnes Ice Arena that was [not] being used …  and we were actually able to completely retrofit that space to be our skate rental program.“

The dedication ceremony for the program occurred about a month ago, on Oct. 16. “We were not expecting a very large crowd… and then we were blown away by it. I think it was like 180 people who rented skates, and there were probably close to 200 to 250 total,” Browne said.

“Something else we are planning on doing is streamlining the process to rent skates for Tech students so that they don’t really need to do much other than just have their ID… We were in the process of hiring several student workers in order to work the center during open skates between the dedication and now.”

The hope is that the rental program will be widely accessible to all students and community members. “The really cool thing about doing this at the SDC is that it’s so close to so many first-year students… It’s very accessible and it’s also a very low cost… and hopefully, at some point in time if there is usage we are hoping to have this included on the experience tech fee so that it’ll be free of charge to all students pretty soon. It’s a great opportunity for people to get involved in a winter sport.” The dedication ceremony saw younger kids and Tech students enjoying the rink together. “There were quite a few younger kids that were at the dedication ceremony. And I think that they all had a phenomenal time with all of the college students that were there.” Browne’s hope is that this trend will bring down some of the walls between Michigan Tech and the surrounding community. 

Along with skate rentals, the program will offer skate sharpening during all open skates during the fall and spring semesters. Skate rentals and sharpenings cost $5. Helmets are available at no charge. For the remainder of the semester, MTU student open skating is available Wednesdays and Thursdays, from 8 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., except during Thanksgiving break. Public skating is open  Dec. 5 and 12 from 6-9:30 p.m. and Dec. 19 and 26 from 4:30-7:30 p.m.