This week Michigan Tech held a panel discussing the tropes and impacts of the robot plot. The robot plot is a story told involving robots in movies, novels, and other forms of entertainment. The panel was comprised of MTU humanities professors Stephanie Carpenter, Dr. Erin Smith, and Dr. Dana van Kooy. The big picture of the panel was to discuss how the plot has evolved through the years, and the impact it has had on the world.

An audience member at the panel started off by asking the big question of what a robot is. Carpenter answered by stating it, “Comes down to the idea of something being manufactured.” Robots are more than machines built out of metal; Frankenstein’s monster was created out of human body parts and should still be defined as a robot. 

The panel leader Dr. Charles Wallace, a computer science professor at MTU, expanded on this by asking, “How do we come to see robots in this way?” A consensus was reached around the reasoning, “robot stories have become predictable.” Typically, there is some secret involved in the story or the story’s robot has deviated from its programming. Even going away from the overarching plot, robots are often associated with negative human emotions. In these films and stories, the robots enact negative human emotions while the humans are depicted with positive emotions.

Robots are often used to bring up fears and values that all humans have. While Star Trek showed a world using technology to advance and explore the world, the more common (and negative) take on technology is evident in movies like Terminator and Ready Player One. In these movies, technology forces people inside their homes. It also forces society to take steps back  instead of stepping forward.

The speakers mentioned that the fear of technology usage could possibly stem from the ethical choices humans are faced with today. As robots grow more and more incorporated into everyday life, the idea of robots helping with childcare has come up. An issue that could emerge from robots aiding in childcare could be the mistreatment of the machines. If kids are given robot dogs and mistreat them, does that make them more susceptible to violence or less empathetic? The same idea applies to robots helping with childcare.

The other looming fact with technology being incorporated into everyday life is that it shows human functions are becoming obsolete. This same idea shows up in narratives of stories where humans fail to accomplish something so the solution is removing humans from the process. A good example of obsoleteness is memory. Human memory can fail and trick us, even to the point of creating stories and fictional memories that can be re told to others. Google immediately solves a gap in memory with a quick internet search. 

Dr. Van Kooy mentioned how humans are becoming more aware of these limits, and we no longer believe our limits are our strengths. Instead, we now view the limits with a more skeptical lens. This is a possible factor in the increase of dystopian stories.

Each year MTU looks to the students in the dorms to take the experiences they gained from their RA and pass it to the next class of students. In doing so Tech traditions stay alive and strong communities thrive in the halls. Tuesday marked the beginning of this process, as residential assistant (RA) applications for the next academic year opened. 

As an RA, students will gain a variety of responsibilities ranging from continuing hall traditions to doing rounds of the building at night. RAs must attend a weekly meeting with their fellow staff members to gain news updates, as well as gain knowledge to improve job performance. They will host hangouts and meetings throughout the school year to promote engagement in the halls. Finally, RAs must also check in with their residents to ensure mental health is healthy in the hall.

With these extra responsibilities comes compensation. Each RA will receive a single room in the dorms at no charge to them. Included with the room will be an unlimited meal plan and membership to the Quad Core Fitness Center.

RAs also gain interpersonal skills and soft benefits throughout their time in the job. Jaxon Verhoff, previously an RA for two academic years, says, “Being an RA allows one to perfect the ability to think on the fly. You get a call late at night about a situation, show up, and have to figure out the best course of action to finding a solution everyone can get behind.” The role is also a great source when building your resume or participating in interviews according to Verhoff. 

After completing an application for the role, candidates will be put through a round of interviews along with attending an information session should they apply for the job.

The interview process consists of three sections. The first section focuses on question and response between the applicant and two housing members. The second section has the candidate prepare a community building activity. This is similar to what one would face as an RA in planning a hall hangout. Finally, the candidate will perform a mock check-in with one of the housing members. The point of check-ins is to see if a student is thriving in the hall or in need of support.

When asked about the interviews, Verhoff stated to just be yourself during them. “Check-ins can be vital as an RA, and so showing you know how to interact and relate to people is key. Keep calm and find a way to keep the conversation going with the interviewer, but also know that silence isn’t always bad.”

The last required step to be considered for the role is to attend an information session. There the roles and responsibilities of an RA will be further discussed, as well as the benefits of the job. Those meetings are on December 7 and January 19. For more information one can reach out to housing@mtu.edu or navigate to the housing webpage. 

On Wednesday, Oct. 19, the Hancock City Council held a meeting where the new president of Finlandia University gave a presentation on the state of the school. 

President Tim Pinnow was elected as Finlandia’s new president earlier this year. In his short time at the school, he has already seen how challenging the task is ahead of him. President Pinnow said they “Need to restructure to its reality, and this  is a smaller university than it used to be.” Since the first of the year, the school has managed to trim the budget by 12%.

President Pinnow says they have too many buildings for the 400 students they currently have enrolled. They are looking to remove buildings and land in the near future. The summer months and holiday season is when it is toughest for a college, as no new tuition is being collected. Should the college make it through this year, President Pinnow believes that the future is hopeful for Finlandia..

Next year they will move to zero based budgeting, which means that the budget will based on the current enrollment of the school. In addition, the university has decided to close its art gallery. Most of the remaining budget cuts will be seen through attrition, belt tightening, and the letting go of part time employees.

Finlandia University is also talking with the ISD to start a program for trade seeking students. This program would allow students to get an Associate of Applied Science degree, and further down the line a Bachelor of Applied Science. Both degrees would create opportunities for students to look at possibly owning a business in their trade. 

In hopes of dealing with the nationwide teacher shortage, President Pinnow mentioned promoting student teachers going forward. Pinnow hopes to work with Northern Michigan University in producing new teachers that would move to Finlandia for work after graduation. President Pinnow said, “There should be no difference between town and gown,” showing his dedication to improving not only Finlandia University but also Hancock as a whole.

Outside of the presentation, the council also spoke on the police officer shortage. In hopes of improving the situation, they are looking to hire a full-time officer. This will reduce the number of hours the existing officers have to work, as they are currently working overtime on a consistent basis.

It was also announced that Make a Difference Day was thrown in honor of Deb Mann. Deb Mann was actively involved with this event in the past, and thus the motto “You’ve been Debbed” was used in promoting the event this year. The motto means that you are successfully making a positive impact in the community. Also, an evergreen tree will be planted behind the Hancock sign in memory of Deb, as she always wished for a Christmas tree behind it.

The next council meeting is scheduled on Nov. 2 at 6 pm. It is open to public viewing via Zoom, the link for which can be found on the City of Hancock website inside of the meeting’s agenda.

The University Senate met on Oct.12. Much of the agenda revolved around providing time for different committees to update Senate members, as no presentations took place.

The two main pieces of work the senate had to address was around the Fall Break proposal and upcoming elections. Regarding fall break, the proposal for a fall break during the 2024-2025 school year has been approved with editorial changes. Editorial changes mean the administration is allowed to change the proposal how they see fit, but the executives will vote on if those changes are quantified as editorial and only then will they be allowed to take place.

Looking at the 2023-2024 school year, the idea of moving fall break to week 8 has been circulating the Academic and Instructional Policy (AITC) Committee. All that remains is tidying up the proposal for said break, and submission of the proposal should be in the upcoming week.  After submission, the talks will most likely shift towards amending the proposal into the existing 23-24 calendar.

There are a multitude of committees that have upcoming elections. Secretary Robert Hutchinson said the list is “almost a full page long.” The main committee elections mentioned during the meeting were the Provost Search Committee and Athletic Council. Moving forward, the senate will be accepting recommendations and volunteers to apply for these roles. The full list of committees up for election can be found in the agenda for senate meeting 677, on the MTU Senate webpage.

A new proposal was brought forward during the senate meeting. Officially referred to as “Proposal 3-23 Elimination of Shelved Program.”, the proposal moves to officially eliminate one degree and two certifications that MTU offers. These 3 programs have been shelved for at least five years, which means that no students are enrolled in them since then. The Curricular Policy Committee said this is “done every academic year,” and will continue to grow as the year progresses. Last year almost fifteen different programs were eliminated and thus is normal for these three to be eliminated as well.

In the next meeting, President Richard J. Koubek will have a presentation, and another presentation of the campus master plan will take place. That meeting will take place in DOW 642 at 5:30 p.m. and the recordings can be found on the website.

The University Senate met on Oct.12. Much of the agenda revolved around providing time for different committees to update Senate members, as no presentations took place.

The two main pieces of work the senate had to address was around the Fall Break proposal and upcoming elections. Regarding fall break, the proposal for a fall break during the 2024-2025 school year has been approved with editorial changes. Editorial changes mean the administration is allowed to change the proposal how they see fit, but the executives will vote on if those changes are quantified as editorial and only then will they be allowed to take place.

Looking at the 2023-2024 school year, the idea of moving fall break to week 8 has been circulating the Academic and Instructional Policy (AITC) Committee. All that remains is tidying up the proposal for said break, and submission of the proposal should be in the upcoming week.  After submission, the talks will most likely shift towards amending the proposal into the existing 23-24 calendar.

There are a multitude of committees that have upcoming elections. Secretary Robert Hutchinson said the list is “almost a full page long.” The main committee elections mentioned during the meeting were the Provost Search Committee and Athletic Council. Moving forward, the senate will be accepting recommendations and volunteers to apply for these roles. The full list of committees up for election can be found in the agenda for senate meeting 677, on the MTU Senate webpage.

A new proposal was brought forward during the senate meeting. Officially referred to as “Proposal 3-23 Elimination of Shelved Program.”, the proposal moves to officially eliminate one degree and two certifications that MTU offers. These 3 programs have been shelved for at least five years, which means that no students are enrolled in them since then. The Curricular Policy Committee said this is “done every academic year,” and will continue to grow as the year progresses. Last year almost fifteen different programs were eliminated and thus is normal for these three to be eliminated as well.

In the next meeting, President Richard J. Koubek will have a presentation, and another presentation of the campus master plan will take place. That meeting will take place in DOW 642 at 5:30 p.m. and the recordings can be found on the website.

The time is upon us once again. The MTU men’s hockey team went up against th Ferris State Bulldogs on Friday, Oct. 7, to which the Huskies fell short of a win. The first period saw both teams score a goal, but in the second period the Bulldogs scored the game winning goal. 

After the game, coach Joe Shawhan commented on how he felt while some players played hard, there were others who did not. Shawhan said it came down to “Some players just want offense; they want offense to happen.” He feels this will be a lesson that those players can walk away with, as offense doesn’t happen if you don’t compete hard for the puck.

Shawhan also went on to say, “Some guys were fooled with our exhibition games.” Those exhibition games took place over the last two weekends. The first one Michigan Tech beat Lake Superior State 5-2, and shutout Lakehead with a 6-0 win in the second game. Moving forward the Huskies hope to be better at pushing through bodies and ensuring shots get put into the back of the net. 

Last season the Huskies took five wins over Ferris State and one tie. Two of those wins took place during the playoffs. Looking at the teams this season, Ferris State is a more veteran team, according to Shawhan, and he feels they deserved the win. The Huskies are in a place to grow at the moment with the lower number of veteran players. These early game matchups will be key in helping them get that growth and find their flow.

Parker Saretsky made Michigan Tech’s only goal five minutes and twenty-four seconds into the first period. That goal was assisted by Nick Nardella and Alex Nordstrom. Goalie Blake Pietila managed 23 saves throughout the game. The Huskies offense put up 29 shots against Ferris State.

Moving forward, the Huskies head to Alaska for two more away games. Those games will be held on Thursday and Friday. After that, they return to Houghton for the first home game of the season, going up against longtime foes Bemidji State. Last season Bemidji State managed to kick the Huskies out of the playoffs during the Semifinal round, 5-2. This gives the Huskies a prime opportunity to avenge themselves by beating them at home.