Winter 2008 Semester

All programs are held on Fridays at noon in the Library conference room. Reservations are preferred. Call 231-348-6602 to reserve your place at the table. Cost is $9. Lunch is included.

January 18 – Nick Adams and The Great Michigan Read. The Michigan Humanities Council is sponsoring a statewide community reading program based on Ernest Hemingway’s, The Nick Adams Stories. Members of the Little Traverse Civic Theater will present dramatic readings from this literary masterpiece that was made in Michigan.

January 25 – Building a harpsichord. Bob Pattengale, a founder of the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra and retired music professor shows how to build and play this elegant instrument that dates back to the late Middle Ages.

April 18 – The 1968 Democratic Convention. Since he was a student at Harvard and the University of Chicago Law School, Phil Moore has been heavily involved in the civil rights movement. Now an adjunct instructor of business law at North Central, Phil talks about the most tumultuous and significant political convention of the 20th Century. His presentation will include photos of the event that were locked away for decades.

February 8 – Top Gun. Vice Admiral John K. “Jack” Ready, U.S. Navy (Ret.) was a U.S. Navy test pilot, commander of the Navy Fighter Weapons “Top Gun” School, commander of the aircraft carrier, USS Saratoga, and director of the Joint Strike Fighter Program for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company. He will talk about the dramatic world of naval aviation and the role of carrier aviation today.

February 15 – Volunteer Mercy Pilots. In 1989, Ken Osman founded an organization of volunteer pilots who offer their time and airplanes to transport sick and indigent Michigan residents to medical facilities out of state. He will explain his little-known service that has helped many people receive treatment for cancer, diabetes and other significant illnesses.

February 22 – Wooden Boats. In 2006, a school was established in the eastern Upper Peninsula to meet the growing interest in learning, preserving, and applying the skills build and restore wooden boats. The Great Lakes Boat Building School in Cedarville has now formed an educational partnership with North Central Michigan College. The program’s leaders will explain this remarkable venture and the bright careers its graduates can expect.

February 29 – Bridge, Anyone? Mike Sears is an electrical engineer who was program manager for the development of the F/A-18E/F Fighter for the US Navy at McDonnell Douglas. Now retired in Petoskey, he is co-director of the new Petoskey Bridge Club which opened in early May. He will explain why bridge players are so intense, competitive and focused that they leave their social skills at home, yet look happy after a bridge session.

March 7 – The Zig-Zag Road. Randy Evans, Ph.D., a retired business executive and adjunct professor at North Central, talks about his recently published doctoral dissertation in psychology on the quality of life of breast cancer survivors from the points of view of both a researcher and a husband/caregiver. His research applies to all those who either experience or support people coping with chronic illnesses. One CEU will be offered to registered nurses and other health care professionals.

March 14 – Making Healthcare Work for You. Reezie DeVet, R.N., Ed.D, chief operating officer, Northern Michigan Regional Hospital, tells how patients and families can effectively participate in their care and better understand their options for diagnosis and treatment. Research shows that knowledgeable patients who participate in decision making and care often heal faster and adjust better after a health event. A former hospital consultant, community hospital administrator and nursing instructor, Reezie received the Nightingale Award from NMRH nurses in 2005. One CEU offered to nurses and other health care providers.

March 28 – Life on the Amazon. For 11 years, Nancy Dammann has been studying life along the Amazon River in Peru. The Columbia University Ph.D. candidate has worked with small communities to understand how and why they make decisions regarding natural resource management and the effects of these decisions. She will tell us a little of what she has found.

April 25 – From the Linotype to the website. How does an industry whose technology dates back to the 1400s make the jump to the Internet? Kendall Stanley, editor of the Petoskey News-Review, will talk about “convergence” in the newspaper industry. Kendall is a graduate of Central Michigan University and has been a fixture at the News-Review for 29 years. NOTE: This program will be held in Room 122 of the administration/classroom building.

May 16 – Global warming and the South Pole. Knute Nadelhoffer, Ph.D., director of the University of Michigan Biological Station travels to the South Pole this winter. Upon his return, he will provide us with some of his observations about the changes that are taking place in our world’s climate today.

Not able to make the lecture, you can listen to all lectures via Podcast.
Look for the Podcast logo for lectures available.

All programs are held on Fridays at noon in the Library conference room. Reservations are preferred. Call 231-348-6602 to reserve your place at the table. Cost is $9. Lunch is included.