NEWS RELEASE -September 10, 2007
North Central Michigan College will present five evening Lecture Series
programs for the public during the 2007-08 school year and 15 lunchtime
programs in Petoskey and Gaylord during the Fall 2007 semester. The
programs are listed below.
Lecture Series 2007-08. Programs start at 7:30 p.m. Admission is free.
October 26: Dr. Jerry Root. The Question of God: C.S. Lewis and Sigmund
Freud Debate God, Love, Sex, and the Meaning of Life. Dr. Root, assistant
professor at Wheaton College, discusses the debate between Lewis and Freud
that was the subject of a four-hour PBS Television series. Dr. Root is
co-editor of the book "The Quotable C.S. Lewis" and has authored a number of
articles and book chapters on C.S. Lewis, evangelism and spiritual
formation. Co-sponsored by the C.S. Lewis Festival. The program will takes
place in the Student Center Cafeteria.
November 27: Jeff Hammond, NASCAR Nextel Cup and Busch Series racing
analyst and broadcaster for Fox Sports, FX and the Speed Channel. Jeff's
career in NASCAR began in 1974 as a tire changer for Walter Ballard. Later,
he was part of Junior Johnson's legendary race team that won three Winston
Cup Championships with drivers Cale Yarborough and Darrell Waltrip. Later,
as crew chief, he chalked up 43 wins to become one of NASCAR's all time
great crew chiefs. The program will take place in the Student and Community
Resource Center.
February 11, 2008: Maxine Maxwell and "Echoes of the Past and Voices of
Hope: Celebrating African American Women." Actress Maxine Maxwell
celebrates the spirit of African American women who believed they could make
their dreams a reality. A graduate of Webster University Conservatory of
Theatre Arts, Ms. Maxwell has taught theater workshops and served as a
producer in the New York area. Her credits include roles in "Cross
Currents," and "Tell Me It's Going To Be Wonderful." She appeared in
"Funnyhouse of a Negro," "The Trojan Woman of Euripides," and the national
tour of "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide... When The Rainbow
Is Enuf." The program will take place in the Student Center Cafeteria.
March 11, 2008: Jeff Cohen, founder of "Fairness and Accuracy in
Reporting," a national media watch group that documents media bias and
censorship. Cohen is the author or co-author of five books: Cable News
Confidential: My Misadventures in Corporate Media; Wizards of Media Oz:
Behind the Curtain of Mainstream News; Through the Media Looking Glass:
Decoding Bias and Blather in the News; The Way Things Aren't: Rush
Limbaugh's Reign of Error; and Aventures in Medialand: Behind the News,
Beyond the Pundits. Prior to launching FAIR, Cohen worked in Los Angeles as
a journalist, and as a lawyer for the ACLU. His investigative articles ran
in Rolling Stone, New Times, Mother Jones and other publications. The
program is co-sponsored by the Petoskey News-Review. The program takes
place in the Student Center Cafeteria.
April 22, 2008: Jeff Dowd, the real-life inspiration for the Jeff Bridges
character, "The Dude," in the Coen Brothers film, "The Big Lebowski." Dowd
is a maverick and eccentric wunderkind of film and marketing who was a
cofounder of Sundance and worked on films from "Gandhi" to "The Blair Witch
Project." As a political activist, he was known as a member of the "Seattle
Seven" who went to jail briefly following a violent protest against the
Vietnam War. He later moved to Los Angeles and became an independent movie
producer, promoter and pop cultural icon. The program takes place in the
Student Center Cafeteria.
Fall 2007 Luncheon Lectures in Petoskey. Programs are held on Fridays at
noon in the Library conference room unless indicated otherwise.
Reservations are preferred; call 231-348-6602. Cost is $9. Lunch is
included.
Sept. 21 - Oldsmobiles. Walt Freiberg spent 36 years at Oldsmobile, in
product engineering as an experimental engineer, power train engineer and
chassis engineer. He will talk about the development of the Rocket 88
engine, other power plants and power trains, and where cars are today.
September 28 - Water. Ed Timm, Ph.D., spent 28 years in R&D and
environmental operations for Dow Chemical Company, earning 25 U.S. patents
along the way. Now he lives in Emmet County and serves on the Harbor
Springs area sewage disposal authority. He will talk about water quality
issues that are the subject of considerable public debate.
October 5 - A Liveable Community. Danna Widmar, executive director of
Harbor Area Regional Board of Resources, will explain how six townships, one
city and one school district are working together to develop a liveable
community where children can walk safely to school. Danna is a certified
planner who previously helped restore the community around the Harry S.
Truman House in Independence, Missouri.
October 12 - Stress Reduction. Duane Pajak, adjunct psychology instructor
at North Central, will offer ideas on how to reduce stress in one's life. He
has taught psychology at several Michigan colleges, worked as a psychologist
and mental health agency administrator in Michigan and conducted stress
management workshops for more than 30 years.
October 19 - Pain in the Land of Love. Emmy Lou Cholak, a retired physician
from Cincinnati, toured the Holy Land with a group called "Compassionate
Listening" in the belief that education can help bring peace to the war-torn
area. She will talk about her experiences in support of peace.
October 26 - Making a Difference. When he was a world-traveling executive,
John Drake of Jackson, Michigan, encountered many orphaned children in the
Philippines who were in desperate conditions. Today, improving their lives
has become his mission. His presentation will show how one determined
person can make a dramatic difference in the lives of hundreds of children
halfway across the world.
November 2 - Pain and Grief. Dennis Duggan, North Central professor of
political science, will discuss the deep insights of author C.S. Lewis into
the topics of pain and grief and their application to real-life situations.
Prof. Duggan will draw on his experience in clinical pastoral education and
his academic work as the instructor of North Central's course on death and
dying. This program is being held in cooperation with the C.S. Lewis
Festival. The program will be held in Room 122 of the Admin/Classroom
building.
November 9 - Time for a ConCon? In 2010, Michigan voters can decide if they
want to have the state constitution rewritten. A distinguished group of
experts has identified 63 changes worth considering involving term limits,
school funding and the selection of judges. Two leaders of that study
group, law professor John Axe and former school administrator Rick Simonson,
will discuss and debate the topic.
November 16 - Juvenile Justice. Emmet County Probate Judge Fred Mulhauser
will talk about our community's award-winning juvenile justice program and
two court-supervised schools, Great Lakes Academy and Lakeview Academy, that
serve local students on probation.
November 30 - Education Today. Jane Bailey, retired director of teaching
and learning for the Public Schools of Petoskey, will talk about the state
of education in Michigan today in the face of declining financial support
and increased requirements from No Child Left Behind. Jane has 32 years
experience in education as a teacher and administrator. She is co-author of
two books on education and widely respected for her contributions to public
schools.
December 7 - Beam me up, Scotty. North Central professor of philosophy
David Payne, Ph.D., will discuss the use of thought experiments in
philosophy and other disciplines. He will show how thinking about scenarios
that are contrary to fact (and sometimes downright absurd) helps us expand
our knowledge.
Luncheon Lectures at the University Center at Gaylord. Tuesdays at noon.
Cost is $10 including lunch. Reservations required: call 989-705-3775.
October 9 - Got joy? Mary Seger, N.P., Ph.D., is author of "Invite Joy into
Your Life: Steps for Women who Want to Rediscover the Simple Pleasures of
Living." She teaches that a joyous life is not something that happens, but
must be actively pursued. Mary is director of Integrative Medicine at
Otsego Memorial Hospital in Gaylord and a certified nurse practitioner.
November 13 - Stress Reduction. Duane Pajak, adjunct psychology instructor
at North Central, will offer ideas on how to reduce stress in your life. He
has taught psychology at several Michigan colleges, worked as a psychologist
and mental health agency administrator in Michigan and conducted stress
management workshops for more than 30 years.
December 11 - A Nurse's Notes. Katie MacInnis, R.N. will share her lifetime
of experiences in a broad spectrum of nursing, from neonatal intensive care
to cardiac care, to hospice. Her essays have appeared regularly in the
American Journal of Nursing and RN Excellence. Her stories of the dying man
in his mother's nightgown, the prison nurse, and the doctors who became
nurses for one of their own are unforgettable portraits of one of the great
professions.
Free lunchtime program on Thursday, September 27 on the Petoskey campus:
Each September, public schools are required to conduct a program on the U.S.
Constitution. North Central will hold an informative lecture on Thursday,
September 27, at noon in the Library conference room. Schools and the
general public are invited to this free brown-bag lunchtime program.
Gene Policinski, vice president and executive director of the non-profit
First Amendment Center, will talk about the soon-to-be-released results of
the Center's 2007 State of the First Amendment survey.
The First Amendment Center works to preserve and protect First Amendment
freedoms through information and education. With offices at Vanderbilt
University in Nashville, Tenn., and Washington, D.C., it is an operating
program of the Freedom Forum and is associated with the Newseum.
Policinski is a veteran journalist who came to the Freedom Forum in 1996
from USA TODAY, where he was a founding editor and held various news
executive positions. He has worked in newspapers, radio, television and
online operations.
North Central Michigan College is an open-door community college based in
Petoskey. Through its University Center partnerships, students can take
courses leading to certificates, bachelor's and master's degrees from
participating universities. North Central's Institute for Business &
Industry Training offers non-credit job skills training tailored to meet
individual needs. In addition to its main campus in Petoskey, North Central
offers classes, academic advising, testing and other services in Cheboygan,
Gaylord and East Jordan.
Charlie MacInnis
Director of Public Relations
North Central Michigan College
1515 Howard Street
Petoskey, MI 49770
231-348-6839
