Ready to Copy- Issue 3
 
Spring Fever Your Aviation Student Council has been following spring’s lead, and has been continuing to grow and undertake new projects. I think the next few months will hold some very interesting and fun events, meetings, and developments for the council. Recently, Andrew Ladd, Ben Popp, and myself had the privilege to attend the Inauguration of the 8th president of WMU, Dr. John M. Dunn in the Miller Auditorium. The Master of Ceremonies was Mr. Kenneth V. Miller from the Board of Trustees. Mr. Miller was very brief, but poignant in his remarks about president Dunn. I believe he accurately described the past 8 months under the Dunn’s administration in saying that Dr. Dunn has set a tone around campus that is evident in the students, faculty, and staff. It was a very impressive ceremony with tributes from various administrative positions around campus and even Chris Praedel, President of the WSA. The council has also been working on various initiatives during the past few weeks. Our focus now is being directed towards both fundraising and involvement. An upcoming event which ties those themes together will be the Kalamazoo Dog Walkathon, which is slated to take place May 3,2008. The walkathon represents not only an outstanding opportunity for the ASC to network, but also a great fundraiser as we’ll be raffling off a ride in a Cirrus and a ride in a sim, graciously donated by the College. Speaking of public events, a few members of the council are also tentatively planning to attend WMU Day at the Capital in Lansing, which will be May 28, 2008. Cirrus has already dedicated a truck and display aircraft, and Capt. Steve Jones is in the process of coordinating a fly-by. This should be a fantastic, carnival type event in Lansing, all for the purpose of reaching out to our state legislature for equal funding for WMU. A “summer council” of sorts is also in the works. The majority of the Executive board will be in town this summer, and we’ve discussed the probability of a summer council with minimal meetings and office hours. After all, it is summer, right? Last weekend, the executive boards of the Aviation Student Council and Alpha Eta Rho came together to discuss issues concerning both of the groups, and possible future collaboration. I am happy to report that the meeting yielded some extremely positive avenues of communication, and I think I speak on behalf of the entire ASC E-board when I say that we’re sincerely looking forward to working with AHP next year. We also met with WMU’s VP of Business, Lowell Rinker this past week. During the meeting, it became obvious that the best solution to the COA’s transportation problems would be a bussing system. While the University will more than likely incur the majority of the costs, there will also likely be a “nominal” fee assessed to all students within the COA. Nothing is set in stone yet, but everyone at the meeting was optimistic that this initiative would be up and running before Fall 2008, if not Summer I session this year. Lastly, you may recall me mentioning the WSA’s “Elite Task Force” initiative. Essentially, the mission of the Elite Task Force is to reach out to high schoolers and get them to think ahead to life after high school, and stress the importance of higher education. The Aviation Student Council is working on our own little “twist” on this initiative. Pending a meeting with Marnique Harris and Tracy Moon of the COA, we’ll be hitting area high schools the week after our final exams are over. We plan to meet with groups of high school students that have been assembled with the help their guidance counselors who may be interested in aviation. We plan to field any questions these students may have regarding what we do, and educate them about the programs offered in the COA, and we’ve invited AHP to take part in this effort. Furthermore, we’ve agreed to talk to Marnique about student involvement in recruiting, and hopefully involve ASC, AHP, WIA, etc. in events where Marnique will be recruiting such as the Great Lakes Aviation Conference, Air shows, etc. I know that I say this with almost every update, but if you haven’t gotten involved in the council, there’s no better time. In the next few weeks, we’ll be holding elections for every position within our council. Please come to next week’s meeting if you’re interested in running for a position, or in getting involved with some of the various projects we’ve got going. Until next time, Jonathon P.S. A big congratulations to our Research Chair, Andrew Ladd, are in order. Andrew was elected, nearly unanimously, by the senate body of the WSA as the new Speaker Pro-tempore for the 2008-2009 year! Ready to Copy- Issue 3
Monday, April 7, 2008