MMSTC Visits GREEN Installation at LTU

Gentlemen,

Just a note to clarify the visit to LTU's Engineering building @ 11:30 am (Thursday) on 7-31-08 to see how DTE grid-tied inverters work. We can also visit the PV panel installation on the roof and the battery room that powers the LED Bollard lights and is primarily also powered by the Solar Photo-Voltaic system.

(More on MMSTC Project at http://www.mmstc.blogspot.com/ )

Thanks, Jim Bates
248-245-7114

P.S. Casey can I get the contact information for your DTE Energy account representative, please?

GREEN JOBS Retraining Program

Posted: Friday, 25 July 2008 6:14PM

'Green' jobs expand Michigan worker retraining

Alternative energy may become a viable career option for a struggling Michigan workforce. Speaking Friday in Traverse City, Governor Jennifer Granholm announced that the No Worker Left Behind program will put more effort into preparing laid-off workers for alternative energy careers.

The second year of the program will feature the new Green Jobs Initiative, a $6 million investment in training for jobs in alternative energy industries including wind, solar, biofuels, geothermal and other green industries. The Department of Labor and Economic Growth (DLEG) will partner with community colleges, entrepreneurs, and employers to create the training programs needed to help green companies succeed in Michigan.

“Michigan’s strong manufacturing history and geography make us a natural fit for the thousands of alternative energy jobs being created each year,” Granholm said. “The Green Jobs Initiative in No Worker Left Behind will help make sure that those jobs are created right here in Michigan.”

At Friday's event, Granholm heard from area businesses and workers who have benefited from the program.

Phil Hoyt of Biotech Agronomics said his 'green' company has already hired five No Worker Left Behind graduates. Biotech Agronomics, which is located in Beulah, is a residual management company that works with municipalities and significant users to repurpose waste from wastewater treatment for use by Michigan’s farmers.

In her weekly radio address, Friday, Granholm celebrated the one-year anniversary of the No Worker Left Behind program. "Today, I'm proud to announce that just one year into the program, more than 31,000 citizens have enrolled in training for new careers, 11,000 have already completed their training, and another 9,100 are waiting for their opportunity," Granholm said.

"The budget for 2009 that I signed into law last week includes $15 million in state funding to help even more people get into training and into new jobs, and we've also won more federal funding to help No Worker Left Behind reach more people.

"In one year, the program's Website - www.michigan.gov/nwlb - has reportedly gotten more than 1.3 million hits from people looking for help to a better career. On the Website, Michigan workers can find information for training and certification to fill existing job openings in high-demand fields like nursing, accounting, or auto mechanics.

A new green jobs website, www.michigan.gov/greenjobs, will serve as a clearinghouse for data and information on internships and jobs, education, and training opportunities. It will also facilitate collaborative partnerships and initiatives between businesses, educational institutions, and government to better link research and development in renewable energy and conservation with the development of education and training programs for current and future jobs.

© MMVIII WWJ Radio, All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

THE IDENTITY CRISIS

Over this last weekend while away in Muskegon, Michigan I either lost my wallet or it was stolen. Either way the effect is the same, a loss of identity. This however provided an otherwise missed learning opportunity. One that has proven extremely insightful as to why America is in such dire straights.
Now one of the places I had possibly lost my identity was at the Great Lakes Naval and Memorial Museum (http://www.glnmm.org/). This is home to the USS Silversides, a WWll Era Submarine that is berthed in the river channel as a monument to America’s capacity to rise to the challenge during some of the darkest days of civilization. She was able to rise to that challenge emotionally because of the shared belief that America still stood for those same freedoms that the U.S. Constitution and Bill of rights guaranteed. More importantly, as is evidenced by this magnificent vessel, America had the Spiritual, Intellectual and Physical manufacturing capacity to build the machinery needed to defeat the foes of Freedom.
It is generally agreed upon by all informed individuals that are still with us from that era that we no longer appear to have either the national will or capacity to resurrect such a monumental effort if the challenge arose. And it really has! We have either misplaced or have been robbed of our identity as the leader of the free world where anything is possible. Nowhere on that vessel will you find a part stamped “made in China” or Malaysia or anyplace else for that matter other than our America.
We need for our veterans to stand up and recount to our children how this was possible to achieve success against such overwhelming odds. This is not just for history lessons sake, for America is once again at the crossroads of Infamy. There is an all out war bearing down on America and all of Humanity from many fronts. This war as is all wars is based on a disproportional amount of ignorance running amok. The only way that we are to survive is to realize the resources we still have around us as individuals and collectively as a nation and as free peoples all over this planet. The greatest resource is one’s realization of their identity and resolve to understand how to develop ones own ability to build good things and relationships in this world. To promote this freedom in America once again in concrete achievements and to then export this true American Identity “Personal Freedom with Honor” to every corner of the globe. This journey of self discovery is extremely personal just as it was for the GI who fought from the foxholes on some foreign shore. It is both scary and magnificent at the same time. It is however a journey we must take and quickly if the Empire is to survive.
I salute the Navy and all Veterans who have put such an effort into helping to educate the uninformed as to the sacrifices made so that we could remain a Free Nation under God. Please continue to live well and prosper among us so that America can find her lost identity. Let us know how that we may also serve with you at the Silversides to continue this legacy. Please , help America and her people once again find our lost and in some cases never realized true identity. For the honor to serve with you in this mission I once again dedicate my Life!
Most Sincerely,
James W. Bates
Former USNR

MMSTC ASPIRES for WINDSPIRE!

GREENING of the MIND!

Hot, Flat and Crowded by Thomas Friedman

Click-on Disscussion Guide (pdf)

http://www.thomaslfriedman.com/bookshelf/hot-flat-and-crowded

WHAT, no propellers?

Tuesday, July 22, 2008 Bright Idea Solutions Wind Power Tubes

MANISTEEE - Another bright alternative energy idea from the Michigan Energy Fair - Bright Idea Energy Solutions of Chicago offers a different twist on generating wind energy, using a vertical cone shaped blade rather than propellers. To learn more about this product, listen to this GreenTech edition of Newsmaker interview. To listen, click on MITechNews.MediaRica.Com

Author: Mike Brennan Source: MITechNews.Com

Manistee: 30% Federal Tax Credit on Home Energy Products

Tuesday, July 22, 2008 Michigan Renewable Energy Program

MANISTEE - Tom Stanton, who heads up the Michigan Public Service Commission's Renewable Energy Program, talks about the 30 percent federal tax credit that is available through Dec. 31 for anyone who buys energy saving products for their homes. Hear all about it in this GreenTech edition of Newsmaker Interview. To listen, click on MITechNews.MediaRica.Com

Author: Mike Brennan Source: MITechNews.Com

GO GREEN in Pontiac Showcase?

Posted: Tuesday, 22 July 2008 3:39PM

Big Live Blog, Green Efforts Part of 'Three Days in the D'

The world's largest live festival blog and green initiatives will be among the new features of the "3 Days in the D" event trifecta this Labor Day weekend, the Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau announced Tuesday.

Three signature events, the Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix, the Detroit International Jazz Festival and the Chrysler Arts, Beats & Eats are jointly marketed as "3 Days in The D."

Spearheaded by the DMCVB and the City of Detroit, "3 Days in The D" is in partnership with each event, helping to set the stage for one of the most popular and active weekends of the summer, Aug. 29 - Sept.

1.This year's Detroit International Jazz Festival is "A Love Supreme: the Philly-Detroit Summit" featuring a tribute to Motown's Marvin Gaye, a nod to Philly soul with Dee Dee Sharp, a battle of the big bands with the Count Basie and Gerald Wilson orchestras on stage at the same time, blues guitarist Derek Trucks and gospel with Dorinda Clark and Calvin Cooke's Sacred Steel. With a new commitment to jazz education, the festival will feature 29 middle and high school bands from Michigan as well as college bands from Philadelphia, Boston and Stockton, Calif.

2. Meanwhile, in Pontiac, Chrysler Arts, Beats & Eats will be going green with ITC Greenways. These green initiatives including major recycling efforts with volunteer manned waste bins, use of bio-made and degradable cups, plates and utensils at all food and beverage locations, two blocks of environmental non-profit and vendor booths, and recycled materials used for all children's crafts with Arts & Scraps. Also, festivalgoers will be encouraged to take public transportation through promotions with SMART or ride their bikes along the Clinton River Trail to the event bike corral.

Arts, Beats & Eats also features the world's largest live festival blog where attendees can share their thoughts at the Blogin Cafe -- or show off their guitar gaming chops at the event's Guitar Hero Championships. In addition, the festival will be honoring military families at the Chrysler Freedom Fest.

3. Fans can expect more family entertainment, cars, drivers and teams -- along with a new racing series -- at this year's Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix. Featuring the recently unified IndyCar Series, the American Le Mans Series and, new for 2008, the SCCA Speed World Challenge GT Championship, the on-track action will be spectacular at the Grand Prix. Live concerts featuring national musical acts will perform Saturday and Sunday.

There will also be plenty of new activities in the Family Fun Zone and an increased focus on environmentally friendly "green" racing initiatives and fan comfort throughout the weekend, including improved transportation on and off the island.The Michigan State Fair in Detroit, Michigan Peach Festival in Romeo and the Michigan Renaissance Festival in Holly complete a great weekend in the region.More at www.visitdetroit.com, www.detroitgp.com, www.artsbeatseats.com or www.detroitjazzfest.com.
© MMVIII WWJ Radio, All Rights Reserved.

THE TRUTH FARMERS

Truth Farming-a users guide to planting questions that grow life.
Coming soon to a portal near you!There are Natural Laws that govern the very essence of life we are in search of understanding these natural laws through the application of honest questions. It is our sincere hope that these questions, like seeds once planted will go forth on their journey in life to seek growth. This will happen organically as the spark ignites the magic of the
electro-chemical-spiritual process with two questions merging they will begin the journey to merge with other questions along life's path, growing in the awareness life has taken on a new journey a new pathway. This pathway could be a flower or the merging of two synapses in the awakening brain either way truth will prevail. Life will be guided by these natural laws. Nature takes no prisoners. It only seeks the truth, All lies will perish for the laws of Nature cares not for the agreements of Mankind. Seekers of truth step forward into the light. Plant your questions ,seek out the pathways of sustaining Life. For your short stay on this planet give back to the future and dance with all life that has come before you! For in so giving, You are the answer!

PROBLEM STATEMENT: The Institutional Coordination Obstacle vs. Enabled Cooperative Infrastructure (Communities of Designers)

Windspire INSPIRES!

Model the Practice!

Colleges step up to aid Mich. economy

15 schools to back 200 firms

BY KATHERINE YUNG • FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER • July 16, 2008

In what could be a key boost to Michigan's economy, the state's 15 public universities plan to announce today a new effort to create 200 start-up companies over the next decade.

The Michigan Initiative for Innovation & Entrepreneurship aims to award $75 million in entrepreneurship grants over the next seven years. The money will help speed the development of new ventures created at the schools as well as support entrepreneurial education and internship programs.

"We expect to create companies and also benefit companies with the resources of the institutions," said James Baker, director of Michigan Technological University's Office of Technology and Economic Development. "It is very unique and very ambitious."

The initiative, which was led by top administrators at the University of Michigan, reflects the bigger role that the state's public universities hope to play in reviving Michigan's ailing economy.
With the auto industry employing fewer people, Michiganders' interest in starting businesses has soared. Universities have discovered they can help contribute to this entrepreneurial environment by working more cooperatively with local companies and transferring more of their technology to the real world.

The new effort takes this idea a step further by combining the resources and creativity of each school. "We can be more effective collectively," Baker said.

To kick off the effort, the schools today plan to announce $1.3 million in grants to 20 research projects and educational programs at 13 of the universities.

One grant for $100,000 will go toward a new commercialization center at Wayne State University's Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics.

"The challenge Wayne State and other universities face is to push more new research out into the commercial world faster to create new jobs and industries," said Randal Charlton, director of WSU's TechTown business incubator.

Committees with representatives from both academia and business chose the grant recipients from among 39 applicants. The money came from the C.S. Mott Foundation, but recipients also have raised a total of $2.2 million from both universities and businesses.

More grants will be awarded this fall using additional money from the Mott foundation, Baker said. But the universities will need to raise more money, primarily from other foundations, for other distributions in 2009 and future years.

Only public universities can apply for the grants, but they can team up with entrepreneurs and others.

Baker said the effort eventually will replace the Michigan Universities Commercialization Initiative, which has invested $6 million in research projects and created 27 new businesses.

Contact KATHERINE YUNG at 313-222-8763 or kyung@freepress.com.

The AUTHENTICITY of the DIGITAL COMMONS (Informs OUR Understanding)

THE NEXT RENAISSANCE

To me, "Personal Democracy" is an oxymoron. Democracy may be a lot of things, but the last thing it should be is "personal." I understand "personal responsibility," such as a family having a recycling bin in which they put their glass and metal every week. But even then, a single recycling bin for a whole building or block would be more efficient and appropriate.

Democracy is not personal, because if it's about anything, it's not about the individual. Democracy is about others. It's about transcending the self and acting collectively. Democracy is people, participating together to make the world a better place.

One of the essays in this conference's proceedings—the book "Rebooting Democracy"— remarks snarkily, "It's the network, stupid." That may go over well with all of us digital folks, but it's not true. It's not the network at all; it's the people. The network is the tool—the new medium that might help us get over the bias of our broadcasting technologies. All those technologies that keep us focused on ourselves as individuals, and away from our reality as a collective.

This focus on the individual, and its false equation with democracy, began back in the Renaissance. The Renaissance brought us wonderful innovations, such as perspective painting, scientific observation, and the printing press. But each of these innovations defined and celebrated individuality. Perspective painting celebrates the perspective of an individual on a scene. Scientific method showed how the real observations of an individual promote rational thought. The printing press gave individuals the opportunity to read, alone, and cogitate. Individuals formed perspectives, made observations, and formed opinions.

The individual we think of today was actually born in the Renaissance. The Vesuvian Man, Da Vinci's great drawing of a man in a perfect square and circle—independent and self-sufficient. This is the Renaissance ideal.

It was the birth of this thinking, individuated person that led to the ethos underlying the Enlightenment. Once we understood ourselves as individuals, we understood ourselves as having rights. The Rights of Man. A right to property. The right to personal freedom.

The Enlightenment—for all its greatness—was still oh, so personal in its conception. The reader alone in his study, contemplating how his vote matters. One man, one vote. We fight revolutions for our individual rights as we understood them. There were mass actions, but these were masses of individuals, fighting for their personal freedoms.

Ironically, with each leap towards individuality there was a corresponding increase in the power of central authorities. Remember, the Renaissance also brought us centralized currencies, chartered corporations, and nation states. As individuals become concerned with their personal plights, their former power as a collective moves to central authorities. Local currencies, investments, and civic institutions dissolve as self-interest increases. The authority associated with them moves to the center and away from all those voting people.

The media of the Renaissance—the printing press—is likewise terrific at myth-making. At branding. Its stories are told to individuals, either through books, or through broadcast media directed at each and every one of us. Its appeals are to self and self-interest.

Consider any commercial for blue jeans. Its target audience is not a confident person who already has a girlfriend. The commercial communicates, "wear these jeans, and you'll get to have sex." Who is the target for that message? An isolated, alienated person who does not have sex. The messaging targets the individual. If it's a mass medium, it targets many many individuals.

Movements, like myths and brands, depend on this quality of top-down, Renaissance-style media. They are not genuinely collective at all, in that there's no promotion of interaction between the people in them. Instead, all the individuals relate to the hero, ideal, or mythology at the top. Movements are abstract—they have to be. They hover above the group, directing all attention towards themselves.

As I listen to people talk here—well-meaning progressives, no doubt—I can't help but hear the romantic, almost desperate desire to become part of a movement. To become part of something famous, like the Obama campaign. Maybe even get a good K-street job out of the connections we make here. It's a fantasy perpetrated by the TV show West Wing. A myth that we want to be part of. But like any myth, it is a fantasy—and one almost entirely prefigured by Renaissance individualism.

The next renaissance (if there is one)—the phenomenon we're talking about or at least around here is not about the individual at all, but about the networked group. The possibility for collective action. The technologies we're using—the biases of these media—cede central authority to decentralized groups. Instead of moving power to the center, they tend to move power to the edges. Instead of creating value from the center—like a centrally issued currency—the network creates value from the periphery.

This means the way to participate is not simply to subscribe to an abstract, already-written myth, but to do real things. To take small actions in real ways. The glory is not in the belief system or the movement, but in the doing. It's not about getting someone elected, it's about removing the obstacles to real people doing what they need to to get the job done. That's the opportunity of the networked, open source era: to drop out of the myths and actually do.

Sadly, we tend to miss the great opportunities offered us by major shifts in media.

The first great renaissance in media, the invention of the alphabet, offered a tremendous leap for participatory democracy. Only priests could read and write hieroglyphs. The invention of the alphabet opened the possibility for people to read or even possibly write, themselves. In Torah myth, Moses goes off with his father-in-law to write the laws by which an enslaved people could now live. Instead of simply accepting legislation and government as a pre-existing condition—the God Pharaoh—people would develop and write down the law as they wanted it. Even the Torah is written in the form of a contract, and God creates the world with a word.

Access to language was to change a world of blind, enslaved rule followers into a civilization of literate people. (This is what is meant when God tells Abraham "you will be a nation of priests." It means they are to be a nation of people who transcend heiro-glyphs or "priestly-writing" to become literate.)

But this isn't what happened. People didn't read Torah—they listened as their leaders read it to them. Hearing was a step up from simply following, but the promise of the new medium had not been seized.

Likewise, the invention of the printing press did not lead to a civilization of writers—it developed a culture of readers. Gentlemen sat reading books, while the printing presses were accessed by those with the money or power to use them. The people remained one step behind the technology. Broadcast radio and television are really just an extension of the printing press: expensive, one-to-many media that promote the mass distribution of the stories and ideas of a small elite.

Computers and networks finally offer us the ability to write. And we do write with them. Everyone is a blogger, now. Citizen bloggers and YouTubers who believe we have now embraced a new "personal" democracy. Personal, because we can sit safely at home with our laptops and type our way to freedom.

But writing is not the capability being offered us by these tools at all. The capability is programming—which almost none of us really know how to do. We simply use the programs that have been made for us, and enter our blog text in the appropriate box on the screen. Nothing against the strides made by citizen bloggers and journalists, but big deal. Let them eat blog.

At the very least on a metaphorical level, the opportunity here is not to write about politics or—more likely—comment on what someone else has said about politics. The opportunity, however, is to rewrite the very rules by which democracy is implemented. The opportunity of a renaissance in programming is to reconfigure the process through which democracy occurs.

If Obama is indeed elected—the first truly Internet-enabled candidate—we should take him at his word. He does not offer himself as the agent of change, but as an advocate of the change that could be enacted by people. It is not for government to create solar power, for example, but to get out of the way of all those people who are ready to implement solar power, themselves. Responding to the willingness of people to act, he can remove regulations developed on behalf of the oil industry to restrict its proliferation.

In an era when people have the ability to reprogram their reality, the job of leaders is to help facilitate this activity by tweaking legislation, or by supporting their efforts through better incentives or access to the necessary tools and capital. Change does not come from the top—but from the periphery. Not from a leader or a myth inspiring individuals to consent to it, but from people working to manifest it together.

Open Source Democracy—which I wrote about a decade ago—is not simply a way to get candidates elected to office. It is a collective reprogramming of the social software, a disengagement from the myths through which we abdicate responsibility, and a reclamation of our role as citizens who participate in the creation of the society in which we want to live.

This is not personal democracy at all, but a collective and participatory democracy where we finally accept our roles as the fully literate and engaged adults who can make this happen.

[Postscript: At the conference's closing ceremony Personal Democracy Forum founder Andrew Rasiej announced he would be changing the name of the conference to the Participatory Democracy Forum.]

Pontiac Schools THOUGHT-LEADERS "Meet and Greet"

DRIVING US to Inevitable Digital Solutions

---

July 11, 2008

High Cost of Driving Ignites Online Classes Boom

By SAM DILLON

NEWTOWN, Pa. — First, Ryan Gibbons bought a Hyundai so he would not have to drive his gas-guzzling Chevy Blazer to college classes here. When fuel prices kept rising, he cut expenses again, eliminating two campus visits a week by enrolling in an online version of one of his courses.

Like Mr. Gibbons, thousands of students nationwide, including many who were previously reluctant to study online, have suddenly decided to take one or more college classes over the Internet.

“Gas prices have pushed people over the edge,” said Georglyn Davidson, director of online learning at Bucks County Community College, where Mr. Gibbons studies, and where online enrollments are up 35 percent this summer over last year.

The vast majority of the nation’s 15 million college students — at least 79 percent — live off campus, and with gas prices above $4 a gallon, many are seeking to cut commuting costs by studying online. Colleges from Massachusetts and Florida to Texas to Oregon have reported significant online enrollment increases for summer sessions, with student numbers in some cases 50 percent or 100 percent higher than last year. Although some four-year institutions with large online programs — like the University of Massachusetts and Villanova — have experienced these increases, the greatest surges have been registered at two-year community colleges, where most students are commuters, many support families and few can absorb large new expenditures for fuel.

At Bristol Community College in Fall River, Mass., for instance, online enrollments were up 114 percent this summer over last, and half the students queried cited gas costs or some other transportation obstacle as a reason for signing up to study over the Internet, said April Bellafiore, an assistant dean there.

“Online classes filled up immediately,” Ms. Bellafiore said. “It blew my mind.”

Enrollments in online classes expanded rapidly early in this decade, but growth slowed in 2006 to less than 10 percent, according to statistics compiled last year by researchers at Babson College in Massachusetts. Some recent increases reported by college officials in interviews were much larger, which they attributed to the rising cost of gasoline. Pricing policies for online courses vary by campus, but most classes cost as much as, or more than, traditional ones.

At Brevard Community College in Cocoa, Fla., online enrollment rose to 2,726 this summer from 2,190 last year, a 24.5 percent increase. “That is a dramatic increase we can only attribute to gas prices,” said Jim Drake, Brevard’s president.

Dr. Drake and officials at several other colleges expressed concern that mounting fuel costs could force some students to drop out of college altogether, especially since only a fraction of courses at most colleges are offered online. Dr. Drake has put Brevard on a four-day week to help employees and students save gas.

David Gray, chief executive of UMass Online, the distance education program at the University of Massachusetts, said that at an educators’ conference this week in San Francisco, officials from scores of universities discussed how the energy crisis could affect higher education. “There was broad agreement that gas price increases will be a source of continued growth in online enrollments,” Mr. Gray said.

Once an incidental expense, fuel for commuting to campus now costs some students half of what they pay for tuition, in some cases more. Sergey Sosnovsky, who is pursuing pre-engineering studies at Bucks County Community College, paid $240 a month for gas during the spring semester, while his full-time tuition cost about $500 a month, he said. Other students here and in half a dozen other states told similar stories.

Ozarks Technical Community College in Springfield, Mo., which enrolls residents on both sides of the Arkansas-Missouri border, had 52 percent more students sign up for Internet-based courses this summer than last, said Witt Salley, the college’s director of online teaching and learning.

One student taking online coursework for the first time is Kameron Miller, a 30-year-old working mother who lives in Buffalo, Mo., 40 miles north of Springfield. Her commute to classes in her 1998 Chevy Venture during the spring semester cost her at least $200 a month for gas, Ms. Miller said. This summer, she is taking courses in health, humanities and world music — all online.

“I don’t feel I get as much out of an online class as a campus course,” Ms. Miller said. “But I couldn’t afford any other decision.”

Among the four-year institutions reporting increased online enrollment, UMass Online, which enrolls students at its five Massachusetts campuses and worldwide, experienced 46 percent growth this summer over last among students at the university’s Dartmouth, Mass., campus. At Villanova University in Pennsylvania, enrollment in online, graduate, engineering, nursing and business courses has increased more than 40 percent this summer, said Robert Stokes, an assistant vice president there.

Waiting lists for Web-based courses have lengthened at some institutions. At the University of Colorado, Denver, for instance, 361 students are on the waiting list for online courses for the fall term, compared to 233 last year on the same date, said Bob Tolsma, an assistant vice chancellor.

In Tennessee, the six universities, 13 two-year colleges and 26 technology centers overseen by the Tennessee Board of Regents enrolled 9,000 students for online courses this summer, compared with about 7,000 last summer, a 29 percent increase, said Robbie K. Melton, an associate vice chancellor.

“We had to train more faculty and provide more online courses because students just couldn’t afford to drive to our campuses,” Dr. Melton said.

Sandra Jobe, a 46-year-old bookkeeper who is studying for a master’s degree in education at Tennessee State University, said she reduced the number of trips she had to make each week to the university’s Nashville campus to two from four by enrolling in an online course.

“The campus experience is good; I wouldn’t diminish that,” Ms. Jobe said. “But when you’re penny-pinching, online is a good alternative.”

South Texas College, which has five campuses in Hidalgo and Starr Counties in the Rio Grande Valley, saw a 35 percent increase in online enrollments this summer over last, said William Serrata, a vice president. Other years have seen summer increases of 10 percent to 15 percent, he said. “This really speaks to students’ not wanting to travel due to the gas prices,” Mr. Serrata said.

Elvira Ozuna, who is 37 and studying for an associate’s degree in occupational therapy, was driving four times a week, 50 miles round trip from her home to South Texas College’s campus in McAllen. But this summer she enrolled in two online courses, eliminating that commute.

Ms. Ozuna said she found online work more difficult than classroom study. “But I saved on the gasoline,” she said.

Distance education is no silver bullet that can alone solve the challenges posed for higher education by rising gasoline prices, officials warned.

For one thing, many students, especially in rural areas, lack the high-speed Internet connections on which online courses depend.

“The infrastructure doesn’t exist to give all rural students clear online access,” said Stephen G. Katsinas, a professor at the University of Alabama. “Rural America is where the digital divide is most dramatic.”

Furthermore, most colleges still offer only a fraction of their courses over the Internet. Bucks County Community College, for instance, will offer 414 credit courses during the fall term. Only 103 of those will be offered online, and another 48 as hybrid courses, that is, partly online but with some campus visits required. So most students will still need to come to campus.

Mr. Gibbons, who is 20, works days and aspires to be a writer. He said his online course, “Introduction to the Novel,” had been a good experience, especially the Web-based discussions of Jane Austen’s novels. (He likes posting comments by e-mail better than speaking in class.) He said he still preferred on-campus study, “but with the price of gas jumping up, I’ll probably be taking more courses online now.”

By Design: BEGIN with the END in MIND! (Model the Practice)

Edutopia

http://www.edutopia.org/ikid-digital-learner-technology-2008

T. Boone Pickens (On Wind Energy Strategy)

Green is the New Red, White, and Blue (2007)

CALLING ALL MINDS!

As summer heats up we find ourselves waking up each morning to an increasing vacuam of worldly intelligence from which to draw upon. The world as you knew it will never be the same. This does not have to be a Narcissic observation and from our perspective it is not. However if you find that you have bought into the notion that someone else will solve your problems either because you really don't have anything of substance to add or you are just used to someone else taking care of these problems, then it could be construed as defeatist and negative. If you find this has been or is your perspectives and your comfortable with it... then hang up this digital connection. If on the other hand you believe that somewhere deep inside the dusty recesses of your mind there was and maybe is some thoughts and ideas you've cared to share, then sign on and share them. We are embarking upon the greatest journey known to life. That of the ability to dance the magic of being fully alive and in tune with our surroundings. Students here freely share their ideas and questions in an interchange that will pull this country and therefor the world out of the doldrums brought upon by a false assumption-That being they were expected to come into class sit down , shut up and learn the same old answers that brought us to this edge of ruin.
We need your input , as long as it is given freely in the spirit of creating sustainable answers that will allow our children to not only merely exist but to flourish. We need your mind and spirit to succeed. Post your comments-no one else can do that for you!

GLREA Update!

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Great Lakes Renewable Energy Association Opposes Senate Changes To Michigan Renewable Energy Portfolio Legislation

MANISTEE - Jennifer Alverado, executive director of the Great Lakes Renewable Energy Association, talks about recent legislation passed by the Michigan Senate to establish a renewable energy portfolio. The Senate version would mandate just 7 percent of the state's electrical grid come from renewable energy, while the House version would mandate 10 percent. A conference committee will iron out the differences. To listen, click on MITechNews.MediaRica.Com

Noble Effort!

Noble Environmental Power Builds Michigan's Newest Windpark

The Essex, Conn. wind energy developer Noble Environmental Power Tuesday announced that construction on Michigan's newest windpark is under way around the Thumb community of Ubly. The Noble Thumb I Windpark will generate 69 megawatts of clean energy using 46 GE 1.5 megawatt turbines, which is enough to power about 23,000 average homes. Over a period of 20 years, it would require burning more than 1.5 million tons of coal -- enough to fill a train 178 miles long -- to create the same amount of electricity. Construction work on the Noble Thumb I Windpark is being performed by RMT WindConnect. Noble estimates that the project will create approximately 85 new construction jobs, and will result in more than $3.5 million in property tax payments over the next 20 years. Once the Noble Thumb I Windpark is operational, scheduled for later this year, hundreds of thousands of dollars in easement payments will be made to landowners each year. The company didn't disclose who would be buying the power it's generating. However, Consumers Energy lists the wind farm as one of the suppliers of its Green Currents renewable power program, which allows customers to select electricity from renewables for an extra two cents per kilowatt hour. Noble has approximately 3,850 megawatts of windparks under development in eight states. In May, Noble held ribbon-cutting ceremonies for three newly-operational windparks in New York State, and in June the company held groundbreaking ceremonies for four more New York State windparks. Noble also recently began construction of the 114 megawatt Noble Great Plains Windpark in Texas. Noble is a leading renewable energy company that is majority owned by funds affiliated with JPMorgan Partners LLC, which are managed by CCMP Capital Advisors LLC. Noble was founded in 2004 in response to public policy initiatives designed to foster the increased use of renewable energy sources. Noble is committed to creating environmentally friendly facilities in partnership with local communities. Based in Essex, Conn., Noble has offices in Altona, Churubusco, Arcade, Bliss, and Fredonia, N.Y., Rutland, Vt.; Lancaster, N.H.; Austin and Hitchland, Texas; and Ubly. For more information, please visit www.noblepower.com, or send an email to info@noblepower.com.

© MMVIII WWJ Radio, All Rights Reserved.

It PAYS to DO BUSINESS in the MITTEN!

Michigan firms are lining up for shot at state loan

Fund offers for-profits share of $30 million

BY KATHERINE YUNG • FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER • July 8, 2008

The Michigan Economic Development Corp. said Monday it has received 112 proposals from companies interested in obtaining loans from the state's 21st Century Jobs Fund.

In October, the fund is to award $30 million in loans to for-profit companies in the later stages of development in the following industries: alternative energy, life sciences, advanced automotive, manufacturing and materials, and homeland security and defense.

The National Center for Manufacturing Sciences in Ann Arbor plans to conduct an independent peer review process and make recommendations for funding. The MEDC's Strategic Economic Investment and Commercialization board will select the winners.

This is the second round of loan awards. The state awarded $126.3 million to 78 organizations during the first round in 2007.

"Focusing our resources on sustainable technology businesses poised to create new, high-tech jobs will have an immediate impact on our economy," James Epolito, the MEDC's chief executive and president, said in a statement.

Of the applications received this year, 51 came from companies in the life sciences, 28 from those in advanced automotive, manufacturing and materials, 19 from those in homeland security and defense and 14 from those in alternative energy.

A list of applicants can be found at www.themedc.org/21CbizPlan/ http://www.themedc.org/21CbizPlan/.

Contact KATHERINE YUNG at 313-222-8763 or kyung@freepress.com .

Informs our 21st Century Understanding

Nets for students 2007

1.	Creativity and Innovation
	Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology. Students:
	a. apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes. b. create original works as a means of personal or group expression. c. use models and simulations to explore complex systems and issues. d. identify trends and forecast possibilities.
2.	Communication and Collaboration
	Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others. Students:
	a. interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media. b. communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats. c. develop cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with learners of other cultures. d. contribute to project teams to produce original works or solve problems.
3.	Research and Information Fluency
	Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information. Students:
	a. plan strategies to guide inquiry. b. locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety of sources and media. c. evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on the appropriateness to specific tasks. d. process data and report results.
4.	Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making
	Students use critical thinking skills to plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve problems, and make informed decisions using appropriate digital tools and resources. Students:
	a. identify and define authentic problems and significant questions for investigation. b. plan and manage activities to develop a solution or complete a project. c. collect and analyze data to identify solutions and/or make informed decisions. d. use multiple processes and diverse perspectives to explore alternative solutions.
5.	Digital Citizenship
	Students understand human, cultural, and societal issues related to technology and practice legal and ethical behavior. Students:
	a. advocate and practice safe, legal, and responsible use of information and technology. b. exhibit a positive attitude toward using technology that supports collaboration, learning, and productivity. c. demonstrate personal responsibility for lifelong learning. d. exhibit leadership for digital citizenship.
6.	Technology Operations and Concepts
	Students demonstrate a sound understanding of technology concepts, systems, and operations. Students:
	a. understand and use technology systems. b. select and use applications effectively and productively. c. troubleshoot systems and applications. d. transfer current knowledge to learning of new technologies.

© 2007 International Society for Technology in Education. ISTE® is a registered trademark of the International Society for Technology in Education.

World rights reserved. No part of this may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system—without prior written permission from the publisher. Contact Permissions Editor, ISTE, 180 W. 8th Avenue, Suite 300
Eugene, OR 97401-2916 USA; fax: 1.541.302.3780; e-mail: permissions@iste.org or visit www.iste.org/permissions/.

• National Educational Technology Standards for Students 2007 (pdf)
• NETS•S 2007 Student Profiles (pdf)
• NETS•S 2007 Essential Conditions (pdf)

By DESIGN / BEGIN with the END in MIND!

Creating the 21st-Century Classroom

Preparing today’s youth to succeed in the digital economy requires a new kind of teaching and learning. Skills such as global literacy, computer literacy, problem solving, critical thinking, creativity, and innovation have become critical in today’s increasingly interconnected workforce and society--and technology is the catalyst for bringing these changes into the classroom.

In a 21st-century learning environment, all students are able to learn. Project-based learning allows students to acquire 21st-century skills in the context of real-world scenarios, and the integration of video and other media to support instruction links students with outside resources and enables teachers to address many learning styles at once. In fact, the 21st-century learning environment doesn’t just wait for teachable moments; it literally creates them at will.

At eSchool News, we’ve seen schools transforming through the use of technology to meet the needs of a new, tech-savvy generation of learners. Now, with the generous support of AVPartners, we’ve combed our archives to assemble our best content related to the creation of 21st-century classrooms. We hope you’ll take a few minutes to peruse these resources and learn how other educators are defining 21st-century learning as you strive to implement this vision of education in your own schools.

. --The Editors

eSchool News Articles

• 
  eSN Special Report: Visual Learning
  Wed, Jan 02, 2008 Primary Topic Channel: Video technologies
  These are special times for visual learning. Spurred by dramatic advances in digital technology, the use of video as an instructional tool is finally coming into its own as a mainstream feature of American education. [ Read More ]

• 
  Voters urge teaching of 21st-century skills
  Mon, Oct 15, 2007 Primary Topic Channel: Research
  Results of a new poll commissioned by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills shows the vast majority of U.S. voters believe students are ill-equipped to compete in the global learning environment, and that schools must incorporate 21st-century skills such as critical thinking and problem solving, communication and self-direction, and computer and technology skills into the curriculum. But the upcoming presidential election, researchers say, presents a perfect opportunity to charter a new path to success for America's students. [ Read More ]

• 
  Public wants more tech in classrooms
  Wed, Aug 01, 2007 Primary Topic Channel: 21st Century skills
  Americans recognize the importance of technology in reforming the nation's schools and making them relevant for the 21st century, a new survey suggests--but they disagree on how schools should impart key 21st-century skills to their students. [ Read More ]

• 
  21st-century school represents 'the will to change'
  Tue, May 01, 2007 Primary Topic Channel: Multimedia
  At the Academy of Information Technology and Engineering in Stamford, Connecticut, educators have turned a 40-year-old school building into a modern model for teaching and learning. And if it can be done here, school leaders say, it can be done anywhere. [ Read More ]

• Creating a '21st-century school' for learning and working together
  Sun, Oct 01, 2006 Primary Topic Channel: 21st Century skills
  Like many school systems, Maryland's Charles County Public Schools had different tracks for high school students who were going on to college and those pursuing vocational training. This outdated model ultimately reduced the status of voc ed to a lower level than academic programs. James Richmond, our district superintendent, championed the idea of a 21st- century school that would bring vocational and academic students together in one facility. [ Read More ]

• 
  W.Va. focuses on 21st-century learning
  Thu, Apr 06, 2006 Primary Topic Channel: 21st Century skills
  As educators nationwide consider ways to address the need for 21st-century learning, West Virginia appears to be ahead of the curve and could serve as a model for other states to follow. [ Read More ]

• 
  'Interactive teaching' engages learners
  Wed, May 11, 2005 Primary Topic Channel: Handheld technologies
  A wireless handheld technology similar to the remote control you use to control your television set is transforming large, impersonal college lecture courses into dynamic, interactive learning labs. Although initiated mostly in colleges, this style of instruction--dubbed "interactive teaching" by its proponents--has potential far beyond the lecture hall. [ Read More ]

• 
  Audio-visual technology a bright spot on college campuses
  Tue, Dec 06, 2005 Primary Topic Channel: Research,Multimedia
  At least half of the nation's higher-education classrooms will be equipped with digital projectors, control systems, audio or video conferencing equipment, or other audio-visual (AV) technology within the next five years, a new study projects. [ Read More ]

• 
  NC Gov. announces 21st Century Center
  Fri, Apr 22, 2005 Primary Topic Channel: School Administration ,21st Century skills
  Faced with the challenge of preparing today's students for success in anincreasingly global economy, North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley, April 21,announced the development of a first-of-its-kind Center for 21st CenturySkills. [ Read More ]

Energy Calculators

Windspeed and Solar Calculator
http://firstlook.3tiergroup.com/

Carbon Footprint Calculator
?????

OTHER:

RUNNING ON EMPTY!

Is Your Tank Half Empty or Half Full?

Harry Campbell

By NICOLE BELSON GOLUBOFF, DANIEL GROSS, ALLISON ARIEFF, MICHAEL PATERNITI, ROBERT GOODMAN, ROBERT B. REICH, TOM VANDERBILT, ANNELIESE ROHRER, JAMIE LINCOLN KITMAN and KAREN KARBO

Published: June 29, 2008

High gas prices have had some obvious immediate effects on Americans: Hummer sales are down, commuting by public transit is up, airlines are charging for nonessentials, like baggage. But if $4 gas (or higher) is here to stay, we can expect our lives to change in other ways, too. The Op-Ed page asked 10 writers to reflect on the consequences — unexpected, unnoticed, unrealized, good, bad or indifferent — of really expensive fuel.

Pajama Life

By Nicole Belson Goluboff

Fuel for Inequality

By Robert B. Reich

What the Green Bubble Will Leave Behind

By Daniel Gross

Ghosts of the Cul de Sac

By Allison Arieff

Goodbye to the Great American Road Trip

By Michael Paterniti

Tax Brakes

By Robert Goodman

Be the Prius

By Tom Vanderbilt

Psychoanalysis by the Gallon

By Anneliese Rohrer

The Light Stuff

By Jamie Lincoln Kitman

Hair-Raiser

By Karen Karbo

COMING SOON! GREEN, the NEXT RED, WHITE and BLUE!

---

June 29, 2008

Op-Ed Columnist

Anxious in America

By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

Just a few months ago, the consensus view was that Barack Obama would need to choose a hard-core national-security type as his vice presidential running mate to compensate for his lack of foreign policy experience and that John McCain would need a running mate who was young and sprightly to compensate for his age. Come August, though, I predict both men will be looking for a financial wizard as their running mates to help them steer America out of what could become a serious economic tailspin.

I do not believe nation-building in Iraq is going to be the issue come November — whether things get better there or worse. If they get better, we’ll ignore Iraq more; if they get worse, the next president will be under pressure to get out quicker. I think nation-building in America is going to be the issue.

It’s the state of America now that is the most gripping source of anxiety for Americans, not Al Qaeda or Iraq. Anyone who thinks they are going to win this election playing the Iraq or the terrorism card — one way or another — is, in my view, seriously deluded. Things have changed.

Up to now, the economic crisis we’ve been in has been largely a credit crisis in the capital markets, while consumer spending has kept reasonably steady, as have manufacturing and exports. But with banks still reluctant to lend even to healthy businesses, fuel and food prices soaring and home prices declining, this is starting to affect consumers, shrinking their wallets and crimping spending. Unemployment is already creeping up and manufacturing creeping down.

The straws in the wind are hard to ignore: If you visit any car dealership in America today you will see row after row of unsold S.U.V.’s. And if you own a gas guzzler already, good luck. On Thursday, The Palm Beach Post ran an article on your S.U.V. options: “Continue to spend upward of $100 for a fill-up. Sell or trade in the vehicle for a fraction of the original cost. Or hold out and park the truck in the driveway for occasional use in hopes the market will turn around.” Just be glad you don’t own a bus. Montgomery County, Md., where I live, just announced that more children were going to have to walk to school next year to save money on bus fuel.

On top of it all, our bank crisis is not over. Two weeks ago, Goldman Sachs analysts said that U.S. banks may need another $65 billion to cover more write-downs of bad mortgage-related instruments and potential new losses if consumer loans start to buckle. Since President Bush came to office, our national savings have gone from 6 percent of gross domestic product to 1 percent, and consumer debt has climbed from $8 trillion to $14 trillion.

My fellow Americans: We are a country in debt and in decline — not terminal, not irreversible, but in decline. Our political system seems incapable of producing long-range answers to big problems or big opportunities. We are the ones who need a better-functioning democracy — more than the Iraqis and Afghans. We are the ones in need of nation-building. It is our political system that is not working.

I continue to be appalled at the gap between what is clearly going to be the next great global industry — renewable energy and clean power — and the inability of Congress and the administration to put in place the bold policies we need to ensure that America leads that industry.

“America and its political leaders, after two decades of failing to come together to solve big problems, seem to have lost faith in their ability to do so,” Wall Street Journal columnist Gerald Seib noted last week. “A political system that expects failure doesn’t try very hard to produce anything else.”

We used to try harder and do better. After Sputnik, we came together as a nation and responded with a technology, infrastructure and education surge, notes Robert Hormats, vice chairman of Goldman Sachs International. After the 1973 oil crisis, we came together and made dramatic improvements in energy efficiency. After Social Security became imperiled in the early 1980s, we came together and fixed it for that moment. “But today,” added Hormats, “the political system seems incapable of producing a critical mass to support any kind of serious long-term reform.”

If the old saying — that “as General Motors goes, so goes America” — is true, then folks, we’re in a lot of trouble. General Motors’s stock-market value now stands at just $6.47 billion, compared with Toyota’s $162.6 billion. On top of it, G.M. shares sank to a 34-year low last week.

That’s us. We’re at a 34-year low. And digging out of this hole is what the next election has to be about and is going to be about — even if it is interrupted by a terrorist attack or an outbreak of war or peace in Iraq. We need nation-building at home, and we cannot wait another year to get started. Vote for the candidate who you think will do that best. Nothing else matters.

21st Century "WIND to WHEELS" (Mariah Power)

Posted: Sunday, 29 June 2008 12:42PM

Michigan Tech, MSU Tapped for Center of Energy Excellence

Michigan Technological University and Michigan State University will partner with Mascoma Corp. in Michigan’s first Center of Energy Excellence, Gov. Jennifer Granholm announced at a press conference in Lansing Friday morning. The Center will be eligible for a $15 million grant from Michigan’s 21st Century Jobs Fund.

Michigan Tech, Michigan State and Mascoma will work with the Michigan Economic Development Corp. and J.M. Longyear -- a Marquette-based company that owns more than 65,000 acres of forest land in the Upper Peninsula -- to develop the state’s first commercial cellulosic ethanol plant. The plant will be located in Chippewa County, south of Sault Ste. Marie.
Cellulosic ethanol offers a clean-burning and economical alternative to petroleum-based fuel and ethanol made from corn.

"We have been exploring the frontiers of this field for some time through our Wood to Wheels research, and we look forward to working with Michigan State to support the development of Michigan's biofuels industry," said David D. Reed, vice president for research at Mcihigan Tech.

Michigan Tech will contribute its knowledge of sustainable forestry management practices and access to its automotive engineering labs for analysis of the biofuels produced. Michigan State will provide expertise in pretreatment technology for cellulosic ethanol production and assistance with renewable energy crops that can be used by the biorefinery.

The universities will each receive an estimated $1 million to analyze issues related to the availability and cost of supplying the wood fiber and other plant materials to produce cellulosic ethanol.

Michigan is in a race with a firm in Georgia to open the first commercial-scale plant for producing cellulosic ethanol. The Massachusetts-based Mascoma Corporation announced its decision to locate in Michigan last July.

Mascoma chose Michigan because of its vast, sustainable forests and other non-food agricultural materials, as well as the research expertise available at Michigan Tech and Michigan State.
For more information on Michigan Tech’s Wood to Wheels research and collaborative biofuels initiatives with Michigan State and Mascoma, see www.admin.mtu.edu/urel/news/media_relations/584/, www.sfi.mtu.edu/w2w/index.html and http://www.admin.mtu.edu/urel/news/media_relations/632/.

© MMVIII WWJ Radio, All Rights Reserved.

THE PORTAL

There is a new paradigm afoot. It may be viewed as East meets East as people used to look to the old east for "enlightenment" from such philosophies as the Tao, which posited the eternal quest for One's center. America is East of China and now stands to "enlighten" the world as to how that can effectively be accomplished. Succinctly thru the establishment of a truly participative Democracy. Now that doesn't happen just because it is stated on paper. It has to come thru a society so empowered by a sense of self, that can only come from individuals creatively empowered to know what they don't know and to be actively engaged in creating communities of practice to solve life's questions as to our survival.
Consider "The Portal". The Portal can be viewed from a multitude of points of light as you will discover. The one we are focused on is thru the South pier lighthouse web cam which is accessed thru NOAA's Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory's Muskeegon (Michigan's)Field Station's website. Focusing on the Lighthouse you will see a 55 foot lighthouse that was placed there in 1903. Now look back about halfway to the light... There you see it?
The Vertical Axis Wind turbine that is surrounded by Young Students and Seasoned Scientists. Yes they are collaborating to find out what it is they don't know about these vast inland fresh water seas. Not stopping there they are part of a larger vision that starts deep inside in each participant's soul. A light has been kindled there because they have each been empowered to join the creative hunt to solve the mysteries of life. those mysteries of course involve all aspects of life, including and beyond the" Great Lakes" These are the people that are partaking in this great experiment of Participative Democracy because they are on the hunt for truth and justice for life. This is the ideals that people believe America was founded on. But I digress...
This other point of light we spoke of... Turn on your Video conferencing screen and intermingle with the young Scientists that are conducting meteorological experiments inside the Lighthouse just beyond the Wind Machine. Posit your questions, don't be shy about it for they will have questions for you about wherever in the world you live. Together you are having a dialogue about life and this world we live in. Most assuredly you will both conclude your mutual "discoveries", having come away with a changed and enlightened understanding of what is is you didn't know and now what new answers you will seek to quell the creative energies, which of course cannot be quelled. The Genie is out of the bottle now because you've entered this new world of self discovery, life will never be the same. There is a new smile to your face. One that comes from a sense of self that cannot be denied.

LEARNFACTURING

The mere prospect of being able to be immersed in the realization that we know what we don't know, brings one to the first day of the rest of their hopefully long and curious journey into what it is we need to know.

That of course encompasses all there is to learn. We have the opportunity before us to do just that in some very succinct and powerful ways. Besides the obvious philosophical implications that have been both written and spoken of by great peoples thru the ages from Plato to Socrates and all the spiritual leaders.

This is no longer a Great Books discussion course to be relegated to the coffeehouse and churches. We have embarked upon a journey as rich, wide and deep as all life is and can be.

The journey to discover how to do the dance with all life by investigating how to course correct our society thru creating "empowerment zones" of learning where students young and old can sign onto the dimension of understanding what the resources around them really have to offer in terms of understanding how to not only navigate life’s shoals, but to excel in creating value in all they do.

We believe that each individual so empowered to work with these newfound resources of awareness can add tremendous value towards solving our worldly problems that have been created because of a lack of appreciation for this life we have been allowed to take part in.

In so doing each person has the opportunity to explore, fly if you will into a spiritual journey that will forever bring them into the dance of life. By agreeing to this new vision one can shed the cloak and mantle of negativity and despair this earthly world finds itself in.

People will not relegate their lives to a war of depleting resources because they will be empowered to find new resources all around them. To ask the questions of life that will spark the journey of answers and more questions, that will multiply and divide, making way for new life and understandings.

This is the Natural and spiritual world that creation has provided for all of life. No longer will people have to blow themselves and others up to level the playing (killing) fields. Although it is not important what this process is called, there is a new term coined Learnfacturing.

We propose that new agreements be made to further the atmosphere of cooperation that has been understood by a few enlightened individuals along the way. This is where people can be immersed into learning how to ask the questions and strive for the answers in a new model of societal cooperation that involves learning, growing and manufacturing the found answers in an organic process that emulates life.

This learning thru understanding the Natural world in which we live can bring into view the course corrections needed from the journey of the trajectory that the current model of the synthetic world we have created is on.

This journey that has created the divisive and self destructive atmosphere where people know the cost of everything and the value of nothing, the world of the ego that bears little resemblance to life's truths and therefore places no real value in life. And to accelerate this understanding in a linear fashion in ways that will bring the understandings into practices which will allow America and the world the opportunity to repair the damage done to this wonderful and beautiful world we call Earth.

We invite you to step outside yourself , it is truly a leap of faith, explore what is you were always afraid to learn. With these new visions of the world, your journey will change in wonderful and unimagined ways that you only thought existed in books and movies for "other" people.

We invite you to be born again into the world of your potential. It's not over until it's over. We look forward to meeting you on this journey.

Happy Solstice to you all!

Jim Bates

NSF ITEST GRANT Advisory Board Meeting

Digital Convergence Goes LIVE!

SOMETHING'S in the WIND! (First Mover Status Improves?)

Posted: Tuesday, 17 June 2008 2:37PM

High Tech Jobs Among 3,900 Announced By MEDC

Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm and other state officials Tuesday announced that the Michigan Economic Development Corp. will help nine companies grow across the state, creating and retaining 3,900 jobs and resulting in a $179 million investment in the state.

In addition, the MEDC and Michigan State Housing Development Authority are backing two redevelopment projects in Detroit and Muskegon.

The tech projects announced included the following:

Azentek LLC – Organized in 2006, the designer and developer of in-vehicle infotainment and computing systems in Genesee County's Grand Blanc Township will invest $3 million to consolidate current operations and expand to a leased light industrial facility in Grand Blanc, creating 198 new jobs, including 78 directly by the company. Based on the MEDC’s recommendation, the Michigan Economic Growth Authority approved a state tax credit valued at $1.5 million over 10 years to win the project over a competing site in China. Grand Blanc Township is considering a six-year abatement valued at $36,065 to support the project.
Orchid Unique Orthopedic Solutions – This manufacturer of surgical cutting accessories, instruments and implants will invest $3.5 million to consolidate operations and expand its plant in Saginaw County's Bridgeport Township, creating 142 jobs, including 60 directly by the company. Orchid Orthopedic Solutions, founded in 2005, has 632 employees statewide, including 320 in Bridgeport. Based on the MEDC’s recommendation, the Michigan Economic Growth Authority approved a state tax credit valued at $763,000 over seven years to win the project over competing sites in Tennessee and California. Bridgeport Township is considering a 12-year abatement worth $183,258 to support the project.

Priceline.com Inc. -- Based on the MEDC’s recommendation, the Michigan Economic Growth Authority board approved a state tax credit valued at $3.9 million over seven years to encourage the online travel company to launch a new office under consideration in Wyoming. In addition, the MEDC has offered up to $200,000 in job training assistance through the Economic Development Job Training program. To support the project, the city of Wyoming has approved a seven-year abatement worth $1.1 million. The project, pending company approval, is expected to generate $7.7 million in new capital investment and create 610 new jobs, including 424 directly by the company.
Other projects announced included:

Brembo North America – The braking systems supplier will invest $47 million to consolidate its corporate and technical groups from Northville, Farmington Hills and Costa Mesa, Calif. at a new headquarters to be built in Novi instead of competing sites in North Carolina and Mexico. The subsidiary of Bergamo, Italy-based Brembo S.p.A. will also expand capacity at its manufacturing facility in Homer in Calhoun County. The combined project is expected to retain and create 1,049 jobs, including 325 directly by the company. Based on the MEDC’s recommendation, the Michigan Economic Growth Authority approved state tax credits valued at $3.5 million over 10 years to convince the company to expand in Michigan rather than competing sites in North Carolina and Mexico. In addition, The MEDC will provide job-training assistance of up to $500,000 through the Economic Development Job Training program. To support the project, the city of Novi is considering a reduction/reimbursement of permitting fees and an expedited approval process. Albion Township has approved a 12-year abatement estimated at $1.8 million.

Mahle Engine Components USA Inc. – The member of the Germany-based Mahle GmbH group of businesses will invest $18.2 million in a 30,000-square-foot expansion of its piston ring manufacturing plant in St. Johns. The expansion is expected to create 534 new Michigan jobs, including up to 150 directly by the company. Based on the MEDC’s recommendation, the Michigan Economic Growth Authority board approved a state taxcredit valued at $2.2 million over 12 years to win the company’s expansion. In addition, the MEDC will make available up to $100,000 in job training funds through the Economic Development Job Training program. The MEDC will also consider providing support for infrastructure improvements. The city of St. Johns has approved three abatements worth $26.1 million to support the project.
Mahle Industries Inc. – The subsidiary of Mahle GmbH, a leading global manufacturer of components for the automotive and heavy duty engine industry, will invest $27.6 million in an initial 45,000-square-foot expansion in Farmington Hills. The investment will occur in two phases. The project is expected to create 324 new jobs, including 155 directly by the company. Based on the MEDC’s recommendation, the Michigan Economic Growth Authority approved a state tax credit valued at $2.5 million over seven years to win the expansion over a competing site in Tennessee. The city of Farmington Hills has approved a 12-year abatement worth $1.2 million to support the project.

Production Engineering Inc. – The manufacturer of precision machined components for wheel end, steering and drive train applications for specialty truck and construction equipment axles, will invest over $11 million to relocate to a 440,000-square-foot former Goodyear warehouse in Jackson. The company will revamp the building, including new electrical service enhancements, compressed air systems, lighting, water system, overhead cranes, offices and manufacturing support facilities. The project will create and retain 436 jobs, including 122 new jobs at the company and 112 retained. The MEDC estimates the project will generate an additional 202 indirect jobs. Based on the MEDC’s recommendation, the Michigan Economic Growth Authority approved a state tax credit valued at $3.4 million over 10 years to win the project over a competing site in Indiana. To support the project, the city of Jackson has proposed a 20-year abatement and Renaissance Zone designation for a combined value of over $3.4 million.

Rayconnect Inc. – The wholly-owned subsidiary of A. Raymond Inc. will invest $19.6 million in a new plastics injection molding and assembly plant and headquarters in Rochester Hills. The company designs, develops, manufactures and sells fluid handling products for the automotive, commercial and construction equipment markets. The project will retain 360 Michigan jobs, including 148 at the company. Based on the MEDC’s recommendation, the Michigan Economic Growth Authority approved a state tax credit valued at $2.5 million over seven years to win the company’s expansion over a competing site in South Carolina. In addition, the MEDC will provide up to $120,000 in job training assistance through the Economic Development Job Training program. The city of Rochester Hills will consider a 12-year abatement worth $$862,000 to support the project.

Venchurs Inc. – The supply chain management and third party packaging and logistical services provider to the automotive and construction-agriculture industries, will invest $21 million to expand its operations in Adrian. Through the assistance of an $8 million incentive package, the project is expected to create up to 152 new jobs, including 50 directly by the company by the end of 2010 . Based on the MEDC’s recommendation, the Michigan Economic Growth Authority approved a state tax credit valued at $986,000 over seven years which allowed the company to choose Michigan over a competing site in Indiana. The city of Adrian is considering a 12-year abatement worth $3 million to support the project. In addition, South Central Michigan Works! will work with the company to identify available job training resources.

Mariah Wind Power- (TBD)

Also the following municipal projects were announced:

City of Detroit – Developer Grand River and Six Mile LLC will use $631,600 in local and school capture and private investment of $5.5 million to redevelop the former Detroit Police 8th precinct station across from Redford High School. Two structures will be built on the site comprising 23,800 square feet of retail and commercial space. The project will lead to creation of 60 full-time jobs.

City of Muskegon - State and local tax capture valued at $1.3 million will support environmental clean up and redevelopment of 19 acres on the east and west sides of Henry Street in Muskegon by Betten Automotive Group to make way for rehab or creation of nearly 113,000 square feet of commercial space. An existing building on a nine-acre site on the east side will be renovated and expanded from 30,000 square feet to 68,000 square feet. On the remaining acreage on the west side, construction of two new auto dealership stores will replace the current used car sales office. The project will feature sustainable development elements including LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards, improved storm water management and pedestrian-friendly streetscape. The $15 million project is expected to create 36 new jobs.

More at www.themedc.org.

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