Articles

Northern Michigan University is seeking community input on its campus master plan, which will provide a guide for future physical changes on campus. NMU recorded a recent campus forum where alternatives surrounding seven planning themes were presented, and created a corresponding online survey to gather feedback. The survey will remain open through Friday, Nov. 2.

The Upper Michigan Brain Tumor Center (UMBTC) at Northern Michigan University is hosting laboratory tours, followed by presentations by master’s students on their thesis projects. The tours will run from 5-6:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 1, in West Science rooms 1610 and 1612. Refreshments will be served.

The thesis presentations will be held in the Mead Auditorium of West Science, room 2701.

The event comes behind international Brain Tumor Awareness week, which ends Oct. 27. For more information, contact Amber LaCrosse at 227-2377.

A conference paper published by Randall Jensen, professor of Health and Human Performance, is referenced in a Swimming World Magazine article on the backstroke to breaststroke transition turn in the individual medley. Jensen's study analyzed the turns of 14 NCAA Division II women swimmers and found no difference in force among three common styles—open, bucket and crossover—but the bucket turn held the edge for fastest.

James McPherson of the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) will visit Northern Michigan University on Wednesday, Oct. 24, to discuss how intellectual property applies to students and small businesses. The program will focus on how to protect ideas through the patent process and how to protect branding through trademarks. He will discuss USPTO and local resources for pro se applicants and how to navigate the USPTO without an attorney.

Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness, affecting about 40 million adults in the United States. The Department of Psychological Science at Northern Michigan University is researching a nontraditional approach—a mobile phone app—to treat negative emotional symptoms related to anxiety. NMU’s Cognitive x Affective Behavior & Integrative Neuroscience (CABIN) Lab is seeking participants for a six-week study involving cell phone use. A National Institute of Mental Health grant is supporting the project.

The Northern Michigan University Board of Trustees has directed the administration to ensure compliance with federal and state laws governing sexual misconduct, including the recent Doe vs. Baum ruling. In that University of Michigan case, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled that when a Title IX disciplinary proceeding involves competing narratives that require a credibility determination, both parties have a constitutional right to cross-examine each other and witnesses in the presence of decision-makers.

Northern Michigan University English professor Wendy Farkas is using an Endeavor Foundation grant to integrate civic learning into the English general education curriculum. NMU is among 24 institutions selected for funding from 134 applicants. The funding supports an Association of American Colleges & Universities (AAC&U) initiative called “Civic Prompts: Civic Learning in the Major by Design.” The initiative seeks to incorporate civic-minded studies and social responsibility as components within students’ major fields of study.

NMU Honors Program student and Wildcat football player Aaron Rochow researched the political and economic institutions in the neighboring African countries of Botswana and Zimbabwe to better understand their different development paths. He traveled to Botswana through a Lundin Summer Research Fellowship. Rochow and four other students will give presentations on their summer projects at an Oct. 25 event honoring donor Rich Lundin.