GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Congressman Vernon Ehlers will be presented a U.S. flag that was flown in his honor at the Geographic South Pole in Antarctica. The event will be held on Monday, September 12, at 9 a.m. in the Gordon Gallery at Grand Valley State University's DeVos Center, 401 W. Fulton, in Grand Rapids. The occasion will also serve as a send-off for two students on their way to Antarctica.
The flag will be presented by P. Douglas Kindschi, chair of the Science Support Advisory Board of the Raytheon Polar Services Company, which has the contract with the National Science Foundation to provide all support services at the three U.S. research stations.
"I have known Congressman Ehlers for many years and have been impressed with his commitment to education, to science and to the environment," said Kindschi. "It will be my privilege to present him with this flag."
Kindschi, the former dean of Science and Mathematics at Grand Valley, spent eight days in January in Antarctica evaluating the educational and internship programs offered there. Two of eight students selected nationwide for the Raytheon internships this fall are from Grand Valley. Tim Major, a third-year physics major, and Dan Brown, a biology major who graduated last spring, will spend the next four months in Antarctica, from October to February.
"Air at the South Pole is the purest on earth and it is a reminder of the responsibility we all have to maintain a clean environment," said Kindschi. "Seeing the science that is being carried out in Antarctica by the United States and other countries was most impressive."
Grand Valley has a long history of involvement with Antarctica. James H. Zumberge (1923-1992) received his doctorate in 1950 at the University of Minnesota and was a professor of geology at the University of Michigan when he was selected as the first president of Grand Valley State College in February, 1962. He organized and accompanied two Antarctic expeditions, the more important one being in 1957, during the International Geophysical Year, when he was the chief glaciologist for the Ross Ice Shelf investigations. Cape Zumberge bears his name. This steep and rocky cape is located on the west side of the Ronne Ice Shelf in the Weddell Sea.
For more information contact Grand Valley's News and Information Services at (616) 331-2221.
