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Calvin University's official student newspaper since 1907

Calvin University Chimes

Since 1907
Calvin University's official student newspaper since 1907

Calvin University Chimes

Calvin University's official student newspaper since 1907

Calvin University Chimes

David Fitch

David Fitch, Sci-Tech Editor

David Fitch is a senior English literature major/Information systems minor and this year’s Science and Technology editor. David is a humanities guy who hails from the highly scientific/technological community of Ann Arbor, MI. With a frantic, scatter-brained work ethic and interests ranging from everything from scrambled eggs to consumer technology, he dabbles in writing, filmmaking, music creation and occasionally, critical thinking.

Email: [email protected]

All content by David Fitch
Researcher and clinician Herman Sullivan, of Mercy Health, presented on the history and pathology of multiple sclerosis. Photo by David Fitch.

Multiple sclerosis researcher presents to philosophy students  

David Fitch, Sci-Tech Editor
May 4, 2018

Herman Sullivan, a neurologist from Mercy Health, presented on Multiple Sclerosis (MS) to a crowd of students and faculty members in the Meeter Center Lecture Hall on Monday. The audience consisted...

Photos courtesy Native Edge Landscapes.

Ecosystem preserve to see improvements over summer

David Fitch, Sci-Tech Editor
May 3, 2018

Changes are coming to the Calvin Ecosystem Preserve this summer. According to Program Manager Jeanette Henderson, the area surrounding the Bunker Interpretive Center is set to be altered to include a native...

Professors Heun (left) and Warners (right) are planning a seminar for the summer in an effort to change the way Christians think about caring for the planet. Photo by David Fitch.

Calvin profs plan seminar to look ‘Beyond Stewardship’

David Fitch, Sci-Tech Editor
April 27, 2018

Two Calvin professors want to change the way people think about environmental stewardship. In fact, they want new word altogether. Engineering professor Matthew Heun and biology professor David Warners...

Chris Wieringa, the computer science department lab manager is in the process of prepping Borg to be used this summer for research. Photo by David Fitch.

New supercomputer ‘Borg’ takes first steps

David Fitch, Sci-Tech Editor
April 21, 2018

Chris Wieringa said he’s been busy lately. The Calvin computer science lab manager has been hard at work assembling and testing the newest addition to the Calvin computer lab — a bright red supercomputer...

The team enjoys an evening with local couple Mary and Bob Ippel. Photo courtesy Thuy-Tien Nguyen.

Pre-health students encounter Navajo culture on spring break trip

David Fitch, Sci-Tech Editor
April 13, 2018

10 pre-health students flew to Rehoboth, N.M. for a service trip that they say caught them by surprise. The student-led group was spearheaded by public health senior Thuy-Tien Nguyen and biochemistry...

Professor Joel Adams says with Raspberry Pis and other such single-board computers, "a lot of things become possible that weren't." Photo by David Fitch.

CS clubs to cook up Raspberry Pis in upcoming event

David Fitch, Sci-Tech Editor
April 9, 2018

Next Wednesday, two Calvin computer science clubs will put on their second Raspberry Pi workshop. It will feature a tutorial on building a device capable of object detection using the credit card-sized,...

Mark Bjelland is four-year member of the the Geo department faculty and teaches urban geography among other courses. Photo courtesy Calvin College.

Sci. Sit-Down: Q&A with Mark Bjelland

David Fitch, Sci-Tech Editor
March 2, 2018

Mark Bjelland has established himself in his almost five years in the GEO department as a professor who can get students to volunteer for ungraded field trips, who is passionate about building more livable,...

Alumnus Andrew Vanden Heuvel had no idea during his years at Calvin where his career would take him. Today he is an online educator for high school physics and astronomy courses. Photo courtesy Andrew Vanden Huevel.

Calvin alumnus ‘fell into’ career as virtual teacher

David Fitch, Sci-Tech Editor
February 23, 2018

Andrew Vanden Heuvel ’04 says that he was always “the guy.” He was “the astronomy guy” while studying at Calvin or “the asteroid guy” for a discovery he made from Calvin’s observatory....

The Rare Disease Day Symposium will take place in the Prince Conference Center at 8:30 p.m. Photo courtesy Calvin College.

Professors tag-team rare disease research

David Fitch, Sci-Tech Editor
February 1, 2018

This past January, biology professor Amy Wilstermann and chemistry and biochemistry professor Rachael Baker taught their first rare diseases interim course. The course centered on research into diseases...

Google powers classroom collaboration

David Fitch, Sci-Tech Editor
November 17, 2017

Educators at Calvin College, Albion College and Alma College are looking forward to an experiment this spring. Through the Michigan Colleges Alliance and using technology donated by Google, one professor...

Matthew Heun is a longtime professor in the engineering department. Photo by David Fitch.

Sci. Sit-Down: Q&A with Matthew Heun

David Fitch, Sci-Tech Editor
November 17, 2017

Every few weeks, Chimes publishes an interview with a science division professor to get to know them: their personalities, their research and their aspirations. We sat down with professor Matthew Heun...

Photo courtesy calvin.edu.

Students, faculty react to new calvin.edu

David Fitch, Sci-Tech Editor
November 3, 2017

As Calvin’s outward-facing image continues to receive updates, Calvin.edu got a new front page, complete with a looping video and quick links for prospective students. Faculty and students are reacting...

The fair was open to students who completed on and off-campus research over the past summer. Projects spanned across disciplines from 3-D modeling of fossils to chemical analysis. Photo by David Fitch.

Students present research at poster fair

David Fitch, Sci-Tech Editor
October 27, 2017

Last Friday, students who participated in science research over the past summer presented at the science division poster fair, hosted on four floors of DeVries Hall. Projects ranged widely from study of...

Photo by David Fitch.

Sci. Sit-Down: Q&A with Jason VanHorn

David Fitch, Sci-Tech Editor
October 13, 2017

Every few weeks, Chimes publishes an interview with a science division professor to get to know them: their personalities, their research and their aspirations. This week, we sat down with Jason VanHorn,...

Computer science professor Joel Adams designed Dahl in 2007 and built it in 2008. Photo courtesy dahl.calvin.edu.

Dahl the supercomputer to be replaced in January

David Fitch, Sci-Tech Editor
October 13, 2017

Thanks to a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant, Calvin will welcome another supercomputer onto campus this January, replacing Dahl, the current machine. Built in 2008 for about $150,000, using...

Photo by David Fitch,

Sci sit-down: Q&A with Prof. David Benson

David Fitch, Sci-Tech Editor
October 6, 2017

Each week, Chimes is sitting down with science department faculty and students to hear about their research,  their aspirations, their fears and the gritty details. This time, Chimes got the chance to...

(Left) Daniel Van Noord talks with Prof. Larry Molnar (right).  Photo courtesy calvin.edu.

Molnar’s star prediction featured in film

David Fitch, Sci-Tech Editor
September 22, 2017

On Monday, Larry Molnar, Calvin astronomy and physics professor, gave his most recent talk about his now famous prediction: a converging, contact binary star. If the prediction comes true in 2022, he and...

Climate change

Students join faculty in on-campus summer research

David Fitch, Sci-Tech Editor
September 15, 2017

Over a hundred Calvin students and dozens of faculty participated in on-campus research this past summer. Largely falling within the science division or as part of McGregor Undergraduate Research Program,...

Photo Credit Sydney Hoek

Getting to know the friendly face of Commons: Nancy Rinks

David Fitch
November 13, 2015

She sits in the swivel chair at Commons and looks students in the eye as they approach. Her cheerful voice never fails to ring out a variation of “Hi” or “How ya doing?” Nancy Rinks has been...

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