Health forecast held at Eberhard Center

The sixth annual West Michigan Health Care Economic Forecast is coming up, which means health-care professionals and economics faculty members will be gathering in one room to discuss current West Michigan health trends, as well as what they might become in the future.

More than 500 people will gather in the GVSU Eberhard Center on Friday, Jan. 9 to share what they have learned. The event has the potential to affect the types of health care policies seen in the West Michigan area.

The Economic Forecast is sponsored in part by GVSU’s Office of the Vice Provost for Health.

The panel includes a number of important names such as Mike Faas, president of Metro Health ,and Chris Priest, senior advisor to Gov. Rick Snyder.

Super Science Saturday

With 2015 deemed the international year of light, Grand Valley State University’s Regional Math and Science Center and Physics department are putting together an event titled “Super Science Saturday: The Wonder of Light.” The event will take place Jan. 24 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and is hosted in the Seymour and Esther Padnos Hall of Science.

Anyone in the West Michigan community is invited to join in the celebratory and educational event. Super Science Saturday aims to teach those who attend about light and all its different applications to many other fields.

Activities include learning about glow sticks, making rainbow fish in application to the color wheel and discovering how light is often used as a way to communicate with others.

Additional information on the event can be found at www.gvsu.edu/rmsc.

Grand Valley Art Prize Submission Gets Second Chance

The 2014 ArtPrize entry “Animated Collaboration,” created in part by Grand Valley State University faculty and students, will be displayed one more time at the annual RePrize on Feb. 28 in the Holland Area Arts Council.

Originally ranked in the top 25 of the time-based art at last year’s ArtPrize, “Animated Collaboration” took drawings and creations from children around the world and compiled them into a four-minute time lapse video.

Among other GVSU students, faculty members who helped with “Animated Collaboration” include Suzanne Zack, film and video professor; Lynn McKeown, CMC Education project coordinator; Gretchen Vinnedge, Community Media Center education director; Maggie Annerino, media studies professor; and Deanna Morse, animator and professor of film and video.

For additional details, head over to www.deanimations.com

December proven to be slow for economic growth

According to the Institute for Supply Management survey, the Grand Rapids economy has been slow to grow in the month of December, but it is still remaining strong.

According to Brian G. Long, director of Supply Management Research in the Seidman College of Business at Grand Valley State University, some of West Michigan’s greatest strengths are to be found in the automotive industry and furniture business.

Long also noted that the price for oil is nearly half of what it was in June due to the shale oil boom across the globe. He said this and other items like copper, lead, iron ore, zinc and rice are all continuing to fall in price.

A more detailed description of how the survey works can be found at www.gvsu.edu/scblogistics.