Loyal‘s step-son, Rick Dupree speaks of his step-father with great respect and honor. In one of his communications he wrote: "He (Loyal) spent much of his life teaching folks to read and write...in his later years mostly in the Mississippi Delta, a very economically depressed area of the country. He was always going to publish his tried and true phonics method - just never got around to it. Loyal was a 20th century Don Quixote (always with 1,000 ideas, always positive, always dreaming...). Simply put, he was the most remarkable and "pure" man I‘ve ever know. It was a great privilege to be his step-son and learn from him."

One of his former students wrote: "Mr. Bearss was a great man and great educator. He simply taught classical education; this is reading, writing, mathematics, science and literature. Most of the time he lectured about the importance of learning as much as you could in this life and if you didn‘t learn at least one thing every day you had wasted that day and thus wasted your life because logic and reasoning are the only things that separate us from animals. Without a doubt he is one of the reasons I have always sought to learn something new every day of my life and the reason I have such a thirst for knowledge. I was never a great student because I was a rebel. My grade average might not have been great at his school, but I learned more from that man than from any school I have ever attended. If modern American schools still taught with the same concepts of simple classical education, America would not be as behind as we are in education. Last time I saw Mr. Bearss was at the Cub Food Store on I-55 in Jackson back in 1986. We were in line together and we were both just getting a few things. After we had paid for our items we stood outside the store and talked about 30 minutes. I had told him I play violin and guitar and write songs. I told him I had gone to Advanced Electronics School in the U.S. Navy and we talked about radar and weapons systems on the F 4 and F-14 aircraft. I told him I‘d have never been able to pass electronics school had it not been for the math I learned from him. When he walked away he seemed to be smiling that one of his "rebel" students had taken so much he had taught to heart. The world has lost a great educator and a gentle man."

The testimonials went on and on from there, as you can well imagine. After reading the testimonials regarding this remarkable man‘s life, I couldn‘t help but feel inspired and contemplate how important it is for a teacher, parent, etc., to implant the fundamentals that will build the foundation from which springs inspiration and a thirst for knowledge.

The grant is now in the third year and has begun to assess and score validation scenarios that were done in hospital settings. The project is moving forward quite nicely and we have already discovered a number of interesting findings. Any one of the MEDC Grant Team members would be happy to discuss further with you the wealth of information that we are finding in this research. You can contact Beth Beaudin-Seiler or William Hamman.

The College of Aviation Research Department is also interested in obtaining funding for other research projects not only in medicine but in aviation as well and has been identifying possible funding sources including:

National Patient Safety Foundation
The Army Research Institute
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
NASA - Small Business Innovative Research
The National Science Foundation
The FAA‘s Civil Aeromedical Institute

As we pursue these funding agencies, we will be forming collaborations with other collegiate aviation programs and research organizations. We will keep you apprised of the progress that is made in identifying new research opportunities for the College.

The faculty at the College of Aviation continues to be involved in researching Maintenance Engineering curriculum development, along with curriculum development for the new Cirrus aircraft. The faculty has also developed an interest in understanding flight attendant security training and its connections with Air Marshal training. Research identifying a proficiency matrix for the flight science students has been done and a progression outline, based on this research, will be ready for implementation in summer 2008 for the private pilot course. Additional research in the Instrument, Commercial and Multi-Engine courses will take place this year as well.

If you have any questions regarding any of the initiatives or would like to discuss any of these items further do not hesitate to contact:

Dr. William Hamman, Research Scientist (william.hamman@wmich.edu)
Ms. Beth M. Beaudin-Seiler, Research Associate (beth.seiler@wmich.edu)

assisting students one-on-one with resume writing, job searching, and interviewing skills, as well as offering classroom and student organization presentations on those and other career related topics. In addition, she developed engineering employer relationships and organized and managed Engineering Opportunity Day, a career fair for that college. Since 2001, Tracey has taught IME1020 - Technical Communications, part-time in the Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering Department. In January 2008, Tracey was offered a promotion to Manager, College Services with the College of Aviation. In her new role, she will be involved with recruitment and retention of students, developing employer relationships, and offering services in the area of career development to students.

Tracey grew up in Clawson, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. She obtained a Bachelor of Science in Psychology at Northern Michigan University, in Marquette, Michigan and earned a Master of Arts in Counseling in Higher Education from WMU. She holds certifications in three career assessment tools, Myers Briggs Type Indicator, Strong Interest Inventory, and DiSC, and has an expertise in college student development and understanding and engaging the millennial generation.