Kalamazoo-the city for students & zombie free..Promise!

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Master of Master Baiters Joined: 05 Mar 2009 Posts: 580

While Jose has posted 2 threads here and here about how Kalamazoo has knife wielding maniacs and crazy drivers, there is another side to Kalamazoo that needs to be shown:

FREE COLLEGE EDUCATION

via The Kalamazoo Promise.

That's right, a FREE college education for Kalamazoo public school students.

The official Kalamazoo Promise site is here

The short explanation is that any student that graduates from Kalamazoo Public Schools with at least a 2.0 GPA is given a 10 year, 130 credit scholarship to any public university in the state of Michigan. Starting with the graduation class of 2015, that is expanded to include all in-state private colleges as well.

Private colleges added here

Lest readers think this won't last, the Kalamazoo Promise just celebrated its 9th anniversary and is here to stay.

9 years later there is this

Another 9th anniversary article

For those that love Wikipedia, there is an article for them

More information can be found here

So, spread the word, while Kalamazoo might have its share of issues, it is taking care of its students for decades to come. Other cities have tried to copy The Kalamazoo Promise but K'zoo was the First and is still the Best at giving its students a chance at a brighter, better future through a college education.

Oh, and for the naysays that think, hey, that free college education won't do you any good when the zombies attack, well, Kalamazoo has that covered with the Kalamazoo County Department of Zombie Removal.

So there, a free college education and zombie removal, what more could a young family want in a place to live?

Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2014 12:28 pm

No self-respecting zombie would be caught dead, I mean alive, I mean--he just wouldn't go to Kalamazoo.

Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2014 12:44 pm

Is the forum under some sort of guerrilla marketing attack from the Kalamazoo Tourist Board?

Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2014 12:50 pm

269 cool things for zombies to do in Kalamazoo

Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2014 12:55 pm

We also have a lot of micro-breweries most notably Bell's brewery which is the maker of Oberon and many others. The Kalamazoo promise program has promted discussions of a "Michigan Promise" program. The Kalamazoo area is one of the Least Depressed areas of Michigan. Companies like Pfizer, Eaton, Stryker, & Eimo give the town a diverse product base for the Medical & Automobile Industries. Nearby Battle Creek used to be the Cereal Capitol of the World. We are about half way between Detriot & Chicago so we get a lot of people from those places that come here for their weekend get-away's at the local lakes. The Kalamazoo Air Zoo used to boast "The largest indoor Mural" on the wall of their facility.

Yes, like any other town in America, we have a Gang population and Drug problem. A few years ago, the local farmers had to put a special coloring in the Anhydrous Ammonia fertilizer so the Crack Heads wouldn't steal it for their Dope. There are parts of town that I do not go into during the nightime hours.

Kalamazoo Air Zoo:
http://www.airzoo.org/

Pfizer:
http://www.pfizer.com/b2b/suppliers/tc_kalamazoo

Eaton:
http://www.eaton.com/Eaton/index.htm

Bells Brewery:
http://bellsbeer.com/

Stryker:
http://www.stryker.com/en-us/index.htm

Eimo:
http://www.eimotech.com/

Kellogg's:
http://www.kelloggs.com/en_US/home.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=kellogg&utm_content=Company_exact&utm_campaign=Intention_Kelloggs

Master of Master Baiters Joined: 05 Mar 2009 Posts: 580

Thanks Big Al, those are all awesome aspects of Kalamazoo.

@B8er
Just wanted to show the positive side of Kalamazoo after Jose showed the not-so-positive.

Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2014 7:59 pm

I don't think Jose was purposely trying to Diss K-town. The stories were true after all. Thanks for the good words on us though.

Cheers!

beers!

Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2014 1:58 am

I will stay on my side of the state for now, but at least I now know that the answer will be to head to Kalamazoo instead of DC in case of apocalypse. Cool

Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 3:01 pm

On last night's news....:

http://www.wwmt.com/news/features/top-stories/stories/Kalamazoo-County-man-scammed-out-of-thousands-61578.shtml

Local man scammed out of $5,500.00.

Quote:

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) - A Kalamazoo County man was led to believe that his grandson was in trouble, and in the end, he lost thousands of dollars.

The so-called 'grandchild-in-distress' scam is unfortunately all too common, and the Kalamazoo County Sheriff tells Newschannel 3 that they get a phone call concerning it daily.

On Thursday, the victim sat down with Newschannel 3 in the hopes that sharing his story would help keep others from falling for the same situation.

George Belcher is out $5,500.

"Called the public defender on the other end and said, you dirty rat, you scammed me," Belcher recalled.

It was an elaborate scam.

A man, posing as his grandson, called the house late Tuesday morning.

"He said he had just flown to San Diego, California, to be at a funeral of one of his college friends," Belcher said. "He'd gotten in a taxi from the airport to the hotel and the taxi had gotten stopped and police found drugs on board the taxi--not in his luggage, but in the taxi, so he had been arrested."

Belcher said the connection was bad, and he was a bit suspicious, but when his grandson's so-called public defender needed $2,000 to bail him out of jail, Belcher agreed.

From there, the story only gets more complicated.

"But then the public defender called back," Belcher said.

It was another $2,000, so that his grandson didn't have to worry about community service, and another phone call after that, this time asking for $1,500, in part, for an Air Marshal to fly back with him to Michigan.

And after all that, the scammer wasn't ready to end it quite yet.

"But before we could get to the bank, get the money and send it, we got a phone call from our grandson, the same grandson," Belcher said.

His grandson had been at work in Michigan the whole time.

"I always thought it could never happen to me, but it did. These people are so appealing, and $2,000 didn't seem...you know, it's a lot of money, but to get my grandson out of jail is worth it," Belcher said. "We played stupid, but never again. Never again."

Belcher says the scammer told him to get money cards--you can buy them just about anywhere--and then would read the card number over the phone.

The Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Office says that's a big red flag.

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