An ASC Open House Helps Unearth San Jose's Past

More than 450 people showed up for a community day of a different sort in mid-March in San Jose. Archaeologists from the Anthropological Studies Center and local San José historians are working with the Redevelopment Agency, City of San Jose to unearth selected areas of early Chinese and Japanese San Jose. People responded as if it were truly a unique, once in a lifetime event, said ASC organizers. For details and a blog chronicling the event, visit http://heinlenville-nihonmachi.blogspot.com/. To view a video produced by the San Jose Mercury News, visit Chinatown Unearthed. Above, Erica Gibson, ASC lab manager and archaeologist, at the artifact table explains items to visitors.

Nearly 3,000 Visitors Expected for Seawolf Day

The campus-wide Seawolf Day, aimed at introducing all prospective Fall 2008 students and their family members to what SSU has to offer, is set for Saturday, April 5 from 8:30 a.m.- 3 p.m. Organizers are anticipating another successful event with nearly 3,000 guests on campus. The morning begins with a welcome from President Arminana in the gymnasium, after which students and parents break out into various workshops presented by Student Affairs and Enrollment Management as well as most of the Schools. Several campus departments will be open for business. There will be tours of campus, the Recreation Center, the University Library and others. A campus fair takes place in the Salazar Quad from 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. with representatives from campus departments, majors, and student organizations as well as student performances. Departments interested in participating in Seawolf Day should contact Gina Geck at gina.geck@sonoma.edu.

New Ridesharing Program is Free to Faculty, Staff

SSU has partnered with AlterNet rides to provide a carpooling program available free of charge to all faculty, staff and students. AlterNet Rides allows members of the SSU community to set up regular or one-time carpools to and from campus or to other locations. It takes just a few minutes to sign up and start setting up rides. Users can set personal preferences including times and days of travel, smoker or non-smoker, radio preferences and more. To get started, visit SSU AlterNet Rides. Police Services would like to hear about employee AlterNet Rides experiences. E-mail them at parking@sonoma.edu or call Police & Parking Services at 4-2143 to pass on feedback. AlterNet Rides is also working hard to reduce the stress that vehicles put on the environment. Check out the Carbon Emissions Savings Calculator to see how using various forms of alternate transportation can affect one's carbon footprint. For more information on carbon footprints, visit Firm Green.

Nominations for Staff Excellence Award Due April 18

Nominations are now being accepted for the 2008/2009 Staff Excellence Award with a nomination deadline of April 18. The Staff Excellence Award recognizes staff members who have made a significant impact on the University through outstanding dedication, competence, exceptional performance, excellent service to students, and ingenuity. Faculty, managers, and staff are strongly encouraged to nominate a staff member for this prestigious award. The nomination form, eligibility criteria and program information are located at www.sonoma.edu/hs/es. Questions may be directed to Stephanie Torres, at 4-2212. The Excellence Awards Advisory Committee will evaluate the nominations and forward their recommendations to the President for final selection. Two employees will receive the award, which includes a check for $1,500 and a seat with the platform party at Commencement 2009. Award winners will be announced in early June. 

Register Now for Multicultural Competence Retreat

The Campus Climate Committee and the School of Social Sciences are co-sponsoring a Multicultural Competence Retreat from 10 a.m. -2 p.m. on Friday, April 18 in the Student Union Multi-purpose Room. Due to limited seating, RSVPs must be made to holly.sautner@sonoma.edu by April 11. The workshop is planned to: (a) hold a safe space for faculty and instructors to explore their own places of privilege, (b) incorporate this awareness into their teaching with students and work relationships (c) explore ways in which participants can become allies to people included in the Big 8 of diversity (culture, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, class, gender, disability, age, and religion), (d) analyze cases regarding issues of discrimination, sexism, etc., and brainstorm about effective way to resolve them, and (e) present successful implementation of multicultural pedagogy. Participants are asked to bring examples of multicultural pedagogy they use in their classroom and/or write up short description of cases involving multicultural issues. Morning coffee and lunch are provided for all participants made possible due to a generous donation from School of Social Sciences (Psychology, MA) alum Vicki Bailey. Facilitators are Elisa Velasquez (Psychology), Jayamala Madathil (Counseling) and Bonnie Sugiyama (Center for Culture, Gender and Sexuality).

April 4 Deadline for EYH Conference
for Young Women in Math and Sciences

Do you know any seventh or eighth grade young women who might want to explore a career in medicine, engineering or business? If so, encourage them to attend the Expanding Your Horizons Conference at SSU on April 12 to participate in hands-on workshops led by women professionals who use math and science in their careers. Sign up online at http://www.eyh-soco.org/registration.htm or call the EYH Hotline at 4-2241. Cost is $15, which includes a snack and lunch, and scholarships are available. Registration deadline is April 4.

This week's banner photo was taken by Shahram Marivani, Network Analyst and Adjunct Faculty in the Department of Engineering Science.