SSU Earns Honors as a Top Wireless,
'Best Value' Campus in Recent Surveys

Intel, the multi-national technology company, has named SSU to the list of top 100 wireless schools in the country. The survey assesses the greatest wireless Internet accessibility.

In the past two years, Sonoma has equipped most of its buildings to work with wireless technology allowing students, faculty and staff to eliminate the need to "plug in" to a network jack in order to do their work. Full Story

Additionally, Sonoma also joined five other Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges and one other CSU in the Princeton Review's 2004 edition of America's Best Value Colleges. The book profiles 77 schools that the education services company chose for outstanding academics, low-to-moderate tuition and fees, and generous financial aid packages.

The Princeton Review compiled the list based on quantitative and qualitative data it obtained from more than 500 colleges, and from surveys of students attending them. Full Story

AASCP Sets Community Meetings
on Strategic Plan for University

The Academic Affairs Strategic Planning Committee has completed its work for this year and produced a draft of a mission statement, vision statement, general strategy, and strategic initiatives for the division.

Two meetings this week are set for all members of the University community for presentation of the draft and for comments and feedback. The meetings will take place on April 27, 11:40 a.m - 1 p.m., in Darwin 2 and April 30, 1:30 - 3 p.m., in Stevenson 1002.

Co-chair Catherine Nelson and Provost Eduardo Ochoa, as well as a number of additional committee members, will answer questions and receive input. Suggestions from the meetings and other sources will be considered by the full committee for possible revision of the draft, after which the plan will be finalized.

For further information and a draft in PDF form of the plan visit www.sonoma.edu/provost/planning/index.html.

Faculty Expo for Research, Study Set for April 21

All faculty and staff are invited to attend the annual research and scholarly activity exposition from 3:30-5:30 p.m. onWednesday, April 21 in the Commons. Recent grant recipients and other faculty will share their research and scholarly pursuits with colleagues from all disciplines and the campus community.

Exhibitors will display the results of their work and be present to talk with attendees about their projects. Refreshments will be served throughout the event. The Faculty Exposition is sponsored by the Faculty Subcommittee on Sponsored Programs, the Professional Development Subcommittee and the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs.

SSU Conference Targets Health Care Crisis in
Region, Big Steps for Children, Homeless

Stabilizing health care costs in the region, and emerging programs for children and the homeless, will be explained and explored in an important conference at SSU. The event is set for Friday evening, April 23 and all day on Saturday, April 24 in the Cooperage. The conference is open to SSU faculty and staff. There is no charge.

Explorations of current health care issues will range from prevention, community-based public health and early intervention initiatives to utilization analyses. Preliminary reports will be made on ways to modify health plans to have significantly better control of health care costs. For more information, visit the conference Web site at www.sonoma.edu/programs/healthcrisis/.

Green Music Center Presentation Online

The Green Music Center presentation given at the March 4 Academic Senate meeting is now available on the Senate website's home page under Current Issues/Information at www.sonoma.edu/Senate. The PowerPoint presentation can be downloaded or viewed on the Web. Photographs in the presentation were taken by campus photographer Linnea Mullins.

WORLD'S RELIGION SCHOLAR - Huston Smith is coming to SSU at 7 p.m. on Saturday May 8 in Evert B. Person Theatre. Smith is an internationally recognized philosopher and scholar of religion. His book "The World's Religions" has been the most widely-used textbook on its subject for a third of a century. The event is free for all SSU students and $5 general admission. The event is sponsored by Associated Students Productions and the SSU Student Union. For more information or to buy tickets, phone 4-2382.

Coming Up...

FACULTY AUTHOR READINGS, SCHULZ 3001 - William Babula, Dean of Arts and Humanities, reads from his book "St. John's Bestiary: Jeremiah St. John Detective Novel." Michaela Grobbel, Modern Languages, reads from her book, "Enacting Past and Present: The Memory Theaters of Djuna Barnes, Ingeborg Bachmann, and Marguerite Duras," noon, Tuesday, April 20. Elizabeth Coonrod Martinez, Modern Languages, reads "California Settlers" from her book "Coming to America: The Mexican-American Experience." Sherril Jaffee, English, will read from her first book, "Scars Make Your Body More Interesting." noon, Thursday, April 22. All readings take place in Schulz 3001. For information, phone 4-4240 or visit bookstore.sonoma.edu

LESTER FAIGLEY - One of the foremost scholars in rhetoric presents a lecture at noon on Thursday, April 22 in Salazar 2021 on the impact of visual rhetoric on culture and classrooms. His presentation, "Rhetoric/Design/Sustainability," examines how rhetoric might be enhanced from a design perspective and how design theory might be useful for a rhetoric of sustainability. His appearance is sponsored by the SSU Rhetoric and Composition Studies Association. For further information, contact Loriann Tiffany at 4-4401 or e-mail lmt333@msn.com.

AT THE GALLERIES

Latino/a Student Art Exhibition
in the ICC Gallery

Migrant Education Region II Area I, along with Sonoma Student Union InterCultural Center and Sonoma State University MEChA, are sponsoring a Latino/a Student Art Exhibition. The exhibit runs through May. The opening reception is on Friday, April 23 from 5:30-7 p.m. in the InterCultural Center Gallery. For further details, call 4-2710 or visit www.sonoma.edu/ICC.

"Outcasts" at Library Gallery

"Outcasts" features the works of SSU art students in the University Library Art Gallery from April 23-July 31. The opening reception is 5:30-7:30 p.m. on Friday, April 23. Gallery hours are Monday - Saturday, 10 a.m.- 5 p.m. The exhibit is sponsored in part by the Friends of the University Library. For more information, contact Karen Brodsky at 4-4240.