DR. JIM CHRISTMANN, Professor of Biology, is available to comment on the nature and strategies of bio-terrorism and bio-warfare and how these threats are used to create hysteria. He can discuss current scientific tools that can be used to track the source of these agents and how the risks of infection can be managed.
A molecular geneticist in the Biology Department at Sonoma State University, Professor Christmann has spent his career using recombinant DNA and biochemical techniques studying gene function. He was drafted out of graduate school in 1969 and spent two years working on means of detection of bio-warfare agents while in the U.S.Army.
Office: (707) 664-3054
E-mail: james.christmann@sonoma.edu
DR. MARILYN DUDLEY-ROWLEY, Lecturer, Department of Sociology, is available to speak to journalists and to groups and to provide background material for the media on certain historical precedents following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan; on the trans-nationalization of terrorism; and on the conditions that has led to the failure of the intelligence community in the area of human intelligence. Within sociology, her specialty is the performance of groups in extreme situations.
Office: (707) 664-2561
Home: (707) 874-3430
E-mail: MD_R@Hotmail.com
DR. ELAINE LEEDER, Dean of Social Sciences, Professor of Sociology, can address the growing peace movement and its new approaches to educating the public to alternatives to war; these alternatives would include engaging in quiet diplomacy, the building of alliances with countries heretofore not included in policy making, providing human aid to stricken countries, human rights work and assisting in the building of a Palestinian homeland.
She has taught courses on domestic violence, holocaust and genocide, social change and revolutions and writes in the areas of child abuse, wife battering, sexual assault, revolutions, anarchism, genocide and perpetrator behavior.
Office: (707) 664-2120
E-Mail: elaine.leeder@sonoma.edu.
DR. ANDY MERRIFIELD, Chair and Professor of Political Science, is available to comment on public opinion on foreign policy as it applies to peace, war, elections, civil liberties issues etc. He can comment on American foreign-policy making from the perspective of the presidency, congress, the bureaucracy, interest groups etc. and talk generally about the national institutions of government in the context of what is going on, in addition to media, interest groups etc. He can also discuss state, local and intergovernmental issues that arise during situations like those occuring in these times.
Office: (707) 664-3946
Home: (707) 526-7218
E-mail: andy.merrifield@sonoma.edu
DR. CATHERINE NELSON, Professor of Political Science, is available for comment on the various dimensions of public opinion as it has changed from the "dirty war" of Vietnam, to the "clean war" in the Gulf, to the "new kind of war" on terrorism.
She can also speak to the challenges to civil rights and liberties presented by requests from the Bush Administration for increased authority for surveillance and detention of individuals suspected of being involved in terrorist activity, and media coverage of events since September 11, especially how it has changed in reaction to the agenda of the Bush Administration. Dr. Nelson can also comment on changes in U.S. politics more generally since the terrorist attacks, as the dominant theme of unity emerges.
Dr. Nelson is Associate Professor of Political Science at Sonoma StateUniversity. She teaches American Government and Political Theory, with particular emphasis on race, gender, and rights issues, and Ethics in Public Administration. She has presented her research at regional andnational conferences, and given guest lecturers and media commentary in her areas of expertise.
Office: (707) 664-3963
E-mail: catherine.nelson@sonoma.edu
DR. WILLIAM POE, Professor of Archaeology, is available to speak to groups and provide background material for the media on Islam and on the relationship between religion and terrorism. "Arabic Language and Islamic Civilization" was one of the qualifying areas in Dr. Poe's Ph.D. in Mediterranean Studies from Brandeis University. He also has an M. Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary with a major in Old Testament.
He has conducted archaeological research at Hebron, in the occupied west bank, at Petra, Jordan, at Chavin de Huantar, Peru, at Ujuxte, Guatemala. His current research interests are in Belize. Within archaeology, his particular specialty is the application of GPS and GIS in the analysis of archaeological information.
Office: (707) 664-2580
E-mail: william.poe@sonoma.edu
KIRK TEMPLETON, President of the Sonoma State University Indian Cultural Club and Music and Dance Director of the SSU Middle Eastern Club, is available to speak to groups and the media on the historical background relating to Central Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East and cultural issues relating to the political and economic development of these areas in relationship to the West.
He is Director of Wind Mountain Institute, an educational and research organization focused on East/West cultural integration and economic development, especially in the field of Information Technology. He has been working with local Middle Eastern and Asian communities to increase communication and fellowship with the community at large. As a re-entry student at SSU, Templeton is doing research in quantum computing. He works part-time as a software engineer at a major telecommunications firm in Sonoma County. His background also includes banking and strategic consulting.
Office: (707) 665-8175
Home: (707) 874-2858
E-mail: kirk.templeton@alcatel.com
windmtn@sonic.net
DR. EILEEN THATCHER, Professor of Biology, is available for comment on various aspects relating to pathogenic organisms and viruses which may cause harm if used as agents of warfare or terrorism. She can address issues relating to the characteristics of the organisms and/or viruses; means of recognition; means of prevention and control; durability in the environment; and potential for causing damage in the population.
She teaches Microbiology, Bacteriology, Medical Microbiology, Virology, and Immunology. In addition, she consults in the biotechnology industry, particularly in areas relating to laboratory practices, and to assay and protocol design.
Office 707-664-2931
E-mail: thatcher@sonoma.edu
