African-American pioneers in Sonoma County and the history of white supremacy in California are topics to be covered in two lectures in February as part of Black History Month at Sonoma State University.
Tomas Almaguer will be speaking on "The Historical Origins of White Supremacy in California," from 5:15 to 6:45 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 11 at the Cooperage. He is the current Dean of the College of Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State University where he teaches selected courses in Raza Studies and the Ethnic Studies Masters Program. His research interests include race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality and American culture.
Almaguer is the author of the book "Racial Fault Lines: The Historical Origins of White Supremacy in California," and has written numerous journal articles on race relations. A noted scholar on gender and sexuality, his book "Border Men: Constructions of Gender and Sexuality among Chicano Gay Men" will be published by UC Press this year. His next book will look at race and nationality among Latinos in the U.S.
Morris Turner, a Sonoma County author who seeks to reveal the authentic, yet often never-written story of African American pioneers, will speak from 5:15 to 6:45 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 25 in the Cooperage. His book is titled "America's Black Towns and Settlements."
He is a graduate of and former lecturer in the department of American Multicultural Studies at Sonoma State University. He is also a member of the National Park Service, Underground Railroad Project, and has conducted research projects in Wyoming, Arizona, and California. He is currently creating a national map depicting the more than 200 communities he has researched.
Both authors will be available for book signings after the event.
The Sonoma Student Union InterCultural Center in cooperation with the departments of Social Sciences, and American Multicultural Studies and the Associated Students are sponsors of the Black History Month presentations which are part of the Spring 2002 Heritage Month Lecture Series.
Saturday, Feb. 9, marks the date of the 18th Annual Art from the Heart silent art auction and party at the University Art Gallery, Sonoma State University, from 6 to 9 p.m. Proceeds from the auction directly benefit the Art Gallery's exhibition, publication, and lecture programs. There will be a free preview of the artwork on Wednesday Feb. 6, 11a.m. - 8 p.m., and Thursday, Feb. 7 from 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. and Friday, Feb. 8 from 11 a.m. - 8 p.m.
"The auction is an exciting evening of art, music, food and fine wine that has become one of the oldest continually-held fundraising events in the area and a "must" for novice and seasoned collectors alike, says gallery manager Carla Stone. Art from the Heart features modestly priced works of art and other items, such as stays at local inns and hotels, theatre and museum tickets, and bottles of wine, that are sold during a silent auction. It's a wonderful way to have a good time, support the Gallery (and in turn, the careers of worthy artists), and go home with an original work of art, Stone recommends.
This year more than 150 artists from Sonoma County and across the United States have created original works of art especially for Art from the Heart, including Chester Arnold, Sally Baker, Mary Black, Aryan Chappell, Deborah Colotti, Lowell Darling, Robert Ellison, Wally Hedrick, Cynthia Hipkiss, Bob Hudson, David Ireland, Bruce Johnson, Tony King, Judith Linhares, Hung Liu, Monty Monty, Sylvia Seventy, Richard Shaw, Steven Sorman, M. Louise Stanley, Marg Starbuck, Jack Stuppin, John Watrous, William T. Wiley, and Sam Woolcott, among many others.
Delicious food and wine will be served, and a $10 donation is suggested at the door. For more information, call the University Art Gallery at (707) 664-2295.
Sonoma State University has received a $400,000 award from the prestigious W.M. Keck Foundation that will open new worlds of research on the molecular and atomic level for students, faculty, area junior colleges and high schools, and the local high tech community.
The funds will be used to equip a micro-analysis facility, to be known as the W.M. Keck Laboratory, that will allow students and faculty to delve into the world of microspace where new levels of detail and complexity in dinosaur fossils, soils, biological cells, parasites or electronic and optical materials can be analyzed.
The award was made specifically for the purchase of sophisticated image-analysis instruments that will enable hundreds of thousands of degrees of magnification of objects and materials used in the fields of physics, biology, geology, chemistry, anthropology and engineering science.
The Keck monies will be used to purchase a scanning electron microscope and a confocal microscope. Additional resources will be used to purchase an atomic microscope.
"The new micro-analysis laboratory at SSU will be very attractive to the North Bay high tech and biotechnology industry as well as researchers in the fields of marine biology, conservation biology and other environmentally-related research," said Saeid Rahimi, dean of the School of Science and Technology.
"This lab will help our graduate and undergraduate students become involved in projects with strong applicability to the high tech job market and graduate programs in their fields."
Rahimi also sees opportunities in the future for research projects with faculty from other educational institutions and researchers from private industries as well as increased opportunities for collaborative projects with local high tech industries, junior colleges, Technology High School and area K-12 schools.
Rahimi says the School of Science and Technology will design a course for SSU students to become familiar with the use and applications of these instruments which should be ready for use this fall. Moreover, the school will offer similar workshops and tours for the members of the local industries and the general public.
The 2,430 square foot Keck Laboratory is one of seven new laboratories to be housed in 15,000 sq. ft. of Salazar Hall, which is currently undergoing a $20.102 million renovation. Others laboratories include Photonics, Electronics, Wireless Broadband Communications, Networking, Computer Science, and Lightwave Commnications.
The W. M. Keck Foundation, one of the nation's largest philanthropic organizations, was established in 1954 in Los Angeles by the late William Myron Keck, founder of The Superior Oil Company. The Foundation recognizes the importance of undergraduate instruction and seeks to enrich research and teaching through the support of equipment, fellowships, and basic research projects at the frontiers of science and engineering. Awards are also made to support exceptional undergraduate projects in all of the liberal arts.
SSU president Dr. Ruben Arminana says the university is very honored to receive the award and that it will allow students and faculty a chance to open their imaginations to new avenues of research never possible on campus before. "We are very excited about how this equipment will link the campus with the community to enhance the educational experience at the university."
For more information contact Dr. Saeid Rahimi, Dean of School of Science and Technology, (707) 664-2129.
David Bromige never planned on being a poet.
But, after 40 years and 30 books, he's come to accept the idea. Now the retired SSU professor will be honored as Sonoma County's Poet Laureate at a reception in his honor at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 1 at the Sonoma County Public Library in Santa Rosa.
"I've been writing poetry for over 40 years, with increasing dedication," said Bromige, "At first, you know, I thought all I wanted was to see if I could write a poem -- fool someone into believing it was poem, even if only myself. (Un) fortunately, one of my first attempts was published and awarded a prize. Soon I was hooked"
The ceremony will include readings by Bromige as well as Sonoma County's first Poet Laureate, Don Emblen. The event is free and open to the public.
Bromige, a resident of Sonoma County for over 30 years, has been publishing his poetry since the early 1960's. After earning his graduate degrees in English at UC Berkeley and teaching at various other universities, he began commuting to teach at Sonoma State. Finally he moved to Sonoma County. From 1970 to 1993, he taught some 2,000 students at SSU, and over 50 of them have gone on to publish books of their own.
Bromige has been honored with numerous awards, including the Pushcart Prize for Poetry (1980), the NEA Discovery Award in Poetry (1969), and The Gertrude Stein Award in Innovative Writing (1994 & 1997). He was named Poet Laureate of all University of California campuses (1965) and in 1994 was awarded the Sonoma County "Living Treasure" Award.
He says he is proud to be a "living treasure" of Sonoma County. But he says comically, "I keep praying not to be a buried treasure for a couple years yet."
Curently, he lives in Sebastopol with his wife Cecelia Belle and daughter Margaret, a high school sophomore. His son, Chris, teaches high school in Vancouver, BC.
The reception is being hosted by the Literary Arts Guild, the Sonoma County Public Library, and the Sebastopol Center for the Arts.
For more information, call the Literary Arts Guild at (707) 544-5913.
"Energy and the Environment: Vision and Solutions" is the theme of the first lecture series to be held in the Environmental Technology Center at Sonoma State University. The series will run from 4-6 p.m. on Wednesdays from January 30 - May 8 in the new facility.
Speakers have been chosen "to inspire and inform about how building design and the production and use of energy can lead us into a sustainable future for our society," says Dr. Alexandra von Meier, director of the ETC.
The public is welcome to attend any of the lectures. The series is an SSU course in the Department of Environmental Studies and Planning (ENSP #444) open to all SSU students, faculty, staff, and to the general public as well.
The complete schedule for the spring semester is:
January 30 - " The 9/11 Wake-up Call: Time for a Real Energy Policy," Daniel Kammen Professor, Energy & Society and Director, Renewable and Appropriate Energy Lab - UC Berkeley
February 6 - "Solar Solutions: Creating a Sustainable Society," Steve Heckeroth, Ecological Designer - Homestead Enterprises
February 20 - "Economics of Climate Change Mitigation," Jon Koomey, Staff Scientist and Group Leader - Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory
February 27 - "IDEC Cooling, the 75 % Solution: Optimum Efficiency Strategies," Keith Marchando, Project Engineering Coordinator - Sonoma State University and Mike Scofield, President ? Conservation Mechanical Systems
March 6 - "Cutting-edge Energy Efficient Lighting," Michael Siminovitch, Staff Scientist - Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory
March 13 - "Government Policy for an Energy-Wise Society," V. John White, Executive Director - Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies
March 20 - "Fuel Cells and a Renewable Energy Future," Peter Lehman, Director - Schatz Energy Research Center and Professor Environmental Resources Engineering - Humboldt State University
April 10 - "Award-Winning Green Buildings," Wesley Sullens, Green Building Analyst - XENERGY, Inc
April 17 - "Managing a Green Building Project: Success and Challenges," Mark Rydell, Project Manager - McCarthy Building Companies
April 24 - "Geothermal, the OTHER Renewable," Lyle LaFavor, Public Tours Coordinator - Cal Pine Energy Company
May 1 - "Earth Construction Technologies: Modern Applications," DAVID EASTON, Owner and Ecological Designer ? Rammed Earth Works
May 8 - "Renewable Energy Transition," Don Aitken, Energy Researcher and Consultant
To register or for additional information, phone Armando Navarro, Environmental Technology Center, (707) 664-2577 or email armando.navarro@sonoma.edu.
Dr. Caroline Myss, the best-selling author of "Anatomy of the Spirit" will present her long-awaited teaching on "Sacred Contracts : Awakening Your Divine Potential" at 7 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 25 at the Evert B. Person Theatre on the Sonoma State University campus.
The event is a benefit for the Green Music Center and is being organized by Copperfields Books.
Myss has been described as "the hottest ticket on the New Age circuit" and is currently making a national book tour. She is a pioneer in the field of energy medicine and human consciousness. She holds degrees in journalism, theology, and intuition and energy medicine.
Over the past decade, her work with Norman Shealy, M.D., a Harvard-trained neurosurgeon and founder of the American Holistic Medical Association, has helped define how stress and emotion contribute to the formation of disease. She is the co-author, with Dr. Shealy, of "The Creation of Health" and author of "Why People Don't Heal and How They Can."
Tickets are $12 in advance, $15 at the door and are available at all Copperfield's Books or free with the purchase of Sacred Contracts at Copperfield's. For further information, call (707) 823-8991, ext. 15 or 22.
Sonoma State University wants to encourage new business development in the North Bay region with its recently established Entrepreneurship Center, aimed to help aspiring businesspersons and students.
"The SSU Entrepreneurship Center will be a place to nurture and mentor start-ups as well as to help high growth businesses avoid burn-out," says the Director, Armand Gilinsky, Ph.D., and also an associate professor at the university.
"This is a community outreach program that will extend well beyond the university," he explains. Programs include monthly breakfast briefings for small and family-owned businesses, a four-day Entrepreneur Training Course, and an Entrepreneurship Award Dinner.
The monthly Breakfast Briefings series will begin Friday, Jan. 25, 8:30-10 a.m., at the Jean and Charles Schulz Information Center on campus.
"This will be an excellent opportunity for local business leaders to learn about current trends in the market while also establishing valuable networking opportunities," says Dr. Gilinsky.
The first seminar, "Managing In Tough Times," will be presented by Claire Calderon, Robert Dellenbach and Jean Hackenburg of the Telecom Valley Alliance. The speakers will focus on how companies should recognize changes that affect their businesses before they become catastrophic. Registration costs are $25 per person and can be reserved through the Center, or in person on the day of the seminar
The four-day residential Entrepreneurial Excellence Course is planned for November at Sonoma State University. Participants will be entrepreneurs seeking to "fine-tune their business plans" and take their companies to the next level.
Participants will leave with a full appreciation of effective business planning as well as a network of valuable contacts. Two of the evening programs will include "Angel" meetings in which the participants are going to watch businesses present their plans to the North Bay Angels, a Capital Investment group, and a panel comprising ventures that received funds and their funders.
"The course is conceived as applied entrepreneurship--students will learn by doing," says Gilinsky. "Instructors will be a blend of leading business school faculty from around the nation and successful entrepreneurs from our region."
On June 20, the Center will hold the North Bay Lifetime Entrepreneur (NOBLE) Award ceremony to celebrate the success of our local entrepreneurs. In the coming years, the Center will create a business incubator to service students and alumni by providing shared access to office space, technology infastructure, service providers and mentors
The Entrepreneurship Center's initial advisory board consists of local entrepreneurs and business leaders who will meet four times a year.
Board members include: Cathy Cook, an independent public relations consultant, Russ Kennedy of the North Bay Angels, Lisa Mahaney of Silicon Valley Bank, Lynda Sadler of Traditional Medicinals, Tux Tuxhorn of Tuxhorn and Company, and David Whitney of GrowthTech Partners.
The Exchange Bank has agreed to sponsor the Entrepreneurship Center. Other sponsors will be named soon.
For more information about the Center's programs, call (707) 664-2387.
Sonoma State University's new Entrepreneurship Center will present, "Managing in Tough Times," at its first Small and Family-Owned Business Breakfast Briefing Series on Friday, Jan. 25, 8:30-10 a.m., in room 1121 of the Jean and Charles Schulz Information Center on the university campus in Rohnert Park.
The seminar will focus on things businesses should do to recognize changes which adversely affect their business before they become catastrophic, says Center director Armand Gilinsky. The presentation will include ideas for dealing with the difficulties businesses often encounter in tough economic times.
"The Entrepreneurship Center's Breakfast Briefing series fills a need for small and family-owned businesses to solve cutting-edge problems," Gilinsky says.
The three presenters, Claire Calderon, Robert Dellenbach and Jean Hackenburg of the Telecom Valley Alliance, will cover a range of topics including recognizing the first signs of trouble, when and how to make difficult decisions regarding management changes or layoffs, and the legal obligations of management.
Business owners and students will receive information on how to save a failing business and prevent bankruptcy as well as how to stay out of trouble in the future.
On Feb. 22, the second Business Breakfast Briefing, will focus on "Legal Issues For Small and Family-Owned Businesses," and will be presented by Jeremy Olsan and Robert Rutherfurd of the law firm, Anderson, Zeigler, Disharoon, Gallagher & Gray.
On March 22, John Fruin, CFO of the internet provider Accerra and also principal in the Hanson Financial Group, will present, "Using Financial Statements."
Seminar fees are $25 per person and can be paid in advance to: Sonoma State University Entrepreneurship Center, School of Business, 1801 E. Cotati Ave. Rohnert Park, CA 94928, or at the door.
For reservations or questions, call the Entrepreneurship Center at (707) 664-2387.
Herbert Kroemer, who shared the 2000 Nobel prize in physics "for developing semiconductor heterostructures used in high-speed- and opto-electronics" is among a dozen scientists who will present free public lectures in Sonoma State University's popular "What Physicists Do" series this spring.
Margaret Murnane, who won a $500,000 MacArthur Fellowship for her work with ultrafast lasers, will also describe her work to SSU's students and faculty and guests from the community. Murnane, a professor at the University of Colorado, will speak April 9.
Lectures will be on Mondays at 4 p.m., from Feb. 4 through May 6, except Feb. 18 and April 1, in room 108 Darwin Hall on the SSU campus.
Kroemer will present a version of the lecture he gave in Stockholm a year ago, subtitled "Teaching Electrons New Tricks," on March 4. He was scheduled to give this talk last September but was stranded in Korea when the planes stopped flying due to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington.
Other speakers include Thomas Jarrett of JPL, who is coming from Pasadena to describe a massive survey of the universe in infrared light, and Wallace Tucker, coauthor of a recent book on the Chandra X-ray Observatory, who will speak on black holes and what has been learned about them with Chandra.
Denise Krol of the Lawrence Livermore National Lab will speak on glass and its novel applications in photonics, while J. Campbell Scott of IBM will describe organic light emitting diodes for flat panel displays.
Joe Jordan of NASA Ames Research Center will describe atmospheric wonders in the sky, and retired UCLA physicist Marvin Chester will speak on Physics as Symmetry.
SSU student Allan Baker will describe the adventures he had spending a winter at the South Pole, where he worked on a number of physics and astronomy experiments.
The series will open Feb. 4 with Lawrence Berkeley National Lab physicist Kevin Lesko describing the exciting results of the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory's observations of neutrinos from the sun. The Canadian observatory, which operates more than a mile below the ground, uses 10,000 photomultiplier tubes inserted in a stainless steel frame built in Petaluma to detect the elusive particles.
SSU professor Joe Tenn, who is directing the series, expresses his gratitude to the donors who have made it possible to bring such distinguished speakers to SSU for the privately-funded series.
For a free poster describing all twelve lectures, see http://phys-astro.sonoma.edu/wpd/, send e-mail to gayle.walker@sonoma.edu, or call (707) 664-2119.
The Environmental Technology Center at Sonoma State University is hosting a "Funding Green Buildings: Sources and Strategies" workshop on Tuesday, Jan. 22, from noon to 5 p.m. at the center.
The workshop provides a 10-step "roadmap" for optimizing green building related financing, capital campaigns and grant writing strategies. The presenter, Jan McAdams, uses case histories to describe creative approaches to the financing and fundraising process.
In addition to "funding readiness strategies" McAdams will explain the "Energywise 100: The 100 Major Public and Private Sources for Grants and Donations for Sustainable & PV Commercial Design Applications."
The workshop registration fee of $245 per person (a $195/person early bird registration fee is available until Jan. 15, 2002) includes a copy of the 150-page course manual, "The Energywi$e Construction Funding Directory for Green Buildings - 2002 Edition."
This annotated directory of public and private resources for sustainable commercial green design and building-integrated PV is considered the most comprehensive resource available on the subject.
For additional information, contact: Armando Navarro, (707) 664-2577 or
email: armando.navarro@sonoma.edu.
McAdams can be reached at (702) 456-5827 or email: janmcadams@aol.com, Her website is www.fundinggreenbuildings.com.
Conductor, pianist and educator Jeffrey Kahane has agreed to a long-term contract as Artistic Director of Sonoma State University's summer-time Green Music Festival through 2004. Kahane was appointed the first Artistic Director of the Festival in 2001 by university president Ruben Arminana. The new agreement extends Kahane's role for the next three seasons.
In 2001, the Festival enjoyed a successful second season under Kahane, attracting more than 8,500 people. That figure almost doubled the attendance of the inaugural season in 2000 which attracted more than 4,800 people to the outdoor Festival site by the lakes on the SSU campus.
Planning for the third season of the Festival in the summer of 2002 is almost complete and is expected to add both chamber music concerts and the visual arts to the offerings over a four-week period from July 4 to August 4, 2002. For the third season, the festival's name has been changed to the Green Music Festival.
Arminana said he was "very pleased that Jeffrey will continue to bring his substantial talents, creativity, passion for education and experience with other top-notch summer festivals to the task of building the Green Music Festival into a major arts festival."
Kahane said he was "deeply honored and thrilled by this appointment. It is a long-standing dream come true to be given the opportunity to help create and nurture a major arts festival that will bring some of the world's most distinguished artists and ensembles to the North Bay."
Kahane said he is particularly interested in providing a broad range of educational experiences for artists, students and audience members spanning the widest possible spectrum of ages and backgrounds.
Under his leadership last summer, the Festival offered an expanded program over four weeks of three outdoor concerts featuring both symphonic music and jazz, a Youth Festival Weekend with performances by students in the Festival's educational programs, and a lecture series on Jack London.
The Green Music Festival is the summer music and arts festival slated to move to its permanent home, the Donald & Maureen Green Music Center on the SSU campus, when the Center is completed.
The goals of the festival are to blend world-class performances with educational opportunities for people of all ages and backgrounds, and to become one of the major arts festivals in the United States.
The festival is supported by more than 40 businesses, foundations and individuals.
William Hambrecht, the legendary investment banker who brought the world Apple Computer, Genentech, and the OpenIPO, is slated to be the keynote speaker at Sonoma State University's 2002 Economic Outlook Conference on Thursday, Feb. 7 at the Doubletree Hotel in Rohnert Park.
The theme of this annual event this year is "North Bay Economy: Positioning for Recovery" and will include presentations by panels of local industry leaders in technology, finance, investment, government, construction, real estate/, wine and tourism, health care.
" The last ten months have presented rapid changes to the U.S. economy and will have significant ramifications for all segments of the North Bay economy," says Dr. Ahmad Hosseini, dean of the School of Business and Economics which sponsors the conference every year.
Hambrecht is best known as the co-founder of the firm Hambrecht & Quist, whose West Coast style investment banking helped launch some of Silicon Valley's greatest success stories. In 1997, he decided to start a new firm WR Hambrecht + Co. that uses the Internet to create an open system for all investors -- from individual consumers to the largest institutional investors -- so that all have equal opportunities to make bids for IPO stocks, His remarks will begin at 12:30 p.m.
Professor Robert Eyler , director of the university's Center for Regional Economic Analysis, will discuss his North Bay regional economic indicators, forecasts and trends at 8:45 a.m.
The Technology/Finance and Investment/Government panels will feature: John Schofield, CEO, Advance Fiber Communications; Walt Spevack, Senior Director of Community Relations, Autodesk ; Massey Bambera, Senior Vice President, Bank of America; and Herb Dwight, retired CEO of OCLI and now the North Bay Angels.
Panels on Construction/Real Estate/ Wine and Tourism/Health Care will feature: Matt White, President, Basin Street Properties; Keith Christopherson, President, Christopherson Homes Inc.; John A. DeLuca, President and CEO, Wine Institute; and Sheila Romero, Executive Director, Sonoma County Tourism.
The conference will begin at 8 a.m. Registration is $100 person. For information, contact the SSU School of Business and Economics at (707) 664-2260.
