Emmy award winning journalist and investigative reporter Lowell Bergman will be speaking in a free lecture at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov, 19 at at the Student Union in the Multi Purpose Room.
Bergman will be discussing the current situation in Iraq as well as corporate America?s role in shaping social and foreign policy. Bergman?s career has included investigative documentaries for CBS? 60 Minutes and PBS? Frontline, but he is most widely recognized for his major role in uncovering scandals in the tobacco industry.
Currently, Bergman is working as a writer for The New York Times and has started a non-profit fund at the San Francisco Center for Investigative Reporting to support students and freelancers involved in investigative reporting. He is also a guest lecturer at UC Berkeley.
His appearance is sponsored by Associated Student Productions, Project Censored and the Student Union. For more information, call (707) 664-2382.
The Sonoma Student Union InterCultural Center (ICC) hosts an exhibit entitled "Faces of Collateral Damage: Afghan Victims of US Bombings" from Nov. 8-Dec.13. The photographs were collected by Medea Benjamin of the Global Exchange which has sponsored several tours to Afghanistan., Tthe last tour was in June, 2002. An opening reception will be held from 4:30-6 p.m. onThursday, Nov. 14 in the gallery.
Global Exchange is a San Francisco based organization committed to building people to people ties across the globe.
The delegation sponsored by this international human rights organization sought to promote understanding and tolerance between Afghans and Americans.
One goal was to identify ways that faith communities can support humanitarian projects in Kabul, including the rebuilding of schools, clinics or mosques destroyed during the U.S.-led military campaign in Afghanistan.
The InterCultural Center is located in the Sonoma Student Union and is open Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. and on Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
For further information, contact Darius Spearman, InterCultural Center Coordinator, (707) 664-2710.
The University Library at Sonoma State University is heralding the gift of an extensive personal collection of bird books by world-renowned ornithologist Charles Sibley, with a lecture series, an art exhibition and displays from Nov. 4 - Jan. 17.
Charles Sibley was considered one of the leading ornithologists of the 20th century, renowned for his pioneering research in such areas as systematics, taxonomy and hybridization.
After a rich academic career of teaching and research, which spanned over five decades, Sibley moved to Santa Rosa in 1993, and became an adjunct faculty member in the biology department at Sonoma State University. He died in Santa Rosa in April, 1998.
The Sibley Collection, donated by Sibley and his family over a period of years from 1993 through 2001, is a unique collection of more than 900 items containing a wealth of information about and images of birds, including a wide array of field guides, volumes of ornithological research, and numerous handsomely illustrated studies of various types of birds.
"The Sibley collection is a rare treasure containing works with a global perspective, historical significance, and artistic value, said Bernie Goldstein, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.
"It is wonderful for the library to have this collection. It will be of great use for many people."
The quality of the illustrations and plates in some of the books are comparable to renowned naturalist John J. Audubon?s renderings. The images range from line drawings and sketches to elaborate paintings of skeletons, nests, complete bird bodies, and, in some cases even fauna.
The collection includes a wide range of field guides - some focus on bird-life from around the world while others concentrate of a very specific region.
Many of these guides, which aid birders and researchers in identification while in the field or assist in the study of a bird population of a specific area, are extraordinary and priceless.
While a small portion of the collection is still being processed for circulation, the library anticipates that the entire collection will be completed by June 2003.
TAKING FLIGHT: INSPIRATION FROM BIRDS
The University Library is honoring the gift of this collection with a program of art and lectures called "Taking Flight: Inspiration from Birds."
Beginning in November, many of Sibley?s books will be on display throughout the building and a series of lectures will be held.
Noted local members of the Sonoma County birding community such as Peter Leveque, Mike Parmeter, Betty Burridge, and Diane Hichwa, will lead presentations on a variety of topics including a session with live birds from the Sonoma County Bird Rescue.
In addition, paleontologist Nick Geist will examine the controversial question - did birds evolve from dinosaurs? Biology professor Derek Girman will put Charles Sibley?s research into perspective as he relays information on his own current studies of birds.
The series will end with an "armchair" bird walk exploring the best places in the county for bird watching ? just in time for the annual Sonoma County Christmas Bird Count.
On Nov. 4, the University Library Art Gallery will open an exhibition titled: "Transcending Envy, Awe, and Loathing (The Bird Show)." The exhibition, curated by ceramics professor, Gregory Roberts, will display the works of three contemporary artists, who use birds as a symbol for examining man?s relationship with the natural world.
The exhibition will run through Jan. 17, 2003.
For specific lecture dates and times, or more information, visit the University Library website at http://libweb.sonoma.edu/ or contact Karen Brodsky at (707) 664-4240.
PHOTO CAPTION: Nocturnal Curassow, portrait by Albert Earl Gilbert from "Curassows and Related Birds" by Jean Delacour and Dean Amadon. This book is one of 900 donated by Charles Sibley to the Sonoma State University Library.
The University Art Gallery at Sonoma State University is pleased to announce the upcoming exhibition Wood: Six Artists/One Medium, which opens with a reception for the artists on Thursday, Nov. 7 from 4 - 6 p.m., and runs through Sunday, Dec. 15.
The exhibition features the work of Kyoung Ae Cho, Jeff King, Dennis Leon, Alvin Light, Bernie Lubell, and Walter Robinson,
The artists in Wood: Six Artists/One Medium share not only the same medium, but a reverence and respect for the material with which they work. Like other 20th century sculptors before them, they were attracted to wood in part because of its physical and expressive qualities.
Each artist devoted a considerable amount of time developing a relationship with wood. In turn, each artist, in his or her own way, pushed its potential in unique directions.
Kyoung Ae Cho's work is a celebration of nature. She gathers natural materials in a spiritual, ceremonial manner. In an empathetic way, Cho intervenes with the materials, quietly transforming them. Her grid-like, formal work makes us aware of the transformations a tree goes through on its way from the forest to the mill to the lumberyard, and ultimately to an object formed by human hands. Cho's sculpture speaks of change, time, essence, and rebirth.
Jeff King also shares this quiet respect for and observation of nature. He goes right to the source, taking logs and filleting them like MRI slices, then reconstructing them into formal, altered shapes. Although his work is heavily process oriented, he generously allows the material to choose it's own voice.
The work of Dennis Leon (1933 - 1998) is also quite labor intensive. Leon was always drawn to nature and the landscape of the Bay Area and early in his career created site-specific works in the East Bay hills. His monolithic accretions of plywood allude to natural forms and confront the viewer viscerally like the geological formations they resemble.
Combining consummate craftsmanship with an innate sense of balance and composition, Alvin Light (1931 - 1980) skillfully captured in wood the sense of gesture, movement, and spontaneous invention expressed on canvas by such Bay Area Abstract Expressionist painters as Jack Jefferson, Frank Lobdell, and Clyfford Still. His funky yet graceful constructions show all of the evidence and sensual pleasure of their creation. They are like long, daring, well resolved jazz solos.
Bernie Lubell constructs complex kinetic contraptions whose absurdfunctions poetically refer to the repetitive futility and inevitable failure of toiling humankind and the human body. He could have chosen other materials, but his choice of wood makes the work look as if it was whittled in shop class by Leonardo daVinci and Rube Goldberg.
Walter Robinson is an old-fashioned object maker. His use of the material can be highly crafted or deliberately crude and borrows from the historical traditions of woodworking: furniture makers, boat builders, and folk whittlers. His objects or systems of objects can be representational or more vaguely referential and open to interpretation. They are often goofy and absurd and present an uncomfortable, indecipherable conundrum.
Gallery hours are Tuesday-Friday, 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and weekends, noon to 4 p.m. The gallery is closed Mondays and holidays. Admission to the gallery is free.
For more information or press photos, please call (707) 664-2295.
PHOTO CAPTION: "Flagellon" by Walter Robinson. Douglar Fir (48" x80" x 70")
The last indigenous peoples of Chile, warriors turned peace activists, and resistance in the face of repression are some of the themes presented when the Latino Film Festival arrives at Sonoma State University campus on Nov. 1 and 2.
The screenings take place both on Friday and Saturday evenings in Stevenson 1002 at 7 p.m. Admission is $5. Refreshments will be available.
The schedule is:
7 P.M., FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 1, STEVENSON 1002.
(Anthropology Program devoted to ethnography and life narratives.)
Viva Mi Tierra Caliente, The Music of Juan Reynoso (65 minutes) - Juan Reynoso is the last and perhaps the greatest of the traditional "calentano" violin virtuosos in the states of Guerrero and Michoacan in Mexico. Playing in the bandstand of Cutzamal, talking in his home among his large family, meeting at the workshop of a master violin maker in Mexco City and at the National School of Music, Don Juan is joined by the American violinists Paul Anastasio and David Tobin.
Algo Familiar, Something Familiar (26 min.) - An extended family in Guadalajara, Mexico opens its courtyard to the camera, revealing the warm and varied human relationships that make up their large household. Awarded the Best Mexican Film at the International Film School Festival and Third Prize at the National Short Film Festival, Cuadro 2002.
La Ultima Hella - The Yagan people once inhabited one of the worlds most inhospitable regions on the southernmost tip of America. Today, their numbers have dwindled to just two direct descendents, Ursula and Cristina Calderon. Paola Castillo went in search of the remaining traces of the Yagan, documenting the lives of these two old women and describes in poetic manner the culture of one of Chile’s last indigenous peoples.
7 P.M., SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2, SATURDAY, STEVENSON 1002
(Human Rights Program)
The New Patriots - A Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, a woman West Point graduate and three other U.S. military veterans focus on training in terrorism, patriotism and their transformation from warriors to peace activists. The veterans describe the training of Latin American soldiers in counter-insurgency techniques, often directed at civilians, at the U.S. Army School of the Americans located at Ft. Benning, Georgia, now called the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation.
Sol de Noche - A beautifully produced documentary, both chilling and inspiring, about vicious repression and heroic resistance. The Ledesma refinery in Jujuy Province, Argentina is the world’s largest sugar refinery. Its bosses control the town and the entire province, tolerating no opposition, and using their own goon-cops to "disappear" any one whose views they suspect. Luis Aredez, an altruistic doctor and radical, beloved by the common people, disappears during the "Blackout of Horror," when Ledesma cuts off electricity. In that darkness some 300 persons vanish. Luis’ widow and her family carry on the voice of protest having somehow survived the regime of the Argentine military.
Casita (59 minutes) - "Seven years ago I made a video for UNICEF on street girls living in Managua, Nicaragua. Interested in them as people, in their stories and choices, I have followed their lives as they have made their way towards adulthood. My motivation is a certain acknowledgement and admiration for their courage. I admire the steadfastness with which they pursue love—as mothers, daughters, or lovers. I find a deep hope in that despite the cruelty of their childhood, they pursue love, with relentless perseverance and conviction." (Ana Coyne Alonso, Director)
For further information, phone Tom Rosin, Professor of Anthropology, (707) 664-3963
PHOTO CAPTION ABOVE: Scene from "The New Patriots"
Conducting business with people from different cultures can often be tricky. Different gestures, eye contact, and posture mean different things depending on where you're from.
The international students enrolled in the English for Business class offered at Sonoma State's American Language Institute (SSALI) are learning for example that while giving a presentation with your hands behind your back is a sign of respect in Japan, in the United States it is viewed as the "prisoner stance."
"The students get an overview of how American and international business is conducted," says Vicki Avila, the instructor for the class who has a 15-year background in business.
"Often students take this class to prepare themselves for taking business classes at Sonoma State; many of them have taken business classes in their home countries but need to learn the English terminology."
In addition to learning about business culture, students explore actual business practices by writing a business plan for a company. In the past, some of the entrepreneurial aspirations have included designing, marketing, and selling of T-shirts, hats, and calendars.
The English for Business class is not restricted to only the students enrolled in SSALI but is open for the members of the community. English for Business is offered usually every fall semester, and includes three hours of instruction per week for 13 weeks.
The cost for 1-5 hours of instruction per week at SSALI is $52. "Business classes are valuable for anyone," Avila says. "They are a good basis for any profession."
SSALI has offered specialized English as a second language classes geared towards the business community in the past, and might offer them again if there were more interest from the businesses around the area.
Some of these classes have included accent reduction and business writing. SSALI is planning to offer a medical English course targeted especially to non-native English speakers who are working in hospitals.
For more information, contact SSALI at (707) 664-2742 or log on to their website at www.sonoma.edu/exed/ssali
The InterCultural Center (ICC) will host an exhibit entitled "415 Years of Filipino Footsteps in America" in the ICC Gallery in the Sonoma Student Union at Sonoma State University from Oct. 4-Nov. 1. The opening reception will be held on Monday, Oct. 14 in the ICC Gallery from 4:30-6 p.m.
The exhibition of paintings collected and cataloged by Mel Orpilla of Vallejo, includes original works from well-known Filipino artists. Whatever their reasons for coming to America, Filipinos have played an important yet unknown role in the history and culture of the United States. This exhibit will highlight some of those contributions. Through text, photographs and art, 415 years of Filipino presence in America will be told.
On October 18, 1587, the first Filipinos set foot in America in Morro Bay, CA. These Luzones Indios were members of a Spanish exploration team. Since that time, Filipinos have been arriving at our shores as laborers, seamen, sailors, students, professionals, and families and as WWII veterans.
Orpilla was born and raised in Vallejo. He is currently the Director of Youth Strategies for the City of Vallejo's Fighting Back Partnership. He is also the Executive Director of Filipino American Social Services. Orpilla is a regular columnist for the Times-Herald writing about the Filipino and multicultural experiences in Vallejo and America. He has been on the various boards and city commissions. Orpilla has been involved with mentoring, youth development, and youth prevention programs since 1989. He has earned degrees in Journalism and Ethnic Studies. Orpilla has been a collector of Filipino Americana for over ten years and lectures at various colleges and universities on the Filipino Experience.
The other featured artist includes Ro. Ro is an emerging artist with a background in scientific research and a degree in veterinary medicine. She is one of the members of that rare breed whose left-brain and right brain functions interdigitate effortlessly. "I love the sciences but art is my passion!" A prolific and versatile artist, this year she has exhibited in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. Her paintings are owned by patrons in America, Canada, Europe and Asia. She is an active board member of the Vallejo Artists' Guild and Arts Benicia. A self-confessed "computer geek", Ro also does computer graphic arts, designs web pages, slide presentations, large format posters, corporate logos and corporate identity packages.
The InterCultural Center is located in the Sonoma Student Union and is open Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. and on Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Are we born to fight? How do you make peace in a post 9-11 world?
These kinds of questions get asked at the War and Peace lecture series at Sonoma State University, which has seen doubled enrollment in the class and triple the audience size since Sept. 11, 2001. Many more visitors are now coming from the community to the Tuesday afternoon lectures.
"9/11 turned people's minds around. We had been a pretty complacent society up to that point," says mathematics professor Rick Luttmann, host of the 17-year-old lecture series which is used to much smaller audiences each semester in Darwin Hall.
One of the upcoming topics includes the Middle-East conflict, which is addressed on Nov. 12 when Therese Mughannam lectures on "The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Personal Reflections."
Mughannam is of Palestinian descent and a peace activist trying to bridge the gap between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
The War and Peace lectures take place on Tuesdays from 4 to 5:15 p.m. in Darwin 108. They are free and open to the public.
The schedule of upcoming lectures include:
Oct. 15-Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Weapons
(Carmen Works, Professor of Chemistry, SSU)
Oct. 22-The United Nations
(Urs Cipolat, Peace Studies, Berkeley)
Oct. 29-Nation Building and Military Civic Action: A Critical View
(Richard Sutter, International Programs, SSU)
Nov. 5-Are We Born To Fight?
(Rick Luttmann, Professor of Mathematics, SSU, and Chuna McIntyre, Yup'ik Eskimo Cultural Ambassador)
Nov. 12-The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Personal Reflections
(Therese Mughannam, Santa Rosa activist)
Nov. 19 -The US in Latin America: From Cold War to NAFTA and Neo-liberalism
(Tony White, Professor of History, SSU)
Nov. 26-War and the Arts: German and English Images of WWI
(Philip Beard, Professor of Modern Languages) and War and Peace Theme in Music (Rick Luttmann)
Dec. 3-Citizen Activism: Doing What You Must
(Sunil Sharma, SSU alumnus and activist)
Dec. 10-Making Peace in a Post-9/11 World
(Medea Benjamin, co-founding Director of Global Exchange, San Francisco)
For more information, contact Dr. Rick Luttmann at (707) 664-2543 or rick.luttmann@sonoma.edu.
The remodel of Salazar Hall at Sonoma State University has made the former university library one of the most energy efficient public buildings in northern California with one of the largest solar panel grids in the region.
On Oct. 9, Beverly Alexander, Vice President of Rates and Account Services for PG&E will present a $106,279 check to Ruben Arminana, president of Sonoma State University, for its participation in the utility's "Savings by Design" energy-efficiency program for the Salazar project.
The $20 million dollar remodeling project features a unique system of low-energy cooling, lighting control, high-efficiency glazing, and photo-voltaics in a building that now includes a denser occupancy of
offices, classrooms and high-tech laboratories than its original use.
This has resulted in a building that uses 42% less energy than required by the State's Title 24 Building Standards. Such energy savings is enough to power 80 residences.
The University has contracted with Powerlight Inc to install a 1200-module solar panel network on the roof of the building made up of 4-foot by 4-foot squares that will provide five per cent of the power needs of the campus including the operation of Salazar.
The University plans to use the energy-efficiency payment for this building as a down payment for this 96 kilowatt photo-voltaic system and PG&E will provide a $340,000 incentive for the solar system.
"There is not an installation quite like this," says Keith Marchando, campus design engineer for the project, "where all of these forms of energy conservation come together at this magnitude."
Bruce Walker, Sr Director - Planning and Construction, says the project will pay back the investment in the mechanical equipment in five years or less of energy savings.
The project has sparked the interest of the Lawrence Livermore Lab in Berkeley who will spend a year beginning in January 2003 studying the performance of the building with its innovative mix of low energy cooling, day lighting schemes and solar panel array.
"I'm very pleased to present this check to the university," said Beverly Alexander, PG&E's V.P. of Rates and Account Services. "It represents the kind of forward thinking that will result in many more successes for SSU. We are pleased to have the kind of business partnership that helps foster these results."
Since 1991, the University has received over $450,000 in energy-efficiency incentives from PG&E and has approval for another $466,000 for projects that are in the planning stages.
In recognition of their outstanding professional achievements and personal contributions to their community, four SSU alumni have been selected to receive Sonoma State University Alumni Association's 2002 Distinguished Alumni Award.
This year's Distinguished Alumni are:
LORNA CATFORD, M.A. Psychology, 1975, has been a teacher, counselor, clinical supervisor and mentor. During her years at Stanford University, Catford was awarded the prestigious Dean's Award for Service to Stanford University. Since 1985, she has lectured on Personal Creativity in Business at Stanford's Graduate School of Business. She joined the faculty of SSU in 1988 to teach several subjects including Transpersonal Psychology,
Creativity in Organizational Management and Human Development. In 1991, she co-wrote "The Path of the Everyday Hero: Drawing on the Power of Myth to Meet Life's Most Important Challenges," and received national recognition for this work. Catford and her husband founded the Special Parents Project to provide support to local families of children with serious special needs.
DOUGLAS A. POWELL, M.A. English, 1993, B.A. English, 1991 is described by his colleagues as an "inventive and masterful poet," and has become a significant figure on the regional and national poetry scene. In 2002, he was nominated for the Pushcart Prize and won the Boston Review Annual Poetry Award and Prairie Schooner Larry Levis Poetry Prize in 2001. At present he is a Briggs-Copeland Lecturer in Poetry at Harvard University and has lectured at San Francisco State University, University of Iowa, and Sonoma State University. He has published numerous works including two books entitled "Lunch" and "Tea." As a community volunteer, he reads and gives talks at schools and community organizations across the country.
ROBERTO M. RAMIREZ, B.S. Physics, 1971, is a Windsor High School mathematics and physics teacher and was recently described as "?he perfect role model." Since he began his teaching career in 1973 at Healdsburg High School, his alma mater, he has inspired countless students to pursue careers in science, math and engineering. In the past 12 years, he has received numerous awards including the 2002 Carlston Family Foundation Teacher of the Year Award, 1994 California Human Development Corporation's Outstanding Individual Award, and the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Sonoma County Award for Distinguished Community Service and Exemplary Leadership in the Hispanic Community.
JEANNE S. WOODFORD, B.A. Criminal Justice, 1978, is the first woman warden of San Quentin, California's oldest prison. Just two weeks after graduation from SSU in 1978, she started working at the prison, and has worked her way up from correctional officer to legal affairs coordinator, program administrator, and chief deputy warden. In 1999, she was named acting warden and Governor Gray Davis appointed her to the position permanently in 2000. An often-praised manager and administrator, Woodford is also highly respected for her work to provide active rehabilitation programs, and G.E.D. and college classes for inmates. Despite the demands of her work, she recently volunteered her time to develop the curriculum for a community college-based course offered to Corrections staff entitled, "Public Safety, Leadership and Ethics."
Sonoma State University and the Alumni Association will honor these outstanding graduates during Distinguished Alumni Day, Oct. 17. Highlights of the day will include a luncheon with President Ruben Armi-ana, visits to classrooms and campus centers, and open-to-the-public presentations by Powell and Woodford at the Schulz Information Center on campus. The day will culminate with the Distinguished Alumni Awards Dinner at the SSU Cooperage.
The Distinguished Alumni Awards was established in 1987 to recognize outstanding graduates and former students, and is the highest honor bestowed on SSU alumni by the Alumni Association. For further information, call (707) 664.2426 or alumni office@sonoma.edu or visit the web site at
www.sonoma.edu/hosts/ssualumni/distinguished_alumni/
Sonoma State University has been selected as one of eight California State University campuses to participate in an Office of Traffic Safety Grant entitled the CSU Sober Driver Initiative.
The two-year project will attempt to reduce alcohol abuse and drunk driving among CSU students through peer education efforts such as presentations to classes and various student groups.
Sonoma State University's share of the OTS grant will be about $50,000 out of the entire $769,000 award.
"This grant fits in well with our on-going efforts to reduce high-risk drinking," says Rand Link, vice president for student affairs. "SSU was selected because of the increasingly residential nature of the campus and because we already have a peer education program in place as well as an on-going assessment of student alcohol use."
According to Link, Sonoma State University will be working with the State Alcohol and Drug Program and the Alcohol and Beverage Control Agency in conjunction with the grant.
The other CSU campuses receiving a grant include Chico, Fresno, Hayward, Long Beach, Monterey Bay, Sacramento, and San Bernardino.
A Sonoma State University initiative on "the emerging Sonoma County health care cost and access crisis" holds its first faculty-staff caucus from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Oct. 12, in room 1211 of the Jean and Charles Schulz Information Center.
This meeting will allow faculty and staff to share their academic and personal interests in the crisis, share with peers what issues, publications, classes or research they may have done or have in mind which potentially relate to the Sonoma County and/or the U.S. health care crisis.
Psychology faculty member Skip Robinson says issues addressed may include the health care crisis development, its potential amelioration and how university faculty-staff-students may work together on an issue ?which is causing such significant community dislocation and suffering.?
The SSU initiative intends to raise a user-friendly web site on health-care crisis issues for the campus and community, work to improve dialogue on campus and between campus and community, and facilitate the development of key questions. Some of these can develop into primary research questions.
Robinson says other subject areas might include ways to develop government, foundation, and other funds to promote priority research, support of health professional training in Sonoma County, study of innovation in the U.S. and abroad and exploration of the possible development of significant buying groups for health care in the future.
The project has just begun, with initial support from the School of Social Science, the School of Science and Technology, and the Provost's Office.
On Saturday, Oct. 19, Santa Rosa Junior College will also hold an all-day conference on this issue.
For further information contact Art Warmoth, (707) 664-2689 or Skip
Robinson, (707) 523-2888
