On Tuesday, Nov. 26 at noon, Dr. Matteo Garbelotto, of the Dept. of Environmental Science, Policy & Management, UC Berkeley, will discuss the evolution, biology and control strategies for Phytophthera ramorum. The pathogen causes Sudden Oak Death, a plant disease that has reached epidemic levels in the coastal ranges of California.
The lecture is part of the fall semester's Biology Colloquium and will be held in Darwin 108 on the Sonoma State University campus, 1801 E. Cotati Ave., Rohnert Park.
For further information, contact Dr. Nathan Rank, Professor of Biology, (707) 664-3053.
A young man with Down Syndrome leads visitors on a tour of the Colorado state capital building rotunda. A Native American tribe rallies around Christopher, a toddler with spina bifida.
These poignant stories, and others like them, earned top awards this past year for videos produced by Sonoma State University's Hilton/Early Head Start Training Program.
The films capture the ways communities and families rally around infants, toddlers and young adults with disabilities, to include them in everyday life. Staff from the program, which operates under the umbrella of the California Institute on Human Services at SSU, developed the concepts and scenarios for the videos.
"The early childhood staff are often fearful about if can they handle the responsibility of a disabled child," says Linda Brekken, director of the Hilton/Early Head Start program at SSU.
"With these videos, we empower them, we strengthen their skills, and increase their comfort level." The different videos also highlight how centers throughout the country handle similar challenges.
Brekken said the staff learns to understand the importance of parent involvement, that the parent is the best advocate for their child. "Parents also are trained to advocate for their child and family as well as for other families in their community."
The Hilton/Early Head Start Training Program produced a total of 20 videos as part of their training curriculum. They then presented them nationally to Early Head Start/Migrant and Seasonal Head Start staff, families of infants and toddlers with significant disabilities, and their community partners.
Awards went to:
* "Ted Polito, Jr.: An American Man" - Award of Excellence in the 2002 Videographers Awards: The story of Ted Polito, Jr, a tour guide in the rotunda of the Colorado State capitol building who has Down syndrome.
* "Christopher's Story" - Bronze Finalist Award in the 2002 Telly Awards and "Winner" award in Aegis Awards: Describes how a Native American tribal community and local agencies came together to create and support a program for Christopher and his family when he was born with spina bifida.
* "Marvin and Jack" - "Best of Show" Platinum Award in Aurora Awards: Tells tells the experiences and perspectives of two young men living with disabilities.
* "Spirit of the Quest" and "Creating Bright Futures" - "Winner" award in Aegis Awards: Brings forth messages about the importance of including infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families into Early Head Start and Migrant and Seasonal Head Start programs.
"Ted Polito, Jr.: An American Man" and "Christopher's Story" will be screened at the Moscow Disability Film Festival later this year.
An "Evening of Remembrance" to raise public awareness about hate crimes against transgendered people will be held at 7 p.m. on Nov. 20 at The Cooperage at Sonoma State University.
The evening will include a short film, a transgender panel discussion, followed by a Walk of Remembrance. The event will be held in honor of Gwen Aruajo, a 17-year-old from Newark, Calif., who was murdered in a transgender hate crime. The evening will also memorialize those who've lost their lives due to transgender hatred or prejudice, says Stacey Wood of the Women's Resource Center.
The event is sponsored by Bi-GLASS-QTS, Residential Life, and the Women's Resource Center. For more information, contact Stacey Wood, Women's Resource Center, (707) 664-2845.
Timothy Ferris of Sonoma County will be discussing ideas from his new book, "Seeing in the Dark: How Backyard Stargazers Are Probing Deep Space and Guarding Earth from Interplanetary Peril," in a special presentation from 10:30 a.m. to noon on Thursday, Dec. 5 in the Evert B. Person Theatre at Sonoma State University.
The presentation is sponsored by the university's Lifelong Learning Institute and is free and open to the public.
Ferris, considered one of the finest science writers of his time, reports in his newest book on the technological revolution now sweeping through astronomy, which has allowed amateurs to observe and interpret the kind of phenomena that were previously accessible only to a few professionals.
Ferris will explain how innovations developed since 1980 ? including light-sensitive computer chips, robotic telescopes, and the Internet ? have enabled amateurs to make real contributions to scientific understanding.
He provides tips on observing techniques, observing lists, and star charts. He tells how to find splendid celestial objects, how to look at them, and what they really are.
Ferris has been stargazing since 1956 and writing about astronomy since 1960. His best-selling books include "The Whole Shebang and Coming of Age in the Milky Way," which have been translated into fifteen languages and were named by The New York Times as two of the leading books published in the twentieth century.
For further information, contact Barbara Brooks, Lifelong Learning Institute, (707) 664-2691
It's a long, long way from WFMT in Chicago to KRCB in Sonoma County. But there's a living link between the two stations.
You can hear it loudly and clearly on "Walks of Life," communications professor Jonah Raskin's weekly radio program that airs every Friday at 6:30 p.m. at 91.9 FM and 90.9 FM on the dial.
Inspired by Studs Terkel, WFMT's legendary broadcaster, as well as the author of "Working," "Division Street: America," and "Hard Times," Raskin says he has created a short radio program "about ordinary people who do extraordinary things."
There's Michael Saaks who makes waking sticks from the limbs of fallen trees, Chester Aaron who grows more than 90 different varieties of garlic, Rim and Razzan Zahra two Syrian-born sisters who teach Arabic, and Martin Andrews who has spent his whole life tuning and playing pianos all over America.
Like Terkel, Raskin says he has a profound curiosity about people in all walks of life. Like Terkel, he has a willingness to seek them out wherever they may be and he has an eagerness to listen to their stories and bring them to an audience of radio listeners.
To do his show, Raskin travels throughout northern California. He talks to men and women who were born here and raised here, and people who have only just arrived from the East, the South and from all over the world. Tom Gonnella bakes bread, like his grandfather who emigrated from Italy. Lee and Shirley Walker go on growing apples, while their neighbors have turned to grapes.
Jim Sullivan, who was born and raised in Santa Rosa in a large Irish family, devotes his life to keeping land in agriculture and in wilderness. Constance Miles is a nurse and a mid-wife who has delivered thousands of babies to all sorts of couples. Mauricio Torres is a Chilean who works in the vineyards in Sonoma County.
Raskin's program offers profiles of unique individuals, and at the same time it offers a profile of a unique place. "Walks of Life" celebrates the work that people do and the passions that govern their lives, says Raskin.
"It reveals northern California as a place of surprising cultural diversity and depth. It's a program that regular listeners call Terkelesque, a program that's poignant and funny, folksy and sophisticated."
Raskin is chair of the Communications Department at Sonoma State University.
An Iraqi War teach-in and peace festival has been organized for Friday, Nov. 22 and Saturday, Nov. 23 at Sonoma State University by several student and faculty groups on campus.
The schedule of events includes:
* FRIDAY
Campus Commons (unless otherwise noted)
10 -11:30 a.m., Panel: Israel, Palestine and Iraq: Historical Interlocks-
Philip Beard, War and Peace lecture series; Chuck Sher and Laura Reichardt, Petaluma Progressives; Therese Mughannam, Palestinian-American Peace Activist; and Mitchell Plitnick, Jewish Voice for Peace
Noon-1:30 p.m., Iraq: Media, Conspiracies and Ideology
- Dennis Bernstein, KPFA Flashpoints; Marilyn Dudley-Rowley, Tom Lough and Peter Phillips, Sociology.
2 to 3:30 p.m., Alternatives to Cowboy Capitalism Powered by Oil and Money - Art Warmoth, Psychology; Philip Beard, German; Kathleen and Gerald Hill, Sonoma Peace Activists.
4 to 5:30 p.m., Being Peace: Becoming the Change We Want to See in the World - Debora Hammond, Hutchins School; Scott Miller, Writing Center; Larry Robinson Sebastopol City Council
7:30 to 9:30 p.m., Iraq: U.S Policies Directions and Unilateral Power
Politics - SSU Commons ($5.00 suggested donation)
Moderator: John Kramer, Political Science
Panelists: Richard Becker, International Action Center; Karen Talbot, Investigative journalist/peace activist; Elias Rashmawi, Free Palestine Alliance.
* SATURDAY'S EVENTS
Campus Common, Darwin Hall, Salazar Hall, The Cooperage
10 a.m. to Noon - Peace Festival
Noon to 1 p.m. - Lunch Provided By Food Not Bombs of Santa Rosa and Rohnert Park/Cotati . Live music and open discussion.
1 p.m. - Films, Darwin 108
Workshops, Salazar Hall.
1-1:50 p.m. - Creating Expressive Art , Salazar 2015; Guerra Contra la Paz, Salazar 2016; Lawrence of Arabia & Beyond: Controversy in Arabia, Salazar 2019.
2 -2:50 p.m. - Direct Action, Salazar 2015; Legal Action, Salazar 2016; War vs. Environment, Salazar 2019.
3 -3:50 p.m. - Dirty War, Salazar 2015; COINTEL PRO,Salazar 2016; Patriot Act, Salazar 2019.
4 -4:50 p.m. - AWOL, Salazar 2015; Media & Their Lies, Salazar 2016; Faith in Peace (Interfaith Reaction to War), Salazar 2019.
Ongoing - "War on Terror Around the World" workshops will be from 1 to 5 p.m. in Salazar 2020. They include Palestine/Israel , 1 to 1:50 p.m.; Asia (Korea and Indonesia), 2-2:50 p.m.; Chechnya Russia's War on Terror, 3 -3:50 p.m., and Latin America, 4 -4:50 p.m.
Saturday's events conclude with a Festival of Music and Art from 7 -10 p.m. in The Cooperage.
The two-day event is sponsored by Project Censored, Liberal Studies Association, War and Peace lecture series, Hutchins School, Global Studies School, Praxis Peace Institute, Residential Student Association, and the Student Activist League of Sonoma.
Sonoma State University will hold an open house for the public from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 21 showcasing the contributions that Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology is making in local communities. The open house will be held on the 3rd floor of Stevenson Hall, Room 3057.
Projects at the university's GIS Center currently focus on a diversity of topics including:
* developing geographical models to predict the spread of the Sudden Oak Death disease,
* using high-resolution aircraft imagery for natural resource assessment,
* modeling spatial patterns in the abundance of invasive weeds,
* mapping habitat suitability for the endangered Point Arena mountain beaver, and
* mapping transportation networks.
Tours of the Geography Department's GIS labs and the recently remodeled Geographic Information Center will be provided throughout the day.
As part of global GIS Day, the Sonoma State festivities will also include short presentations and poster displays highlighting the work of GIS technology users around campus.
GIS is a computer technology for collecting, managing and analyzing spatial data. It has been used in a wide range of applications such as tracking the migration and habitat of endangered animal species, planning wildfire emergency responses, predicting groundwater contamination, identifying patterns of disease clusters, helping businesses to forecast the most profitable location for new retail centers, and aiding farmers to minimize the use of pesticides and irrigation on their farms.
Sponsors of GIS Day include the National Geographic Society, the Association of American Geographers (AAG), the California State University GIS Specialty Group, and Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI).
For information, call Dr. Ross Meentemeyer, Assistant Professor of Geography and Director of the Geographic Information Center, (707) 664-2558, meenteme@sonoma.edu.
For more information about GIS Day and Geography Awareness Week, please see www.gisday.com/.
If you are a member of the media and wish to tour the lab, please call Jean Wasp, Media Relations, (707) 664-2057.
The efficient use of energy is an important issue in today's world, and Sonoma State University is doing its part by reaching out to small businesses in Sonoma, Napa and Lake counties ? helping them to reduce their operating costs and save energy at the same time.
The University, in partnership with the Sonoma-based Small Business Energy Alliance (SBEA), has trained students from the energy management and design curriculum to do audits that lead to recommendations for energy-efficient improvements. Such recommendations can lead to between 5 to 40 per cent reduction in energy use and thus a savings in the cost of operations.
"Energy efficiency is the most powerful tool we have for taking action against global climate change," says Alexandra von Meier, the director of the Environmental Technology Center (ETC) at Sonoma State University. "This is an effective way of dealing with greenhouse gas reduction in our communities."
Businesses from the very small (under 10,000 square feet) to medium sized (10,000 - 50,000 square feet) are the target of this program which pays up to 50% of the installed cost of the energy efficiency improvements. The improvements can often pay for themselves in six months to a couple of years.
The City of Sonoma has already agreed to fund the other half of improvement costs for businesses in its area, and other cities in the three counties are being approached to do the same.
The students are trained to complete small business energy audits, recommend specific measures, and connect the businesses with qualified installers who carry out the work.
Small businesses in the three county area can receive one or several of the following recommendations:
- installation of efficient lighting systems
- installation of programmable thermostats
- tune-ups for "air conditioning systems"
- tune-ups for self-contained and split-system refrigeration systems
The SBEA grant is funded by California ratepayers with the guidance of the California Public Utilities Commission and lasts until December, 2003. The SBEA partners include, Sonoma State University, RLW Analytics, Inc, ASW Engineering, and Geltz Communications.
The SBEA is following in the footsteps of last year?s Energy Saver?s Program, which was a huge success in the Southern California.
For more information, please contact Armando Navarro at (707) 664-2577, by e-mail at armando.navarro@sonoma.edu, or the Small Business Energy Alliance at (800) 881-7232, www.sbeaonline.com.
