A new $15 million student recreation center is nearing completion at Sonoma State University that has been ten years in the making.
"The increasing number of on-campus residents, unmet demand on the current facilities, and desire for new activity space all supported this project," says Pam Su, Recreational Sports Coordinator. The building is expected to open in August for the fall semester.
Located immediately south of Darwin Hall, the two-story 58,000 square foot facility has two gymnasiums for basketball, volleyball and indoor soccer. A climbing wall is located in the front of the facility and is accented by a glass enclosure.
Su notes the project has sustainable building practices in mind such as daylighting, energy efficient lighting systems, hydronic heating in the floors, grey water usage in the toilets, and building materials and furniture using earth-friendly components such as recycled glass, paper, plastic, and even seatbelts. A solar panel array is being considered.
Thanks to a $27,000 grant from the California Integrated Waste Management Board, rubber safety flooring has been installed under the climbing wall using recycled California tires.
More than 7,400 square feet will be devoted to fitness and weight training equipment and users will have access to a hot tub jacuzzi.
The building features a jogging track and two large multi-purpose rooms for dance and leisure class instruction. A new OutDoor Pursuits area will provide opportunities for members of the campus community to obtain information and equipment for outdoor activities. A wellness center and massage therapy program is also included in the new facility.
Faced with the ever increasing need and desire for more recreational space on campus, the students of Sonoma State voted to increase their Student Union fee in November of 2000 to support construction of the new Recreation Center.
Collection of this increased fee began in 2002, when the Student Union fee increased by $80 per semester. In the fall of 2003, fees stepped up again to $95 per semester.
Construction of the new recreation center is made possible through the Sonoma Student Union, a non-profit auxiliary corporation of Sonoma State University.
Funded by the students of Sonoma State University, the Student Union will administer the improved and larger offerings of their recreational sports programs through the operation of this new facility.
The Student Union is funded strictly from student fees and uses no general fund money from the State.
Architect for the building is LPA from Irvine, Calif. Building contractor is Wright Contracting of Santa Rosa.
Previously, the campus recreational activities operated out of a 5400 sq. foot fitness center and shared the University's gymnasiums with other SSU programs.
Dr. James Robertson has accepted the position of Dean of the School of Business and Economics at Sonoma State University effective July 1. He replaces TK Clarke who has been serving as interim dean since the retirement of Dr. Ahmad Hosseini.
Most recently dean of the business school at Metropolitan State College of Denver, Dr. Robertson headed business schools at California State University at Northridge and the University of Portland in Oregon through the course of his career. He is a widely known and respected leader in the field of business higher education and within the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) community.
He has been a consultant and a member of accreditation review teams to numerous schools of business across the U.S., including San Jose State University and Santa Clara University.
"Dr. Robertson's vast experience will stand our School of Business and Economics in good stead as it enters into its year of AACSB initial accreditation review and the continuous quality-improvement initiatives that will follow," said SSU provost Eduardo Ochoa. "Under his leadership, the School is also well-positioned to expand its relationships with the business community in the North Bay and beyond."
Dr. Robertson successfully led schools through accreditation reviews at Northridge and Portland and recently played a leading role in the reassessment of the role of ethics in the business curriculum for AACSB schools. Besides the accreditation process, he hopes to explore the development of a Family Business Program unique to SSU and to develop international programs complementing the SSU Wine Business Program that would bring students to the campus during the summer.
Dr. Robertson earned his Ph.D. from the University of Washington in Seattle. He has held administrative positions at Chico State University, St. Mary's University and Seattle University.
He has developed research, conducted presentations and published in the areas of health care, budgeting, human resources, marketing research, accounting and family financial planning. He has served on the board of trustees of health care organizations, chambers of commerce, and community groups
Robertson and his wife Peggy are looking forward to moving to Sonoma County.
Seattle's dashing, enormously talented, and versatile conductor Alastair Willis heads a concert of great American classics by Cohan, Copland, Gershwin and Gould at the fifth annual Independence Day on the Green this summer at Sonoma State University.
The program kicks off the Green Music Festival season on Sunday, July 4 at the campus lakes area. As the sun goes down, the most spectacular fireworks show in Sonoma County, featuring musical accompaniment, will light up the sky.
Willis, a favorite choice of Yo Yo Ma to conduct his Silk Road Project, appears with Festival artistic director Jeffrey Kahane in a program highlighted by Kahane's stirring performance of George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue."
Willis, the associate conductor of the Seattle Symphony, leads the Santa Rosa Symphony at 7:30 p.m. in an entertaining roundup of American classics - from Gould's "American Salute" to Aaron Copland's "Lincoln Portrait" to Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess" and " An American in Paris." A sing-a-long of George M. Cohan works is also featured.
Kahane says "Rhapsody in Blue" is a true American icon." I've played it more times than I can count and still have a great time playing it,' he says.
Gates open at 4 p.m. for pre-concert activities that include games and music for kids. Hot Lips and Fingertips start off the afternoon music at 4:40 p.m. Concert goers can picnic throughout the afternoon as boxed dinners, hot dogs and a la carte sandwiches, as well as excellent Sonoma County wines, will be available. Visitors can also bring their own picnic dinners and dine by the beautiful campus lake area of the University.
Tickets range from $10 to $55. Both lawn and reserved table seating are offered. For tickets and information, call toll free (866) SSU-FEST or (866) 778-3378, or visit the website at www.greenmusicfestival.org.
The campus is located 40 miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge. The Festival moves to its permanent home, the Donald and Maureen Green Music Center at SSU, when it opens in a few years.
Engineer Dick Klein's unusual bike designs help children with developmental disabilities master the art of riding a two-wheeler at a special bike camp this week at Sonoma State University.
Children who have previously faced multiple barriers in learning to ride conventional bicycles typically experience success using these unique bike trainers.
"They can now participate alongside siblings and peers in this pastime that is a childhood rite-of-passage," says SSU kinesiology professor Elaine McHugh who directs the camp from 9 a.m. - 2 :30 p.m. in the main gymnasium.
Adapted PE teachers from Sonoma and other Bay Area counties staff the camp, along with students from SSU, SFSU, and St. Vincent de Paul High School. As the children learn to ride, students gain valuable experience teaching children with special needs.
A Bike Rodeo will top off the fourth annual Bike-Swim Camp from 1-3 p.m. on Friday, June 18. Current and former campers, and other area children with and without disabilities, will participate in activities that challenge their skills and test their knowledge of bike safety.
Stations will include such tasks as a "slow race," a station in which riders try to keep their wheels between two narrow lines, and opportunities to show knowledge of traffic signs. Participants use two-wheelers, three-wheelers, or wheelchairs to complete the course. Local bike shops and police officers are expected to take part.
Similar camps have taken place in several other states during the past year. Only two others were planned this summer in California - one recently held at CSU Chico and another to be offered in Davis from June 21-25.
For further information, contact Elaine McHugh, (707) 664-2660.
Project Censored at Sonoma State University has named it's top ten most frivolous, over-reported news stories of the year.
"We call this list Junk Food News because it fills up the American airways and newsstands with celebrity gossip and meaningless coverage of the unimportant, " says Peter Phillips, director of Project Censored.
"Famous lives provide us with an entertainment rush and a false reality that radiates in comparison to the darkness of war, business fraud, and government repression."
This year's selections were voted on by the 200 students, faculty and media researchers who work with Project Censored, and hundreds of other people world-wide who are members of the weekly independent news listserv at www.projectcensored.org.
This year's Junk Food News story awards go to: 1. Janet Jackson and her Super Bowl exposure 2. Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez's breakup 3. The Hilton heiresses 4. Britney Spears marriage and next-day annulment to childhood friend Jason Alexander and 5. Martha Stewart's trial .
"The exposure of Jackson's breast shocked the nation and set off a Federal Communications Commission tizzy over a nipple. The vulgarity and sleaziness of the rest of the halftime show seemed to slither back into the dark without a stir,'' Phillips said.
Ben and J-Lo were "making news even before they called their relationship off,'' Phillips said.
"Paris Hilton gets the most attention from her sex video and her TV program "A Simple Life." It seems that many actually do care about a rich girl who doesn't shop in Wal-Mart,'' Phillips said.
"It seems that every move of Britney's is made to create attention. The corporate media loves using her to build titillated viewership,'' Phillips said.
Martha Stewart's "ever-present face in our court system'' was a high-profile case that was "dragged out by the media.''
Rounding out the top ten in the 2003-4 list are Britney and Madonna's kiss, the wedding of "The Bachelorette'' couple Trista and Ryan, the "American Idol'' show, the last episode of "Friends'' and the relationship between Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore.
"While there is nothing wrong with enjoying entertainment, there is always an opportunity cost that affects public access to important news stories about the critical issues in our lives," says Phillips.
"We believe that it is crucial to democracy to have a healthy media, a media that is able to inform on critical events and not just serve as a means of diversion."
Peter Phillips is a Professor of Sociology at Sonoma State University and Director of Project Censored. Joni Wallent and Ambrosia Pardue are research interns for Project Censored.
