Campus Connections

Issue Date: April 12, 2004

News and Notices

Energy-efficient microturbine heats swimming pool

A 30-kilowatt Capstone microturbine fueled by natural gas is producing electricity and heating an eight-lane swimming pool at Lewis & Clark.

“Using natural gas directly to fuel the microturbine greatly reduces emissions of oxides of carbon and nitrogen and other byproducts of fossil-fueled electric generation,” says Richard Bettega, associate vice president for facilities. “Whenever the College is constructing or renovating buildings, we actively to minimize our impact on the environment by following sustainable building practices that incorporate energy-efficient design. The microturbine is the latest example of this practice.”

Perched on a roof adjacent to the Zehntbauer Swimming Pavilion, the tiny power plant is a quiet “workhorse” that runs 8,760 hours a year (24 hours x 365 days) to help power the building and efficiently heat the pool’s water, according to Chris Galati, NW Natural’s director of conservation and technology. NW Natural partnered with the College to install the device.

The microturbine will be dedicated in an event on Earth Day, Thursday, April 22, at 10 a.m. Following the ceremony in front of the building, attendees will be invited to view the rooftop device.

Electricity from the microturbine is available 24 hours a day at the swimming pavilion, while “waste heat” from the generating turbine is reclaimed through an air-to-water heat exchanger, providing heat to maintain the temperature of the swimming pool. “All the heat recovered—every last bit of energy—is being used,” Galati says. “It has very high thermal efficiency.”

The project is a partnership with the Combined Heat and Power Consortium, an association of private utilities, government agencies and companies that collaborate to install, study and publicize combined heat and power projects in commercial applications. Half of the cost of Lewis & Clark’s microturbine is funded by a combination of incentives and tax credits from the consortium, Oregon Energy Trust, and the Oregon Office of Energy. Learn more.

Campus works with county health officials during Norwalk virus outbreak

Quick feedback from the campus community enabled the Multnomah County Health Department to determine that the gastrointestinal illness that affected the campus in early April appears to be the norovirus, or Norwalk virus.

“This conclusion is based on isolation of norovirus from three ill people, the pattern of symptoms revealed by the investigation to date, and other characteristics of the outbreak,” wrote county epidemiologist Amy D. Sullivan in an e-mail to the campus community. More than 500 people at Lewis & Clark filled out health and food history surveys for the county health department.

According to health officials, the Norwalk virus is a common cause of diarrhea and vomiting illness in the United States. Although it does make people feel miserable while ill, the virus resolves on its own usually within a day or two. The outbreak at Lewis & Clark is subsiding.

As next steps, the county health department is working “to better assess how many people became ill and understand how the illness spread through the campus,” according to Sullivan. “Understanding the spread of the illness can be useful for preventing or limiting future outbreaks.”

As a precautionary measure, food services procedures have been modified. Another way to protect against viral infection is to practice good hygiene, which includes washing hands before and after eating, and before and after using the restroom.

More information about the Norwalk virus is available on the Student Health Center Web site.

Volunteers train to respond to emergencies

Bill Curtin wanted a few good people who were willing to help others on campus in the event of an emergency.

Curtin, director of campus safety and facilitator of the College’s crisis management team, was happy to have more than 30 campus volunteers respond to his call to take community emergency response training from Multnomah County’s emergency services department. The volunteers represent 17 departments from the three campuses.

Led by Scott Salmon, Multnomah County’s emergency services program coordinator, the three-part course teaches disaster preparedness skills, first aid and triage, response to terrorism, and other emergency management skills.

The Los Angeles Fire Department created community emergency response teams in 1985 to help community residents serve as first responders during major disasters such as wildfires or earthquakes. Following Sept. 11, response to terrorism was incorporated into the training.

“Lewis & Clark is serious about its responsibility to prepare for emergency scenarios,” says Curtin. “We all hope never to have to use these skills, but I think we all feel better in knowing that we are actively preparing for such an occurrence.”

Web-authoring made simple

Prospective students learn a lot about Lewis & Clark from the College’s Web site. The pages that make up the site are created in Trillium, a Web-based application that allows departments and faculty members to create and publish content online with ease. Trillium was developed right here at Lewis & Clark by Kari Chisholm, creative director for new media, and student Aaron Kilbey.

“Trillium makes it easy to update content, so site owners can focus their energy on developing excellent content, such as images and text, that conveys information and tells great stories,” says Erika Meyer, Web communications consultant. “Best of all, site owners can update a Trillium page in seconds, making it possible to keep things up to date quickly and easily.”

Meyer developed a new online help manual called “TUG,” short for Trillium Users Guide. The guide includes a handy reference sheet that can be downloaded.

If you’re new to Trillium, get started by consulting one-on-one with a Web consultant: Meyer works primarily with undergraduate academic departments and with the graduate school. Contact her at emeyer@lclark.edu or ext. 7972. Web consultant Julia Duncan works primarily with administrative offices, some undergraduate academic departments, and the law school. Contact her at jduncan@lclark.edu or ext. 7968.

IT offers range of courses

Information Technology offers ongoing computer training courses. An Intermediate Web Design class is the next course available. For more information, contact IT at ext. 7020, or sign up at www.lclark. edu/~training.

Keep up to date on the presidential search

On Friday, April 9, Paul Bragdon, interim president, confirmed that three finalists for the job of Lewis & Clark president will visit campus for one day each for interviews and meetings. The dates are April 16, April 19 and April 20. At the request of the candidates, the presidential search committee is keeping the names of the candidates confidential at this time. The committee will prepare the schedule for each candidate’s visit. Information about the presidential search is available online.

People News

Published, presented, honors and achievements

Faculty and staff serve as ambassadors for the College through their publications, presentations, awards, grants and other accomplishments. Recent highlights include:

Dinah Dodds, professor of German and chair of foreign languages and literature, recently published a paper in a volume called “Critical Essays on Contemporary European Culture and Society.” Her chapter is called “German Unification and East German Youth: Ten Years after the Wall.”

William Funk, professor of law, has been awarded a Fulbright lectureship for the academic year 2004-2005. He will be affiliated with the Center for American Studies at the University of Heidelberg in Germany.

Curtis Johnson, Dr. Robert B. Pamplin Jr. Professor of Government and dean of the College, will publish a new book titled “Socrates and the Immoralists” (Rowman & Littlefield, 2004).

Joe Miller, assistant professor of law, delivered a paper titled "The Proven Key: Roles & Rules for Dictionaries in the Patent Office & the Courts” on March 25 at the Dean Dinwoodey Center for Intellectual Property Studies at the George Washington University Law School. The paper, one of five presented, was part of the Dinwoodey Center's annual spring Intellectual Property Workshop Series.

More listings of faculty and staff achievements can be found in our online pressroom.

L&C in the news

College faculty and staff are in the news on a regular basis. Recent mentions include:

The Chronicle of Higher Education: Article on “clean and green” campuses cites Lewis & Clark’s compliance with Kyoto protocol emissions targets and availability of green power purchases for students. April 2, 2004.

The Oregonian: Thomas Schoeneman, professor of psychology, comments on mental health issues surrounding suicides. He said “popular culture and perception contribute to stereotypes and the failure to recognize mental illness as a disease.” March 18, 2004.

For a sampling of how and where Lewis & Clark is mentioned by media outlets across the nation and around the globe, visit the online pressroom.

Events

"Service of Shadows" offers musical exploration of the human condition

The poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke inspired composer Forrest Pierce to examine the question of human suffering. In response, Pierce wrote “Service of Shadows,” a collection of choral, instrumental and solo vocal music. The work premieres in a concert on Saturday, April 17, at 7 p.m. in Agnes Flanagan Chapel.

“This work stems from the tradition of the tenebrae, or shadow service,” explains Pierce, assistant professor of music. “I found a composing model in the way that Johannes Brahms adapted the idea of the requiem mass to his own ends, when he set text of his choosing in his native language as a memorial to his loved ones.”

Rilke’s “Book of Hours” is the source for Pierce’s four-part work. Rilke, inspired by the courage of his loved ones in the face of pain and suffering, wrote verses that were intended to provide “solace, commiseration and supplication.”

Soprano Kirsten Blase and organist Shane Douglas O’Neill are the featured soloists. Other performers include Tacoma’s 60-voice Northwest Repertory Singers and the Seattle New Music Ensemble. Paul W. Schultz, director of choral programs at Tacoma’s Institute for the Arts, conducts the performance.

Tickets are $5 for students, employees and alumni and are available at the bookstore or at the door.

Spring dance concert features works by Davis, Holt, Stone and Tranh

More than two dozen student dancers take to the stage for the spring dance concert Thursday through Saturday, April 15–17. The performances are on the Main Stage of Fir Acres Theatre. Works by choreographers Susan E. Davis, Tahni Holt, Emily Stone and Minh Tran are featured.

“The four pieces presented are stylistically different and will showcase the strong performance skills of Lewis & Clark students,” says Susan Davis, lecturer in theatre and head of the dance program.

Susan Davis’ work “Taking Notes at Traffic Lights” is set to music by the Gotan Project. Minh Tran’s work “In the Club” is set to music by Ryuichi Sakamoto and Brian Eno. Tahni Holt’s work “12 Scenes on How to Go, Float, Dive, Faint, Fall, Save, Stop and Touch” is set to music by Magwai and 90 Day Men. Emily Stone’s work “Made for Walking” is a collaboration between Stone and her dancers, with a collaborative sound design created by Stone, Nick Joyce and Kirstin Collins set to music by Andrew Drury and Joe Jackson, with BBC field recordings.

Tickets, which are $5 for employees and alumni and $3 for students, are available at the bookstore or at the door.

Upcoming

Visit the campus Web calendar for events coming up in April.