Campus Connections

Issue Date: May 9, 2005

News and Notices

That’s a wrap

Annie van Thillo ’05, theatre major, helped Lewis & Clark wrap up the 2004-05 academic year on a colorful note when she wrapped the campus in fabric for her senior thesis project. Through fabric, she sought to explore “what happens when fabric is implemented into the environment and interacts with the rock, rain, wind and trees … [and] incite reactions that include scraping, sagging, waving and draping.”

She titled her installation “Transient versus Monumental: An Exploration in Environmental Theatre.” Sections of the work were titled Tree Snakes, Hedge Wraps, Arbor Drapes, Wall Falls, Fountain Levels, and Water Weave. A performance with dancers and drummers unfurled the final fabric elements.

Van Thillo hoped the fabric would encourage the campus community to explore the landscape in new ways and “to recognize the space that surrounds us is more than just a series of manicured paths.” Photos by Shannon Smith

Cultural conversations continue at the graduate school

The graduate school’s Middle East/South Asian Conversation Series, sponsored by its Oregon Center for Inquiry and Social Innovation, continues in May. Both brown bag lunch events are held in the commons area of the South Campus Conference Center.

Thursday, May 12, 12:30 p.m.

Roshan Fernando and Allen Hall discuss conditions in Sri Lanka and the lasting effects of the tsunami. Fernando is a Sri Lankan-American living in Portland and Hall is a graduate school student who coordinates the school’s Oregon Center Tsunami Response Initiative. The presentation includes a slide show of images taken during Hall’s recent trip to Sri Lanka.

Friday, May 20, 12:30 p.m.

Training and development specialist Mohammed Abu Zayed speaks about his experiences as a diversity consultant and teacher. The presentation will cover topics including peoples and cultures of the Middle East, and managing diversity in the workplace. He has taught at Portland State University and Oregon Health & Science University.

It’s in the mail

Be confident when stating “It’s in the mail.” The Mail Services Web site is packed with information about shipping services and how to use the campus mail room. Campus mail forms are also available for download, and a new feature on the site allows users to print campus mail envelopes.

Embracing technology

Information Technology invites faculty to take part in the Faculty Technology Institute, Monday through Friday, May 16 to 20.

Classes include Beginning and Advanced PowerPoint, Basic HTML, Designing and Planning for the Web; Using Your Computer to Manage Your Photos and Music; Dreamweaver; WebDisk and Other Storage Devices; Spam, Spyware and Other Nasties; Creating PDFs; Wireless Computing; Managing Your E-mail; Digital Image Manipulation; GradeKeeper; and Trillium. In addition to the courses, afternoon project time is scheduled. Continental breakfast and lunch are provided for participants. To register, call ext. 7020.

Keep up to date on the Watzek Library collection

A new feature online keeps track of new additions to the Aubrey R. Watzek Library collection. The new page includes all the additions to the library for the last three months.

“The categories are broad enough that materials of interest to you should appear in one or more of these categories,” says Jim Kopp, director of the Watzek Library. Users can sort the information by title, author, publisher, format, year of publication, and the date an item was added to the collection. Simply click on the title to bring up the full catalog record for an item and information about its availability.

Graduate school honors distinguished alumni

The Graduate School of Education and Counseling will honor five alumni during a special awards banquet on Wednesday, May 11. The event acknowledges the recipients’ “records of distinction.” In addition, the school welcomes former Oregon Gov. Barbara Roberts for a keynote address.

“The graduate school is privileged to prepare some of the nation’s most dynamic leaders in education and counseling,” says Peter Cookson, graduate school dean. “This alumni awards banquet gives our community an opportunity to come together to celebrate the creativity and hard work of our alumni, and to renew our common mission to support the growth and health of our children and communities.”

The graduate school will recognize Colleen Hanson B.A. ’74 and M.A.T. ’75, school psychologist with Portland Public Schools; Anne Pardington M.A. ’91, recently retired instructor and counselor with the Life and Career Options Program at Clackamas Community College; Amparo Reyes M.Ed. ’02, counselor for English-language learners enrolled in Beaverton public schools; Maryalice Russell, Educational Administration certificates ’94, ’99, superintendent of McMinnville Public Schools; and Jessica Singer M.A.T. ’98, doctoral student in education at the University of California at Santa Barbara, where she specializes in language, literacy, and composition.

The graduate school presents the Distinguished Graduate Award to individuals who have used their education or counseling degree to make a positive mark on the community and profession and whose contributions have brought honor and distinction to the graduate school.

Historical snapshot

In 1967, two new buildings—Aubrey R. Watzek Library and Agnes Flanagan Chapel—open. Three years later, new law school buildings open on a 20-acre site just west of the Fir Acres campus. View more College milestones online.

People News

Jim Walker retirement—episode two

Jim Walker will leave Lewis & Clark on May 25, after spending more than two years at the College. It’s his second go at retirement.

“Ginny and I had just finished building a new house in Sisters, a retirement place,” he recalls. Walker, on the verge of retirement as head of Oregon Health & Science University’s finance and administration, came to Lewis & Clark in late 2002 as a consultant to analyze the College’s debt structure, financial policies, and financial position. In spring 2003, he was offered a permanent full-time position as vice president for finance and treasurer of the College.

“I took the job because I was struck by how valuable an asset Lewis & Clark is to the community and the state, and I thought I could make a contribution,” he says. “What I knew then was that the College’s core business operation was—and continues to be—very strong,” he says.

Key accomplishments during his tenure, Walker says, include revising and distributing business policies, developing a five-year business forecast model in anticipation of a new institutional strategic plan, reviewing and revising management and board structure, and restructuring the College’s debt to lower ongoing cost.

In addition, Walker recently from Moody’s Investors Service that a desk rating based on the College’s most recent financial statement resulted in an A3 rating. In the last formal study by Standard and Poor’s, done in August 2003, the College received a BBB+ rating.

According to Walker, the College has experienced a healthy 56-percent growth in the endowment over the past 18 months, due to strong investment performance and generous planned gifts. Endowment performance over the past decade has been in the top 5 percent nationally in our peer group, which he terms an excellent showing.

Walker says he is thankful to have been a part of the College community, but retirement beckons. “We’ve been using the house for weekend getaways ’til now,” he says. The memory of the campus’s beautiful vistas will soon be competing with a great view of the Cascade mountains from that retirement home in Sisters.

New faces, changing places

Catherine Leedy is the graduate school’s new director of Continuing Education and Professional Studies. Leedy, hired following a national search, has managed nonprofits and has owned and operated several creative businesses. She is an alumna of the University of Puget Sound. Reach her at cleedy@lclark.edu or ext. 6121.

Sally Earll is associate director for Continuing Education and Professional Studies at the graduate school. She is responsible for developing and managing campus continuing education, and travel and off-campus credit programs. She will also be working closely with the outreach team in marketing and operations. Reach her at earll@lclark.edu.

Erin Ogle as the Alumni Weekend coordinator for Alumni and Parent Programs. She earned her bachelor of science degree from Portland State University and most recently worked in environmental consulting, where she specialized in sustainability analysis. Ogle volunteers with Big Brothers/Big Sisters.

Margaret (Maggie) Eismann is a technical services assistant in the Aubrey R. Watzek Library. Reach her at meismann@lclark.edu or ext. 7281.

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:

Katharina Altpeter-Jones, assistant professor of German, published an article in the 2005 Women in German Yearbook. The article is titled “Adam Schubart’s Early Modern ‘Tyrant She-Man’: Female Misbehavior, Gender, and the Disciplining of Hybrid Bodies.”

The section “In Dostoyevsky’s Atmosphere: 1980,” from Annie Dawid’s novel “And Darkness Was Under His Feet” will be published in the literary magazine Out of Line in 2006. The magazine deals with themes of peace and justice. Dawid is professor of English.

Greg Hermann, assistant professor of biology, received a $26,000 award from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust for its College Research Program for Life Sciences. Hermann’s project is titled “Investigating a Monoclonal Antibody that Recognizes Late-Stage Apoptotic Cells in Caenorhabditis elegans.”

Jane Hunter, professor of history, has been accepted for the National Endowment for the Humanities’ summer seminar titled “Rethinking America in Global Perspective.” The four-week seminar is hosted by American Historical Association in Washington, D.C., and takes place at the Library of Congress. Participants will research internationalizing American history in the context of teaching about “an America faced with a multitude of global challenges and opportunities.”

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:

Chicago Tribune: Kellar Autumn, associate professor of biology, comments on how biodiversity informs home design. Autumn’s gecko research, which demonstrates the self-cleaning adhesive quality of gecko feet, has practical applications such as self-cleaning gecko tape or manufacturing developments for a new type of glue or screw. May 3, 2005.

The Oregonian: A commentary piece by Peter Cookson, graduate school dean, focuses on “the current debate concerning cultural competency.” May 2, 2005.

CNN.com: Report about Hawaii clubs across the nation includes activities by Lewis & Clark’s Hawaii Club, with comments from Jennifer Slaton ’05. Color photo from the 2005 lu’au is featured. April 26, 2005.

USA Today: Adonica de Vault, College of Arts and Sciences director of career advising, discusses job market options for graduating seniors. April 25, 2005.

Times Argus (Montpelier, Vt.): Eban Goodstein, professor of economics, talks about the Flat Earth Awards, created by Middlebury College students and Goodstein’s Green House Network. April 24, 2005.

On Point (WBUR, Boston Public Radio): Nora Beck, associate professor and chair of music and adviser to the NCAA on gay and lesbian issues, takes part in a live panel discussion about America’s changing attitudes toward gay athletes. April 22, 2005.

KGW-TV (Portland, Ore.): Student athlete Jody Swann ’05 is profiled for her achievements as “one of the fastest 400-meter sprinters in the country.” The story also includes comments from Keith Woodard, cross country and track and field coach. April 20, 2005.

Rocky Mountain News (Denver, Colo.): Column profiles Clay Jenkinson, humanities scholar in residence, and his historical interpretations of Thomas Jefferson, Meriwether Lewis, and Teddy Roosevelt. April 19, 2005.

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

Behind the movies: Erin Brockovich speaks at law school commencement

She’s been called brash and gutsy. Erin Brockovich Ellis, whose tireless research while working as a law firm file clerk led to a multimillion-dollar settlement with a California-based utility, will address graduates at the law school’s commencement on Saturday, May 28.

“Through her determination and her actions, Erin Brockovich Ellis has demonstrated that the American legal system is responsive to the concerns of ordinary people,” says James L. Huffman, law school dean and Erskine Wood Sr. Professor of Law. “She demonstrates for us the power of an individual to enforce the law and to achieve justice.”

Approximately 230 law school students will have completed their J.D. degrees and 14 will have completed their LL.M. degrees during the 2004-05 academic year. Approximately 220 are expected to participate in commencement on May 28.

Brockovich Ellis grew up in Lawrence, Kan., graduated from Lawrence High School, attended Kansas State University and then moved to Dallas, Tex. She later earned her associate’s degree from a Texas business college. She lived and worked in California and Nevada before injuries from a car accident brought her to the law firm of Masry & Vititoe in Westlake Village, Calif. Later, as a file clerk for that firm, she investigated the impact of the toxic chemical Chromium 6 on residents of Hinkley, Calif. The chemical had leaked into the town’s groundwater from Pacific Gas and Electric holding tanks. In 1996, as a result of Brockovich Ellis’ independent investigation and a subsequent lawsuit, PG&E was forced to pay more than $300 million in damages to town residents. It was the largest legal settlement in U.S. history. Her story inspired the film “Erin Brockovich,” starring Julia Roberts.

In 2004, she served as spokesperson for Save the World Air and spoke about environmental issues at the United Nations Environmental Programme summit meeting in Bali, Indonesia. She was also nominated for the World Social Award and received an American Trial Lawyers Association consumer award. In October 2005, she will receive the Julius B. Richmond award from Harvard University’s School of Public Health. The recipient of numerous other awards, Brockovich Ellis also received the President’s Award from the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association. She is currently director of environmental research at Masry & Vititoe. Recently, Jones International University awarded her an honorary master’s degree. She is married to actor Eric Ellis and lives in Agoura Hills, Calif.

Lewis & Clark's final 2005 commencement, for the Graduate School of Education and Counseling, is set for Sunday, June 5, at 10 a.m.

Upcoming

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