Campus Connections

Issue Date: July 10, 2006

News and Notices

Graduate school cohosts evening with indigenous rights activist, author, and scholar Winona LaDuke

Social and environmental activist Winona LaDuke will discuss indigenous knowledge during a lecture on Thursday, July 20, at the Portland Art Museum. Her talk is titled “On Building a Post-Petroleum Economy through Indigenous Knowledge, Multicultural Democracy, and Renewable Energy” and is cosponsored by the Graduate School of Education and Counseling, the Portland Art Museum, and Ecotrust. The ticketed event is open to the public.

LaDuke is an Anishinaabeg (Ojibwe) enrolled member of the Mississippi Band of Anishinaabeg and serves as program director of Honor the Earth and founding director of White Earth Land Recovery Project. She has written extensively on Native American and environmental issues. Her books include “All Our Relations: Native Struggles for Land and Life” (South End Press, 1999), “Recovering the Sacred: The Power of Naming and Claiming” (South End Press, 2005), and “Last Woman Standing” (Voyageur Press, 1997). She is cochair of the Indigenous Women’s Network.

LaDuke’s work on behalf of indigenous rights has earned numerous honors including the Reebok Human Rights Award, the Ann Bancroft Award, the 1997 Ms. Woman of the Year Award, and the Global Green Award. In 1994, Time magazine nominated her as one of America’s 50 most promising leaders under the age of 40. In both 1996 and 2000, LaDuke ran for vice president on the Green Party ticket with Ralph Nader. She earned degrees from Harvard University and Antioch University.

The Indigenous Ways of Knowing project at the graduate school is funded by a grant from the Ford Foundation. The project seeks to infuse tribal cultures, histories, and worldviews into existing coursework for master’s degree programs at the school and to establish relationships with and commitments to indigenous communities.

LaDuke’s lecture is at the Portland Art Museum’s Kridel Grand Ballroom (1219 S.W. Park Ave.). Tickets are $10 in advance through the museum’s community box office, 503-226-0973.

Lewis & Clark makes EPA list of best workplaces for commuters

The College was designated last month by the Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Transportation as one of the best workplaces for commuters among colleges and universities nationwide. Lewis & Clark was identified as “an innovative leader that is contributing important commuter benefits to its employees and valuable environmental benefits to its community.” More than 600 College employees take advantage of the commuter program to help reduce traffic congestion, air pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions.

For more information about transportation options, visit the Transportation and Parking website.

College places 2nd in bike commute challenge

Lewis & Clark placed second in the Bicycle Transportation Alliance’s tenth annual Bike Commute Challenge in the category for business and nonprofits with 500 plus employees. Winners are determined by the highest percentage of employee commutes made by bicycle during a one-month period. The top ten winners include:

1. IBM, Beaverton

2. Lewis & Clark College, Portland

3. Tektronix Inc, Beaverton

4. University of Portland

5. Hewlett-Packard, Vancouver

6. Hewlett-Packard, Corvallis

7. Kaiser Permanente, Portland

8. Columbia Sportswear, Portland

9. Freightliner, Portland

10. Con-way, Inc. (formerly CNF), Portland

Any business, nonprofit organization or public agency is eligible to participate; individual cyclists can also participate on their own. For more information, call ext. 7794.

Science research takes center stage

Nearly 40 selected science students who are spending the summer conducting research in collaboration with faculty members as part of the John S. Rogers Science Research Program will discuss their research in fields including physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and computer science during a series of brown bag talks in Olin 204.

The John S. Rogers Science Research Program promotes collaborative research in the mathematical and natural sciences and provides the framework and financing for more than a dozen student-faculty research projects each summer.

Wednesday, July 12, 12:30 p.m.

“Pulse Sequence Development for Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy.” Eric Gerwick ’07 will discuss his research into nuclear magnetic resonance spectrosophy. Faculty research collaborator: Niko Loening, assistant professor of chemistry.

“CNTF Secretion: Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms.” Joseph Bae ’08 and Diane Bushman B.A. ’06 will discuss their research into understanding the role of a unique secreted protein, ciliary neurotrophic factor, in cell-to-cell communication. Faculty research collaborator: Gary Reiness, professor of biology.

Wednesday, July 19, 12:30 p.m.

“Impact of extra-fluvial events on river valley evolution.” Scott Anderson ’08 will discuss his research into the impact of channel-invading lava flows and large, valley wall landslides on channel evolution in the semi-arid interior of the Pacific Northwest. Faculty research collaborator: Liz Safran, assistant professor of geological science.

Wednesday, July 26, 12:30 p.m.

“Network security and Internet research.” John Charnas ’07, Alex Hickman ’07, and Damon Tyman ’07, and Chris Allick B.A. ’06, will discuss their research into Internet security issues, including system performance and robustness. Faculty research collaborator: Jens Mache, associate professor of computer science.

“Studies in the Characterization and Control of Chaos, with particular applications to One-Dimensional Fluid Flow systems.” Andrew Halmstad ’07 and Kjell Schroder ’08 will discuss their research into controlling chaos, which reestablishes periodic flow using small perturbations. Their research seeks to characterize the strength of the chaos in flow and vortex patterns and to simulate their evolution. Faculty research collaborator: Tom Olsen, associate professor of physics.

Goldwater award goes to women in math and science

Jessica Minnier ’07, a math major, and Erin Currie ’07, a double major in biochemistry and biology, each received a 2006 Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship. The students are two of 323 students nationwide to receive the $7,500 award. Since 1995, more than a dozen Lewis & Clark students have been named Goldwater scholars.

Jessica Minnier says receiving the scholarship meant she had “helped to show what an excellent math department we have at Lewis & Clark.” She says, “The award will give me confidence when striving toward my goals as it will remind me that I’m not the only one who believes I can succeed.”

Erin Currie spends 20 hours a week in the lab during the school year and is there fulltime during the summer. “I love science and I truly look forward to doing research as a career,” says Currie. “The Goldwater scholarship is confirmation that somebody out there believes in me.” Because Lewis & Clark’s size promotes close interactions among faculty and students, Currie is thrilled that she can do research under the guidance of Greg Herman, assistant professor of biology.

The Goldwater Foundation is a federally endowed agency established in 1986. The scholarship program honors the late Sen. Barry M. Goldwater and encourages outstanding students to pursue careers in mathematics, natural sciences, and engineering fields. The foundation has awarded more than 4,800 scholarships.

New Ethnic Studies Minor

Beginning in fall 2006, the College will offer a new minor in ethnic studies that combines faculty expertise from the departments of history, communication, psychology, international affairs, sociology and anthropology, French and Hispanic studies, music, and education. Among the course choices are Race and Ethnicity in Global Perspective; Race and Ethnicity in America; Communication and Culture; Cross-Cultural Psychology; Global Inequality; The Holocaust in Comparative Perspective; Modern Cuba; Race, Culture and Power; and World Music.

According to Elliot Young, associate professor of history and director of the ethnic studies program, “The new program will allow students to examine the interrelated processes by which ideas, institutions, economic structures, and social practices concerning ethnicity have been constructed in the United States and around the globe.”

Law alumni news blog launches

The law school’s office of alumni relations has created an alumni news blog accessible via the law alumni website. Maintained by Robin Jerke, director of alumni relations, the blog includes information on upcoming events, alumni profiles, law school news, and other items of interest. Law alumni may e-mail news to: tolawnews@lclark.edu.

College’s national radio series now available online

Missed the chance to hear “Unfinished Journey: The Lewis and Clark Expedition,” the College’s national radio series produced in partnership with Oregon Public Broadcasting? The 13-part series is now available through audible.com.

“Unfinished Journey” chronicles the epic journey of discovery across an uncharted land and the journey’s enduring legacy. The series is hosted by Peter Coyote, and features Clay Jenkinson, Lewis & Clark humanities scholar in residence, as cohost. The project received funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

IT offers summer classes

Information Technology offers ongoing computer training courses. During the next five weeks, these classes are available: Introduction to Mac OS X Tiger and InDesign (three-part).

For more information, contact IT at ext. 7020.

Every building tells a story: Aubrey R. Watzek Library

Named for Portland lumber executive and philanthropist Aubrey R. Watzek, the Watzek Library opened in 1967 and was renovated in 1994-95 to more than twice its previous size. In designing the renovation, architect Thomas Hacker retained important elements of Paul Thiry’s original design, highlighting the library’s strategic location on campus with window expanses overlooking surrounding trees. The new design also enhanced the library’s central educational role with space that welcomes students and faculty and provides for the library’s collections, equipment, and study areas.

The central space of the Watzek Library is the Monroe A. Jubitz Atrium, named for a College benefactor and longtime trustee and life trustee. The large reading room in the south wing is named for James E. and Jane T. Bryson. Jane Templeton Bryson, for whose family Templeton Student Center is named, is a life trustee. Also in the south wing, two large halls are named to honor foundation donations: the lower level for the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, and the upper level for the Meyer Memorial Trust.

Additional spaces in the library include the Dr. Robert B. Pamplin Jr. Society of Fellows Room; the Ann J. Swindells Seminar Room, named for a life trustee; the Claude and Louise Rosenberg Director’s Office Suite, named for the parents of an alumnus; and the Christopher E. Jay ’72 New Book Lounge. An Information Technology classroom is named for Laurence Whittemore, parent of an alumna.

The Lewis and Clark Heritage Room at the center of the library houses special collections. Furnishings in the Heritage Room were the gift of the late Eldon G. Chuinard, who also donated to the College his extensive collection of materials on the Lewis and Clark Expedition. With the addition in recent years of other significant collections on Lewis and Clark, the College now holds the finest known collection of printed materials on the expedition. Also in the Heritage Room is the William Stafford collection, which includes the published works of the noted Lewis & Clark professor of English and former poet laureate of Oregon. The William Stafford Room on the upper floor contains memorabilia and writings of Stafford and is one of the many rooms designated for study in the library.

Watzek Library has more than 500 spaces for student study and an open microcomputer laboratory. Study rooms are named for the Ben B. Cheney Foundation; the Autzen Foundation; the Rose E. Tucker Charitable Trust; life trustee Elizabeth “Becky” Johnson; life trustee Robert H. McCall and Carol McCall, parents of an alumna; and Donald Leonard, a friend of the College. Scores of library carrels and study tables carry the names of parent donors.

The Office of Information Technology is located in the library, and the College’s Ronna and Eric Hoffman Gallery of Contemporary Art occupies the ground floor of the south wing addition. The gallery is named for life trustee Ronna Hoffman and her husband, Eric Hoffman.

Historical snapshot

In 2005, Roberts Residence Hall earns a LEED v2 Silver certification by the U.S. Green Building Council. Lewis & Clark uses LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, as a guide to pursue the most cost-effective, environmentally friendly and sustainable building strategies. View more College milestones online.

People News

New faces on campus

Several new faces have joined the Lewis & Clark community recently including Craig Beebe, administrative coordinator, College Outdoors; Maya Crawford, public interest law coordinator, Career Services, law school; Noah Kersey, administrative specialist, public affairs and communications, Institutional Advancement; Deanna Oothoudt, administrative coordinator, public affairs and communications, Institutional Advancement; Krishnan Ranjani, administrative specialist, foreign languages; Sarah Wells, assistant manager, bookstore, Fir Acres campus; and Matthew West, network and systems administrator, foreign languages.

Published, presented, honors, and achievements

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

Mark Dahl, assistant director for systems and access services Watzek Library, attended the Frye Leadership Institute in June. The purpose of the intensive, two-week residential program is to develop creative leaders to guide and transform academic information services for higher education. Dahl was nominated by Dean Julio de Paula and was selected in a national competition for this year’s participants in which only 18 percent of applicants were selected. In addition, Dahl received a Mellon scholarship to cover full expenses for the program.

Dahl also published a book titled “Digital Libraries: Integrating Content & Systems” (Chandos, 2006) with coauthors Michael Spalti of Willamette University and Kyle Banerjee of the Oregon State Library.

Donna Seifer, instructor in Russian, received a Fulbright-Hays Fellowship to participate in the American Councils 2006 Summer Russian Teachers Program at Moscow State University, June 15 through August 16. She will attend seminars in Russian language, literature and culture, developing curriculum materials, and continuing research in Russian cinema.

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

Upcoming

Visit the campus Web calendar for events coming up in July and August.

About Campus Connections

Campus Connections is published every other week on the Web for the faculty and staff of Lewis & Clark College during the academic year. Campus Connections is published monthly during the summer.

Next issue publishes on:
August 7
September 11
September 25
October 9

News items should be sent to the Office of Public Affairs and Communications by noon each Wednesday prior to publication.

Submit your information now: connect@lclark.edu

For more information, contact Tania Thompson, senior communications officer, at 503-768-7961 or taniat@lclark.edu,
or
Vanessa Fawbush, communications officer, at 503-768-7992 or fawbush@lclark.edu.