CSU, Chico News

An administrator from a Palestinian-founded school in Israel dedicated to peace, democracy and peaceful co-existence will speak at California State University, Chico Thursday, Sept. 27, at 8 p.m. in Harlen Adams Theatre (PAC 144).

His address, “Seeking Peace and Facing Evil,” is free and open to the public. It is sponsored by Building Bridges, CSU, Chico’s program promoting acceptance and respect for all people regardless of individual differences.

Gene Sandretto is a volunteer administrator and teacher at the Hope Flowers School in Bethlehem. He is a social worker and mediator from the Bay Area who has lived in Jerusalem and Bethlehem since 1992, working on projects of cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians.

The Hope Flowers School was started in 1984 by Hussein Ibrahim Issa, a Palestinian who had a vision of peace and mutual understanding for Jews and Palestinians. Issa died in 2000, but the school continues under direction of Issa’s widow, daughter and many volunteer teachers and assistants.

Issa lived in a refugee camp for 30 years after the 1948 war. As an obituary on the school’s Web page writes, “Despite all the circumstances of privation that he faced, Hussein did not engage in bitterness toward those around him, nor toward those whom others saw as the evil villains, the occupying Israelis. He came through his early experiences with only a genuine curiosity about these people whom until 1967 he had never even seen.”

The school began with a child care center in 1984, then added primary grades gradually after 1990. Now the school is fully licensed with 125 students in grades K-12. Classes include boys and girls and Muslims and Christians.

Among the school’s emphases are classrooms lessons with a focus on peace and democracy, from discussions on stereotyping to practicing kindness to animals; field trips to Israeli schools and shared projects with Jewish schoolchildren; and invited guest lecturers from many different countries to address the children.

Sandretto earned his B.A. and M.A. in psychology from Stanford University. He also has an M.S.W. degree from San Francisco State University. Before becoming a conflict resolution and mediation consultant, he worked for Alameda County Social Services and was a Children’s Protective Services caseworker.

The increase in Middle East violence has made the Hope Flowers School’s mission more difficult to carry out over the past year, Sandretto said. Although no children or teachers have been injured in the recent violence, the school building has sustained more than 50 bullet holes just since February, he said.

Building Bridges grew out of a CSU, Chico group of faculty, staff and students that has been meeting since August 1999 to discuss increasing tolerance and decreasing violence on campus and in the community. For more information about Building Bridges, please call 530-898-4143.

###

The student group Latinos in Technical Careers (LTC) at California State University, Chico has begun a campaign to raise money for the victims of the terrorist attacks in New York City last Tuesday, Sept. 11.

LTC members are producing bumper stickers and buttons which read “NY is U.S.” to signify the connection we all have to the people of New York and LTC’s support for them. All of the proceeds will be donated to the Red Cross for the victims in New York.

The group will have the bumper stickers and buttons daily in the Free Speech Area on campus beginning Sept. 18, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. LTC members are hoping that groups that may want to sell the items will come to their table in the Free Speech Area.

They are anticipating ordering in larger numbers as community groups take up their cause. LTC members have already gotten contributions from a variety of on- and off-campus groups, including the Associated Students, The Women’s Center, Community Action Volunteers in Education, Signs and Graphic Designs, and Buttons Plus.

Individuals who don’t make it to campus to buy buttons and stickers can make donations at both Washington Mutual branches in Chico or contribute directly to the American Red Cross:

Cause-Marketing Unit
431 18th St.
N.W., 3rd Floor
Washington D.C., 20006

“We are doing this in response to last Tuesday’s heinous acts of terrorism upon New York and the Pentagon. We wanted to find a way to support all those touched by this travesty and to show the rest of the world that we stand in unity with them,” said Brian Barrera, treasurer for LTC.

LTC is a student organization dedicated to developing the professional, social and leadership skills of its members and interacting with the surrounding community. Its members are made up of students from engineering, mathematics and the sciences.

###

California State University, Chico’s seventh annual Conference on Excellence in Learning and Teaching will be held on campus tomorrow, Sept. 20, and Friday, Sept. 21.

Among the 37 sessions for CSU, Chico faculty, staff and students to attend are trips to the university’s Chico Creek and Butte Creek ecological preserves, to explore future educational uses of the land, and a panel discussion of shared governance among faculty and administrators in the CSU.

CSU, Chico geography professors Don Holtgrieve and Mark Stemen and biology professor Paul Maslin will lead the trips to the preserves. Political science professor Paul Persons, chair of the CSU, Chico Academic Senate; David Spence, CSU executive vice chancellor; Jacquelyn Kegley, chair, Statewide Academic Senate; CSU, Chico sociology chair Kathleen Kaiser, member of the Executive Committee, Statewide Academic Senate; and CSU Trustee Debra Farar are scheduled to be on the panel for the shared governance program.

Other CELT programs tomorrow and Friday are Internet Magic: Pulling Documents Out of the Invisible Web, Service Learning on the Engaged Campus, Seven Habits of Highly Effective Smart Classroom Users, Hail and Beware: Alcohol and Sexual Behaviors of College Freshmen, and Diverse Classrooms: Strategies to Meet Students’ Learning Styles.

Another important element of the CELT conference is recognition of the outstanding teacher and adviser award recipients. Professor Russell Mills, civil engineering, is the Outstanding Teacher for 2000-2001, and professor Ernst Schoen-Rene, English, is the Outstanding Academic Adviser. On Friday at 1 p.m., both will deliver addresses in PAC 134.

The conference is a major program of the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT), which is operated by the Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. CELT is also responsible for awarding grants and sponsoring other conferences.

The mission statement of CELT is: “We recognize that teaching effectiveness is the first, minimum, and indispensable requirement for faculty on this campus. Effective teaching is inseparable from a quality learning environment. Seeking to enhance the quality of our academic environment, the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching at California State University, Chico is committed to rewarding and promoting the ability of our faculty to teach well, to finding ways to improve the learning process, and to providing support, training, and mentoring.”

For more information about the conference, check the CELT Web page at www.csuchico.edu/celt, or contact the Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at 898-6101.

###

California State University, Chico moved up two spots to third among top regional public schools in the West in U.S. News & World Report’s America’s Best Colleges 2002 rankings, which were published last week.

CSU, Chico was ranked fifth in 2001, sixth in 2000, fifth in 1999 and seventh in 1998 in the same category.

California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo and Western Washington University were ranked first and second, respectively. CSU, Chico was tied for third with California State Polytechnic University, Pomona and Humboldt State University.

U.S. News changed its terminology this year, so that “regional” universities are now referred to as “master’s” universities. The change reflects the magazine’s increased use of the Carnegie classifications published by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, which classify universities according to the type of degrees they grant. Master’s universities typically offer undergraduate- and master’s-level programs, and few doctoral programs.

Among both public and private Western master’s universities, CSU, Chico is ranked 27th in the top tier of schools, tied with Cal Poly Pomona, Humboldt State, College of Santa Fe and Marylhurst University in Oregon. Last year, CSU, Chico was in the second of four tiers of Western universities. Overall, 128 Western master’s universities were rated by U.S. News.

Private universities dominate the “best Western” list of master’s universities. Trinity University of Texas is top ranked, followed by Santa Clara University second, and Gonzaga and Loyola Marymount Universities tied for third. Along with Chico, Cal Poly Pomona and Humboldt State, the other ranked public universities are Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (5th), Western Washington (19th) and San Diego State University (32nd).

“We’re pleased that Chico has been making steady progress and has been moving higher,” said President Manuel Esteban. “It’s flattering to have the achievements of our students, faculty and staff recognized.”

U.S. News uses academic reputation, student retention, faculty resources, student selectivity, institutional financial resources, graduation rate performance and alumni giving rate as general criteria for judging schools. U.S. News has been ranking colleges and universities since 1983.

###

Magda Mueller, Ph.D., director of the German Studies Program at California State University, Chico, is one of nine recipients of an award for outstanding achievement in furthering the teaching of German in the United States. The American Association of Teachers of German (AATG) and the Goethe-Institut New York have presented the award since 1978.

Professor Mueller came to CSU, Chico in 1993. She has developed a strong German Studies Program, initiating many new activities and bringing the first Goethe Institut German language proficiency exam to Chico. The exam is a form of accreditation for the program.

Mueller organized the first German Day in 1994. The program brings 300-400 high school students and teachers to campus each spring to participate in activities related to the German language and culture. She also created the German brown bag lunch series and German film festivals.

Before coming to Chico, Mueller taught at Stanford University and Columbia University. She is a specialist on German feminist thought and on the philosophy of Ernst Bloch. She is a co-editor of German Feminist Writings (2001), co-editor of two collections of scholarly articles titled Gender Politics and Post-Communism: Reflections from Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union (1993) and Gender and Germanness: Cultural Productions of Nation (1997).

Mueller is serving as the 2001-2002 president of AATG. She is also the book review editor of the Women in German Newsletter and Online Project. She is an editorial associate of Telos: A Quarterly Journal of Critical Thought and serves on the editorial board of Die Unterrichtspraxis, a journal specializing in the teaching of German.

Mueller will receive the award at the Nov. 16 annual meeting of AATG in Washington, D.C. As part of the award, she will receive a cash prize and a certificate toward the purchase of German teaching materials.

###

Classes are set to resume and campus buildings to re-open tomorrow, Sept. 12, at California State University, Chico, following closure today in the wake of the airplane crash tragedies.

Earlier today, Governor Gray Davis ordered state buildings closed, and CSU Chancellor Charles Reed announced all CSU campuses would be closed. Reed told CSU presidents this afternoon that Wednesday classes would be in session, unless late developments necessitated a change in plans.

Most buildings on campus have been closed since noon today. Exceptions include the Bell Memorial Union, Meriam Library and the Health Center. Some campus staff remained to maintain the campus infrastructure and the health and safety of the campus community.

Housing staff have been working today to reach out to students in residence halls who may have been particularly impacted by the events. The psychological counseling staff has expanded its efforts to see students, faculty and staff, and set up a table outside the BMU for those who want to speak with a counselor.

President Manuel Esteban was in Long Beach today, to attend a meeting of the CSU Board of Trustees, which was cancelled. Scott McNall, provost and vice president of academic affairs, informed campus of the closure.

Staff from University Police, Student Activities, International Programs and other offices have offered assistance to foreign students on campus who may feel fear and anxiety over repercussions from today’s events. In an e-mail to campus this morning, McNall wrote, “It is important to remember that many people, regardless of their national origins, are deeply distressed by what has happened and are worried about the unfolding events. Many people have friends, loved ones and others who are and will be affected by what has happened. Please help everyone understand and respect differences.”

###

The Office of International Programs at California State University, Chico will host a two-week training program in “TV Broadcast Management” for 12 Russian participants beginning Saturday, Sept. 15. The program is designed to strengthen the role of independent media in Russia by increasing the effectiveness of television station management. Television is the primary source of news in Russia, but the sustainability of independent TV stations remains tenuous due to political and economic pressures.

It is hoped that increasing the management skills of the participants will result in their decreased reliance on non-advertising sources and greater independence. Participants will visit small and medium-size television stations in Chico, Sacramento, San Francisco and Redding for an intensive study of the responsibilities of TV station managers. Topics will include strategic planning, corporate accountability and control, management structure, human resource management, marketing and sales.

A variety of cultural activities designed to provide a window into American culture are also part of the program. Led by media consultant and former KHSL TV news director/manager Bruce Lang, the team of trainers includes CSU, Chico faculty members Dr. John Long, Dr. Peter Gross and Fred Thorne.

The program, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and administered by the Academy for Educational Development (AED), is designed to foster permanent, on-going relationships among professionals from CSU, Chico, Russian media managers and their U.S. counterparts.

Upon completion of the program participants will have enhanced professional skills, direct experience in an established free press and free market setting and, perhaps, a deepened commitment to the values of democracy and free market economics. Participants are available for media interviews by appointment. For more information, please contact Diana Parks, program director, at 530-898-6049.

###

David Orr, pioneer in environmental literacy, will give a public lecture, “Education and the Making of a World That Works,” on Friday, Sept. 14, 4 p.m., in Holt 170, at California State University, Chico. Orr is the author of The Nature of Design (Oxford, 2001), Earth in Mind (Island, 1994), and Ecological Literacy (SUNY Press, 1991).

Orr is professor and chair of the Environmental Studies Program at Oberlin College in Ohio. A guest of the Department of Geography and Planning, he is visiting Chico as the first Rawlins Lecturer on the environment.

“Orr is the foremost authority on education about the environment,” said Professor Mark Stemen, coordinator of CSU, Chico’s Environmental Studies Program. “Well known as an expert on global warming, he is in high demand by reporters and as a lecturer and keynote speaker across the country.”

In Earth in Mind, Orr shows academia no mercy: “Most people believe that education is good, and the more of it one has the better. The truth isÉeducation can simply equip people to be more efficient vandals of the earth.” Orr challenges universities to rethink “what institutional success means at a time when the entire human enterprise is in jeopardy.”

Orr’s lecture is part of a two-day visit that coincides with the announcement of the recent endowment of the Jack Rawlins Ecology and Conservation Awards. The awards support Orr’s visit as part of a new environmental literacy lecture series. In addition, the awards endow a new faculty position, Professor of Environmental Literacy. Roger Lederer, director of the Bidwell Environmental Institute, is the first professor to fill the position.

Stemen and Orr will conduct a special tour and formal opening of the Outdoor Classroom for K-12 students at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 15 at the Honey Run Unit of the Butte Creek Ecological Preserve. The tour will feature the field observatory and 10 field stations connected by trails. The 93-acre preserve lies along Butte Creek between the Covered Bridge and Skyway overpass.

The public is welcome at both the lecture and tour of the preserve. A book signing will follow the lecture. For more information, contact Greg Lavin, director of development, College of Behavioral and Social Sciences, 530-898-6171.

###

Greg Sarris, a distinguished writer, professor and Native American leader, will deliver the keynote address at California State University, Chico Wednesday, Sept. 19, for “Sharing Traditions: Honoring California Native Americans.”

Sarris’ address, titled “Sharing Memory,” will be in Harlen Adams Theatre starting at 7 p.m. His talk is free and open to the public.

“Sharing Traditions,” a week-long series sponsored by the Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, pays tribute to the Dorothy Morehead Hill Collection. Recently received by the university, the collection includes several thousand photos, hundreds of audio tapes and other materials studying Northern California Native American culture.

Sarris is the author of Grand Avenue, an award-winning collection of stories set in Santa Rosa he adapted for an HBO miniseries. The film, which he co-executive produced with Robert Redford, was named Best Feature Film at the American Indian Film Festival. Sarris is a consultant to the Sundance Film Festival, where he developed a summer film writing lab for American Indians.

Sarris’ other publications include Watermelon Nights and Weaving the Dream: The Story of Mabel McKay. He recently adapted Watermelon Nights for the stage and has written plays for Pieces of the Quilt, Intersection Theatre and the Mark Taper Forum. A new play, Mission Indians, will open at the Intersection Theatre in San Francisco in February 2002.

Sarris’ work largely concerns the current experiences of Northern California Native Americans. He is serving his fifth elected term as chairman of his tribe, the Federated Indians of the Graton Rancheria, formerly known as the Federated Coast Miwok. He co-authored a bill signed by President Clinton in 2000 restoring the Federated Coast Miwok as a recognized American Indian tribe.

Sarris is Fletcher Jones Professor of Creative Writing and Literature at Loyola Marymount University. Prior to that, Sarris was a professor of English at UCLA. He earned his Ph.D. in Modern Thought and Literature from Stanford University, where he received the highest award for excellence in teaching. He is co-editor of Teaching the Work of Louise Erdrich with Connie Jacobs and James Giles.

Currently, Sarris is writing a novel set in Santa Rosa and a personal history focusing on his multicultural ancestry. He is also writing and executive producing a weekly series he created for Showtime about a small California Indian tribe with a casino and the sometimes awkward relationship it has with the surrounding community.

Sarris sits on several boards, including the National Video project, Survivors’ Project and Word for Word Theatre, where he is honorary president.

Following is a list of events for “Sharing Traditions: Honoring California Native Americans”:

North American, Canadian & Australian Prints Aug. 27-Sept. 23 – Janet Turner Print Gallery 20th century examples of native imagery.

Film Showing: “Grand Avenue” Sept. 17 at 7 p.m. – Harlen Adams Theatre Showing of Sarris’ acclaimed HBO feature film.

“Pomo Basketweavers: A Tribute to Three Elders” Sept. 18 at 4 p.m. – Ayers Hall 120 Award-winning video features history, culture and basket weaving traditions of Pomo women.

Four Winds of Indian Education Charter School Sept. 20 at Noon – Free Speech Area Students demonstrate traditional California American Indian dance.

Anthropology Forum Sept. 20 at 4 p.m. – Ayres 120 California American Indian Basket Makers Association members demonstrate and discuss their art.

Writer’s Voice Sept. 20 at 7:30 p.m. o Rowland-Taylor Recital Hall Poet Janice Gould (Maidu), author of Beneath My Heart and Earthquake Weather, and recipient of a Ford Fellowship and NEA grant, reads from her work.

###

California State University, Chico’s College of Agriculture is sponsoring the Fall Festival 2001, Saturday, Oct. 6 at 4 p.m., at the University Farm off Hegan Lane.

The festivities begin with farm tours and activities for all ages. The rest of the day and evening include a wine and cheese tasting, dinner and no-host bar, DJ and dancing, and an evening program featuring scholarship recipients and honoring Hall of Honor inductees Jud Carter and Buel Mouser. A silent auction will raise money for scholarships.

Established in 1991, the festival’s initial goal was to recognize those who had significantly impacted the direction of the agricultural programs at CSU, Chico. It has since evolved to incorporate a celebration bringing students, parents, alumni, friends and supporters together. It is also an opportunity for the College of Agriculture to share with the community the many things it has to offer. This year Fall Festival coincides with the university’s Homecoming festivities.

Pre-purchased tickets are $15 general, $10 students and $5 for children under 12. Tickets are available in Chico at Diamond W Western Wear, Northern California Farm Credit, the University Farm and College of Agriculture offices, and Tri-Counties Bank on Mangrove Avenue. Other ticket locations include Tri-Counties Bank in Durham and Bucke’s Feed & Seed in Orland. Guests can purchase tickets at the door for an additional $5 per person.

For more information call Leslie Santos, 898-6343 or Desiree Gonzalez, 898-4597. Fall Festival is sponsored by the CSU, Chico College of Agriculture and Superior Ag.

###