FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 19, 2009

Joe Wills
530-898-4143

Museum of Anthropology Named in Honor of Professor Emerita Valene L. Smith

California State University, Chico’s long-standing Museum of Anthropology has a new name that honors the contributions of Valene L. Smith, CSU, Chico anthropology professor emerita.

The California State University Board of Trustees officially changed the name of the museum to the Valene L. Smith Museum of Anthropology at its regular meeting today, Nov. 18, in Long Beach.

Smith taught in CSU, Chico’s Department of Anthropology from 1967 to 1998. She is a pioneer in the field of anthropology and cultural tourism, serving as a six-time United States delegate to the International Geographical Union Tourism Commission and as a founding member and chair of the International Academy for the Study of Tourism and the International Commission of Anthropological and Ethnographic Sciences.

Smith has been an active supporter of the museum since its inception. She recently made a testamentary commitment to the Museum of Anthropology totaling more than $3.3 million, bringing her overall past and future financial contributions to the museum to more than $4.6 million.

A long-time Chico resident, Smith has been involved in campus and community organizations for many years. She was founding president of the Chico Museum Association and a founding member of the Enloe Hospital Foundation. She currently sits on the University Foundation Board of Governors.

Grand opening of the museum for 2010 will be held Thursday, Jan. 28, at 4 p.m. Presenting the new name of the museum and honoring Valene Smith’s contributions spanning many years will be highlights of the event.

The museum’s next exhibition will take as its topic the people of the Arctic. The title of the exhibit is “Living on Top of the World: Arctic Adaptation, Survival and Stewardship.” Through the exhibit, the museum will acknowledge the pioneering nature of Professor Smith’s work in Alaska and the field of cultural tourism.

The museum’s location is in the Meriam Library complex, next to the Turner Museum, across from the main entrance of the library itself.

The museum will be open for visitors briefly Tuesday through Friday, Dec. 15-18, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. and then re-open to the public Tuesdays–Saturdays, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. beginning Jan 12, 2010 through May 28, 2010.

The Museum of Anthropology was established in 1970 at CSU, Chico to support the Department of Anthropology’s unique and innovative museum studies training program. The museum’s mission is to promote respect and appreciation for human cultural diversity through a variety of interdisciplinary approaches. Along with its involvement in the department’s curriculum, the museum supports community education programs and an elementary school summer camp and school tours program serving more than 3,000 students.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 19, 2009

Kathleen McPartland
530-898-4260
Dee Hoffman Wills
College of Business
530-898-4255

Financial Planning Expert Discusses New Strategies After the Fall of Wall Street

The College of Business 2009 Executive Lecture Series will present financial planning expert Scott Hanson on Tuesday, Dec. 1, at 4 p.m. in Performing Arts Center 134. A College of Business alumnus of California State University, Chico, Hanson will talk about how the rules for financial planning have changed after the fall of Wall Street in 2008.

A founding principal of Hanson McClain Advisors, Inc., Hanson is a nationally known financial expert who has been identified as one of the 25 most influential people in the financial services industry (Investment Advisor magazine).

Hanson has been featured on ABC Evening News, CNN, Fox News and in Kiplinger’s, The Wall Street Journal and numerous industry publications. He and his partner (often referred to as the $50 million dollar men because of their business acumen) host a weekly radio show called “Money Matters.”

The public is welcome at this free event.

For more information, contact Dee Hoffman Wills, assistant dean, external relations, College of Business (530) 898-4255 or dhoffman-wills@csuchico.edu.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 13, 2009

Joe Wills
530-898-4143

Students Make Widespread Efforts to Gain Food Donations for the Homeless

First-year students at California State University, Chico have teamed up with health and community services majors to sponsor a significant canned food drive and other events to benefit the homeless in the Chico community.

The events will culminate in the delivery of food to the Jesus Center Monday, Nov. 16. Students are working toward contributing more than 20,000 cans of food to the Jesus Center, where it then can be redistributed as needed to the Torres Shelter, Salvation Army and other organizations assisting the needy.

Health and Community Services professor Holly Nevarez, along with approximately 70 students enrolled in her Community Health course (HCSV 321), will count and sort the food Monday between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

Nevarez said it was the third year her class had been engaged in a canned food drive and other projects to help the community.

She said topping 20,000 cans of donated food was the equivalent of approximately four to five months of food for the Jesus Center.

Several hundred first-year students enrolled in Introduction to University Life (UNIV 101) have taken a lead role in the community service efforts after reading “The Soloist,” this year’s CSU, Chico Book in Common that raises issues about the plight of the homeless and mentally ill. Students in HCSV 321 and many other classes on campus have also read the book.

First-year students and the Community Health students have organized the following events over the past two weeks to raise funds and food donations:

• A campus hip-hop and rap concert where the admittance charge was a minimum of three cans of food

• Tables at Safeway and Trader Joe’s encouraging shoppers to donate canned food

• A volleyball tournament in Acker Gym where competing student teams collected canned food

• A pancake breakfast at Trinity United Methodist seeking cash donations and canned food from those served

• A drive-through donation effort at the Jesus Center

• Discounted prices for customers bringing in cans of food at Trucker, Cal Skate and other Chico-area businesses

• Tabling by Glenn and Siskiyou Halls on campus

• Partnering with some Chico neighborhoods to solicit canned food donations

Five campus student organizations also participated in events to get food donations to aid the homeless: the Math Club, the Health Professionals Association, the Southeast Asian Student Association, Lambda Theta Nu sorority and Gamma Zeta Alpha fraternity.

Nevarez said community health students are also conducting assemblies at six area elementary schools to discuss the impact of hunger on people’s health and well-being and promote compassion for the homeless.

Nevarez said many HCSV 321 students have changed their minds about people who are homeless since being actively engaged in this year’s efforts. “A lot of stereotypes they held have changed,” she said. “They realize it’s more complicated than a homeless person simply needing to go out and get a job.”

Mackenzie Morris, a third-year student and peer mentor working with the Univ. 101 class, said the canned food drive and other projects have been an “eye-opener” to CSU, Chico first-year students. “It’s also been a great way for them to learn about our community,” she said.

The Peer Mentor program, a part of the CSU, Chico’s First Year Experience program, has successful, older students work with first-year students to help them make the transition to university life.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 10, 2009

Kathleen McPartland
530-898-4260

Colloquium Will Feature Economist Speaking on ‘What Went Wrong: An Idiosyncratic Perspective on the Economy and Economics’

The California State University, Chico College of Behavioral and Social Sciences (BSS) Faculty Colloquium this year will honor economist Michael Perelman, author of “The Confiscation of American Prosperity: From Right-Wing Extremism and Economic Ideology to the Next Great Depression” (Palgrave MacMillan, 2007).

The title of Perelman’s talk is “What Went Wrong: An Idiosyncratic Perspective on the Economy and Economics.” In it, he will discuss the path by which he was able to understand the current economic crisis that was about to unfold before it was officially named.

The colloquium, to be held on Tuesday, Dec. 8, is a yearly event that recognizes a BSS faculty member who has received national attention for his or her scholarship. The event begins with a poster session highlighting faculty scholarship at 5:30 p.m. in the Bell Memorial Union Auditorium. Perelman’s keynote presentation will begin at 6:30 p.m.

Perelman teaches economics at California State University, Chico. He has published 19 books, including “The Confiscation of American Prosperity,” “Railroading Economics,” “Manufacturing Discontent,” “The Perverse Economy,” and “The Invention of Capitalism.”

The colloquium is free and open to the community.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 10, 2009

Kathleen McPartland
530-898-4260

Chico State’s Ballroom Dance Night Will Give Dancers ‘A Night in the Spotlight’

Ballroom Dance Night at California State University, Chico will be held on Wednesday, Dec. 2, 7–10 p.m. in Shurmer Gym. The theme is “A Night in the Spotlight: Let Your Light Shine.”

Ballroom Dance Night has been a tradition for more than 50 years. Dancers from the university community, Butte College and the larger community are welcome. The cost is $6 for students and $7 for community members, and tickets are sold at the door.

“Ballroom Dance Night started with coach Willie Simmons in the early 1960s,” said Patricia Smiley, director of the dance program at CSU, Chico. “At that time, records provided the music. Today, a professional DJ provides the dancers with a wide variety of music. There is no drinking allowed, and the students have attended classes, know how to dance and come dressed in their best.”

The evening includes a dance program, decorations and free raffle prizes. Juices and snacks are provided.

“Even if you can’t dance,” said Smiley, “come watch the dancers twirl, turn and float across the gym dance floor.”

For more information call Smiley at 530-898-6120 or the Department of Kinesiology at 530-898-6373.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 10, 2009

Kathleen McPartland
530-898-4260
Tom Imhoff, Philosophy
530-898-4743

The State of Health Care Reform in America: Two Events Scheduled for Coming Week

The California State University, Chico Peace Institute is offering the second of its three-part series on health care reform this coming Thursday, Nov. 12, at 7:30–9:30 p.m. in Ayres 120. Bill Moyer’s Journal Interview of Wendell Potter from July 10, 2009 will be shown and a discussion will follow. The event is free and open to the public.

Potter, a former public relations front person for Cigna has now became a whistleblower, testifying before Congressional committees and appearing for numerous interviews on TV about the abuses of the health insurance industry. Once hired by Cigna to discredit Michael Moore and “Sicko,” he recently stated on TV that he agrees with most of the content in the documentary. He has become one of the strongest advocates for health reform in America.

The final event in the series, “Wellness vs. Sickness—Do We Need a New Paradigm?” will be held on Monday, Nov. 16, 7:30-9:30 p.m. in PAC 135. A panel of health care providers will discuss how preventative care, healthy life style, and alternative and collaborative health services can help keep us well, reduce illness and contribute significantly to health care cost containment. The panel, including James Nagel, M.D.; Deborah Penner, D.C.; Regina Dagerette, Ph.D., L.Acc.; Shayla Waddell, N.D.; and Deborah Crawford, RMT, will address the question of whether the current healthcare reform measures provide for such a program, and whether we need to rethink what constitutes health and health care.

The first event in the series featured a viewing of Michael Moore’s documentary “Sicko.” The sponsors are planning a debate on single payer insurance in California for next spring.

The Peace Institute at CSU, Chico was founded in 2004 to address the question “What are the causes of war and the prospects for peace?” The institute is housed in the College of Humanities and Fine Arts, but its members also come from the community and the student body and the faculty at Butte College, Shasta College and CSU, Chico. For more information, call Imhoff at 530-898-4743 or e-mail him at timhoff@csuchico.edu.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 6, 2009

Joe Wills
530-898-4143
Dave Waddell
Department of Journalism
530-898-4782

The Orion Wins 11th National Pacemaker Award for Journalistic Excellence

The Orion, California State University, Chico’s student newspaper, has won the National Pacemaker Award, widely considered the highest honor in college journalism, for an 11th time.

Pacemaker winners were announced Oct. 31 at the National College Media Convention in Austin, Texas. The Orion was the only newspaper from a four-year college or university in California to win a Pacemaker this year.

At the convention, The Orion also was awarded its second Online National Pacemaker Award in three years, and its print edition placed second in the convention’s Best of Show competition.

The Orion’s 11th Pacemaker plaque was accepted by fall 2009 semester managing editor Jennifer Siino, a junior journalism major who graduated from Bella Vista High School in Fair Oaks.

In 2005, The Orion was inducted into the Associated Collegiate Press Hall of Fame for its record of Pacemaker achievements and has since continued adding to them.

“Only three times in the past 21 years has The Orion not been a Pacemaker finalist, so that’s a long period of consistent journalistic excellence that’s now headed into a third decade,” said Dave Waddell, The Orion’s faculty adviser. “It was very exciting to hear our name called again as a winner.”

The Associated Collegiate Press began the Pacemaker awards in 1927. The Orion, which was founded in 1975 and is a part of CSU, Chico’s nationally accredited Department of Journalism, won its first Pacemaker in the 1988-89 academic year. The award presented in Austin was for five issues published during the 2008-09 academic year, when Nicole Williams of Livermore and Genny McLaren of Visalia were the paper’s top editors and Dan Doxtater of Redwood City was its art director.

Judges select Pacemaker winners based on coverage and content, quality of writing and reporting, leadership on the opinion page, evidence of in-depth reporting, design, photography, art and graphics.

The Poynter Institute, a school and resource for journalists located in St. Petersburg, Fla., judged this year’s Pacemaker awards. This year’s contest attracted 228 entries from across the country, according to the Associated Collegiate Press.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 5, 2009

Joe Wills
530-898-4143
Lori Beth Way,
Department of Political Science
530-898-5737

Award-winning Expert on Men and Violence to Give Address

Jackson Katz, a ground-breaking and internationally recognized expert on men and violence, will give a talk at California State University, Chico Friday, Nov. 13, in the BMU Auditorium.

The address, “Men, Women, Sex and Violence: a Multimedia Presentation,” will be at 1:30 p.m. The talk is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Professor Lori Beth Way, Department of Political Science, at 898-5737, lway@csuchico.edu.

Katz is the founder of Northeastern University’s Mentors in Violence Program, the first large-scale effort to utilize high school, college and professional athletes to reduce men’s violence against women. Launched in 1993, the MVP program is now the largest gender violence prevention program in college and professional athletics.

In 1997, Katz started an unprecedented gender violence prevention program in the U.S. Marine Corps. In 2000-2003, he served on the U.S. Secretary of the Defense’s Task Force on Domestic Violence in the military.

Katz has created award-winning educational videos for young people, including “Wrestling with Manhood” and “Tough Guise: Violence, Media and the Crisis in Masculinity,” chosen as one of 2000’s best videos for young adults by the American Library Association.

Katz has been featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Good Morning America, the CBS Evening News, ABC News 20/20 and other programs. He is the author of “The Macho Paradox: Why Some Men Hurt Women and How All Men Can Help.” Katz will have books on sale and will be available to sign books following his address.

A former high school football player, Katz became the first man at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst to earn a minor in women’s studies. He holds a master’s degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a PhD from UCLA.

Katz’s talk is being sponsored by the Lantis University Professorship and Safe Place, a violence prevention office at CSU, Chico funded by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Katz’s visit is a part of the annual conference on fatherhood taking place Nov. 13-14 in the BMU Auditorium. For more information or to register contact the conference representative in your area: Butte County—Peggy Mitchell, Butte County Local Child Care Planning Council, 532-5707 pmitchel@bcoe.org.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 5, 2009

Joe Wills
530-898-4143

Student Volunteers Poised to Set New Records, Top $1 Million for St. Jude Children’s Hospital

California State University, Chico’s Acker Gym will be bursting with students Monday, Nov. 9, as money is raised for children’s cancer research at Up ‘til Dawn, the biggest single night of volunteer service on campus.

The event raises money for the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Last year more than 2,300 students and other campus community members filled the gym writing letters to friends and family requesting donations for the famed children’s hospital, located in Memphis, Tenn.

For four years running, CSU, Chico has been the top collegiate fund-raiser for St. Jude, and is set this year to be the first campus to go over $1 million in fund raising.

Last year CSU, Chico raised approximately $204,000, and has raised more than $880,000 for St. Jude’s over the past decade. CSU, Chico has set collegiate records for dollars raised in one year and number of letters sent out to potential donors.

In August, CSU, Chico students and advisers received awards from St. Jude for having the outstanding fund-raising event, overall program, program advisors and fund-raising total.

The ninth annual Up ‘til Dawn begins at 4 p.m. in Acker Gym. Letter-writing supplies will be available. Hollywood is the theme of this year’s event, and one of the prizes offered this year will be two tickets to a movie premiere in Hollywood.

Zach Sachs, co-director of the event with fellow CSU, Chico student Tara Razi, said volunteers are encouraged to bring a list of postal mail addresses of friends and contacts for letter-writing.

“This event is a unique opportunity for students to show their character as philanthropic individuals who can have a good time in the process,” Sachs said.

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, founded by entertainer Danny Thomas, is committed to treating all children who have cancer and other catastrophic diseases, no matter their economic situation.

For more information, contact Sachs at 925-899-0980, zsachs@mail.csuchico.edu, or Larry Bassow, Up ‘til Dawn adviser, at 530-898-5396.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 5, 2009

Kathleen McPartland
530-898-4260

Ninth Annual Adapted Physical Education Sports Day this Friday

One hundred school-aged athletes from five surrounding counties will attend the ninth annual Adapted Physical Education Sports Day held at California State University, Chico this Friday, Nov. 6. Kinesiology students will oversee events for the athletes from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm in Shurmer and Acker gymnasiums.

The Northern California Adapted Physical Education Consortium and the Department of Kinesiology host adapted PE Sports Day. It is a day of sport for individuals with disabilities, including physical and sensory disabilities such as deaf and hard of hearing, and visual impairment. Kinesiology students taking course work in adapted physical activity and outdoor education run events for the athletes.

Fifty activity stations, including the climbing wall, wheelchair specific sports, skill development games and many other fun activities make up the sporting atmosphere for the athletes.

For more information, call Rebecca Lytle, 898-4298, or Marci Pope, 898-6069, both professors in the Department of Kinesiology.

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