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College of Liberal Arts & Sciences |
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Volume 5, No. 3 | March 2010 Sharing Our Success
Dear CLAS Alumni & Friends, Welcome to Portland State University's College of Liberal Arts & Sciences eNewsletter. From Fulbright Scholars to ground-breaking research, each eNewsletter brings you stories about the College's students and faculty. Interested in continuing your education? With 26 departments and numerous programs, there is always an interesting lecture or event taking place in the College. You can read about opportunities like these in the Events & Announcements section of each eNewsletter. We hope to see you on campus soon! Donors Key to Dean's Scholars Success
With the cost of higher education rising everywhere, scholarships play an increasingly critical role in assuring access to all students. Our Dean's Fund for Excellence donors provide important student support. Last fall, CLAS launched the Dean's Scholars program. This group of high-achieving and talented students took a break from their demanding schedules to meet Dean Kaiser and swap stories. Chau Le, a freshman majoring in Foreign Languages, summed up the shared sentiment, "It's because of this scholarship that instead of balancing both work and school, I can concentrate on my studies wholeheartedly." Students Win Top Honors for Green Publishing
Two Ooligan Press publishing graduate students have won top green honors for their book Rethinking Paper and Ink: The Sustainable Publishing Revolution at Bookbuilders West's 39th Annual Book Show. Rethinking Paper & Ink is an examination of sustainable practices within the publishing industry. It was written by by Melissa Brumer and Janine Eckhart, who organized Ooligan's Sustainability Workgroup and the OpenBook Series. "The goal of the OpenBook Series," explains Natalie Guidry, current Sustainability workgroup co-manager, "is not only to produce books as sustainably as we can, but also to share our decisions with our readers and explain the impacts of our decisions." Rethinking Paper & Ink is available for free in PDF format online. Click on the links to learn more about Ooligan Press and its OpenBook Series. The Future for Genetically Modified Crops...
Biology Professor Lisa Weasel spoke to audiences around the globe about the future of Genetically Modified Crops. Listen to Professor Weasel on PRI's The World as she discusses India.s recent decision to reject genetically modified eggplant and the impact this has on the future of GM crops in India and elsewhere. Professor Weasel's book Food Fray: Inside the Controversy Over Genetically Modified Food was published last year and selected as the 2009 Green Book Festival winner. Professor Weasel's book Food Fray: Inside the Controversy Over Genetically Modified Food won the 2009 Green Book Festival award. You can read more about the book and her research here. Revitalizing American Indian Connections with Ancestral Lands
For 70 years the Nevada Test and Training Range's three million acres were closed to public access, including the multiple Native American nations that consider them to be part of their ancestral territory. Now, PSU's Assistant Professor of Anthropology Jeremy Spoon will collaborate with tribal representatives to reconnect with the landscape inside the NTTR. Funded by the Department of Defense, the Stonewall Mountain Ethnographic Project will collect ethnographic information about Native Americans' relationships with the NTTR's landscapes. Dr. Spoon and his tribal collaborators will use the research to create a film illustrating those relationships for use as an educational tool for federal land managers, public educators, affiliated American Indian nations, and the general public. You can read more about this project and other related projects (and see more photos of the Great Basin) on his website. CLAS Awards & Announcements
Mark your calendars for Friday, April 16th and join Portland State University's Women's Studies Department as it presents its 1st Annual Feminist Pedagogy, Diversity, and Social Justice Education Symposium. From interrupting sexism to race relations in the classroom, the symposium offers participants a diverse selection of workshops. Open to the public and all students, check out the Department's website for more details.
The National Society of Physics Students (NSPS) has recognized The PSU Physics Society as an outstanding chapter. According to the national office, the Portland Chapter is the "embodiment of the phrase 'Hit the ground running'." It has "seized all aspects of what NSPS represents- interaction among each other, outreach to the community, and involvement in national meetings." Read more about the society and its activities here.
English faculty Debra Gwartney's gripping memoir, Live Through This: A Mother's Memoir of Runaway Daughters and Reclaimed Love, is nominated for a prestigious National Book Critics Circle Award in autobiography. Read NBCC board member Karen Long's thoughtful review of the Live Through This on the organization's blog Critical Mass and watch the author discuss her book here.
Do plants contribute to the high levels of methane in our atmosphere? New research by a team of PSU Atmospheric Scientists, led by Assistant Professor of Physics Andrew Rice, suggests that trees act like chimneys, moving methane gas produced by soil microbes up through roots, stems and leaves - accounting for up to 10% of methane emissions globally! You can read more about their findings in the Naturenews.com article Trees spit out gas from soil microbes.
This Thursday, March 18th, the Department of Physics presents its 5th Annual Gurevitch Lecture. Learn about the Charge-Coupled Device (CCD) from the 2009 Nobel Prize winner George E. Smith in his lecture "The Invention and Early History of the CCD". The lectures takes place from 5:00pm - 6:00pm in Hoffman Hall on the PSU Campus. It is free and open to the public.
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