January/February 2000   

Dear Colleagues,

Our college has several new beginnings to celebrate at the start of the New Millennium. Our Department of Foreign Languages and School of Music and Theatre Arts begin the year in their new quarters in the beautifully renovated Thompson Hall and expanded Kimbrough Hall. The College also begins the year with its strategic plan in place. The plan, which features our mission statement and a broad-based set of goals and objectives, was completed by our Steering Committee with the input of the faculty, students, and administrators of our college in mid-December. Our next step is to develop, during the spring semester, implementation strategies for the goals and objectives named; a plan for involving our college community in this next step will be announced by the end of January.

I hope that you will take the time to read about the many achievements of our faculty, students, and alumni reported here. I think you will agree with me that the accomplishments described here demonstrate our collective commitment to the research and outreach mission of WSU and our national and international leadership in professional, academic, state, and federal organizations. We inspire this dedication in our students as well, as you will learn from the alumni achievement featured in this issue of the Chronicle.

Best wishes for a productive spring semester to all of you.

Barbara Couture
Dean, College of Liberal Arts

James Short (Sociology, Emeritus) was appointed to the Academic Advisory Council of the National Campaign Against Youth Violence (a White House initiative that came out of a "summit" in May 1999). The first Council meeting will be at Harvard University's JFK School of Government this month.

Carol Ivory (Fine Arts) was elected vice president (Americas) of the Pacific Arts Association. With the vp's from Europe and the Pacific Islands, she will coordinate work of the association. In the fall, she attended PAA's Festschrift at the Field Museum in Chicago to present a paper, "Marquesan Art at the Millennium." She continues her service on the advisory council of Pa'evi'i, Centre de Documentation des Marquises, in the Marqueses Islands.

Faith Lutze (Criminal Justice/Political Science) and Nicholas Lovrich (Political Science) have been awarded a $62,041 grant from the National Institute of Justice for a project that will assess the influence of Neighborhood-Based Supervision (NBS) on the success rate of different types of offenders (drug, property, violent). They will study how offenders under NBS are supervised, what services are provided to NBS offenders, and how the recidivism rates of NBS offenders compares to that of traditionally supervised offenders. This study will provide the Department of Corrections with baseline data and will be useful to other state agencies who may be pursuing similar types of community supervision. Peggy Smith, manager of the Planning and Research Section of the Washington DOC, is assisting.

Peter Burke (Sociology) has been elected as chair of the Social Psychology Section of the American Sociological Association.

Bill Condon (Writing Program, English) has been elected to the Executive Board of the Council of Writing Program Administrators, the national organization for WPA's.

Roberta Kelly (Communication) and Cornell Clayton (Political Science) were among five inducted as honorary members of the Golden Key National Honor Society-WSU Chapter in November. Students select honorary members based on their interest in developing higher education, impact on scholarly activity and touching the lives of students.

Don Dillman (Sociology) will make a presentation at the U.S. Bureau of the Census, in February, as part of their Millennium Speaker Series. He served four years as the Bureau's senior survey methodologist.

Speech and Hearing Sciences faculty presented poster sessions at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Annual Convention in San Francisco. Cyndy Coleman, Leslie Power, and Linda Vogel presented on the benefits of our hospital-based clinical preceptor program. Nancy Vaughan previewed interactive software for virtual audiometric instrumentation. Ella Inglebret and former students Angie Homer and Erin Benateau presented on a screening tool used with limited-English-proficient students and dynamic assessment with Native American children.

Marc Boone (Fine Arts) had a solo show of 12 new works at the J. Crist Gallery in Boise last fall.

The Women's Resource Center was named one of nine regional sites for the National Education for Women's Leadership Development Network. The program addresses the under-representation of women in politics by educating and empowering the next generation of women leaders. Included are a summer institute; interaction with politicians, policymakers and educators; and skill-building workshops. WRC will partner with the Coalition for Women Students, the Thomas S. Foley Institute and the Women's Studies Program.

An article on the US war on drugs in the Atlantic Business Chronicle quotes Martha Cottam (Political Science): "I think only the most optimistic officials would assert that the drug war is a success..."

Vicki Getz (Sociology, graduate student) was awarded a Rotary International scholarship to do research in Kerala, India. She will spend a year conducting gender analyses of political participation in economic and environmental development policy.

Richard Hines (History, graduate student) and Jeff Sellen (Center for Environmental Education) have been working on a World Civilizations Web site so that World Civ. 110 and 111 can be offered through the Extended Degree Program. These Web-based courses will replace the correspondence course. Not only will the textbook be online, but students will complete all of their work through the Web using SALC's Speakeasy Café. Recently, Web Guide Magazine selected the World Civilization site as one of their top 100 Web sites for 1999 and WebFeet: The Internet Traveler's Desk Reference called it "outstanding." Originally developed by Richard Hooker, the course sites are at www.wsu.edu/~dee/110/110SCHED.HTM and www.wsu.edu/~dee/111/111SCHED.HTM.
The World Civ web page is at www.wsu.edu/~wldciv/.

This Fierce Geography, a new anthology of poems by Alex Kuo (English and Comparative American Cultures), was reviewed by noted American poet Carolyn Kizer, who commented: "... a poet like Alex Kuo, who possesses a highly developed moral sense and a bitter honesty, is rare at anytime, and especially in this time. We need him."

The Rocky Mountain Review, the journal of the Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association, whose secretariat here at WSU is split between Foreign Languages and English, has received the runner-up Phoenix Award for rejuvenation of a scholarly journal. Congratulations to Joan Grenier-Winther, executive director of RMMLA, and editors Rachel Halverson, Ana Maria Rodriguez-Vivaldi (all Foreign Languages) and Michael Delahoyde (English) "who have created an exciting journal out of a rather stodgy one."

Last July the Gurney Fund for Eating Disorders Education and Prevention was established at WSU Vancouver by George Gillin memory of his wife, "Gurney," who died of anorexia nervosa. The fund will promote prevention and treatment of eating disorders in the Vancouver area. Lori Irving (Psychology, Vancouver) administers the fund.

In December, Eugene Rosa (Sociology) gave an invited lecture, "Programming Your VCR and Other Technological Choices" at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, DC. His was one of the series "Science and the Human Side of Environmental Decisions." Rosa was elected chair of the Social, Economic, and Political Sciences section of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

In November, Bill Lipe (Anthropology) completed a term as chair of the Nominating Committee of the Society for American Archaeology (SAA),the principal scholarly and professional organization focused on the archaeology of the Americas.

In October, E. San Juan, Jr. (Comparative American Cultures) was keynote speaker at the Y2K Conference at Reno, sponsored by the University of Nevada Department of Sociology and the journal Nature, Society and Thought published by the University of Minnesota. He also chaired a session on Asian Pacific Culture at the American Studies Association Conference in Montreal in October and spoke on a panel on Multicultural Literature at the Modern Language Association Convention in December, in Chicago.

Jana Argersinger (English), associate editor of ESQ: A Journal of the American Renaissance and Poe Studies/Dark Romanticism, is secretary/treasurer for a national group called the Council of Editors of Learned Journals.

Sue McLeod (English) has been invited to speak at an invitation-only symposium on effective communication for business and academic leaders at Bernard L. Schwartz Communication Institute at Baruch College, CUNY.

Steven Stehr (Political Science) spent a week in Kiev, Ukraine, to develop a comparative research project on the topic of citizen response and disaster preparedness. His trip was financed by a grant from the National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences.

Mary Wack (English) has been named interim dean of the Honors College to replace Jane Lawrence, who is leaving for the University of Vermont.

Peter Chilson's (English) essay on Wole Soyinka, a Nigerian dramatist, author, human rights activist and Nobel prize winner, which was published in the October issue of Ascent, has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

Rachel Halverson's (Foreign Languages) article "Unifying the Self: Günter de Bruyn's Autobiographical Response to Post-Unification Germany" will be in the refereed, on-line journal glossen for January.

Ella Inglebret (Speech and Hearing Sciences) co-authored a chapter, "Tribal Colleges," in the book Community Colleges for Women and Minorities: Enabling Access to the Baccalaureate published by Garland.

Gail Chermak (Speech and Hearing Sciences) co-authored an article, "Implications from factor analysis for central auditory processing disorders," in the December issue of the American Journal of Audiology.

An article by Peter Burke and Jan Stets (both Sociology) entitled "Trust and Commitment in an Identity Verification Context" appeared in the December issue of Social Psychology Quarterly.

A chapter by Carol Ivory (Fine Arts), "Art, Tourism, and Cultural Revival in the Marquesas Islands," was published this year in Unpacking Culture: Art and Commodity in Colonial and Postcolonial Worlds by UC Press.

The John Wiley Company published Mail and Internet Surveys: The Tailored Design Method, by Don Dillman (Sociology). It is the second edition of his 1978 book, Mail and Telephone Surveys: The Total Design Method.

The latest Comparative American Cultures monographs to be published are: "Culture and Globalization" by Sam Noumoff, McGill University; "Women, Work, and Globalization in Late 20th Century Capitalism" by Evelyn Hu-DeHart, who was one of the keynote speakers at the CLA Conference in November, University of Colorado, Boulder; and "American Writers and the Ideology of Empire: the U.S. and Mexico, 1880-1930" by Gilbert Gonzalez, University of California, Irvine.

Jan. 10-28  "Scraps," Exhibit, Phuong Nguyen, WSU Fine Arts faculty, CUB Gallery.

Jan. 14 Mini Thompson Open House, self-guided tours, 1-4 p.m. Cookies outside Rm 110.

Jan. 14 Welcome, Farewell Reception for Mary Wack and Jane Lawrence, Avery, Bundy Reading Room, 1-3 p.m.

Jan. 18 Seminar "Agriculture and the Politics of Hunger in North Korea," Randall Ireson, American Friends Service Committee, sponsors: Foley Institute, et al, Johnson Hall Annex C 1 07, 3 p.m.

Feb. 1 New Music Festival: Student Compositions, Bryan Hall Theatre, 11:10 a.m.

Feb. 1 New Music Festival: Faculty Compositions, Bryan Hall Theatre, 8:00 p.m.

Feb. 3 New Music Festival: Guest Composer, Bryan Hall Theatre, 8:00 p.m.

Feb. 8 Jazz Concert, Bryan Hall Theatre, 8:00 p.m.

Feb. 10 Orchestra, Bryan Hall Theatre, 8:00 p.m.

Feb. 10-12 *for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow isn't enuf, Daggy Hall, 8:00 p.m.

Feb. 13 Crimson Company Free Show, Gladish Auditorium, 7:00 p.m.

Feb. 15 Wind Symphony/Symphonic Band, Bryan Hall Theatre, 8:00 p.m.

Mark April 21 for the Murrow Symposium. You won't want to miss this year's speaker!

Miles Pepper ('94 Master's in Fine Arts) has a new stainless steel, aluminum and brass sculpture, which he calls "Morphauna," at the north entrance to the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. As the sculpture spins in the breeze, its parts, which look like fish tails, bird wings and tusks, create fleeting images of fauna. Pepper lives in Pullman and received a $25,000 grant from the Seattle Public Utilities for Arts Fund.

The School of Music and Theatre Arts is BACK IN KIMBROUGH! We heard a "Yahoo!" Classes began in Kimbrough classrooms on Monday just like everywhere else. Faculty and staff are very excited about the move and are sorting and putting away. New locations for faculty, staff and TA offices are posted in the main lobby. New School offices are located in the old music library area. The move from their temporary home in Kruegel went smoothly, and they're glad to be home. No music facilities remain in Kruegel.

The Department of Foreign Languages has also moved-from quarters in McAllister back to remodeled Thompson Hall. The department office is in the old location, room 110. Faculty and staff phone and office numbers are the same as listed in current WSU University Directory. An informal open house is planned for Friday, Jan. 14,1-4 p.m.

The refurbished Thompson Hall space for the Dean's Office will not be complete until late February. Their move will follow.

The Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program was launched at WSU this fall by Steve Burkett (Sociology), who is the program director. The program encourages and prepares low-income, first generation college students and students from underrepresented groups for eventual doctoral study. McNair Scholars do research with faculty mentors and receive help preparing for GRE exams and applying to graduate schools. The program is funded by the U.S. Department of Education for $190,000 per year for five years. McNair, an African American and physics Ph.D., was a Challenger astronaut and died in the 1986 explosion of the space shuttle.

Twelve of the first group of 20 WSU McNair Scholars are from the CLA. They are current juniors and seniors: Patricia Acevedo, Sunnyside,Psychology, Criminal Justice; Luzviminda Carpenter, Spokane, English Education; Cicely Clinkenbeard, Okanogan, Communication/Advertising, Computer Imaging; Jose Garcia, Moses Lake, Foreign Languages; David Gutiérrez, Yakima, Comparative American Cultures; Jackie Long, Chehalis, Speech and Hearing Sciences; Cecilia Martinez, Yakima, Political Science, Comparative American Cultures; Jacqueline Martinez, Yakima, Women's Studies, Comparative American Cultures; Erica Matthews, Seattle, Anthropology; Alma Montes de Oca, Yakima, Comparative American Cultures; Daylashunta Randolph, Kent, Psychology; and Freedom Siyam, Seattle, History, Comparative American Cultures. Visit <www.wsu.edu/~mcnair> or call 335-7702 for more information.