Student Newspaper Wins Top Awards

The Willamette University student newspaper, the Collegian, won the prestigious award for General Excellence in the Collegiate Newspaper Contest. The competition was sponsored by the Oregon Newspaper Publishing Association.

The Collegian also won awards in the following categories:

Best Writing, Tatiana Mac
“NY Times’ assoc. editor reveals secrets, protects civil liberties”
“Explore the unexpected”
“Blind grading ensures objectivity”
http://www.willamettecollegian.com/?s=tatiana+mac&submit=search

Best News Story, Lauren Gold
“Students mourn sudden death of Kaneko cook”
http://www.willamettecollegian.com/2007/12/05/students-mourn-sudden-death-of-kaneko-cook/

Best Editorial, Collegian Editorial Board
“The cost of education”
http://www.willamettecollegian.com/2008/01/23/the-cost-of-education/

Best Columnist, Tom Ackerman
Opinions section
http://www.willamettecollegian.com/?s=tom+ackerman&submit=search

Best Sports Photo, Stephen Scott
Photo of Willamette Rugby Club

Best Cartooning, Patrick Willgohs

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Willamette University Honors the Class of 2008

Willamette University will bid adieu to the Class of 2008 in four commencement ceremonies Sunday, May 11.

The College of Liberal Arts commencement begins at 3 p.m. on The Quad. The Atkinson Graduate School of Management ceremony is at 9:30 a.m. in Hudson Hall, and the College of Law commencement is at 11:30 a.m. on The Quad. The School of Education ceremony is at 11 a.m. in Smith Auditorium.

The College of Liberal Arts will honor 500 students with bachelor’s degrees. The College of Law will award 114 JD and LLM degrees, and the School of Education will award 101 MAT degrees. Atkinson will recognize 47 early career MBA graduates (18 professional MBA graduates were honored in January).

Helen Vendler, the A. Kingsley Porter University Professor at Harvard and a well-recognized poetry critic, will receive an honorary doctor of humane letters and deliver the CLA commencement address. The Honorable Wallace P. Carson Jr., former Chief Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court and a 1962 College of Law graduate, will receive an honorary doctor of laws.

Oregon Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul DeMuniz, a 1975 College of Law graduate, will deliver the law commencement address, and Jack McGowan, recently retired executive director of SOLV, will speak at the Atkinson ceremony.

For more information on Willamette’s commencement activities, go to www.willamette.edu/events/commencement/.

Update: Jonathan Kozol, a longtime educator and social justice advocate who was scheduled to receive an honorary degree and speak at the School of Education commencement, has canceled his appearance due to medical reasons. The School of Education speaker will be Dean Nakanishi '98, MAT'00, who teaches in a special education academy near Seattle and has researched and lectured on the history of Salem Japanese-American students sent to internment camps during World War II.

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University Hosts Urban Earth, Art and Music Festival

The 10th annual Wulapalooza, Willamette University’s free music, art and Earth festival, will be held Saturday, April 26, on Brown Field.

Associated Students of Willamette University present the festival, which begins at noon with the main music stage opening at 5 p.m. This year’s featured performers are Mobius Band from New York, and Portland bands The Blow, Blitzen Trapper and Panther. Other stages will feature performances from local and student-organized bands, a student art show and other activities.

Each year Wulapalooza includes a fundraiser for a local charitable foundation. This year the event will sponsor the Marion-Polk Food Share. The event is free, but canned food or monetary donations for the food share are welcome.

This year Wulapalooza celebrates its 10th anniversary. In the past decade, the event has evolved from a small festival providing a creative outlet for students on campus into a community event that brings in nationally recognized talent.

The festival seeks to provide a venue for community members to visit Willamette’s campus, familiarize themselves with student organizations and be the university’s guests for a day of music, art and entertainment.

For more information, call the Office of Student Activities at (503) 370-6463 or visit www.willamette.edu/org/wulapalooza.

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Oregon Secretary of State Presents 'Global Warming and its Impact on Oregon'

Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury, who completed a rigorous training program led by former Vice President Al Gore, will give a free presentation about issues and solutions surrounding global warming Monday, April 21, at 7:30 p.m. in Smith Auditorium at Willamette University.

Bradbury was part of a group of 50 individuals chosen to receive intensive training by Gore and a team of renowned scientists about global warming issues. Each received technical training to become experienced presenters of a version of Gore’s computer-based slide show, which became the basis of his best-selling book and documentary film, “An Inconvenient Truth.”

His Willamette visit is sponsored by Associated Students of Willamette University, Willamette Events Board and The New York Times.

“Bill Bradbury is an outstanding example of the millions of Americans who have been energized by the call to action on the climate crisis,” Gore said. “Bill will be spending the next year making presentations in and around Oregon discussing how individuals and businesses, schools and other organizations can be a major part of the solution to the growing crisis of global warming.”

Sallie Schullinger-Krause, the Oregon Environmental Council’s Global Warming Program Manager, said: “Bill Bradbury has become Oregon’s leader in global warming outreach. Not only has he tailored his presentation to include the very real effects of climate change on Oregon, but he has developed tools to help his audiences become part of the solution.”

The Oregon Environmental Council safeguards what Oregonians love about Oregon — clean air and water, an unpolluted landscape and healthy food produced by local farmers. For nearly 40 years the council has been a champion for solutions that protect the health of all Oregonians and the place they call home. Its vision for Oregon includes solving global warming, protecting children from toxins, cleaning up rivers, building sustainable economies, and ensuring healthy food and local farms. Find out more at www.oeconline.org.

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Willamette University Hawaii Club Hosts Annual Lu’au

Willamette University’s Hawaii Club will host the 19th Annual Lu’au Saturday, April 19, in Cone Field House at Sparks Athletic Center. Doors open for dinner at 5:30 p.m., followed by a show beginning at 7 p.m.

Each year, the Hawaii Club strives to recreate a piece of home in the Cone Field House and share Polynesian culture with the Salem community. The theme of this year’s event is “Mau Ke Aloha No Hawaii,” or “Forever the Love of Hawaii.” Guests will enjoy freshly made Hawaiian food, music and dance performances from across Polynesia, and an opportunity to purchase products unique to Hawaii from the Country Store.

Tickets to attend both the dinner and show are sold out. Tickets for the show only are still available for $10, or $5 for Willamette students and employees. Children younger than 7 are admitted free.

Show-only tickets are available this week at Goudy Commons from 5 to 7 p.m. or in Putnam University Center from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

For more information, contact Gordy Toyama in the Office of Multicultural Affairs at (503) 370-6265.

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Exhibition Explores Artist’s Reaction to Apartheid

An exhibition of works by South African painter and sculptor Andries Fourie, the newest member of Willamette University’s art faculty, opens April 12 and will be on display through May 11 at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art.

Andries Fourie: Recent Work will be held in the Atrium Gallery and will coincide with the senior art majors exhibition in the Melvin-Henderson-Rubio Gallery. Fourie will give a free gallery talk about his work Tuesday, April 15, at 12:30 p.m. at the museum.

“Andries Fourie is doing some of the most exciting and thought-provoking work in the region,” Museum Director John Olbrantz said.

Fourie, of Afrikaner heritage, was born and raised in South Africa and educated in California as a painter and sculptor. He uses his art to address the horrors of war and the tragedy of apartheid. The exhibition will feature a range of work from the past few years, including such powerful recent works as “Asking the Ancestors for Answers” and “Denial’s Antidote.” Fourie joined the Willamette faculty in 2006.

Andries Fouries: Recent Work is supported in part by grants from the City of Salem’s Transient Occupancy Tax and the Oregon Arts Commission.

The Hallie Ford Museum of Art is located at 700 State St. (corner of State and Cottage streets) in downtown Salem near the campus of Willamette University. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. The galleries are closed Monday. Admission is $3 for adults and $2 for seniors and students. Children younger than 12 are admitted free, and Tuesday is an admission-free day. For more information, call (503) 370-6855 or visit www.willamette.edu/museum_of_art.

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Senior Art Majors Featured at Hallie Ford Museum of Art

An exhibition featuring the work of Willamette University’s senior art and art history majors opens April 12 and continues through May 11 at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art.

The exhibition, which will be held in the Melvin Henderson-Rubio Gallery, is presented every spring at the museum. Characterized by a wide variety of styles and approaches, the exhibition includes work in a variety of media, including painting, printmaking, drawing, photography, ceramics and mixed media. In addition, the exhibition features a section devoted to senior theses in art history.

This year’s seniors from Oregon include Breanna Aldrich from Tigard; Megan Bay from McMinnville; Tatyana Drofyak from Salem; Allison Fairbanks from Salem; Katherine Gordon from Portland; Hannah Hall from Central Point; Julia Houha from Portland; Raino Isto from Myrtle Creek; Margaret James from Salem; Faith Kreskey from Reedsport; Kirsten Poulsen-House from Portland; and Lee Stromberg from Salem.

Seniors from neighboring Washington include Timothy Kohlstedt from Chewelah; Shasta Krueger from Seattle; Anna Sabo from Seattle; and Jacob Wicks from Federal Way.

Other senior art and art history majors include Max Antione from Albuquerque, N.M.; Elise Cherpin from Glendora, Calif.; Suzanne Duket from Santa Monica, Calif.; Jessica Lawrence from Boise, Idaho; Katrina Maher from Clancy, Mont.; Amanda Rose from Newman, Calif.; and Lauren Pressler from Berkeley, Calif.

The exhibition is supported in part by grants from the City of Salem’s Transient Occupancy Tax and the Oregon Arts Commission.

The Hallie Ford Museum of Art is located at 700 State St. (corner of State and Cottage streets) in downtown Salem near the campus of Willamette University. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. The galleries are closed Monday. Admission is $3 for adults and $2 for seniors and students. Children younger than 12 are admitted free, and Tuesday is an admission-free day. For more information, call (503) 370-6855 or visit www.willamette.edu/museum_of_art.

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Hip Hop Show Brings Regional Acts to Salem

The Willamette Hip Hop Congress presents its third annual concert, Conscious Overdose 2008, Saturday, April 12, at 8 p.m. at Cone Field House at Willamette University.

Gift of Gab, of the critically acclaimed Bay area group Blackalicious, will headline the show. Also performing are underground sensation Pigeon John, super DJ group Ill-Insanity, Braille Brizzy and The Garden. “This is the biggest underground hip hop show in Oregon,” said Willamette student Jason Gundlach.

The Willamette Hip Hop Congress promotes social change and cultural awareness through hip hop music.

General admission (for ages 18 and over) is $15 at the door or free with Willamette ID. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. For more information contact wuhiphopcongress@gmail.com.

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Strauss Operetta Presented at Willamette University

The Willamette University Music Department will present Die Fledermaus Friday, April 11, and Saturday, April 12, at 7:30 p.m. in Smith Auditorium. Overflowing with the infectious melodies of Vienna's "Waltz King," Johann Strauss, the comic operetta is one of the 20 most performed operas in America.

Dramatic vocal arts students will be directed by Allison Swensen-Mitchell and the orchestral accompaniment will be conducted by Willamette alumnus Pierre-Alain Chevalier. The set and lighting design has been created by Brett Popovich. The operetta will be sung in English and set in the 1920s.

"The storyline of Die Fledermaus is not to be taken seriously," Swensen-Mitchell said. "It is a farce about payback for a practical joke one friend played on another before the story even begins."

Adult/senior tickets are $7; student tickets are $3. They can be purchased at the door or at the music department Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets can also be charged by phone at (503) 370-6255.

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