Willamette and Oregon Council for the Humanities Offer Free Course for Low-Income Adults

The Oregon Council for Humanities has partnered with Willamette University to offer Humanity in Perspective (HIP) — a free, one-semester college-credit course in the humanities for low-income adults — in Salem this summer.

Through twice-weekly classes taught by Willamette professors, HIP aims to promote the intellectual and personal growth of students, spark their interest in civic and community life and encourage them to continue their education. The program began in 2001 in Portland through a partnership with Reed College, where it has provided almost 200 economically and educationally disadvantaged individuals the opportunity to study the humanities in a college-level course.

The course in Salem begins May 19, and classes will meet twice weekly until August on the Willamette campus. HIP students receive free tuition, books and other course materials; free child care during class; free bus tickets for transportation to and from class; and transferable college credit from Willamette University.

Applicants must be 18 years of age or older, able to speak and write fluently in English, and willing to commit to attending class two evenings per week during the four-month program. Applicants should not already have a bachelor’s degree and are not required to have a high school diploma or GED.

Applications for HIP in Salem should be submitted by Friday, March 13. Applications are available for download on the OCH website (www.oregonhum.org) or by request from Sarah Van Winkle, OCH Program Coordinator, at svanwinkle@oregonhum.org or (503) 241-0543, ext. 112.

The Oregon Council for the Humanities (813 SW Alder St, #702, Portland, OR 97205) is an independent, nonprofit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities that is dedicated to the belief that knowledge and ideas are fundamental to the health of our communities. More information about OCH’s programs and publications can be found at www.oregonhum.org.

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Willamette Honored Nationally for Community Service

Willamette University has been named to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for exemplary service to America’s communities.

The Corporation for National and Community Service launched the honor roll in 2006 as the highest federal recognition a school can achieve for commitment to service-learning and civic engagement. Honorees for the award were chosen based on the scope and innovation of service projects, percentage of students participating in service activities, incentives for service and the extent to which the school offers academic service-learning courses.

“This award is a testament to the dedicated service work happening across campus,” said Laura Clerc, Willamette’s Community Outreach Program director. “There are so many Willamette students, faculty and staff making significant contributions to their community. This is a wonderful opportunity to recognize and thank them for their ongoing commitment to volunteerism.”

Willamette students, faculty and staff volunteer about 65,000 hours annually. Their numerous activities include traveling across the country for service learning projects through the Take a Break spring and winter break program; serving at Salem organizations during Into the Streets to honor the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.; mentoring children at nearby Bush Elementary School through the Tiger Club; tutoring Native American teenagers at Chemawa Indian School; and getting to know Salem through service during the Opening Days and New Student Orientation to Community Outreach programs.

“In this time of economic distress, we need volunteers more than ever,” said Stephen Goldsmith, vice chair of the board of directors of the Corporation for National and Community Service. “College students represent an enormous pool of idealism and energy to help tackle some of our toughest challenges. We salute Willamette University for making community service a campus priority.”

Overall, the corporation honored six schools with Presidential Awards, 83 were named as Honor Roll With Distinction members, and 546 schools, including Willamette, were chosen as Honor Roll members. A full list is available at www.nationalservice.gov/honorroll.

The Honor Roll is a program of the corporation in collaboration with the Department of Education, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation. The Corporation for National and Community Service administers Senior Corps, AmeriCorps and Learn and Serve America. For more information, go to www.nationalservice.gov.

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TIUA to Honor 112 Graduates Friday

Tokyo International University of America (TIUA) will honor 112 students during its annual closing ceremony on Friday, Dec. 19.

There will be a certificate presentation ceremony at 4:30 p.m. in Hudson Hall in the Mary Stuart Rogers Music Building on the Willamette University campus. It will be followed by a reception at 6 p.m. These ceremonies are the culmination of a year of intense study of English and American studies courses taught by TIUA and Willamette University faculty members.

Attending the ceremony from Tokyo International University in Kawagoe, Japan, are President Takayoshi Arai; Professor Yoshiyuki Igarashi, chair of the International Exchange Committee; and Ms. Chie Omorai, staff.

Other guests scheduled to attend include: Consul General Akio Egawa, Japanese consulate; Carol Long, dean, College of Liberal Arts, Willamette University; numerous Willamette faculty members; and many Salem residents who participated in the TIUA “Tomodachi” (friendship family) program.

For more information call Barby Dressler, director of TIUA University Relations, at (503) 373-3300.

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Willamette University Extends Campus to Zena Forest

Willamette’s physical footprint has just increased — by 305 acres. The university purchased land at Zena Forest to establish a research station where faculty and students can conduct field experiments and outdoor labs. The forest, located 15 miles west of Salem, is the largest contiguous block of forestland in the Eola Hills and one of the last remnants of undeveloped land in the area.

“Zena Forest provides opportunities to advance Willamette’s core educational purposes by enhancing our teaching, research and practical commitment to sustainability,” said Joe Bowersox, director of the Center for Sustainable Communities.

Willamette University Forest at Zena will feature onsite classes and research that allow students a closer look at astronomy, plant ecology, wildlife, hydrology, ecological restoration, sustainable forestry, sustainable agriculture, climate change, geology and GIS mapping.

The property also provides opportunities for service learning about restoration ecology, and students have begun to invest sweat equity by removing non-native, invasive plants. One student volunteer said, “This place already feels like home.” Seventeen miles of trails are available for Willamette cross-country teams. A 2,000-square-foot building on the property, with an easement allowing the university to increase its size to 5,500 square feet, could eventually be converted to a state-of-the-art conference and retreat center.

The land has been managed for wildlife habitat and conservation values under its former owner, the Trust for Public Lands, and lies adjacent to a 1,156-acre parcel, managed for sustainable forestry and conservation. It features upland prairie and oak savannah, Douglas fir and ponderosa forest, ash groves, wetlands and riparian areas, and several streams. The land will continue to be managed for conservation values and sustainable forestry.

“Zena Forest is an amazing, inspiring place,” said President M. Lee Pelton. “Future generations of Willamette students will probably become artists, foresters, archaeologists and writers because of their experiences at Zena. Local school kids will get to enjoy classes amidst restored prairie and oak savanna. It’s truly an investment in Willamette’s future as well as that of our region.”

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Student and Faculty Initiatives Promote Green Campus

Each year the Sustainability Council awards Sustainability Mini-Grants to fund innovative ideas across campus.

This year the Travel Office will create a fund to offset carbon emissions for university air travel. Professors will incorporate sustainability applications into calculus classes, teach solar energy workshops for middle school girls and document Zena Forest in photographs.

Students will host a "Call to Action" workshop in Portland, start a composting program for facilities in Putnam University Center, design a hot water switch for faucets that will conserve energy, establish additional bike parking at the business and law buildings, create a "Street Fleet" long-term bike rental program, attend a smart-growth conference and share the findings with Willamette and the community, and create more sustainable infrastructure for Wulapalooza.

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BetterBricks Honors Two Willamette Administrators for Green Building Efforts

The 2008 BetterBricks Awards, which celebrate champions in the Northwest for green building, honored two Willamette administrators Friday as finalists in the facility manager/building operations category.

Gary Grimm, manager of maintenance and operations, and Jan Gardner, project manager, were recognized for their work reducing Willamette’s energy consumption and reusing materials in renovation and new building projects at Waller Hall, Kaneko Commons, Kresge Theatre, the Carnegie Building and the Ford Hall academic building.

BetterBricks, the commercial building initiative of the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance, advocates for changes to energy-related business practices to focus on efficiency, and its awards recognize architects, engineers, developers, building owners and operators, facility managers and other professionals.

“Jan and Gary have been sincere and gifted advocates for high performance buildings on campus,” according to BetterBricks. “Since 2004, they have promoted sustainable design not only for economic and environmental benefits, but as a learning opportunity for Willamette University’s students, particularly in cases when green design considerations may not always lead to quick returns on investment.”

Gardner and Grimm are two of three finalists in the facility manager/building operations category. The award-winners in that category are David Furr and Kathleen Hill with Salem-Keizer Public Schools.

Under Grimm and Gardner’s leadership, Willamette’s average electrical energy consumption for buildings larger than 5,000 square feet is 10.75 kWh per square foot a year, significantly below the national average of 19.6 kWh per square foot a year. This was accomplished through lighting retrofits, installation of variable frequency drives on HVAC systems, electric motor upgrades and increased attention to HVAC and lighting schedules. Grimm used credits and refunds from Energy Trust of Oregon and Business Energy Tax Credits to pay for the high efficiency lighting retrofits, producing additional savings. The two men also helped the university reuse more than 95 percent of materials resulting from demolition of existing buildings and salvage about 75 percent for facilities remodeling projects.

This honor adds to the recent recognition Willamette has received for its sustainability efforts. In the nation’s largest survey of colleges and universities to date, the National Wildlife Federation named Willamette as first in the country for sustainability activities. In September, a 2009 report card from the Sustainable Endowments Institute gave Willamette an “A” and named it a leader for its efforts in green building, food and recycling and investment priorities.

Read more about these awards and the university’s activities at www.willamette.edu/about/sustainability. For more about BetterBricks, visit www.betterbricks.com.

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Willamette Scores High on Sustainability Report Card

A 2009 report card from the Sustainable Endowments Institute gave Willamette University an “A” and named it a leader for its sustainability efforts in food and recycling, green building and investment priorities. Willamette’s overall score of a “B” was higher than any other small liberal arts college in the Pacific Northwest.

The College Sustainability Report Card evaluates sustainability initiatives from the 300 colleges with the largest endowments in the U.S. and Canada.

Willamette was recognized as a leader for reducing waste and purchasing food from local, organic farmers; following green building guidelines for all new construction and renovations; and aiming to optimize investment return and investing in renewable energy funds. The university also scored high and was singled out as a leader for its administration’s efforts.

This is the second time in recent months that Willamette’s initiatives have been recognized nationally. In the country’s largest survey to date, the National Wildlife Federation recognized Willamette as first in the nation for sustainability activities.

Read the entire report card at www.greenreportcard.org. To learn more about Willamette’s sustainability efforts, go to www.willamette.edu/about/sustainability.

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University Welcomes New Class

Willamette’s 542 new undergraduate students attend their first classes this week. The new class, which includes 51 transfer students, comes from 25 states and 12 countries, and 57 percent are women. Twelve percent are the first in their families to attend college, and 15 percent are multicultural or international students. They will represent Willamette well. Their median high school GPA was 3.77, with a median SAT score of 1850.

At the Atkinson Graduate School of Management, international students make up 39 percent of the new Early Career MBA class. They come from Bangladesh, India, China, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Peru, Japan and elsewhere. The 76 new students have the highest GMAT scores of any incoming class in the business school’s history. The MBA for Professionals Program will see about 40 new students — half in Portland and half in Salem.

More than half of the new College of Law class comes from outside Oregon. A diverse group, the 161 JD candidates speak 14 languages and represent 42 undergraduate majors.

The School of Education will see 91 new students seeking MAT degrees, with 71 attending full time.

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Willamette Recognized as First in Nation for Sustainability Activities

A report card from the National Wildlife Federation recognized Willamette University for engaging in the most sustainability activities of all the 1,068 schools that participated in the federation’s recent nationwide survey.

The NWF’s report, “Campus Environment 2008: A National Report Card on Sustainability in Higher Education,” is based on results from the nation’s largest survey to gauge sustainability at colleges and universities. More than 240 individual schools are recognized and named in the report for having exemplary levels of sustainability activities, as determined by survey responses, and the school engaged in the greatest number of such activities is Willamette.

According to the NWF, “Willamette is committed to energy efficiency and conservation, greener transportation, environmentally friendly landscaping practices, as well as to orienting personnel and faculty to the sustainability goals of the campus.”

Campuses were ranked according to their response to 18 items regarding the institution’s commitment to sustainability. Willamette claimed 11 of the items, more than any other participating school.

“I am perhaps proudest that Willamette’s sustainability achievements were largely student-initiated,” Willamette President M. Lee Pelton said. “These are students whose passion, leadership and creativity transformed our campus culture. They inspire and motivate others on this campus and beyond.”

David Orr, author of Earth in Mind, Ecological Literacy, The Last Refuge, and Design on the Edge, called the NWF report card “the Gold Standard for charting the sustainability movement in higher education.”

The NWF created the report card in partnership with Princeton Survey Research Associates International. The survey was conducted between January and May 2008.

For more about the report card, visit http://www.nwf.org/campusecology/campusreportcard.cfm/campusreportcard.cfm or http://www.nwf.org/campusEcology/pdfs/FactSheet_FINAL.pdf.

To learn more about Willamette's sustainability initiatives, visit http://www.willamette.edu/about/sustainability/ or http://www.willamette.edu/centers/csc/.

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Willamette Mourns Former University Leader

Bryan Johnston, former interim Willamette president and dean of the Atkinson Graduate School of Management, passed away June 7 at his home in Salem. Willamette President M. Lee Pelton remembered Johnston in this letter to the University community.

Dear Willamette Community,

It is with profound sadness that I deliver to you the news that Willamette’s very dear friend Bryan Johnston passed away in his sleep. Although the precise cause of death is not yet certain, it is believed to have been heart related. He was 59 years old.

Bryan approached his life and work with passion and vigor, humor and warmth. His enormous generosity of spirit, his razor-sharp wit and his infinite capacity to lead and inspire others were the hallmark of all he undertook as husband and father, college professor, Atkinson Dean, interim Willamette president, mediator, legislator, and the top administrator of some of the largest and most complex agencies in state government. Just a few weeks ago, Bryan had accepted the position of President of St. Martins College in Lacey, Washington, and was preparing to relocate there over the summer.

To the many people who knew Bryan through his mediation practice and his work in academia, politics and public policy, he was a respected and valued colleague. To hundreds more in the Willamette and Salem communities, he was a trusted and beloved friend. To his children, he was a wonderful and loving father, and to his wife Anne, he was husband, partner and best friend.

Our friend Bryan Johnston will be sorely missed. Please keep Bryan’s wife Anne and his family in your thoughts and prayers.

Sincerely,

President M. Lee Pelton, Willamette University

To share your memories of Johnston, learn about his memorial service or donate to the Bryan Johnston Scholarship Fund, please visit http://www.willamette.edu/mba/forum/johnston.htm.

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Learning WebEdit Workshops

The Web Development Team has scheduled a series of workshops to introduce the Willamette community to WebEdit. These hands on sessions will cover the basics of editing and updating your web pages using WebEdit.

We encourage groups of individuals who will be working on the same pages to attend a session together. These sessions are intended for staff members. If you would like us to set up a session for the students who will be working on your site please contact us at webdev@willamette.edu.

All sessions will be conducted in Smullin 6.

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Willamette Ranks Third Among Peace Corps' Top Producers

Willamette University ranks No. 3 on the Peace Corps’ top 25 list of small undergraduate schools producing Peace Corps volunteers, moving up six spots from last year.

With 27 alumni serving as Peace Corps volunteers, Willamette ranks behind only the University of Chicago and Gonzaga University among colleges and universities with fewer than 5,000 undergraduates.

Since the Peace Corps’ inception in 1961, 275 Willamette alumni have joined its ranks, making Willamette one of the Peace Corps’ top 200 all-time producers of volunteers in a list of nearly 3,000 schools of all sizes.

To read more about the rankings, visit http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.media.press.view&news_id=1291.

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Willamette Recognized as Leader in Sustainability Initiatives

A 2008 report card from the Sustainable Endowments Institute gave Willamette high marks in several categories.

The College Sustainability Report Card evaluates sustainability efforts at the 200 American and Canadian institutions with the largest endowments. Willamette was cited as a leader in administration (sustainability actions at the administrative or trustee level) and food and recycling (sustainable policies and practices of dining services).

The report highlighted Willamette’s transportation efforts as an example of an innovative initiative, citing the use of electric and hybrid work vehicles, the campus bike shop, the Flexcar car-sharing program and a rideshare website to connect carpoolers. The University also scored well for initiatives in green building, and climate change and energy.

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TIUA Honors Students in Closing Ceremony

Tokyo International University of America (TIUA) will honor 89 students during its annual closing ceremony on Friday, Dec. 14. There will be a certificate presentation ceremony at 4:30 p.m. in Hudson Hall, followed by a reception at 6 p.m.

These ceremonies are the culmination of a year of intense English and American Studies courses taught by TIUA and Willamette University faculty members. TIUA is the only foreign campus for Tokyo International University (TIU) in Kawagoe, Japan. The partnership allows TIU students to spend a full year studying in Salem and fully integrating into Willamette classes and the community.

Attending the ceremony from TIU are President Takayoshi Arai; Professor Yoshiyuki Igarashi, chair of the International Exchange Committee; and Chie Omorai, staff. Other guests scheduled to attend include Willamette President Lee Pelton, College of Liberal Arts Dean Carol Long, numerous Willamette faculty members, and many Salem residents who participated in the TIUA "Tomodachi" (friendship family) program.

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Willamette Football Coach Featured on National TV this Saturday

Don’t miss the feature on Football Coach Mark Speckman on national TV this week, and cast your vote for Coach of the Year. Speckman will be one of three coaches featured this weekend on the Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Spotlight on ABC-TV. The 30-minute show will air Saturday, Nov. 3, at 4 p.m. (PDT) on KATU-TV Channel 2 in Portland, Ore. Please check local listings for your area. Also featured will be Art Briles, coach at the University of Houston, and Dino Mangiero, coach at Poly Prep Country Day School in Brooklyn, N.Y.

A Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award will be selected from each NCAA division in late December. Each winner will earn $50,000 for his choice of a charity or charities. An additional $20,000 will go to the alumni association of the institution where each coach is employed.

The winning coach is determined in a mixture of fan voting, plus voting by selected members of the College Football Hall of Fame and the national media. Fan voting will determine 20 percent of the selection process, with 55 percent from Hall of Fame members and 25 percent from the national media. Each fan is allowed to vote online one time each day through Nov. 27. Vote for Speckman

Feature on Head Coach Mark Speckman to air on ABC Saturday, Nov. 3 (4 p.m. PDT on KATU)

Fan Voting for Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year ends Nov. 27

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Willamette Introduces Car-Sharing Program

Willamette University is bringing a new car-sharing program to Salem that gives local residents another form of alternative transportation.

Flexcar, a national program, allows members to “rent” a car for a nominal hourly fee that includes fuel and insurance. The program is cheaper than a traditional car rental and is not limited to people older than 21. Many metro areas across the country, including Portland and Seattle, already have Flexcar programs.

Potential users become members and reserve vehicles online. They receive an ID card that allows them to unlock a Flexcar vehicle, parked in a designated space, and then return the vehicle to that space when finished.

Two vehicles will be available in Salem: a Honda Civic Hybrid parked by Willamette’s Kaneko Commons on Mill Street, and a Subaru wagon on Ferry Street near downtown.

The purpose of the program is to encourage more people to use public transportation, says Joe Bowersox, environmental science professor. This could help alleviate downtown parking issues and also reduce the amount of carbon emissions in the area, he said.

“Many community members have barriers to using alternative transportation to get downtown,” Bowersox said. “They might think they need to drive to work because they have a doctor’s appointment or an errand to run in the middle of the day. This gives you assurance that if you walk, ride a bike or take the bus to work, you have something available to help you make those side trips quickly.”

The program also gives potential downtown residents the option of living car free, Bowersox said.

On the Willamette campus, the goal is to get fewer students to bring vehicles to school, which helps alleviate parking woes and reduces the university’s overall carbon footprint.

For the first year of the program at Willamette, Flexcar is waiving the membership fee, which normally is $35 annually. Rates start at $9 an hour or $65 a day. For membership information and reservations, visit www.flexcar.com/oncampus.

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Willamette University Campaign Effort Hits $100,000,000

About 650 Willamette University alumni attending reunion weekend events were among the first to hear the news: The University’s Campaign for Willamette had hit the $100 million mark. The gift that made the difference was a check for $1 million presented to University President M. Lee Pelton Saturday evening from members of the Class of 1957.

“We are thrilled with this result,” Pelton said. “Members of the Class of 1957 are to be commended for this outstanding contribution. We are deeply moved by their generosity. Living Willamette alumni number fewer than 17,000. That is a relatively small community to engage in this level of fundraising. Equally important is the participation among our faulty and staff. Since the campaign began in 2002, our own campus community has donated more than $1,670,000. That’s impressive and it speaks to the pride we all feel for this university.”

The campaign has experienced periods of unexpected intensity. In one 13-month period between April 2006 and May 2007, the University raised $25 million.

The $125 million campaign is focused on growing the endowment which stands at approximately $285 million.

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New Students Welcome Sir Salman Rushdie

Be brutal with the idea but respectful of the person who holds it was a primary message offered by Sir Salman Rushdie during the late August Opening Convocation at Willamette.

Packed with new students and their parents, the audience in Smith Auditorium responded to the internationally respected author with two standing ovations and enthusiastic applause as he discussed with wit and insight his formative years as a student — first at boarding school and then as an undergraduate.

“There are three mistakes you can make in boarding school,” said Rushdie. “Be clever, be foreign and be bad at games. I hit the trifecta.” While boarding school was not a positive experience for Rushdie, he found a much more inviting and positive experience at Cambridge University where he attended King’s College beginning in 1965.

“University is that moment when you come away from the stricture of high school and have the first adult experience of your life. In University, you work out who you are. You experiment with yourself and try on different skins. Through this process you work out what you will be and won’t be. It is your portal to the adult world. You are a migrant and university is where you begin to make your way.”

He added, “The thing I learned most at Cambridge was that you should be as brutal as possible toward ideas but as courteous as possible to the people who hold them. The undergraduate experience is transforming. You learn to be tolerant and open to new ideas. You learn that scholarship doesn’t seek self — it seeks the work.”

It’s clear that Rushdie credits his experiences at Cambridge more than he credits his degree in history. He managed a good natured tease when he said, “Throughout my life, no one has ever asked me what kind of degree I got or even if I’ve got one at all. I have to say it’s been useless.”

Rushdie is the author of such international best-sellers as Midnight’s Children and The Satanic Verses. The latter was deemed sacrilegious by Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini, who issued a fatwa against Rushdie in 1989. Despite this proclamation, and the international controversy that followed, Rushdie went on to produce some of his most compelling work, including The Moor’s Last Sigh and The Ground Beneath Her Feet while living under the constant threat of death. His most recent novel, Shalimar the Clown, was an international best-seller and a nominee for both the Man Booker Prize and Commonwealth Writer’s Prize.

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Willamette University Sends Off Class of 2007

Libby Appel, longtime artistic director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, will deliver the Willamette University College of Liberal Arts commencement address Sunday, May 13.

Appel also will be awarded an honorary doctor of fine arts degree. Other honorary degree recipients are Mercy Corps founder Dan O’Neill, honorary doctor of humane letters; physicist and Professor Carl E. Wieman, honorary doctor of science; and Cao Jianming, vice president of the People’s Supreme Court in China, honorary doctor of laws.

The College of Law commencement speaker is Steven T. Wax, federal public defender for the District of Oregon, and the Atkinson Graduate School of Management speaker is Tim Boyle, president and CEO of Columbia Sportswear Company.

The College of Liberal Arts will award 489 bachelor’s degrees, the College of Law 156 JD and LLM degrees, Atkinson 57 MBA degrees, and the School of Education 92 MAT degrees.

The College of Liberal Arts and School of Education will hold commencement at 3 p.m. on the Quad. The College of Law ceremony is at 11:30 a.m. on the Quad. Atkinson Graduate School of Management’s commencement is at 9 a.m. in Hudson Hall.

College of Liberal Arts
Commencement speaker Libby Appel is the first woman to hold the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s top artistic post. For 15 seasons, she has served as artistic director on numerous plays, including The Winter’s Tale, Bus Stop, Richard III, Richard II, Macbeth, The Trip to Bountiful, Three Sisters, King Lear and Henry VI Parts One, Two and Three, for which she also was co-director. She has directed more than 50 plays at more than 20 professional theatre companies, and has served as dean and artistic director at the School of Theatre at the California Institute of the Arts, and head of the acting program at California State University, Long Beach. Appel wrote Mask Characterization: An Acting Process, created and produced the video Inter/Face: The Actor and the Mask, and is co-author of two plays, Shakespeare’s Women and Shakespeare’s Lovers.

Honorary degree recipient Dan O’Neill founded Mercy Corps in 1981, and since then the agency has generated more than $1 billion in humanitarian aid in more than 81 countries, assisting children and families through emergency relief projects, self-help development programs and civil society initiatives. O’Neill has authored award-winning books and articles and his editorials have appeared in national and international publications.

Honorary degree recipient Carl E. Wieman, a 2001 Nobel Prize recipient, is a physicist at the University of British Columbia who in 1995 produced the first true Bose-Einstein condensate. In 1998 he was awarded the Lorentz Medal, which highlights important contributions to theoretical physics, and he also has received the National Science Foundation’s highest honor for excellence in both teaching and research.

Honorary degree recipient Cao Jianming is a well-known international trade and economic law scholar and serves as justice and executive vice president of the People’s Supreme Court in China. He has numerous honors in international law, and he spent most of his career at East China University of Politics and Law serving as professor, associate dean, dean of the international law department, vice president and president.

College of Law
Commencement speaker Steven T. Wax is the federal public defender for the District of Oregon. He is a frequent writer and speaker on federal criminal issues, and has been the attorney in a number of high-profile cases, including several involving Guantanamo Bay detainees. Wax is admitted to practice in the U.S. District Court for the Districts of Oregon, Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second and Ninth Circuits, and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Atkinson Graduate School of Management
Commencement speaker Tim Boyle is the president and CEO of Columbia Sportswear Company, one of the largest outerwear brands in the world and the leading seller of skiwear in the U.S. Boyle oversees operations of the company from its Portland headquarters. In 1992, he and his mother, Columbia Chairwoman Gert Boyle, were co-recipients of Inc. Magazine’s Northwest Entrepreneur of the Year award. Boyle is a board member of Widmer Brothers Brewing Company, Northwest Natural and Oregon Trout.

For more information about Willamette University’s commencement, call (503) 370-6209 or go online to www.willamette.edu/events/commencement/schedules.

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President Pelton: Emergency Preparedness

The events at Virginia Tech continue to cause many of us to contemplate the enormous impact of tragedy. As the images of grieving community members and families are seen, we may also see a picture of the vulnerabilities that we all face as human beings, and as a community. We know that each member of our community contributes to the rich personal and cultural experience that makes Willamette a special place. We understand the loss that they feel.

In response to the profoundly tragic events at Virginia Tech, we have begun a process to review, improve and strengthen our Emergency Response Plan under the leadership of our Emergency Management Team. Coincidentally, the University recently purchased new door-access software, to be installed in early summer, allowing us to lock down buildings. We have a team working on a system for mass-notification by email if an incident arises. A third effort is underway to explore how we would sound an audible signal throughout campus to notify everyone if an incident occurs.

While we have confidence in our ability to respond, it is worth the effort to examine how we might do even better.

For now, I'd like to offer information that may be helpful in answering some of the questions that we have received over the past couple of days.

Whenever you perceive that an incident is a threat to people's personal safety, we request that you immediately call 6911. Campus safety will immediately enlist the help of police, fire and EMS providers. Campus Safety staffing levels have the capacity to assist in any situation with competence, but Willamette is not staffed to be the primary response to a large incident. Our University responders are trained to communicate our needs clearly, and solicit a larger support team from the University and from resources outside the University.

In the event of an emergency like that at Virginia Tech, Campus Safety has the responsibility to notify the University's Emergency Management Team that is largely made up of senior level administrators and campus directors. This team assembles and determines what additional campus resources are needed to provide assistance to those in need. They also may notify the campus and outside community of the status of the situation that we are working to resolve.

It is clear that communication is an important part of handling a crisis and we see this as an area in which we can improve. The office of Communications, Campus Safety and WITS continually work on protocols for updating the community through WEB and phone technology. It will continue to be a priority to provide clear and informed communication.

I would encourage you to look at the Emergency Response Plan that is available on-line at http://www.willamette.edu/dept/safety/emergency/guide. This plan assists with understanding how the University may respond in a variety of emergency situations. The Campus Directory and Emergency Reference Guide, commonly called the "Fussers Guide" is annually updated, and available to all students and employees. If you do not have a copy of this near your phone, please contact Campus Safety for a copy.

Willamette University is precious and worth protecting by all reasonable means. Our work encourages openness and we enjoy freedoms that are very difficult to duplicate in other parts of our society. Thank you for your contribution to building this caring community. We all share a responsibility to protect these freedoms and our community and guard against those who would disrupt them.

Best regards,

Lee Pelton

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Willamette University Names Vice President

Madeleine Eagon Rhyneer has been named Vice President for Admission and Financial Aid at Willamette University in Salem, Ore., effective July 1.

“We are pleased to welcome Madeleine to our community,” said Willamette University President Lee Pelton. “She fills a critical position within the senior administration. Her 29 years of experience in this highly competitive field will serve us well as Willamette continues to attract the very best students to our campus.”

Rhyneer is currently the Vice President for Strategic Communications at DePauw University. During her 11 years of service at DePauw, she held the position of Vice President for Admission and Financial Aid for nine years. Before DePauw, she was the Director of Admission at Whitman College from 1985-95, having served as assistant director and then associate director from 1978-85. She is a Whitman alumna.

“Having grown up in the Seattle area, I always had a very high opinion of Willamette University, and my respect for the outstanding educational experience provided by the University has deepened over the years,” Rhyneer said. “Colleges are really all about people, and I am tremendously impressed by the energy and commitment of the students, faculty members and administrators at Willamette.”

She added, “I am especially pleased to have the opportunity to work under the leadership of President Lee Pelton, whose vision is dynamic and exciting. I am honored to be able to build upon the University's many strengths by enrolling top students who will prepare to become future leaders in their communities across the nation.”

At Willamette, Rhyneer will be responsible for all Admissions activities for the College of Liberal Arts and the Master of Arts in Teaching Program in the School of Education. Her staff reviews approximately 3,200 student applications a year.

Rhyneer is chair of the College Board Trustee Committee on Membership and was elected trustee of the College Board for 2003-07 and elected to the Executive Committee in 2006.¹

She replaces Robin Brown who left Willamette to assume a position at the Colorado State University in Ft. Collins.

¹ The College Board provides seven million students services in college admissions, guidance, assessment, financial aid, enrollment, and teaching and learning. Among its best-known programs are the SAT, the PSAT/NMSQT, and the Advanced Placement Program.

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Pacific Northwest Sustainability Conference to Create Synergies

The Center for Sustainable Communities at Willamette University will host a sustainability conference April 20 and 21 in Salem, Ore.

“Creating Synergies: Community, University and Business” will provide a forum for business leaders, professionals, scholars, students and activists from throughout the Northwest to share experiences, network and explore opportunities for collaboration. All are welcome.

Sustainability advocates are invited to offer individual or group presentations, discussion panels, information tables, vendor booths or poster projects that address the “four E's” of sustainability: environment, equity, economics and education.

Organizers are particularly interested in presentations that highlight curricular reform, dialogue between educators and business leaders, sustainability research, social justice and sustainable communities, student activism, green building, launching and managing sustainable businesses, the green ecumenical movement, alternative energy and sustainable agriculture. Please complete the online submission form by March 21.

Saturday field trips will include visits to businesses and communities that are guided by sustainable principles, including LifeSource Natural Foods, a wind-powered store that sells 100 percent organic produce; Pringle Creek Community, a neighborhood guided by principles of community-oriented planning, earth-friendly construction and energy efficient practices; Kettle Chips, a natural snack food manufacturer; and the Oregon Garden, which offers more than 20 specialty gardens on 80 acres in historic Silverton. A guided hike in the Cascade Mountains will also be available.

A free Earth Day celebration Sunday, April 22, at Salem’s Riverfront Park will feature food, music, information booths and activities for children. There will be opportunities to buy plants, browse children’s books with sustainability themes, and learn about sustainable lifestyles.

Online conference registration begins March 20. Registration is $30, and free for all students. A limited number of student scholarships are available to defray the cost of travel and lodging. To apply for a scholarship, note interest on the registration form.

Conference partners offer hotel accommodations within walking distance of Willamette University. Salem is served by shuttle service from Portland International Airport, Amtrak and Greyhound Bus Lines. Attendees are encouraged to help make the conference a carbon neutral event by purchasing carbon credits at TerraPass, www.terrapass.com/. (Carbon credits fund renewable energy projects that reduce greenhouse gases, offsetting carbon dioxide emitted when people drive or fly.) Directions and campus maps are available online.

Visit www.willamette.edu/events/sustainability/ or contact Joe Bowersox at (503) 370-6220 for information.

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Willamette University Dedicates New Residential Facility

The booming of taiko drums and the beauty of 1,000 origami paper cranes were just two elements of Willamette University’s traditional Japanese dedication ceremony Feb. 15 for Kaneko Commons, a $17.5 million residential community project.

The ceremony reflected Kaneko’s focus on Japanese heritage, a unique characteristic stemming from Willamette’s long-standing relationship with Tokyo International University (TIU) in Kawagoe, Japan. Tokyo International University of America (TIUA), located next to Kaneko, is TIU’s only campus outside Japan.

Students, builders, faculty, and dignitaries from Japan, including the president of TIU, were among those in attendance at the dedication ceremony. “This is a new era for Willamette University and one worthy of our mutual commemoration,” said Willamette President M. Lee Pelton.

With new and remodeled construction complete, the 72,000-square-foot Kaneko Commons features two community kitchens and nine student room options, including four-bedroom apartments. A three-story atrium houses Kaneko Café, which features numerous food choices including Japanese cuisine. More than 350 students live in Kaneko Commons, 151 of those in the new addition. Kaneko opened its rooms to students in August, but the atrium was recently finished.

“The development of the commons takes our relationship with TIU to a new level,” said Gunnar Gundersen, TIUA’s executive vice president. “By working on such a major project together, one that has such a huge impact on Willamette, it symbolizes a unique mutual commitment.”

The relationship allows numerous Willamette students and faculty to travel, study or teach in Japan yearly, and TIU students spend a year at Willamette as fully integrated undergraduates.

Another distinct element of the Kaneko project is that it introduces the residential commons concept at Willamette. Rooted in the college models of Oxford and Cambridge in the 13th century, Willamette’s commons model features graduated housing arrangements for all classes of students, is self-governing with elected student officers, and includes a substantial faculty presence. A wide array of programming elaborates on the site’s three themes — sustainability, Japanese heritage and community service — and encourages intellectual stimulation beyond the classroom.

Kaneko Commons also was built to meet the standards for LEED silver and possibly gold certification. LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is a U.S. Green Building Council rating system that is a benchmark for sustainable building practices.

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Willamette University opens Japanese-themed dining facility

Bon Appetit Food Services at Willamette University opens a Japanese-themed dining hall today in the new Kaneko Commons residential facility on the east side of campus.

Kaneko Café features a mix of authentic Japanese foods and American classics and is open to the public. Café hours are Monday through Friday from 7 to 10 a.m. for breakfast, 10 to 11 a.m. for snacks and to-go items, and 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. for lunch. Menu pricing is similar to Goudy Commons, with most dishes costing $5 or more. Kaneko Café is located at 1300 Mill St., next to Tokyo International University of America.

The café also is meant to educate the community about Japanese culture. Bon Appetit staff members took a trip to San Francisco to visit Japanese restaurants and a ramen shop as part of their preparation for opening Kaneko Café. They researched the flavor profile of certain dishes and learned about the importance of key ingredients and freshness in Japanese cooking.

Food stations at Kaneko Café include:

Menrui (Noodles) – A selection of freshly prepared noodle dishes. Authentic Japanese noodle bowls are offered, including ramen, udon and soba, as well as three broths — shoiyu (soy), miso (soy bean paste) and tonkatsu ramen broth. These can be accompanied by ingredients that include chikuwa, kamaboko, tempura, roasted pork, chicken and vegetables.

Itadakimasu (Bon Appetit) – This station includes a variety of freshly prepared entrées from around the world, from sushi to Thai curry.

Guriru (Grill) – Om rice and American breakfast are featured in the morning, and lunch customers can choose from fresh fish, Spam musubi, tonkatsu, fresh Country Natural beef burgers and antibiotic-free chicken. This station features “The Birl,” a burger tribute to Birl Shultz, a Willamette University student who passed away in 2005. The condiment station includes Japanese sauces and pickled items typical of Japanese cuisine.

Sarada (Salad) – This 100 percent fresh and innovative salad bar changes weekly. The ingredients are based on the freshest available, and the bar features a house-made ginger dressing and Mizuna Greens.

Suimono (Soup) – This station features miso soup each day with an additional chef’s creation.

Omochikaeri (Grab and Go) – The grab-and-go program includes bento-style tasting boxes, salads, sushi and sandwiches. An extensive bottled beverage selection also is available.

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March 2007 Atkinson Lecture Is One of a Kind

Two of the nation’s most gifted writers, one a poet and the other a playwright, will share the stage in Smith Auditorium at Willamette University March 20 where they will discuss the nexus of art and politics in America.

Former Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky and Pulitzer Prize recipient Tony Kushner will share the evening that closes out the 2006-07 Atkinson Lecture Series at Willamette.

Tickets will be available for faculty, students and staff at the Information Desk in University Center beginning March 1. The first ticket is free; subsequent tickets are $10 each. (Because we expect this lecture to sell out, we are not making tickets available to the general public.)

Tony Kushner’s plays are as complex as his own beginnings. The gay, Jewish socialist, raised in Louisiana and educated at Columbia University and New York University, says he enjoys addressing audiences that are receptive to ideas for change and progress. And his ideas have earned him high praise.

His plays include A Bright Room Called Day, Angels in America, Homebody/Kabul, and Caroline or Change. He wrote the screenplay for the Mike Nichols film of Angels in America and Steven Spielberg’s Munich.

Among his many accolades, Kushner is the recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, two Tony Awards for Best Play, three Obie Awards for playwriting, the Evening Standard Award, a Whiting Writer’s Fellowship, an Arts Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and an Emmy. In 1998, London’s National Theatre selected Angels in America as one of the “ten best plays of the 20th century.”

Pinsky, U.S. Poet Laureate from 1997-00, has dedicated his career to identifying and invigorating poetry’s place in the world. He is the author of six acclaimed collections of poetry, most recently Jersey Rain. His collection, The Figured Wheel, was a Pulitzer Prize nominee and received the Lenore Marshall Award and the Ambassador Book Award of the English Speaking Union.

He was elected in 1999 to the American Academy of Arts and Letters and his poems appear in magazines such as The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, Threepenny, American Poetry Review and frequently in the Best American Poetry anthologies.

Pinsky teaches in the graduate writing program at Boston University.

The Atkinson Lecture series has welcomed world leaders, authors, actors, scientists and educators to campus since its founding in 1956.

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Professor Named Oregon Researcher of the Year

The Oregon Academy of Science honored Willamette University political science Professor Richard Ellis as its 2007 Outstanding Oregon Researcher.

Ellis is the Mark O. Hatfield Professor of Politics at Willamette, where he has taught American politics since 1990. He has written or edited a dozen books on the American presidency and political culture.

His most recent book, “To the Flag: The Unlikely History of the Pledge of Allegiance,” has been featured on National Public Radio’s “Fresh Air” and in newspapers across the country. It was selected as a Citizens Read book of the month in Portland, was the Library Journal’s best-selling book in politics and law, won the 2005 Langum Prize in Legal History and won an honorable mention from the Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Bigotry and Human Rights. “To the Flag” is a compelling history of how the Pledge of Allegiance developed in response to anxieties about immigration and “alien” ideas such as Communism.

Ellis is now immersed in his next book project, a history of presidential travel. “In the early republic, Americans pointed with pride to the lack of a presidential entourage or presidential security detail,” Ellis said. “Monarchs and emperors needed armed guards, but the American president needed no protection from his fellow citizens.”

Ellis’ narrative details the evolution of presidential protection and the way the growth in the president’s security entourage has tended to insulate the president from the people. “The modern president may be safer, but also appears more regal,” Ellis suggests.

His research includes contacting historical societies, studying presidential papers and searching hundreds of 19th century newspapers. “Now that many historical newspapers are digitized, it has transformed the way historians and political scientists conduct research,” Ellis said. “A 10-year project can become a two-year project.”

“Writing is a habit, and while I enjoy research, I’m always eager to get started writing. It’s a back and forth process. I use the writing to find out what I don’t know and where I need to do more research.”

The academy has broadened its scope this year to include people in the social and political sciences. “I’m delighted that the nomination has gone to someone in the social sciences,” said Jeff Myers, president of the Oregon Academy of Science and geology professor at Western Oregon University. “In the past, awards have gone to people in the hard sciences. It’s nice to see the academy expanding.”

“Ellis’ students are clearly lucky to share his insight and experience, and Willamette University is equally fortunate to have Ellis as a colleague,” Myers said, adding that Ellis was “enthusiastically chosen.”

The Oregon Academy of Science promotes science education and scientific research in the state, encouraging communication among Oregon scientists and mentoring new generations of scientists in Oregon high schools.

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Foundation Awards $50,000 in Support of At-Risk Students

The Spirit Mountain Community Fund has awarded $50,000 to Willamette University to support Willamette Academy and the Chemawa Indian School-Willamette University Partnership Program. Both programs are designed to help at-risk students graduate from high school and prepare for college.

Established in 2001, Willamette Academy is a Willamette University college preparation program for underserved youth. The academy recruits underrepresented 7th grade students from the Salem-Keizer Public Schools into a free and supplemental five-year academic program providing year-round teaching, tutoring and activities that prepare students for the academic rigor of a college education.

The Chemawa Indian School-Willamette University Partnership Program, initiated in 2005 by staff from both institutions, brings Willamette undergraduate volunteers to the Chemawa Salem campus four nights a week to provide academic tutoring and mentoring.

Spirit Mountain Community Fund is the philanthropic arm of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. Spirit Mountain Community Fund donates approximately $5 million each year to local programs and services that benefit citizens striving for self-sufficiency.

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JELD-WEN Foundation Pledges $2.5 million to the Atkinson Graduate School of Management

The JELD-WEN Foundation of Klamath Falls has pledged $2.5 million to Willamette University to create an endowed chair in Free Enterprise at the Atkinson Graduate School of Management. The donation is the largest in the Atkinson Graduate School’s history.

“This is a significant benchmark for the Atkinson Graduate School of Management,” said Willamette University President M. Lee Pelton. “This gift from the JELD-WEN Foundation is gratifying in that it tells us that the Atkinson program and its faculty are among the best in the nation. This gift recognizes the strengths and the potential of this graduate school.”

“The JELD-WEN Foundation is pleased to partner with Willamette University and the Atkinson Graduate School of Management to create a new endowed chair for the University,” said Rod Wendt, President and CEO of JELD-WEN, inc. “JELD-WEN feels the project’s focus on free enterprise is especially vital today. A large number of American students do not make the connection between a free market based system and the unprecedented and sustained vitality of the U.S. economy. The JELD-WEN Chair in Free Enterprise at the Atkinson Graduate School will provide an opportunity to expand the curriculum to highlight this topic.”

Willamette University’s Atkinson Graduate School, with locations in Salem and Portland, is one of only two MBA programs in the nation dually accredited for Business Administration and Public Administration. The JELD-WEN Foundation focuses on giving in the communities in which the company operates. In the past five years, the Foundation has given more than $33 million.

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University Earns No. 9 Peace Corps Ranking

Willamette University moved up 15 spots this year in the Peace Corps’ rankings for colleges and universities with the most alumni volunteers.

With 20 alumni currently serving in the Peace Corps, Willamette ranks No. 9 on the top 25 list for small schools, those with fewer than 5,000 undergraduates. Willamette tied with Lewis & Clark College and the University of Denver.

Since the Peace Corps’ inception in 1961, 265 Willamette alumni have joined its ranks. They have served in 79 countries, with top destinations included the Philippines, Costa Rica, Mali, Paraguay, Peru and Thailand.

In 2004, Peace Corps officials formally presented Willamette with a Certificate of Appreciation that states “The graduates of Willamette University have been an integral part of Peace Corps’ success overseas and its legacy here at home.”

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Willamette President Lee Pelton to Moderate Gubernatorial Debate

Willamette University President M. Lee Pelton will moderate the Oregon gubernatorial debate at the City Club of Portland’s Friday Forum. The high profile debate will be Oct. 13 at noon at the Governor Hotel, 614 SW 11th Ave. in Portland. The public is welcome.

“President Pelton is a well-regarded civic leader, scholar and university president, and we are pleased to have him moderate one of the most important debates of this year’s election season,” said Wendy Radmacher-Willis, City Club executive director.

Pelton was appointed Willamette University’s 23nd president July 1999. Under his leadership, the University has increased its academic profile, successfully employing strategies to attract the best faculty and the brightest students from the state, the nation and the world. Since 2001, Willamette University has been ranked a top tier liberal arts college by U.S. News and World Report.

Pelton chairs the American Council on Education and serves as vice-chair of the Harvard University Board of Overseers. He has lectured and written widely on higher education, and is recognized for his knowledge of and commitment to diversity. He serves on the boards of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Oregon Symphony and Portland General Electric.

Pelton holds a doctorate from Harvard University and an undergraduate degree in English and psychology from Wichita State University, where he graduated magna cum laude in 1974. His area of academic focus is 19th century British prose and poetry.

He served as dean of the college at Colgate University (1988-91) and Dartmouth College (1991-98). At Harvard he taught in the English department and was the dean of one of Harvard’s 13 undergraduate colleges.

City Club of Portland is a nonprofit, nonpartisan civic affairs organization that promotes civic engagement and active citizenship to build a stronger community. Through unbiased research and compelling programs, the club connects citizens with ideas and issues that affect our community. The club is open to everyone who wants to interact with other citizens and shape the future of our city and state, providing a neutral forum for many diverse voices.

Doors open at 11:30 a.m.; the program begins at 12:15 p.m. and concludes at 1:15 p.m. Luncheon tickets are $20 ($16 for members of City Club) and must be reserved by 2 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 11, online at www.pdxcityclub.org or by calling 503-228-7231, ext. 103. Coffee/tea table tickets ($5) and general seating ($5; free for City Club members) will be available at the door on a first-come, first-served basis.

A SmartPark garage is located one block away from the Governor Hotel at 730 SW 10th Ave. The Governor Hotel is accessible by bus, Portland Streetcar and MAX light rail.

The forum will be broadcast on Oregon Public Broadcasting and several television stations. People may also watch City Club Friday Forums online or purchase audio CDs, VHS videotapes or DVD videos of the program. For more information, visit www.pdxcityclub.org or call 503-228-7231.

Media are encouraged to attend and are invited to sit in general seating. Please contact City Club’s communications coordinator, Chris Cochran, prior to the forum to RSVP and sign in at the registration table on the day of the forum. For broadcast media, an audio press patch will be available, and a riser for videotaping can be provided with advance notice. Contact Cochran at chris@pdxcityclub.org or 503-228-7231, ext. 102.

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Willamette’s Class of 2010 Shows Increased Academic Strength

Willamette University’s new class of first-year students boasts a strong academic profile that includes the highest median SAT score in the school’s history and a median GPA that is almost one point higher than last fall.

The 481 College of Liberal Arts first-year students have a median SAT score of 1260, and the median GPA is 3.84. The new class includes 37 valedictorians, and almost 50 percent of the students were in the top 10 percent of their high school classes.

At the same time, Willamette’s Class of 2010 is ethnically, geographically and socioeconomically diverse, said Susan Rauch, interim vice president for enrollment. Almost 17 percent of the students are multicultural, and they come from 34 states, with 68 percent hailing from places outside Oregon. University-wide, an average of 20 to 22 percent of undergraduates receive Pell Grants, which go to those with the highest financial need.

“It’s not easy to have a strong academic profile and maintain the diversity of the class,” Rauch said. “We’ve been able to balance these often competing goals, and we’re very proud of that.”

Willamette’s freshman class is 36 students larger than last fall. The university’s total number of new undergraduates is 559, which includes first-year, international exchange and transfer students. The total estimated fall enrollment for the College of Liberal Arts is 2,027, and for the entire university, including the graduate schools, it is 2,694. Final enrollment numbers will be available in mid-September.

Echoing national trends, Willamette’s freshman class includes more women than men — the class is 55 percent female. However, Rauch said Willamette’s male/female ratio has stayed about the same for the past few years, unlike some peer schools that continue to see women outpace men. Part of this is due to Willamette’s athletics programs, which bring more balance to the gender ratio, she said.

Rauch said the diversity of the first-year class is evident in the activities they enjoyed during high school. The class includes 11 student body presidents, 175 varsity letter recipients, 175 instrumental musicians, 190 community service standouts, and 35 school newspaper, magazine or yearbook editors. Their past job titles have included beekeeper, U.S. Senate page, guide dog trainer, golf caddy and translator. The students have been involved in an array of organizations, including Model United Nations, Girl Scouts and Dodge Ball Club.

Willamette also has 62 new and returning international students on campus this year from 28 countries, including Afghanistan, China, Ecuador, India, Kenya, Romania and Vietnam.

On the graduate side of the university, Willamette’s College of Law will enroll 160 first-year students this fall, and the School of Education expects to have 92 new students. Willamette’s full-time MBA program has 54 new students, and the evening Professional MBA program in Portland and Salem is processing applications for classes beginning in early September.

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Willamette University Bids Adieu to the Class of 2006

Professor S. Allen Counter, director of The Harvard Foundation of Harvard University and a neurophysiologist at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, will deliver the College of Liberal Arts commencement address at Willamette University Sunday, May 14.

An honorary Doctor of Science degree will be awarded to Counter and an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree will be awarded to philanthropist Catherine B. Reynolds, Los Angeles schoolteacher Rafe Esquith, and Columbia Sportswear Company chairwoman Gert Boyle.

Willamette University College of Law alumnus, the Honorable Wallace P. Carson Jr., will deliver the law commencement address.

Honorary degree recipient Catherine B. Reynolds will give the commencement address for the Atkinson Graduate School of Management.

The College of Liberal Arts will award 334 degrees, the College of Law 146, Atkinson Graduate School of Management 60 and the School of Education 94 degrees.

The College of Liberal Arts and the School of Education will hold commencement at 3 p.m. on the Quad; Atkinson commencement is 9 a.m. in Hudson Hall, and the College of Law commencement is at 11:30 a.m. on the Quad.

CLA Commencement
For more than 20 years, commencement speaker Counter has engaged students at Harvard University and Harvard Medical School. As a neurophysiologist, he conducts both clinical and basic research studies on nerve and muscle physiology, auditory physiology, and neurophysiological diagnosis of brain-injured children and adults. His latest research focuses on toxic lead and mercury exposure in Ecuadorian children.

He is the first and only director of the Harvard Foundation for intercultural and race relations. The Foundation programs and mission have been replicated at universities across the country. His work through the Foundation earned him the distinguished NAACP Image Award in 1989. In 1994, the National Medical Association awarded Counter the Hall of Fame Award honoring his achievements in medicine.

He has published extensively in both cultural and scientific journals, including National Geographic and Scientific American. He has appeared on local and national television promoting scientific literacy of young people. He continues to work in the areas of ethics in science and technology, nature conservation, and human rights at the international level. He is presently co-host of EcoForum, a nationally televised program on earth conservation.

Law Commencement
Carson joined the Oregon Supreme Court in 1982 and was Chief Justice from 1991-05. Prior to joining the Supreme Court, he served as a judge for Marion County Circuit Court from 1977-82. He graduated from Stanford University in 1956 and Willamette University College of Law in 1962.

Atkinson Commencement
Reynolds created a new and affordable way for Americans to finance a college education. She developed a privately funded alternative to government student loan programs that has enabled hundreds of thousands of Americans to attend college. In only 10 years, this approach to private educational financing revolutionized student lending and spawned a multibillion-dollar industry of 65 lenders offering more than 200 financial products.

She is the creator and chairman of the Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation, one of the largest foundations in the nation. In 2004, Reynolds was selected by Business Week as one of the 50 most philanthropic living Americans and the first self-made woman ever to make their list. She is a graduate of Vanderbilt University.

Honorary Degree Recipients
Rafe Esquith introduces Shakespeare’s masterpieces to inner city fifth graders at Hobart Boulevard Elementary School in central Los Angeles. He molds his students into latter-day Renaissance scholars and shows them a world outside their neglected neighborhoods. His students spend an entire year studying and rehearsing one play and then perform it at Shakespeare festivals across the county. By any measure, these student actors, many of whom speak English as their second language, have been wildly successful including opening for the Royal Shakespeare Company.

As a result of his commitment to his students both inside and outside the classroom, Esquith’s students consistently score in the top 5 to 10 percent nationally in standardized tests and many of his students have moved onto college and law school.

Esquith has received several accolades for this dedication including the Walt Disney American Teacher Award for National Teacher of the Year and Oprah Winfrey’s $100,000 Use Your Life Award. He used his award money to create a charitable fund at his school. He is currently working with the NEA to help put Shakespeare in 10,000 American classrooms.

Gertrude Boyle is the matriarch and chairwoman of the board of the international outdoor apparel and footwear manufacturer Columbia Sportswear Company. Hailed by Working Woman magazine as one of America’s Top 50 Women Business Owners – and named one of 1994’s “Best Managers” by Business Week – Boyle is the center of Columbia’s irreverent, award-winning advertising campaign. She portrays cantankerous “Mother Boyle,” the stern taskmaster who enforces Columbia’s demanding quality standards.

Since Boyle and her son Tim began managing the company, Columbia Sportswear has gone from near bankruptcy to become one of the world’s largest outerwear manufacturers and the leading seller of skiwear in the United States. Columbia’s sales have soared from $12.9 million in 1984 to $1.1 billion in 2004, and the company continues to forge ahead with product diversification and innovation.

Throughout her career, Boyle has been a leader in the Portland community. She has received many honors recognizing her business savvy and philanthropic endeavors. Most recently she received Oregon’s prestigious First Citizen Award in 2005.

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Flood Exposes the Most Vulnerable

“Katrina is a striking example of how our inability to live better with nature has had the most severe consequences for those at the social and economic margins of our society, those with the least political clout and the least ability to get out of harm’s way,” said Joe Bowersox, associate professor of politics at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon.

“It’s clear that certain federal emergency management authorities dropped the ball at some point,” Bowersox said. “Preliminary requests for aid and discussion of worst-case scenarios, including the breaching of levees and flood walls, were submitted to decision makers in Washington by state and local authorities in advance of Katrina’s landfall. Local officers from the Army Corps of Engineers—the federal agency responsible for building and maintaining the levees and floodwalls that had protected New Orleans—communicated their fears. They appear to have been ignored.”

Bowersox advocates approaching the task of reconstruction with a stronger sense of the realities of the geography, and with sensitivity for those who would be most impacted by further storms.

Pointing to lessons learned after the Mississippi floods of the 1990s, Bowersox said, “Katrina should make us reconsider once again whether we want to work against natural forces or learn to live with them. In the wake of those floods, we began to change public policies, to encourage people to stop building in floodplains.

“All human-made structures have their limitations, and under certain conditions they will fail.”

Bowersox said it will be more difficult to change direction in a city with the size and historical significance of New Orleans.

“Nevertheless, it’s certain that storms of this or greater intensity will occur again. We must make this region environmentally sustainable, if we wish it to be sustained economically and culturally.”

Bowersox is a political scientist with research and teaching interests in environmental and natural resources policy and law. He has written extensively on water policy, as well as the relationship between environmental dilemmas, public values and human welfare.

Joe Bowersox is available for interviews. He may be reached at 503-370-6220 or jbowerso@willamette.edu.

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Willamette University Offers Assistance to Displaced Students, Creates Hurricane Relief Fund

Hurricane Katrina has displaced approximately 75,000 students in three states. Colleges and universities around the country, including Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, are scrambling to offer assistance.

Willamette’s College of Liberal Arts and its professional schools (law, business management and education) have made arrangements to accept displaced students who are in good standing and who express a desire to attend Willamette. Students who have enrolled at institutions now being evacuated may attend Willamette tuition-free for one semester.

Willamette has also created a relief fund. Faculty, students and staff who wish to make a donation will have their contributions fully matched by the university. All donations will be forwarded to the Red Cross.

“There is simply nothing in our lifetime that compares to this,” said Willamette University President M. Lee Pelton. “The needs are overwhelming. We will remain in contact with our colleagues in the Gulf States as they evaluate and prioritize their needs, and we will respond as effectively as possible. In the meantime, we will welcome their students who wish to come to Oregon. It’s simply the right thing to do.”

Undergraduate classes at Willamette University began Aug. 30.

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Maori Exhibition to Open at Hallie Ford Museum of Art

A major exhibition of traditional and contemporary Maori weaving will open Sept. 24 and continue through Dec. 22 at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art at Willamette University. “Toi Maori: The Eternal Thread” features more than 100 woven items from New Zealand collections and is the first time a major exhibition of Maori weaving has been presented in the United States. Willamette University is one of only three venues in the world chosen for this exhibition tour. Maori weavers will be on site, explaining their craft, and will conduct an opening ceremony and procession, wearing visually stunning cloaks woven from native plants and the feathers of kiwi birds.

The exhibition demonstrates the spiritual significance of weaving within Maori culture. Among the Maori, cloaks provide mantles of leadership and spiritual protection, reflecting the status of tribal leaders, and finely woven cloaks ornamented with feathers are worn for important ceremonial occasions.

In the 1950s, New Zealand witnessed a major revival of traditional Maori weaving. The exhibition honors that revival as well as a new generation of artists who have created innovative, contemporary art anchored in the concepts, materials and techniques of the past.

Some artists in the exhibition explore nontraditional materials, including paper “cut-out” cloaks, film leader and wire. Artist Diane Prince has created an ethereal, semi-transparent cloak of copper wire, while multimedia artist Lisa Reihana has created digital interpretations of weaving in her evocative video, “Tauira,” and Moana Nepia’s “paintings with feathers” challenge traditional notions of Maori weaving.

A number of traditional weaving techniques are represented, including whatu, used to weave the cloak’s materials together, and raranga, used to create finely woven baskets and floor mats. Traditionally, looms were not used to create cloaks; instead, the work was suspended between two upright pegs and woven by hand. Cloaks are distinguished by their decoration and have evolved over the years. Those ornamented with feathers are highly prized and considered the most prestigious.

In addition to the exquisite cloaks, text panels will introduce visitors to the history, materials and techniques of Maori weaving, while photomurals of ancestors will portray the significance and continuity of the cloak within Maori culture. Lectures, panel discussions and weaving demonstrations will introduce visitors to the history and beauty of Maori art and culture.

Organized by the Pataka Museum of Arts and Culture in Porirua City, New Zealand, in partnership with Toi Maori Aotearea-Maori Arts New Zealand, the exhibition is supported by a major grant from Te Waka Toi/Creative New Zealand. Local sponsorship has been provided by grants from The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde through their Spirit Mountain Community Fund, the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Oregon Arts Commission and the City of Salem’s Transient Occupancy Tax funds.

The Hallie Ford Museum of Art is located at 700 State Street (corner of State and Cottage Streets) in downtown Salem near the Willamette University campus. The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $3 for adults and $2 for seniors and students. Children under 12 are admitted free, and Tuesday is an admission-free day. For more information call 503-370-6855 or visit www.willamette.edu/go/maori.

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Willamette University Breaks Ground For Innovative Residential Commons

Set to open at Willamette University late in 2006, the 65,000 square-foot, $13 million Kaneko Commons project will include a 150-175 bed addition to the existing Kaneko Hall and will feature suites and apartments, housing for a faculty member, an enlarged dining facility and upscale meeting and activity spaces.

“The development of this innovative, on-campus living community will distinguish Willamette from other universities in the West,” said Robert Hawkinson, dean of campus life. “While the design components are distinctive, it’s the integration of the curricular and co-curricular lives of our students that sets it apart. Adding live-in faculty brings increased cultural programming and an opportunity for students to engage outside the classroom.”

While relatively new to the Willamette campus, the residential commons concept is firmly rooted in the college models at Oxford and Cambridge (13th century), and more recently, Harvard and Yale (1930’s).

In the spring of 2001, following 18 months of research, debate, and student and faculty interviews, the University Campus Life Task Force recommended that Willamette reinvent its residential living model and create “commons” distinguished by flexible, graduated housing arrangements, self-governance and substantial faculty presence, including a live-in faculty member and his/her family.

Hawkinson said, “The schematic design of the Kaneko Commons is the result of six years of comprehensive research and planning for the reinvention of residential living at Willamette University. More than 70 students, faculty and staff have been involved with the project – serving on committees, visiting other institutions, and conducting focus groups with their peers. Members of the Willamette Board of Trustees and University alumni have also been actively involved.”

The Kaneko Commons will have spaces to accommodate individual and group social and learning activities. This will include study rooms, classrooms, multi-purpose areas, traditional television lounges, and laundry facilities. These spaces, all centrally located, will also serve as the “physical” connection between the existing Kaneko Hall and the newly constructed housing. Circulation patterns and incidental meeting and study spaces will also be designed to encourage community. Dining options will include apartment kitchens, community kitchens and enlarged food service and dining area.

Kaneko Hall, the residential wing of Tokyo International University of America (TIUA), was selected as the site for the first residential commons. The Kaneko Commons project will add a new standard of community vitality for the 200 Willamette University students already residing in Kaneko Hall, and the 150-plus residents who will move in to the new facility. In support of the Kaneko Commons project, Tokyo International University of America (TIUA) made a substantial contribution to Willamette University in May 2003. The project will be funded by a combination of cash gifts and tax-exempt municipal bonds.

“Throughout the design process of the Kaneko Commons,” Hawkinson said, “the University has reinforced its commitment to sustainability. Although many important decisions have yet to be made, the Kaneko Commons project has the unique opportunity to set a dual precedent for sustainable and quality design and construction practices for future residential commons projects.”

Design Architects – Zimmer Gunsul Frasca
Contractor – Hoffman Construction
Structural – Degenkolb Engineers
Mechanical/Electrical/Plumbing Engineers – PAE Engineers

(For more information, please call Robert Hawkinson, dean of campus life, at 503-370-6447, Kristen Grainger, vice president and executive assistant to the president, at 503-375-5474, or Gunnar Gundersen, executive vice president of Tokyo International University, at 503-510-5933.)

The groundbreaking ceremony will take place Saturday, May 14, at 2 p.m. in the area adjacent to the TIUA tennis courts. TIUA is accessed from 12th Street near the skybridge at 12th and Mill Street.

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Willamette University Seeks Film and Video Entries

Peter Jackson and Morgan Spurlock had to start somewhere. For many future film and video directors, the April 13 StirFry Student Film Festival at Willamette University might offer that start. Organizers are calling for entries.

StirFry coordinators Andrea Wallace, assistant professor of art at Willamette, and Sean Fennell, director and filmmaker, created the festival to create a forum for educating audiences and showcasing student filmmakers. They are calling for short films and videos made by undergraduates in the United States and Canada. The juried event welcomes all styles and subjects. Films have a 30-minute limit and entries created prior to Jan. 1, 2003, are not eligible for screening. Submission deadline is March 1. There is no entry fee and students will be notified of acceptance via email by March 30.

Accepted formats include: dvd, vhs, svhs and mini dv. Please include name, email, university, title, year of completion, and video statement with submission. For immediate acknowledgement of our receipt of your submission, include a self-addressed, stamped postcard (optional). All submissions will become part of the Willamette private video library. Please don't send entries in fiber-filled envelopes as they damage your tape and our equipment. Send to: Sean Fennell, Willamette University, 900 State St, D134, Salem, OR 97301 or sfennell@willamette.edu.

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Salem Landmark Changes Hands

A Salem landmark is about to have a new owner. Willamette University has agreed to purchase the YWCA building at the corner of State and Winter streets. The purchase will be finalized at the end of September.

“We believe this is a win-win,” said Jim Bauer, Willamette vice president for administrative services. “The YWCA is directly across the street from our art building, consequently its location makes it an obvious addition to the campus long-range master plan. Additionally, this is an opportunity for Willamette to help a neighbor and community partner.”

The University will purchase the building for $1.35 million and lease it back to the YWCA for three years. The lease agreement will be revisited in 2006.

"This agreement comes at a time when the Board of Directors is looking closely at our facility,” said Carol Green, YWCA executive director. “The building is old, the utility bills substantial, and it is larger than our current needs. We are also looking at the increase in fitness facilities in Salem and asking whether we can continue to support those services."

She added, "We want to place more focus on our mission, which is to economically empower women and their families, and the elimination of racism. Our new emphasis will be on the services and programs that directly fulfill that mission."

Gwen Carr, YWCA board president added, “The decision to consider leaving this corner has been a difficult one for our board in that we have been located at this address for almost 90 years. However, one of the goals which we adopted last year as part of our strategic plan was to ensure that a facility exists that better meets our programmatic and community needs. We firmly believe that in order to continue the strong programs and services for this community for the next 90 years, it is important that we are in a position, both physically and financially, to leverage our value to the community. We welcome the opportunity to work with Willamette University as a partner in this effort.”

Salem Mayor Janet Taylor was also upbeat about the Willamette-YWCA agreement. “The City of Salem has a vested interest in the continued success of both the University and the YWCA,” she said. “This is a positive outcome for these two long-term neighbors and we look forward especially to assisting the YWCA with its future plans.”

The YWCA was built in three sections. The Carnegie Library opened in 1913; the YWCA building in 1954; and the pool in 1964. The University has no definite plans for the building.

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Willamette Celebrates 161 Years

Willamette University Lee Pelton reported on the health of the University and presented outstanding teaching awards Monday, Feb. 3, during the schools 161st Founders Day celebration.

Pelton told a capacity crowd in Hudson Hall that the University is making steady progress toward several key goals. The academic profiles of incoming first year students continue to improve as does the level of diversity on the campus. When Pelton arrived at the University in 1998, 12 percent of the student body self-identified as students of color. Last fall, the total was 20 percent.

Throughout his address, the Willamette president focused on the theme of excellence and how that value plays out everyday on the Salem campus. He said “Willamette University recognizes that ‘excellence’ lies in the hearts and minds of those who work in the classrooms every day—those who spend their days developing coursework, delivering lectures, grading papers, writing letters of recommendation, attending concerts and athletic events, organizing conferences and symposia—professors who focus on the flowering of the individual students— professors who, ultimately, lead Willamette students to their futures.”

Pelton included in his State of the University Address remarks about the University of Michigan affirmative action lawsuit scheduled to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court. Pelton said, “White students have challenged the University of Michigan’s use of race in the admission process, calling into question the use of so called affirmative action measures to achieve racial and ethnic diversity in student enrollments.

“In my view, this is the most important civil rights legal case involving race and education since the landmark 1950 Supreme Court decision of Brown vs. the Board of Education. The outcome has the capacity to shape for many generations to come the nation’s commitment to social justice and equality.”

Following his remarks was a series of student performances featuring Adrienne Davich, Ian Scarfe, Robin Ricard, Eoulia Pannas, Dan Esqueda and John Englund.

Receiving outstanding teaching and scholarship awards were:

• Richard J. Ellis, Hatfield Professor of Politics, the Lawrence D. Cress Award for Excellence in Faculty Scholarship;
• Donald H. Negri, professor of economics, the United Methodist Award for Service to the University and the Community;
• Linda G. Tamura, professor of education, the United Methodist Award for Service to the University and the Community;
• William T. Smaldone, professor of history, the Jerry E. Hudson Award for Excellence in Teaching;
• Patrick E. Connor, professor of organization theory and behavior, the Jerry E. Hudson Award for Excellence in Teaching;
• Jeffrey A. Standen, professor of law, the Robert L. Misner Award for Faculty Scholarship;
• David Gutterman, assistant professor of politics, the Mortar Board Professor of the Year Award; and
• Suzanne J. Kersh, administrative assistant in theatre, the Classified Employee of the Year Award.
• Bob Jones, a teacher at West Salem High School, received the Secondary School Excellence in Teaching Award.

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Pelton Names Grainger Senior Executive Assistant

Kristen Grainger has been named Senior Executive Assistant to Willamette University President Lee Pelton, effective November 11.

For the past six years, Grainger worked as executive assistant to Oregon Attorney General Hardy Myers. In this post she served as Chief of Staff, primary spokesperson and political advisor for the Oregon Department of Justice and served as the Department’s policy leader on issues of particular interest to the Attorney General.

She is currently on a leave of absence from the Department of Justice to serve as communications director for the Ted Kulongoski gubernatorial campaign.

Prior to her work in the Attorney General's Office, Grainger was president and co-owner of a Salem-based government relations firm, Grainger & Tresidder, Inc.

A graduate of the University of Washington, she has worked as a public information officer for the Oregon School Boards Association and the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival in Seattle. In 1989 she was one of the recipients of The Oregonian's Young Writers Fiction Prize.

Grainger replaces Gary Cordova who left in May to take a position as vice president for institutional advancement at Chaminade University of Honolulu.

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Library Consortium Enhances Access

An online catalog of more than a half million bibliographic records, the sixth largest in Oregon, will be activated at the Mark O. Hatfield Library at Willamette University at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 4. The project, the first of its kind in the country, will place the bibliographic records of two state libraries on the automated library system of a private university.

The consortium was formed in December 2000 for the purpose of supporting public/private initiatives engaged in public policy research and law reform in Oregon.

Faculty and students of Willamette University and State of Oregon executive, legislative and judicial personnel are the primary beneficiaries of an innovative private/public collaboration to combine the electronic bibliographic records of the Oregon State Library and the State of Oregon Law Library with those of the Willamette University Mark O. Hatfield and College of Law Libraries to create a shared online catalog.

The combined catalog will provide efficient research and information access for such diverse library users as the Oregon Department of Justice attorneys, Oregon legislative staff researchers, and Willamette University students and faculty. The resource sharing will result in improved research capabilities and cost-savings in collection development, library automation and annual system maintenance. Willamette University’s automated library system will also be home to the acquisitions, circulation and serials software modules for both State libraries.

The project was supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services through the Library Services and Technology Act, administered by the Oregon State Library, with a $214,917 grant. The participating libraries provided additional funds and in-kind services.

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Willamette University Tree Proves to be the Tallest

A tree guy has measured them and it’s official. Among Willamette University’s five Sequoiadendron Giganteums, known more simply by those who admire them as “the Star Trees,” is the tallest Sequoia tree on any college or university campus in the United States.

Another Oregon university laid claim to the title years ago, but recently Willamette University called in a big stick to set the record straight. The University asked forestry consultant Terry Lamers to officially measure the tallest of the five Star Trees and settle the question once and for all. The measurement showed Willamette’s tallest Sequoia to be 154 feet tall. That’s roughly a little more than 15 stories high. It beat the closest competitor limbs down. Pretty good growth for a class gift.

It all began when the students of the Class of 1942 presented Willamette with five tiny redwood trees as a farewell gift. The occasion coincided with the 100th anniversary of Willamette, founded in 1842 and recognized as the oldest university in the west.

The five tiny trees on the north side of Waller Hall, located directly across the street from the State Capitol, were planted in a “circle of fire.” Their growth was so symmetrical and well-spaced, that years later, visitors who stand in the center of the trees and look skyward see the form of a perfectly shaped five-pointed star. Their growth has been phenomenal and so has the attention they draw around the holiday season.

In 1997, Willamette University started a campus holiday tradition that now draws close to 1,000 visitors to campus annually. The Star Trees Lighting each December is sponsored by the University and Salem-area businesses. The five Star Trees are layered with 50 strands that hold 1,700 lights that remain lighted from mid-December to January 2. The lighting ceremony also features several choirs and music ensembles from Willamette University.

The Star Trees of Willamette were planted 60 years ago to make a statement about longevity and purpose. That declaration of determination is now 154 feet tall.

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New Vice President of Finance Named at Willamette University

Jeffrey Glenn Eisenbarth, currently the vice president of business and administration at Berea College in Berea, Ky., will begin his new job as vice president of financial affairs at Willamette University Sept. 2.

“We are pleased to welcome Jeff to the Willamette community,” said University President Lee Pelton. “He has worked in higher education finance for 22 years and we believe he possesses the qualities necessary to help Willamette University reach its financial goals. We expect him to play a key leadership role in the development of the campus and in managing Willamette’s endowment.”

In addition to serving Berea College since 1997, Eisenbarth worked in finance at the University of Idaho and Washington State University, Pullman.

He earned his bachelor of science and his master’s of business administration degrees from the University of Idaho. He and his wife, Sudie, have two daughters, Lyndsey and Danielle.

Eisenbarth replaces Brian Hardin who retires from Willamette University in August after 21 years of service.

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Oregon Resident Wins a Scholarship for Oregon Latinos (SOL) to Attend Willamette

Article and photo courtesy of www.oyetu.com.

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Willamette Welcomes Candidates

Willamette University will host the state's first gubernatorial debate featuring all six candidates for governor in Smith Auditorium on Thursday, Jan. 17, at 1:30 p.m. The public is invited.

Democratic candidates include Jim Hill, former State Treasurer and legislator; Ted Kulongoski, former State Supreme Court Justice, Attorney General and legislator; and Beverly Stein, former Chair of the Multnomah County Commission.

Republican candidates include Kevin Mannix, former legislator; Jack Roberts, former Commissioner of Labor and Industries; and Ron Saxton, Portland School Board member.

Co-hosting the event with Willamette are the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association, the Society of Professional Journalists and the Associated Press.

Willamette University President Lee Pelton will open the debate with a brief welcome.

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Willamette Considers Residential Commons Plan

Willamette University released today an 18-month Campus Life Task Force Report which outlines recommendations that over the next 10 years Willamette reconfigure student co-curricular life around a system of five residential commons complexes, a grouping of free-standing Greek houses and a new student center. A copy of the report can be accessed on Willamette's website.

The residential common system creates five main "neighborhoods" where students live on campus. The "neighborhoods" will feed into the "downtown" area of campus, which consists of academic, administrative and campus life buildings. The following features distinguish the residential commons system from Willamette's current housing system:

• Students will have a four-year affiliation with their commons. Even though some students will eventually live off-campus or in Greek houses, all students will at least have a two-year commons experience and the commons will remain a campus "base" for them throughout their four years at Willamette.
• Each residential commons will contain an array of living arrangements, including singles, doubles, suites (two or four bedrooms plus living room) and apartments.
• Each commons will have a high degree of self-governance. Key programming, space and budget choices will be made by elected student officers, including a commons president.
• All commons will feature a faculty member with his or her family who resides in the commons complex and will serve as a mentor, strengthening the student-faculty relationship.

Each residential commons will serve as a local administrative, social and cultural focal point for its students. "The residential commons proposal addresses themes of great importance to Willamette students, and these recommendations present a bold design for campus life in the next 50 years," said Pelton. "Willamette is committed to enhancing students' intellectual and campus life, and I look forward to receiving comments and reflections from our entire community as they review these recommendations."

Willamette Board of Trustees has created a Trustee Special Committee to review the feasibility of the residential commons plan. After this committee makes recommendations to the entire board, the board will vote on whether to pursue the Campus Life Task Force residential commons plan.

In September 1999, Pelton established the Task Force on Campus Life aimed with collecting research on current programs, practices and attitudes in the areas of residential life, student activities and multicultural affairs. To investigate campus life at Willamette, Task Force members conducted extensive student focus groups, held several panel discussions and commissioned a large-scale, website-based study of student satisfaction. Task Force members also gathered information on residential programs on other campuses, particularly other small liberal arts colleges.

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Willamette's Website is Changing

This is the first of three phases of development for Willamette University's new and improving website. Phase one was designed to make the site easier to use and more appealing. Content changes will follow in later phases, and will be ongoing.

We've completely revamped the navigation system to make it easier for you to find what you need with as few clicks as possible. We've also added a brighter and more colorful look to better reflect the essence of Willamette. You'll notice these modifications on our homepage, and on many of the pages linked from there.

We have not implemented these design and navigational changes throughout the whole site as yet. We wanted to give you an opportunity to view it in an early stage of development and give us your thoughts on how we can better design it to meet your needs. Ultimately, we want the site to be comfortable as well as functional - a place you'll want to come back to and visit again.

Below the newly designed pages, you'll find the remainder of the Willamette web pages, unchanged. Updating these pages, as well as adding additional functionality and content changes to the site, will take place after we've evaluated our web visitors' comments and suggestions. You'll be able to navigate through the site as normal, using your "Back" and "Forward" browser buttons at the upper left of your screen.

Enjoy the site. Give it a test drive. Check out the new Quick Jump button in the upper-left corner. Email us at new-web@willamette.edu to let us know what you think we can do to improve things even more. And for those of you who aren't that familiar with Willamette yet, make sure you click on the loudspeaker icon on the right of our homepage to hear how to say our name just like a "real Oregonian."

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Willamette Appoints Associate VP for Marketing and Communications

Willamette University has appointed Edward R. Kramer to the newly created position of associate vice president for marketing and communications, effective today.

Kramer, who will manage the University's Office of Communications, will be responsible for developing and overseeing a University-wide, integrated marketing plan with the goal of communicating Willamette's academic excellence and student experience to the outside world. He will oversee all strategic message development, media relations, Web development and publications, and will serve as a member of the president's senior administrative cabinet.

"This is a very important appointment for Willamette," said President M. Lee Pelton. "Mr. Kramer will coordinate our efforts to keep the University in the forefront of people's minds when they think of outstanding liberal arts colleges and graduate schools."

Kramer began his relationship with Willamette University last year as an independent consultant for the Atkinson Graduate School of Management. He has more than 20 years of strategic communications experience from California's Silicon Valley, where he held senior marketing and public relations positions with such companies as Xerox and Oracle Corporation. In addition to his work with Atkinson, Kramer also has consulted privately with numerous companies including Apple Computer and Seiko Instruments USA.

"Willamette is a wonderful story that needs to be told both regionally and nationally," said Kramer. "It's a story of academic distinction coupled with a superior environment for learning and personal growth. I am honored by the appointment and extremely optimistic about the job ahead."

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Commission to Review Oregon's Laws

Oregon's Legislative Assembly has created a public-private partnership with Willamette University to improve the quality of Oregon's current and future laws and legal institutions. The partnership makes possible operation of the Oregon Law Commission.

The Oregon Law Commission serves as a legal "maintenance and design department" to help keep Oregon's laws and legal institutions functioning efficiently for the benefit of all Oregonians. State funding will run from July 1, 2000, through June 30, 2001, and is matched with Willamette University resources, effectively doubling the value of the state's participation.

The commission is structured to propose legislative recommendations not likely to be advanced by interest groups and is authorized to initiate, recommend and support law reform measures before the Legislative Assembly.

"The commission's immediate goal is to prepare and recommend a number of concrete legislative proposals for the legislature to consider during the next legislative session," said David Kenagy, executive director of the Oregon Law Commission and associate dean for Willamette's College of Law.

Some of the topics the Oregon Law Commission will review include: juvenile code revisions, spousal elective shares, judgments and garnishments, civil rights statutes, conflict of laws, judicial review of government actions, statutes of limitations and ultimate repose and attorney fees for "prevailing parties."

The 13-person commission is made up of four legislators or their designees, the chief justice, the attorney general, a governor's appointee, the deans or representatives from each law school in Oregon and three representatives from the Oregon State Bar. Willamette University will provide student participation with externs, law clerks and academic research assistants.

"This is exciting for Willamette law students because they will develop expertise in lawmaking generally and in particular areas of Oregon law," Kenagy said.

Although bar leaders and law professors sit on the commission, the driving forces have been lawyer-legislators including chair, Rep. Lane Shetterly, vice chair, Sen. Kate Brown and commission member, Rep. Max Williams.

For more information, check out the Oregon Law Commission website.

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