The two sites set out to find post-secondary educators who had been recognized for excellence in the classroom, on campus and in the community.

Cass has served as an assistant professor in the Department of Oceanography since 2011. Her research focuses on changes in West Coast zooplankton brought about by seasonal variations.

Cass joins professors from Stanford, UC Berkeley and Loyola Marymount in earning the distinction.

StateStats.org is a non-profit organization that increases accessibility to education and information through the use of new technologies. OnlineSchoolsCalifornia.com provides Californians with information about alternative post-secondary education options, as well as career advice.

The Humboldt State Oceanography Department offers a Bachelor of Science degree in oceanography. Students get hands-on experience at the Telonicher Marine Lab in Trinidad and aboard the R.V. Coral Sea.

More than 80 percent of graduates accept jobs related to oceanography or directly enter masters or Ph.D. programs.

For details, visit humboldt.edu/oceanography.

For more photos from commencement, go to our flickr page.

The old printing press that produced the Sempervirens yearbook, among other things, is seen in this 1958 photo. The yearbook was published through the end of the 1960s when campus attitudes changed. At this same time the final fraternities on campus dissolved and the campus began selling beer and wine.

Lucky Logger rides in a Chevrolet Corvette convertible during the 1962 homecoming parade. That year also saw the end of Humboldt State College’s junior college program, the start up of Arcata’s metro bus service, and the completion of the forestry building. In state matters, the California State Colleges Board of Trustees predicted Humboldt would have 12,000 students by 1990.

Founders Hall is seen from the library in this 1973 photo.

The tennis team poses for this undated photo in the old tennis courts. Humboldt State fielded men’s and women’s tennis teams from the 1930s through the 1960s.

This undated photos shows an entrance to the COOP, the campus’s former supply store and soda fountain.

This undated photo shows a College Lyceum fieldtrip to Santa Rosa. Humboldt’s Lyceum, named for the public spaces of Classical Greece, traveled throughout northern California to present musical and dramatic performances while also recruiting new students. The group was later known as the Collegians.

Delgado served as co-director of the Campus Center for Appropriate Technology and recently accepted a 3-month internship at National Geographic in Washington D.C., where he will be researching, fact-checking and editing articles on environmental news, science, and sustainability.

“It’s the perfect opportunity for me to use the skills I’ve learned as a geography major here at HSU,” Delgado says.

The National Geographic’s prestigious internship program offers real-world experience in mapping, magazine writing, photography, education and research. Delgado was selected out of scores of applicants to intern for National Geographic Global Media, composed of its magazine, book publishing, television, film, music, radio, digital media and maps units.

Delgado credits Geography Department chair Steve Cunha and faculty members Mary Beth Cunha and Matthew Derrick for helping refine his application. “They educated me about the application process and mentored me along the way,” he says.

The southern California native attended Cypress College in Orange County before transferring to Humboldt State.

“I’ve always loved the environment and knew I wanted to go to a school that would allow me to be outdoors,” Delgado explains. It wasn’t until he saw a photo of HSU students conducting field research in the Redwood forest that he fell in love.

For his final project, Delgado mapped the transformation of local marshlands from indigenous Wiyot times to the present. His poster took first place at the 75th Association of Pacific Coast Geographers meeting in Olympia, Wash.

After his three-month stint in Washington, D.C., Delgado will return to the west coast, where he plans to pursue a graduate degree in geography at San Diego State University. He will continue his research on indigenous cultures and also join a team of students mapping access to fresh produce in minority communities across the U.S.

Delgado says the geography education he gained at HSU and his work with CCAT have opened a lot of doors. “It’s given me the skills and experience I need to be succesful,” he says.

Earlier this year, Delgado and three other students were named 2012-13 Outstanding Students by HSU President Rollin Richmond. For the full article, click here.

Governor Brown’s May Revision of the 2013-2014 state budget continues to propose an additional $125.1 million in state funding for the California State University and also maintains reinstating $125 million that was cut from last year’s budget and was due to be reimbursed in this year’s budget following the successful passage of Proposition 30. The proposal also states that the administration will work with the colleges and universities, legislature and other stakeholders on a framework that would link future budget augmentations to performance-related measures.

“The funding proposed for public higher education in the Governor’s May Revise is a critical investment in the future of California,” said CSU Chancellor Timothy P. White. “We look forward to working with the Governor and legislature to invest these educational resources while ensuring the accountability of our universities and the success of our students in a way that upholds the mission of the California State University.”

Overall, the proposed increase in state support for the CSU would bring state funding levels to $2.3 billion for the support of university programs and operations. At their March board meeting, CSU Trustees reviewed an expenditure plan based on the proposed funding that addresses three major areas of need – student access and success, faculty and staff compensation and mandatory costs. Trustees will discuss additional details of this expenditure plan and the revised budget proposal at the upcoming May board meeting.

The grant finances a Center-led project, Aligning Forces Humboldt, in its final phase. Actions include quality improvement programs in doctors’ offices and hospitals and new payment methods to promote high-quality care.

“This grant allows us to continue to collaborate with community leaders, patients, doctors, nurses, employers and insurers so everyone in Humboldt County can receive the right care at the right time,” said Melissa Jones, Project Director of Aligning Forces Humboldt. “We are committed to finding new ways to improve our health care system so we can have a healthier community. This grant will accelerate our work while we strive for sustainable progress in meeting the goals of a reformed health care system: better value, greater transparency and improved care coordination.”

Partners of the California Center for Rural Policy in Aligning Forces Humboldt are the Humboldt Del Norte Independent Practice Association and St. Joseph Health – Humboldt County.

Aligning Forces Humboldt alliance is one of 16 organizations nationwide and it has been participating in the initiative since 2008.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation was established in 1968 on the death of industrialist and philanthropist Robert Wood Johnson II of Johnson & Johnson. The foundation launched its Aligning Forces for Quality program in 2006.

Details are available at aligningforceshumboldt.org. Project director Melissa Jones can be reached at 707/445-2806 ×5 and melissa@aligningforceshumboldt.org.

Stephens and three of her undergrads took a look at 150,000 tweets that used racist, homophobic or anti-disabled slurs from June 2012 to April 2013. What they found is a high concentration of hate speech—like the n-word and the f-word—in isolated areas.

Here’s a round-up of some of the media coverage:

Gawker — Map of Twitter Racism Shows Twitter is Racist Everywhere

Mashable — ‘Geography of Hate’ Maps Racist, Homophobic, Ableist Tweets

Huffington Post — Twitter Hate Speech Map Pinpoints Racist, Homophobic Hotspots Across U.S.

Atlantic Cities — Where Americans Tweet Messages of Hate

The Guardian — Mapping Hate Speech

Die Zeit — Hate Map Twitter

The Daily Mail — The racist map of America

The two-week event will feature eight public concerts in the Behavioral and Social Sciences Building and the Arcata Playhouse. Musical styles will include classical, jazz, blues, Latin and other international music. Sixty musicians from around the world—from Greece to Japan—are expected to participate.

There will also be workshops, master classes by HSU faculty and a tour of Arcata-based marimba manufacturer Marimba One, which is co-hosting the festival.

For more information on Marimba One, visit marimbaone.com.

Fore more information on the festival, visit zmf.us.

Students recently used a Humboldt Energy Independence Fund grant to conduct a lighting inventory of all academic buildings on campus.

They recorded the wattage, number and type of light fixtures used in lecture halls, faculty space and academic service buildings. They also documented the amount of time that fixtures remained on throughout the week.

“The information can be used in a number of ways but one of our main goals was to help the university identify potential cost and energy savings,” says Grant Goddard (’14, Environmental Resources Engineering) who conducted the survey with Jocelyn Gwynn (‘14, Energy & Climate) and Ryan Kaplan (‘14, Environmental Resources Engineering).

The Humboldt Energy Independence Fund (HEIF) is a student-led fund that supports projects to reduce the university’s environmental impact and energy consumption.

Among the biggest offenders of energy use: Gist Hall, the Green and Gold Room in Founders Hall and the ceramics lab, the report found. “These were all areas that were over lit based on their square footage,” Kaplan explains.

Other areas, like custodial rooms and mechanical spaces, rated poorly due to old or incandescent bulbs from the 1960s.

The inventory found that in some buildings, installing photosensors to utilize existing natural lighting would result significant cost and energy savings. Other buildings would benefit from occupancy sensors. “There are a bunch of rooms in Gist where lights are on even though no one is there,” Goddard says.

The full report will be used by Plant Operations and Facilities Management. It will also be available for the public by emailing heif@humboldt.edu. “Our hope is that it will be used as a resource for the university and HEIF proposals moving forward,” Gwynn says.

For more information on HEIF, visit humboldt.edu/heif. For HEIF’s 2012-13 annual report, click here.

OLLI will host:

• Kayak Oyster Tours with Dave Fuller & David LaFever – Dune ecology and oyster farming in the Mad River Slough, Sunday, June 9, noon-3 p.m. $85

• Trinidad Head Lighthouse & Granite Cross Walking Tour with Patti Fleschner – Lighthouse history, shipwrecks, Spanish mariner accounts, Friday, June 14, 2-4 p.m. $30

• Redwood & Rails with Ray Hillman – Railroading in Humboldt County from its beginnings; ride the rails of former lumber company speeders at Samoa. Friday, June 14 & 21, Sat., June 22 (Fri.: 6-8:30 p.m.; Sat.: 9 a.m.-4 p.m.), Humboldt Bay Aquatic Center, $70

• Beginning Birdwatching with Louise Bacon-Ogden – Lecture and field work. Saturday, June 15, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Garberville Civic Club, $30

• OLLI van tour of the historic Bald Hills with Jerry and Gisela Rohde and Jim Wheeler; oak woodlands and prairies once home to the Chilula Indians, Saturday June 15, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. $75

• OLLI out at the ball game, Humboldt Crabs Baseball with Randy Robertson – A behind-the-scenes look at ballpark operations and an opportunity to meet players and coaches. Lunch provided by the HSU Alumni Association. Free ticket to the 1:30 p.m. game on Sunday, June 23, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. $40

• Restoration and Renewal in Redwood National & State Parks with Jim Wheeler – OLLI van trip to Redwood National and State Parks. Observe watershed and forest restoration and prescribed fire featured in brown-bag discussion series. Saturday, July 13, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. $75

• Forest Within A City with Ray Hillman – Lecture and extensive walking tour of Sequoia Park and the Zoo. Saturday, August 3, 9:30 a.m.-2 p.m. $50

OLLI registration and memberships are available at 707.826.5880 or by visiting humboldt.edu/olli.

In small towns with low diversity, according to a new map of Twitter data created by HSU geography professor Monica Stephens and her students.

Geotagged hateful tweets in the United States.

Stephens and three undergrads mapped the geographic location of 150,000 tweets that used racist, homophobic or anti-disabled slurs from June 2012 to April 2013.

Students read each tweet in its entirety to make sure it was being used in a derogatory way, then aggregated and normalized the data by county.

What they found is a high concentration of hate speech—like the n-word and the f-word—in isolated areas.

“It proves our hypothesis that areas with low diversity use more derogatory slurs against racial and sexual minorities,” Stephens says.

Another interesting finding? A clustering of the word “wetback”— a derogatory slur used against migrant workers—in Texas.

States east of the Mississippi also used more slurs than the western United States. But that can be attributed to greater population density and higher Twitter usage in those areas.

Stephens was compelled to create the map after recent discussions on hate speech censorship and online bullying.

She says that while social intolerance can’t be measured in tweets alone, it does underscore the prevalence of derogatory slurs in the United States.

“Regardless of the intention behind it, it’s clear that hate words are still a very real part of our culture,” Stephens says.

Funding for the map was provided the University Research and Creative Activities Fellowship at HSU. Twitter data was obtained from the DOLLY project at the University of Kentucky.

The three students involved in the project were Amelia Egle, Matthew Eiben and Miles Ross. They won Best Digital Map (second place) at the California Geographic Society’s annual conference.

Read more about the map and Stephens’ research methods at floatingsheep.org, an academic site that maps and analyzes geocoded information from user-generated sources.

The map has gotten media attention in the Guardian, Gawker, and the Atlantic Cities.

To help bring their creations to life, they used the university’s new 3D printer, a cutting-edge tool that uses computer-generated images to produce three-dimensional objects from rubber, plastic and other malleable materials.

The technology—also known as rapid prototyping or additive manufacturing—has become increasingly popular in recent years at universities and research institutions around the country, says Biology Core manager Anthony Baker.

HSU’s new 3D printer is a cutting-edge tool that uses computer-generated images to produce three-dimensional objects from rubber, plastic and other malleable materials.

“It’s an awesome tool that’s allowed us to print everything from water wheels to microscope and printer parts,” says Baker, who purchased the device last November with lottery funds. “With exposure to this technology, our students now have the opportunity to develop skills in 3D design and rendering and be able to generate physical, three dimensional models and functional objects.”

Engineering student Camille Penny uses CAD software to create a digital blueprint of her design.

In his State of the Union address earlier this year, President Barack Obama called 3D printing a potential boon to the high-tech job industry. He referred to a public-private partnership in Youngstown, Ohio that is researching the use of 3D printing in large-scale manufacturing. “It’s a technology that’s definitely been getting a lot of attention recently,” Baker says.

Since arriving on campus this semester, HSU’s 3D printer and scanner have been used by a variety of departments, including biology, wildlife, anthropology, geology, psychology, physics and engineering. Projects include graphic design prototypes, machine parts, fossil, bone and rare specimen models, and equipment design.

The first step in creating an object is to design a 3D blueprint using computer aided design (CAD) software like Google SketchUp, SolidWorks or AutoCAD. CAD-equipped computers are located at various locations around campus, including the engineering lab and BioCore.

Once the design has been created an .STL file is sent to the printer. 3D printing uses an additive process, which means that objects are created by adding successive layers of material. HSU’s printer—a Stratasys U-Print SE plus—only uses ABS and degradable PLA plastic.

Engineering students used the 3D printer to create parts for these motorized robots.

During the process, the plastic is fed from a spool, heated, then pushed out of the print head at 572 degrees Fahrenheit. Printing can take anywhere between 20 minutes to 20 hours, depending on the complexity of the object and the number of pieces being printed.

Although additive manufacturing has been around since the 1980s, it’s only become more mainstream in recent years, Baker says. 3D printing is popular in higher education because of the numerous opportunities it provides for hands-on learning and research.

“It’s pretty amazing that we have something like this at our school,” says Matt Nyberg, a student in DuRant’s engineering dynamics class, who used the printer to create gears for his motorized robot. “Pretty much anything you can draw, you can create.”

Baker said that in the future, HSU may provide limited printing services to the public at a cost. Possible clients include local artists, business and medical service providers. “The possibilities are endless,” he says.

For more information on HSU’s 3D printer, visit the manufacturer’s web page at www.stratasys.com/3d-printers/idea-series/uprint-se-plus.

The printer is housed in the Biology Core, a campus wide facility that provides workspace for undergraduate and graduate student projects as part of their coursework or for independent and directed research. The facility is located in Science B 230. For more information, call (707) 826-3232.

Engineering students test water quality at the Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary for the Arcata Marsh Research Institute.

“I’m so proud of this rating, as everyone at this university should be,” said HSU President Rollin Richmond. “It highlights the good work we are doing, and lets the rest of the world know about it as well. The report also helps us see where we can improve, and I’m excited about our potential to do even more.”

STARS – the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System – is a program that measures sustainability performance in all aspects of higher education. It was developed by a group of institutions from across the country, and is overseen by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education.

This is the first time Humboldt State has conducted a STARS analysis. The strong rating reflects the university’s longstanding commitment to both environmental and social responsibility – important concepts underlying sustainability.

Humboldt State frequently appears in sustainability rankings by magazines and organizations. Most recently, it was once again named to Princeton Review’s Green Colleges for 2013.

Achieving a rating of any level in STARS is a complex undertaking. HSU’s Office of Sustainability led the year-long effort to develop and collect data for the comprehensive self-assessment. It covered a broad array of university functions and facilities, and departments from across campus were involved.

The data in the report is used to benchmark Humboldt State’s performance with that of more than 300 other institutions that have so far decided to participate in STARS. Credits are awarded for three areas: education & research, operations & planning and administration & engagement.

Currently, just 287 institutions have submitted assessments for STARS. Since 2011 AASHE has bestowed no platinum ratings, 45 gold, 123 silver and 62 bronze. HSU joins five other CSU campuses in earning a silver rating: Cal Poly Pomona, CSU Channel Islands, CSU Fullerton, San Diego State and San Jose State. CSU Monterey Bay is the only Cal State campus to earn a gold rating.

All of the detailed credits of member institutions are posted online. The STARS site enables users to filter data for specific universities, sustainability categories and rating levels.

Achievements noted in the report include HSU’s commitment to sustainability in a range of academic programs and co-curricular education. HSU’s academic catalog and website make it easy to find sustainability focused courses. And all students benefit from efforts like PowerSave Green Campus and the Waste Reduction & Resource Awareness Program, which provides education about energy savings and waste management.

Humboldt State has a long history of sustainable practices. The university’s Campus Center for Appropriate Technology, an eco-demonstration house, was established in 1978. The Department of Environmental Resources Engineering is one of the oldest academic programs of its kind, and the Schatz Energy Research Center conducts pioneering work in renewable energy. Through a student-approved fee, the Humboldt Energy Independence Fund takes on energy efficiency projects on campus. The Business School has recently revamped its MBA to focus on strategic sustainability. The list of achievements and programs is long.

Founded in 2006, AASHE generates important information and resources for advancing the concepts of sustainability in higher education. Member colleges and universities model and advance sustainability across-the-board, from education and research to governance and operations.

The report can be found at the STARS website or the HSU sustainability website.

Newly-elected of the Associated Students Government Jacob Bloom.

Full election results are available at http://humboldt.edu/associatedstudents/.

A recognized non-profit corporation, Associated Students is the official voice through which students express their opinions and engage in campus governance. Every year AS provides funding and leadership for more than 20 campus programs, including the Campus Center for Appropriate Technology, the Associated Students concert series and the California State Student Association.

President Rollin Richmond called Munguia “an exemplary young woman and immigrant student who defied all odds to attain both a higher education and a high school degree—with honors—despite working 20 hours a week at a grocery store to pay for her secondary education She richly deserves the Hearst/CSU Award, bringing distinction both to herself and to Humboldt State.”

Victoria Munguia.

Munguia is a Los Angeles native who will graduate this month with a major in History and a double minor in English Literature and Teaching English as a Second Language. She says the $3,000 Hearst-CSU Trustees’ Award will enable her to finance her student teaching credential program this fall in Los Angeles. “I’m really excited I won’t have to take out any student loans.”

Munguia expects to teach world history to Los Angeles 11th graders and plans to take up a career as a history teacher when she completes her credential program.

Fascinated by history since childhood, Munguia has focused at Humboldt State on modern American history. “I was in the third grade when I grabbed my siblings’ middle school history textbook and opened it to the section on George Washington,” she says. “I was captivated by it and have loved history ever since.”

Munguia says her three favorite history books most recently include the 19th century Harriet Ann Jacobs autobiography, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Written by Herself; Khaled Hosseini’s hit debut novel set in Afghanistan, The Kite Runner; and Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid’s critique of American foreign policy, Descent into Chaos: The U.S. and the Disaster in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia.

As for her own autobiography, Munguia grew up in an impoverished Latino community, where she and her family knew unremitting hardship. “I aspire to be an educator because, working with students who come from similarly debilitating socio-economic backgrounds like mine, I hope to instill in them a passion for learning. I hope to enable them to become educated and engaged citizens capable of making better choices for themselves.”

Active in civic work herself, Munguia coordinated HSU’s annual History Day, volunteered as a tutor and mentor at Eureka High School and interned on a Redwood National Park history archive project for the community of Orick. “I worked with Orick’s Cultural Resource Center to help organize and catalogue its
collection on the controversy over the construction of the Redwood Bypass in the 1980’s.”

California State University names 23 Hearst/CSU Trustees’ students each school year “who have overcame profound personal hardships” to obtain a higher education. They represent every campus in the system and are honored, not only for their academic accomplishments, but also for their service as mentors, researchers and leaders.

The CSU has honored hundreds of students since the award’s inception in 1974, funded by personal contributions from the CSU Trustees, staff, friends of the CSU and endowments.

Humboldt State’s chapter of the International Knights service fraternity was founded on campus in 1949. Established in the 1920s at the University of Washington, chapters soon spread throughout the West Coast. An excerpt from the Knight’s manual reads “To be a Knight it was necessary that one be primarily outstanding as a student and a gentleman; and his loyalty to his school and its undertakings beyond reproach. His college and what it stood for were to be always foremost in his mind. At no time was a Knight allowed to forget the dignity of his position.”

Today the Internet, cable television and video games compete for our attention. In the 1950s listeners to North Coast radio tuned into KHSC for much of their entertainment and the station was highly regarded from its outset. Creative original programming, both dramatic and musical, was a highlight of the student work. The station delivered news, had broadcasting duties at HSC football games and posted real-time scores during the World Series as a community service.

What is currently the campus events field originally functioned as a baseball diamond. Men’s baseball was played on campus through the early 1980s when budget constraints and new regulations from Title IX led to a reorganization of university athletics.

In this view from Founders Hall, the west side of campus is visible. The old library, erected in 1962, appears in the background. In front of Siemens Hall is a patch of grass where today a large heather planter sits.

This undated photograph shows Humboldt State’s observatory, which was built in 1971 with the donation of a 60-acre site from three alumni as part of the Astronomers of Humboldt County Club. Located on Fickle Hill Road, the observatory originally housed a 12.5-inch reflecting telescope. Today, students access computer-controlled 16- and 12-inch telescopes and several smaller telescopes.

A thoroughly modern look was chosen for Humboldt State’s 50th anniversary in 1964.

In this page from the 1927 issue of the Cabrillo yearbook, the first homecoming celebration is described. The inaugural event, honoring the class of 1917, included a bonfire, evening “Pajamarino” dance and a “Bean Feed” sponsored by the campus “Y”.

According the California Aggie, the Pajamarino tradition is based on U.C. Davis’s first homecoming event, when students snuck out of the residence halls in pajamas to greet visiting alumni at the train station.

Professor Brian Post strives to compose music that reaches people. That means it must be interesting and accessible, but no so soothing that it’s simply background noise.

“If someone says my music was ‘nice,’ that’s the kiss of death,” jokes Post, who specializes in composition, music theory and music technology at HSU. “You don’t want someone’s mind to wander to their grocery list while they’re listening to your song.”

Brian Post.

Post, who most recently composed the score for the Department of Theatre, Film & Dance’s production of Shakuntala, is now composing another original piece: an arrangement for voice and piano to honor HSU’s 2013-14 centennial. The celebration kicks-off Aug. 24 and includes a year of events and activities commemorating the university’s first 100 years.

“My ultimate goal is to draw the listener in, to keep them engaged and remind them what it means to be a part of the HSU community,” Post says of the composition, which will premiere next spring. “Of course if they walk away remembering the music, it is an added bonus.”

Poetry books by HSU faculty.

Post’s selection will be inspired by the poetry of several HSU faculty members. “I always like to incorporate multiple disciplines into my work because it provides me with more ideas to draw from,” he says.

Last semester, Post enlisted the help of English student Justin Tretten (’12) through a faculty-student research grant from the College of Arts, Humanities and Sciences. In the HSU Library, Tretten found several books of poetry, including works by English faculty members Elma Mccann (1930s), Reginald White (1947-62), Jorie Graham (1980s) and Jim Dodge (1990s).

Over the next few months, Post will scour the books for passages that resonate with him.

“I might take a poem and recite the first few lines over and over, until music notes attach themselves to the words,” he says. “Or the poem might give me a harmonic expression, which I’ll later overlay with a melody,” he explains. “It’s an organic process.”

Brian Post composes a piano melody in his office.

Post’s composition will premiere April 26 in Fulkerson Recital Hall. Assistant voice professor Elisabeth Harrington will perform the piece with accompaniment by HSU faculty musicians.

“It will be an acknowledgement of the wonderful creativity that has preceded me and that I’m now a part of,” Post says.

The Department of Music will host a series of centennial-themed concerts throughout the year, including a department-wide production 8 p.m., December 13 in Van Duzer Theatre. Music professor Gil Cline is also composing an original piece, which will premiere Nov. 9 in Fulkerson Recital Hall.

For more information on the concerts and to stay up to date on all things Centennial, visit humboldt.edu/centennial or like the HSU Centennial Facebook page at facebook.com/hsu100.

For a sample of Post’s work, visit soundcloud.com/brianpost3/shakuntala-11.

String bassist Millie Martin

Martin, currently based in San Francisco, teaches bass in the HSU Music department. Her classical music credits include appearances at the Berkeley Early Music Festival, National Gallery of Art Chamber Series and the Kennedy Center in Washington.

She also plays jazz and popular music, with appearances backing up James Taylor, Roberta Flack and Arlo Guthrie in live concerts.

Tickets are $8 and $3 from HSU Box Office (826-3728) or at the door. A Faculty Artists Concert produced by the HSU Music Department.

Some 2,200 undergraduate, graduate and credential candidates from HSU’s three colleges are eligible to participate.

The class of 2012 celebrates their achivements.

This year’s ceremonies will include recognition of the university’s first Centennial Class, marking the 100th anniversary of the law signed by Governor Hiram Johnson on June 16, 1913 that created Humboldt Normal School. HSU’s year-long Centennial Celebration will be observed with special events and activities throughout the Fall 2013 and Spring 2014 semesters.

The 2013 candidates will wear a green and gold Centennial Commencement Stole of Gratitude. A similar Stole (sash) will be worn in 2014 by the New Century Class. Customarily the Stole is presented to a parent, relative, friend or mentor who has provided extraordinary support or exerted exceptional influence during a student’s time on campus.

Among Commencement 2013 honorees will be three Outstanding Students of the Year: Emanuel Delgado, Geography; Gabriela García of Fortuna, a Political Science major with an emphasis in globalization; and Masha E. Melnik, who is completing dual degrees, a B.S. in Cellular/Molecular Biology and a B.A. in Psychology, plus a minor in Chemistry, all in five years.

This year’s graduates will wear a green and gold Centennial Commencement Stole of Gratitude.

Participating students also will wear green ribbons to symbolize their support of the Graduation Pledge of Social and Environmental Responsibility, a Commencement tradition that began at HSU in 1987 and has been adopted by hundreds of universities worldwide.

In lieu of a Commencement keynote, there will be a special presentation marking the Centennial.

Attendees with smartphones or Internet devices will be able to share their Commencement photos on Instagram, with uploads to the Instagram ™ social media service. Submitted photos must include the tag #HSUGrad to be included in the Humboldt State photo contest. Details are posted at humboldt.edu/social.

The Commencement schedule, rain or shine in Redwood Bowl, begins at 8:30 a.m. with the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. The College of Natural Resources and Sciences follows at noon and the College of Professional Studies at 3:30 p.m.

A general reception will be held in the University Center Plaza (the Quad below the Bell Tower) at the conclusion of each ceremony. Academic departments will host receptions of their own at various locations, which will be listed in the back of the free Commencement program. The program will include a campus map.

The HSU Bookstore will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Humboldt Alumni staff will be selling Commencement memorabilia at a booth in the stadium.

Families and attendees are urged to arrive early for their respective ceremonies. Continuous shuttle service for transport to Redwood Bowl will be available from Parking Lot FS9 (Harpst & Rossow Streets) and Lots G14 and G15 (14th & Union). Disabled parking will be available to those with required license plates and placards, also in Lot FS9, which adjoins the Student Business Services Building at the Harpst & Rossow intersection.

Complete information is posted at humboldt.edu/commencement.

Troy Nicolini, meteorologist for the National Weather Service, inspects the Japanese skiff that wash ashore in Crescent City, Calif., on Sunday, April 6.

The incident garnered attention from all over the world, including Japan, Australia and England. Here’s just some of the media attention:

Los Angeles Times – 5/1
Japanese boat first confirmed tsunami debris in California

NBC News – 4/29
Japan tsunami debris confirmed in California

Japan Times – 4/28
First debris from 3/11 reaches California

Huffington Post – 4/26
California Tsunami Debris: Boat In Crescent City From Japan, Federal Officials Confirm

Thanks to a series of measures introduced last year, HSU’s per capita disposal rate for 2,304 employees was 1.56 pounds per day, versus the state’s recommended 10.7 pounds.

HSU continues to be recognized for its recycling and waste management programs.

Likewise, the University’s per capita disposal rate for non-employees (8,622 students) was .42 pounds per day, versus the state goal of 1.9 pounds.

“We are noticeably lower than the state targets and we’re also lower than in 2011,” says Traci Ferdolage, Associate Vice President of Facilities Management.

Humboldt State shifted last year from a dual stream to single stream recycling, making collection more convenient for the campus community. Single stream recycling deploys receptacles for mixed fibers as well as bottles, cans and plastic containers #1-7.

At the same time, HSU was awarded a Beverage Containers grant from CalRecycle to install more recycling bins and signage and launch a social marketing campaign to bolster recycling rates.

Also in 2012, the campus expanded its ongoing food-waste diversion program, collecting food-waste and food-soiled paper from the dining areas and campus compost bins for diversion to a commercial composting facility.

Campus Recycling continues to partner with Housing & Dining Services, the Waste Reduction & Resource Awareness Program and other student groups, carrying out year-long education and outreach campaigns to augment participation in composting and recycling.

Campus Recycling, an arm of the Office of Sustainability under Facilities Management, collects scrap metal, e-waste, inkjet cartridges, hardbound books, appliances, surplus equipment and furniture, carpet, mixed rigid plastics and other hard-to-recycle items. Also collected are tires and used oil and oil filters.

Taalman’s map—titled Drilling Through Sensitive Ground—analyzes the potential correlation between fracking and the diffusion of white nose syndrome among bats in the eastern United States between 2005 and 2012.

As part of the award, Taalman’s map will become part of the permanent collection at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., where it will be accessible to researchers around the world.

Geography student Alina Taalman (right) has won the Arthur Robinson Award for Best Printed Map in an annual competition hosted by the national Cartography and Geographic Information Society. Alina and HSU alum Michelle Dobosh (left) also make up the editing team for the California Environmental Legacy Project.

The map charts the parallel emergence of two phenomena—fracking and white nose syndrome—in the Marcellus Shale, a formation of sedimentary rock in the Appalachian Basin filled with untapped natural gas reserves.

Fracking, also known as hydraulic fracturing, is the process by which pressurized water and chemical additives are used to fracture rock layers deep underground. It is a technique for releasing natural gas and petroleum that has come under fire in recent years for its potential negative impacts on the environment.

Taalman was interested in examining the correlation between fracking and the occurrence of white nose syndrome, a deadly fungal disease that has killed millions of hibernating bats in North America since its emergence in the mid 2000s.

“Fracking has expanded throughout the Marcellus Shale in the same time period that white nose syndrome has emerged in bats of that area,” says Taalman. “I wanted to see if there was a correlation between the introduction of fracking and the spread of the disease.”

Taalman primarily used ArcMap, which is part of a suite of geospatial processing programs created by Esri, to develop the map. She also received support from faculty members in the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences including Rebecca Degagne, Matthew Derrick, Rosemary Sherriff, Dennis Fitzsimons, Mary Beth Cunha, Suzanne Seemann and Jenny Curtis.

The final map shows that the two phenomena grew simultaneously. It does not indicate however, whether there is a direct correlation between their emergence. “It’s possible that fracking could be acting as another environmental stressor to bats who already have white nose syndrome, making it harder for them to recover,” Taalman explains. “Additional investigation will provide a more conclusive answer.”

Taalman’s future goals include creating an animated version of the map using advanced mapping software. Further studies could examine fracking’s impact on other species.

“If there does end up being a correlation, it could mean a lot for areas that are just now beginning to allow hydraulic fracturing,” she says. “It would show that further regulations need to be put in place to protect wildlife.”

To view a PDF version of Taalman’s map, click here.

For more on HSU’s geography department, visit humboldt.edu/geography.

Biology graduate student John Mola (’14) is examining the role of native bees versus honeybees on eight Humboldt County farms.

These are some of the questions that biology graduate student John Mola (’14) is hoping to answer as part of a multi-year research project examining the role of native bees versus honeybees on Humboldt County farms.

Mola—this year’s McCrone Graduate Fellowship Award winner and the recent recipient of a 2013 National Science Foundation graduate research fellowship—is looking at the pollination of apple and pear crops on eight local orchards.

Honeybees are the most common type of bee used in commercial crop pollination. But they’ve drastically declined in recent years due to pests and a disease called Colony Collapse Disorder. Although there is no known explanation for CCD, possible causes include malnutrition, pesticides and poor beekeeping practices.

The rapid decline has prompted researchers around the world to begin looking for possible alternatives. Chief among them: native bees. “With all of this focus on just a single species of bee, and one that isn’t even native to North America, we’re missing out on thousands of other equally important species with few people even realizing it,” Mola explains.

Mola will determine whether it’s possible, or even viable, for farmers to manage local bee species.

Native bees differ from honeybees in several important ways. Unlike honeybees, most are solitary insects, meaning that they require specific nesting habitats such as underground tunnels and bushes, instead of hives. Some native bees have even evolved to pollinate specific crops. What’s more? In some cases, native bees are more efficient pollinators than honeybees.

Over the next few years, Mola—along with undergraduate students Gwen Schneider, Grace Blacker, Corey Andrikopolous and Brian Creeks—will tally the abundance of various bee species in pollinating local apples and pears. He will also specifically examine the efficiency of local bees in pollinating those crops.

If a native species like the blue orchard bee does turn out to be a big pollinator, Mola will determine whether it’s possible, or even viable, for farmers to manage the species locally. “I’m helping local farmers understand what bees are locally important, and then how to enhance habitat for those pollinators,” Mola explains.

The implications of his research are far-reaching—and not just for local farmers. A viable management plan could serve as a blueprint for farmers in more intensively managed agricultural areas, Mola explains. “Given that we’re in a place with a great semi-natural habitat, it’s safe to say that if pollination services are at risk here, they’re certainly at an even greater risk in more intensive areas like the Central Valley.”

Art student Kierston Travis-McKittrick (’13) used a paintbrush to wet pack green enamel into the words “Humboldt State University.” Then, she placed the metal piece into a kiln, where it would undergo three high-temperature firings.

From left to right: Art student Kasey Jorgenson (’13), professor Kris Patzlaff and Kierston Travis-McKittrick (’13).

Travis-McKittrick was using an ancient enameling technique called champlevé to find the perfect shades of green and gold for the university’s new centennial mace.

“There are literally hundreds of colors to choose from,” Travis-McKittrick explained. “What I’m trying to do is find a consistent match.”

Art student Kierston Travis-McKittrick (’13) uses a paintbrush to meticulously trace the words “Humboldt State University” in green enamel.

Travis-McKittrick and fellow honors student Kasey Jorgenson (’13) are part of a group of students working with art professor Kris Patzlaff to create an original mace honoring HSU’s 2013-14 centennial celebration.

Patzlaff is one of several faculty members, students and staff from around campus donating their time and expertise to help celebrate the historic event.

“What I wanted to do was create something that represents the history and values of the university and also the exquisite natural setting of Humboldt,” says Patzlaff, who specializes in jewelry and small metals.

Patlzaff’s sketch of the new mace (right) draws inspiration from the windows of Founders Hall (left).

Patzlaff began researching the piece last year, incorporating materials and themes that represent HSU’s identity and commitment to sustainability.

The final design consists of a Redwood shaft adorned with six rings representing the university’s six presidents. A silver body bears the university seal and the seal of California. There is also an abstract representation of the Redwood forest and a section showcasing the half oval windows from Founders Hall.

The top of the mace includes three buttresses, representing the university’s three colleges. The buttresses are adorned with a ring of gold—donated by HSU alumni. The mace is topped with a glass sphere representing the Earth and HSU’s commitment to sustainability.

“The entire shape represents a torch, which symbolizes enlightening students through their educational experience at HSU,” Patzlaff explains. The mace is also constructed of sustainable materials, including recycled metal and unleaded enamel.

Jennifer Slye Moore, an administrative assistant in the art department, is crafting the shaft and art alum Roger Durham is constructing a chest to hold the mace.

“It will reflect all that Humboldt State stands for, as well as the hard work of our past and current students and staff,” Patzlaff says. “I’m excited to have this be my contribution to a place that is so special to me and my students.”

Patzlaff’s mace will be unveiled at HSU’s 2014 commencement ceremonies.

To stay up to date on all things Centennial, visit humboldt.edu/centennial or like the HSU Centennial Facebook page at facebook.com/hsu100.

The California State University (CSU) and the United States Environmental Protection Agency Region 9 (EPA) recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) designed to increase environmental opportunities at all 23 CSU campuses over the next five years.

“Environmental protection is an integral part of maintaining California’s natural resources, health, economy and infrastructure,” said CSU Executive Vice Chancellor and Chief Academic Officer Ephraim P. Smith. “A stronger collaboration with the EPA will help the CSU produce graduates prepared to meet these environmental needs.”

The MOU identifies opportunities with the EPA—including internships, service-learning, and curriculum development—for CSU students, faculty and staff. In order to streamline the collaboration, the CSU plans to designate a central contact on each campus that will coordinate projects and other efforts with the EPA. Activities outlined in the MOU will also encourage CSU students to participate in environmental fields of study and help the EPA attract a highly-trained workforce.

“EPA is excited to collaborate with the California State Universities, the largest system of higher education in the country,” said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA’s Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest. “We look forward to the innovative environmental work that will be achieved as a result of our partnership.”

The MOU presents numerous benefits for both partners including:

*CSU student volunteer service-learning opportunities with the EPA *Independent study opportunities where CSU students can earn credit at multiple campuses for completion of EPA projects, lectures, or curriculum *EPA input for the CSU to develop current and pertinent environmental curriculum

As part of this collaboration, CSU Channel Islands recently partnered with EPA’s Marine Debris Program. The partnership implements scientific protocols with geographic information system (GIS) mapping as part of a beach cleanup throughout the region and creates opportunities for faculty, students and EPA experts to interact.

In this 2010 photo, students in Applied Ecological Resortation (ENVS 450) record data on vegetation in the Jolly Giant Creek just behind campus. Student’s earning a minor in environmental restoration from the Department of Environmental Science and Management work throughout the North Coast and state to repair and restore damaged environments.

Students take part in a water ballet course in the old indoor swimming pool in this undated photo. HSU’s new swimming pool, which opened in 2008, includes a 25-yard lap pool with an “L” shaped shallow pool. The pool can host as many as 196 swimmers and features extra depth for SCUBA classes.

Physical education has been a part of Humboldt State since the first classes in 1914. The college’s original site, austere as it was, included a gymnasium, manual training room, domestic science room and library.

The older structures that make up today’s athletics facilities came online between 1959 and 1960. In addition to the indoor swimming pool seen here, ’60s-era expansion brought a field house, tennis courts, the men’s gym (now East Gym) and a much-needed roof for Redwood Bowl’s west stands.

A homecoming queen candidate is paraded through Arcata for the 1955 homecoming festivities. Students elected Fern Flower as their homecoming queen that year. According to HSU history book “A View from the Hill,” homecoming was abandoned on campus in the early ‘70s, but revived by the end of the decade. The 1979 homecoming began a tradition of honoring alumni from Humboldt State’s earliest classes.

A rare snowfall is seen on the track in Redwood Bowl in this photo from the late ‘70s. Snow is an unusual enough event at Humboldt State that publishers of the 1926 yearbook included mention of a snowfall at the Christmas dance (the yearbook also mentions that punch was served). According to the Farmer’s Almanac, Arcata receives exactly zero-inches of snow per year, so traveling winter sports clubs have been active on campus since its earliest days.

In this undated photo, civil engineering students engage in laboratory work at Humboldt State.

Engineering at Humboldt State has had a long evolution since its beginnings in the 1930s. Then, the program incorporated mathematics, surveying and drafting and provided much the same function a junior college pre-engineering program does today.

A 1968 statewide audit of CSU engineering programs almost closed Humboldt’s program, but administrators saw a unique opportunity in combining the campus’s expertise in natural resources with its civil engineering and engineering science programs.

The program was first dubbed Natural Resources Engineering, then simply Engineering. In 1972 the program was retitled Environmental Resources Engineering. One of the oldest programs of its kind, HSU’s ERE outfit was among the first environmental engineering programs certified by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology.

Since the early 1980s alternative energy engineering has been a part of HSU’s ERE program. Here, students work with fuel cell electrolyzer kits in Intro to Environmental Resources Engineering (ENGR 115) in this 2009 photo.

A student ensemble of fiddle enthusiasts is preparing its own medley. “There’s quite a movement in America for fiddle music, and these students are part of it,” Cummings said. “I don’t know exactly what tunes they’re doing, so I’m looking forward to being surprised. Every concert ought to have an adventure—something unexpected. This is it.”

The Humboldt Symphony.

The fiddle medley follows Percy Grainger’s “Molly on the Shore,” a string orchestra version of an Irish reel. The concert includes the overture to the first real opera in western music history by Claudio Monteverdi, and “Capriccio Espagnol” by 19th century composer Rimsky-Korsakoff that Cummings calls “one of the great orchestral masterworks.” The main selection is “The Creation of the World,” a jazz inflected classic by French composer Darius Milaud, that is seldom performed partly because “it’s so difficult to play,” Cummings said. So after all the hard work preparing it, why not fiddle around a little?

Humboldt Symphony performs on Friday, May 10 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, May 12 at 3 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7/$3 and free to HSU students from the HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door. Conducted by Paul Cummings, produced by the HSU Music Department. For more information, visit hsumusic.blogspot.com.

The Humboldt Chorale features a children’s choir along with the main choir and two soloists performing the Mass of the Children by contemporary British composer John Rutter. The soloists are soprano Katharine Gunnick and baritone Carl McGahan.

Soprano Katharine Gunnick

HSU University Singers perform Vivaldi’s “Beatus Vir,” a Baroque masterpiece for double choir, with soprano soloist Ana Margarida Cruz. Excerpts from American composer Leonard Bernstein’s Mass include “Sing God a New Song” sung by soprano Ana Duchi.

The Humboldt Chorale is a community group directed by Carol Ryder. The children’s choir is prepared by James Gadd, and Larry Pitts is piano accompanist.

The HSU University Singers are directed by Harley Muilenburg. John Chernoff accompanies on piano.

Tickets are $7/3, free to HSU students from the HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door. Produced by the HSU Music Department. For more information, visit hsumusic.blogspot.com.

The full Orchestra plays an adaptation of Stevie Wonder’s 1970s hit, “Superstition,” and reinvents a Duke Ellington spoof of the 1940s craze for the conga called “The Flaming Sword.”

Vocalist Jo Kuzelka sings a jazz version of the 1950s hit “Cry Me A River,” and sings “Seven Steps to Heaven,” a tune made famous by Miles Davis, which also features solos by trumpeter Andrew Henderson and tenor saxist Nick Durant.

“Besame Mucho,” the most-often recorded Mexican song, is arranged by Jazz Orchestra guitarist Dan Fair, with solos by Fair and pianist Alex Espe.

The concert also includes tunes by Mary Lou Williams, Charles Mingus, the great Argentinean composer Astor Piazolla, and “Horizon Reassembled” by living jazz legend Bobby Watson.

Tickets are $7/3/ and free to HSU students with an ID from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Directed by Dan Aldag, produced by the HSU Music Department. For more information, visit hsumusic.blogspot.com.

Since last February, the university has netted over 700 pieces of waste, furnishings and recyclables totaling more than 2,200 pounds. It has also freed nearly a thousand square feet of lab space.

Since last winter, the project has netted over 700 pieces of waste, furnishings and recyclables totaling more than 2,200 pounds. It has also freed nearly a thousand square feet of lab space.

Led by Facilities Management, the initiative aims to reduce university surplus and consolidate expired or unused hazardous material on campus.

Hazardous waste are materials, items or substances that can threaten public health or the environment. E-Waste is the name given to computers, televisions, stereos, copiers, cell phones and other electronics nearing the end of their “lifecycles.” Many of these products can be reused, refurbished, or recycled.

“Our mission was to establish a clean, safe, and functional campus environment that inspires a sense of community support for student, faculty, and staff success,” says university planner Mike Fisher, who led the initiative. “Throughout the process, we’ve gained space and helped alleviate overcrowding.”

Fisher says the project has also spurred faculty and staff discussions on how to best use instructional areas and increased the number of requests for new furnishings and workspace options.

The project comprised four phases, beginning in February 2012. Phase I was the lightest collection period and encompassed buildings on the south end of campus including Jensen House, Harry Griffith Hall and the Behavioral and Social Sciences building.

Phase II took place during the summer and included non-academic departments, auxiliary programs, university support and services and housing. The Telonicher Marine Lab in Trinidad replaced outdated equipment and overhauled its entire stock room and specimen containment areas.

Phase III occurred during the fall of 2012 and encompassed science buildings and other core academic buildings. Staff cleared and organized items on the Science B rooftop, long known as a hazardous storage area. They also inventoried the science stock rooms and purged old chemicals and unused equipment.

Phase IV, which concludes this month, encompasses the remaining buildings on campus. A fifth collection phase to take place this fall will give university buildings and departments a final opportunity to discard their surplus.

After items are collected, they’re housed in an off-campus storage facility where they’re processed in accordance with university policy and California State University rules and regulations.

The Campus Wide Waste Collection Project was developed by Facilities Management with help from Academic Affairs, the Office of Sustainability, and Environmental Health & Safety.

For more information, contact university planner Mike Fisher at mdf15@humboldt.edu or at (707) 826-4444.

The psychology and cellular/molecular biology double major has held seven research assistantships, served as an HOP counselor and as a teaching assistant in two classes, and worked as a Supplemental Instruction leader for Genetics.

For her academic and extra-curricular contributions, Melnik was named a 2012-13 Outstanding Student of the Year earlier this year by President Rollin Richmond.

How does she manage it all? “To-do lists and prioritization,” she says.

Masha Melnik is a psychology and cellular/molecular biology double major who was recently named a 2012-13 Outstanding Student of the Year by President Rollin Richmond.

A San Diego native, Melnik learned about HSU from her favorite high school government teacher Matt Pruden, a Humboldt State alum. When she visited campus during Spring Preview as a high school senior, she fell in love, she says. “I was looking for something different and found HSU.”

Studying two related disciplines means that Melnik’s classes often complement each other. For instance, if a topic isn’t taught in biology, it might be covered in psychology and vice versa, she says.

“As a psychology student, you have to take research methods, which teaches students the skill of designing experiments and how to apply statistics,” she explains. “These are skills you use all the time in biology.”

One of Melnik’s favorite things about HSU has been her professors. She still remembers one class with psychology professor and department chair Gregg Gold in which he demonstrated the problems associated with eyewitness testimony.

During the class, Gold had a student volunteer walk in unannounced, throw a glass of water on him and shout, “How could you give me an F?!” Afterward, Gold had the class describe the event, including the student’s hair and dress.

“By the end of it, we had about five different hair colors on the board and some people insisting the student threw coffee instead of water,” Melnik recalls. “It was a powerful way to show how eyewitness testimony can lead to false imprisonment,” she says.

Melnik has also worked with graduate students during her time at HSU. In her most recent lab, she helped psychology professor Ethan Gahtan and graduate students Nathan Helm-Burger and Sarah Stednitz research proprioception, or the sense of the body moving through space.

For the study, Melnik and other students looked at the behavior and anatomy of zebrafish, which are commonly used to study sensory-motor circuits. The study will help researchers better understand locomotor control in animals and humans, she says.

Melnik credits HSU for providing her with valuable research experience. One of her favorite projects was working with biology professor Mark Wilson and student Samantha Shelton on developing a concept inventory for the scientific method. Concept inventories are multiple-choice tests that educators use to gauge students’ understanding of a particular concept.

For this project, Melnik, Wilson, and Shelton wanted to develop a test to assess the effectiveness of various teaching methods in conveying concepts critical to understanding the scientific method. The results will eventually be used be science educators.

When it comes to her own future, Melnik is looking forward to a career in biology. “I’m excited for the next step, and I know that Humboldt has prepared me well.”

When art professor Sarah Whorf first learned of HSU’s 2013-14 centennial celebration last year, she knew she had to get involved.

So she began thinking of how she could use her printmaking skills to help commemorate the university’s first 100 years.

Whorf contacted HSU’s Marketing & Communications Department—which, along with various campus groups—is helping host a yearlong series of activities and events commemorating the historic event.

She decided to create a 10 5/8’’ x 7 1/2’’ woodcut that will be used by HSU throughout the centennial celebration. The original print will also be available for purchase beginning later this year.

“I wanted to create something that was unique to my skills and that reflected who I am and what I do,” says Whorf, who specializes in woodcuts. “I also wanted it to be recognizable and reflect the natural and architectural beauty of Humboldt State.”

For inspiration, Whorf spent a day during Winter Break wandering around campus and snapping photos.

Art professor Sarah Whorf’s centennial woodcut will be featured in a collection of works with her students.

“It was the Monday after finals week, everyone was gone and the holiday star was on Founders,” she recalls. Whorf visited a number of spots, but found herself coming back to Founders Hall.

To get the full perspective, she walked all the way around the building and took photos from different angles. “The north side has a lot of really cool architecture, but I kept coming back to the west side,” she says. Finally, she decided on the most iconic view—Founders from the front, with a view of the stairs.

Whorf traced a photo of Founders, refined the drawing, then carved her design into a woodblock.

Whorf spent a few days tracing the photo and refining the drawing, then carved her design into a woodblock. To create different effects, she used different carving tools and changed the angle at which she held the instruments. The areas she carved away remain white, while the un-carved areas left in relief on the block have ink rolled onto them with a brayer. The inked image on the block is then transferred to paper with pressure from a printing press to create an original woodcut print.

The final woodcut features Founders head-on, its familiar rhododendron bushes and a student with a backpack making the long trek up.

Whorf’s final woodcut features Founders head-on, its familiar rhododendron bushes and a student with a backpack making the long trek up. She says it reflects the natural beauty of campus, its 100-year history and its future moving forward.

“I tried to capture what HSU means to me,” Whorf says, “Hopefully, it will compel people to find their own inspiration.”

Stay tuned for updates on all things Centennial by visiting humboldt.edu/centennial or by liking the HSU Centennial Facebook page at facebook.com/hsu100.

Patricia O. McConkey Outstanding Graduate Student Award winner Sara K. Obenauer with Marylyn Paik Nicely, director of the MultiCultural Center, and Outstanding Student of the Year Award winner Gabriela Garcia.

Outstanding Student of the Year Award winner Masha E. Melnik.

Distinguished Alumni Award recipient Ellie Cachette (‘06, Political Science).

Distinguished Alumni Award recipient Rick Rosenthal (‘67, Zoology) with Katya Shirokow.

HSU president Rollin Richmond presents professor
Sing Chew, Dept. of Sociology, with the award for Scholar of the Year.

Kathleen Doty, professor in the Department of English and recipient of the Excellence in Teaching Award.

McCrone Promising Faculty Scholars Matthew Derrick, Department of Geography (left) with Joseph Dieme, Department of World Languages and Cultures (right).

For more photos, visit Humboldt State Events on Flickr.

For more coverage visit:
Campus Welcomes 2013 Distinguished Alumni

HSU Salutes Eminent Faculty for Academic Excellence

Spring Welcome Honors Staff Members

University Celebrates Outstanding Students 2012-2013

Students prepare specimens in this undated photo. Today the Timothy E. Lawlor Mammal Collection contains more than 15,000 specimens, including some rare and exotic specimens like a platypus, tarsier and more.

In this 2011 photo students in professor Tim Mulligan’s Ecology of Marine Life (Fish 435) seine fish in Trinidad Bay. Science instructor Hortense Lanphere lead the charge to create a fisheries program at Humboldt State in the early ’40s, which began in the typical Humboldt manner: with salvaged lumber, donated materials and a promise to cost the school nothing. The program was an immediate hit and spurred the creation of wildlife studies and numerous other departments.

The old fountain on the art quad is seen in this 1989 photo. The fountain was the subject of a 1999 masters thesis by alum Jensen Rufe (‘99, Theatre, Film and Dance) titled “The Ugliest Fountain in the World (Without a Doubt).”

Humboldt State music students perform for area school children in this undated photo. Field trips to the Arcata campus for concerts and theatre performances have been a tradition for local children for decades.

Members of HSU’s Percussion Ensemble perform Brazilian samba music on the quad in this 2010 photo.

Photo credit: Vicky Sama. Top: Alvin Garlejo, Sara Schneider and Nancy Vargas. Bottomt: Justin Gore, coach Vicky Sama, Zach Thompson, Marina Marcroft, Katrina Suarez and Michael Nystrom.

Garlejo had one of the most impressive finishes of the weekend, getting second place in Sunday’s criterium in downtown Davis, in a field of more than 40 riders. Garlejo sprinted into the final turn and crossed the finish line to give the team more points than a Santa Clara racer in his event.

Nancy Vargas finished second in the women’s C crit on Sumday after getting 3rd place in the 37-mile road race the day before. Those two strong finishes put her in second place in the overall standings. Vargas came home with two silver and one bronze medal.

Sara Schneider finished 4th in the women’s C road race on Saturday. Marina Marcroft finished 10th in that same event.

Zach Thompson got 7th in Saturday’s 37-mile road race and 7th in Sunday’s crit. He also helped win the team a lot of points by racing in the Team Time Trial with teammates Justin Gore and Michael Nystrom. The three men got 7th place in the men’s C TTT.

Nystrom got 12th in Saturday’s road race.

Thompson continued with lucky number 7 and finished 7th in Sunday’s crit.

CSU Presidents Receive Honors

• San José State President Mo Qayoumi was recently appointed to the Homeland Security Academic Advisory Council, a group of academic leaders that advises Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano on issues relating to international students, recent graduate recruitment, homeland security academic programs and academic research. Qayoumi will be chairman of the council’s new subcommittee on cyber security, as San José State is preparing to launch a cyber security center. More information.

• CSU San Marcos President Karen S. Haynes and CSU Fullerton President Mildred García were recently honored for their commitment to advancing women in higher education. President Haynes was presented the 2013 Donna Shavlik Award by the American Council on Education for transforming CSUSM into a model environment for women. The California Legislative Women’s Caucus commended President García—the first Latina president at a CSU campus—during the recent “Breaking the Glass Ceiling” awards.

Long Beach President Takes Post at Louisiana State

CSU Long Beach President F. King Alexander has been appointed the system president of Louisiana State University and chancellor of Louisiana State University A&M;(LSU). CSU Chancellor Timothy P. White commended Alexander as an exceptional leader who has “earned the respect of faculty, staff and students at his campus, from his peers across the California State University and from leaders of higher education throughout the nation.” Alexander was appointed president of CSU Long Beach in 2005 and will serve through June. More information.

Teacher of the Year Credits CSU for Success

Heralding her student experience as key to her success, National Teacher of the Year 2012 Rebecca Mieliwocki said the CSU helped “turn me into the teacher I am today.” An alumna of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and CSU Northridge, Mieliwocki spoke to the Board of Trustees recently saying she was “taught by the best” and expressed her commitment to California’s public education system. A seventh grade English teacher at Luther Burbank Middle School, Mieliwocki has spent the year speaking about how she prepares students to think creatively and critically in order to compete in the world. The National Teacher of the Year program is an honors program that focuses public attention on excellence in teaching. Read more about Mieliwocki at Working for California.

CSU Compiles Information on Faculty Work Assignments

At the request of the Little Hoover Commission, an independent state oversight agency, the California State University recently compiled data regarding faculty, faculty workload and instruction, among other areas. The information is the first comprehensive analysis of faculty work at the CSU in many years. The topic areas include the number of classes, types of classes (lower division, upper division, graduate) and the percentage of classes taught by tenured and tenure-track faculty and others; the number of professors granted tenure; the CSU’s policy on sabbaticals and the percentage taken; class size; and time spent on instruction and related activities. More information.

University of Wyoming clarinetist Blake McGee.

His solo concert on Thursday features works by Rossini and Leonard Bernstein, but it also includes a composition based on hip-hop called “Bling Bling,” and “Pleistocene Epoch,” in which his solo bass clarinet suggests the gurgles and ooze of the La Brea Tar Pits as well as several extinct animals.

Then on Friday he is featured in a symphonic band version of Led Zepplin’s “Black Dog” by Scott McAllister. “The composer calls for the clarinet to take the part of the lead singer, and also perform solos in Jimi Hendrix fashion,” said HSU Symphonic Band conductor Paul Cummings. “It’s pretty clear from the first measures that the clarinet is imitating a rock and roll guitar.”

This piece is also a reunion. Cummings and McGee have known each other since graduate school at the University of Oregon. “I conducted one of the works he played for his doctorate,” Cummings said. “It was by the same composer who wrote ‘Black Dog.’”

McGee is a West Coast product, a former member of the Portland Opera and Vancouver Symphony. He is known for pushing the envelope, as well as for performing classics and recording world music. North Coast pianist Jennifer Heidmann will accompany him for his Thursday recital.

In addition to performing “Black Dog” with McGee on Friday, the Symphonic Band plays another work by a young composer— John Mackey’s “Hymn to a Blue Hour”—as well as a piece by Virgil Thompson, and Luigi Zaninelli’s “Three Dances of Enchantment.”

While at HSU, Dr. McGee will also conduct a clarinet master class and workshop.

Get tickets by calling 826-3928 or at the door. For more information, visit hsumusic.blogspot.com. Both concerts produced by the HSU Music Department.

Edgard Varese’s preeminent “Ionization” requires 14 performers playing over 47 instruments and is an “extremely revolutionary work” according to Percussion Ensemble director Eugene Novotney. Another work for multiple and unusual instruments (including Chinese water gong and prepared piano) is “Second Construction” by John Cage.

In addition to works by Nigel Westlake and others, the Ensemble also performs a cult classic by HSU alum and founding member of the Mr. Bungle group Trey Spruance, as featured on the hit album Disco Volante.

The World Percussion Group performs a suite of traditional Mandeng drumming from West Africa as well as Cuban folkloric music. Then the Calypso Band takes over with its high energy and authentic rhythms from the Caribbean.

Tickets are $7/$3 students & seniors at the door or by calling 826-3928. The first 50 HSU students are admitted free. Fore more information, visit hsumusic.blogspot.com. Directed by Eugene Novotney and Howard Kaufman, produced by HSU Music Department.

The concert also features a new a cappella group called the Humboldt Tones that starts off the second half with four songs, including “Discipline” by Bobby McFerrin, and Kerry Marsh’s musical version of an e.e. cummings poem, “Love Is More Thicker Than Forget.”

Then the Mad River Transit Singers perform songs from the 1940s, including “Knock Me A Kiss” and “All the Cats Join In.” The Beatles tunes are “Norwegian Wood” arranged by MRT and Madrigal Singers’ director Harley Muilenberg, and the lush harmonies of “Because” from the Abbey Road album.

Two senior music majors, James Gadd and Daniela Godinez, each conduct a movement from Cecelia McDowall’s “A Fancy of Folksongs.” MRT is accompanied by the rhythm section of Joseph Welnick and John Chernoff on piano, Steven Workman on bass and Dylan Williams on drums.

The evening begins with the Madrigal Singers, performing works by John Dowland, Emma Lou Diemer and Orlando di Lasso, as well as anonymous Renaissance love and drinking songs.

Tickets are $7/$3 seniors & children by calling 826-3928 or at the door. Fore more information, visit hsumusic.blogspot.com. Directed by Harley Muilenberg, produced by the HSU Music Department.

The ‘Campus as a Living Lab’ Grant Program is a unique opportunity to partner faculty and facilities management staff in using the campus as a forum for the exploration of sustainability concepts and theories. The program aligns the California State University’s long-standing commitment to sustainability with the fundamental goal of preparing students for the workforce.

The ‘Campus as a Living Lab’ Grant Program will provide funds for two schemes:

The development or redesign of a course that ties elements of sustainability into opportunities for learning using the campus physical plant. Funds of up to $12,000 will be awarded to support the preparation of the proposed course.

The creation of an interdisciplinary Learning Community, focused on campus sustainability. The learning community may be comprised of faculty, staff, students, and community college partners. Funds of up to $12,000 will be awarded to support the activities of the proposed Learning Communities.

Students in every discipline can benefit from general education courses that introduce theories and concepts in sustainability and environmental responsibility, including but not limited to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) disciplines. Proposals that incorporate at least one high-impact practice such as for-credit internships, service-learning courses, undergraduate research opportunities, student learning communities, and first year or capstone programs, are strongly encouraged.

Grant proposals will be reviewed by a cross divisional committee of Academic Affairs, Capital Planning, Design and Construction and the Systemwide Academic Senate.

For additional information regarding the Campus as a Living Lab Grant Program, please contact Ms. Meaghan Smith, Capital Planning, Design and Construction, at (562) 951-4102 or sustainability@calstate.edu.

For the full announcement, click here.

Built in 1933, the College Elementary School, now Gist Hall, featured a slide on the building’s south side. What’s now a parking lot between the Student & Business Services Building was formerly playground blacktop.

In this undated photo a student cuts out cookies as part of a Home Economics course. Bachelor’s degrees in Home Economics were offered at Humboldt State as early as the 1920s. Considered an applied science, home ec. was offered on campus until 1990.

Lucky Logger, registration ticket in hand, takes part in registration day in this undated photo. In 1958, registration began its march toward automation with the introduction of an IBM punch card data processing system. Even with the punch cards, long lines snaked through the gym as students waited to register in person. Today, students register anywhere they can find an internet connection.

Physics professor Wes Bliven demonstrates the power of compressed gas with his rocket-powered vehicle in this 2008 photo. Engaging faculty in courses like Physics 106 are what sets Humboldt State apart from other schools.

In this aerial view of Arcata, the Humboldt State campus is seen prior to several major changes that came in the years following 1957, when this photo was taken. Note the tennis courts occupying what is now the University Center Quad and Siemens Hall. In the upper portion of the photo, the Michael J. Burns Freeway portion of U.S. 101, which was finished in 1955, can be seen. Prior to the construction of the freeway, Arcata’s G street was the old U.S. 101 route.

Sources:
“A View from the Hill,” William R. Tanner
“Humboldt State University, The Campus History Series,” Katy M. Tahja
The Stater
Humboldt Magazine
Humboldt State University Library, Humboldt Room

Among his other claims to fame: being this university’s namesake. This fall, HSU students and faculty will pay homage to Prussian naturalist Alexander von Humboldt with a play commemorating his life and work.

The original production premieres this November as part of HSU’s 2013-14 Centennial celebration, a year of events and activities commemorating the university’s first 100 years.

Theater faculty member and HSU alum Michael Fields is heading the Von Humboldt Project, a play about Alexander von Humboldt premiering at the university’s 2013-14 Centennial.

“This is a guy who was a rock star in his day,” says theater faculty member and HSU alum Michael Fields (M.F.A.), who’s heading the project. “His name remains on literally thousands of things from species, to buildings and universities.”

Born in 1769, Von Humboldt rose to fame when he published Kosmos, a treatise exploring his international travels and the relationship between humans and nature.

“Von Humboldt was really the first geographer who saw the world as an organic whole,” Field says. “Our goal with the play is to bring that worldview to life.”

Chris Joe, a sophomore double majoring in music and theatre, is a student in TA 415, an advanced acting class that meets twice week to develop the play. Here he tries on a Pantalone commedia mask.

Fields—who is artistic director of the physical theatre school Dell’Arte—also teaches TA 415, an advanced acting class that meets twice week to develop the play. The course is open to all students and includes lessons in acting, theatrical styles, story development and scriptwriting.

Keith Brown, a junior majoring in theatre arts, says he enrolled in the class to improve his playwriting skills. “I’ve done some writing on my own but I never thought I’d write monologue that could open a show,” he says. “It’s pretty exciting.”

Each week, students research aspects of Von Humboldt’s life and personality and experiment with different acting styles that might suit the play. During a recent class, they explored Commedia dell’Arte, a theatrical style that uses exaggerated masks to depict common archetypes.

Commedia dell’Arte is a theatrical style that uses exaggerated masks to depict common archetypes. The Pantalone (second from right) and other commedia masks will appear in the play, which opens at the Van Duzer Theatre Nov. 7-17.

Chris Joe, a sophomore double majoring in music and theatre, said it wasn’t hard to get into character once he donned the Pantalone—a mask with a long, hooked nose and miserly demeanor. “Once I put the mask on, people were expecting me to act a certain way,” says Joe, who began to walk in character. “It was interesting to play into the audiences’ expectations.”

The Pantalone and other commedia masks will appear in the play, which opens at the Van Duzer Theatre Nov. 7-17. Auditions begin next month.

It will also premiere at the 7th International and Interdisciplinary Alexander Von Humboldt Conference in Santiago, Chile Jan. 5-10, 2014. For more on the conference, visit humboldt.edu/wlc/conference.html.

Stay tuned for updates on the play and on all things Centennial by visiting humboldt.edu/centennial or by liking the HSU Centennial Facebook page at facebook.com/hsu100.

This is the first story in an occasional series on HSU’s 2013-14 Centennial celebration.

The new standard will help governments worldwide to harmonize their national standards with the IEC’s. It opens the door to market expansion for quality-assured LED devices in developing countries that are desperately short of electricity and in dire need of alternative sources of lighting.

Adoption of the Schatz Lab’s standard by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), announced at a Clean Energy Ministerial in New Delhi April 18 by U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu, is considered a milestone in international programs that provide inexpensive lighting to developing nations. Nearly 800 million Asians, for example, live much of the time in a state of near darkness, including some 400 million Indians.

Arne Jacobson is the director of Humboldt State University’s Schatz Energy Research Center .

“This new IEC standard represents important progress in the effort to expand access to modern off-grid lighting among low-income households in developing countries,” said Humboldt State Professor Arne Jacobson, director of the Schatz Center. The Humboldt State lab was the technical leader of the team that drafted the IEC document.

The advantages are both economic and environmental: off-grid, solar illumination replaces costly, dirty and dangerous kerosene lamps and expensive battery-powered flashlights. A further benefit to the poor is that solar devices can be used for mobile phone charging.

“The IEC standard will serve as a cornerstone in efforts to create an internationally harmonized quality assurance program for affordable off-grid lighting and energy systems that support commercial market delivery while also protecting consumer interests,” Jacobson explained.

The New Delhi ministerial advances a multi-year effort to improve access to affordable, clean, quality-assured lighting and energy systems in rural areas of Africa and Asia. “The work has truly been a team effort involving many people and organizations, with a core group from the Schatz Energy Research Center playing a lead role,” Jacobson said.

Now Schatz and its partners can take the next steps: Using the IEC standards to boost the Lighting Global quality assurance program for off-grid lighting and encourage others who work in the sector to adopt the IEC standards.

The Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) is a group of 23 world economic powers whose energy ministers meet annually to drive forward the clean energy sector worldwide. Under the CEM’s auspices, the U.S. and Italian governments have provided support for the development of a quality assurance framework for solar lanterns as part of the ministerial’s Global Lighting and Energy Access Partnership.

The quality assurance framework was originated for the Lighting Global program, which has been working with the U.S. Department of Energy for the last 15 months to institutionalize its test methods and quality metrics through the IEC.

Some 1.3 billion people worldwide do not have access to electricity. The Schatz Center is the team leader and coordinator of a network of international laboratories that conducts rigorous testing to ensure the quality of solar off-grid lighting products sold in African and Asian markets, including India. The products range in price from about $10 to $150. Solar-powered lights and lanterns are manufactured in various sizes, from reading lamps to multiple-room household lighting.

The Schatz Lab’s testing and quality assurance operations in India are in their first phase. They are one element of a three-year, roughly five million dollar program funded by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the World Bank.

The Lighting Global quality assurance framework is one of the cornerstone market development activities of Lighting Africa, a joint IFC and World Bank program that has enabled about seven million people in Africa to enjoy clean, affordable lighting.
The IFC and the World Bank are members of the Global LEAP initiative.

Earth Day festivities celebrations include a screening of “Trashed,” a documentary that follows Academy-Award winning actor Jeremy Irons as he sets out to discover the extent and effects of global waste.

The festivities kick off Monday at 10 a.m. with a series of workshops and demonstrations geared toward promoting art and sustainability at HSU. Organized by the Humboldt Energy Independence Fund Art Initiative (HART), the events will take place at various locations until 4 p.m.

The celebration continues into the evening with a free screening of “Switch” from 7-9 p.m. in the Van Duzer Theatre. Narrated by energy specialist Scott Tinker, the documentary explores where and how energy is produced and how it will likely be produced in the future. Advance tickets are available from the HSU Ticket Office.

“Switch” is also being screened at hundreds of universities nationwide as part of the Geological Society of America’s Switch Energy Awareness and Efficiency Program. For more information on the program, visit switchenergyproject.com.

Also that evening, the Campus Center for Appropriate Technology will screen “Trashed” from 7-9 p.m. in Siemens Hall. Selected to receive a special screening at the Cannes Film Festival, “Trashed” follows Academy-Award winning actor Jeremy Irons as he sets out to discover the extent and effects of global waste.

From the Humboldt Energy Independence Fund to the Campus Center for Appropriate Technology, Humboldt State has a long-standing commitment to sustainability.

The Campus Center for Appropriate Technology is a 34-year-old student-run demonstration home for sustainable living. In 2008, CCAT won Best Practices in the CSU Student Sustainability Program. CCAT educates over 2,000 students, faculty, staff and visitors a year through tours, student-taught courses and hands-on projects.

The Humboldt Energy Independence Fund (HEIF) is a student-led fund that supports projects to reduce the university’s environmental impact and energy consumption. Visit humboldt.edu/heif for more information.

For more on green initiatives at HSU, visit humboldt.edu/green.

Students in Appropriate Technology (Engineering 305), learn how to use an invasive grass as insulation for a new CCAT greenhouse.

Humboldt State is recognized in the downloadable book, The Princeton Review’s Guide to 322 Green Colleges: 2013 Edition.

The free guide for prospective college students and their families surveys institutions demonstrating “a strong commitment to sustainability in their academic offerings, campus infrastructure, activities and career preparation.”

Humboldt State is one of eight of the 23 California State University campuses to be profiled in the review, which has no affiliation with Princeton University.

“Being recognized as a “green” school is certainly an honor, but what really counts is setting a good example for the students to take into society to make systemic progress in being globally sustainable,” says TallChief Comet, director of HSU’s Office of Sustainability.

As a long-time green campus, Humboldt State incorporates sustainability across a broad series of academic and service learning disciplines, coupled with many student volunteer programs in the Redwood Coast community. Healthy living, energy and water conservation and financial savings are integral to the sustainability mix, often driven by student-led initiatives like the Campus Center for Appropriate Technology and the Humboldt Energy Independence Fund.

Details are posted at princetonreview.com/green-guide.

Full information about HSU’s sustainability programs is at humboldt.edu/green.

Geared toward first-time freshmen, “Beyond the Finish Line” will include a panel discussion about the current job market, strategies for professional success and tips for becoming a leader in the workplace.

Assistant sociology professor Joshua Meisel gets to know students at a RAMP faculty dinner. Started last year, RAMP provides academic and social support to first-time freshmen.

“This event will get students motivated to pick a career path and start thinking about opportunities after college,” says Bryan Kelly, student retention and projects coordinator for Student Affairs. “It’s also a great opportunity for local leaders to share what they’ve learned and for students to make valuable community connections.”

The panelists will include:

• Garry Eagles, superintendent of Humboldt County Schools

• Marilyn Miles, Humboldt County superior court judge

• William Panos, Eureka city manager

• Captain Salvatore Palmeri, commanding officer for the Coast Guard of Humboldt Bay

There will also be a dinner and raffle for students. Prizes include vouchers to the university bookstore, J Points, and Center Arts tickets.

The Residential Academic Mentoring Program (RAMP) provides academic and non-academic support services to first-time freshmen. Incoming freshmen are paired with an upperclassmen mentor who provides academic advising, clarifies university policies and directs students to campus and community resources.

For more information on RAMP, visit humboldt.edu/reslife/ramp.

For more information on “Beyond the Finish Line,” contact Bryan Kelly at (707) 826-5698 or bryan.kelly@humboldt.edu.

Some sixty contestants competed in a series of three examinations.

Winners in grades eight, 10 and 12 of the James Householder Award for Outstanding Performance were eighth grader Katelyn Fitzgerald of Sunny Brae Middle School, 10th grader Jacob Barth of Arcata High and 12th grader August Hale of Eureka High.

Winners in grades seven, nine and 11 of the Michael Tucker Award for Outstanding Performance were seventh grader Dara Gaeuman of Douglas City School, ninth grader Dhiren Suryadevara of Arcata High School and 11th grader Travis Witte of McKinleyville High School.

Each contestant was assigned the following problem:

A man caught some fish. The two heaviest fish had a combined weight which was 25% of the total weight of all the fish. The five lightest fish had a combined weight which was 45% of the total weight of all the fish. The man put the two heaviest fish in the freezer and ate the five lightest fish for lunch. His cat took the remaining fish. How many fish did the cat take?

The answer is three.

“For a solution,” says HSU Mathematics and Computer Science Professor and tournament director Jeffrey Haag, “ask a middle or high school student!”

The tournament exams were proctored and graded by Humboldt State student volunteers. After the final examination, contestants attended a guest lecture by Computer Science Professor Sharon Tuttle, while tournament officials compiled the results. The top five contestants in each grade were recognized at an awards ceremony after her lecture.

The Redwood Empire Mathematics Tournament was started in 1960 by HSU Mathematics Professor James Householder, to recognize achievement and increase interest in mathematics. It is held every spring. Information is posted at the tournament web site, humboldt.edu/remt/. Other details are available from Haag in the Math Department.

“It’s exciting for us to have the UBC Wind Ensemble play here on their West Coast tour for many reasons,” said HSU Symphonic Band director Paul Cummings, “but especially because their director, Rob Taylor is an HSU Music Department alum. Many of our faculty knew him as a student.”

The concert begins with the HSU Symphonic Band, performing “The Creation of the World” by Darius Milaud, a jazz-influenced work of the 1920s. The Humboldt Symphony played a portion of it in March but this time the full work will be performed. “It’s a fascinating piece and an important work that doesn’t get performed very often,” Cummings said, “first of all because it calls for an odd combination of instruments for either a symphonic band or orchestra. We’ve grabbed personnel from both, just for this concert.”

The University of British Columbia Wind Ensemble and the Humboldt Symphonic Band perform on Monday, April 29 at 8 p.m. in Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. There is no admission charge. For tickets, call 826-3928 or get them at the door. The UBC Wind Ensemble is directed by Rob Taylor and the HSU Symphonic Band by Paul Cummings. The concert is produced by the HSU Music Department. For more information, visit hsumusic.blogspot.com.

HSU Theatre, Film & Dance department presents the contemporary prize-winning drama “Proof,” for two weekends beginning April 25.

From left to right: James Read, Dakota Dieter and Kyle Handziak

This play by David Auburn won both the Pulitzer Prize and the Tony for Best Play in 2001. With 917 performances, it was the longest-running non-musical on Broadway in 20 years. It has since been performed in many countries and more than 30 languages.

A family drama with elements of humor and a love story, “Proof” is also a kind of mystery. “It’s a play that makes you think,” said director Michael Thomas, “but that’s because you care about the characters. The playwright gets the audience involved very quickly. The language he uses is easily understood, it invites people in. ”

It begins on Catherine’s 25th birthday, which is also the day of her father’s funeral. He was a math genius who slipped into mental illness, while Catherine took care of him. Locked in his desk is a notebook with the startling proof of a basic math question that alone would make its author famous. But who wrote it? Only Catherine has the key. Questions of love and trust that will determine her life’s course involve her older sister and her new boyfriend.

The questions that grip the characters and have mesmerized audiences around the world: is Catherine a math prodigy or delusional? Is boyfriend Hal sincere or just ambitious? Is sister Claire caring or controlling? Was Catherine a good daughter? Who really wrote what’s in that notebook Catherine locked away? There are many questions and possible answers—but where is the proof? And does it matter?

Catherine is played by HSU student Dakota Dieter. “She’s a new face locally, and she’s doing beautiful work,” Thomas said. She is joined by veteran North Coast actors James Read and Queena DeLany. Kyle Handziak, who has performed in several plays at HSU, plays her boyfriend.

Lynnie Horrigan is the set designer, James McHugh designed lighting, Glen Nagy designed sound, Marissa Menezes designed costumes and makeup.

“Proof” is presented April 25-27 and May 2-4 at 7:30 p.m., and April 28 and May 5 at 2 p.m. in the Gist Hall Theatre on the HSU campus in Arcata. Directed by Michael Thomas, produced by the HSU Dept. of Theatre, Film & Dance. Tickets are $10/$8, with a limited number of free seats to HSU students at each performance from the HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door. For more information, visit hsustage.blogspot.com.

Efforts under the Student Mental Health Initiative include:

• Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST), a two-day suicide prevention gatekeeper program that helps caregivers to feel more comfortable, confident and competent in helping to curb the immediate risk of suicide
• Mental Health First Aid (MHFA), a two-day public education program about how to identify, understand and respond to signs of mental illnesses and substance use disorders
• Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR), a one-two hour training program about the warning signs of a suicide crisis and how to question, persuade and refer someone to obtain help.

Both the ASIST intervention program and the MHFA public education initiative are shared with Humboldt State faculty, staff, administrators and students two to four times a year. The university’s office of Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) hosted an ASIST training in March, in collaboration with the Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).

“The training was incredibly well received,” says Jennifer Sanford, director of Counseling and Psychological Services. “Plans are already in place to host another ASIST training for Residence Life staff in July. We are planning to host three MHFA trainings on campus between June and January, and will likely host a fourth in the spring of 2014. The HSU community can expect the shorter suicide prevention training, QPR, to be promoted heavily to students, as well as to faculty and staff, beginning fall 2013.”

To sign-up for all three trainings, visit training.humboldt.edu/.

The Counseling and Psychological Services website, humboldt.edu/counseling, lists multiple suicide prevention resources and information about related subjects, including messages of hope, according to Sanford. “We encourage people to check out the “Prezis” that cover a range of topics, including alcohol and pot use, anxiety, panic attacks, assertiveness, body image, break-ups, healthy relationships, depression, sleep, happiness and homesickness.”

Other campus initiatives, scheduled to begin this fall, include the Life Skills Workshop Series, geared to freshmen and workshops and groups geared to Emotional Brain Training, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Mindsight. Regular updates are posted on humboldt.edu/counseling.

The first annual symposium, sponsored by the university’s Humboldt Institute for Interdisciplinary Marijuana Research (HIIMR) and Humboldt State’s Department of Sociology, is scheduled Friday and Saturday, April 19 and 20, from 9-5 p.m. in the Native American Forum, Room 162, of the Behavioral and Social Sciences Building.

The two-day symposium is titled “Communities and Landscapes in the Balance: The Crossroads of Environmental Protection and Marijuana Agriculture.” It is outlined in full on the new HIIMR website (humboldt.edu/dee/hiimr) and comprises numerous panels, workshops and multimedia presentations.

The symposium will bring together leading policymakers, grassroots environmental organizations, activists, scientists, students and community members.

Day one of the symposium, Friday, April 19, will be devoted to keynote presentations by academics, authors and preeminent activists. Saturday will be given over to panels and workshops.

Panelists will share their expertise about a full spectrum of marijuana issues. Among the topics to be addressed:

• Public Land Management Perspectives on Marijuana Agriculture
• Private Timberland Impacts: Trespass, Conversion and Solutions
• Environmental Crimes and the Marijuana Industry
• Environmental Impacts and the Marijuana Industry: Worst Case Scenarios
• Impacts on Cultural & Natural Resources from Marijuana Cultivation on Tribal Lands
• Ecological Data – What We Know and What We Need to Know
• Legislative Update on Marijuana Policy
• Legal Strategies to Protect Nature From Marijuana Crimes
• Stories from the Frontlines: Reporting on the Culture and Practice of Marijuana Agriculture
• Managing Harmful Agricultural Practices in the Industry
• The Threats to Fish in Marijuana Agriculture
• Grassroots Environmentalism and the Marijuana Industry: Past, Present and Future
• The Ecological Footprint of Indoor Marijuana Agriculture

“We expect the symposium to enhance the understanding of the many ways marijuana cultivation affects the environment,” say HIIMR Co-Directors and Professors Erick Eschker and Joshua Meisel. “It also will contribute to California’s efforts to develop ecologically sound and economically sustainable policy.”

Other campus observances of Earth Day are scheduled on Monday, April 22. From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., the student-led Humboldt Energy Independence Fund (HEIF) Art Initiative (HART) will host Hart Day, a series of workshops and activities promoting art and sustainability.

Monday evening, the Campus Center for Appropriate Technology will screen “Trashed” at 7 p.m. in Siemens Hall, Room 108. Awarded a special screening at the Cannes Film Festival, “Trashed” follows Academy-Award winning actor Jeremy Irons as he sets out to discover the extent and effects of global waste.

Also Monday night, April 22, at 7 p.m. in the Van Duzer Theatre, the College of Natural Resources and Sciences will host a screening of “Switch,” a documentary about how energy is produced and how it will likely be produced in the future.

Registration for this weekend’s symposium on marijuana is available online at humboldt.edu/dee/hiimr/. Registration is recommended but not required.

The Environment and Community Program, the Environmental Protection Information Center (wildcalifornia.org), the Salmonid Restoration Federation (www.calsalmon.org), as well as the Humboldt Institute for Interdisciplinary Marijuana Research (humboldt.edu/dee/hiimr/) and the HSU Department of Sociology, are sponsors of the symposium.

Amanda Reiman, California policy manager for the Drug Policy Alliance, San Francisco, will discuss “Dispensary-Based Research: an Untapped Source” and how it can be used to advance knowledge of cannabis as a palliative treatment. She also will suggest directions for future dispensary-based research.

Since the first medical marijuana law was passed in 1996, dispensaries have become the epicenter of patient interaction, information sharing and scientific advances in the cultivation, analysis and manufacturing of cannabis and cannabis products.

A 10-year resident of Oakland, Reiman leads the Drug Policy Alliance’s marijuana reform work in California. She joined the alliance last year after working with a medical marijuana dispensary, Berkeley Patients Group, as director of research and patient services.

Reiman’s research centers on the study and evaluation of medical cannabis dispensaries as community health providers, and on the use of cannabis as a substitute for alcohol and other drugs. She has conducted numerous studies on medical marijuana dispensaries, patients and the use of marijuana as a treatment for addiction. She regularly presents her research at the conferences of the American Public Health Association, American Psychiatric Association, International Cannabinoid Research Society and the Harm Reduction Coalition.

Reiman was the first chairwoman of the Medical Cannabis Commission for the City of Berkeley and has consulted with various cities and states on the development of medical marijuana policy. Currently she is a lecturer in the School of Social Welfare at the UC-Berkeley, where she teaches Drug and Alcohol Policy, Substance Abuse Treatment and Sexuality and Social Work.

Originally from Chicago, Reiman earned her B.A. in psychology from the University of Illinois-Chicago and her Master’s Degree in Social Work from the Jane Addams College of Social Work. She moved to Oakland in 2002 to earn her Ph.D. in social welfare at Berkeley.

For more information, contact Josh Meisel at (707) 826-4446 or Meisel@humboldt.edu.

Credit: Humboldt State Marketing & Communications

Three seniors are the Outstanding Students of the Year for Outstanding Co-Curricular Contributions. They are:

• Emanuel Delgado, an award-winning senior majoring in Geography and a physical site co-director of the Campus Center for Appropriate Technology (CCAT), is a member of the Geography Intern Program of National Geographic Global Media. Delgado won first prize at the 75th Association of Pacific Coast Geographers Meeting in Olympia, Wash. His poster, “Wetlands Loss of the Mad River Slough, 1870-2001,” topped undergraduate and graduate students from 11 western states. His eight-month research project documented changing marshlands from indigenous Wiyot times to the present. The map series and explanatory text depicted the environmental change wrought by colliding cultures. Delgado also is an Aztec dance instructor with the university’s MultiCultural Center and a Coastal Clean-up Intern. He is recognized for “his love of education, sustainable living and passion for mentoring new students,” which all come together in his volunteer work for CCAT.
• Gabriela García of Fortuna, a Political Science major with an emphasis in globalization, is a Social Justice Summit Coordinator with the MultiCultural Center. She participated in all aspects of summit preparation and leadership, including cross-campus organizing, research, program development, workshops, speakers, presenters and scheduling. García is a volunteer with Nuestra Feria Salud Eureka, serving as a translator for the Spanish-speaking community and assisting with health issues affecting the Latino/Latina community. She is also the recipient of the 2012-2013 Al Elpusan Award for Student Activism.
• Masha E. Melnik is completing dual degrees, a B.S. in Cellular/Molecular Biology and a B.A. in Psychology, plus a minor in Chemistry, all in five years. Last fall, Melnik was a supplemental instruction leader for the genetics course of Professor Mark Wilson, assisting 17 students. Previously she was a teaching assistant to Professor Yvonne Pfingston in American Sign Language I and to Professor Jennifer Taylor in “Psychology of Women.” She also has held multiple research assistantships and was formerly the historian and head of the Academic Committee for the Psychology Club. Melnik was named a Presidential Scholar at Humboldt State 2009-2012 and is a member of the Western Psychological Association and Psi Chi, the International Honor Society in Psychology.

Other awards presented at the April 11 ceremony:

• Academic Excellence in the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences – Hillary E. Wysocki, Communication, Presidential Scholar, 2012 Outstanding Communicator Award
• Academic Excellence in the College of Natural Resources and Sciences – Christopher M. Steenbock, Botany and Ecology, supplemental course instructor, cited for his academic spirit of scientific discovery and dissemination of knowledge
• Academic Excellence in the College of Professional Studies – Ellyn C. Bass, Psychology, lab management, conference posters; Marissa A. Graham, Liberal Studies Elementary Education, Student California Teachers Association, Raven Project fundraiser, Jude Children’s Research Hospital fundraiser, Arcata Elementary School fundraiser, teaching assistant, student assistant, tutor
• Best Individual Artistic Achievement, Visual & Performing Arts – Justino E. Perez, Music Composition, Music Club President, music computer lab manager, volunteer tutor
• Best Undergraduate Research Project – Alexander C. Bippus, Maria J. Friedman, Botany, plant fossil record
• Excellence in Intercollegiate Athletics – Kaitlyn E. Shanle, Women’s Crew Team
• Al Elpusan Award for Student Activism – Gabriela Garcia, Political Science Globalization, activist, founder of FREE, Finding Resources and Empowerment through Education
• Best Poster Presentation to a Professional Association – Ryland J. Karlovich, Geography, presentation to the California Geographical society Annual meeting, Geographic Society Club officer

• Outstanding Contribution to a Campus Club, Program, or Organization – Thomas J. Takahashi, HOP, HSU Ambassadors, Clubs & Activities, Greek life
• Excellence in Community Service – Alexis F. Grant, Sociology, Sociology Student Association, AmeriCorps volunteer
• Excellence in Sports Clubs – Aimee R. Gant, Men’s Crew Team, coxswain
• Outstanding Contribution to an Associated Students Program – Matthew J. Lutwen, AS Legislative Vice President, AS Council Chair
• The Brian Lorensen Residence Life Staff Award – Clay A. Gallardo, three-year Community Advocate, AS representative of the College of Professional Studies
• Best Professional Publication – Allison W. Bronson, co-author of an article in International Journal of Plant Sciences about the fossil record and natural history of an elusive group of fungi
• Best Professional Presentation – Christa R. Unger, Botany, Botanical Society of America annual meeting, moss fossils
• Club Advisor of the Year – Adrienne Colegrove-Raymond, ELITE Scholars Club for students of non-traditional family or background
• Patricia O. McConkey Outstanding Graduate Student Award for excellence in graduate studies – Esperanza L. Alcazar, Francine A. Arroyo, Lora J. Bristow, Kerry E. Leslie, Sara K. Obenauer
• Jennifer Alejo, named a 2013 Newman Civic Fellow by Campus Compact, the national coalition of almost 1,200 college and university presidents dedicated exclusively to campus-based civic engagement.

Join the Distinguished Alumni Award winners for a roundtable discussion hosted by Department of Politics chair Noah Zerbe. The talk, titled “What can I do with my major after graduating? How far can it help me and what is my potential graduating from HSU?” takes place in the Great Hall from noon to 1:30 p.m. on Friday, April 19. The event is free and open to the public.

Distinguished Alumni Award winners will also be recognized at the Humboldt State Honors dinner on April 19. The event is invite only.

Read on for more information on the 2013 Distinguished Alumni award winners.

Clifford Allenby

Humboldt State’s 2013 Distinguished Alumni Award Winners are, from top, Clifford Allenby, Ellie Cachette, Robert Henry and Rick Rosenthal.

A high-ranking state gubernatorial appointee across eight California administrations, Cliff Allenby (’59 Economics, Psychology) has also been a community activist for more than 20 years, including service to the Elk Grove Unified School District Governing Board.

Allenby served a 23-year tenure with the California Department of Finance, where he rose to the position of deputy director and became the department’s top economic and tax advisor. He went on to work for then-Governor Jerry Brown in the same post, to which Gov. George Deukmejian named him again in 1983. Four years later, Deukmejian shifted Allenby to his Cabinet as Secretary of the Health and Welfare Agency, responsible for 11 departments and offices with more than 40,000 employees and budgets exceeding $28 million. Allenby took a break from state government in the early 1990s to work for the California Building Industry Association as senior staff vice president for governmental affairs. Late in 1997, Gov. Pete Wilson summoned him back to civic service to head the Department of Developmental Services, which he led for eight years.

In succeeding years, Allenby became Gov. Gray Davis’s interim director of the Department of General Services and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s interim director of the Department of Social Services. Allenby stepped down in 2007 to chair the state’s Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board and helped to create the Health Insurance Plan of California and Aid to Infants and Mothers. An attempt at retirement didn’t last long: early in 2011, Allenby was named to his present post, acting director of the California Department of Mental Health, where he oversees 12,000 employees and an annual budget of $6.4 billion. The recipient of many awards over the years, including “Outstanding Public Administrator” from the American Society of Public Administrators, Allenby was honored again in mid-2012 by the society’s Sacramento chapter with the Ross Clayton Lifetime Distinguished Public Service Award for a career that has spanned half a century. Allenby and his late wife Sandy were both graduates of Eureka High School and high school sweethearts and they were married for 50 years. At the end of 2010, they set up the Cliff and Sandy Allenby Endowment to benefit Humboldt State University.

Ellie Cachette

Ellie Cachette (’06, Political Science) is the first recipient of Humboldt State University’s Recent Distinguished Alumni Award. A Bay Area native, Cachette is founder and chief executive officer of ConsumerBell, a San Francisco-based company that helps businesses and customers track and manage product recalls online.

While a student at HSU, Cachette served as project assistant and fulfillment coordinator for Humboldt Merchant Services, a credit card processing provider in Eureka. In that capacity, she helped establish gateways for e-commerce accounts and worked closely with VeriFone, an international electronic payment producer. In 2006, Cachette became project manager for 365 Media Inc., a technology services company that specializes in information gathering and processing. Soon after, she joined Recognos, a business analysis and software design consulting company in San Rafael, Calif. Her clients included Kaiser Permanente and Fisher Investments, a privately held investment management firm founded by HSU alum Kenneth L. Fisher (’72, Economics). In Cachette’s words, working with Fisher made her realize that “success is not determined by where you went to school, but your vision.” Cachette’s passion for consumer safety led her to create Consumer Bell, an online product recall tracking and managing service, in 2010. Since then, her mission has expanded to help companies automate recalls, making the process more efficient and cost effective. With its motto of “Making Safety Easier,” ConsumerBell has tracked hundreds of recall cases in recent years, including mold growth in Capri Sun fruit drinks, bacteria-tainted cantaloupe and defective cribs. After spending a year-and-a half in New York City, ConsumerBell relocated its offices to San Francisco in 2012.

Cachette is a strong advocate of Women 2.0, a Silicon Valley organization dedicated to empowering female entrepreneurs. She has also been recognized by the California State Senate as an “Outstanding Educator” in AIDS and public health and is an active supporter in the campaign to cure AIDS. Her work has been profiled in Forbes magazine and The Wall Street Journal. Cachette currently resides in San Francisco and is an avid sailor and member of the St. Francis Yacht Club.

Robert Henry

One of California’s foremost education attorneys, Robert Henry evidenced his promising future in his accomplishments at HSU (’67, Social Science). Born in Washington State but reared in Humboldt County, Henry was twice elected HSU student body president, served as president of Tau Kappa Epsilon social fraternity and was honored as Humboldt State’s Man of the Year in 1967. He received his law degree in 1971 from the University of California-Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall).

After serving as an attorney for the California State University, Henry formed a law firm in 1984 to represent schools and colleges. The new School and College of Legal Services of California became a notable success, growing to represent more than 200 educational entities—charter schools and school districts, community college districts and county offices of education. Henry’s career spans some 40 years of practice, in which he has successfully represented clients before every level of state, federal, appellate and supreme courts. He pioneered the Joint Powers Agreement, which unites diverse clients and provides them legal services that are accountable, economical and student-centered. Henry’s arguments have resulted in numerous precedent-setting decisions before the California Supreme Court and the Federal Court of Appeals.

In the words of one long-time colleague, Henry redefined legal service for public education in northern California and “saved the taxpaying public millions of dollars and much time and anguish.” In addition to his legal work, Henry has presented hundreds of workshops around the state, training and informing school superintendents, boards of trustees and other education officials and staff about the frequent changes in the law. Despite retiring from full-time work in 2004, Henry has found his services in regular demand; he continues to serve with the School and College of Legal Services, which has offices in several northern California communities. In 2006, the Sonoma County Bar Association honored Henry with its Career of Distinction Award and he is also a recipient of the Rio Dell Elementary School District Distinguished Alumni Award.

Rick Rosenthal

Rick Rosenthal (‘67, Zoology) is a multiple Emmy and BAFTA award winning cinematographer who specializes in natural history. Growing up in southern California, Rick learned to free dive at an early age. His first professional opportunity came when he was hired by Sea World to assist with the care and training of whales. While completing his undergraduate degree at HSU, he also served as the first dive instructor. Rosenthal later received an M.S. in marine biology from San Diego State University.

After graduating from HSU, he was hired onto the scientific staffs at Westinghouse Ocean Research Laboratory in San Diego, and Scripps Institute of Oceanography. Some years later he relocated to Alaska, and worked as a consultant to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, the Office of the Governor, the National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

As a scientist, he has written more than 40 research papers and popular articles on marine biology, ecology and animal behavior. Underwater camera work played a key part in his early research. Compelled to share his observations with a larger audience, he began working in television and filmmaking. In 1984, Rosenthal began a long association with the prestigious BBC/Natural History Unit in Bristol, England. This was a launching pad for many worldwide assignments that included being a principal cameraman for BBC’s landmark Blue Planet series, a nature documentary series described as the “first ever comprehensive series on the natural history of the world’s oceans.” Following this work he received commissions for three major films on the great whales, and key camera work for the BBC/Discovery blockbusters Planet Earth and Life. His latest Emmy (2011) was for the National Geographic television series Great Migrations. Rosenthal’s most recent film work is an integral part of two television specials: Superfish and Hot Tuna. Both films are currently being broadcast worldwide, and have been screened at HSU. His latest film project entitled The Dark Side of the Ocean is scheduled for production this year, and will most certainly push the boundaries of open ocean exploration and discovery.

The Distinguished Alumni Awards honor alumni for achievements in their fields or for service to their community, nation or HSU.

Members of the Guitar Ensemble are Jason Hall, Jerry Olofsson, Kris Lang, Dan Fair, Charlie Sleep, Justin Santos, Greg Willis, Tyler Vaughan, Rory Urquhart, Jake Masterson and Nigel Gunn.

Video games have reached well over a billion people, HSU Music professor and Guitar Ensemble director Nicholas Lambson points out, and many use original music as part of the experience. “People who have grown up with these games remember the music and sound effects well, and arrangements are frequently performed by professionals and amateurs today,” he said. “We decided to dedicate part of our own concert on April 19 to video game music.”

“Our students have done much of the arranging themselves,” he added. In addition to selections from the classics (Super Mario Brothers and The Legend of Zelda) the Ensemble explores music from the cult classic Chrono Trigger.

The concert includes Toru Takemitsu’s “Bad Boy,” inspired by music for spaghetti westerns, and William Kanengiser’s “Mbira,” which alters the guitar to sound like this African instrument. The Ensemble plays famed 20th century composer Paul Hindemith’s only composition for guitar, a style-spanning dance suite by John Duarte, and a crowd-pleaser by Czech guitarist and composer Štěpán Rak, who Classical Guitar Magazine called “one of the great geniuses of our time.”

Members of the Guitar Ensemble are Jason Hall, Jerry Olofsson, Kris Lang, Dan Fair, Charlie Sleep, Justin Santos, Greg Willis, Tyler Vaughan, Rory Urquhart, Jake Masterson and Nigel Gunn.

The HSU Guitar Ensemble performs on Friday April 19 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7/$3 students and seniors from HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Directed by Nicholas Lambson, produced by the HSU Music Department. Fore more information, visit hsumusic.blogspot.com.

White discussed retention and diversity initiatives over lunch with student leaders at the J, met with members of the local community, and held an open forum for students, faculty and staff. He had an opportunity to visit the Marine Lab in Trinidad. He also stopped in to observe several classes, and toured the new Human Performance Lab, of particular interest to White, who received a Ph.D. in Kinesiology from UC Berkeley.

White responded to questions from students, faculty and staff during a campus open forum.

Throughout his visit, White engaged with students. He learned about their studies and lives, and even stopping to toss a Frisbee with some students in the Redwood Bowl. He came away impressed. “The level of thoughtfulness and intellectual depth of your students is something you need to be proud of,” said White. “You have an amazing intellectual commitment from these men and women.”

During the campus open forum, White fielded questions on a range of topics from the budget challenges facing CSU, to how to better support underrepresented students, and how to enhance the diversity of our students, faculty and staff. He also spoke about his experiences as a product of the California public education system, having attended Diablo County Community College, Cal State Fresno, CSU Hayward (now East Bay) and UC Berkeley. “We are the biggest engine of social progress for individual students and their families and their communities.”

White met with faculty and students in the Human Performance Lab.

White stressed how impressed he was with Humboldt State and its students. “They have a spirit about place. It is a unique feel. It’s very palpable when you get on campus,” he said. “I’m very, very proud of our students.”

To listen to Chancellor White’s exclusive interview with KHSU, click here.

To see more photos from Chancellor White’s visit, check out our flickr gallery.

That’s the premise of “Too Many Sopranos,” a popular comic opera performed by the HSU Opera Workshop Thursday through Sunday, April 18-21.

The trials of four sopranos trying to get into heaven (they’re the singing and not the criminal kind) lead to musical spoofs on famous singers and other historical figures, as well as a trip to hell to recruit a few tenors and basses (otherwise known as men) for the soprano-heavy heavenly choir.

“Too Many Sopranos,” by American composer and teacher Edwin Penhorwood, has been widely performed at universities as well as by professional companies such as the Baltimore Opera, Portland Opera and Virginia Concert and Opera Theatre.

The satirical characters are based on singers and other notables from different historical eras, including Madame de Pompadour (“Madame Pompous”), Enrico Caruso (“Enrico Carouser”), Jeanette McDonald and Nelson Eddy.

“Though the opera doesn’t take itself seriously,” said Opera Workshop director and HSU Music professor Elisabeth Harrington, “it does include some glorious music, both for soloists and in several impressive ensembles.”

St. Peter is played by HSU alum Steve Nobles, who has appeared in several recent North Coast musicals, and the angel Gabriel is sung by HSU alum Dylan Karl. Local singer Luke Sikora is Enrico Carouser, Rigel Schmitt is the Unnamed Bass and Elisabeth Harrington appears as Dame Doleful, singing with her students.

The HSU student singers creating the merriment are Ana Cruz, Steve Eitzen, Jacqui Hernandez, Jo Kuzelka, Sandy Lindop and Miah Lodes.

Carol Escobar directs the action and Paul Cummings conducts a chamber orchestra. Sets are by Siena Nelson, costumes by Catherine Brown.

The Opera Workshop performs Too Many Sopranos Thursday through Saturday April 18-20 at 8 p.m. and Sunday April 21 at 2 p.m. in the Studio Theatre, Theatre Arts Building at HSU. Tickets are $10/$5 for students and seniors from HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door. The first 30 HSU students are admitted free for each performance. For more information, visit hsumusic.blogspot.com. Directed by Elisabeth Harrington, produced by HSU Music Department.

Films are pre-screened and rated by HSU students over several months, then presented to the public and a panel of professional judges during the festival.

The free, public event will feature three nights of back-to-back film screenings. “Best of the Fest” winners will be screened and announced at an awards ceremony Saturday, April 20.

Each year, independent filmmakers from around the world enter the festival in four categories: experimental, animation, documentary and narrative. Films are pre-screened and rated by HSU students over several months, then presented to the public and a panel of professional judges during the festival.

This year’s judges include director Corey Grant and producer Chavez Frazier, whose independent film “Bigfoot: The Lost Coast Tapes” was shot in Humboldt and Del Norte counties in 2011. Filming for the “Bigfoot” sequel is scheduled to begin in June.

Corey and Chavez will also lead an audience question and answer session before each screening. Screenings begin at 7 p.m. every night and are held in the Van Duzer Theatre.

HFF Screening Schedule:

• Wednesday, April 17—Experimental and Animation Films
• Thursday, April 18—Documentary Films
• Friday, April 19—Narrative Films
• Saturday, April 20—Best of Fest announced and screened

This year’s student co-directors are Alicia Flores, Danielle Durand, and Zane Krakowski. The Humboldt Film Festival is dubbed the “oldest-student-run festival in the world” by organizers. For more information, call (707) 826-4113, visit hsufilmfestival.com or e-mail filmfest@humboldt.edu

Staff members prepare for the 1984 Humboldt Orientation Program. By 1955, campus leaders deemed it necessary to hold a Frosh Camp to orient freshmen before fall classes. Now known as the Humboldt Orientation Program, it covers everything from major planning and registration, to health and safety and more.

The Marching Lumberjacks take the field during halftime in Redwood Bowl. The field, muddy in this shot, was replaced by artificial turf just before the 2011 football season. Prior to the construction of Redwood Bowl, Humboldt State played most of its home games in Eureka High School’s Albee Stadium. That changed when former director of Athletics and head football coach Joseph Forbes arrived in 1946.

In this photo, taken in 1955 or 1956, members of HSU’s Wildlife Society chapter work on a stream restoration project. The group, known as Conservation Unlimited, is still active on campus.

Students look at pieces displayed during HSU’s annual Juried Student Exhibition in 1985. The show, which has been recast as the Art Graduates exhibition, takes place every April and May. The new exhibition gives all senior students the opportunity to present their work.

The Jolly Giant Commons were under construction in the late ’60s and opened in 1968. The work didn’t end there: In 1997 the facility was remodeled and upgraded for earthquake safety. An espresso bar was also part of the retrofit.

The 1980 cross country team is seen with the National Championship title trophy. Coach Jim Hunt, back row, second from the right, coached the team from 1965 until his retirement in 2008.

Ryan Woempner, Aaron Katz, Jake Skrbina and Nicholas Durant of “Twice Around the Thing.”

The shows begin at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m., with three bands in one show and two bands in the other.

Twice Around The Thing plays mainstream standards (including “All of Me”) and an original tune, with Nick Durant on tenor sax, Jake Skrbina on guitar, Ryan Woempner on bass and Aaron Katz on drums.

La Musique Diabolique performs Gypsy jazz in the Django Reinhardt tradition. This quintet is Drew McGowan (violin,) Dan Fair and Kris Lang (guitars) and Steve Workman on bass.

Operation: Rhythmic Tornado is the largest group, blending jazz, rock and funk with Justin Bertolini (trumpet), Josh Foster (trombone), Aaron Laughlin (guitar), Alex Espe (piano), Ian Taylor (bass) and Thatcher Holvick-Norton (drums.)

Matt Engleman’s Musical Man Family Friendly Gang Band mixes jazz tradition with postmodern deconstruction. Matt Engleman (bass,) Nev Mattison (vibes and tenor pan,) Jason Hall (guitar) and Tyler Burkhart (drums) are the players.

The No-Chordtet of Lauren Strella (baritone sax,) Ari Davie (trumpet,) Craig Hall (trombone,) Steven Workman (bass) and Kevin Amos (drums) plays acoustic jazz. Their name comes from their uniquely open sound, since they do without a “chording” instrument such as guitar or piano.

The HSU Jazz Combos perform on Friday April 12 at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. in Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7/$3 and free to HSU students with an i.d. from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Directed by Dan Aldag, produced by the HSU Music Department. For more information, visit hsumusic.blogspot.com.

Garcia died on March 30 shortly after collapsing on campus. Garcia had been jogging with a friend in Redwood Bowl, and then collapsed while sitting in the bleachers. Her friend, other students and HSU coaches nearby attempted to aid her, as did campus police who arrived within minutes. Garcia was transported to Mad River Community Hospital but could not be revived.

The Humboldt County Coroner’s Office determined that Garcia’s death was due to natural causes.

Garcia was a freshmen from Reseda, Calif. She was living in the residence halls on campus.

Planned memorial services include a candlelight ceremony. Guests will have opportunities to sign a memorial book.

A memory book will be available at the memorial services for students to share memories with Garcia’s family. Services will also include a candlelight ceremony with an opportunity for students and others to share memories of Garcia.

Anthropology students use a total mapping station to create a topographical map of a simulated archaeology dig site.

The exercise was part of a simulated archaeology dig organized by anthropology professor Marisol Cortes-Rincon. Located at the corner of 16th and Spring streets on campus, the dig is designed to teach students archaeology field methods and prepare them for careers in anthropology, geography, Native American studies and environmental education and interpretation.

“This is the type of project you mainly find at large research institutions, so to have the opportunity to give our students this hands-on learning experience is huge,” says Cortes-Rincon.

Developed in cooperation with Plant Ops, the site consists of manmade pits divided into layers. The layers consist of authentic historic artifacts and manmade prehistoric items. They include medicine vials, animal bones, wood beams and sod insulation mimicking a historic house.

Over the new few years, anthropology students will use field methods to uncover the layers, then collect and catalog the artifacts they find. Later, they’ll use identifying techniques to date and analyze the items and draw conclusions about the simulated communities that lived there.

Identifying rock samples.

Among the skills they’ll walk away with: excavation, mapping, soil sampling, spatial analysis, artifact processing, site identification, interpretation and statistical analysis, Cortes-Rincon says. It’s the type of hands-on experience that’s highly valuable for graduate school and careers in the social sciences.

“There’s currently no place on the North Coast where students can receive this kind of training without endangering sensitive sites,” Cortes-Rincon says.

The dig also includes an educational outreach component. As part of that program, HSU students will lead archaeology workshops for elementary and middle schoolers at the Natural History Museum. Classes can also take field trips to the excavation site.

Local Native American communities interested in historic and cultural preservation will have the opportunity to use the site for training purposes as well, Cortes-Rincon explains. “We expect it be a valuable resource not only for our students and local schools but also for tribal monitors interested in proper field techniques,” she says.

The simulated archaeology dig was made possible through family and alumni gifts to the Humboldt Loyalty Fund, and the Parent & Family Fund, which support projects that enhance the student learning experience.

For more information, visit humboldt.edu/giving.

ABOVE: Visitors get a closeup look at marine organisms in a display tank at Humboldt State’s marine laboratory in Trinidad, Calif. The lab, which opened in 1966, was constructed originally as a Fisheries Laboratory and expanded in 1974. In 1979 it was dedicated as the Telonicher Marine Laboratory, after a longtime Humboldt State Professor, Fred Telonicher. In 2011 a major renovation further expanded the lab’s visitor and research facilities.

ABOVE: This undated photo shows an early campus computer. Computerized registration and grades keeping arrived in spring 1958. Today, of course, computers are an essential part of the student experience and Humboldt State offers a major and minor in Computer Science.

TOP: This photo, probably from the early 1960s, shows students engaged in the KHSC Television workshop. Broadcasting began on campus in partnership with KIEM radio, then located in the Vance Hotel in Eureka’s Old Town.

SECOND FROM TOP: The Co-op was the campus outlet for school supplies and refreshments before the construction of University Center, where you can find the HSU Bookstore today. At the Co-op, students could buy everything from Humboldt State memorabilia to photo developing chemicals and a soda.

THIRD FROM TOP: In this undated photo, students practice with the ball during a rhythmic gymnastics course. In the 1950s, gymnastics performances were featured during basketball and football halftime shows.

BOTTOM: Track & Field student athletes practice on HSU’s track, made from recycled rubber. In 2008 campus completed the Kinesiology & Athletics Building, which along with the Redwood Plaza, has brought a new look and feel to Redwood Bowl.

California State University Chancellor Timothy P. White

Chancellor White plans to visit each of the 23 CSU campuses and I am gratified that Humboldt State is among his first stops. This trip will be a chance for him to get acquainted with our campus, and he is eager to interact with as many of us as possible.

The schedule includes an Open Forum for the campus community at 9:20 a.m., Tuesday, April 9 in Goodwin Forum. Professor Noah Zerbe of the Department of Politics has graciously agreed to host the forum and I hope many of you will be able to attend.

We are working diligently to make sure Chancellor White gets a broad overview of what makes HSU special. During his two days here, he will tour the campus, visit some of our off-campus facilities including the Marine Lab and First Street Gallery, and meet with local media. He will have a chance to meet with students, faculty, staff, alumni and community members.

Chancellor White, our seventh Chancellor, has had a distinguished academic career. He previously served as the Chancellor at UC Riverside, and he was also Professor of Biology and of Biomedical Sciences at UC Riverside, where he began his tenure in 2008. Prior to that, he was President of the University of Idaho from 2004 to 2008.

Chancellor White was educated in all three segments of public higher education in California. He attended Diablo Valley Community College, and then earned a bachelor’s degree from Fresno State and a master’s degree from Cal State Hayward (East Bay). He earned his Ph.D. at UC Berkeley and went on to gain international recognition for his research in muscle plasticity, injury and aging.

It will be an honor to have Chancellor White on campus, and I am sure he will enjoy his experience learning about Humboldt State.

Sincerely,
Rollin C. Richmond
President

Events begin Monday, April 8 at 2 p.m. in the Klamath River Room, Jolly Giant Commons, second floor, with the Mujeres De Juarez Workshop to foster awareness of 20 years of femicide in Ciudad de Juarez, Mexico. An open mic on Monday evening at 7 p.m. at Northtown Books, downtown Arcata, welcomes poetry, songs and other artistic expressions aimed at ending sexualized and intimate partner violence.

The Clothesline Project Workshop on Tuesday, April 9 features t-shirt testimonials of female survivors. Joyce Moser, program director for victim awareness at the District Attorney’s office and a member of the Yurok Tribe, will deliver a keynote at 5 p.m. Tuesday evening in the Kate Buchanan Room, University Center. Moser also is a member of the Inter-Tribal Women’s Advocacy Network, the Northern California Tribal Healing Coalition, the California Crime Victims Assistance Association and the Humboldt Sexual Assault Response Team, among others.

Two Take Back the Night events are slated for Wednesday, April 10. The Hatred of the Feminine Workshop at 2 p.m. in the Klamath River Room will examine how social institutions (e.g., media, religion, education, military) teach and reinforce violence against femininity. Wednesday evening at 6 p.m. in Gist Hall room 218 an interactive discussion will analyze how social conditioning uses sex to encourage consumerism and normalize rape as conventional sex.

Take Back the Night’s Community Support Network and Appreciation Collective is scheduled for Thursday, April 11 at 2 p.m. in Goodwin Forum, Nelson Hall East, to start and strengthen mutual support systems in connection with stressful Take Back the Night activities.

Concluding events on Friday, April 12 comprise a series of activities on the University Quad: the Silent Witness Project and the Clothesline Project Display at 11 a.m.; a 5 o’clock rally; a gender-inclusive Speak-Out open mic at 7 p.m. and concurrent events at 9 p.m.—a woman-identified march from HSU to Arcata Plaza and a Gender Justice Collective-Men’s Story Project film at 9 p.m. in the Kate Buchanan Room.

Throughout the week, Monday – Friday, Take Back the Night will host art projects from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the Art Quad opposite Van Duzer Theater.

The goal of the one-day professional event is to provide staff, faculty, and administrators with information and strategies to support student learning needs and enhance student success. The Institute consists of a variety of workshops on effective learning, mentoring and the student experience.

This year’s keynote speaker will be Eric Mazur, the Balkanski Professor of Physics and Applied Physics at Harvard University. In addition to leading a research program in optical physics at Harvard, Mazur is interested in education and education research, science policy and outreach. In 1990, he began developing Peer Instruction, a method for teaching large lecture classes interactively. He is also author of Peer Instruction: A User’s Manual and helped produce the DVD Interactive Teaching.

Faculty, staff and administrators are invited to submit proposals sharing their experiences, ideas and strategies for supporting student success. Collaboration among staff and faculty across disciplines is encouraged.

The deadline to submit workshop and poster proposals is April 10 at noon. To submit a proposal online, visit humboldt.edu/institute. Submitters will be notified of their acceptance April 15.

The fall institute will be held Aug. 20 on the HSU campus. Registration begins April 29.

The Art Graduates Exhibition will take the place of the annual juried show and will feature artwork by graduating art majors. This new exhibition gives all senior students the opportunity to present their best work to their families, friends and the community. “We wanted to make a show that was more inclusive and that better highlighted student success. I wanted to make sure that every graduating senior had a chance to show what they have done here at HSU and that they had the opportunity to celebrate their accomplishments with friends and family at the graduation gallery reception. The juried show was great, but every year there were some very deserving students that didn’t get selected,” said Teresa Stanley, Art Department Chair.

Oh Deer, acrylic and oil on canvas by Rebecca Babb, 2013 graduate and 2012 President’s Purchase Award winner.

“The graduate show should be one to remember. There are many young talented art graduates who are eager to participate and display their work. I know first hand, that a lot of students I know are planning to enter and are just waiting for faculty approval. There will be pieces ranging from; sculptures, photographs, paintings, drawings, printmaking, and more. It should be really something to see. I am very excited to see and view these students work on display and hope others join along and appreciate the hard work and dedicated hours these students have contributed to finish their chosen emphasis of art,” said Jacob Horn, an HSU alumnus.

There will be a wide range of artwork which display student’s passions, cultures, and interests. This will be a time for the seniors to come together and see how much they themselves and their peers have progressed in their artistic path. We invite you to spare some time and come support the Art Graduates Exhibition.

The Reese Bullen Gallery is located inside HSU’s Art Building at the intersection of B Street and Laurel. For parking information please humboldt.edu/parking. The Gallery hours are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday 12-5 p.m., Thursday 12-7 p.m., Friday 12-5 p.m. and Saturday 10-2 p.m. For more information please contact the gallery office at (707) 826-5814.

The outstanding students award ceremony is April 11 at 3 p.m. in the Kate Buchanan Room.

The awards ceremony will be held on Thursday, April 11 at 3 p.m. in the Kate Buchanan Room, University Center.

In addition, the foremost Outstanding Student achievements will be recognized at the university’s annual Humboldt State Honors Dinner on Friday, April 19, again in the Kate Buchanan Room. The reception starts at 6 p.m., the dinner at 7:15.

Outstanding Students will join 2012/2013 Outstanding Faculty, Distinguished Alumni and Staff Recognition honorees at the dinner and ceremony.

The 2012-2013 Outstanding Student nominees are as follows:

Awards for Excellence in an Academic Discipline

College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences – Lillian Boyd, Melissa J. Coleman, Emanuel E. Delgado, Olivia R. Drake, J. Daniel Fernandez, Alexis F. Grant, Alexa R. Malmgren, Jacqueline Martinez, Megan H. McFarland, Justino E. Perez, Spencer T. Ruelos, Kaitlyn E. Shanle and Hillary E. Wysocki

College of Natural Resources and Sciences – Kathryn L. Harris, Holly F. Leopardi, Kerry E. McNamee, Masha E. Melnik, Christopher M. Steenbock and Jessica L. Vermeer

College of Professional Studies – Ellyn C. Bass, Laura Lynn DelRoss, Marissa A. Graham, Maira A. Rodriguez

Awards for Academic Excellence & Achievement

Best Individual Artistic Achievement in Visual & Performing Arts – Daniel Fair, Justino E. Perez, Jeremy J. Smith-Danford and Qinjin Yang

Best Poster Presentation to a Professional Association- Emanuel E. Delgado, Ryland J. Karlovich

Best Undergraduate Research Project – Alexander C. Bippus, Maria J. Friedman, Holly F. Leopardi, Lor Y. Yang

Best Professional Publication – Allison W. Bronson

Best Professional Presentation, Competition or Forensic Debate – Yamilet Alas, Kamilah M. Barajas, Amee E. Catalano, Elizabeth R. Hassler, Thomas J. Morgese, Christa R. Unger, Corrina M. Wells and Samantha S. Yazbek

Other Award Categories

Outstanding Contribution to a Campus Club, Program or Organization – David F. Arwood, Alohi M. Bikle, Melissa J. Coleman, Emanuel E. Delgado, Marie F. Estrada, Josefina L. Gonzalez, Marissa A. Graham, Jacquelyn M. Gutierrez, Laurel A. Hoffman, Connor G. Jepson, Hanakekua K. Joao, Robert B. Latona, Jacqueline N. Leskinen, Megan H. McFarland, Thomas J. Morgese, Simone I. M. Pace, Ana V. Parra, Evan F. Petillo, Michelle L. Robinson, Zaneta C. Santana, Devin R. Schwarz, Macy M. Stewart, Isamar Valdez, N. Lashay Wesley

Outstanding Contribution to an Associated Students Program – T. Daisy Lopez, Tou Thao, Ellyn P. Henderson, Matthew J. Lutwen

Al Elpusan Award for Student Activism – Yamilet Alas, Kamilah M. Barajas, Amee E. Catalano, Gabriela Garcia, Elizabeth R. Hassler, Thomas J. Morgese, Corrina M. Wells andSamantha S. Yazbek

The Brian Lorensen Residence Life Staff Award – Clay A. Gallardo, Simone I. M. Pace, David J. Smith, Hillary E. Wysocki

Award for Excellence in Intercollegiate Athletics – Aaron P. Chamberlain, Kathryn L. Harris, Lisa M. Petty and Kaitlyn E. Shanle

Award for Excellence in Sport Clubs – Aimee R. Gant, Eliza L. Luna

Award for Excellence in Community Service – Juan J. Bernal, Sheri I. Cisneros, Cody J. Dawson, Alexis F. Grant, Jacquelyn M. Gutierrez, Sarah A. Navarro, Rachel C. Veiga and Claudia J. Velasco

Patricia O. McConkey Outstanding Graduate Student Award – Sara K. Obenauer , Lora J. Bristow, Francine A. Arroyo, Esperanza L. Alcazar, Kerry E. Leslie

Written by the late American historian Howard Zinn (1922-2010), “Marx in Soho” dramatizes Karl Marx’s poverty-plagued family life when he returns to earth to defend his philosophy of economics and expose how the Soviet Union destroyed communism’s ideals.

Marx will be played by actor Bob Weick, a veteran stage performer from the Philadelphia area who has appeared in more than 200 performances of “Marx in Soho.”

Weick’s regional productions have included “The Last Day of Socrates,” “The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde” and “The Scarlet Letter.”

Curiel, a San Francisco native and a specialist in Chicano and Latino studies, is the winner of the 2012 Philip Levine Prize for her forthcoming collection, Mexican Jenny and Other Poems, to be published this fall. The prize takes its name from the Poet Laureate of the United States 2011-2012. Levine is a Pulitzer Prize and two-time National Book Award winner renowned for his poems about working class Detroit.

Curiel’s first book of poetry, Speak to Me from Dreams, appeared in 1989. Her early writing career produced two chapbooks, Nocturno and Vocabulary of the Dead. In 2010-2012 she took a fellowship with CantoMundo, the national organization for Latino poets.

A graduate of Mills College and Stanford University, Curiel earned a Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She is an HSU professor in the Departments of Critical Race, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and in English. She teaches creative writing, American literature and Chicano/Latino and feminist studies.

Her April 18 reading is open to the public and refreshments will be served.

The money comes from the commission’s Energy Innovations Small Grants program.

This diagram describes how aqueous phase reformation offers more complete and efficient use of the plant matter fuel, which is rich in hydrogen, than conventional gas phase reformation.

SERC estimates the state might be able to save as much as $9 million a year by replacing a large share of the natural gas consumed by certain types of existing power generation equipment without having to make major, and costly, modifications to it.

For the next year, David Vernon, HSU assistant professor of environmental resources engineering, will research a process called aqueous phase reformation.
Reformation separates the carbon and hydrogen in compounds such as sugars or hydrocarbon fuels. Normally this is done in the gas phase, at temperatures and pressures where the substance being reformed is a gas. In contrast, the aqueous phase reforms a liquid instead of a gas, at lower temperatures that consume less energy.
Aqueous phase reformation offers more complete and efficient use of the plant matter fuel, which is rich in hydrogen, than conventional gas phase reformation.

“This would not only reduce natural gas consumption, but also reduce emissions from electric generation equipment and improve its overall efficiency,” according to Vernon.
Specifically, Vernon will conduct experiments with sorbitol, a sugar alcohol found in some fruits or derived by processing glucose, a sugar found in plants. Technology is being developed to make sorbitol from low-value material like crop waste.

The new SERC project marks a first: aqueous phase reformation has not been used in this way before. If the new technology proves successful, Vernon says, “This could be a relatively inexpensive way to increase the portion of electricity generated in California, and elsewhere, with renewable resources.”

The grant marks the second time in a month that the Schatz Center has shared in a funding award from the California Energy Commission for biomass power. SERC is a partner with the Redwood Coast Energy Authority (RCEA), Eureka, in connection with the commission’s $1.75 million initiative for community renewable energy, including a biomass power system at Blue Lake Rancheria, community-wide energy upgrades throughout the Mad River Valley region and electric vehicle charging stations.

The contract for that project is expected to be signed in June. It derives from renewable energy planning recommendations in the “RePower Humboldt Strategic Plan,” a joint effort of the RCEA and the Schatz Center under the commission’s “Renewable Energy Secure Communities Program.”

L-R, bottom to top: Azusa Nakazawa, Aimi Oba, Koki Amano, Tomoya Tago, Hiroyuki Takeda and Kota Igarashi. Atsushi Nagaoka, Assistant Manager, Center for Intl Studies, J.F. Oberlin Univ.; Maria Domoto, Executive Dir., Obirin Gakuen Foundation of America; Intl Programs Dir. Rebecca Brown; Akihiro Nezu, Dir. of North Amer. Operations at J.F. Oberlin; Vice Pres. of Student Affairs & Enrollment Peg Blake; Motohiro Ono; Hiroki Shibata; President Rollin Richmond; Intl Recruitment Daeng Khoupradit.

The latest addition is a group of nine Japanese students. Enrolled in HSU’s International English Language Institute, they were welcomed by President Rollin Richmond at the end of March. They are living with host families in Arcata, Eureka and McKinleyville.

The new Japanese students are studying English under an MOU that Humboldt State signed last summer with J.F. Oberlin University in the Machida section of Tokyo (independent of Oberlin College, Ohio). Under the agreement, groups of seven to 10 Oberlin students will study at HSU on a continuing basis.

The university is now home to foreign students from 20-plus countries. The international population has more than doubled to the current 149 from 58 in 2007. Nations represented span the continents, from Africa, Asia, Australia and India to the Balkans, Canada, the Caribbean, Central America, Europe and the Middle East.

HSU recently consolidated its international activities in the new Center for International Programs, bringing its multifaceted efforts overseas under one umbrella. They include ongoing Sino-American exchanges and new recruitment centers in Beijing and four other Chinese cities (Guangzhou, Shenyang, Shanghai, and Xi’an). They also include student recruitment efforts focused on Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and countries throughout the Middle East.

Humboldt State also has an agreement with the Chinese Service Center for Scholarly Exchange, Beijing, which will lead to partnerships for “pathway programs.” They will enable Chinese students to study for one or two years at a domestic university and then complete their degrees at HSU.

Future growth is being cemented as well in a new partnership with Brazil. The Center for International Programs signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) recently with Brazil’s Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Cuiba, for academic exchanges, program development and research.

In addition, HSU is an applicant to be a Host Institution for Science without Borders, Brazil’s initiative to send 100,000 of its students to the U.S. to pursue the high-demand STEM disciplines offered by HSU’s College of Natural Resources and Sciences: science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

The new recruitment offices in Beijing and satellite cities buttress the university’s multiple partnerships with Chinese institutions of higher learning, anchored by the alliance with China’s Xi’an International Studies University. The partnerships enable HSU to recruit and matriculate Chinese students in residence at the Arcata campus.

This summer, seven more students are projected to join Humboldt State’s contingent from Saudi Arabia, currently numbering 25. Saudi Arabians began attending HSU in 2008 and the first group is slated to graduate this May.

The growth of HSU’s global student body complements the school’s other long-term international initiatives. The HSU Belize Archaeology Field School, directed by Marisol Cortes-Rincon, sends students to excavations at several Maya sites and provides them with laboratory experience working directly with excavated Maya artifacts.

Teresa Stanley, chair of the Art Department, superintends the Greek Art Program, an intensive studio/cultural history experience centered on an extended student stay in a coastal village on the Pelion peninsula. The program includes visits to classical archeological and architectural sites like the Acropolis and the temples at Delphi.

Under the auspices of Practivistas Dominicana , led by Lonny Grafman in the Department of Environmental Resources and Engineering, HSU students engage in community collaboration in the Dominican Republic, contributing to initiatives in conservation, recycling and renewable energy.

The Quito Program, a summer engagement in Ecuador named after that nation’s capital, places students with Ecuadorean families. The program includes Spanish language immersion, regional history, local service learning projects and academic visits to cultural and natural sites guided by Ecuadorian faculty and by Professor Rosamel Benavides-Garb, chair of Humboldt State’s Department of World Languages and Cultures, and Professors Lilianet Brintrup and Francisco de la Cabada of the same department.

Benavides-Garb describes the Quito Program as a “deep, fundamental educational exercise. It includes a vital discovery of the self and follows in the footsteps of Humboldt State’s namesake, 19th-century explorer Alexander von Humboldt, who included Ecuador in his world travels.”

HSU’s overseas linkages are also fostered by the Schatz Energy Research Center. The Schatz Lab’s student-led Bhutan Smart-Grid Project wrapped up in 2012 and its solar lighting outreach is now expanding to India from Africa.

Garcia had been jogging with a friend, and then collapsed while sitting in the bleachers. Her friend, other students and HSU coaches nearby attempted to aid her, as did campus police who arrived within minutes.

Garcia was taken to Mad River Hospital, but could not be revived. The hospital has been in contact with her family, and HSU President Rollin Richmond has also called her family to express condolences on behalf of the campus community.

Jessica Garcia was a freshmen from Reseda, Calif. She was living in the residence halls on campus.

The cause of her death is unknown, but may have been a medical problem. University officials and police are investigating, and are working closely with other local agencies including the County Coroner’s Office.

The University is offering counseling and support to students and others. Campus staff will also reach out to Garcia’s professors and the students in her classes.

Students needing support are encouraged to contact the Counseling Center at 707-826-3236.

Faculty and staff seeking counseling should contact Human Resources regarding the Employee Assistance Program at 707-826-3626.

ABOVE: Students pose for a photo by the old Humboldt State College sign. The sign, made from a single redwood round, was likely donated by a local timber company. The students were participating in a campus Work Day, which included students and faculty cleaning windows, removing clutter, weeding, repairing roads, cleaning classrooms and more. At the end of the day, students enjoyed a free bean feed and a faculty show of spoofs and skits.

ABOVE: During World War II, travel was restricted and gasoline was rationed, putting a serious damper on intercollegiate competition. In a 1944 women’s archery tournament, the results were tallied and mailed to officials. Humboldt placed fourth in a field of 24 colleges, all competing by mail. The Archery club is still active, holding twice-weekly practices in the Field House.

TOP: Students hit the books in a simple, yet functional, residence hall room. To the right, a student uses a slide rule on his coursework. Slide rules remained popular on campus through the 1970s, when the introduction of the pocket calculator spelled the demise of the nearly 400-year-old calculation tool. MIDDLE: Students relax during a summer picnic in 1955. BOTTOM: In spring 1959, the graduating class could still fit in the Main Hall’s courtyard. In November that year, the building was dedicated as “Founders Hall.”

There were NO evacuations; this was ONLY A TEST of our alert systems.

Throughout the day, you may have noticed “Test Today” signage on and around the campus, selected (clicked on) special-colored informational boxes on the http://www.humboldt.edu homepage, and heard public announcements on KHSU 90.5 FM and on 826-INFO (4636).

Between 11:45 a.m. and 11:50 a.m. on Thursday, you may have heard a two-tone high-low electronic alert sound, a public address announcement that this is a test, and a long steady tone that serves as an “all-clear” signal. You should have received an emergency text “TEST” message on your cell phone; and you would have seen changes on the HSU homepage during that period. If you didn’t receive the “TEST” message, please be sure that you have registered your current phone number and cell carrier for emergency text messaging through HSU’s online Account Center; FAQs about registration for this free service is at http://www.humboldt.edu/emergency/faqs#how.

In the event of a real emergency that affected most or all of the campus community, the alert and informational system will provide you with notice that there is an emergency condition, and with instructions as to what you should do. Remember that the best source for the most current, detailed information about any emergency affecting HSU is http://www.humboldt.edu/emergency.

If you have not yet registered your cell phone to receive emergency text messaging, an instructional link to do so is on the same site http://www.humboldt.edu/emergency.

Feedback concerning this test/drill may be submitted to response@humboldt.edu.

Colwell, Department of Wildlife, is the Outstanding Professor of the Year; Chew, Department of Sociology, is HSU’s Scholar of the Year. Aldag, a lecturer in the Department of Music, and Doty, a professor in the Department of English, received Excellence in Teaching Awards.

The four will be honored by the academic community at a University Senate reception on Tuesday, May 7 at 5:30 at the Baywood Golf and Country Club, 3600 Buttermilk Lane, Arcata. Each will be invited to deliver a public lecture in the coming academic year.

Distinguished faculty also will be recognized at the University’s Humboldt State Honors Dinner on Friday, April 19, in the Kate Buchanan Room at University Center. The reception starts at 6 p.m., the dinner at 7:15. The 2012/2013 Distinguished Alumni, Outstanding Students and Staff Recognition honorees also will be acknowledged.

Outstanding Professor Colwell is honored for “superlative teaching, mentoring, scholarship and creative activities” since arriving at Humboldt State in 1989. The University Senate’s Faculty Awards Committee said his near-quarter century of service “has had a lasting effect at HSU through his excellence in teaching and sustained scholarly activities.” Highly praised by students for sharing his passion for science and ecology, Colwell also received plaudits for his research in shorebird ecology, with an emphasis on conservation and management. He is the author of the critically-acclaimed book, Shorebird Ecology, Conservation and Management.

Outstanding Scholar Chew is saluted for the diversity of his research and his scholarship in environmental degradation and ecological crisis. He joined Humboldt State in 1990 and developed a theoretical model of recurring dark ages, which he has applied to periods of socioeconomic change worldwide to examine the nature and causes of world transformations. His studies have included globalization’s impact on world migration, urban shrinkage and citizenship. Chew’s research has yielded seven books, 18 journal articles and book chapters and four encyclopedia entries, among others. The Faculty Awards Committee lauded him as “a very productive scientist and an excellent teacher.”

Excellence in Teaching awardee Aldag wins recognition for his exceptional work with jazz ensembles, consistently high teaching scores and high standards. He has served HSU for nearly two decades and in the past five years has taught 26 different courses, ranging from large lecture general education to small activity courses. Students praise his passion, dedication, clarity and willingness to help.

Doty also receives top teaching scores. The Awards Committee highlighted her dedication, talent and commitment in presenting difficult material in linguistics and rhetoric. The panel said many of Doty’s current and former students call her “the most influential professor they had during their college education” in teaching the politics of language and its impact on everyday life. She is also recognized for staying current in her field with continuing scholarship in both national and international settings.

The recipients of this year’s McCrone Promising Faculty Scholars Award are: Christine Cass, Department of Oceanography; Joseph Dieme, Department of World Languages and Cultures; and Matthew Derrick, Department of Geography.

In addition, John Mola is the recipient of the Graduate Fellowship. They will be honored at the annual Alistair and Judith McCrone Awards Banquet on Wednesday, April 24.

Details about the May 7 reception are available at 707/826-3311.

The changes—which take effect in fall 2013—include the restructuring of several courses, the addition of two classes and the introduction of a new B.S. degree option in Geospatial Science within the Environmental Science (ENVS) major. This new option will combine the core courses required in Environmental Science with the full suite of geospatial science courses. In this way, geospatial science will be taught within the larger context of Environmental Science, rather than simply as a technological tool in isolation.

The overhaul is based on the U.S. Department of Labor’s 2010 Geospatial Technology Competency Model, which outlines the skills needed for a successful career in geospatial technology. The Department of Labor estimates that the market for geospatial careers is growing by 35 percent a year. The largest consumers of GIS technology are the education, transportation, utilities and telecommunications industries, where skills such as data collection, georeferencing, overlay analysis, programming, and model building are essential.

“As an interdisciplinary tool, geospatial analysis is an important skillset for the present workforce, allowing them to better understand and manage challenges related to socio-environmental issues such as food, energy, public health, and natural resources,” said associate professor of remote sensing and GIS Mahesh Rao, who was actively part of the Geospatial Task Force, which suggested the improvements.

Comprised of faculty and staff from various departments, the Geospatial Task Force was created in 2010 with the goal of examining and restructuring the university’s geospatial curriculum. Utilizing input from across campus, the group drafted a proposal, which was approved by the Integrated Curriculum Committee last year.

One of the most noticeable changes this fall will be the creation of a GSP course prefix. Under the new prefix, geospatial courses will no longer be offered through the department of forestry and geography or the environmental science and management program. Instead, all courses will be part of a new Geospatial Analysis section in the course catalog.

Students will also notice the addition of clearer course sequencing. “With new course sequencing, students will be able to build on their skills and knowledge and also better prepare themselves for careers in the geospatial sciences,” Rao says.

Several courses will also be restructured not only to align them with the competency model, but also to reduce redundancy, Rao says. One important restructured class is Geospatial Concepts (GSP 101), which will be offered as a general education (Area D) option, and will also serve as a prerequisite for other courses in cartography, remote sensing and geographic information systems.

Additionally, students will have two new course offerings. Mobile Mapping (GSP 330) will cover topics in informatics including data processing, GIS integration and differential correction. Intermediate Remote Sensing (GSP 426) will explore image enhancements, processing, classification, accuracy assessment and higher levels of image classification techniques such as object-oriented classifications.

Aside from the 16-unit minor in Geospatial Analysis that will take effect this fall, Rao says that plans are also underway to offer a graduate certificate in geospatial sciences. The certificate would be offered online and administered through HSU’s Office of Extended Education.

The Department of Labor includes geospatial technology in its High Growth Job Training Initiative. Jobs in the High Growth Training Initiative are identified as having the ability to add a substantial number of new jobs to the economy or affect the growth of other industries.

To view the Department of Labor’s Geospatial Technology Competency Model, click on: careeronestop.org/competencymodel.

Jennifer Alejo.

Alejo founded Finding Resources and Empowerment through Education (F.R.E.E.), a club to build support for undocumented students. Through her leadership, Humboldt State recently created an Undocumented Students Task Force, charged with examining and recommending policy and practice changes that will make the campus more accessible and inclusive.

Alejo also organized a College Ready Conference for local high school students, directed HSU’s Alternative Spring Break (food distribution in Los Angeles) contributed 500 hours of community service as an Americorps member and coordinated a one-unit class for Take Back the Night.

Nominating Alejo, Humboldt State President Rollin Richmond said, “Jennifer’s selfless leadership and activism embody the spirit of the Newman Civic Fellows Award and they have been a boon to students, staff, faculty and the greater Redwood Coast community.”

The winner of Humboldt State’s Al Elpusan Award for Student Activism in Spring 2012, Alejo has spearheaded a number of Diversity Program Funding Grants. They supported the Men’s Story Project (lending a voice to young men of color on campus) and a campus presentation this year by the labor leader and civil rights activist Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm Workers with César Chávez.

Alejo is among 180 students from 36 states named Newman Civic Fellows for 2013 as next-generation public problem solvers and civic leaders. Campus Compact’s membership includes public, private, two- and four-year institutions across the spectrum of higher education. This year’s schools represented along with Humboldt State include Berkeley, Bryn Mawr, Dartmouth, Georgetown, Ithaca College, Montana State, New England College, Purdue, Rochester Institute of Technology, San Francisco State, Stanford, Tulane, University of Missouri-St. Louis and Vanderbilt.

Campus Compact fosters public and community service that develops students’ citizenship skills, forges community/campus partnerships and provides resources and training for faculty who integrate civic- and community-based learning into their curriculum.

For details, click on compact.org.

The Ensemble is led by the internationally renowned violinist Frank Ge-Fang Yang, former first violinist with San Francisco’s Alexander Quartet.

The Ensemble also includes Ying Wang, a prize-winning cellist who studied with many prominent cellists including Yo-Yo Ma. A winner of the National Solo Viola Competition in China, Yue Qi was invited by the U.S Embassy in Beijing to perform for ambassadors from 30 countries. Pianist Fang Zhang, an award-winner in teaching as well as performing, appeared at HSU as a solo performer in 2011.

All four performers are current faculty members with the prestigious School of the Arts at Remnin University in Beijing, China.

At HSU they will perform Beethoven’s Piano Trio in D, one of the best-known works of its kind. Called the “Ghost” trio, it may have been inspired by Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Scholar Lewis Lockwood wrote that this work “raises the genre to a level from which the later piano trio literature could move forward.”

The other work on the program is the Piano Quartet in C minor by Johannes Brahms, which incorporates music he composed at 23 years old with the final version he wrote 20 years later. Sometimes called the “Werther Quartet” for Brahms’ reference to Goethe’s novel of unrequited love, The Sorrows of Young Werther, its effect according to one commentator is of a “dark, troubled urgency … that stays to haunt the memory.”

The Beijing Chamber Ensemble performs in a Guest Artists Concert on Tuesday April 9 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $8/$3 from the HSU Box Office (707-826-3928) or at the door. Produced by HSU Music Department. For more information, visit HSUMusic.blogspot.com.

Five brass quintets will honor the Venetians of the late Renaissance with the seldom heard multi-choral sounds of Giovanni Gabrieli, the foremost practitioner of the 16th century Venetian School.

“Volcano” by contemporary composer Robert Simpson highlights the second half of the concert. Director Gil Cline describes it as “very substantial and very difficult. At times it’s very transparent, with thin and clear ethereal chord voicings, and at other times very thick in terms of stacked chords and flurries of running 16th notes. Beautiful in sort of a scary way, and scary in a beautiful way!”

Among other selections are Cline’s original composition “Tower Bells in the Firmament,” and a return to Venice for music from Verdi’s opera, “Rigoletto.”

Humboldt Bay Brass Band performs its spring concert on Friday April 5 at 8 p.m. in the in Fulkerson Recital Hall. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, available from the HSU Ticket Office (707-826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with an ID. Directed by Gilbert Cline, produced by the HSU Music Department. For more information, visit HSUMusic.blogspot.com.

The concert includes a solo dance by HSU senior Carrie Walpole and a dance by sophomore Jenny Wright that were selected for performance at this year’s American College Dance Festival.

The other student choreographers are seniors Kara Ajetunmobi, Camille Ruiz and Keili Simmons Marble, juniors Lizzie Chapman and Dani Gutierrez, sophomore Fiona Rose Melia and British exchange student Kelly-May Roberts. Laura Munoz is the faculty choreographer.

Some of the student choreography emerged from class assignments to investigate elements of personal growth or social issues, and develop a dance vocabulary to give body to these explorations. Nearly all the choreographers named such subjects as influencing the creation of their dances. They explore vulnerability and fear, control and spontaneity, the challenge of gender stereotypes and anxieties over body image: in life and love as well as in dance, the battle for balance “On the Edge of Your Feet.”

Another regular feature of the annual dance concert is a raffle that helps support such activities as sending student dancers to the American College Dance Festival. “I often see a big jump in the maturity of the dancers who attend the festival,” said Sharon Butcher, artistic director and HSU dance professor. “When they see what other dances in other places are doing, it really makes a difference. There’s a greater level of maturity, ability and attitude about the art form. It shows as well in their performance skills.”

This year the prizes from local businesses include an iPad mini, as well as gift certificates. Tickets will be sold at all performances, and the drawing is held on the final Saturday.

“On the Edge Of Your Feet,” the HSU spring dance concert, is performed Thursdays through Saturdays April 4-6 and 11-13 at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday April 7 at 2 p.m., in the Van Duzer Theatre on the HSU campus in Arcata. $10 general/$8 seniors, students and children, with a limited number of free seats to HSU students at each performance, from HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door. Directed by Sharon Butcher, produced by HSU Department of Theatre, Film and Dance. http://HSUStage.blogspot.com.

Photo credit: Dylan Schertz. 2013 Regional Wildlife Quiz Bowl champions are (left to right) Justin Purnell, Ryan Vazaquez, Felicia Aragon, Bennett Hardy, Phil Chaon and John Oliver.

With the Laramie victory, the Wildlife team has won the title 25 times in 42 attempts since 1966, a batting average of better than 60 percent.

Burnishing this regional dominance, successive HSU teams have won the national competition nine times in 12 appearances, including the past three years in a row, for an exceptional success rate of 75 percent.

The competition is sponsored by The Wildlife Society (TWS), an international non-profit scientific and educational association founded in 1937. TWS works to foster excellence in wildlife stewardship, in particular wildlife conservation in North America.

The newest crop of Quiz Bowl winners includes students Justin Purnell, Ryan Vazquez, Felicia Aragon, Bennett Hardy, Phil Chaon and John Oliver.

Among the questions the HSU team answered were, “In what year were wolves reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park?” A: 1995 “Sea otter populations in the Aleutian islands are believed to be declining because of predation by what marine mammal?” A: Killer whale or orca.

“Everyone in the department is very proud of the students in the Wildlife Conclave class for working together to prepare the team for the competition,” says Wildlife lecturer Barbara Clucas. “Naturally we are very excited about this win.”

Titled Switch, the educational film is being shown at hundreds of universities nationwide in connection with the Switch Energy Awareness and Efficiency Program of the Geological Society of America, which was founded in 1888 and marks its 125th anniversary this year_.

Switch is narrated by energy specialist Scott Tinker, director of the Bureau of Economic Geology and acting associate dean of research at the Jackson School of Geosciences at the University of Austin, Texas.

A keynote speaker in more than 50 countries, Tinker surveys leading energy sites in the film. He also canvasses international leaders in government, industry and academia about key issues ranging from coal to solar, oil to biofuels and nuclear to renewables.

The Los Angeles Times review praises Switch for doing “an admirable job untangling the issues.” Critics also call the documentary intelligent, reasonable “and agenda-free journalism.”

The April 22 screening is free, but tickets should be obtained in advance from the HSU Ticket Office. Tickets at the door will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis.

Film details are posted at switchenergyproject.com and facebook.com/events/112382905597818/.

An alumnus of Humboldt State University, David White is a Northern California artist best known locally for his permanent installation in Humboldt State University’s Art Department. After graduate school, he practiced his art in New Mexico and then lived in Japan for 15 years where he taught English and Art in Nerima, one of the many districts of Tokyo. He has exhibited his art in the Nerima Museum and several galleries around Japan, as well as the United States. His most recent show was a collaborative project with the artist Lush Newton in 2011 at HSU First Street Gallery.

At the core of this exhibition are puppet characters, which White has created, fashioning them from found materials. Based on these small puppet characters, he has drawn and painted portraits and created sculptural busts, while loosely tying them together with an interplay of pictorial associations and internal narratives. In a sense, he has grown a community of characters who have taken over the gallery. They are wise guys, grifters, dames, poets, losers, lovers and raconteurs. White is influenced by his past experiences and surroundings, and frequently incorporates them into his work. He loves story telling and each of his pieces represents a character integrated into his community of April Fools.

His new exhibition reflects his playful nature, but also adds a serious note into the mix through the titles of the pieces. Within the show visitors will find themselves in the company of many characters; some are puppets, some are sculptural and others are in portrait paintings: each one highly colorful and with a unique personality. These characters lead the viewer through the gallery, radiating lightheartedness and cracking jokes between each other. A majority of the pieces have titles that start with the words, “The man who…, and then White fills in the remainder of the title with a free associated phrase inspired by the character he is depicting.

For instance one piece is titled, “The man who was tired of perpetual war.” His method of titling pieces was inspired by titles of films and books like “The Man Who Knew Too Much” and “The Man Who Would Be King.” While the pieces themselves are completely blithe and spirited, the titles are meant to portray the uncertainty of the times and modern life.

White is known for using alternative material for his art making. He creates art out of recycled and found objects, for they are highly accessible and allow him to freely make art anywhere at anytime. This idea of accessibility crosses over from his process into his intended audience for the show, which is everyone. White designed this show for all ages. He doesn’t want to limit it to certain audiences or groups, and hopes that everyone will be able to stop by and enjoy The Fools of April. White compares his show to that of a carnival, of which he is the ringmaster, cheerfully beckoning, “Come one, come all.”

A reception for David White will be held Saturday, April 6th, 2013 during Eureka’s monthly Arts Alive event.

White will give an artist’s talk on May 4th at 3 p.m. at HSU First Street Gallery. The public is invited to attend for free and meet the artist.

HSU First Street gallery is open Tuesday through Sunday from 12 to 5 p.m. and is located at 422 First Street, Eureka, California. Admission is free. Those planning group tours are encouraged to call ahead. For more information call (707) 443-6363. To learn more, visit humboldt.edu/first.

The sculptures on exhibit are all composed of multiple, disparate, biomorphic ceramic forms. The forms are variously bulbous, tubular, squirmy and are bound together to achieve the uncanny impression that one is looking at an unidentifiable life form. The pieces have energy and even personalities, vaguely familiar, yet they remain ineffable, too complex to fully comprehend. The imagination of the viewer, in coming upon these pieces, is immediately carried to a personal and emotional narrative that conjures a nature, which permits such entities to exist. Of her process, Rosen writes that, “Sometimes, seemingly disparate things, when joined, can be utterly convincing.”

The exhibit will also feature large works on paper. Executed primarily in a monochromatic palette, the artist depicts, through gestural and expressive handling of her materials, animated, seething masses of her forms, as if through mitosis, they are splitting dividing, replicating and growing into larger entities.

A native of Brooklyn, New York, Rosen received her B.F.A in 1978 from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. She then earned an M.F.A. in 1981 from the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills Michigan. Since then her work has been featured all over the world, and she has received numerous awards, including the National Endowment for the Arts Craftsman Fellowship, a 1992 Pew Fellowship in the Arts and the 2011 Joan Mitchell Painters and Sculptors Award. Currently, she is a professor at the University of California, Davis where she holds the Robert Arneson Endowed Chair in Ceramic Sculpture.

Annabeth Rosen will give an artist talk and slide presentation about her work in the Humboldt State University Art Department Building, Room 102 at 5 p.m. on Friday, April 5th. For parking information, visit humboldt.edu/parking.

A reception at HSU First Street Gallery will be held Saturday, April 6th, 2013 during Eureka’s monthly Arts Alive event. The gallery is open Tuesday through Sunday from 12 to 5 p.m. and is located at 422 First Street Eureka, California. Admission is free. Those planning group tours are encouraged to call ahead. For more information call 707-443-6363. To learn more, visit humboldt.edu/first.

Abigail Thompson

Titled “Three-Dimensional Universes: What are the Options?” Thompson’s lecture will explore such questions as what would happen if a rocket traveled a straight trajectory and reached the “end” of the universe; might it return to its starting point?

Thompson specializes in knot theory and the structure of three-dimensional manifolds (shapes). She has held fellowships from Hebrew University, The Sloan Foundation and the National Science Foundation. She was awarded the 2003 Satter Prize from the American Mathematical Society for outstanding contributions to mathematics in three-dimensional topology.

Thompson is active in promoting women in science and technology as director of the California State Summer School in Science and Mathematics at UC Davis.

Prior to the Kieval Lecture Thursday evening, Thompson will preside at a Mathematics Colloquium the same day at 4 p.m. in the Behavioral and Social Sciences Building, Room 166. The subject will be immersed curves, following the theory of Danish mathematician Fabricius-Bjerre, with an application to knots in the three-sphere.

Both the evening lecture and the afternoon colloquium are free.

The lecture series was established by the late Professor Emeritus Harry S. Kieval to bring distinguished speakers to Humboldt State to deliver lectures on popular and broad aspects of mathematics of interest to undergraduates and to the general public. The lectures are held once each fall and spring. Kieval was HSU Professor of Mathematics from 1966 to 1979.

Details are available from the Department of Mathematics at (707) 826-3143 or at humboldt.edu/math/.

In addition to Richmond, leaders will include Humboldt State seismologist and international mitigation expert Lori Dengler; Mark Benthien, director for communication, education and outreach at the Southern California Earthquake Center at USC; Dan Larkin, director of Humboldt County’s Office of Emergency Services; Kathy Moley, a specialist in tsunami mitigation at Pacific Watershed Associates, McKinleyville; and Troy Nicolini from NOAA’s National Weather Service, Eureka, who is also NOAA’s tsunami program leader for northwestern California.

The public is invited to the first hour of the joint earthquake/tsunami preparedness meeting on Thursday, March 28, at 9 a.m. in HSU’s Nelson Hall East, Room 113. Nicolini will open the meeting with a presentation on the importance of drills to expand and maintain public readiness.

Thursday’s meeting will be the culmination of the two-day, joint leadership session of the RCTWG and ECA, March 26-28.

Concurrently, on Tuesday, March 26 at 6:30 p.m., Manila will hold a preparedness meeting at its community center at 1611 Peninsula Drive for the local tsunami evacuation drill that is scheduled for Saturday, April 13, at 10 a.m. Dengler, Nicolini and other RCTWG officials will discuss tsunami risks and readiness at that public gathering.

The next day, Wednesday, March 27, the North Coast will conduct a tsunami warning test between 11 a.m. and noon. Television and radio broadcasts will be interrupted, NOAA weather radios will be activated and sirens will sound in some areas.

“We’ve done this test almost every year starting in 2008, but it’s still important to get the word out so folks don’t confuse the test for a real tsunami emergency,” Nicolini says. “We’re still the only region in the nation that does this test.”

The RCTWG comprises local, state and federal agencies, tribes, relief and service groups, land managers and businesses from Del Norte, Humboldt and Mendocino Counties. The group promotes a coordinated, consistent mitigation program for all coastal areas.

The ECA is the organizer of the annual earthquake preparedness drill, “The Great California ShakeOut.” The 2013 exercise is scheduled for Oct. 17 at 10:17 a.m.

Last year, ShakeOut drills worldwide drew more than 19 million registrants. The drill enables the public to practice Drop, Cover and Hold On, the general guidelines for surviving an earthquake. Drop means dropping to the ground as tremors begin; cover means getting under a sturdy desk or table or something comparable for protection; hold on refers to gripping the cover until the shaking has fully stopped.

Details about the joint RCTWG/ECA meetings are available from Kathleen Fairchild at kaf19@humboldt.edu.

The two-day event will feature free workshops and a screening of Thousand Kites, a one-act play that tells the stories of prisoners, their family members and correction officers 8 p.m. Friday, March 29 in the Native American Forum. Admission is a sliding scale of $5 to $10.

The event kicks-off 6 p.m. Thursday, March 28 with a presentation titled, “How Incarceration Affects Communities.” Guest speakers will include representatives from Community Works West, a non-profit that supports underserved populations in the Bay Area and Critical Resistance, which opposes the expansion of the prison industrial complex.

At 6 p.m. Friday, March 29, Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos and others will participate in a roundtable question and answer session titled, “What Does Rehabilitation Look Like?” Guests will include Humboldt County’s chief probation officer Bill Damiano, KHSU radio host Sista Soul and representatives from Justice Now and the Prison University Project.

The event was organized with help from the Child Abuse Prevention Council and the HSU departments of sociology and social work. The dialogue is free and open to the public.

For more information, contact Vanessa Pike-Vrtiak at (530) 448-9458 or areasontolisten@gmail.com.

Student trustees serve as the official voice of approximately 437,000 students who attend the 23-campus CSU system. The 25-member Board of Trustees is the highest policy making body for the CSU system. It adopts rules and regulations, and establishes policies on student fees, admissions criteria, technology, financial aid, student housing and parking, among other responsibilities.

To apply to be a trustee, students must be in good academic standing (with at least a 2.0 grade point average) and have at least junior standing by July 1. Both undergraduate and graduate students can apply. The two-year term expires June 30, 2015.

Applications are available by visiting csustudents.org. The deadline is 5 p.m., March 29. In-person interviews will take place at San Diego State University May 3 and a list of final candidates will be forwarded to Governor Jerry Brown by May 10.

The California State Student Association (CSSA) is a non-profit that addresses student issues at a state and system wide level. The CSSA is led by representatives from each of the 23 CSU campuses.

For more information, visit csustudents.org/whoweare/student-trustee.shtml.

Share your HSU memories at HSU’s Centennial Webpage.

The HSU community has contributed to a growing historical slideshow, which is featured at the Centennial webpage. Your photos are welcomed too, and can be shared online. Photo prints are welcomed at:

Humboldt Alumni
Humboldt State University
1 Harpst St. Arcata, CA 95521
(Submitted photos can be returned, please include a self-addressed stamped envelope. Include your email address to receive a scanned electronic copy of the photo)

Submitted stories will be edited and featured for one month during the Centennial Celebration. Highlight publications include the alumni newsletter, Humboldt magazine and elsewhere.

HSU recently asked the Facebook community if they had met their cupids on campus and to share a little bit about it. Here’s what some folks said:

Shannon Moore: Yes! We met in 2001, started dating right away, and are very happily in love to this day.
Jessica Rodriguez: We met through our Greek orgs. 6 years and still going!
Terry Henry: Yes I did and married him 36 years ago!!
Lisa Lai: We met in class in 2002, married in 2007. Love of my life. Go Lumberjacks!

Share your stories & photos now!
Get all the latest Centennial news at humboldt.edu/100
Follow HSU 100 on Facebook.com

About HSU’s Centennial Celebration: Humboldt State University’s Centennial takes place during the 2013-14 academic year. It is a time to honor a century of achievement and imagine what might be accomplished in the next century. Highlight events include the HSU Centennial Birthday Festival (Aug. 24, 2013), Homecoming & Family Weekend (Sept. 27 & 28), and the Dance of the Century (April, 2014, date TBD).

About 200 collegiate cyclists are expected to race in the event, including riders from Stanford, UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC Davis and Cal Poly. Community (non-collegiate) riders will also take part in the criterium, which has separate starts for beginner and advanced cyclists. And, for the first time, the pros and amateurs will be competing for cash awards.

Leading up to the campus race, HSU Cycling hosts a fundraiser movie night at the Far North Climbing Gym on Thursday, March 28.

And on Saturday April 6 at 8 a.m., one day before the campus race, HSU Cycling hosts a road race and time trial in Loleta, Calif.

HSU team riders to watch at this year’s race include Jason Covey, Alvin Garlejo, Steven Pearl, Nancy Vargas, Marina Marcroft, Zachary Thompson, Michael Nystrom and Gilbert Marquez. These riders have been traveling far and wide to compete in bike races this spring. Now they have a chance to show their talents at home. Come out and support the team. Last year, the race was a success, and the home team won several medals. The HSU Cycling team competes in the Western Collegiate Cycling Conference and won the Division II road cycling conference championships the past four years.

About the Course

Collegiate cyclists and professional and amateur riders from all over the region will participate in a series of races that will loop around the southwest corner of campus. Each race will start at the corner of B and Harpst streets. Riders will sprint up the B Street hill and make a left onto Laurel Drive. The course then turns right through the Library parking lot and left turn onto LK Wood Blvd., which will be rerouted for vehicle traffic. Next, the course turns left onto Harpst Street and heads past the College Creek Apartments and Marketplace. When riders reach B Street, they’ve completed the loop and will ride the course several more times. It’s fast, furious and really fun to watch.

Volunteer Opportunities

The club is also looking for volunteers to help with the event. It’s a great way to support the team and anyone is eligible to volunteer. Anyone is eligible to volunteer, and its a great way to support the team.

For more information on volunteering, the races, and more, visit Humboldt State Cycling on Facebook or at humboldtcycling.wordpress.com. Or dial race director Cole Humphrey at (530) 340-2680.

Check out the story. »

The multi-pronged system includes visual, auditory and electronic messages to alert as many people as possible that the system is being tested. Because the test is a drill, there will be no evacuation.

Alerts include “Test Today” sandwich boards at prominent locations around campus, notices on the HSU Homepage, announcements on 826-INFO and KHSU 90.5 FM and text messages transmitted to registered cell phones. Activation of the Emergency Public Address System will be tested between 11:45 and 11:50 am for five minutes.

The public address system will broadcast electronic alert high-low tones, a spoken test message and a concluding “all clear” tone. White strobe lights will flash from various rooftop locations.

The best sources of additional information during an emergency alert are humboldt.edu/emergency, 707/826-INFO (4636), and KHSU 90.5 FM.

The campus community is encouraged to use these sources during the March 28th test. Problems should be reported at response@humboldt.edu.

Cell phone numbers can be registered through the Account Center from the Quick Links section of the HSU Homepage. Assistance with registration is available from the HELP desk at 826-4357.

Blame it on laziness. Distance? Or maybe the weather?

Sara Matthews (‘13, Geography) was interested in finding out why some HSU students find it easier to forego their cars and other motorized forms of transportation on a daily basis in favor of walking or bike to campus.

In a recent paper published in the peer-reviewed journal The California Geographer, geography student Sara Matthews (’13) posits that our transportation choices may be influenced by something we don’t often consider: our sense of community.

Working with her adviser and geography professor Matthew Derrick, Matthews examined the transportation choices of 132 HSU students who lived in Arcata. What she found is that those who identified as regular walkers and bikers also had one thing common: they reported a strong sense of community—or feeling “at home”—in Arcata.

To Bike or Not to Bike

A bike commuter herself, Matthews was interested in finding out why some HSU students find it easier to forego their cars and other motorized forms of transportation on a daily basis in favor of walking or biking to campus.

“We all make hundreds of choices throughout the day—to hit snooze or to get up, drink coffee or tea, phone Mom or don’t, eat organic or eat regular, buy local or cheap,” Matthews says. “I was interested in how we make our choice of getting from point A to point B. It affects atmospheric warming more than any other decision a person could make.”

The More You Walk

For the study, Matthews distributed a survey to 132 HSU students who reside in Arcata. She asked them to identify where they live on a map, discuss their transportation habits and their reasons for walking, biking or driving to school.

What they found is that students who reported feeling ‘at home’ in Arcata, made a much higher percentage of their trips by active transport: (71 percent) versus those who didn’t feel ‘at home’ (32 percent).

‘Feeling at home’ was described as having a strong sense of attachment to or affinity for Arcata. “What the study shows is that when students are reminded of the benefits of active transport and regain intimacy with the place in which they live, they largely adopt more sustainable habits,” Matthews says.

She says the trend could be self-fulfilling. “The more you walk the more invested in your community you become, which in turn compels you walk more.”

The top reasons for biking or walking to school were being outside and interacting with the community, closely followed by exercise and the desire to avoid parking hassles, Matthews says.

Another interesting finding was that very few students cited safety or lack of infrastructure as impediments to biking or walking to campus. “What that shows is that the city of Arcata has done a good job encouraging active transport and further efforts to encourage cyclist and pedestrian growth might be better directed elsewhere,” she says.

Matthews’ study could have implications for Arcata city officials as they plan future bike and pedestrian paths. About 20 percent of trips in Arcata are already taken by foot or bike, nearly ten times the California average.

‘Space and Place’

Matthews’ paper “How Space and Place Influence Transportation Trends at Humboldt State University” was published in the 2013 edition of The California Geographer, a peer-reviewed journal published by the California Geographical Society.

Her presentation also earned third place last year in an undergraduate research competition held at the 66th annual meeting of the California Geographical Society at the University of California, Davis.

For more information on the geography department, visit humboldt.edu/geography.

The lineup includes Humboldt State philosophy professor Ben Shaeffer; local attorney and amateur political pundit Eric Kirk; Humboldt County Economic Development Coordinator Jacqueline Debets and HSU spokesman Paul Mann.

The hour-long program features interviews with local, regional and national experts on such topics as politics, philosophy, economics and everyday life.

Mann, a former White House, congressional and international correspondent for radio and print, kicks off the month with a discussion of Vladmir Putin’s leadership since 1999 and U.S.-Russian relations. On April 4, his guests will include University of Virginia Professor Allen Lynch, author of Vladimir Putin and Russian Statecraft, and HSU professor Rob Cliver, a specialist in modern Russian history.

On April 18, Shaeffer will discuss civil disobedience with HSU sociology professor Betsy Watson and political science lecturer Dan Faulk.

In May, Mann will explore the French Reign of Terror. Guests will discuss whether Robespierre’s use of the guillotine prefigured 20th century totalitarianism.

“Thursday Night Talk” airs on KHSU 90.5 FM, Thursdays from 7 to 8 p.m.

For more information, visit khsu.org.

Reinarman will discuss the recent cannabis law, the ‘weetpass,’ adopted by the Dutch Parliament and the divergent ways in which various Dutch government authorities have interpreted and enforced it. Some observers interpret the statute as a new ‘get tough’ policy, others claim it leaves intact the world’s most relaxed drug law.

Reinarman has been a visiting professor at the University of Utrecht and the University of Amsterdam. He has also been visiting scholar at the latter’s Center for Drug Research. He is the author of several books, including Crack in America and Cocaine Changes.

The HIIMR conducts interdisciplinary scientific study of marijuana. Details about the March 25 Reinarman lecture are available from institute co-director Josh Meisel at 707/826-4446 or Meisel@humboldt.edu.

Honored at the White House by President Barack Obama with the 2010 Presidential Citizens Medal, Chinn will address “Turning Hatred Into Hope: Perspectives of a Survivor of the Cultural Revolution” in her remarks at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, March 26 in Room 133 of HSU’s Science B building.

Keynote Speaker Betty Chinn receives the 2010 Presidential Citizens Metal from President Barack Obama.

Chinn survived China’s punishing, mid-20th century Cultural Revolution. She will recount how living in Mao’s labor camps and on the streets spurred her to work with Humboldt County’s homeless. Chinn has distributed food and warm meals to hundreds of people near the Humboldt County Welfare Office.

HSU’s weeklong Pan-Asian Pacific Islander celebration will feature performances, lectures and workshops led by students, faculty, staff and community members, who will explore pan-Asian Pacific Islander culture, diversity and identity. The festival is free and open to the public.

Festivities commence at noon, Monday, March 25 in the University Quad with performances hosted by the Department of Theatre, Film and Dance, featuring Balinese Fusion by Luna Moon and the Fire & Isis Dance Collective, Hula dance by Emma Cockcroft and tabling presentations by students of the HSU Dance in World Cultures class.

A Taiwanese and Japanese Obon dance demonstration and lesson will be presented by HSU staff member Craig Kurumada on Tuesday, March 26 at noon on the Quad.

On Wednesday, March 27, at noon, Professor Chip Sharpe and his students will present a Tai Chi Demonstration and Lesson, again on the Quad.

The public is invited to take part in a version of India’s traditional “Holi” festival of colored powder and water on Thursday, March 28, at 4 p.m. in the MultiCultural Center parking lot. Holi commemorates the beginning of spring.

Thursday evening at 7:30, the Non-Stop Bhangra & Dholyrhythms Dance Company from San Francisco will perform at the HSU Jolly Giant Commons, bottom floor. Highlighting ancestral Punjabi dance, the group fuses North Indian Bhangra music and dance with reggae, hip-hop and electronica.

The full schedule of events is posted at agoile.wix.com/pan-api.

The festival is hosted by HSU’s Asian Pacific Islander American Student Alliance (A.P.A.S.A.). Details are available from Alison Hong-Novotney at apasa@humboldt.edu.

Dolores Huerta, co-founder of United Farmworkers of America.

Huerta’s speech—which is free and open to the public—will explore undocumented workers and strategies for grassroots organization and development.

Born in 1930, Huerta co-founded the National Farm Workers Association in 1962 with farm worker and civil rights activist Cesar Chavez. She has received numerous awards for her social justice work including the 1998 Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award from President Bill Clinton.

Huerta continues to be an advocate for the working poor, women, children and gay rights. There are four elementary schools in California, one in Texas and one high school in Colorado named after Huerta.

This event is sponsored by F.R.E.E., Finding Resources and Empowerment through Education.

The grant is open HSU student, faculty, and staff projects that promote the collective educational concerns of women and girls. The deadline for submission is Friday, March 22. For information and an application, contact Jesse Urban at Jessica.Urban@humboldt.edu.

The campus has been named to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for its contributions to Redwood Coast sustainability, food security and social and environmental responsibility.

The annual Presidential award credits 1,885 HSU students for contributing more than 70,752 hours of volunteer work in the academic year 2011/2012. They teamed with 110-plus community partners, including 35 local school districts.

Students served on behalf of numerous campus agencies and programs, including the Campus Center for Appropriate Technology, Center for Service Learning and Academic Internships (‘Halting Hunger’ activities), Schatz Energy Research Center, Renewable Energy Student Union and the Office of Sustainability.

Others included the 18th annual HSU Day of Caring, which engaged 400 students and 59 community members in environmental clean-up and social service; and Y.E.S. (Youth Educational Services), the student-led collective of 16 volunteer programs that last year enlisted 430 students as tutors and mentors for at-risk youth and environmental educators in local K-12 schools.

Students taking part in the Y.E.S. Alternative Spring Break helped to curb hunger in local and San Francisco communities, feeding more than 3,000 people.

HSU students won California State University’s Energy Efficiency/Sustainability Award for waste diversion and Environmental Planning majors crafted a 10-year, parks and recreation master plan for Arcata. For the third year running, the Arcata campus was named among the most environmentally responsible colleges in the U.S. and Canada by the Princeton Review.

Overseas, HSU’s Dominicana program sent 14 students last year to build a new classroom made of recycled materials and a potable rainwater catchment in two barrios in the Dominican Republic’s capital, Santo Domingo.

“Humboldt State has been credited with this national recognition every year but one since 2007,” says Annie Bolick-Floss, director of the Center for Service Learning and Academic Internships. “This is an honor campus-wide because more than 100 HSU courses per semester center on environmental and sustainability subjects. Across all academic disciplines, close to a thousand students were involved last year in 35 formal Service Learning courses alone. And those figures do not include teacher preparation, social work and clinical placements and applied learning experiences outside the classroom. The most important champions of sustainability and social responsibility at Humboldt State are the students themselves.”