Posted on Nov 28, 2007

Don't forget the giving tree
 It's become an annual tradition. University Human Resources has set up a "giving tree" in the lobby of Bldg. 23 on Divarty Street. This year, UHR is partnering with the Mexican American Opportunity Foundation's Migrant Families Program in Salinas. The program recognizes the hardships faced by agricultural working families and provides children and their families with comprehensive social and health services. Employees can help bring holiday cheer to these families by choosing an ornament from the giving tree. Each ornament is labeled with the name and age of a child and what he or she would like for a holiday gift. After purchasing the item, participants are asked to bring the wrapped gift, along with the ornament, to UHR by Dec. 14. For further information, call UHR at 582-3389.

Tasteful houses sweeten party
 As Hansel and Gretel can attest, gingerbread houses, with their candy-cane columns, gumdrop landscaping, peppermint pinwheel decorations and icing trim, are practically irresistible. So it's no surprise that these confectionary cottages - and other structures - are the basis of a campus-wide competition now in its fourth year. This year's competition, dubbed "It's a Small World - Campus Edition," will challenge each team to design and construct a house with an international theme. Basic gingerbread house kits will be provided and edible add-ons are allowed. The event will take place in the University Center ballroom from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 13. On-lookers and cheering squads are welcome. Finished houses will serve as table centerpieces at the annual holiday party. The winner of the Best Use of Theme award will be treated to a pizza party for up to 10 people courtesy of Sodexho. To register a team, call Kerri Rivera in University Human Resources at ext. 3389 by Dec. 7.

Truths worth telling
Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg visits campus Nov. 28
 The President's Speakers Series concludes this semester's presentations with a Nov. 28 visit by Dr. Daniel Ellsberg, the RAND Corp. analyst who, in 1971, leaked the classified Pentagon Papers to the New York Times. The documents revealed the U.S. government had engaged in a pattern of deceiving the public about the number of Vietnam War casualties and the nation's ability to win the war. And they instantly validated the antiwar protest movement. He'll be talking about his book, "Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers," copies of which will be available for sale. To reserve a seat for the free event, click here. To read more about Dr. Ellsberg, click here. The lecture will be broadcast on campus cable channel 71.

Student art exhibit opens
 Two exhibitions will open in the Balfour/Brutzman gallery in Bldg. 71 with a reception for the artists from 3 to 4 p.m. on Dec. 4. "Invoke: A Project to Invite Memory and Forgiveness" is a collaboration of the digital public art class. The show features the documentation of eight site-specific art "interventions" responding to memory and forgiveness. These interventions took place in public spaces on Nov. 1 in observance of Day of the Dead. The second show, "Community-Based Art: Social Change in Motion," is the capstone project of Jessica Street. By looking at the work being done in South Africa with HIV/AIDS patients, the power that comes from the merging of creativity and community becomes obvious. Students in the university's museum studies program curated the exhibit, Hours are Thursday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Friday noon to 3 p.m. Parking is available in lot 71 off Sixth Avenue. Please note that the gallery will be closed Dec. 14 through Jan. 20 for winter break.

Txt Msgs Alert U
Cell phones transmit safety alerts at CSUMB
• Cell phones - a convenient way to send greetings to friends and family via text messages - have been transformed into campus communications vehicles. At CSUMB, the service is called - what else? - OTTERalert. They blast out campus-wide security and emergency communication alarms - a service that has been getting a lot of attention since the tragic shootings at Virginia Tech.
The campus community can rest assured that OTTERalert is for emergency alerts only; those who sign up will not receive spam. Privacy is protected, and only campus administrators and members of the University Police Department can originate the messages. To read more, click here.

 Wednesday, Nov. 28: The President's Speakers Series continues with a talk by Daniel Ellsberg, 7 p.m., World Theater. Overflow seating will be available in the University Center ballroom
 Thursday, Nov. 29: VPA's visiting artist series continues with a lecture and hands-on workshop with scientific illustrator and CSUMB Provost Kathy Cruz-Uribe, reception 6 p.m., lecture and workshop, 6:30 p.m., University Center living room. For more information, click here.
 Sunday, Dec. 2: Winter Concert put on by the Music and Performing Arts Department, free, 3-5 p.m., World Theater
 Tuesday, Dec. 4: Opening reception for new exhibit of student work in the Balfour/Brutzman Gallery in Bldg. 71, 3 to 4 p.m.

Upcoming
 Thursday, Dec. 6: Osher Lifelong Learning Institute's faculty research speaker series continues with a talk by Professor Johanna Poethig, "Creative Interventions in Public Space/Public Mind," 11 a.m.-noon, Alumni and Visitors Center
 Saturday, Dec. 8: Return of the Natives needs volunteers to help with planting in Natividad Creek Park from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Information: watershed.csumb.edu/ron

 

A reminder: Fourth Avenue (the street behind the Alumni and Visitors Center) between Divarty Street and Inter-Garrison Road is ONE WAY southbound. There are no plans to make the street two-way, even during the construction work in the area. It's a safety issue - the street is too narrow to safely accommodate two-way traffic and parking.

Divarty Street is now open.

Inter-Garrison Road is closed from Sixth Avenue to the entrance to parking lot 12. Fifth Avenue is closed from Inter-Garrison to the entrance to parking lot 12. The VPA buildings are accessible via parking lot 71. Parking lot 12 is accessible from A Street and Divarty Street.

Our campus is under construction. Please be cautious around construction areas. We invite you to view this short slide show created with yoursafety in mind.

Whistle-blowers wanted here - Daniel Ellsberg to speak on importance of revealing government secrets
If any era cries out for government insiders to risk their careers by exposing truths, that era is now, says a man who may be the nation's best-known whistle-blower of all time. It was 1971 when military analyst Daniel Ellsberg released the Pentagon Papers, a secret study that revealed far more about prospects for the Vietnam war effort than President Richard Nixon's administration wanted the public to know. On Wednesday, Ellsberg will speak at CSU-Monterey Bay . . . .
-Monterey Herald, Nov. 27, 2007

Alisal has the chemistry - student team wins 'titration' competition at CSUMB
Alisal High School students Miguel Zuala, Pedro Ramirez and Karina Garcia, led by teacher Paul Quiggle, placed first in the first Monterey Bay Titration Competition held at California State University, Monterey Bay. The university's Division of Science and Environmental Policy and the American Chemical Society sponsored the event, held to celebrate National Chemistry Week.
- Salinas Californian, Nov. 27, 2007

Take time out for taiko - San Jose group to perform at CSUMB's World Theater
San Jose Taiko will take the stage at California State University, Monterey Bay's World Theater on Dec. 6. And the group just may inspire audience members to rediscover their own heritage. Musical director PJ Hirabayashi is a third-generation Japanese American who realized that she wanted to connect with her ethnic heritage the first time she saw a taiko group perform in San Francisco.
- Salinas Californian, Nov. 24, 2007

Be Very Afraid - Pentagon Papers whistleblower visits CSUMB, drawing frightening parallels between Vietnam and Iraq
Daniel Ellsberg, who released top secret Defense Department documents to the New York Times in 1971 and helped turn public sentiment against the war in Vietnam, is a hero to some Americans, a villain to others. When Ellsberg speaks at CSU Monterey Bay on Wednesday, Nov. 28, he will draw some stark parallels between the Vietnam era and today. But he says the political "crises" he sees emerging from the Bush administration are far more damaging to the country's future.
- Monterey County Weekly, Nov. 21

Critical Key to the Future - Literacy measures a community's economic health and vitality
By Diane Cordero de Noriega
Why should we be worried about literacy? This is Monterey County. Surely this is not a problem for us. The data tell a different story. Among kindergartners, 46 percent begin school without the necessary pre-academic skills. By the 11th grade, only 55 percent score at the basic level or higher in English language arts, and only 60 percent in math. Stated another way, between 40 and 45 percent of our students are below the basic level in English language arts and math. Fifty-four percent of our high school graduates entering college require remediation in writing.
- Monterey County Weekly, Nov. 21, 2007

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