Today
Opening faculty meeting
The opening faculty meeting will be held today in McKenna Theatre in the Creative Arts building. A reception with coffee and refreshments begins at 8:15 a.m. in the lobby and the meeting begins at 9 a.m. Speakers include Academic Senate Chair James Edwards; President Robert A. Corrigan; Mitch Turitz, chapter president of the California Faculty Association; and Provost John Gemello.

Announcements
ORSP now accepting release time requests
The Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP) is now accepting requests for fall 2003 Reimbursed Release Time agreements. Faculty should submit information online at www.sfsu.edu/~orspwww/. Click on the Personnel Administration link.

For details, contact Maria Saguisag-Sid at ext. 8-1973 or mcssid@sfsu.edu.

Help encourage research cooperation
Faculty are invited to join the SFSU chapter of Sigma Xi, the national research society that seeks to advance scientific research, encourage cooperation among scientists in all disciplines and assist the wider understanding of science.

For an application and information about membership, contact Andrea Boyle at aboyle@sfsu.edu, Ralph Larson at rlars@sfsu.edu or Darlene Yee at dyee@sfsu.edu.

Feed the felines
The campus cat committee is looking for new volunteers to help feed the small feline population that lives on campus. Food is provided. Volunteers only need to provide water. They also should be available to do a feeding one weekend a month.
For details, contact Brigid Duffy at ext. 8-1493 or buffy@sfsu.edu.

Peace Corps: join a Gator tradition
More than 1,000 San Francisco State Alumni have served as Peace Corps volunteers since 1961. President Bush is encouraging the Peace Corps to double the number of its volunteers nationawide by 2007 so there are plenty of positions available. Interested? Know someone (especially graduating students) who might be? Couples and individuals over 18 are encouraged to apply.

For details, visit the on-campus Peace Corps office from 3:30 to 5 p.m. every Tuesday beginning Sept. 2 in room 450 of the Administration building.

For more information, contact Scott Webb at swebb@peacecorps.gov.

Never too late to learn defensive driving
Faculty and staff are encouraged to take advantage of three more defensive driver training classes. All classes are held in the Plant Operations Training Room in the Corporation Yard.

Class sessions will be held:
Tuesday, Aug. 26 from 1 to 4:30 p.m.;
Friday, Sept. 12 from 8:30 a.m. to noon;
Monday, Sept. 22 from 8:30 a.m. to noon.

To register, call ext. 8-1449.

Coming Up
Hear from our poetic newcomers
New Creative Writing faculty Peter Orner and Nona Caspers will read from their work at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 17, in the Poetry Center on the fifth floor of the Humanities building. All are welcome to attend.

Segment III workshops
Faculty members who teach and/or coordinate Segment III courses in clusters that are slated for review during the 2003-04 and 2004-05 academic years are encouraged to attend one of the cluster review workshops held during September. Faculty members who wish to propose new Segment III clusters should also attend.

Workshops will be held:
Monday, Sept. 15, from 10 to 11 a.m., ADM 455;
Monday, Sept. 15, from 11 a.m. to noon, ADM 455;
Tuesday, Sept. 16, from 11 a.m. to noon, ADM 460;
Tuesday, Sept. 16, from 1 to 2 p.m., ADM 460;
Thursday, Sept. 18, from 1 to 2 p.m., ADM 460;
Thursday, Sept. 18, from 2 to 3 p.m., ADM 460;
Friday, Sept. 19, from 11 a.m. to noon, ADM 455;
Friday, Sept. 19, from 1 to 2 p.m., ADM 455.

To register, contact Paul Breen at ext. 8-2206 or pbreen@sfsu.edu.

About CampusMemo
CampusMemo provides news, information and on-campus events listings to the faculty and staff of SFSU.

CampusMemo is published weekly during the school year by the Office of Public Affairs. This publication is available in alternative formats upon request. Contact Public Affairs at the number listed below. Submissions are welcome. Deadline for submissions is 5 p.m. Tuesday the week preceding publication. Items may be sent via e-mail: pubnews@sfsu.edu, faxed to ext. 8-1498, or sent through campus mail to: CampusMemo, Office of Public Affairs, Lakeview Center 110. Please direct any questions to the e-mail address above, or call ext. 8-1665.

To send events: call ext. 8-1665 or send e-mail to pubnews@sfsu.edu

August STAR of the Month: Mary Richards
As protocol analyst for the Committee for the Protection of Human and Animal Subjects, Mary Richards tangles with a thicket of regulations and policies. Her job is to analyze faculty and student research proposals that involve human subjects, and it's important that she gets things right because federal funding can be pulled from universities who don't follow the proper protocols.

For her diligence and patient work, Richards received the staff STAR award for August.

"Mary is very dedicated to SFSU and works well with everyone," said Bruce Macher, interim associate vice president of research and professor of biochemistry. "The job she does is critical and she does it well. She is a pleasure to work with."

Richards' success is all the more impressive given that she has only been working in her position since December. Thrown right into the fray, Richards quickly acclimated to the demands of her job. Her work involves translating the regulations for student and faculty researchers and helping them prepare proposals.

"I like to be able to explain to people why it's important and how they can get their research protocols reviewed and passed," she said. "Trying to be as clear and concise as possible is always a challenge."

Richards has worked on campus since 1991, spending most of her time in the College of Business as assistant to the director of the M.B.A. program. Before coming to SFSU she worked in the film/televison production industry, a field that she enjoyed but decided to leave for more stable work.

While working on campus, Richards completed a master's degree in humanities. She especially enjoyed a class on Latin American literature and culture and wrote her thesis on Cuban painter Wifredo Lam.

A San Francisco resident, Richards enjoys reading, travel and photography. She likes to do yoga at lunchtime through FitPlus. Her daughter, Corinna, is a freshman at SFSU this semester and plans to major in English literature.

Nominate a staff STAR: www.sfsu.edu/~news/star/starform.htm