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Volume 52, Number 4   September 7, 2004         

    Announcements    Events    News    Newsmakers

Newsmakers
Four in a row for Bonds?
Despite the fact that Barry Bonds leads the National League in batting average, walks and on-base percentage, because of his past success he may not be a lock for league MVP, the San Jose Mercury News reported in its Sept. 2 edition. Jules Tyigiel, professor of history, believes that, in the end, the sportswriters who vote for the award will choose Bonds. "I think at this point you have to look for excuses not to select him," he said. "When it comes down to the end of the season, I think everybody will look at his numbers and say of course he's the MVP."

Neptune-sized planets discovered
The discovery of two planets outside the solar system that are similar in size to Neptune made headlines across the country Sept. 1. One of the planets was discovered by a team that includes Debra Fischer, assistant professor of astronomy. "The theorists weren't even sure that these (smaller) objects could be made," Fischer told the Contra Costa Times. "This is opening the door to a whole new theory and a better understanding of what we can have as planets around other stars, and I'd say we can have anything."

A look back at the city's general strike
Robert Cherny, professor of history, and Harvey Schwartz, oral historian with the Labor Archives, appeared on a special Sept. 1 edition of KQED's "Forum" to discuss the 70th anniversary of the San Francisco general strike. The strike began with longshoremen who were fed up with unsafe working conditions and lack of job security, with jobs being only offered on a day-to-day basis. "What was going on was that the longshore workers were really responding to the problems they had faced all through the twenties and into the early thirties," Cherny said, "... San Francisco and Los Angeles had the reputations as being the most efficient ports in the countries during the 1920s, and that often translated into a lot of disabling injuries on the job."

A cloning proposition
California voters should be aware that Proposition 71, which will appear on the November ballot, is not quite what it seems, writes Tina Stevens, a lecturer in history, in an Aug. 29 opinion piece for the San Francisco Chronicle. Stevens explains: "Because California legislators passed a law in 2002 banning human-reproductive cloning, voters (including those who, like me, are pro choice and support embryonic stem-cell research in principle) should know that Prop. 71 prioritizes exactly the same research that must be perfected in order to succeed at human reproductive cloning."

Destination SFSU
According to a story in the Aug. 23 San Francisco Chronicle, SFSU now offers more on-campus housing and is attracting more students from Southern California. "There are going to be over 2,000 students living here on campus. They create their own city here," said Jan Andreasen, executive director of housing and residential services. "Having students who are interested in evening and weekend things adds to the fabric of the campus."

Competence with commas
English Professor and College of Humanities Associate Dean Elise Ann Earthman stressed the importance of proper punctuation in an Aug. 21 Sacramento Bee story on National Punctuation Day, celebrated Aug. 22. "I really believe there is a glass ceiling that has to do with your communication skills," she said. "If you have deficient writing skills, you may get an entry-level job, but you're not going to advance in the workplace."

For more SFSU people and programs in the news, see the SFSU in the News page on SF State News.

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Last modified September 7, 2004, by the Office of Public Affairs