Minor candidates find strength in numbers
How do the more than 100 so-called "minor" candidates on the
ballot for the California governor recall election get publicity without
major party support? Campaign en-masse, answers Corey Cook, assistant
professor of political science, in an Aug. 30 story in the San Mateo
County Times. He said, "candidates have gotten local attention,
but not from the big media. They are hoping they can attract more attention
by banding together." Cook also adds that minor candidates can,
at the very least, attract attention to specific issues. "A lot
of the establishment dismissed the minor candidates as trying to sell
things," he said. "But there is a populist sentiment to this
recall and these candidates have something to say."
Black politics in depth
The Aug. 29 edition of the San Francisco Chronicle featured a profile
on Robert C. Smith, professor of political science, and a recent book
he edited -- the Encyclopedia of African-American Politics. Smith also
wrote more than 400 entries for the book. The experience of editing
the book gave him new insights into its subject, he said. "I knew
this, but didn't -- how tenacious whites have been in their resistance
to freedom and equality for African Americans. How it's just been tenacious
from the beginning to now."
More to the story of Jewish Studies on campus
The positive picture for Jewish Studies at SFSU goes untold said Marc
Dollinger, the Richard and Rhoda Goldman chair in Jewish studies
and social responsibility, in an opinion piece that appeared in the
Aug.
29 edition of the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. He writes
that the media coverage of the pro-Israel/pro-Palestine events of May
2002 "sensationalized
extremists at the cost of a more nuanced and accurate understanding
of campus
life." Dollinger fills out the rest of
the story: "A comparative religion course
on Judaism, Christianity and Islam fills to capacity with representatives
of all three faiths. Jews and non-Jews sit together and debate the
question of intermarriage in a class on the Jewish family. For the
first time ever, students can now graduate with a major in modern Jewish
studies."
Vote with your stomach
It's just part of the ongoing merger of pop culture and politics, said
Francis Neely, assistant professor of political science, during an
Aug. 21 KRON4-TV report on Taco Bell's stunt to tie its products into
the California governor recall election. The fast-food chain has decided
that all crunchy tacos bought at its more than 1,000 California outlets
will count as votes for Arnold Schwarzenegger, soft chicken tacos are
votes for Gray Davis, and grilled burritos are votes for all the other
candidates. "This is just another example of the silliness of
[the recall election]," said Neely. "I don't think there's
a great danger in affecting votes one way or another."
Not suitable
for children
Despite repeated warnings from the media and government officials,
parents continue to leave their children unattended in a car on hot
summer days,
with more than 30 deaths recorded so far this year. "The screaming
message here is that for any period of time you don't leave a child unattended
in a car," said Jan Null, an adjunct professor of meteorology, in
an Aug. 21 Associated Press story that appeared in several newspapers
and Web sites across the country, including the Boston Globe, USA Today
and The New York Times. According to Null's research, interior temperatures
can soar to 105 in less than a half hour on a 72-degree day.
Huerta a heroine
Longtime United Farm Workers activist Dolores Huerta recently launched
her own foundation to train community leaders who will help advocate
for immigrants, women and children. "She's a heroine," said
Brenda Cochrane, professor of labor studies, in a story that appeared
in the Aug. 14 issue of the San Francisco Chronicle. "She was
there when there were very few women in leadership in any union. She's
a role model, an example of what working class women can do."
Displaced ancestors
The Chinese government's practice of "funeral reform" can get
overzealous, said Marlon K. Hom, professor and chair of Asian American
studies, in a article that appeared in Aug. 10 editions of The New York
Times and The Seattle Times. Remains are sometimes lost as cemeteries
in China are moved to make room for development -- new housing projects
or business complexes -- so American descendents occasionally pay for
their ancestors' bodies to be shipped to the United States and re-interred
here. Hom speaks of the practice from personal experience -- his father-in-law
brought the remains of his father back to the United States.
Learning rises from the ruins
Because of rampant looting, conditions in Iraqi universities couldn't
be worse, writes Business Professor Gary Selnow in an article that
appeared in the Aug. 8 edition of the Chronicle of Higher Education.
Selnow was in Iraq earlier this year to help create medical information
centers at teaching hospitals and medical centers. However, Selnow observes, conditions in Iraq also couldn't be better: "Herein
lies the paradox. Instead of despairing, the faculty members remain
remarkably upbeat and optimistic. And this is not just a Westerner's
quixotic perception: For one thing, colleges and universities did not
end the semester early, even during the worst periods of the war. Imagine
that! They suffered unthinkable assaults, and yet the semester went
on. Most campuses continued their classes and scheduled exams. Students
in their final year graduated; students in the middle of their studies
will advance to the next level when they return in the fall."
More: For
a full list of SFSU in the print and electronic media, go to: www.sfsu.edu/~news/clips.htm.
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