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CampusMemo

Volume 51, Number 31   May 3, 2004         

CampusMemo Home    Announcements    Events    News    Newsmakers

Announcements
Faculty travel grants
The SFSU Retirement Association is accepting applications to provide approved, job-related travel support for University faculty members. Apply by Monday, May 10. Limited funds require that individual requests not exceed $1,000.

Letters of application should contain the purpose of the travel as well as travel plans and cost. Send letters to the SFSU Retirement Association in care of Franklin Sheehan, Mathematics Department, TH 937, or via e-mail to sheehan@math.sfsu.edu.

Study abroad deadline
Faculty and staff are asked to encourage students to apply to study abroad in Australia and New Zealand. The deadline to apply is Wednesday, May 5. Interested students should drop by the Office of International Programs in room 450 of the Administration building for details and an application.

San Francisco Women's Building honored
To honor the 25th anniversary of the San Francisco Women's Building, the Speech and Communication Studies Department presents a special benefit performance of "She Rises Like a Building to the Sky," a new play by Mercilee Jenkins, professor of speech and communication studies, at 8 p.m. Friday, May 14, in room 133 of the Humanities building. Tickets are $25 and include a special reception. The show contains explicit language and is directed by Amy K. Kilgard, assistant professor of speech and communication studies.

Performances will also take place at 8 p.m. on May 7, 8 and 15 and at 2 p.m. on May 9 and 16. Tickets are $10 for general admission and $5 for students.

For details, call (415) 474-5580 or e-mail akilgard@sfsu.edu.


Events
Tuesday
Book reading

Creative Writing Professor Robert Glück will read from his collection of linked stories "Denny Smith" at 3 p.m. Tuesday in room 1 of the University Club.

The event is sponsored by the SFSU Bookstore. For details, call ext. 8-2650.

Wednesday
Contemporary calligraphy

Keiji Onodera, president of the Shodo Journal Research Institute in Japan, will discuss "Modern Japanese Calligraphy" from 3 to 4 p.m. Wednesday, May 5, in room 485 of the Humanities building. Midori McKeon, chair of the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, will translate. A reception follows the lecture.

The lecture is a companion event to an exhibit of new work by 20 Japanese master calligraphers in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the signing of the U.S.-Japan Treaty of Peace and Amity. The exhibit, sponsored by Foreign Languages and Literatures and the College of Humanities, can be viewed from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Friday, May 7, in the College of Humanities office reception area on the fourth floor of the Humanities building.

For details, contact Midori McKeon at ext. 8-7413 or mmckeon@sfsu.edu.

Thursday
Study abroad reception

The Office of International Programs invites faculty and staff to a reception in honor of the SFSU students selected to study abroad through CSU International Programs and SFSU
Bilateral Exchange Programs at 2:30 p.m. Thursday in McKenna Theatre of the Creative Arts building. Refreshments will be served.

R.S.V.P. to ext. 8-1293.

Friday
Women in Tunisia

Julia Clancy-Smith, associate professor of history at the University of Arizona, will speak on "Women, Gender, and Migration in Pre-Colonial Tunisia, c. 1815-1870" at 3:15 p.m. Friday in room 270 of the Science building.

The event is sponsored by the History Department.

African-American
trust in health care

Elizabeth Jacobs, assistant professor of medicine at Cook County Hospital and Rush Medical College in Chicago, will speak on "Measuring African Americans' Trust in Health Care" from noon to 1:30 p.m. Friday in room 201 of the HSS building.

The event is the seventh and final in this year's seminar series on health disparities and is funded by the National Institutes of Health Research Infrastructure in Minority Institutions (RIMI) program. For details, contact the Public Research Institute at 8-2978 or rimi2@sfsu.edu.

Coming Up
Defensive driving

Defensive driving training classes will be available for staff and faculty from 8 to 11:30 a.m. and from 12:30 to 4 p.m. Thursday, May 13.

To sign up, call ext. 8-1449 or e-mail adenbill@sfsu.edu.

40 years of de Bellis
The University's Frank V. de Bellis Collection celebrates its 40th anniversary from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Wednesday, May 12, in the collection's home on the sixth floor of the J. Paul Leonard Library. The event features a fortepiano concert by Corey Jamason. A silent auction of books, prints, scores, recordings and CDs will be held to benefit future public events.

The event is co-sponsored by the Friends of the J. Paul Leonard Library.

For details, call (415) 338-1649.

Grad students show accomplishments
The campus community is invited to the Graduate Research and Creative Works Showcase from 3 to 6 Wednesday, May 19, on the first and second floors of the Administration building. The event will feature work by graduate students. There will be a reception towards the end of the event with a drawing for student prizes.

Faculty and staff are asked to encourage graduate students to enter the showcase.

For details, including a registration form, go to www.sfsu.edu/~gradstdy or contact Amy McBrayer at ext. 8-2232 or mcbrayer@sfsu.edu.

SF State News home

News
Alum of the Year: Chris Larsen
Photo of Chris LarsenChris Larsen, co-founder and CEO of online lending company E-Loan, has been named San Francisco State University's Alumnus of the Year and will be honored during Commencement ceremonies Saturday, May 29.

Larsen's remarkably resilient company, founded in 1997, is one of the rare dot-com success stories. Since its inception E-Loan has sold more than $18.9 billion in consumer loans. Larsen has built his business on a solid foundation of core values. There should be "a uniform passion" in company employees, he says.

Larsen's passionate beliefs extend well beyond the boardroom.

After graduating from SFSU with a degree in international business and accounting in 1984, Larsen joined Chevron conducting financial audits in Indonesia, Ecuador and Brazil. Although he later earned an MBA at Stanford University, he left his heart at San Francisco State.

Several years ago, Larsen established one of the most generous scholarships on campus because he says there's no better place to get a degree. "You get a great education," he says. "And it really is the bargain of the century."

Larsen donated to SFSU because he believed its working-class students, many the first in their families to go to college, could use the assistance. The plan had been in the works since his undergraduate days. "I always swore I'd give money to State," he says.

Each semester the Chris Larsen Scholarship Fund provides $2,500 each to 10 students working toward a teaching credential or master's degree. Larsen has remained involved in the selection process, reading applicant essays and getting to know the recipients.

Larsen founded his lending company on the principle that consumers deserve a fair deal. After his own negative experience applying for a mortgage, he and a colleague developed a business in 1997 that would eliminate costly brokers and bankers. The online lending company allows consumers to comparison shop for mortgages, home equity and car loans directly from the company's Web site.


Holiday schedule available
The 2004-05 holiday schedule is now available on the Human Resources Web site: www.sfsu.edu/~hrwww/benefits/holidaysched.html.

For details, contact Human Resources at ext. 8-1872.


University-wide elections
For the first time ever, the University-wide election voting by faculty members will take place online. Voters will be required to enter their SFSU ID and PAC numbers in order to gain access to the voting system. Vote at: www.sfsu.edu/senatevote.

Voting began last week and continues through midnight Wednesday, May 5. For position statements by the candidates, go to: www.sfsu.edu/~senate/nominate/.

For details, contact the Academic Senate at ext. 8-1264 or senate@sfsu.edu.


From Gothic castles to Japanese preschools
The Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures' celebration of World Languages and Cultures begins this week. The celebration includes a series of lectures on a variety of cultural and linguistic topics and an exhibit of Arabic calligraphy.

The events are:
  • Catherine Siskron, lecturer of Russian, discusses "Horizontal Castles: Gothic Elements in the Novels of Pushkin, Gogol and Lermontov" from 5 to 6 p.m. Monday, May 3, in room 473 of the Humanities building.
  • Tomoko Wakabayashi, research coordinator in the Center for Infant Studies at Stanford University, discusses "My Child Speaks 'Martian': Exploring gibberish utterances produced by children raised in Japanese and English bilingual context" from 2 to 3 p.m. Thursday, May 6, in room 473 of the Humanities building.
  • "Arabic Calligraphy: Geometry of the Spirit," an exhibit featuring the work of Fayeq Oweis, lecturer of Arabic, will be on display from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, May 10, through Friday, May 21, in the dean's reception area on the fourth floor of the Humanities building.
  • Ludmila Ershov, professor emerita of Russian, will discuss "Italian Architects in Russia" from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 12, in room 473 of the Humanities building.
  • Susan Holloway, adjunct professor of education at University of California, Berkeley, will discuss "Contested Childhood: Diversity and Change in Japanese Preschools" from 2 to 3 p.m. Thursday, May 13, in room 473 of the Humanities building. A reception follows the lecture.
  • Oweis will discuss his exhibit "Arabic Calligraphy: Geometry of the Spirit" from 11:10 a.m. to noon Friday, May 14, in room 202 of the Humanities building. A reception follows the lecture from noon to 1 p.m. in room 485 of the Humanities building.
  • Elizabeth Wright, professor of French, will discuss "Dance and Education in Renaissance Europe" from 12:35 to 1:25 p.m. Tuesday, May 18, in room 477 of the Humanities building.

For details, contact Midori McKeon at ext. 8-7413 or mmckeon@sfsu.edu.


People on Campus
This month's Newsmakers include a KGO-TV report on the work of Gary Selnow, professor of business communication, to bring medical databases to Iraq; Gilbert Herdt, professor of human sexuality studies, commenting on the Ford Mustang; Information systems Chair Sam Gill discussing the drop in computer science majors on NPR; An opinon piece on Arabic literature by American Indian studies lecturer Matthew Shenoda; and comments by Deborah Tolman, director of the Center for Research on Gender and Sexuality, on in-home passion parties.

Read the Newsmakers: www.sfsu.edu/~news/cmemo/spring04/may3newsmakers.htm.


Academic Senate Action

At its April 27 meeting the Academic Senate...

  • Heard a report from President Corrigan and Provost Gemello on campus plans to meet the budget deficit.
  • Heard a report from Health Path director Amy Hittner, Jumpstart faculty director Dawn Terrell, and Counseling Center clinical director Willie Mullins on a comprehensive Campus Transitions Program to cope with the stress of the current climate.
  • Heard a report from California Faculty Assocation representative Mark Sekelick on the Coalition to Save the CSU.
  • Approved a resolution in support of the Coalition to Save the CSU.
  • Approved a resolution on blocking spam.
  • Approved a University academic calendar for 2005-06.
  • Approved a policy on principles and procedures regarding the graduate admission of students with three-year bachelor's degrees.
  • Approved an Academic Senate meeting schedule for fall 2004.
  • Approved a resolution on a smoking ban on campus.
  • Approved a resolution on the high cost of textbooks.

Read the full Academic Senate meeting report: www.sfsu.edu/~senate/.

 

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Last modified May 3, 2004, by the Office of Public Affairs