Smith has received a $19,380 grant from the Gray Family Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation to train teachers in the West Linn School District on environmental issues. The Environmental Education Program seeks to encourage a strong local land ethic, sustainable communities, and stewardship of the natural environment by citizens throughout Oregon. The Fund is committed long term to institutionalizing a series of age-appropriate experiences that build a sense of place and responsibility towards Oregon and the region.

The Sustainability Education Initiative is a program of professional development coursework and activities for K-12 teachers in the West Linn-Wilsonville School District. During three courses offered in 2009, Smith will prepare 50-60 teachers to incorporate sustainability issues into their classrooms and help them implement school or community projects that will enhance local natural and social environments. Participants will be eligible for small seed grants to fund start-up projects. The grant aims to increase the number of teachers implementing sustainability projects in schools, and increase student and educator awareness of local natural systems, ecologies, and social needs.

Proctor and a research team have been talking with Oregonians and surveying the general population about their experiences with nature and pursuit of perfecting the co-existence between humans and the environment.

“‘You find that people working for a utopian future have tremendous fear about things turning out differently,’” Proctor explains in the column. ‘Utopias are often framed against a dystopian nightmare,’ he adds, producing a kind of all-or-nothing fixation on perfection and its perfect opposite.”

Proctor’s project was also the focus of a recent article in The Oregonian, detailing the survey and citing some of its initial results.

USA Today  ‘The End’ as a weapon

The Oregonian Shaping dreams—and nightmares—about natural world

“Allies and opponents describe him as having one of the sharpest legislative minds in Washington. Fresh out of law school in the early 1980s, he took his first job on Capitol Hill and never left,” writes Michael Falcone.

New York Times (New York, NY) The New Team: Phil Schiliro

Newsday (Melville, NY) Obama aide Schiliro honed his skills on Long Island

The awarded team is comprised of college football players from all levels and divisions who have maintained a 3.3 GPA or better. The winners are selected by College Sports Information Directors Association and placed on teams made up of scholars from their given divisions at either the college or university level.

“Much has been made about bailing out American corporations and whether government has done enough to help American workers,” Jones writes. “The interests are not opposed. Restoring our economy requires policies that promote good employment.”

The Oregonian (Portland, Ore.)  A New Economic Covenant

“A grant like this is a boost of adrenaline to the writing process,” said Szybist. “As I’ve worked on my current manuscript for the last few years, I have cycled through periods of faith and doubt, both about the poems and the project as a whole. To have the NEA select my work for this distinction is a great gift of validation, and I am eager to return to my manuscript with a renewed sense of vigor and excitement.”

Szybist’s poetry has appeared in Virginia Quarterly Review, The Iowa Review, The Kenyon Review, Poetry, Tin House, and Best American Poetry 2008. Her first book, Granted, was named one of the top ten books of poetry in 2003 by Library Journal. Also that year, Szybist was a finalist for the National Book Circle Critic’s Award in Poetry.

Listen to Szybist read her work at the Poetry website.

Brown recently appeared on a panel introducing “The Black Male Handbook: A Blueprint for Life,” a collection of essays about the political and social climate in the black community.  This book tells the stories of black males from the hip-hop generation and tackles issues on surviving and living in today’s world.  Brown’s chapter is titled “Moving Toward Mental Wellness,” and he will be hosting a seminar in February based on the work.

Brown’s “Moving Toward Mental Wellness” opens with a personal story about his father’s recovery from his fourth heart attack in ten years. Brown writes, “My father’s fight was not against flesh and blood but against the dark forces of the world. New combatants emerged daily, whether racism, sexism, corruption, police brutality[…]and he battled them all with great vigilance.”

Detweiler-Bedell, who joined the psychology faculty in 2001, immerses students in interactive and challenging lessons starting in their first psychology course. Students in her Introduction to Psychology class, for example, handle a human brain and imagine themselves as subjects in classic psychology experiments. More advanced students in her Clinical Psychology course assume the roles of therapist and patient as they learn to solve realistic problems. “CASE and the Carnegie Foundation saw in Jerusha what we also see in her: an inspiring and very talented teacher whose pedagogical approach in the classroom and laboratory is informed by excellent scholarship,” said Julio de Paula, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, of the award.

For additional details about Detweiler-Bedell’s award, including her acceptance speech, visit this Lewis & Clark site.

The Chronicle of Higher Education (Washington, D.C.) 4 Faculty Members Are Honored as U.S. Professors of the Year

Inside Higher Ed (Washington, D.C.) Top Profs

USA Today (McLean, Va.) 2008 Professors of the Year prepare students for lifelong learning

The Oregonian (Portland, Ore.) Lewis & Clark professor wins national educator honor