— Week of Oct. 19, 2009 —

Historic desegregation case honored at Chapman

Sandra Robbie, who won an Emmy Award for her documentary Mendez vs. Westminster: For All the Children/Para Todos Los Ninos, and who is on the staff of Chapman’s College of Educational Studies, reminded the crowd that the Mendez kids didn't know what their parents had done or about the lawsuit until they read about it in college. "That was us?" she said they asked. Now with the archive, Robbie says "All of our children across the country will now learn about Mendez."

See scenes from the parade - and Sandra Robbie dancing! - in video below!

Chapman awarded 7 CASE awards!

Let's count 'em. Seven. That's seven 2009 CASE Awards of Excellence for Chapman for the communications/media relations team, the alumni relations team and University Advancement. The honors are awarded by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, or CASE, whose award programs recognize outstanding programs and individuals. The awards: 
 

Communications/Media Relations Team

--Silver in the Best Articles category for Dennis Arp’s story in Chapman Magazine of pioneering woman mountain climber Hettie Dyhrenfurth, a Chapman language instructor in the post-WWII years. (CLICK HERE to read and turn to page 34)

--Bronze in Best General Interest Magazine overall (Chapman Magazine)

Chapman professor gets support for Amazonian community
 
Pilar M. Valenzuela, Ph.D., assistant professor of languages, was recently awarded a $90,000 National Science Foundation grant to study two endangered languages from Peruvian Amazonia, Shiwilu and Shawi. Research on Shiwilu is especially urgent, since it is currently spoken by only a few elders. Although funding for her own scientific project was ensured, Dr. Valenzuela found herself with a difficult dilemma. Though institutions such as NSF support first-rate research, they do not fund grass-roots initiatives by speech communities that wish to save their languages. This is why Dr. Valenzuela applied and obtained a separate small grant from the Endangered Language Fund, a non-profit organization that supports endangered language maintenance, educational and documentation projects. (CLICK HERE to see their Web site.)

Thanks to the $2,330 granted by the Endangered Language

The funds will pay for classes for kids.

Fund, the Shiwilu community will be able to develop their language revitalization project for a whole year. These activities include weekly Shiwilu classes for children and bi-weekly meetings among the remaining native speakers to promote the use of their ethnic language. A third component of the community project is expected to start in January, when Dr. Valenzuela will travel to that remote region: the audio/video recording of each of the last speakers of Shiwilu, the transcription of these recordings in a practical orthography and their Spanish translation. Copies of the resulting materials will be given to the Shiwilu as well as the Endangered Language Fund for their permanent archiving. 
 

---

Get in on the discussion of The Pearl
 
 Enjoy discussing a good book? Then come join The Chapman Book Club at their second meeting to discuss John Steinbeck’s The Pearl. The Book Club will meet on Oct. 28 (Wednesday) from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in Leatherby Libraries fourth floor, Hogan Seminar Room. All faculty and staff are invited to participate in the book club discussion. Please read the book beforehand and bring it with you to the discussion. Refreshments will be provided. For more info: Barbara Tye at tye@chapman.edu

Wow! People still have CDs!

We thought everyone just downloaded tunes! But we forgot that people still have CDs stashed away. Chapman Radio recently donated more than 1,200 popular music CDs to Chapman University's Leatherby Libraries. Many of the donated CDs fall into several broad categories – California-based groups, Scandinavian death metal and German techno, said Scott Stone, the Leatherby music librarian who is still evaluating the CDs. Other genres represented in the donation include jazz, country, mainstream pop and indie pop. "I’m extremely happy to have received this donation as it will allow us to present many different types of music that are not currently represented in our collection," Stone said.

Celebrating the donation behind a stack of the CDs are (from left) Scott Stone, music librarian; Dean of the Library Charlene Baldwin; Tyler McCusker, general manager, Chapman Radio; the mysterious Chapman Radioman; Claudia Horn, librarian; and Allen Levy, faculty adviser to Chapman Radio. (If you haven't listened to Chapman Radio, check it out. They play all kinds of music, offer various programs, national news feeds and you can listen to all of the Panther football games at CLICK HERE to check out chapmanradio.com)

Dine with celebrity chef Mai Pham!

Jim & Marla's Black and White Film Festival

Them! A little girl is found wandering in the desert in a state of complete shock. When she finally revives, she can scream out only one word: "Them!" Any aficionado of 1950s horror films can readily tell you that "Them" are giant ants, a byproduct of the radiation from the atomic bomb tests of the era. These deadly 8-to-20-foot mutants converge on the storm drains of Los Angeles in the finale. (Humm -- maybe they can fix the city's sinkhole problem?) Forming a united front against the oncoming ant battalions are James Whitmore, James Arness, Edmund Gwenn and Joan Weldon. Admission is free along with the popcorn and lemonade! (We can't guarantee an ant-free environment, but when was the last time you saw a bug on the piazza?) Movie is Friday and starts at 8 p.m. at Attallah Piazza. For info call 714-744-7693.

Weight Watchers coming to Chapman
 
 Need a little help getting your weight under control before those holidays start creeping up? It’s not too late to join Weight Watchers at Chapman. The first meeting is Thursday (Oct. 22) at 12:30 p.m. in Argyros Forum 201. It’s $10.30 per week ($175 total) for the 17-week program called Savings for Success. (Payroll deduction is available.) As an extra incentive, those who participate and attend at least 15 meetings and lose ANY weight, will be entered in a drawing for reimbursement of their $175. If you would like to attend, please email hroffice@chapman.edu

Upcoming faculty forum sessions

Don't forget to check out these lectures! Grab lunch and gain insight into some interesting topics that faculty members will present. These sessions are open to all staff and faculty. Presentations begin at noon and are held in the Bush Conference Center, Beckman 404. The sessions run concurrent with a lunch buffet, which costs about $5.50. Questions? E-mail Kent Lehnhof at lehnhof@chapman.edu

Staff & Faculty Notes

Stephen Berens, assistant professor of art, announces that X-TRA (volume 12, issue 1) has been released. This issue of the journal, which Berens co-founded, includes articles on the exhibitions "The Art of Two Germanys" at LACMA, "Contemporary Time-Based Works of Africa" at the Fowler Museum and "The 2nd Biennial of the End of The World in Ushuaia, Argentina," among others. 

Grace Fong, Ph.D., director of keyboard studies in the Conservatory of Music, was recently filmed and recorded in London for a music video for the C Music TV channel by Oscar-nominated and award-winning film director Mike Figgis. Broadcasting to TV networks in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East, the mission of C Music TV (The "C" stands for "Classical") is to introduce the public to the world’s finest classical, crossover and cinematic music videos 24 hours a day. C Music TV works with international record labels and the world's greatest artists and composers to bring these exclusive music videos to the public for the first time. (CLICK HERE for more info about the channel.)

Alicia Okouchi-Guy, assistant professor of dance, has been commissioned to choreograph a new work for the dance department at Northwest Florida State College. Her contemporary piece “Find A Way” is set for a cast of 15 female dancers who will perform her piece at a variety of venues, but the official premiere of the new work will be at the department’s spring concert, Dance Facets 2010, at the Mattie Kelly Arts Center.

Luis Ortiz-Franco, Ph.D., professor of computer science and applied mathematics, was honored with an Apple of Gold award last week by the Orange County Hispanic Education Endowment Fund for excellence in university instruction.

Gregg A. Payne, Ph.D., associate professor, department of communication studies, has been invited to participate in peer review of manuscripts submitted by the philosophy of communication division of the International Communication Association for presentation at the association’s 2010 conference, scheduled for June 22-26 in Singapore.

Liz Maxwell, assistant professor of dance, earlier this month was one of 12 somatic-based teachers to teach a workshop at Somafest in Los Angeles. The festival highlighted somatic-based performance. Maxwell also performed her new work titled “Return.”

Marvin Meyer, Ph.D., director of the Schweitzer Institute and

Clas Wihlborg, Ph.D., Fletcher Jones Chair in International Business at the Argyros School of Business and Economics, and co-authors recently published their article "Origins and Resolution of Financial Crises: Lessons from the Current and Northern European Crises," in the Asian Economic Papers (2009 Fall edition, issue 3). Read the article by CLICKING HERE. (Give it a chance to load.) 

  This Week on TV

Dialogue with Doti and Dodge

Tuesday, Oct. 20, 11:30 p.m. and  Sunday, Oct. 25, 11 a.m. on KOCE-TV
 
 “A Conversation with an Entertainment Legend,” featuring Academy Award-winning actor Ernest Borgnine.

Friday, Oct. 23, 1 p.m., on KOCE-TV

Howard Conn, M.D., a laser cosmetic surgeon in Irvine, describes cosmetic laser eyelid surgery. George Moro, M.D., co-medical director of the Colorectal Program at the Center for Cancer Prevention and Treatment at St. Joseph Hospital in Orange, discusses colorectal cancer. Show host Larry Santora, M.D., explains the differences between black, green and herbal teas. 
 
Sunday, Oct. 25, 8:30 a.m., OC Channel

Edward Lee, M.D., of St. Joseph Hospital in Orange describes treatment for snoring and sleep apnea. Herbert Rettinger, M.D., clinical professor of medicine at University of California, Irvine, discusses advances in the treatment of diabetes. Show host Larry Santora, M.D., explains which foods are worth buying organic. 
 
 

---

What deadline?
Being on the Web is a wonderful thing. However, we do have a deadline! In general, the earlier you send news items or ideas, the better. The deadline to be included in the upcoming week’s Happenings is Thursday at noon. Thanks for your help! (E-mail submissions to pr@chapman.edu) –Diana McCabe/Happenings Editor

---

People, pets and other cool stuff!

Send us photos and/or videos of your favorite pets, people and perhaps other things going on in your life. Maybe you baked a super cool cake? Bought a fab dirt bike? Or just have some fun pics you’d like to share? Send to pr@chapman.edu

A blues tribute for dogs?

Brian Eisenberg, head coach of Chapman University's women's

Hendrix (right) and Muddy.

lacrosse team, sent us photos of the two dogs he and his wife lovingly rescued: 10-month-old Muddy (as in Muddy Waters) and 2-year-old Hendrix (as in Jimi Hendrix). "We rescued them separately. Hendrix was first from the City of Orange Shelter in December of 2007 and then Muddy from a rescue group in south Orange County in December of 2008," Eisenberg said. "They are somewhat big and to some, scary looking, but they are the two biggest lovers in the world. They are only scary if you are worried about being licked to death. Hendrix and Muddy have hopefully been great practice for our first human child, due Christmas Day. We waiting to find out the sex of the baby."

---

Classifieds

Happenings, Chapman University's faculty and staff newsletter,
is published by the Office of Communications and Media Relations.

Send your Happenings news and feedback to pr@chapman.edu,
or by campus mail to the PR Department.
Include name, department and phone number. Photo submissions accepted