SOU English Professor to Highlight the Chicano Movement’s Literary and Artistic Legacy

(Ashland, Ore.) – Dr. Alma Rosa Alvarez, Southern Oregon University Professor of English and Writing, will present “40 years later, is the Chicana/o Arts Movement Dead?” Tuesday, October 23 at 4:00 p.m. in the Meese Room of the Hannon Library on the SOU campus. A reception follows immediately. The talk is free and open to the public.
Alma Rosa Alvarez Insights Lecture Art Read more

SOU in the News – Oct. 7 – 10

SOU in the News
October 7-10, 2012
If you are unable to access local newspaper content on your computer, scroll down this page to view print clips
Broadcast
Groups protest at SOU
KDRV Newswatch 12 October 9, 2012
https://www.kdrv.com/groups-protest-at-sou/
Online
Churchill Hall and the North Campus Village pave the way to a greener SOU
The Siskiyou October 10, 2012
https://siskiyou.sou.edu/2012/10/10/churchill-hall-and-north-campus-village-pave-the-way-for-a-greener-campus/
New student health care plan “breaks down the silos” at SOU
The Siskiyou October 10, 2012
https://siskiyou.sou.edu/2012/10/10/new-student-health-care-plan-breaks-down-the-silos/
SOU student government reps and OSPIRG are registering students to vote
The Siskiyou October 7, 2012
https://siskiyou.sou.edu/2012/10/07/assou-and-ospirg-spread-the-word-about-voting/
Senator Wyden will be on the SOU campus tomorrow to speak with nursing students
KAJO 1270 Grants Pass October 10, 2012
https://www.kajo.com/news/local/stories.php?subaction=showfull&id=1349892831&archive=&start_from=&ucat=2
Raiders
Raider QB Austin Dodge named national player of the week
Mail Tribune October 9, 2012
https://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20121009/SPORTS/210090326/-1/SPORTS
Full version of print clips
SOU’s Dodge named national player of the week
October 09, 2012 2:00 AM
ASHLAND — After being named Frontier Conference offensive player of the week earlier in the day, Southern Oregon sophomore quarterback Austin Dodge added another honor to his list: national offensive player of the week.
The acclaim for Dodge came in the wake of the Southern Oregon’s 68-22 dismantling of then-No. 22 Eastern Oregon on Saturday at Raider Stadium.
Dodge led the Raiders to a 51-7 halftime lead over the Mountaineers on the strength of 468 passing yards and five touchdowns, completing 23 of 30 pass attempts in the opening 30 minutes.
With SOU holding a 44-point lead, Dodge took a seat on the sideline following halftime to settle for first-half numbers that would put most full-game numbers to shame.
His 468 passing yards gave him the fourth-highest single-game total in SOU history as he helped the SOU offense surpass 700 yards for the first time in team history.
Through five games this season, he boasts 1,922 yards of total offense and 1,860 passing yards and leads the NAIA in passing yards per game (372) and total offense per game (384.4).
He is also completing exactly two-thirds of his pass attempts (140-of-210), and his 17 touchdown throws this season are fifth most in SOU history.
Dodge becomes the ninth Southern Oregon player to be named NAIA player of the week and the first since kicker Corey O’Neill received the special teams honor on Oct. 10, 2008.
In addition to Dodge’s conference honor, linebacker Marquice O’Leary of the Raiders earned the defensive award.
O’Leary tallied seven total tackles and an interception in the Raiders’ win, SOU’s fourth straight over the Mountaineers and the second straight year the Raiders upset a ranked EOU team.
Southern Oregon picked up 18 points in this week’s NAIA national poll and sits one spot outside the Top 25.
The Raiders will look to build on their 3-2 record Saturday, when they visit Havre, Mont., for a conference showdown with Montana State-Northern.

SOU is “Exploring Happiness” This Year for a Campus Theme

(Ashland, Ore.) – Southern Oregon University launches a new annual campus theme discussion this evening with a panel on “Happiness and the Arts.” Members of the Departments of Music, Theatre and Art will examine how the arts have defined and described happiness. The presentation is at 7:00 p.m. in the Meese Room of the Hannon Library. It is free and open to the public.
Read more

SOU Names New Director of Admissions

Kelly Moutsatsin(Ashland, Ore.) Southern Oregon University announces the appointment of Kelly Moutsatson as director of admissions at the university. Moutsatson comes to SOU from the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising with four campuses in California. She was the Institute’s director of admissions the last 12 years, working remotely from Grants Pass. She has a bachelor’s degree in advertising/marketing from Loyola Marymount University.
Read more

Planetwalker John Francis Returns to SOU to Talk About the Environment

John Francis (photo by Becky Hale)

John Francis (photo by Becky Hale)

(Ashland, Ore) Southern Oregon University welcomes John Francis ’81 back to campus this week. On Wednesday, Dr. Francis, known the world over as the Planetwalker, will discuss how the current environmental crisis is a reflection of world-wide social and economic inequity and that any attempt to resolve the crisis must not only address the scientific issues, but also the humanitarian issues. His presentation is at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, October 10, in the Rogue River Room of the Stevenson Union. The talk is free and open to the public.
On Thursday, Dr. Francis will be honored at the university’s annual awards dinner as Southern Oregon University’s Distinguished Alumnus for 2012.
In 1971, Dr. Francis witnessed an oil spill in San Francisco Bay. The effects of the spill compelled him to stop using motorized vehicles. Several months later, to stop the arguments about the power of one person’s actions, he took a vow of silence.
His non-motorized lifestyle lasted 22 years, and his silence lasted 17. During that time Dr. Francis walked across the United States, earning a B.A. at (then) Southern Oregon State College, an M.S. in Environmental Studies at the University of Montana, and a Ph.D. in land resources at the University of Wisconsin.
He later sailed and walked through the Caribbean and then walked the length of South America. He has written two books, “Planetwalker: 22 Years of Walking. 17 Years of Silence,” and “The Ragged Edge of Silence: Finding Peace in a Noisy World.”
Dr. Francis is currently an education fellow with the National Geographic Society in Washington, D.C., and a visiting professor at the University of Wisconsin where he is a member of the board at the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies.
Dr. Francis is still walking and would like to teach a “semester on foot” about walking. He also still plays a banjo and will bring it with him to his presentation.
Dr. Francis says he’s looking forward to his return to Ashland, his first time back in ten years.
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SOU in the News Oct. 1 – 3

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Print

SOU’s Hannon library is a good place to watch tonight’s presidential debate
Daily Tidings October 3, 2012
https://www.dailytidings.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20121003/NEWS02/210030303
SOU teams fare well in business competition
Daily Tidings October 2, 2012
https://www.dailytidings.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20121002/NEWS02/210020306/-1/NEWSMAP
Raiders
Yomtob and Scheller Named CCC Volleyball Players of the Week
SOU Raiders October 1, 2012
https://www.souraiders.com/news/2012/10/1/VB_1001125117.aspx
Full version of print clips
Debate-watching parties
Leaving your home comfort zone
By Janet Eastman
Ashland Daily Tidings
Southern Oregon University political science professor Bill Hughes won’t be watching tonight’s presidential debate at home. Instead, the keen-eyed researcher will be hanging out at a bar or another public space, observing people as they watch the two candidates make a case for votes.
Hughes says he won’t be paying attention to what’s said on air. “The candidates will be scripted and rehearsed,” he discounts.
Instead, he’ll sit back and take note of how the Ashland audience reacts during the live debate, which starts at 6 p.m. He will be especially tuned into the crowd after each candidate has delivered his concluding remarks and the sound is turned down on the on-air pundits offering their analyses.
What happens next, he says, will be meaningful.
He’s hoping that people will cross the aisle and talk to others who don’t share the same opinions.
And he’s crossing his fingers that leaving their comfort zone will force people to have their assumptions tested and they will engage in deeper, more stimulating conversations.
And maybe, a Democrat might offer a Republican a beer. Or vice versa.
“Politics is not a private enterprise,” says Hughes, “so it should be conducted in a public space.”
Across the nation, schools, libraries and restaurants are hosting debate-watching parties. More viewers are expected to watch tonight’s presidential debate, the first of three, than the combined millions who caught some of both political conventions.
Along with the seriousness, there will also be opportunities for voters to enjoy the event. Bars are extending their happy-hour drink discounts and some customers will be able to order red- or blue-colored drinks or play debate bingo.
In Ashland, as in other cities, the presidential debate starts with a coin toss: To watch or not? For those who plan to tune in, the next decision is where?
Staying home isn’t always an option. Some Ashland residents don’t own TVs for financial, philosophical or other personal reasons. Those without TV or cable signals can rely on Jefferson Public Radio’s uninterrupted broadcast of the live debates on its far-reaching Classic & News stations (Ashland’s KSOR 90.1 FM or KSRG 88.3 FM) or they can listen to a webstream at ijpr.org.
People who want to watch the debate, but not at home, can join friends or family members in their living rooms. Or they can take Hughes’ advice and wander into a public place where they are more likely to be surrounded by people who don’t completely agree with them.
To expose its expected audience to various points of view, the wide screens at SOU’s new Digital Media Gallery on the ground floor of the Hannon Library will be tuned to different channels.
Side-by-side, 8-foot-long screens may show FOX, MSNBC and CNN, says Paul Adalian, the library dean. Overhead speakers will funnel that channel’s sound down to people sitting in front of each screen.
 
Adalian says the public is invited to watch the debates for free. If more than 30 people show up, he has screens set up in the larger Meese Auditorium on the library’s third floor.
Two local pubs also welcome debate watchers.
The Black Sheep Pub & Restaurant on the Plaza will be showing the presidential debate on its 42-inch HDTV screen. To ease down the information overload, proprietor Susan Chester is reminding everyone that although East Coast residents have to wait until 9 p.m. for the first words to be spoken, it’s still happy hour on the West Coast.
She says her crew will be offering local beers and oysters to suit every preference, from the half shell and au gratin to Rockefeller or barbecued.
“We are a neutral zone,” she says, laughing. “The tradition of a pub is that it’s a place for different generations and all walks of life to gather and discuss current events and be exposed to different opinions.”
Peter Bolton was born and raised in Ireland, so he also knows the importance of pub talk. The owner of the Playwright Pub on A Street will tune his two 52-inch screens and sound system into the presidential debates tonight.
“It may scare a few diners who don’t want to see the debates, but we want to provide a venue for people to have a friendly dialogue,” says Bolton. “It doesn’t matter which side you’re on. It’s just healthy for people to have a friendly discussion with an open mind.”
He hopes that after hearing the candidates’ ideas and the discussion afterward, a patron might be inspired to do more than cast a ballot.
At the very least, he says, his customers will make an event out of the evening.
His pub already has a tradition for fellowship between tables, except when it’s barred during the Wednesday night trivia contest. He hints that tonight’s quiz, which will be delayed until 8:30 p.m., may be heavily weighted toward questions about American presidents.
“If you’re not planning to watch the debates at home,” he says, “wouldn’t it be nice to watch the debates where you can have a pint in your hand and a companion by your side?”
Reach reporter Janet Eastman at 541-776-4465 or jeastman@dailytidngs.com
 
If You Go
Three public places to watch the debates, which begin at 6 p.m. today:
• The Digital Media Gallery on the ground floor of the Hannon Library at Southern Oregon University, 1250 Siskiyou Blvd.
• The Black Sheep Pub & Restaurant, 51 N. Main St.
• The Playwright Public House, 258 A St.
 
 
SOU teams fare well in business competition
Aquaponics group takes third out of 17 teams
By Sam Wheeler
Ashland Daily Tidings
October 02, 2012 2:00 AM
Two groups of Southern Oregon University students who presented social business models Monday at the Oregon Social Business Challenge were among the best.
One team’s solution to increasing the availability of local food, called closed-loop aquaponics, took third place out of 17 teams, according to a press release from the Oregon University System, which organized the event.
Another SOU group made the top seven by presenting a model for a student sustainable farm to provide affordable organic produce to low-income families in Jackson County while maintaining a learning environment for the community.
The aquaponics team made it through the first round, but was one of four teams eliminated in the final round by a panel of 18 judges, including SOU President Mary Cullinan and other decision makers from across the state.
“It was all very edifying,” said Andrew Mount, who was part of SOU’s team that presented aquaponics.
The aquaponics team, which includes senior business major Jeffrey Jensen and junior biology major Sean Lowry, will split $2,000 in scholarships for its finish.
Aquaponics is the marriage of fish farming and hydroponic farming, Mount said. Hundreds of fish or crustaceans live inside a 2,500- to 5,000-gallon pond, and as the pond begins to dirty, the water is siphoned out and used to bathe the roots of plants growing from nearby beds of gravel — all beneath a dome.
Everything the plants need for food is in the fish waste, he said, and both the fish and plants can be harvested.
The group is partnered with Ashland-based Pacific Domes, which is providing the first 90-foot-wide dome to house the project and plans to launch a business based around the idea, he said.
Southern Oregon Aquaponics will be the name of the organization, said Mount, an environmental science and business sophomore at SOU. “The sky is the limit as far as I’m concerned, at this point,” said Mount, 43, of Talent.
A team from Oregon State University won the competition, taking home $5,000 in scholarships. It proposed to establish a youth sports league for students with disabilities in Benton County.
Students from University of Oregon, who proposed a mobile medical van to serve rural communities in Klamath County and Lake County, took second place and $3,000 in scholarships.
Portland State University’s Social Innovation Incubator program and Springboard Innovation, a similar independent incubator program, are providing at least $2,500 in financial support to help the winning team’s model get off the ground.
Making his way out of the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, where the competition was held, Mount said Springboard expressed interest in helping strategize how to launch a business based around aquaponics.
“We have the credibility after this,” Mount said. “The intention will be to find financial backing within the coming months.”
Reach reporter Sam Wheeler at 541-499-1470 or email swheeler@dailytidings.com.