• Jack R. Ferrell, associate professor of sociology at NAU-Yuma, published a paper on "Nonviolent Social Movements in Latin America: Prospects for Peace and the Civil War in Colombia" in October, 2005, in the Proceedings of the Pacific Coast Council on Latin American Studies.  It argues that the regionalization of Colombia's civil war has fostered peace movements capable of ending the war.  Ferrell's teaching includes courses on Latin America, political sociology, and violence.  His paper appears in the volume on "The Contexts and Consequences of Neoliberalism," edited by Doreen O'Connor-Gomez of Whittier College.

  • Willard Sakiestewa Gilbert, professor of education and chair of the Educational Specialties Department in the College of Education, has been elected to the boards of directors of the National Indian Education Association and the National Association of Bilingual Education.
    Founded in 1969, the National Indian Education Association is the largest and oldest Indian education organization in the nation. Gilbert, who will serve as board secretary, was elected at the association's 36th annual convention in Denver.

    The Bilingual Education Association is an international group. Gilbert currently serves as NABE's chair of the planning committee for the organization's 35th annual conference next year. Gilbert, a member of the Hopi village of Moenkopi, has helped secure more than $16.5 million in federal grants from the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Education for Native students, teachers and parents. Gilbert also is president of the $15 million Hopi Education Endowment Fund and a founding board member of the Flagstaff Unified School District Foundation.

    "I am both thrilled and humbled to be chosen to serve on the NIEA and NABE boards of directors," Gilbert said. "I appreciate the trust that both organizations have placed in me to carry out the mission of each organization. It is a strategic position since both organizations have parallel goals and objectives that will allow us to collaborate, partner and advocate together for educational excellence and equity for our students."

  • Ellen Riek, instructor in the Honors Program, had her article "Building Community and Fostering Excellence through the Writing Process," published in the inaugural issue of Honors in Practice.
The deadline for the Wednesday newsletter is Monday at 5 p.m. When you send a news or Summit item to Mary.Lemma@nau.edu, remember to include who, what, when, where, and why or how.