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Media highlights for the week of Oct. 1-7, 2005
A sampling of NAU programs, professors, students, staff and alumni appearing in the news
Scrutinizing America's size-2 mentality
Sandra Ponce, 23, portrays Ana, the main character in the NAU Theatre production of "Real Women Have Curves," with an intensity and passion rooted in her own childhood background. "I lived there for 13 years; all of my childhood was there," the junior theater major said. "I love the story," said Barbara Jo Maier, show director and professor of theater at NAU. "It has a lot of messages for young women." In addition to its strong messages, Maier chose the play for its ties to Hispanic heritage and because, with a small cast and a short rehearsal period, it could be readied in time for Family Weekend.
Arizona Daily Sun (Flagstaff, AZ) 10/7/2005
A learning experience
To better understand her students, Cathy Small, an anthropology professor at Northern Arizona University, did what she has done so many times in villages in Tonga: She lived among the people. But this time, the village was her university campus in Flagstaff, and the field work involved enrolling as an undergraduate and moving into a dorm. The resulting book, ''My Freshman Year: What a Professor Learned by Becoming a Student"—published this month by Cornell University Press—is an insightful, riveting look at college life and American values.
Boston Globe (Hanover, MA) 10/6/2005
ASU, NAU ahead of UA in ethnic minority faculty percentages
Northern Arizona University has the highest percentage of American Indian faculty at 3.3 percent and the highest percentage of white faculty at 83.5 percent, said Tom Bauer, assistant director for the Office of Public Affairs at NAU.
Arizona Daily Wildcat (Tucson, AZ) 10/6/2005
CCC board to meet in Page again
Coconino Community College's governing board will be holding its second meeting in Page this year on Oct. 18. On the agenda is discussion about the college's expansion of 2 + 2 agreements with Northern Arizona University. These agreements guarantee the transfer of two years of community college credits and student acceptance into bachelor's degree programs at the university level, according to a CCC press release. The board is also scheduled to discuss a resolution that supports offering bachelor's degrees through community colleges in a limited capacity to meet the growing demand of certain careers. Some of the possible bachelor programs that could be offered include nursing, teaching, allied health, fire science, criminal justice, and biotechnology fields.
Lake Powell Chronicle (Page, AZ) 10/6/2005
Local View: Gott's advice on jealousy could prove dangerous
Regarding jealousy, Dr. Neil Websdale of Northern Arizona University has written books on his federal government-funded research into causes of intimate partner homicides and is also a director of the federal government-funded National Domestic Violence Fatality Review Initiative. "Essentially the antecedents that emerged (from Websdale's research) most prominently in both multiple and single killings are, in order of importance: a prior history of domestic violence; an estrangement, separation, or an attempt at separation nearly always by a female party; and a display of obsessive-possessiveness or morbid jealousy on the part of the eventual perpetrator; often accompanied by suicidal ideations, plans, or attempts; sleep disturbances (sometimes under treatment medically) and stalking of the victim."
Lincoln Journal-Star (Lincoln, NE) 10/6/2005
Public invited to silent auction
Bid on Native American fine arts and crafts donated by some of Arizona's finest Indian artists during the silent auction held in conjunction with fifth annual NAU Native American Programs Golf Tournament Saturday, Oct. 8.
Navajo-Hopi Observer (Flagstaff, AZ) 10/6/2005
Upcoming Events
The fifth annual Northern Arizona University Native American Programs Golf Tournament will be held Saturday at Continental Country Club. It's a fundraiser for the NAU's Institute for Native Americans. Play begins at 8 a.m. Also, a silent auction will be held between 8 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. The public is welcome to bid on merchandise, arts and crafts.
Arizona Daily Sun (Flagstaff, AZ) 10/5/2005
Chief: Car camping on street untenable
As the debate heats up surrounding a law change that would prohibit camping and sleeping in a public space—even in a parked car—there is a lot of misinformation, said J.T. McCann, Flagstaff chief of police. McCann added: "A lot of the people in Flagstaff aren't really homeless, it's just that they're not home." For instance, the wife of Kevin Ellison (a self-styled reverend for his personal Forest Ministry who lives in the bus from where he feeds other homeless people) is a graduate student at Northern Arizona University, and has a dorm room on campus though she chooses to sleep in the bus.
Arizona Daily Sun (Flagstaff, AZ) 10/4/2005
Digging tradition: NAU archaeology conference reveals a family affair
George Gumerman, chair of anthropology at Northern Arizona University, was thrilled to host a conference on campus last week called "Complex Societies," featuring research about ancient and historic cultures organized into hierarchies with elite leaders at their helms. It wasn't so much that it was a big conference. It was more the caliber of the presenters from all over the country, especially one who's reaped national accolades partly for his work documenting historic Native American cultures in advance of the Black Mesa mines. That famous researcher's name? Also George Gumerman—the department chair's father.
Arizona Daily Sun (Flagstaff, AZ) 10/4/2005
Flying in the face of climate change
Changes should be made to the way forests are managed, in order to reduce the increasing risk of forest fire as a result of climate change. Research by Allison Cocke and colleagues from Northern Arizona University shows that fire suppression management of forests on the San Francisco Peaks in Arizona has substantially increased the risk of devastating fires in these ecosystems.
innovations report (Bad Homburg, Germany) 10/4/2005
Our Opinion: Specialization sharpens focus of universities
Arizona's higher education system is going through a time of major change—with even larger changes lying just over the horizon. Northern Arizona University will have a broader statewide presence, bringing higher education to all areas of Arizona. If 25 or more students need a specific degree program anywhere in the state, NAU will deliver it.
Tucson Citizen (Tucson, AZ) 10/4/2005
Souers hit in head late in game, taken to hospital
NAU football coach Jerome Souers was taken to Sutter General Hospital following NAU's 38-24 loss Saturday. Souers suffered a blow to the head and a possible concussion in the final minutes of the game. 'Couch Souers was hit inadvertently in the head after trying to break up two players,' said Steve Shaff, NAU's assistant athletic director for media relations. Souers was trying to break up a fight between two players when an unidentified Sacramento State player inadvertently hit Souers.
Arizona Daily Sun (Flagstaff, AZ) 10/4/2005
On The Move
The PENTA Building Group appointed Jeff Mills as an assistant project manager. He graduated with a degree in construction management from Northern Arizona University.
Las Vegas Business Press (Las Vegas, NV) 10/3/2005
Photo: Crunch time
Ahsan Imam, a NAU junior math major, studies with classmates at the Cline Library Sunday evening. Students are starting to prepare for midterms which will be distributed in these next few weeks.
Arizona Daily Sun (Flagstaff, AZ) 10/3/2005
Regents talk tuition hikes
Regents discussed the effects inadequate state funding has on tuition at Friday's board meeting at Northern Arizona University. The level of tuition is dependent on the level of state funding the Arizona universities receive from the general fund. In order to maintain an affordable level of tuition, the regents are considering a tuition cap for returning students. The cap does not mean a fixed tuition rate, but one that remains consistent with the inflation rate. A capped tuition rate also carries with it unintended consequences. "The unintended consequences are the public universities would have to raise money from private funding," said John Hager, NAU president. "Some can be very good at it, like the UA, but the NAUs of the world may not be able to raise much private funds."
Arizona Daily Wildcat (Tucson, AZ) 10/3/2005
Winter Sun School offers preschool learning and fun
Rich and Jami Young brought new life to a long vacant corner at Duck Lake and Whitehall roads, now offering a vibrant new preschool and extended child care facility, called Winter Sun School. After many moons of blood, sweat and tears, Rich and Jami Young have built a dream. They took a long-vacant corner on their road and constructed a custom built preschool. 'I can't remember a time in my life that I didn't have this dream, I just never dreamt it would take place in such a beautiful facility,' said Jami. She has a bachelor's degree from Northern Arizona University in elementary education/special education.
White Lake Beacon (Whitehall, MI) 10/3/2005
Editorial: Flagstaff caught in middle of two competing NAU missions
A more focused and intense residential education program may attract fewer undergraduates to Flagstaff than before, at least in the short run. There's no magic number for Mountain Campus enrollment, nor is there a magic formula that meets all student needs. NAU has chosen a role within state higher education that combines two seemingly competing missions. The jury is out on whether NAU can fulfill both and meet the high expectations it has set for itself while doing right by its host community, too.
Arizona Daily Sun (Flagstaff, AZ) 10/2/2005
'Expand on demand' new NAU mantra
Northern Arizona University's president has coined a phrase that matches NAU's ambitious plans for distance learning. "Expand on Demand" is the idea John Haeger presented to the Arizona Board of Regents during the board's September meeting in Flagstaff that concluded Friday afternoon. The slogan translates into 40,000 NAU students by 2020, vs. 18,000 this year. Most of the growth would occur outside the Flagstaff campus. The board passed the proposed plan. "If you live in any corner of the state and there are a minimum of 25 students, we'll be there for you," said Lisa Nelson, NAU spokeswoman. "We're not only going to bring more students into bachelor's degree pipelines, but graduate them," Haeger told the board.
Arizona Daily Sun (Flagstaff, AZ) 10/2/2005
Mountain Campus: Intellectually stimulating, culturally diverse-and too expensive
The Arizona Daily Sun's five-member Virtual Editorial Board addresses the question, "Is NAU's Mountain Campus headed in a direction that is right for Flagstaff?"
Arizona Daily Sun (Flagstaff, AZ) 10/2/2005
NAU professor wins a national award for her first children's book
Saturday was a big day for Monica Brown, 35, an associate professor of English at Northern Arizona University. During a breakfast awards ceremony in the Mumford Room at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C., she received the prestigious Américas Book Award for Children's Literature for books published in 2004. The winning book is her first published children's book, a picture book biography of the queen of salsa, 'My Name is Celia/Me llamo Celia.' "It's a huge honor because of who the givers are," she added. "The judges are teachers and librarians within the Latino community."
Arizona Daily Sun (Flagstaff, AZ) 10/2/2005
On This Date: Professor says he'll try to clone a mammoth
On this date in 1999, The Sun ran an Associated Press story headlined, "Professor says he'll try to clone a mammoth," in which it was reported that a Northern Arizona University geologist was trying to excavate and clone a woolly mammoth from DNA. Professor Larry Agenbroad was part of an international team of scientists whose first task was to cut the cloning candidate from a Siberian ice field. Agenbroad said that he was not counting on much success for the project. "I guess it would be a rarity, but the biologists are quite optimistic," he said.
San Bernardino Sun (San Bernardino, CA) 10/2/2005
Panels will review domestic violence
Under a state law passed this year, Arizona communities can create fatality review teams to study deaths of domestic-violence victims in detail and recommend improvements in the system that is supposed to prevent them. The goal of the review teams is not to point fingers, said Neil Websdale, a professor of criminal justice at Northern Arizona University and an expert in the field. "There are several reasons to do this," Websdale said. "One is to analyze the deaths, and the other is to identify preventive strategies to stem the tide of deaths." Websdale and an academic colleague, Byron Johnson of Baylor University, organized a recent conference in Phoenix to look at domestic-violence fatality reviews as practiced nationwide. Websdale said Arizona was well represented. "There is a possibility for Arizona to develop a standard system," he said.
The Arizona Republic (Phoenix, AZ) 10/2/2005
Rutgers goes looking for an image that sells
Across the United States, colleges and universities, including Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, are looking for innovative ways to sharpen their image and sell themselves to audiences in a fiercely competitive market. Earlier this month Rutgers announced it had hired Lipman Hearne, a well-known Chicago marketing firm specializing in promoting nonprofits, to enhance its image. In recent years the company had helped soup up the image of dozens of institutions, from the relatively obscure (like Northern Arizona University) to the famous (the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill).
Today's Sunbeam (Salem, NJ) 10/2/2005
Students protest high cost of texts, materials at ASU
Students at the three Arizona universities are sick of paying high prices for textbooks, so they're joining a national campaign to fight the rising cost of education. The "Make Textbooks Affordable" campaign is a joint effort of student organizations across the state to protest the high cost of textbooks. "It's a very salient issue to students," said Ed Hermes, 21, ASU senior studying history and political science. "The increasing cost of higher education prohibits many students from even setting foot on campus."
The Arizona Republic (Phoenix, AZ) 10/2/2005
Tickets go on sale for Suns game in Tucson
The Suns' normal training camp site-in Flagstaff-had a conflict this season. NAU and nearby businesses also lost out on this year's training camp, which was moved to Prescott after an outbreak of norovirus on the campus.
Business Journal of Portland (Portland, OR) 10/2/2005
Board of Regents OKs Flagstaff, NAU project
The Arizona Board of Regents has approved an agreement with the city that paves the way for a proposed conference center. The center is a joint project of Northern Arizona University and the city. It has an estimated budget of $10 million for the conference center, $4 million for a parking garage and $16 million to $18 million for a hotel.
The Arizona Republic (Phoenix, AZ) 10/1/2005
Letter to the editor: Consolidate to save space
It's interesting to read about the construction on the NAU campus. They are building dormitories, class rooms, parking garages, etc., to accommodate the increase in students. They also talk about solar energy. How about combining these into one building? Wouldn't it be a nice example to the people of Flagstaff to conserve some open space by having a building with a basement used for parking, the first and second floors for office and classrooms, the top several floors as dormitories, then use the roof for solar panels to provide energy for the whole outfit. That would be a terrific example of what can be done if you want to. DON JOHNSON, SR. Flagstaff
Arizona Daily Sun (Flagstaff, AZ) 10/1/2005
The Parent Trap: Loving moms, dads can hover too close to their college kids
Arizona's universities, gearing up for "family weekends" this month, are no strangers to overzealous parents. A student at Northern Arizona University called her mother on her cellphone while she was in her adviser's office. A father flew to Flagstaff when his daughter twisted her ankle, to make sure she was OK. "More parents are involved in their students' day-to-day activities," said NAU spokesman Tom Bauer. "We talk about parents respecting their kids' decisions at orientation, and we tell them it's important to let them make decisions, to be the adults you've trained them to be."
The Arizona Republic (Phoenix, AZ) 10/1/2005
UA to get tougher admission standards
Changes for all three state universities were unveiled this week at the Arizona Board of Regents meeting in Flagstaff as a way to give the schools a tighter focus and deal with a growing population. Northern Arizona University student Russell Reiten, 24, said he is not worried that the changes may lead to a perception that one university is better than the others. Each university has a plan and a mission of where it wants to go, he said, with NAU's focus being on providing excellent undergraduate programs. "I would hope students would shop for universities just as anything else," he said.
The Arizona Republic (Phoenix, AZ) 10/1/2005
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