The Bellingham Herald

• WWU names Riordan new provost
  Catherine Riordan has been named the new provost and vice president of Academic Affairs at Western Washington University. Riordan, who is the vice provost for academic affairs at Central Michigan University, will start her new position in August with an annual salary of $200,000. She replaces Dennis Murphy, who is retiring from his provost position this summer after 12 years.

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• Port, city approve outline for waterfront development
  Port commissioners and City Council members have voted to approve moving ahead with a compromise plan for waterfront redevelopment, with two council members voting no.
  
  Among other things, the compromise plan adopts something close to the port's preference for new waterfront streets that would go due west toward the water's edge, instead of following the course of existing downtown streets. But in a concession to Mayor Dan Pike, the plan also commits the port to preserve view corridors down existing downtown streets to Bellingham Bay.

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• WWU student got early start learning about the environment
  From the moment she set foot on Western Washington University’s campus, Andrea Thomas felt at home. Scheduled to receive her Bachelor of Arts degree in Environmental Policy in June, she became the leader of Students for Renewable Energy’s Education Committee in 2007 and joined Carbon Masters this past January.
  
  “Despite the fact that climate change is a seriously complex issue, I believe that we as citizens have the capacity to do something about the problem,” Thomas says. “You have to start somewhere.”

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• Fixing this economy through financial education
  It may have taken a national economic meltdown, but it appears the problem of financial illiteracy is starting to be addressed.
  
  Last week U.S. Senator Patty Murray, D-Wash., dropped by Western Washington University to talk about legislation she and some of her colleagues recently introduced. The Financial and Economic Literacy Improvement Act of 2009 would provide $250 million in grants annually to states to support programs that teach financial literacy in schools. Many K-12 schools do not have financial literacy classes, relying on programs such as Junior Achievement for help.
  
  During her Western visit, Murray listened to a group of college students who recently completed a study of what their peers know about basic personal finance. Jordan Maughan, Spencer Covich, Simon Trigg and Thomas Evans surveyed 1,200 Western students and found that 60 percent of those surveyed had at least one credit card and that 18 percent have already maxed out at least one card.

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• Pulitzer-prize winning photographer coming to WWU conference
  Michel du Cille, three-time Pulitzer Prize winner and assistant managing editor for photography at The Washington Post, will speak at the Bellingham Visual Journalism Conference sponsored by Western Washington University's Department of Journalism.
  
  The conference will take place at Western on Friday and Saturday, July 17 and 18.

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• Sports headlines: Women's golf ends regular season with a victory; Women's golf grabs 5-shot lead at California tourney; Porter wins 10,000 meters at Mt. SAC Relays; Softball team loses sixth straight; Women's crew sweeps to 5th straight NCRC title at Lake Steven regatta; Short-handed Track & Field teams place third at Central meet; Koppenberg is GNAC player of the week

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Central Michigan: CM-life.com

• Vice provost accepts new job at WWU
  CMU Vice Provost of Academic Affairs Catherine Riordan was named provost and vice president of Academic Affairs at Western Washington University.
  Riordan, who has been with CMU since 2001, was one of three finalists for the position at WWU, which conducted an extensive nationwide search.

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Grist.com

• WWU an EPA Green Power Challenge winner
  The Ivies, anchored by University of Pennsylvania’s purchase of 192 million kWh, chalked up the best conference performance, purchasing a total of 225 million kWh of green power. Here in the Pacific Northwest, four colleges and universities bested their respective conferences: Oregon State University (Pacific-10), Western Washington University (Great Northwest Athletic Conference), The Evergreen State College (Cascade Collegiate Conference), and Pacific Lutheran University (Northwest Conference).

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Washington Energy Services

• Colleges record big savings with clean energy
  The EPA is highlighting a number of colleges and universities, including several in the Pacific Northwest, that have demonstrated a commitment to clean and efficient energy.
  
  Regionally, the nationwide leaders in the competition included Oregon State University, which derives 74 percent of its power from renewable sources, according to the EPA. Others included Western Washington University and Evergreen State College, both of which are said to be 100 percent powered by renewable energy, while further south, the University of California at Santa Cruz also made the list.

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Everett Herald

• Luck of the draw brought Dragavon to the Sounders
  As much as Ben Dragavon has tried to treat this week just like any other in his soccer playing life, the goalkeeper from Monroe admits a little bit has changed since he made his Major League Soccer debut for Seattle Sounders FC last weekend.
  
  "I must have had like 150 text messages at least after that game," said Dragavon, who played at Monroe High and Western Washington University. "I'm sure a lot more people around Seattle know who I am now than they did before."

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