Contact: Mary Doherty, WWU Alumni Association, (360) 650-3353; Mary.Doherty@wwu.edu

BELLINGHAM – Oscar-nominated director and Western Washington University alumnus TJ Martin is coming to Western’s campus for an exclusive screening of his documentary “Undefeated.” Students, faculty and community members are invited to a special evening with TJ Martin at 5 p.m. on Thursday, March 1 in the Performing Arts Center Mainstage. Admission is free, but tickets are required by registering at the WWU Alumni Association website. A suggested donation of $5 to be applied toward Western student scholarships will be accepted on the registration page and at the door. Martin could make history at the Academy Awards at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles the week prior to his return to Bellingham. If “Undefeated” wins the Oscar for Best Feature Documentary, Martin would be the first African American director of a full-length feature film to win an Oscar. John Singleton, Lee Daniels and Spike Lee have received nominations for directing full-length features,  but none have won an Oscar statue. "Undefeated" first received critical acclaim at its SXSW debut in March and was signed by The Weinstein Co. for distribution soon after. Martin's second film, “Undefeated” documents the struggles of an inner-city Memphis football team as they attempt a winning season with their charismatic and devoted coach, Bill Courtney, at the helm. Faced with virtually every strike against them – from poverty to criminal behavior – this inspirational true story shows how a group of young men transformed into an academic and athletic team. Martin credits his time at Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies as prepping him for the next stage of his life – a move to New York and then Los Angeles to work in film. “Fairhaven [College] allowed me to go off and dabble in the film world and integrate what I learned in my classes through the media.” “You’ll fail a million times before you make one success,” he said. “Fairhaven and WWU created a comfortable environment for that to happen. It was a good stomping ground where I could experiment a lot and felt comfortable making mistakes.” Martin will spend the day on campus talking to students, faculty and staff before the exclusive Bellingham screening. The event is being sponsored by the Western Alumni Association. Follow Twitter for more about this event at #WWUOscarNom.

Contact: Paul Cocke, Office of University Communications, (360) 650-3350.

BELLINGHAM – Kathleen Kitto has been named the acting vice provost for Research and acting dean of the Graduate School at Western Washington University. Kitto will assume her new duties on March 15. Moheb Ghali, who has served as vice provost for Research and dean of the Graduate School at Western since 1993, has decided to return to his faculty position as professor of Economics.  “I sincerely appreciate Professor Kitto being willing to lead us through this transition. She has led some very successful interdisciplinary efforts and has familiarity with key federal funding agencies. She will work with skilled and dedicated staff in the Graduate School and sponsored research and already has plans for how to reach out to faculty to ensure support for their work is as effective as it can be,” said Catherine Riordan, Western’s provost and vice president for Academic Affairs. “I have always deeply valued the many ways in which I have been given the honor of serving Western’s community, and I am eager to work closely and thoughtfully with the many stakeholders engaged in our Graduate School and Research and Sponsored Programs as we consider and shape our strategic future,” Kitto said. “Synergistically, I will also be continuing my work with Provost Riordan, Vice President Stephanie Bowers, and many other campus and community leaders on our strategic initiatives and planning, but will be stepping away from the classroom for the first time in my career.  Because of the many opportunities and challenges before us, I am very much looking forward to this leadership role. “ Kitto, who served as associate dean of Western’s College of Sciences and Technology (CST) since its inception in 2003, is special assistant to the Provost for Strategic Initiatives. She is a professor of Engineering Technology and served as chair of that department for seven years. She also served as director of Western’s Advanced Materials Science and Engineering Center. “In my view, Professor Kitto has demonstrated fine managerial-and-leadership skills in her several steps up the administrative ladder. Despite her strong academic interests in teaching and research, because she has a deserved reputation for being a team-building problem solver who is conscientious about all facets of her job, she continues to be encouraged to fulfill administrative roles.  I think she is the wise, and in retrospect, obvious choice among faculty at Western to be acting vice provost for Research and dean of graduate studies.  I am delighted,” said Roger Anderson, Biology professor and chair of the Academic Coordinating Committee at Western.  Kitto is active in her discipline and is the lead principal investigator on a National Science Foundation project to advance the careers of women within the sciences, engineering and mathematics. She is the lead PI on a second NSF project designed to enhance materials engineering educational outcomes through innovative applications built for smart devices. She has co-authored three textbooks, written numerous scholarly publications and has served on many review panels and boards. In 2010, Kitto received Western’s Diversity Achievement Award. She was a member of the team that received Western’s Team Recognition awards in 2010 and 2009.

Contact:  Western Washington University College of Sciences and Technology at (360) 650-2454.

BELLINGHAM – Charles Clark of the National Institute of Standards Technology (NIST) and the Joint Quantum Institute at the University of Maryland, will present “The Other World Seen by Animals” at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 15, in Communications Facility 125 on the Western Washington University campus.

The program is free and open to the public.

Much of what we understand about the world comes from our eyes, which sense the colors from red to violet that are expressed in the rainbow. Yet we know that this patch of colors is just our own home island in the vast electromagnetic spectrum, which extends from radio waves to gamma rays.

Two unseen regions of great importance to us are those just above and just below the rainbow – the infrared and ultraviolet, respectively. These were discovered about 200 years ago in inspired experiments that anyone can understand, originally conducted by Frederick William Herschel and Johann Wilhelm Ritter. Only recently has it come to be understood that a variety of animals live in a visual world totally unfamiliar to us, particularly in the ultraviolet.

Clark will discuss this from the perspective of measurement science, and demonstrate other influences of the ultraviolet in technology, astronomy and climate change.

Clark is a 1974 graduate of Western, where he majored in Mathematics and Physics. He obtained his doctorate in Physics from the University of Chicago in 1979 and was chief of the NIST Electron and Optical Physics Division for 20 years before being appointed a NIST Fellow in 2010. His research activities are focused on theoretical atomic, molecular and optical physics. He is actively engaged in spreading physics research news through social media such as Facebook and Twitter.

For more information on Clark’s lecture, contact Western’s College of Sciences and Technology at (360) 650-2454. 

Contact: Lorraine Kasprisin, editor, Journal of Educational Controversy, Woodring College of Education, Western Washington University, at Lorraine.Kasprisin@wwu.edu or (360) 650-3871.

BELLINGHAM – Western Washington University’s Woodring College of Education has released the Fifth Anniversary Issue of its Journal of Educational Controversy on the theme “The Education and Schools our Children Deserve.”

The journal addresses politicizing education at the national level, which has centered on issues of standards, accountability, global competitiveness, national economic growth, low student achievement on worldwide norms, and federally mandated uniformity. There has been little discussion of the public purposes of our schools or what kind of education is necessary for an individual’s development and search for a meaningful life.

This issue is co-edited with Susan Donnelly, head of the Whatcom Day Academy, and features an article by the new dean of Woodring, Francisco Rios, on "The Future of Schools of Education."  Rios writes about his vision of the public mission of schools in a democratic society and the kinds of teachers that can make that education possible.

This issue is dedicated to Alfie Kohn, whose book, “The Schools our Children Deserve,” was the inspiration for the controversy posed in this issue of the journal.  Kohn wrote the prologue for the issue in which he reflects on the past few years and the need more than ever to be asking what kind of schools our children “still” deserve. 

For more information, visit http://www.wce.wwu.edu/Resources/CEP/eJournal/v006n001/, or contact Lorraine Kasprisin at Lorraine.Kasprisin@wwu.edu or (360) 650-3871.

Contact: Marie Eaton, professor of Education and Humanities, Fairhaven College, at Marie.Eaton@wwu.edu or (360) 650-3104.

BELLINGHAM – Western Washington University faculty members Marie Eaton, Mary Cornish and Stan Tag will perform “One Thing to Say: Celebration of Words in Three Voices – Song, Poem and Prose” at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Mar. 3 in the Fairhaven Auditorium on the Western campus.

This event costs $15 for general admission and $8 for students and seniors.

The performance will benefit Western’s Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies Conant Dodge Scholarship Fund, which awards students who are the first generation in their family to attend college. Eaton, Cornish and Tag will weave together songs, poems and stories about human relations in an uncertain world, exploring hope and passion and love and loss.

Tickets are available at the Western ticket office, the Food Coop and Village Books.

For more information, contact Marie Eaton at Marie.Eaton@wwu.edu or (360) 650-3104

Contact: Shirley Osterhaus, Western Washington University’s Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies coordinator, (360) 650-2309 or shirley.osterhaus@wwu.edu.

BELLINGHAM – Yomi Durotoye will present “Doing Good in Africa: Lessons from Traditional Agencies of Self-help in the Continent” as part of Western Washington University’s Fairhaven College World Issues Forum at noon on Wednesday, Feb. 15 in the Fairhaven College Auditorium on the Western campus.

The presentation is free and open to the public.

The constructed image of Africa as a luckless and helpless continent forever in need of foreign aid unjustly ignores the strong tradition of self-help and self-reliance that is found across African societies. Drawing from specific cases from his home community, Okemesi, in the Yorubaland region of Nigeria, Durotoye will describe the processes, practices and enabling values of traditional agencies of self-help and explore how these can be adapted to foreign aid to make the effort more effective, respectful and enduring.

Durotoye is the director of the African Studies program at Wake Forest University.

For more information on the World Issues Forum speaker series presented by Western’s Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies, call Shirley Osterhaus at (360) 650-2309 or visit the World Issues Forum Website at http://www.wwu.edu/depts/fairhaven.

WWU's Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies, established in 1967, is nationally recognized for innovation in teaching and  learning, intensive advising, student-designed majors, narrative assessment, experiential and independent learning and a commitment to social justice.

Contact: Bryan Rohde, Western Washington University Beta Alpha Psi, at vita.wwu.bap@gmail.com or (425) 830-2742

BELLINGHAM - Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) will be available to the general public free of charge through Apr. 16 at Western Washington University’s Parks Hall and Whatcom Community College’s Heiner Library.

Volunteers will provide free assistance with the preparation of non-business, personal income taxes during this period, including free e-filing of tax returns. Sponsored by Western’s Beta Alpha Psi and Accounting Society, the VITA program is staffed by students from Western, WCC and other members of the community. 

Locations and hours for VITA assistance are:

Western’s Parks Hall 336, starting Monday, Feb. 6

• Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays: 4:30-8:30 p.m.
• Saturdays: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

WCC’s Heiner Library, starting Monday, Feb. 13 

• Mondays: 5-8 p.m.
• Fridays: 9 a.m. to noon and 1:30-3:30 p.m.

All VITA sites are closed Feb. 20 (Presidents' Day). The Western VITA site will be closed Mar. 8-26 (exam week and spring break), and the WCC VITA site will be closed Mar. 23-Apr. 2 (spring break).

No appointment is necessary for any of the above locations. Assistance will be provided on a first-come, first-served basis.

To receive tax assistance, please bring all relevant tax documentation (W-2, 1099s, etc.) and copies of purchase and sale documents for all investment sales, as well as a copy of last year’s tax return, if available. 

For more information, contact Beta Alpha Psi's Bryan Rohde at vita.wwu.bap@gmail.com or (425) 830-2742.

Contact: Bellingham Lectures in Philosophy and Religion, at (360) 927-0640, info@blpr.org

BELLINGHAM –Jeffrey Schloss and Michael Murray will present two lectures as part of the Bellingham Lectures in Philosophy and Religion (BLPR),at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 21 and Thursday, Feb. 23 in the Performing Arts Center on the Western campus.

The presentations are free, open to the public and will be streamed live through the BLPR website www.blpr.org

In the first lecture on Tuesday, Feb. 21, Schloss and Murray will present “Evolutionary Theories of Religious Belief: Does Biology Explain Away God?”In the second lecture on Thursday, Feb. 23, they will present “Natural Evil in a Fine-Tuned Universe: Is Evolutionary Suffering Compatible with a Good God?” The lectures will be recorded and become available on the BLPR website afterwards.

Schloss is a distinguished professor of Biology and the T.B. Walker Chair of Natural and Behavioral Sciences at Westmont College. He also serves as the director of Westmont’s Center for Faith, Ethics and Life Sciences. Murray is a senior research scholar in the Department of Philosophy at Franklin and Marshall College. Murray is the author of several books, including “Nature Red in Tooth and Claw: Theism and the Problem of Animal Suffering” and he and Schloss are co-authors of “The Believing Primate: Scientific, Philosophical, and Theological Reflections on the Origin of Religion.”

The BLPR are designed to facilitate informed, articulate thinking and civil conversation regarding big questions present in philosophy, religion, and science.  The lecture series is supported by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation.

For more information on the BLPR , call (360) 927-0640 or visit the BLPR website at http://www.blpr.org/.

Contact: Craig Tyran, director of the Center for Excellence in Management Education, (360) 650-2207 or craig.tyran@wwu.edu

BELLINGHAM – Six Western Washington University students have been chosen to participate in the Leadership Lunch event to be held at Boeing Employees Credit Union (BECU)  in Tukwila on Feb. 10. 

The quarterly CBE Leadership Lunch Program recognizes students who distinguished themselves through scholarship and leadership while in the College of Business and Economics.  Students are nominated by faculty in their respective departments. 

The selected students include Aly Howisey, MBA, Kirkland; Matthew Hale, Accounting, Gig Harbor; Kristi Gross, Decision Sciences, Lynden; Tessa Griffin, Economics, Bainbridge Island; Shelly Durfey, Marketing, Sunnyside; Matthew Davenport, Management, Bellingham.

The students will be joined at the lunch by seven business leaders and four faculty and administrators from the CBE and the Western Foundation. At the lunch, students will meet with the business leaders to discuss topics concerning organizational leadership and career development.  The lunch provided an opportunity for the business professionals to contribute to the educational mission of the College of Business and Economics through interactions with students and faculty. 

The lunch will be sponsored by Scott Strand, BECU senior vice president of Member Operations and chief lending officer.  The luncheon program is organized by the Center for Excellence in Management Education at the CBE.  The Center for Excellence in Management Education provides a variety of programs designed to connect business and industry leaders with faculty and students to promote business and economics education.

For more information about this event, contact Craig Tyran at (360) 650-2207 or craig.tyran@wwu.edu.

Contact: Laurie Nesheim, Western Washington University Center for International Studies, at laurie.nesheim@wwu.edu or (360) 650-7544