Archive for November, 2010
From Western Washington University:
BELLINGHAM – Western Washington University’s Urban Transitions Studio will present environmental assessments of a concept for infill and alleyway redevelopment along Cornwall Avenue from 5:30-7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 1 in the City Hall Council Chambers at 210 Lottie St. in Bellingham.
The presentation, which is free and open to the public, will include both a State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Neighborhood Development (LEED-ND) assessment of proposals for revitalizing downtown Bellingham’s retail core.
Urban Transitions Studio is a collaborative partnership between WWU, the City of Bellingham’s Office of Planning and Community Development and Sustainable Connections, a Bellingham-based nonprofit organization. The partnership aims to promote New Urbanism and Smart Growth planning concepts and to stimulate ideas for transitioning Bellingham into a more urban and sustainable community.
This is the third initiative in a series of coordinated university studies that examine sustainable planning concepts for downtown revitalization and retail mall transition. Previous classes, last winter and spring, examined plan concept development, financing and plan implementation, marketing, and sustainable design under the guidance of WWU professors Nicholas Zaferatos, Paul Stangl and Wendy Wilhelm.
For more information about Urban Transitions Studio, contact Troy D. Abel, WWU assistant professor of Environmental Studies at (360) 650-6133 or abelt@wwu.edu.
Monday night, several people from the Birchwood Elementary School community met with Bellingham School District Superintendent Greg Baker to discuss the possible relocation of students and staff for a couple years while the school is rebuilt or remodeled.
You can read more about the meeting here.
In contrast to meetings over the last few year’s, Monday’s meeting went really smoothly, with respectful dialog and thoughtful questions. From an “outsider’s” perspective, community members appreciated having the opportunity to ask questions on the spot, rather than relying on written comments. Baker appeared to answered questions as candidly and honestly as he could.
Several people spoke in favor of the relocation and rebuild; no one came out completely against the idea. But some people appeared worried that the school wouldn’t reopen after the construction work, or that the exterior of the school would be more modern, like Shuksan Middle School or Wade King Elementary School. It sounds like Baker heard the concerns; he repeatedly mentioned how important the historic nature of the building seems to be to people. When asked hypothetical questions about the school remaining closed if the economy gets worse, Baker said anything is possible, but in that kind of situation (where a school would need to stay closed) , the district would likely be looking at building conditions districtwide, not just at Birchwood.
Blaine School District community members and parents of Blaine Middle and High school students are invited to a Drug and Alcohol Information Night Wednesday, Dec. 1.
The purpose of the meeting is to provide information on Whatcom County drug and alcohol trends, signs and symptoms of teen drinking and drug use, and available resources.
The information meeting will be from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in Blaine High School’s library, 1055 H St.
Bellingham School District students and parents are invited to a districtwide financial aid information night Thursday, Dec. 2.
Rick Stefani, a Western Washington University financial aid officer, will discuss the Free Application for Financial Student Aid and how to apply for scholarships.
The event, which is sponsored by the Gear Up program, starts at 7 p.m. in the Squalicum High School forum, 3773 E. McLeod Road. A Spanish-language presentation will be in the school’s library at the same time. Interpreters will be available for Punjabi, Vietnamese and Russian speaking families.
For more information, contact the Career Center at your high school.
From Western Washington University:
Western Washington University’s College of Sciences and Technology will continue its “Wizards @ Western” youth lecture series with “Living with Volcanoes in the Pacific Northwest” at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 4, in Science Lecture 150 on WWU’s campus.
The event is free and open to the public, and is geared toward children in grades 4-8.
Bellingham sits only a few miles from an active volcano, and numerous Washington cities sit on volcanic deposits from Mount Rainer. What causes volcanoes in this area? How hazardous are Washington’s volcanoes? How well can volcanic eruptions be predicted? These questions will be addressed in this Wizards @ Western presentation. Assistant Professor of Geology Jacqueline Caplan-Auerbach will discuss why we have volcanoes in the Pacific Northwest, what we can expect from them, and how scientists monitor volcanoes.
Winter quarter’s Wizard will be WWU Engineering Technology’s Stephen Dillman, who will discuss plastics and composites; the spring quarter’s Wizard will be Biology’s Ben Miner, who will discuss local marine invertebrates. Times and dates for these lectures are to be decided.
For more information on WWU’s Wizards @ Western youth lecture series, contact Jennifer Mott, program coordinator of WWU’s College of Sciences and Technology, at (360) 650-2454 or Jennifer.Mott@wwu.edu.
Western Washington University offices that were affected by the Nov. 23rd pipe burst in Old Main have been relocated.
A 2.5-inch sprinkler pipe burst in the frigid temperature the evening of Nov. 23. The water flowed from the 5th floor down through to the 2nd floor, damaging offices along the west side of the center section of the building.
Old Main is open today, Monday, Nov. 29, but several individual offices have been relocated. Click here to see the full reorganization list.
Financial Aid – Students and others needing financial aid help are being asked to wait until Tuesday, Nov. 30 to resolve issues. If immediate assistance in needed, call 650-3470. Students needed walk-in advising can go to the Student Employment Center and talk to Financial Aid staff there.
For people needing to access Old Main, use the exterior walkways and entrances at the north or south end of the building. If crossing the building is necessary, people are asked to use the 3rd floor.
A sprinkler pipe on the fifth-floor of Western Washington University’s Old Main building burst Tuesday evening, Nov. 24.
The water flowed from the fifth floor through to the second floor, damaging walls and offices along the way, according to Tim Wynn, director of facilities management for the university.
Crews are in the process of assessing the amount of water damage to the building; cost estimates aren’t known yet.
To see photos, go to Western Today.
The Science and the univerCity community lecture series returns Tuesday, Nov. 30, with a lecture about Internet search engines.
Western Washington University assistant professor Perry Fizzano will present “From Spiders to Surfers: Investigation Web Search Engines,” from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at Bellingham City Hall, 210 Lottie St.
Fizzano’s lecture is free and open to the public. It will be taped and rebroadcast over TV10.
The lecture series, which is co-sponsored by WWU College of Sciecnes and Technology, the city of Bellingham, and a grant from Cherry Point BP refinery, continues after the new year. During winter quarter, WWU math professor Richard Gardner will discuss higher dimensional space, and in the spring, assistant biology professor Eric DeChaine will discuss the prehistoric land bridge that linked Asia and North America.
Western Washington University’s news release is below.
Western Washington University Assistant Professor Perry Fizzano will present “From Spiders to Surfers: Investigating Web Search Engines” from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 30, at the Bellingham City Council chambers, second floor, Bellingham City Hall, 210 Lottie St.
The lecture, which is free and open to the public, is offered as the first event of the annual “Science and the univerCity” community science lecture series. It is sponsored by the WWU College of Sciences and Technology, the City of Bellingham, and, along with the other CST outreach programs, “Wizards at Western” and the “Leaders in Their Fields,” is also sponsored in part by a grant from the Cherry Point BP refinery.
The first search engines for the World Wide Web appeared a mere 15 years ago. In the short time since, searching the web has become a routine practice for millions of people every day; despite its popularity there are many elements of web search that remain mysterious to the average user.
In this talk, Fizzano will unravel some of these mysteries by discussing some of the processes that go on behind the scenes when a web search is performed. We will conclude with an exploration of the exciting future of web search.
Fizzano earned his bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Widener University, and his master’s degree and doctorate in Computer Science from Dartmouth College. He has taught at Western since 2005.
The series will continue in the winter with WWU Professor of Mathematics Richard Gardner presenting an exciting talk on higher dimensional space, and in the spring with Eric DeChaine, assistant professor in Biology, discussing the historical biogeography of Beringia, the prehistoric land bridge linking Asia and America.
“We are pleased again this year to have the support of the City in our efforts to bring programs on important topics in science and technology to the Bellingham community. Furthermore, to have endorsement of our efforts, in the form of support for this series by the BP Corporation, is especially gratifying,” said Arlan Norman, dean of the College of Sciences and Technology. “This is a program for the community, a program that we hope really contributes to the general understanding of many important and exciting topics in today’s complex world of scientific and technological advances.”
Fizzano’s presentation will also be taped and rebroadcast on Bellingham BTV 10.
For more information, contact Perry Fizzano, WWU assistant professor of Computer Science, at (360) 650-3807 or perry.fizzano@wwu.edu.
From Western Washington University:
Portland visual artist David Eckard will discuss past, present and future projects in a free public lecture at noon on Wednesday, Dec. 1 in Fine Arts 238 on the Western Washington University campus.
Eckard is an associate professor and chair of the Sculpture Department at Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA) in Portland. In March of this year, he was awarded the prestigious Bonnie Bronson Fellowship award, and he recently returned from a two-year teaching fellowship in France.
In addition to teaching, he had solo exhibitions at the Centre International D’Art Contemporain in Pont-Aven, France and at Atelier Dado in Cetinje, Montenegro. He has exhibited across the nation, with solo shows in New York, Seattle, Portland, and Chicago. He received a Juror’s Award in the 2006 Oregon Biennial at the Portland Art Museum.
Eckard has performed at PICA’s TBA Festival in 2004 and 2006, and for New Works Northwest at On the Boards, Seattle in 2005. Recently, his work “Mountebank (a moral decline),” comprised of sculpture and drawings, was also included in “Portland 2010: A Biennial of Contemporary Art.”
For more information on Eckard’s free public lecture, contact WWU’s Garth Amundson at (360) 650-3436 or garth.amundson@wwu.edu.
Hopefully all the snow and ice will be gone after Thanksgiving!
Bellingham School District – snow routes
Ferndale School District – one hour delay; no activity buses or after school activities, except varsity athletics. Conferences will continue as scheduled.
Lummi Nation Schools – two hour delay
Nooksack Valley School District – Nooksack Elementary School closed for the day due to water problems. The rest of the district is open and operating on schedule.
UPDATE: just got off the phone with Nooksack Valley Superintendent Mark Johnson. He said the problems at Nooksack Elementary are related to a water line that froze over Breckenridge Creek. There are no burst pipes at the school; city crews were addressing the problem earlier this morning. Conferences that were scheduled for this afternoon will be rescheduled.
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