WSU News Service

PULLMAN, Wash. – The Board of Regents of Washington State University approved the creation of University College at its meeting Friday on the Pullman campus. Proposed as a way to improve student retention and success, University College will reorganize existing units to provide an academic home for new freshmen and transfer students. “We as a board are very excited about the University College,” said Regent Harold Cochran, who serves as chairman of the board’s Academic and Student Affairs Committee. “The goal is ... [more]

PULLMAN, Wash.—The Washington State University School of Music will present its holiday concert, Holiday Lights, at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 5, in the Bryan Hall Theatre. This family-friendly concert will include music by the WSU Madrigal/Chamber Singers, the University Singers, the WSU Concert Choir and the WSU Orchestra. The concert will open with the WSU Madrigal/Chamber Singers, directed by Lori Wiest, performing a traditional English seasonal program including William Walton’s “What Cheer,” Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “The Blessed Son of God” ... [more]

PULLMAN, Wash. – The WSU Wind Symphony and Symphonic Band will welcome the Pullman Community Band to the Bryan Hall Theatre stage in a free public concert featuring an evening of band favorites and contemporary works at 8 p.m. Dec. 3. The Symphonic Band, conducted by David Turnbull, and Pullman Community Band, directed by Heidi Jarvis, will join forces to open the concert with traditional band favorites, including Fillmore’s “American’s We” march, Grainger’s “Irish Tune from Country Derry,” and Shostakovich’s rousing ... [more]

RICHLAND, Wash. — Poets, from the shy to the bold, are invited to share their creativity Dec. 3 at Open Mic Poetry Reading Night at Washington State University Tri-Cities.   “We have had performance poets and hip-hop poets, cowboy poets, rhyming or free verse poets, even chanting poets. We had poets who are in their 80s, fifth graders, WSU students of all ages, and people of all backgrounds and interests as both poets and supporters,” said Leonard Orr, WSU Tri-Cities academic director ... [more]

PULLMAN, Wash.— National and state agencies have renewed accreditation for Washington State University’s College of Education, which earned praise as “a standout institution.” The ratings came after voluntary reviews by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) and Washington State’s Professional Educator Standards Board (PESB).  Both accreditation teams, which work cooperatively, visited WSU last spring.   “I have had the opportunity to review many large tier-one research institutions, but relatively few have had the mission complexity of  WSU's College of ... [more]

PULLMAN, Wash.—Washington State University is looking to its students, faculty, and staff for suggestions of who should be honored with the next Faculty Diversity Award. By giving this award annually, WSU recognizes distinctive and outstanding teaching, research or creative work and/or service or outreach by faculty that advance diversity in the university and the communities it serves. “We know from nominations in previous years that there are many WSU faculty doing outstanding things to diversify our classrooms, workplace, and community,” said WSU ... [more]

PULLMAN, Wash.—Dr. Bruce Becker, an expert in the use of water therapy to treat injuries and promote well-being, is helping design a program to speed the recovery of wounded U.S. soldiers. Becker is a physician and research professor who directs the National Aquatic & Sports Medicine Institute at Washington State University. He will share some of the institute’s research findings with U.S. Army doctors and therapists when he visits Fort Lewis, Wash., on Dec. 8 to help launch the Army’s Aquatic ... [more]

PULLMAN, Wash.— American sociologist William Julius Wilson, Washington State University alumnus, author and Lewis P. and Linda L. Geyser University Professor at Harvard University, will be the WSU Fall 2009 Commencement speaker. The event will begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Dec.12 in the Beasley Performing Arts Coliseum. WSU President Elson S. Floyd will preside over the ceremony. This year, the William Julius Wilson Diversity Award will be presented during commencement. The award recognizes contributions to social policy and diversity that ... [more]

PULLMAN, Wash.—The 2009 Washington State University Dad of the Year was named on Nov. 14 during WSU’s Dad’s Weekend celebration. Melvin Pecka of Nampa, Idaho, was this year’s awardee. He was nominated by his daughter Melanie Pecka. Pecka, who received a plaque and admission to the president’s box for the weekend’s football game, was described by his daughter as her “foundation, encourager, friend, financer and hero.” He has battled cancer and an arm injury in the last few years and his ... [more]

PULLMAN, Wash. -- A peregrine falcon has been successfully released by Washington State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine after the raptor made a full recovery from its injuries.    The falcon, nicknamed Stephens for the man who brought the injured bird in from Rosalia, suffered from two broken bones in one of its wings. A team of WSU volunteers and veterinarians nursed the falcon back to health without surgery. Instead, a series of bandages were used to hold the broken bones ... [more]

PULLMAN, Wash.— Keith Lincoln ’61, former Washington State University Alumni Association (WSUAA) executive director and “barn builder extraordinaire” will receive the WSUAA Alumni Achievement Award on Saturday, Nov. 14. The award is the highest honor bestowed upon alumni by the WSUAA and recognizes Lincoln for his outstanding contributions to WSU and the WSUAA. Lincoln came to WSU in 1957 after being offered a football scholarship and soon became a triple-threat running back.  His success on the gridiron earned him the ... [more]

SPOKANE, Wash. – Washington State University Spokane has been named recipient of the 2009 Excellence in New Communications Award for Academic Microblogging by the Society for New Communications Research. The award was announced late last week at the 4th Annual SNCR Excellence in New Communications Awards gala at the Harvard Faculty Club in Cambridge, Mass. The SNRC awards program (http://sncr.org) honors innovative organizations that are pioneering the use of social media, ICT, mobile media, online communities, and collaborative technologies in the areas of media, marketing, public relations, advertising, entertainment, education, politics and social initiatives.

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PULLMAN, Wash.—A team of the Washington State University student chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery won the site championship at the International Collegiate Programming Contest on Saturday, Nov. 7, at the University of Idaho. The winning WSU team, Umlaut, consisted of senior computer science majors Jeremy Rehkop, Matthew Miller and Travis Gomez. Two other teams of WSU students competed. They include computer science students Spencer Thomason, Albert Lam, Jessica Taylor, Phillip Marshall and Keiichiro Seto. Scores are based on solving the ... [more]

RICHLAND, Wash. —  A seminar on “The Molybdenum-99 Crisis: The Washington State University Approach to Addressing a Critical National Shortage through the WSU Nuclear Radiation Center” will be presented Friday, Nov. 13, at WSU Tri-Cities.   This nuclear-related engineering professional development seminar will be led by Donald Wall, director of WSU Pullman’s Nuclear Radiation Center. It starts at 12:10 p.m. in the West Building, Room 210, at 2710 University Drive, Richland. It also is available by videoconference at WSU Pullman in Murrow ... [more]

PULLMAN, Wash. – The first-time buyer tax credit program enacted in early 2009 clearly helped Washington’s home sales improve during the third quarter, according to statistics released today by the Washington Center for Real Estate Research at Washington State University. And while the concentration of buyers at the lower end of the home price spectrum kept median prices below a year ago, the rate of price decline slowed. Statewide home sales increased 15.6 percent at seasonally adjusted annual rates from the ... [more]