June 2003 • The monthly newsletter for UWT faculty and staff
Welcome
to Inside Track, the monthly e-newsletter produced by
the University of Washington, Tacoma, Office of Public Relations
and Communications. The purpose of Inside Track is to
publish updates, news and information of interest to the campus
community. If you have comments or suggestions regarding this
newsletter, e-mail us at uwtnews@u.washington.edu.
Congratulations
to UWT Systems Analyst Kris Symer for providing
the inspiration for our new name, Inside Track. Kris was awarded
a lovely candy jar and coffee mug from the University Bookstore.
Thanks, Kris!
UW
Tacoma holds thirteenth Commencement on June 13
The
largest graduating class ever—more than 800 students—will
be honored at UW Tacoma's 2003 commencement ceremony Friday, June
13.
UWT
will grant its first Master of Business Administration and Bachelor
of Arts in Business Administration with a concentration in Financial
Services degrees at the ceremony, beginning at 10 a.m. in the
Tacoma Dome. The ceremony will bring the total number of degrees
granted by UW Tacoma to over 4,500. Last year, 640 students graduated.
Sarah
Weddington, an influential Texas attorney, professor and author,
will deliver the commencement address. Weddington, best known
for arguing the case Roe v. Wade before the U.S. Supreme
Court in 1971, is a nationally known spokesperson on leadership
and public issues.
Weddington
is thought to be the youngest female attorney to win a case in
the nation's highest court. She has served in the Texas House
of Representatives and the Carter Administration and is currently
on the faculty at the University of Texas, Austin.
UW Tacoma has granted more than 4,500 degrees since 1990.
>
FIVE 2003 GRADUATES TELL THEIR STORIES
Legislature
passes budget; impact still unknown
The
State Legislature has passed a final biennial operating budget
that is now being analyzed by the University of Washington Budget
office.
The
impact is less dramatic than that of the original Senate budget,
but less generous than the original House budget. A preliminary
estimate suggests UW Tacoma's budget will be reduced by slightly
less than 5 percent, which would mean the budget could be balanced
without further layoffs.
Tuition
will increase by 7 percent this year and next for resident undergraduate
students and the Board of Regents will set tuition for all other
categories of students. Tuition waivers are limited.
No
faculty or staff raises are included, although the University
may consider raising salaries by cutting the budget elsewhere.
The
University agreed that money the Legislature moved from the Operating
Budget to the Capital Budget to repair and maintain aging buildings
in Seattle would come solely from the Seattle campus budget, which
saves UWT more than $800,000— an amount equivalent to last
year's budget reduction.
The Budget Development Committee met yesterday.
Final budget recommendations are expected this week. More information
will be sent by e-mail once the recommendations are completed.
Recognition
Night honors students, faculty and staff
Outstanding
UW Tacoma students, faculty and staff were honored at the annual
Recognition Night ceremony June 6.
Nineteen
students were honored with Gift of Service Awards, and Chancellor
Vicky Carwein also recognized the Outstanding Student Leader,
Outstanding Student Organization, Adviser of the Year, ASUWT Student
Leader, Distinguished Teaching and Distinguished Service award
recipients.
Student
Sabrina Crenshaw was given the Rod Hagenbaugh Award, for a graduating
senior who best exemplifies UWT's ideal of service combined with
learning.
Other
award recipients were:
Gift
of Service Awards: Kelly Hilborn, Cecelia Smiley-Adams,
Jennifer Adams, Angela Sabra, David Bahrt, Leonardo de Oliver,
Sabrina Crenshaw, Brian Feller, Tolena Mahlum, Margaret Rzymowska,
Eileen Norman, April Bergren, Angelina Quiles, Donna Morse, Brook
Bower, Tamera Elston, Joyce Mitchell, Mark Dodson and Shelley
Soi
Outstanding
Student Leader: ASUWT President Brian Feller
Outstanding
Student Organization: HOPE Network
Adviser
of the Year: Shellie Jo White
Distinguished
Teaching Award: Ruth Rea (Nursing)
Distinguished
Service Awards: Lisa Rankin (OESSA) and Julia Smith (Urban
Studies)
Tahoma
West showcases fiction, art, poetry and prose
The
Spring 2003 issue of the student-produced art and literary journal
Tahoma West was released in May.
Tahoma
West is a national award-winning literary arts journal published
by the students of UWT. Submissions come from UWT staff, faculty,
alumni and current students. Writers submitted short stories,
essays, traditional and free-verse poetry, photographs and original
art.
IAS
student Maria Dolores Salinas Benavente chose the Chihuly chandelier
in the UWT library as inspiration for her poem, "Frozen Flames":
Under
its blazing tentacles opened books exhale its musty breath
Invisible flame crackles with the turn of each page
The pages pulsate like the beat of a heart
Other
works include Rhonda Reneé Sherran's story of the struggles
of a soldier in Vietnam in "My Journey into Hell: Khe Sanh";
Thomas Duke's painting, "Comforts of Isolation"; Carmela
Amador's short poem, "The American Dream"; and Kristy
Pistilli's color photograph, "Fortitude."
Tahoma
West is available from UWT for a suggested donation of
$5. For more information, contact Adviser John Peterson at (253)
692-5653.
Faculty
and Staff Notes
Executive
Director Dan Garcia (OESSA) was recently invited
to participate as a reader for the Gates Millennium Scholars program
and the Hispanic Scholarship Fund. He is among thirty Hispanic
educators, administrators and community leaders chosen to help
select scholarship recipients from a pool of Hispanic nominees.
Millennium Scholars was established in 1999 as an initiative to
encourage students to complete college and earn master’s
and doctoral degrees in disciplines in which their ethnic and
racial groups are currently underrepresented.
Professor
Carolyn West (IAS) recently received a $65,000
research supplement from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse
and Alcoholism. She plans to investigate the associations between
alcohol use and sexual assault with Dr. Jeanette Norris at the
UW Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute in Seattle.
