BSN graduate Danene Jesionowski shows off her diploma.
Commencement 2007
Close to 600 students participated in the 2007 Commencement ceremony June 8 at the Tacoma Dome.
Cameras
from KING-5 and KOMO-TV news were trained on 78-year-old
Milgard School of Business graduate Rudy Nevarrez.
But Nevarrez wasn't the only phenomenal grad honored
at the ceremony. Chancellor Patricia Spakes recognized
Joseph Akuei (IAS), a former "Lost Boy"
of Sudan who fled Africa to escape civil war and worked
his way through school, and Delonna Zarelli (Nursing),
a single mother of six who earned the UW Graduate
School's Top Scholarship Award for outstanding graduate
students.
Nick Bubb, the ASUWT president who is currently deployed to the Middle East, recorded an audio speech which was played during the event. A video of the speech is available on the UW Tacoma Web site.
Bestselling mystery author J.A. Jance spoke briefly about overcoming obstacles to follow her dream of becoming a writer.
Power outage disrupts campus
Where were you when the power went out?
UW Tacoma experienced a brief power outage Tuesday afternoon due to problems at an off-campus substation. Power went out across campus just after 3 p.m. for about 40 minutes.
Emergency systems immediately switched to a backup generator, and elevators were recalled and checked. Campus leadership was assessing the situation and determining how to communicate news to the campus community when the power came back on.
How did your unit respond to the outage? Send your feedback on the campus response to the power outage to Campus Safety at 2-4461 or vbailey@u.washington.edu.
UWT Alumni Association forms Alumni Council
The UW Tacoma Alumni Association, under the leadership of Alumni Relations Manager Scott Pinkston, has a new Alumni Council.
Council
members are Allison Drago (Education
’02), John Harrison (MBA ’03),
Bruce Kidd (IAS ’02), Michael
Painter (Liberal Studies ’95), Tracy
Peacock (IAS ’97), Sunday
Tollefson (Business ’02), Kellie
Williams (MBA ’04) and Sally
York (Nursing ’94, MN ’01).
York and Tollefson are both past presidents of the
UWT Alumni Association. Harrison is the Tacoma representative
to the UW Alumni Association Board of Trustees.
Members
of the council, which meets quarterly, will act as
liaisons with other alumni and faculty to help the
university develop engaging, entertaining alumni programming.
Memorial garden project moving forward
A memorial garden for the Japanese Language School will become a rich focal point on campus within the next few years as fundraising for the project kicks into high gear. The garden will be located at 19th and Jefferson adjacent to the Court 17 Apartment complex.
A fundraising committee of former students of the school, now in their 70s and 80s, will help guide the fundraising effort.
The memorial garden will preserve the heritage of the historic Japanese Language School that stood on Tacoma Avenue within the campus footprint. The building stood mostly vacant since WWII. A consultant determined the structure had deteriorated too far to preserve and recommended preserving the heritage instead. The university was forced to remove the building in 2004.
"There was a thriving Japanese community that existed in downtown and the Japanese Language School was a central, unifying institution for that community," says Mike Wark, director of Public Relations and Communications. "The school represented the community's hopes for the future and was supported by business and civic leaders. There are many similarities between UW Tacoma and the Japanese Language School."
The memorial garden will focus on the school and its principal, the accomplishments of its former students, and the vibrant immigrant community that did not return to downtown Tacoma after the internment ended.
Summer activities at UW Tacoma
The UW Tacoma campus will be bustling with activities this summer, from summer classes to learning camps and major community events.
Summer Quarter at UW Tacoma starts Monday, June 18. About 1,600 students are enrolled for summer classes, which are open to both current UW Tacoma students and non-degree-seeking students. Visit www.tacoma.washington.edu/summer for a full schedule of classes.
Later this summer, UW Tacoma will host two groups of younger students on campus to enrich their learning. The Summer Jump learning camp for kids, which begins in late June, offers summer tutoring for local middle- and high-school students in partnership with St. John Baptist Church.
In August, another group of middle- and high-school students will gather at UW Tacoma for the popular Math, Science and Leadership Program. Now in its fourth year at UW Tacoma, this program is designed to strengthen the skills of students who might not otherwise have a chance to study these fields intensively and succeed. It is targeted toward first-generation college students, underrepresented minorities and girls—students who might slip through the cracks before they can explore their budding interests in science and math.
Also in August, UW Tacoma will once again host part of the city's Showcase Tacoma arts festival. Stay tuned for more information.
Shed demolition starts; Assembly Hall groundbreaking Aug. 28
A groundbreaking ceremony to kick off the construction of the new UW Tacoma Assembly Hall will be held Tuesday, Aug. 28, at 11 a.m.
Contractors began preparing to tear down the Shed this week to make way for the new building, which will be constructed between the Walsh Gardner and Cherry Parkes buildings on Pacific Avenue. Scheduled for completion in Fall 2008, the Assembly Hall will provide a large, multipurpose space for lectures, performances, dinners and other campus events, as well as study and gathering space for students.
Freshman honored in research competition
 |
| Freshman Christina Kipelidis, left, with Assistant Professor Donald Chinn at the Research Award for Undergraduates award reception in June. |
UW Tacoma freshman Christina Kipelidis earned an Honorable Mention award—and a little summer spending money—in the annual UW Libraries Research Award for Undergraduates competition this Spring.
Kipelidis, who researched stem cells, submitted a paper describing her use of UW Libraries, research strategies and library resources. She was one of three UW Tacoma freshmen to enter papers in the competition. The Honorable Mention award comes with a prize of $100.
Assistant professors Donald Chinn and Amos Nascimento worked with Library Assistant Director Carole Svensson to prepare their students to enter the competition.
