The Daily Bruin

As an update to the FDA’s peanut butter recall, the list of suspected products contaminated with salmonella has increased to now include several retail snack and ice cream items. Brands affected include Little Debbie, Perry’s Ice Cream and several items produced by Kelloggs. Nationally branded grocery store jars of peanut butter have not been included in the recall.

There is currently a great deal of concern about products containing peanut butter because the salmonella bacteria has been found in products produced by the Peanut Corporation of America plant in Blakely, Ga. Those products were, in turn, shipped to other food manufacturers and were used in the production of a wide variety of candies, crackers, cookies and other items.

To ensure the safety of the items we purchase and make from scratch, Bon Appetit is continuing its ban of all peanut butter and related products.

At this point, it’s impossible to predict how long this ban will go on. We will keep everyone informed as we receive daily updates from the FDA and our distributors.

Thank you for your patience and understanding. Additional information can be found on the FDA website.

The campus community is invited to a book signing event with MaryKate Morse (Seminary) from 4 to 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 26, in the Portland Center Library. Her new book is titled Making Room For Leadership: Power, Space and Influence. The Portland Center bookstore will have copies available for purchase.

Bon Appetit is asking all students this week to scrape all their uneaten food and beverages into a series of five-gallon buckets adjacent to the dishroom prior to putting their trays into the dishroom window.

Estimates from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency suggest that at least 18 percent of all municipal solid waste that reaches landfills is food. That waste amounts to 31 million tons per year. Researchers estimate 40 to 50 percent of the food produced in this country is never consumed, owing to losses along the entire food chain.

We will be weighing the wasted food every day and posting the results near the dishroom. Last week, we saved and weighed all the scrapings from each tray and averaged 311 pounds of wasted food/beverages per day. Our goal is to request everyone pay closer attention to the foods and beverages you take in order to reduce waste by 25 percent by the end of the semester. If we can together accomplish that, we will have prevented more than 8,000 pounds of uneaten food from reaching our landfills.

Please join the university community in saying farewell to Al Zimmerman (Planned Giving) at a reception from 4 to 5 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 20, in the Duke Atrium in the Stevens Center. Refreshments will be served. The event was postponed twice previously because of inclement weather.

Al left the university to serve as executive director of the Portland-based Northwest Christian Community Foundation, a conduit for generating gifts in support of a wide range of Christian ministries. He had worked at George Fox for three years.

Faculty are invited to attend a Faculty Teaching Forum, “Notes from a Career in Teaching,” from noon to 1 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 22, in Hoover 104 (Hoover-Hatfield Library).

What are foundational lessons you have learned from your experience as a teacher? Join in a conversation about 10 teaching lessons learned by Murray Sperber, a professor for more than 40 years. You can read Sperber’s Chronicle of Higher Education article ahead of time, but doing so won’t be necessary for fruitful discussion.

To reserve a lunch, e-mail Jere Witherspoon (jwithers@georgefox.edu) by 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 20. Everyone is welcome to attend the session, whether bringing a lunch or reserving a lunch.

All faculty — full time, part time, and adjunct — are invited to attend Faculty Teaching Forums (FTFs). Video podcasts of FTFs will be available at the “Events and Resources” link on the Center for Teaching and Learning website.

Beginning Saturday, Feb. 21, and ending just before spring break, the university is hosting a female professor of linguistics and English language from Ukraine. Arrangements for her visit were made by the Marshall Christian Foundation, a group that arranged for three professors to visit last year.

If you or someone you know would provide room and some meals for this professor, please contact Lon Fendall (Center for Global Studies). There will be a small stipend to help with cost.

Over the three-day weekend (8 a.m. Jan. 17 to 5 p.m. Jan. 19, PST), IT will be installing critical updates to the PeopleSoft system. These updates are necessary to process Federal Financial Aid changes as well as the 2008 payroll W2’s.

Faculty and administrators will not be able to access course rosters or schedule information while the system is down. Faculty teaching courses this weekend should access their class rosters prior to Saturday morning when the system goes down. Also, all administrative functions in the production system will be unavailable over the weekend.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

The university will close Monday, Jan. 19, to observe the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. There will be no day or evening classes or chapel at the Newberg campus, and the Portland Center, Salem Center and Boise Center will be closed. Also, all the university’s offices, libraries and bookstores will be closed.

The university community is invited to attend an artist talk and opening reception for the art exhibit “Mentors: Northwest Artists Who Teach” on Tuesday, Jan. 20. The artist talk begins at 4 p.m. in Hoover 102, followed by the reception from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Minthorne Gallery. The exhibit will run through Feb. 26.

The campus community is invited to attend the opening reception for the Alumni Art Exhibit, scheduled from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 16, in the Lindgren Gallery. The exhibit will run through Jan. 29.

MaryKate Morse (Seminary) will sign copies of her new book, Making Room for Leadership: Power, Space, and Influence, at the Portland Center Library from 4 to 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 26.

Saturday, Jan. 17, 6 p.m. – Women’s basketball vs. Linfield, Wheeler Sports Center
Saturday, Jan. 17, 8 p.m. – Men’s basketball vs. Linfield, Wheeler Sports Center

The Bruin women’s team is on a record winning streak at 14-0 and is ranked 11th nationally in both the D3hoops.com and WBCA polls.

All Bruin home basketball games are webcast on KFOX and offer live video streaming.  Click on the links found on the schedule section of the Bruin athletics home page or each basketball team’s home page.

For more information, contact the sports information office at ext. 2926.

In March of 2008, the university’s libraries conducted a major user satisfaction survey using LibQUAL, a web-based survey from the Association of Research Libraries. A summary of survey results is available on the library’s blog, accessible at blogs.georgefox.edu/library/?p=191.

The University Store is offering a 10 percent discount on all school supplies and art products. The sale ends Friday, Jan. 23. Store hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday (closed on Monday, Jan. 19.)

This Friday, Jan. 16, is the last day to return books for a refund at the University Store’s textbook annex, as well as using the price-matching program. You must provide a receipt for proof of purchase to receive a refund. Bookstore hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Friday.

Please join the university community in saying farewell to Al Zimmerman (Planned Giving) at a reception from 4 to 5 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 20, in the Duke Atrium in the Stevens Center. Refreshments will be served. The event was postponed twice previously because of inclement weather.

Al left the university to serve as executive director of the Portland-based Northwest Christian Community Foundation, a conduit for generating gifts in support of a wide range of Christian ministries. He had worked at George Fox for three years.

The university’s libraries are now offering a customizable library toolbar. Use the toolbar for quick access to the library homepage, key library content, searching the catalog, blog updates and more. Add your own gadgets like top YouTube feeds, music and games. Find out more at georgefox.edu/offices/murdock/HowTo/toolbar.html.

A representative from the International Schools of China will be on the Newberg campus from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday and Friday, Jan. 22-23, in the Student Union Building.

Each year, ISC seeks a number of teachers who are passionate about their relationship with Christ, committed to teaching, and open to serving God in China for a minimum of two years. The organization is seeking teachers with state or Association of Christian Schools International teaching credentials.

ISC is a network of six international schools in China. Its schools are K-12 and use English-language instruction, and students are the children of Christian tent-makers, international business people and diplomats. They come from a wide range of countries, with the majority from Asia (South Korea, Japan, Singapore, etc.). By Chinese law, ISC is not permitted to admit Chinese students.

ISC’s employment package includes:

• A two-week pre-field orientation here in the United States
• Airfare to China at the beginning of the two-year term and back at the end of the term
• Furnished housing
• A monthly stipend (salary)
• Medical and evacuation insurance
• Chinese language training
• Retirement benefits (beginning the third year of service)
• Master’s degree program (beginning the third year of service)

Elementary class limits are 20 students. Local Chinese teaching assistants work alongside foreign teachers in the classrooms. To learn more, visit teachwithisc.com or contact Cindy Fox at c.fox@ldius.org.

University Relations is looking for volunteers to help throughout the day at Kaleo 2009, “Ordinary Radicals” with Shane Claiborne. All volunteers get $10 off of their registration price. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Amy Lorenz (University Relations) at ext. 2134 or alorenz@georgefox.edu.

Kaleo is scheduled from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 7, in Bauman Auditorium. For a schedule and other event information, visit kaleo.georgefox.edu.

Campus security will open the Fitness Center at 5 a.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Friday for the next 10 weeks. At 6:30 a.m., a student research project will use the Fitness Center, so the equipment available for community use will be limited. The project also takes place on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., during which time the Fitness Center will be closed.

For more information,  contact the Department of Health and Human Performance at ext. 2910.