The Daily Bruin

Don’t forget to drop by the Ron Gregory Atrium in EHS Thursday (Dec. 9) to check out the engineering program’s seventh annual “Wobble-Off” engine competition from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. The demonstration will feature a variety of oscillating steam/air-operated engines built by freshmen students. It is the culmination of the students’ first-year studies in engineering design, solid modeling and machining.

The engines will compete in a variety of categories, including maximum speed, minimum vibration, maximum coast, cost efficiency and creativity/craftsmanship. All are welcome.

All George Fox employees can purchase Entertainment 2011 Books at a discounted employee price. Enjoy $30 in bonus savings cards with each edition. Example copies are available for viewing at the Information Desk in the Stevens Center (see Barbi Doran).

Order yours (Portland and/or Greater Oregon) for only $20 (retail price is $35). Call Susan Lowry-Nix at Entertainment Publications at 503-753-7045 or e-mail her at slowry-nix@entertainment.com to order your copy.

One last reminder: The deadline for submissions to the William Stafford poetry contest is Wednesday, Dec. 8, at midnight. This is an excellent opportunity for students to become published in an upcoming anthology of poetry honoring Stafford. As well, each of the three finalists will receive $50 compensation for their work.

We have received some submissions already, however we would like to see more! Submissions should be electronically sent to william.stafford.poetry@gmail.com.

For more information, click this link. Questions? Write peaceandjustice@georgefox.edu

Poinsettias are available for purchase in the lobby immediately after the Sunday performance (Dec. 12) of the Christmas Concert, for $5. They also will be available the following week in the Performing Arts Office (Ross 201) or by calling Debbie Hawblitzel at ext. 2620.

This Friday, Dec. 10, is the final day employees will be able to complete the Best Christian Workplaces survey, so please take about 10 minutes to do so this week if you haven’t already. Just log in to this link and use the access code 2079-571.

If you would rather complete the survey on paper, please request it from Chris Koch. You can then return it to him and he will ensure that it is submitted confidentially. The Best Christian Workplaces Institute will present the survey results in summary format to maintain all employees’ confidentiality. These results will be shared with employees early in 2011.

Wednesday, Dec. 8, is the final day employees may pick up their complimentary tickets for Saturday’s employee Christmas concert event. Stop by the first-floor Information Center in the Stevens Center before 5 p.m. to claim your two free tickets (for employees half time and above).

The presentation, “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear,” is scheduled this Friday through Sunday, Dec. 10-12, in Bauman Auditorium. Performances are scheduled Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. The complimentary tickets are designated for Saturday’s performance. Additional tickets may be purchased at music.georgefox.edu.

Questions? Contact Debbie Hawblitzel (Performing Arts) at ext. 2620 or dhawblit@georgefox.edu.

Mark your calendars for the library’s annual wassail party! Please take a break on Monday, Dec. 13, and join us in the MLRC multipurpose room between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. for free cookies, wassail and coffee.

The International Justice Mission chapter at George Fox invites you to our next meeting at 8:50 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 8, in the Le Shana lobby. The IJM deals in large part with the issue of sex-trafficking on both a global and local scale, and what steps we can do to combat it. Two major focuses of the chapter are prayer and how we can get involved in the community.

Please come and see how you can get involved as well!

A student worker is needed to assist the Center for Peace and Justice and Center for Global Studies for spring semester. This is a paid, 10-hour/week position.

Students engaged with and passionate about issues of peace and justice are encouraged to apply. There is a preference for those with international experience (i.e. study abroad, travel, missions).

Please apply via the new Bruin Careers website. For more information, contact Melanie Newell at mnewell@georgefox.edu.

Faculty and staff members: Please encourage those students whom you feel would be interested in this position to apply.

Thanks to all who participated in the advocacy week for the Morong 43 last week. We gained nearly 200 signatures for our petition letters, which were faxed and mailed out early Monday morning.

Please continue to pray for these 43 prisoners as they enter their fourth day of a hunger strike. The prisoners, their families and friends are calling for their release by Dec. 10, which is deemed International Human Rights Day.

For further updates, please click here to read a recent article. The Morong 43 have now been detained for 305 days. Please continue to pray and spread awareness about this injustice.

Thank you,
Melanie Newell (Center for Peace and Justice)

The university’s Center for Peace and Justice will host an evening with Liberian speaker Saah Joseph, who will present “From Liberia with Love: Experiences of War/A Life of Peace” from 7 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 8, in the Cap and Gown Room.

Joseph grew up as a Christian in Liberia, left his family at a young age, and escaped from the war to Sierra Leone when he was 12. After encountering another war, Joseph fled through three more countries until ending up at a refugee camp.

Joseph has worked with humanitarian organizations, including the Red Cross, for which he helped reunite war-torn families. He returned to Liberia and started to set up schools for refugee children. Currently, Joseph works at an organization called PLAN for the Children Humanitarian Aid. The organization recently started a school in a refugee camp, Mount Barcley, which enrolls 900 children.

In addition to Joseph’s presentation, the evening will include a special musical performance by Lasana “Lazso,” who will sing African gospel songs before and after Joseph’s talk. He too escaped war in his native country and survived persecution, poverty and personal failure.

Questions? Contact Melanie Newell at ext. 2686 or mnewell@georgefox.edu.

The university’s engineering program will host its annual engine competition on Thursday, Dec. 9, when freshmen students showcase the projects they’ve built at the seventh annual “Wobble-Off” from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. in the Ron Gregory Atrium in EHS.

The demonstration will feature a variety of oscillating steam/air-operated engines. The event is the culmination of the students’ first-year studies in engineering design, solid modeling and machining.

The engines will compete in a variety of categories, including maximum speed, minimum vibration, maximum coast, cost efficiency and creativity/craftsmanship. All are welcome.

Monday, Dec. 6, is the last day to R.S.V.P. for the employee Christmas celebration on Saturday, Dec. 11.

The event includes:

• Hors d’oeuvres and dessert, featuring special music, Christmas carols, and a devotional, at 5:30 p.m. in the Stevens Center. Please R.S.V.P. to Evangeline Pattison (ext. 2121) or epattison@georgefox.edu by the end of Monday.

• Christmas Concert: “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear,” at 7:30 p.m. in Bauman Auditorium. George Fox employees may pick up their complimentary tickets – limit two per employee – at the first-floor Information Center in Stevens Center. Phone reservations will not be taken except for employees at the Portland and Salem centers. (If you find you will not be able to attend the concert, please return your tickets). Tickets will be available through Wednesday, Dec. 8, at 5 p.m.

Questions? Contact Evangeline at ext. 2121 or epattison@georgefox.edu.

University policy allows a maximum of one year’s vacation accrual to be carried over into the next year. Any excess accrued vacation balance is forfeited.

Available on the HR website are vacation accrual charts with instructions, one each for support staff and administrators. Please use a chart along with the information on your Nov. 30 pay statement to determine if you need to use any vacation before Jan. 1, 2011.

Please keep in mind that the vacation balance on your Nov. 30 pay statement:

• Does not include any vacation you may have taken in November since those time sheets and time-off reports have not yet been received or processed in HR
• Does not include vacation you will earn in December

Links to these charts can be found at this link. If you have vacation hours that should be used by Dec. 31, please talk to you supervisor about scheduling time off between now and then.

December holidays include Thursday and Friday, Dec. 23-24; Monday, Dec. 27; and Friday, Dec. 31.

If you have any questions after you have reviewed your vacation balance and the chart that applies to your vacation accrual, feel free to contact HR for assistance.

Looking for on-campus employment, an internship, or full-time employment? Check out BruinCareers, a new interactive job-posting system for students and alumni. In MyGFU, click on Career Services > BruinCareers. New users must create a new account.

Questions? Contact Career Services at careers@georgefox.edu or 503-554-2330.

Please make your nominations for undergraduate students for the Who’s Who of Colleges and Universities.

You have the opportunity to make nominations by selecting 20 students who you feel are worthy of recognition from the students who qualify for selection. These students are eligible for nomination and expect to graduate either midyear or spring (December 2010 or April 2011).

In addition, they all have a GPA of at least 3.50 and must have turned in their application for degree. Other criteria for choosing a student include their demonstration of:

• personal integrity
• involvement in the George Fox community
• service to the community at large

One-hundred and twenty-eight students are eligible for nomination based on GPA alone. Click here to make your nominations.

Please contact Jere Witherspoon in the Office of Student Life (ext. 2316) if you have questions.

Registration is now open for the MLK Day of Service happening on Monday, Jan. 17. Visit this link and fill out the registration form.

MLK Day of Service volunteers must be available from 6:45 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. on Jan. 17 in order to participate. We are also looking for van drivers for this event.

Please e-mail Shelley Yonemura if you would be available to drive or for further information.

Would you take a few seconds (literally, seconds) to complete a two-question survey? We’d like to find out if you have an iPad and if you’d be interested in finding out how people are using their iPads.

Go to a George Fox faculty poll, iPad Use, at this link. Thanks from your grateful IT staff.

Just a reminder: The Bruin Bookstore’s buyback is from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, Dec. 13-17, in the SUB.

All students are invited to apply for a scholarship to attend the SCORR (Student Congress on Racial Reconciliation) Conference in California. Details and application information are available at this link.

The application deadline has been extended to noon on Friday, Dec. 10. Questions? Contact Shelley Yonemura (Multicultural Services) at syonemura@georgefox.edu.

Faculty, please let your students know about this opportunity.