The Daily Bruin

George Fox will celebrate World Religions Day by hosting “Sacred Journey: Perspectives on Lived Faith,” featuring a panel of faith leaders from the Portland area. Guests will engage in conversation from 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 15, in the Cap and Gown Room on the Newberg campus. The event is part of the university’s engagement with the President’s Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge.

Panelists expected include Rabbi Daniel Isaak from Congregation Neveh Shalom (southwest Portland); Shahriar Ahmed, president of Bilal Masjid (Beaverton); Abbot Kyogen Carlson, from the Dharma Rain Zen Center (southeast Portland); and Sarah Thomas Baldwin, George Fox’s campus pastor and dean of spiritual life.

This time is meant to celebrate the particularity as well as the interconnectivity of lived belief. It is a time meant to learn about each other and to enjoy the company of one another, according to Clint Baldwin (Center for Peace and Justice).

To learn more, visit the Peace and Justice site. Questions? Contact Melanie Newell at ext. 2686 or mnewell@georgefox.edu.

All university offices will be closed Monday, Jan. 2, to observe the New Year’s holiday.

All university offices will be closed on Friday, Dec. 23, as well as Monday and Tuesday, Dec. 26-27, to observe the  Christmas holiday.

The Newberg and Portland campuses have adopted a new tobacco-free campus policy beginning Jan. 1, 2012. While tobacco use by traditional undergraduate students and employees has already not been allowed (on or off campus), guests have been permitted to smoke outside buildings on university property. The new policy prohibits smoking and all forms of tobacco use everywhere on-campus by any person.

For more information and FAQs, please see this Tobacco-Free web page or contact Mark Pothoff (Student Life) at ext. 2313 or mpothoff@georgefox.edu.

More than 200 students will receive undergraduate and graduate diplomas at the university’s midyear commencement ceremony on Saturday, Dec. 17, in the Wheeler Sports Center. Seating begins at 1 p.m., and the ceremony will start at 2 p.m.

Tickets are not required; however, seating is limited to 10 guests per graduate. At 1:45 p.m., a live broadcast of the ceremony will be available to watch at this link.

Chris Skaggs, who graduated from George Fox with a bachelor’s degree in history in 1999, will serve as commencement speaker. He is a 12-year veteran of the Web and mobile software industry and founder of Soma Games, a video gaming company with a Christian worldview.

Staff and students: Here is a list of helpful links to check road conditions before you start out on that trip home or to visit friends and relatives for Christmas:

• California: dot.ca.gov/cgi-bin/roads.cgi
• Washington: wsdot.com/traffic/
• Oregon: tripcheck.com/Pages/RCmap.asp?curRegion=0&mainNav=RoadConditions
• Idaho: 511.idaho.gov/default.asp?display=cams

Security Services wishes you a safe trip and a wonderful Christmas break!

Just a reminder … The Bruin Bookstore’s web address has changed. You can find us online at gfubookstore.com.

Is there someone at George Fox who has made a difference in your academic career? Someone who ignited a spark to make you want to learn or attend class or who has acted as a role model? Take a moment to write an e-mail, e-card, or traditional “thank you” card to that professor (or other person). Try to be specific as you describe how this person has contributed to your life.

Newberg students can stop by the student life office’s front desk (third floor of Stevens Center) or the Academic Resource Center (the ARC in the second floor of  library) to pick up a blank card. Of course, one can make or buy one’s own card.

Students and employees will be able to get information on class cancellations and/or school closings in any of the following ways:

1. By listening to their local radio or television station – kgw.com, koin.com, kptv.com, katu.com, columbian.com, oregonlive.com
2. By checking e-mail
3. By calling Newsline, the university’s recorded source of information, at 503-554-EVNT (3868)
4. By calling the George Fox switchboard (503-538-8383)
5. By visiting the websites for Portland-area media
6. By visiting georgefox.edu

All textbooks rented from the Bruin Bookstore need to be returned no later than 5 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 16. Please take your books to the Textbook Annex.

Portland students may send their rental books through campus mail, but will need to make sure we receive them by the deadline. Please package and address them to Bruin Bookstore #6229 – include name/phone – and take them to the Portland Center by 10 a.m. on Friday, Dec 16.

Thanks and Merry Christmas from your friends at the Bruin Bookstore.

FoxTALE will be unavailable from 6 to 7 a.m. (Pacific Time) on Wednesday, Dec. 28, for scheduled maintenance. We apologize for any inconvenience.

The university will be closed Thursday and Friday, Nov. 24-25, for the Thanksgiving holiday. All offices, bookstores and libraries will be closed those two days.

The Murdock Learning Resource Center will reopen from 6 to 10 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 27. All other facilities will remain closed through Sunday.

Coming this week … The Bruin Discount Card in your mailbox. Card includes discounts to local vendors like Abby’s, Doran Automotive, Muchas Gracias, Snooty Fox, Chehalem Glenn and much more!

Just show the card at any of the listed vendors and receive your special GFU discount.

Are you using a United States Postal Service tray to stow away items around the house or office? Do you use any to transport department mail on campus? If so, it’s time to return them to the owner.

Postal inspectors say that, effective Nov. 26, they will resume their efforts to recover missing and stolen Mail Transport Equipment (MTE) and also seek prosecution against offenders. The resumption of criminal enforcement comes after the postal service offered a two-week amnesty period, encouraging anyone who was in possession of postal service equipment to return it – no questions asked.

“Theft of postal equipment is a federal crime. Replacing missing equipment last year cost the postal service $50 million – money that it can ill afford,” said Guy Cottrell, chief postal inspector. U.S.P.S. says previous efforts to recover MTE and prosecute offenders have been successful.

In 2008, postal inspectors launched the Equipment Recovery Project, an effort to return MTE that leaked out of the postal service network. Since then, postal inspectors have recovered almost 200,000 pieces of MTE, including pallets, trays and tubs, worth more than $4 million.

If you have any U.S. Postal Service tubs or trays, please bring them to Mail Services so they can be returned to the U.S.P.S. Thanks for your cooperation.

– Mail Services

Due to increased charges from our leasing vendor, we have increased the charge for color printing and photocopying from 20 cents-per-page to 25 cents-per-page. The cost of black-and-white printing and photocopying is unchanged. Scanning to e-mail continues to be free in the Portland Center Information Commons.

A Muslim perspective on the role of faith in identity formation will be the topic of a George Fox Evangelical Seminary seminar next Friday, Nov. 11, at the  Portland Center. The session runs from 9 a.m. to noon in Room 155.

Maria Ebrahimji, executive editorial producer for CNN and the director of CNN’s booking department, will share her perspective as a Muslim woman working for a major news agency in the United States. Joining her are three Muslim women who live in Oregon: Fatemeh Fakhraie, Muna Idow and Manar Alattar. Together, they will present three sessions: “Personal Faith Journeys” (9 a.m.), “Perceptions of People of Faith” (10 a.m.) and “Faith and Conversion” (11 a.m.).

The event, titled “Who Am I? Who Are You? A Muslim Perspective on the Role of Faith in Identity Formation,” is the latest installment of the seminary’s Ministry in Contemporary Culture Seminar series and seeks to find shared experiences between the Christian and Muslim faiths. The cost is $20 for alumni, students and staff. An optional lunch will be made available for $10 per person.

To learn more about the event or to register, visit seminars.georgefox.edu.

Between Monday, Oct. 31, and Saturday, Nov. 12, the first-floor lobby of the Portland Center will be our collection site for non-perishable food items to support Take Action Inc. All students, employees and friends are encouraged to participate.

Take Action works with students from six elementary schools in Portland to ensure that underprivileged children have food to eat when they go home on the weekend. This need was observed because many of the kids would load up on their Friday lunch, even trying to stuff their pockets of extra food to take home. Many of the kids at these schools wouldn’t eat again until the school provided breakfast on Monday morning.

The school staff began connecting with folks outside their area to gather food for these kids to take home to feed themselves and sometimes their families over the weekend.

This is where we can help. Below is a sample list of items that you can donate.

• Small jars of peanut butter and jelly
• Canned meats (beef, chicken, tuna)
• Non-perishable milk drinks
• Macaroni and cheese cups
• Canned meals (ravioli, stew, soups, etc)
• Instant oatmeal
• Fruit cups
• Canned vegetables
• Nuts and other healthy snacks

Take Action will also accept monetary donations if you’d like to help in that way.

The U.S.P.S. representative called and will not be available today (Thursday) for passport applications or renewals on the Newberg campus. Unfortunately, he was called away to fill in at another post office for an emergency medical situation.

You can still call to arrange a time to apply or renew your passport at the Dundee Post Office (503-538-8250). Make sure you call ahead of time to confirm that the passport clerk will be available.

The representative apologizes for any inconvenience.

The university’s Health Center is hosting a flu shot clinic from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 1. Cost is $15 or free for Regence or GFU Aetna student insurance.

Please call the Health Center at 503-554-2340 to schedule an appointment.

We are in need of an actress for Pushing 80, a student film about a car-thief gang of five who are raiding a small town of specific vintage cars for a car collector. They do this untraditionally by overtaking the car as its driving down the road. The gang meets its match in the form of a 65-year-old grandma in a very expensive-looking old car.

We will be auditioning in two places this week and are still in need of an actress to play the part of the grandma.

Audition info:

• George Fox Newberg campus in the Media Center at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 26
• Portland Center at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 27

Do you know any family members or colleagues who might be interested? Also, if you know of anyone who has a nice car and would like it to star in a student film, please contact Carissa Hoffman at choffman09@georgefox.edu.