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CAS in the Media Arts and Sciences Media Headlines

Boeing executive and WSU alumna joins the Board of Regents

Jenette Ramos.
Ramos

Jenette Ramos, a Boeing Co. executive who started out as a summer employee while an undergraduate at Washington State University, is joining the university’s Board of Regents.

“I’ve always had a warm spot in my heart for Washington State University, and as an alumna, I feel it is really important to give back,” Ramos said. “I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to spend time with students during this important time in their careers and to help shape the leaders of the future.”

In her sophomore year studying pre-medical science, Ramos was invited to spend the summer working at Boeing. By the third summer, a job offer prompted her to shift academic tracks. She became one of the company’s first environmental engineers, and credits WSU for the opportunity.

“I remember one of my environmental science professors talking about the unique silt loam of the Palouse, and from then on I worked to leverage my pre-med background into chemistry and then into environmental science,” Ramos said. “That ultimately led me to the open door at the Boeing Company, and to this day I am still very passionate about the environment and sustainable practices.”

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WSU Insider

Everett’s Cheyenna Clearbrook takes part in reality series ‘Deaf U’ on Netflix

Cheyenna Clearbrook.
Clearbrook

Everett’s Cheyenna Clearbrook was already a social-media maven before Netflix came calling. But now her online influencer status may be poised to grow beyond her 23,000 Instagram followers and 114,000 YouTube channel subscribers, with the premiere of “Deaf U.”

“I grew up mainstream so I’m used to being with the hearing population and culture,” she says. “I didn’t have a lot of access to deaf culture until I entered Gallaudet. And then I was able to see the invisible bubble of security in everyone understanding each other. I got used to it and I identified as a deaf person, but in leaving Gallaudet, I realized it’s a different world.”

Currently enrolled at Washington State University and anticipating a December graduation with a major in humanities, Clearbook is a 2017 graduate of Edmonds-Woodway High School. She says with on-camera experience on her close-captioned YouTube Channel, she was better prepared for filming “Deaf U.”

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Seattle Times
Pop Sugar

Mellon grant boosts digital stewardship of indigenous cultural materials

Washington State University researchers working to enable digital repatriation of Native American cultural heritage materials received a $700,000 grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for the next phase of an innovative, community-driven curation program.

Kimberly Christen.
Christen

Part of the unique Mukurtu CMS software initiative, Mukurtu Shared will allow the materials to be ethically and collaboratively curated in the online environment by indigenous communities using standardized, replicable workflows and freely available digital tools, said Kimberly Christen, professor and director of the Digital Technology and Culture Program in the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) and a principal investigator for the grant.

“Respecting indigenous values and knowledge, this method incorporates local Native American protocols for attribution, access, review, vetting and labeling of cultural heritage materials,” Christen said.

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WSU Insider

 

What happens if a presidential candidate withdraws or dies close to an election? The law isn’t quite clear

The Constitution has pretty clear guidance on what to do if a president becomes incapacitated or dies while in office, as laid out in the 25th Amendment.

Cornell Clayton.
Clayton

It’s unclear what effect the diagnosis will have on the election, said Cornell Clayton, the director of the Thomas S. Foley Institute for Public Policy and Public Service at Washington State University. A total of eight U.S. presidents have died in office, four of natural causes and four by the hand of an assassin. None of them became ill or were killed so close to an election day.

There’s a clear line of succession laid out in federal law if a president becomes incapacitated before an election, Clayton said.

“I don’t think there’s any problem about who’s going to be in charge,” Clayton said. “We know that; there’s a process for that.”

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The Spokesman-Review

A Social-Belonging Intervention Improves STEM Outcomes For ESL Students

A study conducted at 19 universities found that a brief social belonging exercise, administered online before students arrive on campus, boosts the performance and persistence of students in STEM disciplines – science, technology, engineering and math – who speak English as a second language.

Elizabeth Canning.
Canning

The study was conducted by Elizabeth Canning, assistant professor of psychology at Washington State University, and colleagues in the U.S. and Canada,

Published this week in the journal Science Advances, the study demonstrates that the exercise increases ESL students’ perception that a sense of belonging on campus will grow over time. It also increases the number of STEM credits ESL students successfully completed, as well as their STEM GPAs.

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Scienmag
WSU Insider