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WSU takes the LEAD in fostering student democratic engagement

In recognition of WSU’s high level of student engagement across the system, the university has been selected as a NASPA LEAD Initiative Institution for this academic year. NASPA, a national organization for student affairs professionals, recognizes colleges and universities that are committed to making civic learning and democratic engagement a part of every student’s college education. WSU is among 47 colleges and universities selected nationally and is the only Pac-12 school to be included.

Katherine Banks.
Banks

Katie Banks, an instructor in the Department of Politics, Philosophy, and Public Affairs, said student interest in civic and democratic engagement is growing on the WSU Tri-Cities campus. Much of the culture around engagement there emanates from several key courses that integrate community engagement into the curriculum. In her political science 101 course, Banks asks students to apply core course concepts outside the classroom by attending relevant campus and community events. She also asks students to research a topic important to them and write a letter to a politician explaining why it deserves their attention.

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WSU Insider

Finding could expand Indians’ land claims

Treaty cession document includes Wood River Valley

Until recently, the final displacement of the Mixed Band of Native Americans, the group that gave birth to Sacajawea, was thought to be the last chapter in a long history of land grabs and betrayals at the hands of the federal government.

But the recent discovery of a historical document in the National Archives shows that territory slated for cession to the Mixed Band in 1870 was far larger than once assumed and included the lower Wood River Valley, including land under the present-day towns of Ketchum, Sun Valley, Hailey and Bellevue.

Orlan Svingen.
Svingen

The document was found in 2007 by a then-student of Orlan Svingen, WSU professor of history. It was written and signed by all concerned parties. It indicates that the Mixed Band once were entitled to claim territory stretching over 31,871 square miles in three states, with 10,072 square miles in southwest Montana, 2,318 square miles in northwest Wyoming and 19,480 square miles in Idaho.

Svingen helped convert the written descriptions contained in the document into a map of the ceded territory.

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Idaho Mountain Express

WSU tuba professor teaches and performs in China

Washington State University tuba professor Chris Dickey traveled to Tianjin, China, in August to perform and teach at the 2019 JinBao International Low Brass Festival, an event that attracted some 450 performers from throughout China.

Chris Dickey.
Dickey

Dickey, clinical associate professor of music, participated in an international faculty panel featuring artists from the United States, Denmark, China, Switzerland, and Austria. He worked with Chinese students ranging from advanced high school players to university-level and conservatory-trained students. Throughout the week, Dickey coached students who qualified for the final round of the festival’s prestigious solo competition. The pool of 150 tuba players was whittled down to just six finalists vying for top cash prizes.

“I heard students with incredible skills while in China,” Dickey said. “The students were eager to learn. Our time together was so rewarding because of their commitment to their craft and willingness to embrace new ideas.”

Evenings during the festival focused on solo and chamber music recitals from the guest faculty. For Dickey’s solo recital, he decided to feature music from his third solo album.

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WSU Insider

Moon Madness: A Rare Full Moon Will Appear This Friday The 13th

In a rare crossover of superstitious circumstances, September 2019’s full moon will happen to coincide with the most dreaded date on every calendar: Friday the 13th.

As to why Friday is perceived as an unlucky day, we have influences from ancient times. According to Christian beliefs, Jesus was crucified on a Friday. However, a possible literary source for the unluckiest day of the week may have to do with Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, in which the characters mention their aversion to traveling on a Friday.

Michael Delahoyde.
Delahoyde

In the essay “The Plan of the Canterbury Tales” by Dr. Michael Delahoyde, clinical professor of English at Washington State University, he noted the interest scholars have shown in the dating of fictional events.

The idea of “moon madness” also has been a reoccurring theme over the ages. One of the most common superstitions pertaining to the full moon actually involves its appearance on a Friday; in many European traditions, sleeping beneath a full moon on this day of the week is one way to transform into a werewolf.

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Mysterious Universe

 

Ask Dr. Universe: Why are there so many palm trees in California?

Along with beaches, sunshine, and movie stars, a lot of people picture palm trees when they think of southern California. While there are lots of palm tree species in California, they aren’t all originally from the area. Many were brought from different places around the world.

Chuck Cody.
Cody

That’s what I found out from my friend Chuck Cody, a biologist who manages some of the greenhouses at Washington State University.

Believe it or not, Washington state also used to be home to lots of palm trees. In the Jacklin Collection Museum at WSU, there are all kinds of petrified wood. One of the pieces is fossilized palm wood from central Washington. Fossils can give us a lot of clues about what life was like before humans were around.

Cody also told me that in prehistoric times, during the earliest days of flowering plants on our planet, palms were a big part of the natural landscapes. This was back more than 145 million years ago when dinosaurs like Iguanodon and Ankylosaurs roamed the earth.

In Washington, palm trees were common 15 million years ago and were able to survive during a time when the climate wasn’t so cold. But as you’ve observed, California is the place that’s home to a lot of palm trees these days.

While the California Fan Palm is a native palm of California, Cody told me that people started bringing other species of palm trees to California around 200 years ago.

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Dr. Universe