Press Releases
Posted on Tuesday, November 21, 2006 - Arts & Events
New WSU Vancouver Class Presents Panel Discussion on Columbia River Issues
CONTACT:
- Sheri Byrd, Office of Marketing and Communications, 360/546-9602, byrds@vancouver.wsu.edu
- Mark Stephan, College of Liberal Arts, 360/546-9467, stephanm@vancouver.wsu.edu
Vancouver, Wash. - Washington State University Vancouver presents "Land, River, Sea: People and the Watershed," an interdisciplinary panel on Columbia River environmental and economic concerns, at 10 a.m. Nov. 30, in the Student Services Building, Room 110.
The panel is will explore two basic questions:
- Is there a necessary tension between economic and environmental priorities?
- How do we, or can we, balance those concerns?
Panelists will be:
- Bob Dingethal, southwest Washington director for US Senator Maria Cantwell, panel facilitator
- Brent Foster, executive director of Columbia Riverkeeper
- Michael Lang, conservation director for Friends of the Columbia Gorge
- Glenn Vanselow, executive director for Pacific Northwest Waterways Association
- Robert Willis, Environmental Resources Branch Chief, US Army Corps of Engineers, Portland district
"Land, River, Sea: People and the Watershed" is one of the new General Education courses at WSU Vancouver, required of most new freshmen. Students learn the interactions between environment, culture, politics and policy as applied to the Columbia River and other major watersheds of the world. The class, co-taught by professors of political science, marine biology, anthropology and environmental science, will be attending the panel discussion.
"It's a good example of our General Education theme ‘Global change in a local context,'" said political science professor Mark Stephan, one of the instructors. "It's a rigorous course, requiring students to think about multiple disciplines simultaneously. It's intense, but as they've gotten more into it, they're really starting to enjoy it."
WSU Vancouver is located at 14204 N.E. Salmon Creek Ave., east of the 134th Street exit from either I-5 or I-205. Parking is available in the blue lot for $2 or at parking meters.
WSU Vancouver offers 14 Bachelor's degrees, 9 Master's degrees and 1 Doctorate degree and more than 35 fields of study. Visit us on the Web at http://www.vancouver.wsu.edu.
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