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 Faculty and Staff Highlights | Page 3
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 University Announcements | Page 4
December 2013/January 2014
FACULTY & STAFF NEWS
Experience guides new SPP track head
BY WANDA LAUKKANEN | In
the state of Oregon, where the Hispanic
population surged 63 percent from 2000
to 2010, Pacific University is pursuing
education for professional students with an
understanding of Hispanic culture.
One of those target growth areas is the
Latino/bilingual track within the School
of Professional Psychology, with its new
director, Ruth Zuniga.
Born in rural Costa Rica, Zuniga’s
background mirrors the journey taken
by many other Latino immigrants to the
United States.
She was the youngest of four children.
Her two older sisters began working after
sixth grade, she said, because the family
needed the money the girls could earn.
“My brother, because he was a man and
due to cultural values, was allowed to attend
Photo by Wanda Laukkanen
Ruth Zuniga, the new director of the Latinao/bilingual track in the School of Professional Psychology, plans
to focus on working with students to serve the Latino populations in many different environments.
But Zuniga loved school and did well
Zuniga rode a bus 1 ½ hours each way.
high school, but the women in the family
in her studies, and she was determined to
could not,” she said.
follow in her brother’s footsteps. She battled
while she was in school, leaving two small
the cultural stereotypes and, with her sisters’
children — one 5 months and the other
is attending school, it means they’re not
support, attended high school, despite her
1 ½ years old. At night and on weekend,
working, they’re not bringing money to the
mother’s desire to keep her home and her
Zuniga was in charge of taking care of the
family, and it means you have to pay for all
father’s prolonged absence.
children. But she kept studying.
“Education is free, but when someone
the other things. You need uniforms, books,
food, and everything else.”
It wasn’t easy. Classes were from 7 a.m.
to 4 p.m.
One of her sisters died of leukemia
See ZUNIGA, page 4
pacificu.edu/marcom/pacnews.cfm |
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Faculty & staff highlights
AURAE BEIDLER, MHA,
provided analysis in “Identifying Your
Risk with New Audit Programs” in
a recent edition of the e-newsletter
HealthData Management.
JULES BOYKOFF, Politics and
Government, wrote “Bidder Beware: to
host the Olympics comes at considerable
cost” in the Oct. 31 edition of
The Guardian.
PAT CAROLINE, Optometry, was
a keynote speaker at the Contact Lens
Specialist Symposium held in London
in September.
AMY COPLEN, Dental Health,
has been selected to present a poster,
Comparison of Communication Styles
Amongst an Interprofessional Student
Cohort, at the American Dental
Education’s 2014 Annual Session &
Exhibition in March in San Antonio.
DAVID CORDES, Chemistry,
displayed his art, Reflections on Organic
Chemistry at Mt. Hood Community
College in October. The display featured
13 portraits of signature personalities
involved in the development of organic
chemistry as a science in the 19th and
early 20th centuries. Major themes
and ideas explored in an introductory
organic chemistry class also were part of
the exhibit’s reflections.
JACK DRISCOLL, MFA, read an
except from his newest book, How
Like an Angel: A Novel, and also
engaged students in a creative writing
class at Union University, Jackson,
Tenn., in October.
ISAAC GILMAN, Library, has
published a new book, Library Scholarly
Communication Programs: Legal and
Ethical Considerations.
ERIN JOBST, Physical Therapy,
presented a one-day continuing
education course, Pharmacological
Considerations for Geriatric Patients/
Clients, by PT On Call for physical
and occupational therapists and speech
language pathologists in Spokane,
Wash., in November.
KEVIN JOHNSON, Chemistry, has
been awarded an American Chemical
Society Petroleum Research Fund
grant of $65,000 to cover support for
his research project, Between Oil and
Water: Surfactant Modified Hydrophobic
Interfaces. The grant will support
six undergraduate researchers over
December Birthdays
2 Sandra Hess
2 Sarah White
2 Kathryn Bell
3 Jeff Grundon
3 B J Scott
3 Sandra Garcia
3 Alpesh Parikh
4 Jaye Cee
Whitehead
4 Richard Lemoncello
5 Christina Actor
5 Mark Szymanski
5Deborah
Letourneau
6 Lorelynn Cardo
7 Antje Gillard
8 Jan Kirtland
8 Kim Finucan
8 Alma Adams
8 Jacob Yoro
9 Elisabeth Musch
9 Linda Hamel
9 Martha Hartley
9 Ronald Maple
9 Sukuan Snguan
9 Mark Andre
10 Tim Hill
10 Deni Cadd
10 David McLean
10 Sharon Rissmiller
10 Laura Boboth
10 David Morelli
11 Coleen Oshiro
11 Clare Bourquein
11 Elizabeth Yandall
11 John O’Dell
11 Dawnna Franklin
11 Julie Myers
11 Andrew Dawes
12 Holly Erenfeld
12 Katie Lardy
12Veronica
Rosales-Leon
12 Brad Simpson
13 Alyssa Garner
13Elizabeth
Drake-Boyt
13 Eric Barger
14 Laura Dimmler
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Lauren Morice
Jean Dobbels
Kristopher Williams
Katie Morgan
Barbara Hanson
John Lenssen
Daniel Briley
Abigail Boardman
Heidi Thramer
Janet Lichenstein
Pamela Arnold
Stephen Hall
Kathryn Moore
Jenni Luckett
James Ferguson
Katie Farrell
James Butler
Kerri Sage
Holly Chung
Todd Schultz
Libby Boyes
Peter Vik
Cherylin Lee
Rachael Burbank
20 Pete Mandrapa
20 Glenda Moss
20 Tal Sanders
20 Drew Aldrich
20Katelyn
DePasquale
20 Kathryn Eisenbarth
21 John Schrag
21 Darlene Pagan
21 Bharati Kasibhatla
21 Susan Dunn
22 Leah Daugherty
22 Reza Karimigevari
23Dagoberto
Flores-De Jesus
23 Krisha Hall
23 Christine Balducci
23 David Boersema
23 Claudia Jacova
24 Enie Vaisburd
25Natalya
Pennington
25 Kerry Pioske
25 Ronald Louie
25 Doug Meyer
26 Susan Littlefield
26Melchor
Leon-Vidals
26 Hope Villanueva
27 Nick Lem
27 Gretchen Potter
27 Sandy Ludeman
27 Aja Appel
28 Renee Vanzant
28 Brandon Johnson
28 Chris Stanley
28 Alan Love
29 Careen Stoll
29 Molly Saunders
29 Shawna Rohner
29 Ami Halvorson
30 James Moore
30 Eric Sanders
31 Angela Skjeie
31 Lauren Esbensen
31 Rachelle Mejia
31 Diane Van Dyke
31 Thomas Roberts
31 Diana Drovorub
pacificu.edu/marcom/pacnews.cfm |
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the course of four summers and also
fund the acquisition of a new 12-core
computer workstation for student use
on the project.
RAMMY (RAY) HAIJA, Sociology,
published an article, “The Real Syriana:
Interlocking Directorates Shaping a
Defense-Petroleum-Policy Complex”
in Modern Social Science Journal. He
also will join The Abraham Fund’s
International Board of Directors for a
term beginning Jan. 1. The fund’s goal is
committed to “building a shared future
for Israel’s Jewish and Arab citizens.”
PAM KAWASAKI, Dental Health,
has been selected to serve a two-year
term as the dental hygiene educator
member of the Dental Hygiene Process
of Care committee of the Western
Regional Examining Board.
ADAM RAFALOVICH, Sociology,
is quoted in “The Not-So-Hidden Cause
Behind the A.D.H.D. Epidemic” in the
October New York Times Magazine.
DAWN SALGADO, Psychology,
has been awarded one of only two
Mamie Phipps Clark Research Grant
Awards of $1,000 for a 2013-2014
research project, Making College
Campuses into Diverse Learning
Communities: Associations between
Diversity Programming, Student
Involvement, and Campus Climate. The
grant was submitted with psychology
undergraduate student Samantha Cruz
’13 and is for Psi Chi students and
faculty conducting research focused on
racial/ethnic minorities. The grant is
named for Mamie Phipps Clark, the
first African American woman who
received a doctorate in psychology in
1943 from Columbia University.
JEFF SEWARD, Politics and
Government, recently completed a
documentary, The Grasshopper Women.
The film follows four Peruvian women
who are computer professionals
working in a male-dominated profession
and society.
CHRISTINE SNEED, MFA,
received the 21st Century Award for her
first novel, Little Known Facts, at the
Carl Sandberg Literary Awards dinner
in Chicago in October. The awards
are sponsored by the Chicago Library
Foundation and Chicago Public Library.
BLAKE TIMM, Athletics, set a
personal best in running the Portland
Marathon in October. He placed 395th
out of 6,844 finishers.
CHRIS WILKES, Sociology, has
published a new book, Social Jane: The
Small, Secret Sociology of Jane Austen.
The book explores Austen’s novels and
their analyses of the complex social
hierarchies of her time.
SHARE YOUR NEWS | Is there a staff
or faculty member you would like to see
profiled? Do you have a presentation,
publication or other professional
achievement to share? Send
your ideas to news@pacificu.edu
January Birthdays
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Nora Schreck
Michelle Lawrence
Katherine Elder
Linda Fields
Shereen Khoja
Ashly
Tilden-Browning
Shawn Davis
Lisa Carstens
Jonathan Brown
Irina Gelman
Teresa Roberts
Megan Hockert
Jeremy Hilliard
Susan Luther
Sarah Sharp
Jerry Rice
Ni’cole Sims
Judy Ortiz
Melissa Barnard
Maggie Olivos
Mariana Valenzuela
Jeannine Chan
7 Martha Duran
De Gonzalez
7 Bob DeGroat
8 Matthew Zrebski
8 Greg Bradley
8 John Harrelson
9 Sean Roush
10 Scott Klemens
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10 Sybil
Hedrick Fisher
10 Katharine Loevy
10 Philip Davis
10 Mark Pedemonte
11 Linda McIntosh
11 Elizabeth Rapkoch
11 Martin Wright
12 Rich Van Buskirk
12 Ryan Bulson
12 Beth Kinoshita
14 Patsy
Charlesworth
14 Lars Campbell
14 Dana Libonati
15 Heide Island
16 Will Perkins
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Lautenbach
16 Konstantin Kvach
17 Linna So
17 Lorne Yudcovitch
17 Jennifer Antick
17 Chris Brems
17 Erik Borg
17 Bernie Phillips
17 Paula Wilkes
17 Michele Quint
18 Laura
Edwards-Leeper
19 Natalya Seibel
19 Chrisann
Deurwaarder
19 Len Hua
19 Denise Goodwin
19 Bethany Moyses
19 Caitlin McDonnell
19 Mary Jo Saavedra
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21 Tiffany Fieken
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23 Lily Tsang
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Lopez-Vasquez
24 Allie Losli
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24 Sandy Evans
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25 Claire Delamarter
25 Marsha Cullop
26 Janet Coleman
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28 Cynthia Rapp
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28 Lori Gobel
28 David Cordes
28 Barb Sample
29 Jan Stricklin
29 Anne
Huffington-Carroll
29 Vincent Roux
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Boardman
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Koslofsky
31 Launa Kind
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Burch-Pesses
31 Aaron Svarthumle
31 Monica Rudick
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Zuniga: Early struggles lead to focus on helping others
Continued from Page 1
“I loved being in school,” she said. “I
became involved in every single thing
I could: oratories, student government,
math competitions.”
When some of her family doubted if she
should continue, her teachers would travel
to her hometown to stress to her mother the
importance of Zuniga’s education.
After high school, she found work
“We have to focus on serving and working
with the Latino community, in all the different
environments, contexts and areas — from the
immigrant worker who may have no papers to
Latino leaders, Latino advocates and Latino
professionals. ... I want us to bring the service
to the people ...”
— Ruth Zuniga, director
SPP Latino/bilingual track
helping to manage a hotel, and there met
some Americans who worked at a power
plant construction site near her hometown.
That, she said, is just what she can do
She became a “cultural broker” for them,
(Test of English as Foreign Language) test,
helping them to understand and negotiate
making her a Costa Rican lunch once a
at Pacific. The Latino/bilingual track in
possible cultural conflicts.
week in exchange.
Pacific’s School of Professional Psychology
She also started studying psychology
Finally, Zuniga learned enough English
focuses on doctoral students interested in
nights and weekends, earning a bachelor’s
to pass the TOEFL and got a position as a
learning, serving and delivering mental
degree from the Universidad Latina de
graduate residence assistant in the Residence
health services to the Latino community in
Costa Rica in 2003.
Life Department at the university.
Oregon and beyond.
At work, meanwhile, she met her future
“I had never been in a dorm in my life,”
“We have to focus on serving and
husband, Andy Soria. Also originally
she said. But, she told the housing directors,
working with the Latino community, in
from Costa Rica, Soria had earned both
she had hotel management experience in
all the different environments, contexts
his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in the
Costa Rica: “You have rooms. I have been a
and areas — from the immigrant worker
United States and was working at the power
hotel manager dealing with rooms. You have
who may have no papers to Latino leaders,
plant as an environmental engineer. They
beds. I know about beds. I’m a hard worker.”
Latino advocates and Latino professionals,”
married and moved to the University of
She earned a master’s degree in counseling
she said.
and human service from the University of
“… I want us to bring the service to
Idaho in 2006, then she and her husband
the people, to seek opportunities beyond
shock of being a new immigrant in the
moved to Alaska, where she earned a
the therapy room. With the new trends in
United States.
doctorate in clinical-community psychology
the population and healthcare, we need
“I felt lonely, sad, far away from home,
with a rural and indigenous emphasis.
to work in more integrated and more
different, but wanting to make the most out
She was surprised by how many
Idaho at Moscow.
There, Zuniga struggled with the cultural
of the situation,” she said.
To learn English, she would throw a
blanket over the TV and listen only to the
words. She also persuaded a professor to let
interdisciplinary fields.
Latinos she found living in Alaska and
“I want to develop more relationships
how much need there was for Spanish-
with other disciplines, and I want us to
speaking providers.
develop closer relationships with the
“I was the only Spanish-speaking therapist
Latino community.
“I want the track to be more about
her sit in the classroom, though she didn’t
in the state,” she said. “I saw the need not
speak English well enough to register for
only for serving Latinos but for training
community relationships … about
classes, and she bartered with a woman to
students and people to treat Latinos in a
empowering the community.”
help her prepare to pass the TOEFL
culturally appropriate way.”
pacificu.edu/marcom/pacnews.cfm |
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DECEMBER 2013/
JANUARY 2014
Office of Marketing
& Communications
Editor | Jenni Luckett
Associate Editor |
Wanda Laukkanen
Send your news to
news@pacificu.edu
Halloween 2013
39%
of Pacific faculty
and staff gave to
Pacific so far in the
2013 fiscal year, as
of Nov. 20. Your
gift supports the
university and our
students. Consider
a gift or a payroll
deduction today.
pacificu.edu/giving
HOLIDAY EVENTS SCHEDULED
JOIN JANUARY STAFF MEETINGS
Pacific University’s annual holiday party for faculty and
Pacific University’s Staff Senate will meet Wednesday,
staff takes place Thursday, Dec. 12, at the University
Jan. 15 from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Hillsboro Campus
Center on the Forest Grove Campus, beginning at 5
in Creighton Hall, Room 502. The group provides a
p.m. Employees will receive an invitation at the end of
forum for exchange of information between members
November to RSVP to the event.
of the staff, administration, faculty and students at
Most university employees will have seven days off
work for celebrating the holidays, beginning Tuesday,
the university.
An all-staff meeting, hosted by the Staff Senate, will
Dec. 24 through Wednesday, Jan. 1. The regular work
take place on Wednesday, Jan. 22 from 9 to 10:30 a.m.
schedule begins again on Thursday, Jan. 2. Some offices
in the Forest Grove Campus University Center with
and departments will require minimal coverage during
video stream to the Hillsboro Campus, Creighton Hall,
the December break. Individual office procedures will
Room 518. Suggestions for agenda items may be sent
be available in the December Holiday Planning Guide,
to staffsenate@pacificu.edu.
to be issued by Human Resources.
pacificu.edu/marcom/pacnews.cfm |
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