In the Media

The Wenatchee Valley Business World’s “30 Under 35” list recently honored young community leaders. We tap their thoughts in this Sunday interview series.

Annie Larsen Schmidt, 30

Director of the Chumstick Wildfire Stewardship Coalition

WHEN MY SON was in second grade he hated school. He thought he was stupid, and that his teacher hated him. This teacher sent home notes that said things like "Colin needs to try harder," or "Colin needs to get his work done." In hindsight, two things were obvious: Colin had attention deficit disorder (ADD), and his teacher wasn't being very helpful.

Libraries share. It's what they do.
We strive to provide information to people when and where they need it. It's why I became a librarian.
Thus, it's not surprising that I was an enthusiastic advocate for Whatcom Libraries Collaborate and its associated One Card program, which has resulted in the sharing of Western Washington University library's collection with the Whatcom County community.

Guard John Allen scored a game-high 18 points as Western Washington University defeated Notre Dame de Namur University, 87-73, in a non-conference men's basketball game Friday, Nov. 11, at Sam Carver Gymnasium on the WWU campus.
It was the home opener for the Vikings, who improved to 3-1. Western shot 54.0 percent (24 of 63) from the field, including 62.5 percent (10 of 16) on three-pointers.

Point guard Corinn Waltrip scored a game-high 17 points and forward Kristin Schramm had 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds as Western Washington University defeated host San Francisco State University, 64-50, in first-day action Friday, Nov. 11, at the California Collegiate Athletic Association/Great Northwest Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Shootout in San Francisco.
It was the season opener for both schools.

The public is invited to a free short course that will cover the legal framework for local government planning, as well as how comprehensive planning shapes community development.
The course will be 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 16, at Western Washington University, in, room 210 of the Academic Instruction West building.

Western Washington University has un-invited Liberty University Law School from participating in next week’s information fair due to the school’s views and treatment of non-heterosexuals.

According to Paul Cocke, communications director for the university, some students and staff at WWU notified the university’s administration that Liberty “openly discriminates against LGBTQ identified people.” Western officials reviewed Liberty’s non-discrimination policy and determined the school treats people who consider themselves lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgendered or queer differently.

Knowledge of the Japanese language and culture by the U.S. military was crucial in prosecuting the Pacific military effort in the Second World War. Bellingham residents Irwin and Carole Slesnick published a book in 2006 about the use of Japanese interpreters during the war and during the occupation of Japan. Entitled "Kanji & Codes," it provides a fascinating account of the training and use of Japanese interpreters by the military.
The U.S. Army, anticipating the possibility of eventual conflict with Japan, sent four men to Japan in 1908 to learn the language and to familiarize themselves with Japanese culture. The development of a Japanese language school in Tokyo followed. Over the next four decades, the U.S. established 14 additional language schools at home and abroad to train Americans to read and speak Japanese.

Western Washington University middle blocker Emily Jepsen has been named to the Capital One Academic All-District 8 college division volleyball first team.
Jepsen, a senior from Kennewick, is a business administration-finance major with a 3.85 grade point average. She now goes on the national ballot and is eligible for Academic All-America honors.

Four Western Washington University runners were named for the third straight year and 11 overall to the 2011 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Cross Country academic all-star team released today.
The quartet of three-year honorees included Lauren Breihof, Eric Brill, Sierra Brisky and Phoebe Hartnett.