Videos

The Asia University America Program is a five-month exchange program for Japanese college students studying International Relations, Business, Hospitality, Law, Economics and Multicultural Communications from Asia University, located just west of downtown Tokyo, Japan.

Western Washington University has had more than 4,000 students attend this program through this program, which has now been going on for 25 years.

Not only does the AUAP offer a cultural exchange experience for Japanese students, but the AUAP program also provides opportunities for students at Western and throughout the Bellingham community to interact with these students by volunteering in classrooms, participating in Japanese conversation clubs to practice their Japanese with native speakers and participating in various activates hosted by the AUAP such as Japan Night and the AUAP Talent Show put on every quarter.

Throughout the quarter, the AUAP students also get a two-week vacation to go anywhere of their choosing, among the popular are New York and California.

This summer four AUAP students were interviewed to tell us about their summer vacation adventures.

The Bellingham Festival of Music, billed as one of America's premier virtuoso orchestra festivals, continues through June 19 on the Western Washington University campus.

The festival takes place in Bellingham every summer.

Orchestra members come from prestigious positions throughout the country, many of them in major North American symphonies. The festival also features world famous guest artists and young rising stars.

The rest of the schedule:

• Saturday, July 11, 7:30 p.m.
• Sunday, July 12, 7:30 p.m.
• Wednesday, July 15, 7:30 p.m.
• Sunday, July 19, 7:30 p.m.

For concert details, visit the festival's website. All concerts will take place in the WWU Performing Arts Center.

The Western Washington University College of Fine and Performing Arts comprises the Departments of Art, Design, Music, and Theatre/Dance and is home to the Western Gallery and the Outdoor Sculpture Collection.

This video, which was produced, shot and edited by alumna Juliette Machado and which features music from Bruce Hamilton and Jon Bash, takes a look at all the college has to offer.

This month’s episode of Western Window is hosted by Chris Roselli of the WWU Alumni Association and Anna Magidson, a student at Western. Following is the story lineup for this episode:

• Road Trip on Mars – Western’s Melissa Rice is part of the NASA/Jet Propulsion Lab science team that works with the Curiosity rover on the surface of Mars, helping change our knowledge of the Red Planet on a daily basis. The underlying question it is trying to answer: did life ever exist on Mars?
• Engineering a Path to Success – Western students, faculty and staff are working with the “Creators and Innovators” club at Bellingham’s Kulshan Middle School, a group of more than 50 young girls interested in robotics and creative technology.
• Pioneering The Planet – Western’s Huxley College of the Environment’s quarterly magazine, The Planet, began as a small newsletter in 1979 and has grown into a nationally-lauded, award-winning environmental magazine today.
• Understanding Energy – Joel Swisher, the director of Western’s Institute for Energy Studies, discusses the formation of the institute and its collaborative mission between the Huxley College of the Environment, College of Science and Engineering, and College of Business and Economics.
• Catching the Beat– Western’s Music Department’s Percussion Ensemble recently hosted more than 100 high schoolers for a day of master classes and shared sounds, from drum lines to body percussion to marimba.

Michala Dymond-Shaw spoke at the 4 p.m. ceremony. Dymond-Shaw graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders and a minor in Economics. Outside of her studies at Western, she volunteered with elderly residents at St. Francis of Bellingham and worked with clients with developmental disabilities at Puffin Island LLC in Everson. A graduate of Kentlake High School, Dymond-Shaw will begin graduate school in Speech-Language Pathology at Western in the fall.  

Lindley, the speaker at the 4 p.m. ceremony, is a financial planner and owner of Lindley Financial Services in Montesano. Lindley specializes in comprehensive financial planning and oversees more than $100 million in client-invested assets. Lindley is also a longtime youth soccer coach in his community, who began learning about the game when he volunteered to coach his 6-year-old son’s team. He went on to coach both his children’s teams and several others and has taken four teams to state championships. Lindley and his wife, Gerrilynn, fund scholarships through the Grays Harbor Community Foundation and through the Western Alumni Association.

The 12:30 p.m. speaker was be Nick Bolvin, who graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies and a minor in Japanese. Bolvin is a graduate of South Whidbey High School and hopes to work in video game production. He aspires to challenge the antisocial stereotypes related to gaming and instead highlight the fact that video games are something that everyone can play.

Dick Thompson, the speaker at the 12:30 p.m. ceremony, is retired from a distinguished career in public service that has included key executive positions at universities, state agencies and nonprofit organizations. He served as director of Government Relations and interim director for Athletics at the University of Washington, led the departments of Community Development and Social and Health Services and the Office of Financial Management for the state of Washington, and served as president and chief professional officer for the United Way of King County. Today, he is a consultant specializing in state and local government issues.

Christopher Quilici spoke at the 9 a.m. spring 2015 commencement ceremony. Quilici graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre with concentrations in Acting and Dramatic Writing and a minor in Creative Writing. He was president of Student Theatre Productions and assistant director of “/faust,” a student-devised play that debuted this month. He is also a graduate of Mariner High School in Everett.

Robin Russell, the speaker at the 9 a.m. ceremony, is a member of Western Washington University Foundation board of directors and former president of the Western Alumni Association. She has more than 25 years of experience in the finance, investment and estate planning industry. Most recently, she was a senior client adviser and team manager for Laird Norton Wealth Management, specializing in financial planning, investment management and estate planning for multi-generation families. She is also a member of the Children’s Hospital Advisory Council and a former board member of Camp Fire Central Puget Sound.