VOL. VI, NO. 7 APRIL 2000

Dr. Diane Krantz leaves the position of Women’s Studies Coordinator in very capable hands as she passes the mantle to Dr. Sandra Powell. Dr. Krantz has been privileged to represent you at a variety of activities and through various educational challenges including advising students in semester conversion and designing an assessment plan. The turnover (once every three years) in coordinators for Women’ s Studies reflects the disadvantage of having someone who is released only 1/4 time for a job that takes at least 1/2 time and whose academic advancement and rewards are linked only precariously, through the goodwill of a home department and an understanding dean, to the Women’s Studies position. The reason for mentioning these facts is to point out that Women’s Studies, because of its vulnerability as a program, has needs that some of you might consider addressing by financial contributions to the program through WSU’s Capital Campaign. Most items on the list may be out of financial range for most readers of this newsletter, but some will be accessible to many and a few (particularly the traditional women’s scholarship) will benefit from smaller contributions. A contribution of:

The National Women’s Studies Association recently outlined the importance of faculty lines for Women’s Studies programs; as you can see, the cost for even one would be high. Still if you have friends or relatives who, having contributed a large portion of income to the Federal Government this year, are searching for other meaningful uses for their money, feel free to mention us!

Women’s Studies has had many successes this year, especially in terms of student accomplishment, that reflect the high quality of our program. The student group, FUN, has sold cook books to create its own bank account. The effort was so successful that they are planning to produce more of the books. The money will provide partial funding for three women’s studies students who will attend the NWSA Conference in Boston, June 14-18, to present a class project from WS 4050. Four faculty will also attend.

All graduating seniors are invited to attend the WS end-of-the year Executive Council meeting/party starting at 12:15 pm on April 12. We would very much like to honor you, and we promise good food. If you are completing course work in the summer and ‘walking’ in May, you are invited also. We look forward to seeing you.

It is with great pleasure that we welcome Dr. Tom Mathews to the Women’s Studies teaching faculty and use this space to introduce him. This fall, Tom will be team-teaching a new course (WS 4900E/Foreign Language 3320) with Dr. Eva Szalay in which they examine issues of language and power.

Tom first came to Weber State from California (Beverly Hills) to complete a B.A. in Spanish Education. Then, he earned an M.A. in Spanish from Middlebury College (Vermont) and a Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of Delaware. Prior to joining our faculty as Associate Professor of Spanish, he taught Spanish language courses at Wahlquist Junior High School, University of Utah, University of Delaware, Illinois State University, and Brigham Young University where he was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese. An active researcher of issues related to foreign language teaching, Tom developed a Foreign Language Placement Test as the subject of his Ph.D. dissertation and he has continued to present his scholarly work at professional meetings and to publish it in refereed journals. He also has written several reviews of Spanish or Linguistics texts. His work has been supported during his academic career by grants from the schools where he has taught. He holds membership in professional organizations from local to national levels and serves in administrative positions as well.

Tom’s accepting a position on our campus was related to Weber’s "accepting environment and, specifically, its written policy of non-discrimination" after his decision to "come out of the closet" at BYU. A well-organized, thoughtful teacher, Tom maintains a web-site where he invites browsers to consider his teaching philosophy, his current activities and what he looked like as a youngster, among other things. (The place to go is http://cc.weber.edu/~tjmathews/home.htm.) Besides his courses in Foreign Language, Tom also teaches in the WSU Honors Program and offers graduate courses in Spanish language and pedagogy as part of the University of Southern Mississippi’s MATL summer program in Morelia, Mexico. He adds the latter to his international travel and study in Central and South America and Spain.

In addition to his providing time for service to his discipline, Tom takes advantage of multiple opportunities to be a member of many committees and a speaker on diverse topics, including issues for gay Mormons. He has presented at Sunstone Symposia and Affirmation Conferences in Salt Lake City, as well as to campus and community groups.

In the past, Tom has blended his beautiful tenor voice with the Ogden Community Choir (and the rest of us are hoping he’ll be back soon!) In addition to music, Tom enjoys cooking, eating, and watching Star Trek (any generation will do.) Women’s Studies is enthusiastic about having Tom join us next year. We hope that the relationship will continue for a long time!

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Congratulations (again!) to Tracy Callahan who will accompany her cast and crew to Washington, DC with their production of "The Serpent." The play has won national honors in the American College Theater Festival competition and will open the national festival on April 17 and 18 at the Kennedy Center.

Congratulations also to former WS student Barbara Blakeley, who has been accepted for graduate work in communicative disorders at San Diego State University.

Two presentations are still to come in the Women’s Realities Series at the Ogden Y.C.C. at 7 PM on April 5 and 26. For more information, contact FUN30@yahoo.com.

5-7 April - Holocaust Remembrance Week, featuring Noemi Ban presenting "The Lessons of the Holocaust"at WSU on 6 April at 7 PM and Ogden High School on 7 April at 12:30 PM.

6-8 April - Orchesis Dance Theatre Concert,7:30 PM, Allred Theater, Browning Ctr.

12 April - Exec. Council Meeting & Year-end Social, 12:15 PM, SS 115.

28 April - Classes end; good luck with finals!