Community College Week articles from December 2003

Community College Week archives from December 2003

Report, educators call for more study-abroad programs.(around the nation)
December 8, 2003... WASHINGTON -- Americans don't know enough about the world in which they live, says a new report by an international-education task force, which calls for a "national effort" to reverse the trend. The report says higher education is vital to the...

Judge sends bias suit against Chicago colleges to trial.(around the nation)
December 8, 2003... CHICAGO -- A federal judge has allowed a former administrator to pursue age- and national-origin-bias claims against the City Colleges of Chicago stemming from her suspension but has dismissed similar claims arising from her firing. U.S....

Judge chucks Ore. college's funding suit.
December 8, 2003... BEND, Ore. (AP) -- A Marion County judge has dismissed a lawsuit flied by Central Oregon Community College that was intended to prompt a re-examination of how dollars are distributed to the state's 17 community colleges. But school...

Thinking about retirement? Then do it.(point of view)
December 8, 2003... Undecided about whether to take that retirement incentive your administration is dangling before faculty in a desperate attempt to prod some old tars to jump ship? Or, to mix the nautical metaphor, to get rid of the dead--or ossified or just...

Get with the economy.(What Others Are Saying)
December 8, 2003... From The Daily Southerner (Tarboro, N.C.) A harsh lesson learned by much of the state--that the textile industry is not the future of North Carolina--is apparently one not taught at the North Carolina Center for Applied Textile Technology...

Fast times, enrollment high: statistical overview and introduction.(Special report: Fastest Growing Community Colleges)
December 8, 2003... How many students are enrolled at your community college? Each year, community colleges across the country struggle to answer this question, as posed by the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics as part of...

Democrats' bill would penalize states that slash higher ed.(dateline washington)
December 8, 2003... The best way to keep tuition costs from climbing is to lean on states that cut college budgets. At least that's the thinking behind a new bill proposed by Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Democrats say their initiative makes more...

Dean unveils higher-education plan.(dateline Washington)
December 8, 2003... Democratic presidential candidate Dr. Howard Dean has announced a higher-education plan that features at least $10,000 per year for students' postsecondary education, income-based caps on student-loan repayments and an expansion of the...

Tribal colleges struggle for funding.
December 8, 2003... SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- Tribal colleges around the nation often don't get the funding they need simply because they are not as established as more traditional colleges, said Ron His Horse Is Thunder, a tribal college president and an adviser...

Under budget pressure, Colo. may close or sell campuses.
December 8, 2003... DENVER (AP) -- Colorado community colleges are coming under the microscope as the state continues to struggle with its budget, prompting state Sen. Dave Owen, vice chairman of the legislature's powerful Joint Budget Committee, to predict that...

Wash. College toasts new wine center.
December 8, 2003... WALLA WALLA, Wash. (AP) -- Students at Walla Walla Community College are now crushing the first clusters of merlot grapes to be processed at the school's new Center for Enology and Viticulture. That milestone makes the college one of only...

Kansas college gives first 'XF' grade to plagiarist.
December 8, 2003... KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- When Karen Clos became suspicious of a student essay in her freshman writing class, she put a phrase from the paper--joyously absurd--into an Internet search engine. The student became the first at Barton County...

Funding for N.C. college's textile training center questioned.
December 8, 2003... BELMONT, N.C. (AP) -- When the North Carolina Center for Applied Textile Technology celebrated its 60th anniversary earlier this year, its president was pointing toward its new $3.2 million building as a symbol of its future. But within months,...

Regents fire Nevada college president.
December 8, 2003... LAS VEGAS (AP) -- What began as a probe into a low-level employee resulted in a housecleaning at the Community College of Southern Nevada, with regents voting to demote president Ron Remington and reassign lobbyist John Cummings. The...

Campus mayhem plotter may get longer sentence.(Brief Article)
December 8, 2003... SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP)--A state appeals court has overturned the seven-year prison sentence of a man who plotted a mass killing at a community college, potentially increasing his punishment to life behind bars. Al Joseph DeGuzman had...

N.Y. college student's kidnapper caught in Pa.
December 8, 2003... PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. (AP) -- A New York man accused of kidnapping a disabled college student was arrested less than a day after the girl was allegedly abducted from a community-college campus. Pennsylvania State Police arrested 24-year-old...

Oklahoma college faculty want president removed.(Brief Article)
December 8, 2003... MCALESTER, Okla. (AP) -- Faculty are complaining to Eastern Oklahoma State College regents about President Bill Campion. A letter sent to Regent Dale Covington claims three-fourths of the faculty want Campion removed. Covington said he also...

Calif. college faces penalty for unfilled faculty positions.(Brief Article)
December 8, 2003... VENTURA Calif. (AP) -- The Ventura County Community College District faces a $356,000 penalty in state funding because it can't meet its full-time faculty obligation. Legislation in 1988 established the full-time faculty obligation...

Wyo. college founder dies.(Charles Carpenter)(Brief Article)(Obituary)
December 8, 2003... CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) -- Charles "Chuck" Carpenter, the founder of Laramie County Community College, has died. He was 76. Carpenter, spent two years in Cheyenne, died Oct. 31 of a heart. attack in Oregon, where he was developing a doctoral...

E Pluribus, ummm ...(Refinancing the College Dream: Access, Equal Opportunity and Justice for Taxpayers)(Book Review)
December 8, 2003... Refinancing the College Dream: Access, Equal Opportunity and Justice for Taxpayers By Edward P. St. John in collaboration with Eric H. Asker, The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003 Hardcover, $44.95 Occasionally, a work appears that...

Titles recently received.(Promoting Civility in Pharmacy Education)(The Student Guide to Successful Online Learning: A Handbook of Tips, Strategies, and Techniques)(Teaching Science In the Two-Year College: A National Science Teachers Association Press Journals Collection)(Book Review)
December 8, 2003... Promoting Civility in Pharmacy Education Dr. Bruce A. Berger, Editor The Haworth Press, 2003 Pape back, 117 pages, $34.95 Dr. Bruce A. Berger, professor and nead of pharmacy care systems at Auburn University, has always been interested...

Former Ore. instructor murdered by wife, mother-in-law.
December 8, 2003... ALBANY, Ore. (AP) -- An Albany woman has been arrested and charged with conspiring in a homicide her daughter committed in Washington last year against her husband, a former community-college instructor. Judith E. Kinney, 64, was charged...

N.Y. coach resigns amid fraud charges.(Brief Article)
December 8, 2003... UTICA, N.Y. (AP) -- A former Syracuse basketball star has been indicted on charges he defrauded Oneida County out of more than $140,000 while working at the county Social Services Department. Dale Shackleford, 47, a former social welfare...

Wyo. instructor diagnosed with whooping cough.
December 8, 2003... CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) -- A part-time teaching assistant at Laramie County Community College has been diagnosed with whooping cough. The woman is taking antibiotics and will be quarantined in her home in Greeley, Colo., according to LCCC...

"When the Finch Rises".(Profs In Print)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 8, 2003... By Jack Riggs Ballantine Books, 2003, $23.95 Jack Riggs, a creative writing and film studies instructor at Georgia Perimeter College in Atlanta, recently published his novel "When the Finch Rises." The book, set in the 1960s,...

"Under the Perfect Sun: the San Diego Tourists Never See".(Profs In Print)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 8, 2003... By Mike Davis, Jim Miller, Kelly Mayhew The New Press, 2003, $18.17 San Diego City College professors Dr, Jim Miller and Dr. Kelly Mayhew have teamed up with well-known urban chronicler Mike Davis, the author of "The Grit Beneath the...

Ala. college removes professor's photo exhibit of male dolls.(faculty lounge)
December 8, 2003... TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP)--An art professor's photographs of male dolls in poses such as holding hands and embracing prompted Shelton State Community College officials to remove his exhibit from its gallery. John Trobaugh's photographs--a...

David Ritland, a biology professor at Erskine College in Due West, S.C., and Martha Hanks.(Honors & Awards)(honored as Governor's Professors of the Year)(Brief Article)
December 8, 2003... David Ritland, a biology professor at Erskine College in Due West, S.C., and Martha Hanks, a dentistry professor at Midlands Technical College in Columbia, S.C., have been honored as Governor's Professors of the Year.

John C. Sparks.(Honors & Awards)(named the Ohio Association of Two-Year Colleges' 2002-2003 Adjunct Teacher of the Year)(Brief Article)
December 8, 2003... John C. Sparks, a senior staff engineer at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and a mathematics adjunct lecturer at Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio, has been named the Ohio Association of Two-Year Colleges' 2002-2003 Adjunct Teacher of...

Mary Ann Moore.(Honors & Awards)(honored by Gov. Brad Henry)(Brief Article)
December 8, 2003... Mary Ann Moore, a professor of visual arts at Oklahoma City Community College in Oklahoma City, Okla., was honored by Gov. Brad Henry for her support of the arts at the 28th Annual Governor's Arts Awards.

Don Clayton.(Honors & Awards)(named Educator of the Month)(Brief Article)
December 8, 2003... Don Clayton, a diesel mechanics instructor at San Jacinto College North Campus in Pasadena, Texas, was named Educator of the Month for November by the North Channel Area Chamber of Commerce.

Dr. Mary Furgul.(Honors & Awards)(named 2003 Maryland Professor of the Year)(Brief Article)
December 8, 2003... Dr. Mary Furgul a history professor at Montgomery College in Rockville, Md., has been named 2003 Maryland Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education....

Steve Kasmar.(Honors & Awards)(wins Lobster Cookoff competition)(Brief Article)
December 8, 2003... Steve Kasmar, a chef, instructor and department chairman at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College, won the gold medal at the Lobster Cookoff competition as part of the annual Port of Los Angeles Lobster Festival. He also won the title of...

Ellen Lindemann.(Honors & Awards)(wins International Educator of the Year Award)(Brief Article)
December 8, 2003... Ellen Lindemann, an instructor in the business and public service department at Raritan Valley Community College in North Branch, N.J., was awarded the Third Annual International Educator of the Year Award at the New Jersey Global Educators'...

Woodworking in high demand at N.M. College.(around campus)
December 8, 2003... SANTA FE, N.M. (AP)-After 21 years working in Germany for the U.S. Department of Defense, Santa Fe Community College student Maureen Scott was ready for a career change. Scott had taken several classes in woodworking while she lived abroad...

Johnson County Community College.(Grants & Gifts)(receives grant from Nerman family)(Brief Article)
December 8, 2003... The Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, Kan., has received $1.5 million from the Nerman family toward the creation of a museum of contemporary art that will adjoin the college's proposed technology innovation complex.

Cypress College.(Grants & Gifts)(receives federal Title V grant)(Brief Article)
December 8, 2003... Cypress College in Cypress, Calif., is the recipient of a federal Title V grant that will provide $2.25 million over the course of five years. The grant will focus on increasing full time, degree-seeking students enrolled in the Transfer...

Seminole Community College.(Grants & Gifts)(receives Strengthening Institutions Program grant)(Brief Article)
December 8, 2003... Seminole Community College in Sanford, Fla., was recently awarded a five-year, $1.8 million individual development grant under the Strengthening Institutions Program. The goals of the grant implementation include: transforming the current...

Raritan Valley Community College.(Grants & Gifts)(receives National Science Foundation grant)(Brief Article)
December 8, 2003... Raritan Valley Community College in North Branch, N.J., has received a $315,575 grant from the National Science Foundation under the computer science, engineering, mathematics scholarship program. The four-year grant will enable the college to...

Houston Community College.(Grants & Gifts)(receives U.S. Department of Agriculture grant)(Brief Article)
December 8, 2003... The U.S. Department of Agriculture has awarded Texas' Houston Community College a two-year, $300,000 grant to recruit, retain, and graduate underrepresented students in landscape horticulture.

Colorado colleges assign student-security IDs.(Bits & Bytes)
December 8, 2003... DENVER--As identity theft becomes a major concern, the Colorado Community College System Information Technologies department has assigned new identification numbers to 1,725,891 students dating back to 1987, using in-house software that saved...

Utah college gets online recruiting service.(Bits & Bytes)(Utah Valley State College)(Brief Article)
December 8, 2003... OREM, Utah (AP)-Despite recruiting at every Utah high school, Utah Valley: State College officials haven't managed to lure as many freshmen as they'd like, The number of new freshmen at UVSC each fall has dropped for three consecutive...

The ABCs of ISPs.(technology today)
December 8, 2003... Broadband may be on the cutting edge of Internet access, with cable and DSL modern users surfing the Net at blazing speeds. But you have to dole out more dough for this privilege. Many Internet novices are America Online subscribers. AOL is...

Holoyoke taps Raverta as interim.(Presidents)(Holyoke Community College, Paul Raverta)(Brief Article)
December 8, 2003... Dr. Paul Raverta was appointed as interim president of Holyoke Community College in Holyoke, Mass. Raverta was vice president for student development at HCC for the past 10 years, and since January 2003 he has also served as acting executive...

Stephenson to head Snead State.(Presidents)(Devin Stephenson, Snead State Community College)(Brief Article)
December 8, 2003... Dr. Devin Stephenson was named president of Snead State Community College in Boaz, Ala. He worked most recently as interim president for nearly a year. He has an associate's degree from Walker State Junior College in Walker, Ala., a bachelor's...

Northeast Iowa gets interim president.(Presidents)(Northeast Iowa Community College, Ken Vande Berg )(Brief Article)
December 8, 2003... Northeast Iowa Community College in Calmar, Iowa, has named Ken Vande Berg as interim president. Previously, Vande Berg was vice president of economic development services. He received ins bachelor's degree from Central College and his master's...

Aims names first woman president.(Presidents)(Aims Community College, Marilynn Liddell)(Brief Article)
December 8, 2003... Aims Community College in Greeley, Colo., has named Dr. Marilynn "Marsi" Liddell, the college's fifth and first woman president. She was previously president of Glen Oaks Community College in Centreville, Mich. She received her bachelor's...

O'Donnell takes helm at Stark State.(Presidents)(John O'Donnell, Stark State College)(Brief Article)
December 8, 2003... Dr. John O'Donnell has been appointed the third president of Stark State College in Canton, Ohio. O'Donnell, who was most recently the commissioner of the New Hampshire Community Technical College system, will assume the presidency Jan. 5,...

Jefferson appoints Newberry chief.(Presidents)(Jefferson Community College names Dr. Anthony L. Newberry president)(Brief Article)
December 8, 2003... Jefferson Community College in Louisville, Ky., has picked Dr. Anthony L. Newberry as its third president. Newberry comes from the Kentucky Community & Technical College system, where he served as chancellor. He earned his bachelor's degree...

New chancellor for Arkansas College.(Presidents)(Steven Murray been tapped as new chancellor of Phillips Community College)(Brief Article)
December 8, 2003... Dr. Steven Murray has been tapped as the new chancellor of Phillips Community College of the University of Arkansas in Helena. Murray, who was the school's executive vice chancellor, has been at Phillips since 1980, when he started as an...

Rappahannock Community College.(Appointments)(appoints Larry A. Olanrewaju interim vice president)(Brief Article)
December 8, 2003... Dr. Larry A. Olanrewaju has been appointed interim vice president for college advancement at Rappahannock Community College in Virginia. Olanrewaju, an associate professor who teaches business management and economics at RCC's Glenns Campus,...

Metropolitan Community Colleges.(Appointments)(Brief Article)
December 8, 2003... The Metropolitan Community Colleges in Kansas City, Mo. have named Cheryl Carpenter-Davis as associate dean of instruction and student development at Blue River Community College. Previously, she served as an instructor in the Penn Valley...

South Texas Community College.(Appointments)(names Dr. Jean Swartz division dean of developmental studies)(Brief Article)
December 8, 2003... South Texas Community College in McAllen, Texas, has named Dr. Jean Swartz as division dean of developmental studies. She has been the associate dean of instruction since 1995. She holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Nebraska, a...

Coming events.(Brief Article)(Calendar)
December 8, 2003... December 27-30, Languages and Literature. Annual meeting, American Association of Slavic and Eastern European Languages, in San Diego, CA. Contact: Karen Evans-Romaine, Ohio University, Department of Modern Languages, 283 Gordy Hall, Athens, OH...

Axed Nevada College officials launch complaint, lawsuit.(around the nation)
December 22, 2003... LAS VEGAS (AP) -- The demotion of two Community College of Southern Nevada officials by Nevada university regents has spawned a lawsuit, open meetings and whistleblower complaints and demands for the release of a key 1,000-page report. ...

Clark Kerr, champion of affordable higher education, dies.(around the nation)(Obituary)
December 22, 2003... BERKELEY, Calif. -- Dr. Clark Kerr, the former University of California president who championed the idea that every high-school graduate should be given the opportunity to attend college died Dec. 1. He was 92. Born at a time when fewer...

Police: N.Y. student stabs instructor in class.
December 22, 2003... NEW YORK (AP) -- A student who allegedly stabbed a Suffolk County Community College instructor during a lecture has been arrested, police said. Suffolk County police said they arrested Leon Kornegay, 23, of Wyandanch, N.Y., after he...

N.C. student abducted from college, killed.
December 22, 2003... SANFORD, N.C. (AP) -- A student at Central Carolina Community College was abducted from the campus by an ex-boyfriend and fatally shot, police said. Her abductor then shot himself, police said. Rosa Speagle, 23, of Cameron was abducted...

Assess this.(point of view)
December 22, 2003... Representatives from North Central Association's Higher Learning Commission are scheduled to visit our college in the spring of 2005 to determine whether our accreditation should be renewed. One of the main things they will be looking for is if...

What ERIC died from is contagious.(point of view)
December 22, 2003... In retrospect, the U.S. Department of Education officials determined to dismantle the Educational Resources Information Center, regardless of any argument or reason, could not have picked a more politically opportune time. First. they picked a...

Gov. Schwarzenegger, pump up California's community colleges: from the (Vacaville, Calif.) reporter.(point of view)(Brief Article)
December 22, 2003... Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has a huge job ahead of him--tackling a record budget deficit, uniting a squabbling and partisan Legislature and delivering on campaign promises to an impatient and angry constituency. One of his promises was to...

A question of merit.(point of view)
December 22, 2003... ATLANTA -- Ten years ago, the state best known for its peaches launched a revolution that still reverberates in the halls of colleges and universities across the country. Faced with a plethora of poorly performing high-school students and...

Report: remedial ed. most common at two-year schools.(Capitol briefs)(Brief Article)
December 22, 2003... Community colleges are more likely than any other type of higher-education institution to offer students remedial education, according to a new report by the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics. ...

Education funding up in the air.(Capitol briefs)
December 22, 2003... Republicans have pushed a tardy $373 billion spending package through the U.S. House of Representatives that would increase overall funding for the U.S. Department of Education by $2.9 billion, despite conservatives" objections that the measure...

Fla. court rejects fired provost's whistle-blower complaint.
December 22, 2003... FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- The Florida Court of Appeal has rejected a whistleblower complaint by a fired community college provost against the board of trustees. The Broward Community College board of trustees is not a "state agency" under...

Evaluation raises questions about Nevada college chief's demotion.
December 22, 2003... LAS VEGAS (AP) -- University and Community College System of Nevada Chancellor Jane Nichols knew former Community College of Southern Nevada President Ron Remington was developing a four-year degree program at the community college, according...

'F' stands for feeling the heat, graded instructors say.
December 22, 2003... RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Ruth Budd says she can't help but notice how some of her fellow Longwood University professors who are known as "easy teachers" always receive good end-of-course evaluations from students happy with their A's and B's. ...

Spill proof.
December 22, 2003... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Caption: "Untitled," acrylic on canvas (circa 1988-89), was among one of the sam Francis pieces recently exhibited at Santa Monica College's Pete & Susan Barrett Art Gallery at SMC's Madison campus in Santa Monica,...

Report: Calif. budget cuts turn 4,000 students away.(Brief Article)
December 22, 2003... SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- Officials say Sacramento-area community colleges turned away 4,000 students this fall as a result of state budget cuts that forced administrators to limit courses. Educators are worried that even as demand...

Wife, son charged in Mo. instructor's death.
December 22, 2003... ELLSINORE, Mo. (AP) -- Ralph Hanna, 56, an auto mechanics instructor al Three Rivers Community College, was allegedly shot by his wife and son after returning home from a hunting expedition. Hanna's wife and adult son have been charged with...

Ohio instructor charged after second rescue by satellite locator.
December 22, 2003... WEBB, N.Y. (AP) -- An instructional technology manager at a community college who became the first person in the contiguous United States rescued by a new satellite locator system has done it again. Only this time, after his second rescue...

Nevada officials name temporary college president.(Brief Article)
December 22, 2003... LAS VEGAS (AP) -- One of the founding faculty members at the Community College of Southern Nevada has been picked to serve for about a month as its temporary acting president. Thomas Brown could be replaced in the post late next month,...

Grand jury dismisses sexual charges against N.J. college president.(Brief Article)
December 22, 2003... TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- A sexual charge against the president of Mercer County Community College will be dismissed after a grand jury declined to indict him, the county prosecutor said. Dr. Robert Rose, 64, was charged with criminal sexual...

UNLV changes could hinder transfer students.
December 22, 2003... LAS VEGAS (AP) -- The University of Nevada-Las Vegas has overhauled its general education requirements for next semester, putting Community College of Southern Nevada students in a situation where they could lose credits toward graduation. ...

Two charged with starting Oregon college fire.(Brief Article)
December 22, 2003... ALBANY, Ore. (AP) -- Arson charges have been filed against two Albany men accused of setting a fire at Linn-Benton Community College this month. Investigators believe Maurice William Strickland, 19, and Winnville A. Galo, 19, started the...

'Bhu Bunch' transports guide from Himalayan Kingdom to Ore. College.(publishing today)
December 22, 2003... EUGENE, Ore. (AP) -- Fewer classes. Higher tuition. Budget cuts. These are tough times at Lane Community College. But don't tell that to Pema Chhophyel, who even now can scarcely believe his good fortune. "The big fascinating thing about...

Fewer students seeking careers in funeral homes.(publishing today)
December 22, 2003... AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) -- Kari Moates ditched plans for a career in forensics after considering the humanitarian benefits of working in a funeral home. "At the end of the day, seeing the families and knowing they're pleased and I've brought...

Splash of color.(publishing today)
December 22, 2003... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Caption: "Landscape in Ochre," a painting by Esther Friedman, was recently on view at THE ARTS gallery on the Spring Creek campus of the Collin County Community College District In Piano, Texas.

Instructor's book paints gloomy picture of Ventura.(faculty lounge)
December 22, 2003... ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- A college instructor and former manager of the governor's residence says he wouldn't have written the tell-all book released recently if former Gov. Jesse Ventura had not dismissed the staff after a couple of them told...

Gina Reed.(Honors & Awards)(Brief Article)
December 22, 2003... Gina Reed, an associate professor of mathematics at Gainesville College in Gainesville, Ga., was selected to be a recipient of one of the three 2003 American Mathematical Association of Two Year Colleges INPUT awards.

Christine Brobst Barnes.(Honors & Awards)(Brief Article)
December 22, 2003... Christine Brobst Barnes, an assistant professor in business management at Lakeland Community College in Kirtland, Ohio, is a winner of Ohio Magazine's Excellence in Education Award.

Dr. Fred Peskoff.(Honors & Awards)(Brief Article)
December 22, 2003... Dr. Fred Peskoff, an associate professor of mathematics at the Borough of Manhattan Community College in New York, recently received an award for teaching excellence from the American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges.

Barbara Daniels.(Honors & Awards)(Brief Article)
December 22, 2003... Barbara Daniels, an English professor at Camden County College in Blackwood, N.J., received the 2003 Applause Award in the "literature" category from Haddonfield's Markeim Arts Center.

Sally G. Hornor.(Honors & Awards)(Brief Article)
December 22, 2003... Sally G. Hornor, a biology professor at Anne Arundel Community College in Arnold, Md., received the Jan Hollmann Environmental Education Award in honor of her professional and volunteer work to conserve and protect water resources.