In preparation for the Super Bowl, Facilities Operations held a "chili bowl" cook-off last Friday. Five contestants brought their best batches to the bowl: Sam Adams, maintenance mechanic; Cassandra Baker, mail carrier; Chuck Cooper, maintenance mechanic 2; Kim Estes, event coordinator; and Dave Zilavy, building maintenance supervisor. The department taste-tested anonymously marked chili; judging aroma, appearance and—most importantly—taste. Danette Knowlton, administrative manager in the College of Business, presided over the ballot count, making sure no chads were hanging. Thanks, Danette! Voting resulted in a two-way tie between Cassandra and Dave. Cassandra's chili featured "momma's love" and Dave's special ingredients included cocoa powder and beer.

Last Thursday morning 39 WSU Vancouver employees were recognized for their employment milestone with the university. Congratulations and thank you to the following employees who reached a milestone in 2013:

30 Years
Steve Sylvester

20 Years
Chuck Harrsch
Desiree Hellegers
Michael Morgan

15 Years
Steve Bell
John Bishop
Nicole Campbell
Jonathan Carr
Wayne Cochran
Jeannette Hurt
Jo Keeler
Maureen Keller
Eric Mapes
Tahira Probst
Martin Randolph
Melody Rasmor
Laurel Rea-Bullion
Richard Sawyer
Steven VanDyke
Clare Wilkinson-Weber

10 Years
Sam Adams
Kathryn Austin
Deanna Day-Wiff
Helen Gregory
Dave (Dae-Wook) Kim
Jane Lanigan
Cheryl Schultz

5 Years
Michael Berger
Cory Bolkan
Natalie Brusseau
Cynthia Cooper
Julie Dewitt-Kamada
Troy Dunmire
Danette Knowlton
Christine Lundeen
George Newman
Larry Raglione
Elizabeth Reilly Gurocak
Tim Wood

7 p.m. Feb. 4
Dengerink Administration Building, Room 110

“Why Can’t We Get Along? Civility, Political Polarization, and American Democracy,” will be presented by Cornell W. Clayton, Claudius O. Johnson Distinguished Professor of Political Science and director of the Thomas S. Foley Institute for Public Policy and Public Service. This event is free and open to the public. A reception will follow the lecture.

Clayton is in favor of a more civil and productive political discourse. However, his own research on the topic, and his work with the Foley Institute on a series of civility and democracy projects, have convinced him that today’s political acrimony is not only not that exceptional historically, but that the relationship between civility and democracy is more nuanced and complicated than most realize.

The first 50 guests on Tuesday night will receive a free copy of “Civility and Democracy in America: A reasonable Understanding,” edited by Clayton and Richard Elgar, assistant director of the Foley Institute.

Washington State Department of Transportation will close several ramps along northbound I-5 tonight and tomorrow evening, Feb. 3 and 4.

The following ramps will be closed intermittently from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. each night:

• Northeast 179th Street on-ramp (Exit 9)
• SR 501/Ridgefield on- and off-ramps (Exit 14)
• La Center Road/La Center on- and off-ramps (Exit 16)

This work is weather dependent, so it could be rescheduled if we get more rain.

Lunchtime Feb. 5
Dengerink Administration Building Café

On Wednesday the cafeteria will serve Southwest buttermilk chicken with roasted tomatillo sauce accompanied by red beans and rice for $5.39. The soup of the day, sold separately for $1.89 a cup or $3.69 a bowl, will be white bean and chicken chili.

Noon – 2:40 p.m. Feb. 6
Dengerink Administration Building, Room 110

Two Pacific Northwest experts on climate, energy and the transportation of fossil fuels will give free public lectures as part of the eighth-annual Spring Research Colloquium sponsored by the Center for Social and Environmental Justice.

Eric de Place, policy director for Sightline Institute in Seattle, will speak from noon to 1:15 p.m. His topic is “Climate Impacts of Fossil Fuel Exports in the Pacific Northwest.” De Place is a leading expert on strategies to cut carbon pollution and an authority on a range of issues connected to fossil fuel transport.

Ian Urquhart, associate professor of political science at the University of Alberta, will speak from 1:25 to 2:40 p.m. His topic is “Canada’s Tar Sands: Destination Anywhere?” Canada is the largest single foreign source of petroleum for the United States. Urquhart will discuss the scale of tar sands development and internationalization of the environmental opposition to the tar sands.

9:30 a.m. – 4 p.m. Feb. 8
Firstenburg Student Commons

College students and high school juniors and seniors are invited to campus to learn leadership concepts and skills at the Cougar Leadership Conference. The Saturday event will focus on strategies that can be applied in students’ personal, academic and professional spheres. Encourage your students, student workers and your own kids to RSVP by Feb. 5 online.

7 – 9 p.m. Feb. 12
Library, Room 265

The second presentation of the 2014 Professional Writers Series will be Monica Drake presenting “Nurturing the Story.” Drake, a novelist, received her M.F.A. in creative writing from the University of Arizona and now teaches in the B.F.A. program in writing at the Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland. Her latest novel is “The Stud Book,” a sharp send-up of the complexities of contemporary motherhood as viewed by a loyal group of friends. Her earlier novel, “Clown Girl,” was a finalist for the 2007 Ken Kesey Award for the Novel given by the Oregon Book Awards.

The Professional Writers Series brings award-winning writers from a variety of genres to campus for public presentations. This spring, six Pacific Northwest writers will speak about the trajectory of their careers, their successes and challenges.

Through March 3
Library

With a centuries-long history of development, the practice of transferring ink to paper has served as a crucial link in creating an informed, literate and reflective society. The cultural shift to networked communication, with all its advantages, has not altered the original appeal of works on paper. “Ink on Paper” is a print-based display that includes undergraduate student work and provides a wide range of examples of the beauty that is, ink on paper.