Last week WSU announced the “WSU Ready” emergency response and continuity planning system. WSU Ready is easy-to-use and should require no advance training. This is a systemwide program that will enable all WSU campuses, colleges, departments, units, research and extension centers, and other WSU facilities to better prepare to meet the challenges of responding to emergencies and resuming operations after a major event. The WSU Ready emergency response and continuity planning system will help maintain a campus culture of preparedness and is a resource to help create a safe and resilient campus environment for students, faculty, staff and visitors to feel secure in their pursuit of individual and institutional goals.

The WSU Ready emergency response and continuity planning system will increase the university’s ability to continue “essential operations” at the department level during and after a disruptive event. WSU Ready uses an “all hazards” approach and is a tool to organize preparations for events that may be natural, technological or human-caused incidents.

Please visit the Office of Emergency Management website http://oem.wsu.edu and click the WSU Ready button on the home page for more information and to start the emergency response and continuity planning process. WSU Vancouver will adopt the WSU Ready online Continuity of Operations Planning system and retire the forms previously used.

The Child Development Program Preschool and Kindergarten raise funds each year by selling poinsettias and wreaths. Proceeds are used to replace and enhance materials used within the program’s curriculum. Poinsettias are available in 6- or 8-inch pots in red, white and pink. Wreaths are 12-inch mixed greens with a bow. Prices are as follows:

• 6-inch poinsettia - $12
• 8-inch poinsettia - $22
• 12-inch wreath - $22

All orders must be paid in full and submitted to Kathy Austin in the Child Development Office, McClaskey Building, Room 120, no later than Nov. 6. Make checks payable to “WSU Foundation.”

Poinsettias and wreaths may be picked up 3:30 – 5:30 p.m. Dec. 3 in the Dengerink Administration Building, Room 129.

The Bookie will be holding a flash sale all day Nov. 7. An additional 50 percent will be taken off all clearance items.

2:50 p.m. Nov. 14
Undergraduate Building, Room 125

The Center for Social and Environmental Justice will present environmental health expert Kate Davies. Her lecture “The U.S. Environmental Health Movement: Strategies and Successes,” is free and open to the public.

More than 1,000 trees were planted and 500 Coho salmon fry were released by Clark Public Utilities’ StreamTeam on Make a Difference Day Oct. 26. The StreamTeam made its annual return to the WSU Vancouver campus, this year bringing 200 volunteers to help make the Mill Creek area more habitable for wildlife.

Previous plantings at WSU Vancouver have shown a 95 – 96 percent survival rate. The same rate is expected from this year’s planting.

The StreamTeam is dedicated to proactively addressing the problems facing the Salmon Creek Watershed. The program has planted more than 700,000 trees since its inception in 1992, restoring approximately 120 acres of land along 15 miles of stream length.

WSU Vancouver’s student newspaper, The VanCougar, was awarded the Online Pacemaker Award by the Associated Collegiate Press at its Oct. 26 – 27 conference. The Online Pacemaker Award is ACP’s highest honor for online college student publications produced and maintained by students. Sites are judged by non-ACP staff members knowledgeable about design, journalism and interactive media. Judging criteria include design, ease of navigation, writing and editing, graphics and interactivity.

Congratulations go to Audrey Miller, editor-in-chief, and her entire staff. The VanCougar launched its online news site just last year. Michael Rabby, a faculty member in creative media and digital culture, and communications, is The VanCougar’s faculty advisor.

ACP, formed in 1921, is the oldest and largest national membership organization for college student journalists.

WSU Vancouver employees are able to donate to the charity of their choice through the Combined Fund Drive. CFD is Washington’s workplace giving program for active and retired public employees. State and higher education employees are invited to give to the charity of their choice through automatic deductions from their paycheck.

CFD offers more than 4,000 pre-screened charities from which to choose. These organizations address a wide variety of worthwhile causes including health and human services, environmental and endangered species protection, and the arts.

For more information, visit www.cfd.wa.gov, call 360-902-4162 or email cfd@sos.wa.gov