PSU Magazine Fall 2003

T H E Dreams of a Dancer Recording by Tl"io Spcktrum: Marilyn Shoto/a, Stan Stanford, Tomas Svoboda (music faculty); orth Pacific Music, 2002. This is the second CD re leased by the Oute-clarinet-piano trio. The Litle track, Dreams of a Dancer, a six-movement suite, was composed especially for the trio by Svoboda. The professors also pe rform the early Tarantella of Camille Saint-Saens, Dance Preludes by Witold LuLoslawski, and an arrangement of a rarely heard suite by Lhe l 9Lh-century Russian composer Cesar Cui. Trio Spektrum, formed in 1993, chose its name from Lhe Czech spelling of the work spectrum, referring Lo an array of tones and endless possibilities of sound. Exploring the Tualatin River Basin Edited by Susan Peter '80, S. Swart, B. Schaffne,; Oregon State University Press, 2002. This 174-page guide introduces 85 readily accessible sites from the Tualatin River's tributaries in the Coast Range LO its conOuence with the Willamette River. lncluded in each description are directions and maps along with area plants, wildlife , and naLural altractions. The book was cre– aLed by Lhe Tualatin Riverkeepers, and PeLer served as primary editor-a job she wok beyond Lhe call of duly by providing many of the color pho– Lographs, panicularly Lhose of local planL life. Exp/o,ing the Tualatin River Basin opens up one of Lhe leasL known naLural areas in Lhe greaLer Portland area Lo Lhose who can appreciaLe iL. American Nightmare: The History of Jim Crow By Jerrold Packard '68, MA '89, St. Martin's Press, 2002. For a hundred years following Lhe end of Lhe Civil War, laws and customs known as "Jim Crow" kept African Americans subjugaLed al a level as S H E L F close as possible LO Lheir former slave sLatus. TogeLher wiLh a rigidly enforced canon of racial eLiquetLe, these rules governed nearly every aspect of life and outlined the dra– conian punishment for infractions. In American Nightmare, Packard examines and explains Jim Crow from its beginnings to its end: how it came into being, how it was lived, how it was jus– tified, and how, at long last, it was overturned. Packard, who lives in Vermont, has written se\'en books on a variety of historical sub– jects, including Victolia's Daughters. The Online Educator: A Guide to Creating the Virtual Classroom By Marguerita McVay Lynch (instructional de ign faculty) , RoutledgeFalme1; 2002. ln the race to get courses on the Inter– net, some institutions and faculty for– got the golden rule-make it good for the students. Slapping an existing sys– tem into cyberspace and making it work-doesn't work. Expert prepara– tion and knowledge of the process of Web-based learning is Lynch's job. She guides readers from administrative planning to hardware and software selection to individual course develop– ment. And in case you had a bad expe– rience with an online course, know that communication is a key link for Lynch-nothing repla es direct contact between sLUdents and instrucLOrs. Reviews are of faculty and alumni books, recordings , and Web publica– tions. To have a work considered for this page, please submit pertinent information to Mary Ellen Kenreich , PSU Library faculty, via email to kenreichm@pdx.edu , or fax to 503- 725-5799, or mail to Portland State University, PO Box 1151 , Portland, OR 97207-0751. My Story as Told by Water By David James Duncan '73 , University of California Press, paperbac/1 2002. ln the past, PSU Magazine has for– gotten Lo claim Duncan, author of The River Why and The Brothers K, as one of our own– unti l now. The Eng– lish grad grew up in Portland but now lives in Montana. The 22 essays in this col– lection eddy around the author's early forged bond with the rivers of the Pacific Northwest and their endangered native salmon. With skill and humor, Duncan tells of mystical, life-changing fishing adventures, draws portraits of humans and wild creatures who shaped his destiny, and auacks corporate greed and political decisions that have adversely affected the environment. Navigating Comprehensive School Change: A Guide for the Perplexed By Thomas Chenoweth and Robert Everhart (education faculty), Eye on Education , 2002. Teach for more than Lwo years and you have probably experienced sweeping– or at least the threat of sweeping– educational reform. As the authors point out, reform is "usually difficult and always complex." That is why they have taken the big concepts of change and worked them out on the level of clay-to-day practice. They have further humanized the challenges faced by administrators and teachers by allow– ing readers to follow the fictional sLory of a new school principal , Mary, and her staff at South Central Middle School as they face a national compre– hensive change model. Chenoweth and Everhart serve as consultants to Mary, roles they have taken on many times in real life. D FALL 2002 PSU MAGAZINE 5