Turkey shortage, pooch in peril, a call for entrepreneurial alumni

Thanksgiving is here. Are you thankful? Are you giving?

Alumnus Paul Ash, executive director of the San Francisco Food Bank, recently told the San Francisco Chronicle that the organization is 800 turkeys shy of its Thanksgiving goal of 1,500. “We hope that once members of our San Francisco community know about this crisis, they’ll step forward and help us provide a holiday meal for families and individuals in need,” he said. For information on the shortage and how you can help, read the rest of the article: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgif=/c/a/2007/11/15/BAU3TCCQ3.DTL  

Remembering Norman Mailer 

Professor Emeritus Jonathan Middlebrook discusses the late author Norman Mailer on KQED’s Forum, hosted by Professor Michael Krasny. To listen: http://www.kqed.org/epArchive/R711150900

Boldly going where no dog has gone before

Cinema Professor Jan Millsapps will discuss her novel, “Screwed Pooch,” the story of Laika, the Soviet canine who became the first living creature to orbit Earth on Sputnik 2 this Friday, Nov. 17 at the Chabot Space & Science Center in Oakland from 6:45-7:45 p.m. For more information: http://laikaspace.com/ 

Speaking of hounds, just heard from alumnus Mike Hsiao, who recently launched swankpets.com, an online business that specializes in products and apparel for small dogs. The site also contains a “dog blog.” In Mike’s words, it’s “a one-stop hub for small-dog enthusiasts.” If you happen to be one, check it out.

Any other SF State entrepreneurs out there? Let me know about your business ventures. As always, you can reach me at: abee@sfsu.edu

The star report, Willie Brown is back on campus, spoken word tonight

It’s an exciting day at SF State! Assistant Professor of Astronomy Debra Fischer and her team have discovered a record-breaking fifth planet in a full-scale solar system around a distant star. Read about the implications in this National Geographic article: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/11/071106-record-planet.html 

And check out  the interview Professor Fisher gave here on campus, expertly taped by our Broadcast and Electronic Communications Department:

http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/telecon-20071106/clips.html

Then there’s the new Willie Brown Jr. Leadership Center at SF State just announced today: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2007/11/08/BA9PT6R1V.DTL

Other exciting news: Alumnus Andrew Ly, Sugar Bowl Bakery’s president and chief executive officer, will receive the San Francisco Business Times award for “Bay Area Most Admired CEO” at the Four Seasons Hotel in San Francisco on Nov. 13. For more information on his company: www.sugarbowlbakery.com

Looking for something to do tonight?

This just in from SF State Poetry Center Director Steve Dickinson: The Poetry Center at San Francisco State University has [along with nocturnes (re)view] been putting together some inspired spoken word-music collaborations lately, and tonight’s is the most ambitious, pairing Amiri Baraka (born LeRoi Jones), the incendiary icon of the Black Arts Movement, with the brilliant saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell, best known for his work in the Art Ensemble of Chicago. Mitchell now occupies the Darius Milhaud chair in composition at Mills College in Oakland. Poet Douglas Kearney opens the show. $10/$15. 7:30 p.m. Victoria Theatre, 2961 16th St., San Francisco. For more information: www.victoriatheatre.org

Follow Tim Cahill to Death Valley, Brown Bags Are Out. Green Lunches Are In, Awards for American Gangster?

Adventurer writer extraordinaire, alumnus Tim Cahill, has trekked through the lowest and hottest place in America–the largest national park outside Alaska. Check out his fabulous feature on Death Valley in this month’s issue of National Geographic: http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/2007-11/death-valley/cahill-text.html

 

This weekend, alumna Amy Hemmert, the cofounder of Laptop Lunches (a very cool way to pack a lunch and protect the environment at the same time!) will be on hand at the San Francisco Green Festival at the SF Concourse Exhibition Center. According to her monthly newsletter, you just might find “great ideas, positive energy, abundant hope…and earth-friendly holiday gifts.” For more information: www.laptoplunches.com

‘American Gangster,’ written by alumnus Steve Zaillian, is reviewed in the latest issue of Rolling Stone. Critic Peter Travers writes, “Call it ‘the black  Scarface’ or ‘the Harlem Godfather’ or just one hell of an exciting movie, but the fact-based 1970s-era ‘American Gangster’ is already looking like a major awards contender.” Read the entire review here: http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/movie/14592531/review/16971598/american