There’s an easy way to help the San Francisco Food Bank this holiday season and you don’t have to go very far from campus. Volunteers are invited to the Food Pantry at Temple United Methodist Church, 65 Beverly (just north of the 19^th Avenue/ Junipero Serra Boulevard Intersection). It is a ten-minute walk from the corner of 19^th and Holloway avenues.  

The pantry takes place on Wednesdays and volunteers set up the market-style distribution, greet pantry guests and distribute the food in two shifts: 3 to 5 p.m. and 5 to 7 p.m. Please contact Jason Porth (415.338.6880 or jporth@sfsu.edu) with questions or concerns, or to sign up to volunteer. Those assisting at the Food Pantry are volunteers of the San Francisco Food Bank (headed by SF State alumnus Paul Ash).

SF State alumnus Jeffrey Tambor will be starring alongside Doctor Who star David Tennant in the forthcoming NBC pilot, Rex is Not Your Lawyer. Read more here.

SF State alumni Scott and Matt Higa are using their bowling power for good this holiday season. Read more in this San Francisco Examiner article.

Kepler Books in Menlo Park, Ca. is hosting An Evening of Poetry focused on alumna Kim Addonizio’s latest collection, Lucifer at the Starlite, Tuesday, December 1 at 7:30 p.m.

About the book: With both passion and precision, Lucifer at the Starlite explores life’s dual nature: good and evil, light and dark, suffering and moments of unexpected joy. Whether looking outward to events on the world stage—the war in Iraq, the 2004 Asian tsunami—or inward at struggles with the self, these poems aim at the heart and against the feeling that Lucifer may have already won the day.

As for other creative outpourings from our alumni, Peter Sinn Nachtrieb’s much praised play, Boom, opens Tuesday and runs through Dec. 6 at Marin Theatre Company, 397 Miller Ave., Mill Valley. $20-$51. (415) 388-5208. For more information:  www.marintheatre.org

And Nina LaCour’s debut novel, Hold Still, is the subject of this San Francisco Chronicle article. The SF State alumna discusses her “cool job” at www.savvysugar.com/5847998

Tom Parker has made an unusual find. In California forests and shrubland that burned in 2008, he has spotted Manzanita seedlings sprouting in tight clusters, suggesting that the young shrubs emerged from underground stashes of seeds. But how did they get there?  Read the rest of this SF State News story to see how tiny footprints are leading the professor of biology to a very interesting answer.

Alumnus Cleve Jones, founder of what is considered “the world’s largest art project,” discusses his life and AIDS Awareness in this Forest Grove News Times article.

According to new research by SF State Assistant Professor of Psychology Ryan Howell, working to accomplish your goals may cause you stress in the moment, but will increase your overall happiness.

August Coppola, who taught literature and served as dean of creative arts at San Francisco State University from 1984 to 1992, has died at age 75.  He was the brother of filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola and father to actor Nicholas Cage.

Alumnus John Handy is receiving the San Francisco Jazz Festival’s Beacon Award for lifetime achievement  7 p.m. Sunday at the Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco. Tickets: $20-$50, 866-920-5299, www.sfjazz.org

SF State’s MBA program has again been recognized by the Aspen Institute as one of the world’s leaders in socially responsible business education.

The University’s MBA program is ranked No. 23 in the U.S. and No. 29 in the world in the Institute’s 2009-10 Beyond Grey Pinstripes survey, which measures how well institutions prepare students for environmental, social and ethical complexities of modern-day business.

Want to learn more about business ethics? Clear your calendar Nov. 2-6 for the fourth annual Business Ethics Week with classroom instruction, discussion and guest speakers in more than 90 business classes, and corporate speakers from Genentech and All About the Future. This year’s focus is the importance of business ethics, corporate social responsibility and sustainable business. For more information, visit http://cob.sfsu.edu/ethicsweek/

Professor of Management Sally Baack participated in a recent panel discussion on the role of ethics in business on KQED. Take a listen here.