UW News

February 21, 2012

News Digest: ‘Occupy goes to school, Holocaust documentary, Celebrating UW Women seeks nominees, offices collect gold and silver by going green

News and Information

Occupy Seattle goes to school: Social work to hold public teach-in
The UW School of Social Work will explore the roots of in-the-streets social work, civil rights actions and labor organizing Friday, Feb. 24, during a half-day teach-in called “A Day of Learning and Action: The 99 Percent Arise.” The event, which is free and open to the public, will run 12 to 6 p.m. at the School of Social Work.

“We talk about working for social and economic justice in class and this is going to give students a practical understanding of what advocacy, activism and practice really look like,” said Virginia Eader, UW graduate student who is on the events organizing committee. “I am excited about the opportunity to be able to learn from such a dynamic cross-section of Seattles active community.”

The teach-in will include multi-media, art and panels on topics such as economic inequalities, historical roots of radical social work, legislative advocacy and the occupy movement.

In Romania in 1942, Nazi ally Marshall Ion Antonescu ordered the mass deportations of Roma people to Transnistria.

In Romania in 1942, Nazi ally Marshall Ion Antonescu ordered the mass deportations of Roma people to Transnistria.

‘Roma Tears, about treatment during Holocaust, runs Thursday
The documentary film “Roma Tears,” about the treatment of Roma – or Gypsies – during the Holocaust, will be shown at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 23, in Room 120 of the Communications Building. The film is free and open to the public.

In the documentary, Luminita Mihai Cioaba, Roma cultural leader in Transylvania, Romania, interviews some of the last remaining Roma Holocaust survivors about the historical events of 1942. In that year in Romania, military dictator and Nazi ally Marshall Ion Antonescu ordered the mass deportations of Roma people and Jews to Transnistria.

Cioaba will be on hand for the screening and a question and answer session afterward.

“I think the value of the film lies in the fact that the Roma are very reluctant to speak to outsiders. Very little is known about the Roma Holocaust for this reason,” said Mihaela Giurca, a UW lecturer in International and English Programs who organized the screening. “The film consists of interviews with Roma Holocaust survivors. It is very unlikely that they would tell these stories to anyone other than another Roma.”

The event is sponsored by the departments of Spanish & Portuguese and comparative literature, the Cinema and Media Studies Program, the Center for Statistics and the Social Sciences, Educational Outreach and the Walter Chapin Simpson Center for the Humanities.

Nominations close Feb. 28 for “Celebrating UW Women” program
Nominations will be accepted through the end of February for this years Celebrating UW Women program sponsored by Housing and Food Services.

The program honors women from across all three UW campuses as part of Womens History Month. The program is not a competition and every woman nominated will be recognized at a reception at 4 p.m. March 15, at the Burke Museum. All members of the campus community are invited to attend,  no RSVP is necessary.

Nominees can be students, staff or faculty members. Contributions can be global or personal, according to the programs website.

For more information or to be involved in the organization of the program, contact Erica Barton at ericab4@uw.edu.

Offices collect gold and silver by going green
Ten offices have been certified under the UWs Green Office program since its launch in September.

Offices certified as gold, by scoring at least 85 percent overall based on criteria such as energy use, conserving paper and recycling, are:

  • Emergency Management, UW Tower, office of 3.5 members
  • Environmental Stewardship & Sustainability office, Gerberding Hall, office of 8 members
  • Libraries Purchasing and Supply, Suzzallo Library, office of 2 members
  • Recycling & Solid Waste, Bryants Building, office of 5 members
  • Transportation Services, University Transportation Center, office of 48 members

Offices certified as silver, which scored at least 70 percent overall, are:

  • UW Botanic Gardens – Merrill Hall, office of 36 members
  • Center for Urban Waters –  Center for Urban Waters in Tacoma, office of 10 members
  • Evans School of Public Affairs – Parrington Hall, office of 58 members
  • Southwest Maintenance Zone office, Southwest Maintenance Building, office of 10 members
  • Student Fiscal Services office – Schmitz Hall, office of 21 members

The Green Office certification program encourages staff and faculty to help make their office or workplace sustainable, according to the UW Green Office website. Certification involves an informal audit process about office practices. A short online survey allows the office to see what steps they are already taking to be green, and areas where they can improve, the website says.