Ken Althiser, senior GIS analyst for the Salton Sea Database Program, presented a paper on "Shoreline Delineation Challenges: An Automated Image Processing Approach, Salton Sea" to the American Water Resources Association annual conference held in Miami in November.

President James Appleton, was named to the board of directors of the Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities for the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). He will serve a three-year term. WASC is responsible for assessing the quality of higher education at institutions in California, Hawaii and Guam. Currently, 149 colleges and universities are accredited by the organization, one of five regional accrediting associations in the United States. The 21 WASC commission members review and vote on reports of accrediting teams that visit the campuses. Appleton also will serve on the commission's policy and planning committee.

Les Canterbury, associate librarian, presented a paper on "Salton Sea Information Sharing Via the World Wide Web" to the American Water Resources Association annual conference held in Miami in November

Ben Dillow, dean of Special College Programs, was this year's recipient of the Institute for the International Education of Students Lifetime Achievement Award. The award is bestowed upon the most dynamic professional in the study abroad field according to peers. The criteria included a long-term commitment, demonstration of a willingness to speak out on important issues involving study abroad, track record of service and contributions to the field.

Pictured l-r: Mary Dwyer, president of Institute for the International Education of Students, Ben Dillow and John Gearen, chair of the institute's board of trustees.

Steve Hoover, GIS analyst for the Salton Sea Database Program, had an article on "3D Models Breathe New Life into Salton Sea Restoration Project" published in the October issue of ERDAS (Earth Resources Data Analysis Systems) Magazine. Hoover attended the ERDAS Conference in Washington D.C. earlier this year.

Sabine Huynen, GIS technician for the Salton Sea Database Program, presented a paper entitled "Encouraging an Interdisciplinary Dialogue Through Geographic Information Systems" to the annual American Water Resources Association conference held in Miami in November.

Tim Krantz, director of the Salton Sea Database Program and the Redlands Institute for Environmental Design, Management and Policy, presented two papers at the American Water Resources Association annual conference held in Miami in November. The papers were entitled "Bi-National Collaboration for Water Resources Management in the Imperial-Mexicali Valley" and "A Wildlife Health Response Plan for the Salton Sea."

Marjo Mitsutomi, assistant professor in education with a doctor of philosophy in applied linguistics, has been working to improve airline safety at international airports in the United States. A number of unsafe conditions were reported due to difficulty with communication and language barriers. Since the Federal Aviation Administration's regulations already stipulate that a pilot must be able to "read, speak, write and understand English," Mitsutomi presented a proposal on a system to test pilots' levels of English speaking and comprehension abilities in 1998. The project is gaining support from English-as-a-second-language teachers, air traffic controllers, speech pathologists and airport operations managers.

Alexandra Pierce, music professor, released a compact disc of original songs and instrumental music called "Spring and Fall." One of her new compositions, a five-movement piano work entitled "Rings of Saturn," premiered this fall on campus.