February 4, 2010
Etc.: Campus news & notes
LEGALLY ART: An exhibit of art by UW law student Peter Boome featuring a series of hand-pulled screen prints in the Pacific Coastal Salish style has been installed in William H. Gates Hall, home to the UW School of Law. Boome is a member of the Upper Skagit tribe who said growing up on a reservation inspired him to go to law school.
“I witnessed the systematic mistreatment of so many people,” Boome said, adding that he hopes to use his law degree to work with Native American tribes on environmental law issues.
Boome said becoming an artist was a “lifelong dream,” and his artistic interests in addition to the serigraphs include wood working, metal and glass sculpture, leather, and pottery. He and his wife own a studio in University Place, near Tacoma.
As to how Boome, a father of four and full-time second-year law student, finds time for art and law school, he said, “I have to have one to have the other. I sketch to take a break from studying and I’ll read my law books to take a break from my art.”
CONSERVATION RESEARCH: The Seattle Aquarium Society has named UW Tacoma Professor of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences Joel Baker the recipient of this year’s Conservation Research Award. The award includes a $10,000 research grant given in Baker’s name to the Seattle Aquarium Research Center for Conservation and Husbandry.
Baker has extensive experience in studying urban waterways. His research focuses on pollutant transport and fate in natural waters and the accumulation of chemicals in aquatic food webs. An environmental chemist and engineer, Baker holds the Port of Tacoma Chair in Environmental Science. In addition, he is science director for the Center for Urban Waters, a research partnership between UW Tacoma, the city of Tacoma and the state agency Puget Sound Partnership.
GOVERNMENT GURU: President Barack Obama announced the nomination of Henry M. Jackson Professor of Law Paul Steven Miller to the Board of Governors of the United State Postal Service. Miller, whose appointment to the board is pending U.S. Senate confirmation, will remain on the faculty at the law school and continue serve as director of the UW Disability Studies Program.
The Board of Governors of the U.S. Postal Service is similar to the board of directors of a private corporation and directs the exercise of the powers of the Postal Service, directs and controls its expenditures, reviews its practices, conducts long-range planning, and sets policies on all postal matters.
Miller recently led the political appointments process for the Department of Education and other regulatory agencies for the Obama administration, managing the appointments process for political positions that impact the disabled and disability programs through the government. He also served on Obama’s transition team as a top advisor on labor and employment issues.
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