American Indian Heritage Month
   November was the National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month. The purpose of this heritage month is to honor and recognize the original peoples of America. The theme of this year's observance was "Strengthening the Spirit." Want to know how this heritage month got started? Click here.
   Once again Education World offers a dozen lessons to help teachers celebrate and study Native American traditions and cultures, including activities that involve students in learning new words, dramatizing folktales, preparing traditional foods, and much more. For more information on American resources related to American Indians, go to Virtual Library - American Indians. This is an online index of Native American resources which categorizes information into Culture, Indigenous Languages, History, Archaeology, Education, Legality, Health, Artists, Museums, Music, Book, Bibliographies, Tribal Gaming, Government, Commerce, Job Notices and much more. Readers also can acquire information on American Indians by visiting the National Library Information System.

National Family Caregivers Month
   The month of November was also the National Family Caregivers Month. This month is a time to thank, support, assist, educate, and celebrate more than 54 million family caregivers. This year's theme "Share the Caring" suggests the many ways family caregivers care for loved ones who are chronically ill, disabled or elderly and raises awareness of their need for help and support. The theme symbolizes an acknowledgement that care-giving is more that a one-person job, a request for assistance, and a call for help. Want to get involved but cannot think of a way! Do not worry. National Family Caregivers Association (NFCA) has a list of suggested activities to help plan Family Caregivers Month celebrations as well as a kit of materials that can be used to organize activities, including posters, buttons, and educational materials.

World AIDS Day
   The Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, UNAIDS, estimates that there were 38.6 million adults and 3.2 million children living with HIV at the end of 2002, and during the year 5 million new people became infected with the virus. Around half of all people who become infected with HIV do so before they are 25 and are killed by AIDS before they are 35. From that amount, women account for over 50% of global infections. Around the world, there are at least 17.6 million women living with HIV/AIDS.
Today, HIV remains a threat to people of all ages, gender, and nationalities. For more information on facts and figures about HIV/AIDS, go to the UNAIDS web site at http://www.unaids.org/wac/2002/facts-global.pdf.
   A potent reason for the spread of HIV/AIDS is the stigma attached to it. Cultural barriers and beliefs often make the topic taboo, and people living with HIV and AIDS are frequently discriminated against. In many parts of the world discrimination prevents people who are identified to have HIV from securing jobs or caring for their families. Discrimination can cause isolation, and marginalizes people who have HIV and AIDS. This discrimination often prevents people from being seeking and receiving the treatment that could save their lives.
    For these reasons and more, UNAIDS chose Stigma and Discrimination as the theme of the 2003 World AIDS day.

Students Sponsor Toiletry Drive
   The Idaho State University Students' Community Service Center (SCSC) is once again sponsoring a toiletry drive during the holiday season for people who are homeless. The personal items needed this year are soap, shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, toothbrushes, feminine hygiene products, infant care products and other personal care items. Donations should be unused and unopened. Small travel-sized products are welcome. Donations may be brought to the SCSC office in the Student Activities Center on the top floor of the PSUB or to the PSUB Information Desk. Donation pickup can also be arranged by calling 282-3494.

Lecture Series on Gender
   At noon on December 4 "Every Other Thursday Lecture Series on Gender: Fact and Fiction" will feature Dr. Brian Attebery professor of English. Dr Attebery will talk about "Gender in Science Fiction." The talk will take place at PSUB Bengal Café. For more information, contact Janet C. Anderson Gender Resource Center at 282-2805.

International Economic Workshop
   An International Economic Summit (IES) teacher training workshop will be offered from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Jan. 12 and 13 in the ISU PSUB Little Wood River Room. The summit, a world trade simulation for high school students, will be hosted by the ISU Center for Economic Education, the ISU Intermountain Center for Education Effectiveness, and the ISU College of Education. The teacher training aspect of the summit offers one ISU professional development credit for $66, requiring 16 contact hours. Each participant will receive a $100 summit teacher handbook, a $10 student player guide, a mini-summit classroom kit, and lunch for each day. Substitute pay for teachers attending the workshop may be available upon request.
   For more information, contact Janaan Haskell, Field Director, ISU Center for Economic Education, at 282-2359 or econed@isu.edu, or go to the International Economic Summit website at www.internationaleconomicsummit.org/

Distinguished Faculty Nominations
   Nominations are being sought for three ISU faculty members to be selected as the Distinguished Teacher (DT), the recipient of the Distinguished Public Service Award (DPSA), and the Distinguished Researcher (DR). The three winners will receive certificates and cash awards at the May 2004 Commencement exercises. Nominations for the first two awards are now being accepted through Jan. 16, 2004.
   Candidates for the DT will be chosen solely on the basis of teaching expertise. Candidates for this category must be nominated by members from at least TWO groups: students, faculty/staff, or alumni. The selection process is based largely on nominations received from students and alumni. Candidates for the DPSA may be nominated by one or more groups from students, faculty/staff or the public. This award is based solely on public service activities.
   All nominees must be members of the University faculty currently in the third or subsequent year of full-time service at ISU and planning to continue as a member of the University faculty in 2004-05. Up to five finalists in each category will be honored at a banquet prior to Commencement.
   Nomination forms for the DT and DPSA may be obtained from, and returned to, Angela Osterman, Office of Academic Affairs, Administration Building Room 250, ISU Box 8063, Pocatello, ID 83209, telephone 282-2171; the office of the Academic Dean; ISU offices in Idaho Falls and Twin Falls; the Eli M. Oboler Library information desk; the College of Technology cafeteria in the Roy F. Christensen Building; or the ISU home page at http://www.isu.edu/acadaff/awards. Nominations also may be sent by e-mail to osteange@isu.edu. Information on the procedure for selecting the Distinguished Researcher may be obtained from the Office of Research at 282-2179.

Traveling Multi-cultural Library
   The Diversity Committee has arranged for the Idaho State Library's "Read to Me" program to be available in the College of Education, and housed in the Literacy Department, room 363, from January 26 through February 2, 2004.
   This traveling library comes with a tabletop display, 66 multicultural books, and support materials. According to the Idaho State Library the books included in this set "can build self esteem, encourage the development of positive values, and promote respect for people of varied cultures, ability levels and ethnic backgrounds."
   "Read to Me" is an early literacy initiative which provides information, training, technical assistance, and resources for Idaho libraries and their community partners. This program circulates three traveling displays to Idaho libraries and community organizations. These displays are: Building Bridges: Books that Bring Us Together, Great Books for Young Children, and Traveling Brain Development displays. The displays generally circulate for up to two weeks. Funding from the Library Services and Technology Act makes it possible to ship the display to and from locations in Idaho without fees at the local level. So there will be no cost to the college for its use.
   It is the Diversity Committee's aspiration that these books can be used to further expose College of Education students to the wealth of multicultural literature that is available for them to use during their field experience, and in their future classrooms. We believe that we should be preparing the next generation of educators so that they are more understanding of people from varied cultures and diverse backgrounds. One way to do this is by giving them as many tools and as much insight as possible. We realize that this is just a small part of the overall education of future teachers, but it is one that should be nurtured.
   Materials can be accessed through the COE Literacy Graduate Assistant, Ms. Shannon Taylor at 282-5172, or from Ms. Michelle Schroeder, Clinical Director at 282-4479. Contact them for more information regarding material check-out and use.

ISU Professional Women    
   The Idaho State University Professional Women (ISUPW) January meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday Jan. 14 in the Magnuson Alumni House, 554 South Seventh. The discussion will focus on "Excellence in Teaching." Interested students, faculty, and staff are invited. For more information, contact Jan McDougall at 282-2778. Why does excellence in teaching matters? For additional reading materials on the topic, click here.

Note:
The images in this newsletter were retrieved from the Chariot Web site at http://www.chariotdist.com/, NFCA Web site at http://www.nfcacares.org/, and ISU gallery.