Commencement at the Monterey Institute of International Studies is a distinguished and an exciting experience – and not just for the graduates!  You too have the opportunity to be part of this great day by volunteering to assist with the set-up and success of commencement ceremonies on Saturday, May 21, 2011.  Please help if you can!  This is a great way to applaud the graduates for all their hard work by helping to make their day special. We are in need of volunteers to help in the following areas:

Prior to the ceremony:
*Chair set-up: At Colton Hall lawn help arrange seats for the ceremony between 8:30 and 11:00 a.m. Muffins and coffee provided! Students who have an existing blue card that are authorized to work on campus can be paid at $10 per hour for this assignment if appropriate paperwork is completed in advance.

*Decor set-up: Help arrange flowers, table arrangements, and balloons at the Samson Center between 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

During the ceremony:
*Ushers: Help distribute event programs, assist guests to their seats, keep aisles clear, and manage crowd flow between 10:00 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.  (NOTE: Ushers must also attend a planning meeting held earlier during the week on Thurs. or Fri., date and time TBD).

After the ceremony:
*Food servers: Help pass our hors d’oeuvres to guests and assist with clean-up between 1:45 – 4:45 p.m.
*Champagne poppers: Help pop open champagne cases at the bar.
*Champagne passers/beverage attendants: Help serve beer, champagne and other beverages at the bar and pass champagne.

Individuals interested in volunteering should contact Linae Ishii-Devine, Manager of Events, at lishiide@miis.edu or Michael Atoria, Volunteer Coordinator at matoria@miis.edu.

Thank you for your consideration!

MIIS Volunteer Policy
(1) A non-exempt employee may not volunteer to do work that he/she is normally paid to do for the Institute. (For example, if we had catering staff, they would not be able to volunteer to serve at a reception.)

(2) The Institute must have a written volunteer policy (attached), and each volunteer must sign it, in order to indicate that he/she is volunteering without expectation of compensation.

Under this ruling, it is also possible for current employees, including students, to volunteer if condition 1 is met. However, we have had a precedent for paying staff and students who work at Commencement and other events, and the following will apply if a volunteer policy is not signed for non-exempt (hourly) employees including work-study students:
1)  With the supervisor’s approval, a non-exempt employee may alter their schedule within the same workweek to accommodate an event (e.g., work 4 hours less during the week to work 4 hours on a Saturday).  All hours worked must be recorded.
OR
2) With the supervisor’s approval, the non-exempt employee will not alter their schedule in that workweek and will be paid for the extra hours worked at the special event.  This option can create overtime expense.  Any hours worked will need to be paid by the department that the staff/student is working under so approval from your supervisor is critical.
These are the only two options available.  Comp time is not an option for non-exempt employees per the California Labor Code.  With either option, the non-exempt employee must record all hours worked.

Students who are not employees, family members, and other members of the community may serve as volunteers, provided you require each of them to sign the Volunteer Policy form and submit it to Human Resources.

WHAT: Panel Presentation: “Japan: Coping with Earthquake, Tsunami, and Nuclear Disaster”

WHEN: April 21, 6:30-8:00 pm

WHERE: Irvine Auditorium, Monterey Institute of International Studies

The magnitude-9 earthquake and the subsequent tsunami on March 11 have killed over 13,000 persons and more than 14,000 remain unaccounted for. In addition, with the crippled nuclear plant in Fukushima spewing radioactive materials into the atmosphere and the sea, tens of thousands of international visitors have canceled their trips to Japan and many foreign governments have banned Japanese imports. How are the people in the affected areas of Japan coping with the unprecedented crisis? What are the challenges confronting the Japanese and international relief efforts on the ground? Four persons who are participating in the relief efforts in various ways will share their experiences and observations at this unique panel discussion, with panelists participating via skype from Japan and Washington, DC.

Scheduled participants include:

• Tsuneo Akaha, Professor, Monterey Institute of International Studies (chairing the panel)
• Marti McElreath, JET in Shichigahama-machi, Miyagi-ken (participating from Japan via skype)
• Steven Leeper, Chairperson, Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation (participating from Japan via skype)
• Nils Bildt, President, CTSS Group; MIIS alumnus (participating from Washington, DC via skype)
• Tatsuya Yoshioka, Director, Peace Boat (participating from Japan via skype)

Donations in support of relief efforts in Japan will be accepted at the door.

N.O.W. Networking Wine Tour & Tasting! (Portola Hotel to Château Julien)
When:Sat, April 23, 11am – 2pm
Where:Portola Hotel / Chateau Julien
Description: Join the N.O.W. Networking Club for an afternoon tour of Château Julien’s winery followed by a comprehensive “lesson” and tasting. Shuttle from Portola Hotel: $2.50 each way or $6 for unlimited. Participants will be taking public transportation to and from the vinyard through MST “Grapevine Express” from the Portola Hotel.

AND next week’s event:

+++++
N.O.W. LANGUAGE COMMUNITY MIXER
When: Thurs, April 29 8:30-10:00p.m.
Where: London Bridge Pub
N.O.W (Network Outreach Work) is hosting the second language gathering. This is intended to be a fun way for faculty, staff and students from MIIS and the greater Monterey community to connect within their language area(s) and perhaps share past professional experiences. Foreign language speakers of ALL levels are strongly encouraged to attend!

London Bridge
256 Figueroa St. Wharf #2
Monterey, CA 93940

May 6, 6-9pm & May 7, 10:00am – 7pm, Irvine Auditorium, Pierce & Jefferson Streets, Monterey, Celebrating Human Rights: The Art of Human Rights Protection, a collaboration of The Monterey Institution and the United Nations Association of the Monterey Bay. The event is open to the public and free of charge.

Friday, May 6, Keynote Speaker Mike Farrell, Actor/Director of TV and Film, and president of Death Penalty focus, followed by a reception with book-signing, music and poetry, art and photography on exhibit and tabling – opportunities to learn about, join, or volunteer for many human rights and humanitarian organizations.

Saturday, May 7, beginning at 10AM, there will be 9 more distinguished speakers: a morning panel on Legal and Institutional Protections and How to Use Them; an early afternoon Film Screening of “War Made Easy” with talk by writer/filmmaker

Norman Solomon; a later afternoon panel on Human Rights Advocacy, Strategy, and Service, and a wrap-up talk by Congressman Sam Farr.

Food and drink, exhibits and entertainment will continue to be available in the lower atrium at mid-day and following the close of the program.

For more information: Professor Jan Black, phone: 831-647-4180; <jblack@miis.edu>

The Middlebury College Choir will visit the Monterey Institute of International Studies on March 28 to present a series of a cappella choral works from the 17th to 21st centuries, including selections by Sweelinck and Brahms, folk-inspired international music, modern South American compositions, American folk and spirituals, and even a little jazz.

The concert, which will take place at 7:00 p.m. on March 28 in the Irvine Auditorium inside the McCone Building at 499 Pierce Street in Monterey, is free and open to the public. A reception featuring the student performers and conductor Jeffrey Buettner will follow the concert.

The choir concert is the latest in an ongoing series of exchanges that have seen faculty, students, staff, and a variety of cultural activities being shared between the two campuses. The Middlebury College Choir’s 2011 West Coast tour includes a series of performances in the San Francisco / Central Coast area between March 26 and April 1.

We are pleased to announce that Andrea Olsen, John C. Elder Professor of Environmental Studies and Professor of Dance at Middlebury, will visit MIIS for a brief residency in early March.  She is known around the world for her Body and Earth workshops that focus on the interconnectedness of earth systems and body systems, and the many roles the arts can play in environmental projects. While in Monterey, Andrea will offer a lecture/performance, From Fear to the Sublime—Art Making and the Environment, on Thursday, March 3, at 6:30 pm in Irvine Auditorium. She will also offer a workshop entitled Body and Earth Training: An Introduction, on Friday evening, March 4 and all day Saturday, March 5.  MIIS students can register for this workshop for one credit. Andrea also welcomes faculty and staff participants, including auditors as space permits.  This is a great opportunity to shift your perspective, and get to know one of Middlebury’s greatest proponents of the kind of inter-disciplinarity and immersive learning that we champion here.

Andrea will be returning to MIIS in April to participate in TEDx Monterey.

Her residency is supported by a grant from the Sloan Foundation.

What: Tops in Blue (U.S. Air Force’s premier entertainment group)  Free and open to the public.
When: Tuesday, 8 February 2011 at 1900-2030.
Where: Golden State Theatre (417 Alvarado St, Monterey, CA, 93940).
Why: The purpose of this event is to showcase military entertainment to the local community and foster positive community relations between the military and the Monterey Bay Community.

The following volunteers should be acknowledged for their service at the 2010 MIIS Winter Commencement held on December 11th.  Without you, the event would not be the success that it was!  Thank you so much for your dedication and time in support of the Institute.

DECOR TEAM:
Carol Fletcher (Decor Chair), Dollie Pope (Co-Decor Chair), Grace Andrews, Jeanne Amrein, John Devine, Alexis Gabriel, Jodi Hempy, Linda Ishii, Lloyd Ishii, Shane Lloyd, Sarah Miller, Natalie Singer, Anita Subrahmanyam, Cindy (Hsin-Nien) Tao,

USHERS:
Devin Lueddeke (Co-Head Usher), Rafael Ochoa (Co-Head Usher), Rawan Bannoura, Leslie Buckalew, Anna Dudney, Marci Fitzurka, Maureen Fura, Leah Gowron, Rob Horgan, Carol Johnson, Erin Joyce, Kathryn Joyce, Molly Joyce, Maria Khodorkovsky, Lynn McDonald, Jill Stoffers, Toni Thomas, Diane Williams, Nathan Westrup, Jeff Wood

RECEPTION VOLUNTEERS:
Konomi Awabayashi, Rawan Bannoura, Barbara Burke, Hanting Chao, Alexis Gabriel, Leah Gove, Linae Ishii-Devine, Hanna Lounsbury, Erina McWilliam, Mila McWilliam, Emily Normile, (Ryan) Juman Ouyang, Elma Paulauskaite, Jom Sakrangkun, Wayne Satmary, Natalie Singer, Christie Tam, Christa Thoeresz, Jason Warburg,

FLAGBEARERS:
Ashley Arrocha (Flag Coordinator), Yelena Altman, Baleigh Bender, Alicia Brent, Kelly Cole, Sophie Dessources, Paul Guyot-Bender, Chao-Min Hsu, Sophie (Yuan Yuan) Huang, Zain Irfan, Shan Jiang, Heather Kokesch, Guadalupe Lopez, Ryan Oh, Nataliya Ostashkina, Xian Ren, Elizabeth K. Romanoff, Jom Sakrangkun, Jorge Silva, Amy TerHaar, Ching-ti (Kylie) Wang, Jiewen Zhong

MUSIC VOLUNTEERS:
Professor Mike Gillen (Bagpiper) and Professor Peter Shaw (Music Coordinator)

STUDENT LINEUP VOLUNTEERS:
Pam Ventura (Grad Coordinator), Maggie Peters, Angie Quesenberry, Paz Rondez, Shawna Routh, Carolyn Taylor

FACULTY/PRESIDENT’S PARTY LINEUP VOLUNTEERS:
Barbara Burke and Leah Gove

ALUMNI HOUSE VOLUNTEER:
Leah Gowron

Special thanks to the campus services and maintenance department staff for their tireless work including Sam Bravo, Kirk Eckhardt, Marty Goss, and Micah Whitehead, Additional thanks to all the security staff headed up by Jeremy VondenBenken. Thanks to Media Services Vince Mascal and staff for videotaping the ceremony.