A public forum on the Occupy Wall Street movement is scheduled for 7 to 9 p.m. Nov. 17 at William Philip Hall on the University of Washington Tacoma campus.
The discussion will include representatives from local organizations, including Occupy Tacoma and Jobs with Justice. This event includes panel presentations, an open forum, and exploration of the goals of the movement, as well as its historical roots and potential political consequences.
For information, contact Cynthia Howson at chowson@uw.edu.

David Tinsley, distinguished professor of German at University of Puget Sound, is to be presented with the annual Certificate of Merit Award from the American Association of Teachers of German (AATG) and the Goethe-Institut New York.

Tinsley is one of four recipients of the 2011 award for outstanding achievement in furthering the teaching of German in schools of the United States. The award has been presented annually since 1978 to educators in the field of the German language.

Tinsley was nominated by the Washington Association of Teachers of German. A panel of AATG and Goethe-Institut representatives selected the winners.

Lua Pritchard is the newest member of the board of trustees at Clover Park Technical College. Pritchard serves in the position previously held by Shauna Weatherby, whose term expired on September 30, after nearly 10 years of service.

Pritchard is the director of the Asia Pacific Cultural Center. She is the former director of the Korean Women’s Association, and has served as a member of the Governor’s Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs.

Sandra Sunrising Osawa, whose films and television productions tell the stories of contemporary Native Americans, will deliver the keynote speech at the Contemporary Native American Issues in Higher Education symposium, which runs from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday in Philip Hall on the University of Washington Tacoma campus.

The purpose of the annual symposium, now in its fourth year, is to encourage Native American youths to consider going to college. The event brings Native students, their teachers and families together for workshops on going to college, demonstrations of university classes, a campus tour and an inspirational speaker.

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The University of Phoenix hosts an open house to unveil its new Tacoma Learning Center from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. Saturday.

The center is at 1126 Pacific Ave., Suite. 100. It replaces the Learning Center previously located at 1145 Broadway Plaza.

Saturday’s activities include free career workshops, sample classes and a children’s fun center.

Pierce College Fort Steilacoom is ranked in the top 10 percent in the nation, according to the Aspen Institute.
The Aspen Institute College Excellence Program has named Pierce College Fort Steilacoom to its list of the nation’s 120 best community colleges for its high standards for learning, college completion without delay, and serving as a training ground for jobs that pay competitive wages, according to a college announcement.
Pierce is one of only four colleges in Washington to be named to the list. The others are Spokane Falls, Spokane, and Walla Walla community colleges.
Inclusion on the …

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A Tacoma literacy advocate and former nun who passed away in March has received a posthumous teaching award at Saint Martin’s University.

Mary Sheila Powers, 61, was honored May 7 at the university’s graduation ceremony. Powers died March 15 due to complications from breast cancer.

Her husband, Dan Worthen, and her family accepted the award in her stead.
At the time of Powers’ death, she was teaching at three different schools: Tacoma Community College, Seattle University, and Saint Martin’s University. At Saint Martin’s, she taught Religious Studies courses and other electives for almost 18 years.

“She was fiery and …

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A survivor 0f  the atomic bombing of Hiroshima is scheduled to be among 40 members of the  Japan Council Against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs who will visit Tacoma on Thursday and celebrate the installation of a Peace Pole on the city’s University of Washington campus.

The delegation is set to stop in the Northwest on its way home from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty conference at the United Nations in New York.

The group is scheduled for a meeting at City Hall and then a forum at UWT from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m., said  Sharon Parker, the university’s assistant chancellor for Equity and Diversity.

The forum is free and open to the public.

The group’s visit will culminate in the celebration of the Peace Pole, a handmade monument that will proclaim in four languages: “May Peace Prevail on Earth,” according to a news release on the UWT website.

The delegation’s stop in Tacoma reciprocates for the  Journey of Repentance, a trip made by a group of mostly local residents to Japan last summer. They sought  forgiveness for the U.S. nuclear  attacks on that nation at the end of World War II.

The Rev. Bill Bichsel, a Tacoma peace activist and Jesuit priest who made that trip, is helping arrange the delegation’s visit this week, Parker said.

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