Larry Woodruff has developed and teaches courses at ASU's Polytechnic Campus, in Stress Management for Wellness; Substance Abuse and Addictive Behaviors; Program Development and Leadership, and the Instructional Competency Lab in Strength Conditioning. He coordinates the Undergraduate Internship Program for the department, as well as their nationally recognized Spa Management Certification program. He is the department liaison to the Campus Recreation Program, serves as Chair of the Exercise and Wellness Undergraduate Curriculum Committee, and is a member of the School of Applied Arts and Sciences Academic Programs Committee. He represented ASU Polytechnic as a member of the 2005-2006 Healthier Phoenix Initiative Ad Hoc Committee, and as a member of several work groups to develop the 2005 Physical Activity and Nutrition State Plan for Arizona.

Mr. Woodruff is a member of the International Positive Psychology Association (charter member); the International Stress Management Association, and the National Strength and Conditioning Association. His areas of expertise include stress management, mindfulness-based stress reduction, selected areas of positive psychology; health promotion and fitness program development, implementation, and evaluation, and exercise equipment and fitness facility design.

The Humanist Book Club meets on the fourth Saturday of each month at 10:30 a.m., Mesa Main Library, Main Branch, 64 East 1st Street (East of Country Club Way at the intersection of N. Centennial Way -- N.W. corner)

From Publishers Weekly:

Ha Jin, who emigrated from China in the aftermath of Tiananmen Square, had only been writing in English for 12 years when he won the National Book Award for Waiting in 1999. His latest novel sheds light on an émigré writer's woodshedding period. It follows the fortunes of Nan Wu, who drops out of a U.S. grad school after the repression of the democracy movement in China, hoping to find his voice as a poet while supporting his wife, Pingping, and son, Taotao. After several years of spartan living, Nan and Pingping save enough to buy a Chinese restaurant in suburban Atlanta, setting up double tensions: between Nan's literary hopes and his career, and between Nan and Pingping, who, at the novel's opening, are staying together for the sake of their young boy. While Pingping grows more independent, Nan—amid the dulling minutiae of running a restaurant and worries about mortgage payments, insurance and schooling—slowly snuffs the torch he carries for his first love. That Nan at one point reads Dr. Zhivago isn't coincidental: while Ha Jin's novel lacks Zhivago's epic grandeur, his biggest feat may be making the reader wonder whether the trivialities of American life are not, in some ways, as strange and barbaric as the upheavals of revolution.

Jay Strisik is putting together program whereby volunteers from our membership will give a seven to 10 minute presentation on their beliefs and philosophy of life. If you would like to participate, be sure to let Jay know when he asks for volunteers. Some topics might be: "How I became a Humanist/Freethinker/Atheist." "I Was a____________ But I Became a Humanist Because..." "The Way I See the Universe." "My Thoughts on Life and Death." You can probably think of many others. Join us and share your own thoughts!

The AHA Conference was a huge success! Over 326 registered for one of the best run conferences ever (quoting the AHA! Awesome job, everyone!

The Humanist Book Club meets on the fourth Saturday of each month at 10:30 a.m., Mesa Main Library, Main Branch, 64 East 1st Street (East of Country Club Way at the intersection of N. Centennial Way -- N.W. corner)

From Publishers Weekly:

Erudite, engaging and highly original, journalist Pollan's fascinating account of four everyday plants and their coevolution with human society challenges traditional views about humans and nature. Using the histories of apples, tulips, potatoes and cannabis to illustrate the complex, reciprocal relationship between humans and the natural world, he shows how these species have successfully exploited human desires to flourish. "It makes just as much sense to think of agriculture as something the grasses did to people as a way to conquer the trees," Pollan writes as he seamlessly weaves little-known facts, historical events and even a few amusing personal anecdotes to tell each species' story. For instance, he describes how the apple's sweetness and the appeal of hard cider enticed settlers to plant orchards throughout the American colonies, vastly expanding the plant's range. He evokes the tulip craze of 17th-century Amsterdam, where the flower's beauty led to a frenzy of speculative trading, and explores the intoxicating appeal of marijuana by talking to scientists, perusing literature and even visiting a modern marijuana garden in Amsterdam. Finally, he considers how the potato plant demonstrates man's age-old desire to control nature, leading to modern agribusiness's experiments with biotechnology. Pollan's clear, elegant style enlivens even his most scientific material, and his wide-ranging references and charming manner do much to support his basic contention that man and nature are and will always be "in this boat together."

Joan Zecherle is a Faith Community Liaison for Hospice of the Valley, connecting communities to resources on end-of-life issues. She has a B.A. in Human Health Studies and a minor in Religious Studies from Arizona State University, and is continuing her education toward certification in health care chaplaincy.

Pot Luck (bring a dish!) and tour of our property! Address: 627 West 8th Street, Mesa (between Country Club and Alma School)

Join us for a pot luck barbecue and tour of our building! If you haven't been by our building lately, this will be a good chance to see what's happening there. If you've never seen it, come on by and check it out! We'll be barbecuing all afternoon and showing off the building! Bring a dish to share.

Directions: Take the 101 Freeway to the 202 East (northern part). Exit Alma School; go south on Alma School to 8th Street, turn left (east) past Westwood High School. At the corner of Date Street, turn right into our driveway just before the traffic signal. Overflow parking on CHERRY STREET, first street to the west of the property. Westwood High School is another possibility (private property -- park at your own risk).

Dr. Jane Maienschein is Regents Professor at the ASU School of Life Sciences, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. She is also Director of the Center for Biology and Society. She has received numerous faculty and teaching awards, including the 2000 Parents Association Professor of the Year Chair and a Regents' Professorship in 2002, and President's Professorship in 2007. She currently serves as President of the History of Science Society and on the national board for the Association for Women in Science.

Dr. Maienschein specializes in the history and philosophy of biology and the way that biology, bioethics, and biopolicy play out in society. Focusing on research in embryology, genetics, and cell biology, Dr. Maienschein combines detailed analysis of the epistemological standards, theories, laboratory practices and experimental approaches with study of the people, institutions, and changing social, political, and legal context in which science thrives.