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������Ƶ alumnus David Batstone, a modern day abolitionist, will stop in the Tri Counties this week as part of a 60-city tour to end slavery and human trafficking. He will speak in chapel at ������Ƶ Wednesday, Sept. 26, at 10:30 a.m. He will speak that evening at Eastminster Presbyterian Church, 8180 Telephone Road in Ventura at 7 p.m.

The social issues and implications surrounding the skin tone of Asians will be the focus of a talk by author and scholar Paul Spickard, Friday, Sept. 28, at 3:30 p.m. in ������Ƶ’s Hieronymus Lounge. The free, public lecture, “Is Lighter Better? Skin-Tone Discrimination Among Asian Americans,” will explain and interpret the issue and its implications for Asian American women.

Lesa Stern, communication studies professor, joined the ������Ƶ faculty this fall and looks forward to mentoring and conducting research with her students. She completed a study on students’ use of the popular social networking Web site Facebook while teaching at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.

“It was the good, the bad and the ugly,” Stern says. “Students will tell you a lot on their profiles. That was a fun one.”

Kathryn Stelmach always knew she wanted to be a teacher. The new ������Ƶ English professor and Carlsbad native says she was deeply influenced by her maternal grandparents, who both taught high school English.

“Growing up, I would sit in my grandfather’s chair and read his dog-eared poetry. I really fell in love with it,” she says.

William Dyrness, professor of theology and culture at Fuller Seminary in Pasadena, will present a lecture on “Georges Rouault, Jacques Maritain and Cultural Renewal in France,” Thursday, September 27, at 7 p.m. in ������Ƶ’s Reynolds Gallery. This free event is in conjunction with the gallery’s current exhibit, “Georges Rouault: Miserere et Guerre.”

English faculty and students will read aloud the entire text of Charlotte Brontë’s novel “Jane Eyre” between 9 a.m. and midnight Saturday, Sept. 29, in Reynolds Hall at ������Ƶ. Community members are invited to come by, listen and enjoy light refreshments provided throughout the day.