CSU/Campus News
Valley Hispanics excited about Fresno State’s hiring of Joseph Castro
May 24, 2013
The Fresno Bee
By Pablo Lopez
Thrilled to death. Phenomenal. Exciting.
That was the local Hispanic community’s reaction Thursday to Joseph Castro being named Fresno State’s next president — the first Latino to hold the post in the university’s 102-year history.
Castro, 46 and a Hanford native, is a vice chancellor at University of California at San Francisco. He will replace John Welty, 68, who will retire at the end of July after 22 years.
Hispanics interviewed Thursday view Castro as one of them — someone who grew up in the Valley and knows its history, culture and problems. More »
Ochoa appointed CSUMB president
May 24, 2013
Salinas Californian
The interim chief of Cal State Monterey Bay is now the permanent chief.
Eduardo M. Ochoa was appointed earlier today as the fulltime president of the university by the California State University Board of Trustees, effective immediately.
Ochoa has held been at the helm of CSUMB as the interim president since July 2012.
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SFSU professor’s ethics questioned over class assignment
May 24, 2013
San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco State University Professor Joe Tuman assigned a final project for his communications students: Write a campaign ad for one of two candidates, an imaginary pro-gun control black Republican in the Central Valley or someone real. Tuman himself.
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SDSU HITS $400M IN FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN
May 24, 2013
San Diego Union Tribune
By Karen Kucher
San Diego State University has reached the $400 million mark in its comprehensive fundraising campaign, thanks to a recent gift of $250,000 from Union Bank, university officials said Tuesday.
SDSU launched its first-ever comprehensive fundraising campaign in 2007 with the goal of raising $500 million to create new opportunities for student success and to help SDSU continue to develop as a public research university. Previously, colleges and departments conducted individual fundraising efforts.
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CSU Los Angeles hires Fresno provost William Covino
May 24, 2013
The Fresno Bee
By Tim Sheehan
The appointment of Joseph Castro as Fresno State’s new president Wednesday wasn’t the only change in the university’s administrative ranks.
The university’s top academic official, provost William Covino, was tabbed by the trustees of the California State University system to become the next president at CSU Los Angeles.
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Eduardo Ochoa Named President of CSUMB
May 24, 2013
Monterey County Weekly
By Arvin Temkar
The interim president of CSU Monterey Bay has been made permanent president of the university after nearly a year of service.
Dr. Eduardo Ochoa, who has held the interim position since 2012, was appointed president this morning by the California State University Board of Trustees, according to the university.
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Alexander Bids Farewell To CSULB
May 24, 2013
Long Beach Gazettes
By Jonathan Van Dyke
By the end of commencement ceremonies this week, California State University, Long Beach, President F. King Alexander will have shook more than 50,000 hands during his tenure at the college, staff estimated.
Alexander will be shaking the hands of about 700 business, 400 natural sciences, 800 engineer and 500 schoolteacher graduates this week. Then, shortly after almost a week of commencement festivities, he will turn his attention to a new job and leaving CSULB, a place he has helmed since 2006.
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Student loan interest fracas far from solved with latest House bill
May 24, 2013
Times-Herald
By Sarah Rohrs
Going to college is expensive enough for California Maritime Academy students in Vallejo, but with the threat of interest rates on student loans doubling this summer that outlay could go even higher.
“This would impact our students greatly,” Cal Maritime Director of Financial Aid Nicole Hill said. “This is a subsidized loan so it’s interest free while in school but during the repayment period the interest would double.”
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Girl born to save her sister’s life graduates from CSU Long Beach
May 24, 2013
Los Angeles Times
By Rosanna Xia
Marissa Eve Ayala, who first drew national attention more than two decades ago as the child who was born to provide her sister a life-saving bone marrow transplant, graduated from Cal State Long Beach this week with a degree in speech pathology.
Ayala, 23, said she has carved out her own story, despite the years of media attention on the reason she was born.
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Archaeologist digs islands’ history
May 24, 2013
Camarillo Acorn
By Dawn Witlin
Professor uncovers artifacts from Chumash and other tribes of archipelago
Archaeologist Jennifer Perry shares her commute with pods of dolphins and herds of whales.
Several times a year the assistant professor of anthropology at California State University Channel Islands boards a supply boat to the Channel Islands, where she studies artifacts left by Native Americans who took up residence on the islands nearly 13,000 years ago.
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A sense of pride
May 24, 2013
Camarillo Acorn
By Stephanie Guzman
Frank Barajas has worked as an educator for more than 20 years, but the professor still feels pride at each graduation ceremony when he watches his students receive their diplomas, knowing their years of hard work have paid off.
With each diploma given, the California State University Channel Islands history professor said he’s reminded of why he loves his job.
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Eva Longoria gets her master’s degree
May 24, 2013
USA TODAY
By Ann Oldenburg
What a week it has been for one former Desperate Housewives star!
Eva Longoria has gone from Cannes and her wardrobe malfunction to sporting a cap and gown for a special graduation ceremony at Cal State Northridge.
Longoria, 38, kicked up her heels in happiness after getting her master’s degree in Chicano Studies on Wednesday.
She shared a shot of herself in cap and gown, surrounded by other grads. TMZ reports she spent the last three years working on the degree.
Noted Longoria on WhoSay: “You’re never too old or too busy to continue your education!”
SFSU prof’s assignment raises ethics questions
May 24, 2013
KTVU
A San Francisco State University professor considering a run for Oakland mayor is drawing scrutiny for a class assignment that asked students to create a political campaign ad and gave them the option of developing it for him.
Joe Tuman said he would use the ad if it were good, the San Francisco Chronicle reported on Thursday. But ethics experts said any such use of the students’ work could run afoul of the law.
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Commencement a milestone for injured student
May 24, 2013
Chico Enterprise Record
By ASHLEY GEBB
Sunday will be a special day for Brandon Fisher’s family and friends.
The graduation goal he set so many years before and worked so diligently to pursue will finally be at hand. After lots of studying, lots of learning, and nearly four years after he started his path at Chico State University, Brandon Fisher will don a cap and gown and hear his name proclaimed for all to hear.
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CSU Stanislaus to Honor Golden Grads from Class of ‘63
May 24, 2013
Turlock City News
By Cara Hallam
Before the current campus of California State University Stanislaus was fully constructed, college students who attended the university took their courses at the Stanislaus County Fairgrounds.
Sue Smith, a graduate from the CSU Stanislaus Class of 1963, was one of those students who attended their courses at the fairground and graduated at a ceremony held at the Turlock High School auditorium. On May 31, she will get the opportunity to stand on stage during the 2013 Commencement ceremony in the CSU Stanislaus amphitheater at a campus that did not exist when she earned her degree.
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Leaders in construction to be honored at Sac State graduation
May 24, 2013
Sacramento Business Journal
By Ben Van der Meer
Several prominent construction names in the region will be honored at California State University Sacramento’s’s graduation ceremony Saturday for its Department of Construction Management students.
The 10 people being honored were chosen because of their impact on the college’s program, according a news release from the university.
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San Francisco State U. Professor Draws Scrutiny for Campaign-Ad Assignment
May 24, 2013
Chronicle of Higher Ed
A San Francisco State University professor has drawn scrutiny for a class assignment in which he asked students to come up with a political-campaign advertisement that he suggested he might use if he runs for office again, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
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Editorials/Commentary
A long-awaited addition to California State University, Stanislaus
May 24, 2013
Modesto Bee
A new era in the history of California State University, Stanislaus, has begun. Some would argue it began with the departure of the previous president; we think it began when Joseph Sheley first stepped onto the campus as interim president.
When trustees of the California State University system dropped his interim status and confirmed his permanence in the role, it confirmed what many have witnessed firsthand: Sheley is the absolute right leader for CSU Stanislaus — a decision we heartily applaud.
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College grads, maximize your 20s before it’s too late
May 24, 2013
Los Angeles Times
By Alexandra Le Tellier
I have a particular — er, peculiar? — passion for commencement speeches. When Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick spoke at my bother’s graduation a few years ago, I was re-energized for months, and now I seek out notable commencement speeches on YouTube whenever I need a pick-me-up.
But what’s the point of inspirational speeches for grads who’re entering a dismal job market, many of them also weighed down with significant debt?
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UC News
UCLA library worker’s death on campus was a suicide, coroner says
May 24, 2013
LA Times
By Rosanna Xia
The body of a man found on UCLA’s campus was the result of a suicide, according to the Los Angeles County coroner Thursday.
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UCR Medical School Funding heading to state budget, lawmakers say
May 24, 2013
Press Enterprise
BY JEFF HORSEMAN
The bid to secure state funding for UC Riverside’s Medical School took another step forward this week when a proposal to provide $15 million in ongoing funding was placed in the state budget, according to Riverside’s representatives in Sacramento.
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California News
Solano College students reach milestone moment with graduation
May 24, 2013
Times Herald
By Sarah Rohrs
“I’m a success today because I had a friend who believed in me and I didn’t have the heart to let him down.”
Abraham Lincoln as read by Solano College President Jowel Laguerre during Thursday’s commencement
FAIRFIELD — No mistaking the pride on Janeth Antonio’s face as she stood among hundreds of other Solano Community College graduates Thursday, each dressed in a cap and gown and excited about crossing the stage to receive their diplomas.
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Cabrillo College presidential candidates wrap up forums
May 24, 2013
Santa Cruz Sentinel
By Bonnie Horgos
Now that the five final candidates for Cabrillo College’s president and superintendent have spoken at campus forums Wednesday and Thursday, the choice of the future leader is in the hands of the Board of Trustees, with an expected selection by June.
More »
National News
House Passes Student Loan Interest Rate Bill
May 24, 2013
Inside Higher Ed
WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday that would create variable interest rates for student loans, but the measure is likely to stall since Senate Democrats strongly oppose it and President Obama has vowed a veto. Interest rates for federally subsidized Stafford loans will double to 6.8 percent on July 1 if Congress does not act, and both President Obama and Congressional Republicans had originally said they favored a long-term solution. But Congressional Democrats have opposed the House Republicans’ plan, which would create interest rates based on 10-year Treasury bonds that would vary over the life of the loan, and want to sustain the 3.4 percent interest rate for another year or two so that Congress can consider the interest rate in the context of the broader renewal of the Higher Education Act.
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Student Loan Bill Passes House, Setting Up Face-Off
May 24, 2013
New York Times
By JONATHAN WEISMAN
The House on Thursday passed legislation to head off a doubling of student loan interest rates on July 1, instead tying rates to prevailing market trends and ending federal subsidies.
The bill, approved largely along party lines, 221 to 198, kicks off what is sure to be the next showdown involving House Republicans, Senate Democrats and President Obama, with a hard deadline looming in little more than a month.
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When Hollywood Wants Good, Clean Fun, It Goes to Mormon Country
May 24, 2013
New York Times Magazine
By JON MOOALLEM
Allen Ostergar stood at the front of the lecture hall with a stiff and bashful smile, or maybe it was just stage fright, and started his pitch. Open on a deadly pirate ship, he said— “the deadliest of all the pirate ships to, like, sail the seas.”
It was a Tuesday evening at Brigham Young University, in Provo, Utah, and the school’s computer-animation program had assembled its 70-odd students to choose their next project — the one film they would be producing over the next three semesters. Ostergar, a junior from Southern California, was up first.
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Blogs/Columns
Pizarro: San Jose State graduation, taco festival headed for a traffic clash
May 24, 2013
San Jose Mercury News
By Sal Pizarro
We’re all supposed to cheer for the cap-and-gown crowd, and who doesn’t love a good taco? But the two together could create a traffic nightmare around Spartan Stadium on Saturday when San Jose State’s graduation coincides with the San Jose Taco Festival of Innovation about a block away.
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International News
Bid in France to Add Courses in English Raises Fear for Language
May 24, 2013
New York Times
By MAÏA de la BAUME
PARIS — The reaction was loud, swift and fierce this week to a proposed law that would require French universities to teach more of their courses in English, a measure that a well-known scholar had called a “suicidal project” that would lead to France’s sacrificing its language to “Americanization disguised as globalization.”
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