CSU Voices and Views

May 4th, 2012 • Access for Students, Educational Quality

Team Work Makes the Dream Work

CSSA officers meet with Marty Block, chairman of the Assembly Higher Education Committee.

Collaboration, commitment and communication were the underlining themes throughout the 2012 California Higher Education Student Summit. Student leaders from 22 CSU campuses came together to work as one in hopes of achieving a common goal: saving higher education.

From April 20-22, members of the California State Student Association (CSSA) participated in workshops at Sacramento State University where they learned how to effectively disseminate key messages, picked up vital leadership techniques and shared ideas of how to lobby.

When the workshop trainings were completed, the students gathered together for an inspirational awards banquet where stories about the positive effects of advocacy were shared, the need for investment in affordable education was expressed, and recognition of campus and individual student accomplishments were lauded. CSSA President Greg Washington concluded the banquet with one simple phrase that incited a roaring round of applause from his peers: “Team work makes the dream work.” More …

No Comments

Tags: Advocacy, California State Student Association, Made in the CSU, Student

April 19th, 2012 • Environmental Sustainability

A Passion for Composting

By Kaitlin Zitelli
Communications Major
Sonoma State University

Zitelli works as a student assistant in the SSU University Affairs office. Below is her profile of a peer – originally posted on Sonoma State’s News Center.

Tubb advises other students on composting

Less than five minutes into talking about compostable eating utensils with Diedre Tubb, the SSU senior jumps up and walks purposefully toward the dining hall. It is closed for business, but that doesn’t stop her.

Diedre continues talking about the new composting program she has helped launch on campus as she walks around the Zinfandel cafeteria. To fully explain just what she means, she incorporates a lot of visuals, whether they be picking up the actual compostable utensils she is talking about or using her hands and facial expressions.

This is largely due to the fact that Diedre is deaf, with almost no hearing ability. But that hasn’t stopped the Environmental Studies and Planning student from accomplishing more on campus during her last semester than most students do in four years.

Signing the names of certain items as she speaks, she seamlessly informs while at the same time asking very pertinent questions. It’s as if her brain is ten steps ahead of the average person’s. More …

No Comments

Tags: Green, Student

April 6th, 2012 • Educational Quality, Impact on California

Building a Better Future

By Sergio S. Pineda
Jumpstart Site Manager
CSU Dominguez Hills

Over many weekends and holidays, including most recently Cesar Chavez Service Day, Jumpstart volunteers at Cal State Dominguez Hills have been building a better future for an extraordinary family. Below is the description of the family that we received from Habitat for Humanity.

Eric and Shemika live with his mother in Long Beach. The family of three share a 100 square foot room in the deteriorating home. Their 16-month old son Jordan is growing up fast and Shemika dreams of the day that he has his own room and space to play. The family struggles with the overcrowding but were forced to make the best of the small space when Eric lost his job more than three years ago.
More …

No Comments

Tags: Service, Student

March 15th, 2012 • Access for Students, Educational Quality

Connecting Identity, Place and Community

By Rose Vasquez-Galimov
ACE Scholar and CSU San Marcos Student

Foster and adopted youth often feel particular urgency in the question: Who am I? It took several difficult years for me to come to an answer. I grew up on the San Pasqual Reservation. After I turned eighteen, I returned to connect with lost family and community after more than a decade away from the Santa Ysabel Reservation of my birth father.

I have learned my identity. I am a Kumeyaay woman of the Santa Ysabel Tribe. I am also a student at Cal State San Marcos. I am a person who dances to preserve a rare tradition of history, family, life and prophecy while studying to advance my tribe’s future.

The reservation and campus create two focal points for my life. The reservation is a place of spiritual fulfillment, comfort and familiarity. The campus is a place of opportunity, challenge and diversity. Both of these places are crucial to shape the person I am and hope to become.

I consider myself very lucky. Through the American Indian Recruitment Program, I had the support and encouragement of college students during high school. Christy, a Cal State master’s student, stuck with me and helped me complete college applications. She still occasionally helps with a little moral support.

My fortune continues at Cal State. I find myself at a campus where I am accepted as a former foster youth and Native American woman. I am part of the ACE Scholars program and the American Indian Student Alliance, with a safe refuge in the new campus cultural center. I also mentor high school students as Christy once mentored me.

At Cal State, I am laying a foundation for bringing my two realities together. I persevere in my education out of a desire to serve native people. My goal is to finish my bachelor’s and go on to a Master’s in Social Work at San Diego State. I believe that my experience will allow me to relate to Native American students and foster youth currently in the system.

Ultimately, my goal is to help others create bridges between their current reality and the world of opportunity that comes with an education.

Note: Below is a video documenting Rose’s journey.

WORLDS APART from Brendan Nahmias on Vimeo.

1 Comment

Tags: Former Foster Youth, Social Work, Student

March 9th, 2012 • Access for Students, Educational Quality, Impact on California

Fund Our Future

Photos by Michael Quibuyen, Sarah Vagts and Erik Fallis

Thousands of CSU, UC and California Community College students march to the steps of the capitol in Sacramento on March 5. Their message is concise and direct: “Fund Our Future.” This message is a response to the billions of dollars cut away from the state’s three higher education systems in the last five years.

The students’ message also highlights the slow economic recovery in California – a recovery threatened by the shortage of educated workers prepared for high-paying, high-demand and high-tech fields. The simple reality is that California cannot secure its future while shortchanging colleges and universities. Funding students and higher education is funding the future for all Californians.

California State Student Association President Greg Washington (center) holds the banner leading the students through nearly two miles of Sacramento city streets. Fellow leaders from the UC Student Association and Student Senate of the California Community Colleges join Washington at the front of the march.

Standing to the left of Washington is CSSA Legislative Affairs Vice President Sean Richards. Washington and Richards meet directly with several elected officials following the march. More …

No Comments

Tags: California State Student Association, Made in the CSU, Student, Workforce

February 28th, 2012 • Access for Students, Educational Quality

The Merging of Worlds

By Jimmie LaVerne Thompson
Education Consultant
CSU Alumni Council Secretary
Alumna of CSU Dominguez Hills

Thompson addresses a congregation of thousands at City of Refuge, with associate pastor Seth Gator looking on. CSU Super Sunday is Thompson's first time speaking in front of her church.

My grandsons inspired me to speak at CSU Super Sunday.

As I looked out on the City of Refuge congregation, every young face radiated that same spark of potential I see in them. Some people talk about youth as lost and aimless. The young men and women of City are not lost. They are found and they are alive with the promise of a prosperous and blessed future.

Last Sunday, my grandsons served as more than just inspiration. They served as ushers, taking on my typical church responsibilities. You see, I belong to the congregation of City of Refuge and speaking on behalf of the CSU was really a merging of two worlds. More …

1 Comment

Tags: Advocacy, African American Initiative, Alumni, Service, Super Sunday

February 24th, 2012 • Access for Students, Educational Quality

Persevering through Despair

Believe, Achieve, Dream, Become
——————————————-
By Tanisha Washington
Alumna of CSU Long Beach
2009 Hearst/CSU Trustees’ Scholar

Washington in graduation regalia following her completion of a CSU Long Beach degree in management information systems with a special emphasis in applications development

“If you believe it, you can achieve it. If you can dream it, you can become it.” This quote has a lot of meaning to me. It was the theme of my valedictory speech when I graduated from community college and transferred to California State University. It was the opening line for my dinner speech when I celebrated earning my bachelor’s degree. Just as important, the first time I encountered this quote was on an oversized poster in the entrance to a homeless shelter I lived in on Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles.
More …

1 Comment

Tags: African American Initiative, Alumni, Hearst/CSU Trustees' scholar, Super Sunday

February 17th, 2012 • Access for Students, Impact on California

The Message of Preparation Continues

The CSU Super Sunday message has already reached 17 California churches in the first two weeks of February 2012. The CSU Chancellor, presidents, trustees and other representatives have all taken to the pulpit to inform, to encourage and to inspire.

Now in its seventh year, CSU Super Sunday is a key component of the CSU African American Initiative that brings together the university, churches and community groups. Below are highlights from two Sundays, Feb. 5 and Feb. 12.

CSU Chancellor Charles B. Reed delivers the college preparation message during Super Sunday at Crenshaw Christian Center in Los Angeles. In his hand is the ‘How to Get to College’ poster. The poster is a roadmap for students starting in the sixth grade.

More …

No Comments

Tags: African American Initiative, Super Sunday

February 14th, 2012 • Access for Students, Impact on California

Education and the Game of Life

Eric Moore
Founder and Executive Director
Educate California
Alumnus of CSU Long Beach

Moore demonstrates Educate California's 'Gateway' website to students at the California Science Center School.

I grew up in the neighborhood of Bryant Temple AME Church, and this month I am privileged to speak to the congregation on behalf of the California State University African American Initiative during Super Sunday.

Over the last decade, a phenomenal partnership has developed between Cal State, churches and community groups. This partnership is critical, because I believe that Cal State is frankly the best option for most students. Cal State campuses provide a great education at an affordable price. I know as an alumnus of CSU Long Beach, with my youngest son at CSU Northridge, that students get a wonderful university experience. More …

1 Comment

Tags: African American Initiative, Alumni, Service, Super Sunday

February 7th, 2012 • Access for Students, Educational Quality

A Scientist’s Responsibility

Sepher Eskandari, Ph.D.
Professor and Chair of Biological Sciences
Alumnus of Cal Poly Pomona

Sepher Eskandari in the lab at Cal Poly Pomona.

My most important responsibility as a scientist is to teach the next generation. This is because science is not static – it is not the sum of all existing knowledge. Rather, science is a dynamic process that builds one discovery on top of the other. Today’s scientific community is asking questions that will not be answered in my lifetime, but in my students’ lifetimes – perhaps.

I derive great joy working with and teaching students in my lab at Cal Poly Pomona. Together, we research the chemistry implicated in brain processes that may one day lead to treatment options for seizures and strokes. The work itself is rewarding but the intellectual curiosity and maturation I see developing in students who spend upwards of four years (spanning both their undergraduate and graduate years) in my lab makes a greater personal impact. More …

1 Comment

Tags: Alumni, Biotechnology, Faculty, Research