California State University, Chico:
Graduate student Skye “The P.E. Guy” Dunn is talking the talk and walking the walk when it comes to promoting physical fitness as part of the solution to the nation’s obesity problem. Over the last six months, Dunn, who is pursuing a master’s degree in kinesiology, has biked, walked, skated and skateboarded across the country, talking to children along the way about physical fitness. His six-month P.E. jaunt started with a swim in the Pacific Ocean on June 4 in San Francisco and ended with a visit Nov. 19 to The Children’s Storefront School in Harlem, where he encouraged students to take at least 10,000 steps every day and presented the school pedometers for two classes. Dunn is working with CASPER (Center for Advancement of Standards-based Physical Education Reform) at CSU-Chico to empower parents, school administrators and elected officials to demand quality P.E. classes that include nutrition information.
California State University, Long Beach:
First-generation Latino students enrolled in nutrition science and health science at CSULB will be on the front lines in the fight against maternal and childhood obesity in the Long Beach Latino community. A new program, “Comienzo Sano: Familia Saludable” (Healthy Start: Healthy Families), will rely on students to work with participants in the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program, encouraging breastfeeding, introducing them to foods and liquids to alleviate the development of asthma and allergies and providing nutrition and wellness instruction to prevent obesity. The new program is funded with a U.S. Department of Agriculture $295,000 Hispanic- serving institutions grant to the National Council of La Raza/CSULB Center for Latino Community Health, Evaluation and Leadership Training.
California State University, Stanislaus:
Genetic counselors, medical professionals who use their expertise in human genetics and knowledge of important medical discoveries to help patients dealing with genetic disorders and inherited health conditions, are in high demand. CSU-Stanislaus is answering the call with the development of a new master’s degree program starting in the fall of 2008. The Master of Science in Genetic Counseling program is being offered in collaboration with the University of California-San Francisco, San Francisco State University and Kaiser Permanente and is the third university program accredited by the American Board of Genetic Counseling on the West Coast.
Coastline Community College:
The college is offering up to $50,000 in scholarships to students who have demonstrated academic success, outstanding community service, financial need and leadership at the school. Granted by the Coastline Foundation and made possible through donations from faculty, staff, businesses, organizations and individuals, these scholarships range from $150 to $2,000 each. Applications must be received by March 10, 2008. Mariam Khosravani, director of the Coastline Foundation, is strongly encouraging students to apply. “In some years, scholarships have outnumbered the students applying for them,” she says. The Foundation awarded $44,210 in scholarships to 132 students during the 2006-2007 academic year.
College of Alameda:
An applied politics social Certificate in Change Agency is in the works at the college for the spring of 2008. One of the most diverse community colleges in the nation, College of Alameda plans to start admitting students to this newly developed program next semester. The program will be set up to train students to run social change campaigns. Rooted in facilitating participatory democracy, this certificate will enable students to promote civic engagement. This program is tied to the Sustainable Peralta Initiative, which is an effort to “go green” in the Peralta Community College District.
East Los Angeles Community College:
The largest community college district in the United States, the LACCD has implemented the $2.2 billion Bond Construction Program to better prepare all of its colleges for the environmental challenges of the future and to expand facilities. At East Los Angeles Community College, specifically, the new construction plans include energy- producing photovoltaic “solar energy” cells and new buildings that will be built to standards set by the U.S. Green Building Council.
El Camino College: Funded through Measure E, a $394 million bond that provides funds to modernize classrooms, El Camino College has gotten a facelift this fall. Both the interior and exterior of the humanities building at the college were renovated in a $29 million project. The school has also received upgrades in furnishings and technology. The Department of State Architects also approved plans for a new parking lot and athletic facility. The completion date is set for April 2009.
Hancock Community College:
Overall enrollment grew this semester by 7.5 percent, and Latino enrollment increased by 11.6 percent at the college, according to the Santa Maria Times. Of the 700 new students at the college, 385 are Latino. Though enrollment dropped by 5 percent at Hancock Community College during the 2005-2006 academic year, the school’s enrollment has grown consistently and steadily over last few years.
Mills College:
Located in Oakland, this women’s college was recently awarded a prestigious Kresge Foundation Challenge Grant of $1 million for its new 26,000 square-foot “green” Natural Sciences Building. To address the underrepresentation of women in the sciences, Mills expanded its science offerings in 2005 by introducing five new bachelor’s degrees in biology, biochemistry and molecular biology, biopsychology, chemistry and environmental science. According to the college, the stateof- the-art facility will advance women’s opportunities in science education and careers through innovative research and learning within an interdisciplinary center.
Pepperdine University:
Members of the Pepperdine community continue to assist those impacted by wildfires that raged through Southern California in late October. According to the university, one of the first planned outreach projects is to help replant the landscaping at a nearby elementary school. Additional volunteer initiatives include sending a group of students to San Diego over the winter break to help with clean-up and relief efforts, participating in a clothing drive, and providing replacement items for those who lost belongings in the fires. In addition to volunteer efforts, Pepperdine has established a fund to aid Malibu fire victims.
Pomona College:
With 26 members of its class of 2007 awarded prestigious Fulbright Fellowships, Pomona topped its peer liberal arts colleges with the number of recipients, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education. The next highest ranking liberal arts college was Smith College with 14. Among the Pomona recipients, 11 were awarded Fellowship Research Grants, and 15 seniors were awarded grants to teach English in a total of 19 foreign countries from Spain to Thailand. The Fulbright U.S. Student Program offers the opportunity to recent graduates to pursue research or teach abroad, with the goal of increasing cultural understanding.
San Francisco State University:
Officials announced last month the formation of the Willie L. Brown, Jr. Leadership Center to educate and prepare students for public service in city, county and regional governments. Brown, former mayor of San Francisco and former speaker of the California State Assembly, also donated his large collection of artifacts, videotapes and state legislative papers to his alma mater. The Brown Center, headed by Brown’s long-time aide Steve Kawa, will focus on placing and mentoring 40 upperdivision SFSU students in public sector positions and will establish and host the Brown Speaker Series, focusing on the 2008 local, state and national elections.
Stanford University:
In an unprecedented effort to expand its research and teaching programs in the areas of race and ethnicity, Stanford University has launched the Faculty Development Initiative (FDI). Announced last spring by Provost John Etchemendy, the FDI’s primary goal is to facilitate the appointment of at least 10 new faculty across the university whose expertise will augment the research and teaching capacity of Stanford’s Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity. FDI is a collaborative arrangement among CCSRE, the Office of the Provost, the Office of the Dean of Humanities & Sciences, and the Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty Development, and is under the academic management of Dr. Al Camarillo, professor of history and special assistant to the provost for faculty diversity.
University of California, Davis:
New plug-in hybrid vehicle technology and transmission systems developed at UC Davis have been licensed to Efficient Drivetrains Inc. (EDI) under an agreement with the UC Davis InnovationAccess unit. The technology is based on decades of work by Dr. Andy Frank, a professor of mechanical and aeronautical engineering at UC Davis; EDI was founded in 2006 to commercialize Frank’s work. Unlike hybrid-electric vehicles currently on the market, plug-in hybrids can recharge their batteries from a domestic power supply, allowing most short trips to be completed on electric power alone. Frank’s designs also increase fuel efficiency compared to current hybrids.
University of California, Santa Barbara:
Elected officials tend to be highly educated, but there are some significant differences among politicians of color: 87 percent of Asian elected officials have at least a college degree, compared to 63 percent of Black and 46 percent of Hispanic and American Indian officials. That finding comes from “The Gender and Multicultural Leadership Project,” the most comprehensive multi-office national survey of Black, Hispanic, Asian and American Indian elected officials conducted by political scientists from UCSB, the University of New Mexico, the University of Massachusetts and the University of Notre Dame. For more survey findings, visit www.gmcl.org/.
University of San Francisco:
The university’s four-year-old architecture major is among the fastest growing on campus. According to USF, the architecture program has carved out a niche as a program that “puts architecture to work for social change.” Over the summer students spent three weeks in León, Mexico, where several illegal settlements with, for example, no running water have taken root on the outskirts of town. Working jointly with architecture students from the Jesuit Universidad Iberoamericana León, the students presented 10-year urban development plans to faculty, community members and city officials, devising a plan for a functional community, complete with permanent housing, businesses and an expanded school and health clinic. Students are continuing to work on the project with their Ibero León counterparts.
© Copyright 2005 by DiverseEducation.com
